8The city is a rich habitat of great biodiversity. Many animal and plant species are now more common in cities than in rural areas. However, urban nature is fragile, and threatened by the tendency of planners and policymakers to see the city exclusively as a habitat for people. Nature-inclusive design, which considers nature an integral part of the urban organism and an important part of a city's quality of life (for human and nonhuman residents), is a pioneer practice that has only recently started to become part of urban planning.

Making Urban Nature is an inspirational book of examples about nature-inclusive designing in European cities. Simultaneously utopian and pragmatic, it discusses the unique nature of urban habitats and calls for the purposeful integration of nature in the designs of buildings and urban outdoor spaces, while offering practical examples and design suggestions.