Can Cities Be 'Natural'?

For Stefanovic, professor of philosophy and founding director of the University of Toronto's Centre for Environment, there is a pressing need 'to rethink stereotypical notions that simplistically vilify cities and glorify pristine wilderness areas.'

The Natural City, as Stefanovic conceives it, is in essence a new environmental approach, and is distinct from deep ecology, which traditionally, in its U.S. manifestation, has focused on biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, world views. It has also emphasized wilderness preservation over urban ecology.

By accenting a social ecology that entails urbanization, rather than simply a deep ecology that underscores wilderness preservation, the Natural City concept Stefanovic developed provides a potential bridge between environmentalists of the North and South, as well as a way for sustainability stratagems to take urban poverty seriously.