Nature Towns and Cities resources and places
Check out the growing library of resources to help greening our urban spaces. Learn about places and projects that have been awarded grants. In Scotland, this includes Fife and North Lanarkshire.
How to give children the freedom to play all across the city – not just in playgrounds
This article in The Conversation (15 July 2025) shares study of playgrounds in England which found substantial inequalities in access to play. The author explores international examples of play promotion in urban spaces.
Beyond playgrounds: how less structured city spaces can nurture children’s creativity and independence
This Child in the City article (30 June 2025) compares children’s use of city spaces in Auckland, New Zealand, and Venice, Italy. The findings present a paradox: playgrounds built for safety can stifle creativity and mobility, while self-organising open spaces offer rich opportunities to explore and belong. The authors argue [...]
Nature Towns & Cities conference online 5 June 2025
This free online conference is for local government, public sector, voluntary and community leaders working together for greener, thriving and more prosperous UK towns and cities. Find more information see Creating Nature Towns and Cities and book your free ticket.
City Nature Challenge is back!
The 2025 City Nature Challenge is taking place between Friday 25 April and Monday 28 April and this year a record number of UK cities are taking part. This includes 3 cities in Scotland. Read more to find out whether your city is involved and how to participate. Find out [...]
Climate change could overwhelm our sewers – here’s how green infrastructure could help
Cities need to find new ways to handle rainwater, especially in the face of climate change. This article in The Conversation (17 December 2024) describes how green infrastructure offers a way to tackle this challenge.
Nature Towns and Cities
Catch up on Nature Towns and Cities introductory webinars – these covered a huge range of topics and case studies from across the UK showing the role nature can play in creating happier, healthier urban communities.
Playing outdoors: What do children do, where and with whom?
In their October newsletter, Play Scotland share findings from a study in the Netherlands, February 2022 to March 2023. This recorded children’s play behaviour after school in three post-war residential districts in three cities in The Netherlands. This study showed differences in play behaviour by gender, age, district and play [...]
