Biophilic Solutions: Nature Has the Answers
Have you ever noticed how DNA’s spiraling structure mirrors the shape of seashells and flowers? How our circulatory system branches like tree roots? Nature doesn’t just surround us—we are nature. Our bodies, minds, and societies are woven into its rhythms, yet in today’s modern world, we’ve severed that bond, and the consequences ripple through our environment, politics, culture, and even spirituality.
Every other week, host Monica Olsen sits down with leading experts to explore the profound connections between planetary health and human well-being. Through these conversations, they uncover how nature influences everything—from the way we design our cities to the way we govern, heal, and find meaning in our lives. As we face climate change, biodiversity loss, and deep societal shifts, rediscovering our place in the natural world isn’t just necessary—it’s transformative.
Join us on this biophilic journey. Follow and listen today, because nature holds the answers.
Biophilic Solutions: Nature Has the Answers
Solutions Rewind | Diana Lind Makes The Case for Smarter, Simpler Housing
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This week on the podcast, we’re revisiting a 2022 conversation with urban policy expert Diana Lind, author of Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing. In this episode, we explored the rise of the single-family home and the many challenges that come with it: the isolation created by large homes on expansive plots of land, outdated zoning, high energy use for relatively few people, and a built environment that makes cars a necessity.
Almost four years to the day after its original release, these themes are as relevant as ever but the context around them has changed. More and more people seem to be recognizing the connection between urban planning, the environment, and our own wellbeing. Young creators like Luke Hillman are getting hundreds of thousands of views and likes for videos about land use, walkability, and freeing ourselves from auto-dependence. That growing public awareness of how we shape our communities, particularly among a younger audience, is incredibly encouraging.
But there’s another reason this conversation feels timely: data centers. Communities all over the country are confronting the enormous demands for the land, energy, water, and new utility infrastructure that data centers require. New transmission lines and grid expansions also put pressure on residential land, in some cases power companies are using eminent domain to acquire property. And that’s to say nothing about immense concerns over noise and air pollution.
That’s why Diana’s ideas are now more important than ever. The challenges may be evolving, but the underlying question remains the same: What kind of places do we want to build and what would it take to build them differently?
Shownotes
- Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing by Diana Lind
- About Diana Lind
- Luke Hillman on Instagram
- Against the White Picket Fence (New York Times)
- WATCH: Five Things Diana Lind taught us about housing (Philadelphia Citizen)
- Ideas We Should Steal: Treat Homelessness as a Health Issue by Diana Lind (The Philadelphia Citizen)
Biophilic Solutions is available wherever you get podcasts. Please listen, follow, and give us a five-star review.
Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn and learn more on our website.
#NatureHasTheAnswers
