Regenerative Cities

Regenerative Cities: What does that mean?
Regenerative means thriving. It means something that takes little maintenance. Regenerative Systems are full circle systems, they have a life-cycle that repeats over a long period of time. Regenerative Systems look forward for seven generations. They also look back and incorportate wisdom from previous times. Regenerative Systems are balanced on many levels. They&';re inclusive. They&';re based on truth, equality, and transparency. There&';s real connection and community.
Cities are places where many people live. There are many buildings. Many resources are needed. Cities typically need lots of maintenance. We sometimes don&';t think about that because some things only need to be maintained every 10 or 20 or 30 years. Still, each year, many things in a city need to be maintained. How can we reduce that burden? Even though cities ask a lot of us, resources, maintenance, etc., they can also have a lot to give &n-; jobs, purpose, resources, large-scale connections, etc.

What advantages might a regenerative city have? Less expensive, lower maintenance, more attractive. It can be a place that people feel good about, rather than just another city. It can be a place where people want to live and tale an active part. People who live there feel like they&';re listened to. Their city is responsive. A Regenerative City can be a place where people aren&';t just in it for themselves. It can be a place where people feel relaxed. It can be a place with high productivity. You&';ll have to make your city regenerative to know what all of it&';s advantages are. Part of that will depend on how you make it regenerative, how you bring people into that equation. It might be better to ask, &l";Is this something we want? Is this something we want badly enough?&r"; Regenerative Communities have been / are being built. What I want to address here is, &l";How can we employ regenerative practices on a city scale?&r";

Optimization: As you create your Regenerative City, consider how you can optimize. An Edible Forest Garden (EFG) optimizes by growing foot on the ground, below the ground, on bushes, small trees, larger tres, and on vines that climb the trees. I call this multi-use. Another example of multi-use is a device that made for multiple purposes. An example is a device that produces both solar and wind power. Another example are roadways that integrate multiple types of traffic well. Multi-use includes sharing. There are other ways to optimize beyond multi-use.

Regenerative Cities is not a new idea. There&';s an entry in Wikipedia. There&';s a different website &n-; regenerative-cities.org &n-; where you can sign up to receive their podcast on Regenerative Cities. Herbert Girardet wrote the book Creating Regenerative Cities in 2014. The United Nations held a forum in 2025 titled, wait for it, Regenerative Cities. The Centre for Livable Cities held another that year. An article in Forbes called regenerative cities Regenerative Urbanism.
The book Regeneration - Solving the Climate Crisis in a Generation was first printed in 2021.Regeneration ... has a 20 page section on The City. In those pages, the authors offer some ideas on how to make your city regenerative. They list some cities which had goals of using 100% renewable energy and/or of being carbon zero. Hopefully, some of those cities and others have reached those goals. Regeneration ... also looks at some other aspects of making the city regenerative.
If any groups or individuals want to contact me to collaborate, I&';m all for that. I want cities to go deeper than 100% renewable energy or carbon negative. And, I&';m willing to help them get there. I want your city to be a place where both people and nature thrive. . If your city is already regenerative, please let me know.

Topic Menu

I&';m providing a topic menu. However, before you jump around to various topics, you might want to read through the topics that will probably form the foundation of your Regenerative City, starting with The Team.

The Team: Part of the Foundation

The Team is perhaps the foundation of the foundation. Your city will want to form most of its Team with people who live in the city. Additional outside resources can be added as needed. I have worked many projects where there are more external consultants than employees. Those projects have been successful. Yet, for your Regenerative City Project, I think most of the input can and should come from the City itself. Whoever&';s in charge of city-wide projects like this and others in your local government will want to be involved. You&';ll want someone to track your budget for each phase of this project. That will help you see what options are really available. City Planners can help. You might want to reach out to your city to bring in a project manager or project management team. Others on your Team will probably include Organic Farmers / Gardners, Someone from the local Utility / Utilities, Mechanical Engineers, Power / Energy Engineers, Wisdom Holders, and Young people. Refer to the Topic Menu to help you decide who all to put on your Team. I think small teams can often accomplish more faster. But, you&';ll want to make sure every segment of your city has a voice.
While you can form your Team solely from within your own city, it can also be wise to bring in outside help to be part of your team from time to time. Any external help should objective, aware of what&';s happening in other locations as far as Regenerative Cities go, and have a deep desire to help your city thrive as a Regenerative City &n-; just like all the members of your Team who live in your city or your greater city area.
I would, of course, love to be brought onto your Team. Transforming a City into a Regenerative City, at least at this point, takes a willingness to dream. I dream big. I&';ve done several things in my career that others said were impossible. Still, I&';m willing to also consider what&';s really feasible at this time. I try to dream big and remain stable. If you&';re looking for other regenerative experts, I know some and can work with you to contact them. I can help best as an advisor, evaluator, and dream enhancer.

When you&';ve assembled your Team, I believe it will be helpful to listen. Listen to the people of your city. Listen to those who have wisdom. Listen to nature. Listen to your City. You might call this listening to the Soul / Heart of your City. What does it want to become? I can help you listen to your city.

I ask a lot of questions on this Regenerative Cities Website. Those questions are here to help your team dive deeper into what&';s possible for your city in terms of regeneration. I pose these questions to help your team narrow in on what your city wants to do in terms of regeneration. Your focus will probably be different from other cities pursuing this same goal. Hopefully, my questions will generate more questions in your mind. Hopefully, they&';ll help you dream big.

Topic Menu

Regenerative Landscaping: Foundation Part

What should your team focus on first? Why not start where we would start on a smaller scale &n-; say on a regenerative farm. Let&';s start with the soil. If we can keep the soil regenerated, we&';ll be off to a great start.

I regenerated the soil in my yard. I started by covering the grass with corrugated cardboard &n-; three layers, overlapped. Worms love the tunnels in corrugated cardboard and help break it down. I did this, not only to rejuvenate the soil, but also to kill one of the more invasive and water hungry plants in my yard &n-; grass. I&';m not saying that all grass has to go, but let&';s replace most of it with wildflowers and other things that are less invasive. We could plant some herbs, though some of those can become invasive. Perhaps, we could let someone harvest those herbs. Berries? Why not. There's a park in Tacoma Washington where blueberries grow wild. Whoever wants to can pick them. Herded goats keep the park from being overrun by blackberries. I like blackberries, but they can be invasive. Invasiveness mostly depends on the climate, other competing plants, how this plant was introduced. We had a couple of native varieties of blackberries that were not invasive. We could plant fruit trees that people could pick low hanging fruit from. Maybe a company could pick higher hanging fruit. They could sell it to the community at a low price or give it away. If there was enough, they could sell the "extra" further afield at higher prices.
Solar can be combined with the regenerative landscape. Some places in New York City already do that.

But, back to the soil. How do we enrich it / nourish it? Maneur is fine, dog or cat doodoo is not, though maybe that can be treated first so that it is fine. Compost is great. Make sure your city is collecting green waste and turning it into compost. Hot Composting was just proven to kill Rhinoceros Coconut Beetles in Hawaii where they&';re devasting the Coconut trees. Biochar is another option. A friend of mine built biochar furnaces to heat homeless camps. Then, he distributed the biochar to people he knew who had gardens. Mushrooms is another option.
I had some woodchips delivered and covered my cardboard lawn with those. They helped further break down the cardboard as the grass underneath was dying. Soon, wildflowers, mostly forget-me-nots started growing. Perhaps, the birds planted those, perhaps their seeds were already present in the woodchips. I was living in a raining climate &n-; Olympia, WA, but there was little precipitation during the summer. My regenerated soil tended to stay moist enough to make weeding very easy. And, the invasives didn&';t invade nearly as quickly.

Putting in a regenerative landscape takes time. I had some help. If I had had more, covering the grass would have gone faster. I could have used plastic to speed up the process. That might have killed the grass roots faster
Goats can only eat so many invasive blackberry plants at a time. Trees take time to mature. In Hawaii, some trees produce fruit three or four times a year. You might not have that luxury.
While you&';re waiting for your city&';s regenerative landscape to mature, you might also install regenerative gardens &n-; flower and/or vegetable. These can be community gardens. Those who live close by can choose what they want to plant &n-; native plants are best, then those that are well adapted to yours and similar climates. Plants that do well in the UK often do well in Olympia, WA.

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A Park-like City: Foundation Part

Also while you&';re waiting, start installing benches near the landscape. Playgrounds might also be installed nearby. Education signs and booths will help the public understand what you&';re doing. If the benches are near bus stops, they can be part of the area for waiting for the bus. The benches might be placed near crosswalks where the light takes a long time to change. Perhaps, some people will donate some of the benches, like they currently do in parks.
We don&';t want to put in just any benches and playgrounds. Those need to be made from recyclable / natural materials as much as possible. Plastic benches might last longer. But, are there other options that are better for the environment?

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Community Involvement: Foundation Part

While you&';re waiting on your regenerative landscape to get closer to what you had in mind, canvas the neighborhoods with surveys. Work with neighborhood councils. Your city might actually be multiple cities. Keep them all informed and involved. Let your people know all the advantages and opportunities of turning your city into a regenerative city. Encourage them to spread the word. Encourage them to get their company to help you out. Ask neighborhoods appoint educators to help teach people in that neightborhood how they can help create this regenerative city of yours.
The main road near my parents&'; house allowed neighbors to &l";bid&r"; on the chance to plant a garden near each corner. My dad volunteered, since he always loved gardening. The city reimbursed these gardeners some to cover some of their expenses.
What can your city do to interest its people to get involved?

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Water: Foundation Part

Water. Is there enough? What&';s the quality? Is it drinkable? How is waste water treated? What&';s the quality of the pipes that the water is running through? What are the pipes made of? Is water being harvested, saved, or being used efficiently? Is there a lot of xeriscaping / use of drought-tolerant plants in the city? Is runoff into waterways managed well? These are all things that can be addressed in ways that will make your city more regenerative.
Rain Barrels and Cisterns help save water so that it can be used later. In some places you have to let a certain percentage of the rain water flow downhill, as those further down the hill have first rights to that water. So, you might have to find other ways to manage water other than saving it.
Where does your water come from? Local is better as it puts the management into your hands.
Water Efficiency: Low flow toilets. Efficient, but not excessive water pressure. Aerators in every faucet, low flow aerators where possible. Short / Shorter Showers. Reduce leaks, replace water mains before they burst. Automatic Shut-off Faucets like those in airport restrooms, though, there needs to be an override switch in some cases, perhaps based on time or amount of water.

The water utility filters our household water. We have a water filter on the shower to filter out chlorine. We use a drinking water filter to filter out chlorine and more. It&';s not that the Utility doesn&';t do a good job of filtering the water. They meet or exceed standards. Is that amount of filtration good enough for most people in your city? Should it be left up to individuals to do extra filtering? Can the city help?
All I can tell you is that a lot of people buy water filters, if they didn&';t there wouldn't be a need for companies to supply them. Also a lot of people buy a lot of bottles of water. That adds a lot of plastic into your waste / recycling stream.

Some places are shading their waterways. Mostly, I hear about Phoenix, AZ shading their man-made water canals. This saves water, improve water quality, and reduces vegetative growth in the canals. I think shading the water is good, especially as temperatures continue to rise. What happens to the covers that are providing that shade during the winter? Can they stand up to the weight of the snow? Well, Phoenix doesn&';t get that cold. But, what about other places? I also wonder if it&';s wise to shade all the water all the time. Still, shading the water is probably an experiment worth checking out.

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Recycling &n-; A Bigger Picture: Foundation Part

Perhaps view Trash, Recycling, Composting, and Handling Waste Water as recycling or Super-Recycling.
Trash can be recycled by first separating the recyclables. Then it can be burned in a tightly sealed container (incinerator). That leaves ash (must be dealt with). There are now trash incinerators that burn trash at higher temperatures which reduces that amount of ash. The roofs of some of these hotter incinerators have been turned into recreation areas.
Recycling: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Less packaging for things we buy in stores? Perhaps, try to find ways to recycle more. Perhaps, turn plastic into plastic wood. Perhaps, recycle more recyclables locally rather tha shipping them somewhere else. Perhaps, recycle some things into parts for crafts and art. Provide / Encourage more places where people can recycle things other than the normally recycled things. Entice thrift stores for recycling household, clothing into more neighborhoods. Also, clothing and fabric can go to local sewing classes and sew-ers.
Composting: Lawn clippings can go into composting. But, if your city gets rid of a lot of grass due to your regenerative landscaping efforts there will be less of that. Still, there will be weeds and tree trimmings. If your city does not already accept food waste in the green waste pickup, look into how that will be possible. When I lived in Olympia, WA restaurants could join a program that would allow them to have their food waste picked up for hot composting. Where I live in Hawaii, only certain residential food waste can be added. Plastic bags are not allowed even if they&';re bioplastic or compostable. Neither are compostable containers. So, those have to go into the trash. Seems a waste. We&';re advised to use baking soda to keep our containers from reeking too much. Seems to work so far. Bemidji, MN accepts a wider range of residential food waste. They provide the bioplastic bags. Collect the green waste, turn it into compost. Then, use it on the city&';s regenerative landscape and sell it for residents to use. Encourage backyard composting. That can be very easy to do.
Waste Water comes in two colors &n-; gray and black. Black water comes from the toilet. Gray comes from laundry, kitchen / bathroom sinks, possibly the shower. We need to try and reclaim both. Black is harder to deal with. Allow more gray water reuse onsite (where it is generated). Ultraviolet light, flow forms, and plants are reported as being good ways to treat gray water. Composting toilets for human waste. How do we deal with animal waste? Is your city using UV (Ultraviolet) light to treat its water and/or waste water?

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The Team, Regenerative Landscaping, A Park-like City, Community Involvement, Water, and Recycling &n-; A Bigger Picture. Those will create the Foundation of your Regenerative City.

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Quality Education

Are only STEM subjects &n-; Science, Tech, Engineering, and Mechanics &n-; taught in your city&';s schools? Perhaps, STEM and Gym? Is Art also included? Are there vocational schools? Are regenerative practices taught? How about ethical leadership, systems thinking, social and life skills? Those skills are needed right now. I consider them to be regenerative skills. They can help us thrive. Is school affordable, including books, lunch, paper, pens, backpack, etc.? What about school clothes including gym clothes and other &l";uniforms&r";? Does affordable school include Local College? Are there a variety of Libraries covering a variety of topics on a variety of levels? Are your schools conducive to learning? Is fun (check out Education in Finland) an important part of learning?
Beyond Schools, how is your city educated? Do voters understand how government works? Does what&';s being taught have a vary narrow focus, or a wide one? Do people know how to balance their bank accounts, budget, etc? Are there people / mentors in your city who are passing on knowledge about how to do things, how to cope, how to live and thrive?

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Economy

A Regenerative City should have a Regenerative Economy. A Regenerative Economy is circular &n-; it starts, gets better, then sprouts new life. A Regenerative Economy is an economy for the people. People earn living wages.
Things are affordable. Some of that is not under the City&';s control. Still, a Regenreative City helps make many locally sold things affordable.
A Regenerative Economy is local first. Local / Community Economies keep more money within a community / city. Local Currency can have more spending power than non-local currency.

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Healthcare

How affordable is healthcare? How inclusive is it &n-; physical, mental, western medicine, alternative medicine, dental, etc.? Does one company take care of all your city&';s healthcare needs or are there multiple? Are there independent doctors? Does anyone make housecalls? What about long-term care? Pre-natal, infant, senior care? The best way for people to stay healthy is for them to live a healthy lifestyle. How does your city educate its people about that. See how these topics overlap, interweave? Regenerative Cities also do that.
Honolulu, HI has a good program for those living on the streets. First, that city encourages the houseless into housing. These are typically tiny houses. This housing is some place where a person can eat, sleep, clean up and feel like that place is theirs to some degree. Along with the housing, Honolulu has a mental health program that&';s available to the residents of the city-provided housing. Those who stick with that mental health program are more likely to stay housed. They&';re less likely to go back to living on the streets.
Part of good health is feeling connected to others. You&';re making your city Park-like (see above) to help people connect with nature. Should your city set up human connection zones? Perhaps, some restaurants are already doing that. Perhaps, the city can help make these places known. These are places and/or times for face-to-face connection with someone who&';s close by. Perhaps, they&';re right next to you.

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