Submitted:
11 February 2020
Posted:
14 February 2020
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Abstract
Increasingly, architects are looking towards nature to design more sustainable, efficient cities to reduce the environmental impact of urban life. At the moment, plants are incorporated into urban design for conservation or aesthetic reasons. Here, I argue plants can be rationally designed into synthetic systems based on chemical and other functional traits to increase the stability of urban infrastructure, protect native biodiversity, and promote human health while meeting key UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Keywords:
sustainable development
; plant sciences
; ecology
; conservation
; urbanism
; synthetic biology
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