Nature and Art: A Christmas Plea for Cities

I wrote an urbanist Christmas wish list last week for Fast Forward Weekly. I figured I'd elaborate on one of my wishes for weedy nature and public art: disturbance oriented art.

3 minute read

December 14, 2014, 1:00 PM PST

By Steven Snell @Stevenpsnell


I cobbled together a 2014 Christmas wish list for the Fast Forward Weekly newspaper last week. I listed many wishes: an active citizenry, affordable housing, a conservation ethic. I thought here I’d elaborate on one of my more cerebral wishes: art. In a column titled "A holiday wish list: forget toys, asks for urbanism" I wrote:

Allow for more art. More public art, more street art, more building art, more pop-up-wherever art, more colour, more creative expression manifested on the grey stuff, the concrete stuff and over billboards (a nod to artist Banksy and activist Edward Abbey here). Not commissioned per se, just artistic expression in general. Bring on the artists; “tagging” is not art.

I figured I’d use a recent trip to Mexico City and its exurbs to elaborate on that wish. Below I provided a visual record of public art, or at least my kind of public art—nature and art. Nature is the assemblage of the physical world that is not human or human creation. Art is the expression of human creation in nature. It’s a good coupling.

Botanist Peter Del Tredici (2014) is considered a pioneer for his work on “spontaneous vegetation found in cities.” He chronicles the rarely appreciated plant species common to most cities, those we consider “weeds.” For the purist, a weed invades native species (though some native species are considered invasive and thus weedy). Del Tredici argues that the native vs. weed is counterproductive. We should look at the function of the species rather than its origin. Context is just as important as species.

Del Tredici uses “spontaneous” to describe plants that “grow without human intervention. These urban “disturbance adapted” plants can provide significant ecological function despite being native or weedy. They act as vegetative cover for soil which prevents erosion. They are wildlife habitat. They can be food. They can be beautiful.

I thought I’d try using Del Tredici’s argument here as a device to explore pubic art. My kind of public art. Art that is attached to the lived experience—art that may or may not be expressed by a human but has been aided by human creation. Art that is “disturbance adapted.” Art in architecturally left-over facades and back alleys. Art in cracks of concrete. Art that beautifies the ugly unintended consequences of building cities, the asphalt and horizontal concrete and lost spaces.

Good art removes environmental banality, or perhaps transcends it. I think there’s something both theoretical and quotidian here, the stuff of our everyday lives. I think this kind of public art is embedded in the routines of our lives, and our lives are embedded in it. Our day-to-day and the cities we build make disturbance adapted art. It is a coupling. It is something material in form and social and cultural. Finally, referencing geographer Steven Flusty (2003), I consider this kind of public art a mediator, translator, and participant in our urban formations. Disturbance adapted art could be a foundation for further critical investigation into what is urbanism, what is urbanisation.

With that, welcome to my point of entry into disturbance adapted art. I look forward to seeing where this may lead you. Connect with me on Twitter or Facebook and send me your kind of art.

Cuernavaca. Sun. Soil. Water. Done.

Cuernavaca.

Cuernavaca.

Guanajuato.

Guanajuato. Painted weeds.

San Miguel de Allende. If you run out of glass shards, use a bush; or, if you run out of bush, use glass shards.

Connect Steven on Twitter @stevenpsnell or Facebook stevenpsnell.

Sources:

Del Tredici, P. (2014). The Flora of the Future. Projective Ecologies. Reed, C and Lister, Neds. Harvard.

Flusty, S. (2003). De-coca-colonization: making the globe from the inside out. Routledge.


Steven Snell

Steven Snell has over ten years of professional urban planning experience with a focus on conservation policy. He has a master’s degree in urban design and is a novelist of How Soon We Fall From Love.

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 25, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Person wearing mask walking through temporary outdoor dining setup lined with bistro lights at dusk in New York City.

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?

Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

June 19, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Western U.S. indicating public lands that would be for sale under a Senate plan in yellow and green.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands

For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

June 19, 2025 - Outdoor Life

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1 - Honolulu Civil Beat

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1 - KQED

Tents inhabited by unhoused people lined up on sidewalk in Los Angeles, California in front of industrial building.

California Homeless Arrests, Citations Spike After Ruling

An investigation reveals that anti-homeless actions increased up to 500% after Grants Pass v. Johnson — even in cities claiming no policy change.

July 1 - Times of San Diego

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Write for Planetizen