CitiNature is a project that brings a multidisciplinary approach to understanding urban quality of life issues from a green perspective. The project investigates and documents how urban residents, particularly those in the lower and middle income ranges, suffer from inferior access to a range of green benefits, including parks and bicycle infrastructure.
Recognizing the complex interplay of politics, economics, science and nature, CitiNature works with local experts, government agencies, businesspeople, and activists to devise and share broad-based approaches to improving access to green benefits, thereby creating better quality of life in cities around the world. |
Our Beliefs
The world is very rapidly becoming an urban place. Access to green amenities (trees and green spaces) is crucial to the quality of urban life. People of lower socioeconomic classes tend to suffer from poor access to green spaces. As cities continue to develop, often at an alarming pace, a severely downgraded external environment is leading to many health problems. Providing equal access to green-amenities, including bicycle infrastructure, is often an imposing challenge. CitiNature recognizes that the very structure (both physical and social) of low-income neighborhoods creates special obstacles to providing both green spaces and generally healthy living environments. Upgrading the infrastructure of dense lower-income urban environments has been achieved in many parts of the world.
The world is very rapidly becoming an urban place. Access to green amenities (trees and green spaces) is crucial to the quality of urban life. People of lower socioeconomic classes tend to suffer from poor access to green spaces. As cities continue to develop, often at an alarming pace, a severely downgraded external environment is leading to many health problems. Providing equal access to green-amenities, including bicycle infrastructure, is often an imposing challenge. CitiNature recognizes that the very structure (both physical and social) of low-income neighborhoods creates special obstacles to providing both green spaces and generally healthy living environments. Upgrading the infrastructure of dense lower-income urban environments has been achieved in many parts of the world.
What CitiNature Does
• Conducts research and case studies on the 'green divide' in cities around the world. • Fosters international exchange on urban environmentalism • Runs urban greening projects and public education projects. About the Director
After nearly two decades of corporate work, Mark Brown decided to follow his heart and do what he loves: make cities better and greener places. Since 2010 he has been continuing his travel to cities all over the world, conducting research, working on projects, engaging in discussions, and reporting on what he sees and learns. He's formed CitiNature to channel his energy and to drive initiatives supporting high quality urban life, with a special focus on equitably distributed urban green amenities.
Mark has an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and an MA in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago. He has lived in Oslo, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki, Barcelona, Shanghai, Bogota, Quito and Ajijic, Mexico, plus several cities in the United States. He has also spent lengthy periods in cities such as Istanbul, Belgrade, Taipei, Hangzhou and Seoul, and visited more than 100 cities in over 70 countries around the world. Contact
Mark Brown
Director Barcelona, Spain mbrown@citinature.org |
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