Image of cover of Natural City book

U of T Mississauga professor offers alternative vision for cities

Susan Pedwell

A standing-room-only crowd in the member's lounge at Toronto City Hall Jan. 26 greeted the speakers and the launch of The Natural City: Re-envisioning the Built Environment, a collection of essays that invites readers to reflect on man's sacred belonging to the Earth and the cosmos.

"Cities are the centrepiece of our relationship with nature," began U of T Mississauga anthropology professor Stephen Scharper, who co-edited the book with U of T philosopher Ingrid Leman Stefanovic. He challenged the audience's perception of cities by firing question after question at them. "What is the role of the person in the unfolding universe?" he asked. "What is the role of the city in integrating people pushed to the margins of society?"

Scharper, who earned a master's in theology at U of T, admitted his questions are religious in nature. But he believes these are the very questions urban planners need to ask. And they need to ask them today, he said. Already more than half of the world's population live in cities, and the United Nations projects that 60 per cent will be urbanites by 2030. "The future of the Earth lies with what we do in cities," said Scharper.

To prepare the book, Scharper and Stefanovic called on philosophers, engineers, environmentalists, architects, urban planners and theologians to share their ideas on the city of the future. The resulting narratives are much more than a plea for sustainable ecosystems. They preach that the Earth can be healed.

"The Natural City is infused with a reverence for man's capability for insight and change," said Dr. James Orbinski, former international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), who moderated the discussion. "Not only does the book talk about strategies, it inspires us with what we can achieve as resilient, healthy cities."

Scharper, in his essay, challenges what he calls the "urban-rural divide," the belief that nature is benevolent and the city is evil. He reminds us of our "sense of awe and joyful celebration when we gaze upon the night sky, or witness the delight of a child running down a grassy hill."

U of T Mississauga, Scharper said, is fortunate to have a campus in which Mother Nature is never more than a few steps away. On occasion, he takes his religious studies students down Principal's Road to the trails by the Credit River. With evergreens on all sides and Canada geese honking as they fly overhead, Scharper asks his students to stop and listen. In an urban landscape such as this, the questioning stops. You simply know that you sacredly belong to the Earth and the cosmos.