The concept of a city forest feels like a deeply solarpunk vision to me, a place where we finally move beyond the binary of urban versus rural to live in true harmony with nature. I find myself constantly returning to Garden Notes to process these ideas, even though seeing such structures applied effectively is rare in the Philippines. While we have tiny, isolated pockets of greenery, the integration of these principles remains a challenge I am currently navigating while Work on the Invisible Things.
It is fascinating to look at the work of P.A. Yeomans, the granddaddy of permaculture, and see how his perspective informs my own view of design. You can explore his original vision through The City Forest: The Keyline Plan for the Human Environment Revolution – Soil and Health Library to understand the technical underpinnings. Even if the environment in Manila isn’t identical to the one he envisioned, the core design principles remain universally applicable to how we might rethink our concrete surroundings.
I often think about how to apply these agricultural frameworks to the city landscape, though I admit that almost all of it feels counterintuitive to our current ways of building. If you want to dive into the primary source material, The Online Books Page offers access to foundational texts that challenge conventional planning. It requires a shift in how we approach infrastructure, which is why I often feel like I am Publishing Notes Before They’re Done just to get these shifting ideas into the open.
Ultimately, my goal is to reach a point where nature is not just a destination, but something woven into every part of your daily life. You can read the [PDF] The city forest: the keyline plan for the human environment revolution](https://reynasauer.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/ret.pdf) to see the scope of this necessary evolution. If we successfully integrate these concepts, the most meaningful change will be the way people interact with their environment, finally recognizing that the living world is all around them.