Cable Car to Mount Pilatus in Lucerne, Switzerland

Anni Wickman

 

Chinese Garden of Friendship in Sydney, Australia

Mimi Hansen-Erraziqi

 

Roadside Horse of São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal

Anika Velasco

 

As global development seems to exponentially increase year by year, there’s been another noticeable phenomenon growing in parallel to urbanization: the desire to reconnect with nature. As the urban population continues to grow, many people’s access to green spaces will lessen over time.

It’s human nature to want what we can’t have. In response to urbanization, experiences with the natural world have become fewer and farther between, and thus a profitable commodity.

In Lucerne, you can ride a cable car to view some of the most idyllic mountain landscapes that Switzerland has to offer. For under AUD$20, you can briefly escape the hustle and bustle of city life in the serene Chinese Garden of Friendship, located in Sydney’s Central Business District. Just off the coast of mainland Portugal, you can pull over for horses on the winding mountain roads of São Miguel Island, Azores.

Idealizing a world in which pristine natural spaces ‘untouched’ by urbanization exist is easy. In reality, there are very few places on earth truly left untouched by human development. However, these modifications aren’t necessarily negative or abnormal occurrences – Indigenous peoples have been reshaping their natural environments for thousands of years. Perhaps the key to sustainable development lies in this intersection of the natural and urban worlds.