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There is a natural human impulse that draws us to “the edge”. People like to hang around near them, even if they can’t necessarily afford to live in these transitional spaces, where nature and the built environment collide. “Most people don’t think much about urban design as a field of study, but they do respond to edges like you wouldn’t believe. In the big picture, nearly 40% of the people in the United States – more than 130 million people – live in counties that hug the coasts.”
There are also densely built-up edges that are unique to cities where high-rises can be seen pressing up against nature. American cities are built to be dense and no one seems to mind, because there is a powerful draw to be close to the edge, and “people are willing to do anything to be close.” For urban planners, the focus becomes how to use the edge as an organizing principle. One must take into consideration the obvious affluence that exists, while understanding that “edges are the place where different ecosystems often collide and mix together”, and perhaps most importantly, natural edges are fluid – not hard or permanent.
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