Urban Living

Planting indigenous plants rapidly increases biodiversity in cities, a new study shows.

The sustainability of cities is inextricably linked to the sustainability of distant places. We need a new, integrated approach to planetary stewardship to address this challenge.

We can continue to squander our resources and react to food crises as they happen, or we can fundamentally change the way the food systems work, says Carolyn Steel

Sustainable transport offers not only a golden ticket out of our pollution- and traffic-choked cities, but also a means of improving the health and well-being of travellers and society alike.

Britain has a serious and unnecessary drug habit, but the implications of our pill-forevery-ill culture go far beyond the adverse effects on human health. The complex chemicals in modern pharmaceuticals, as well as the manufacturing processes involved, leave a massive industrial footprint on the natural world that is largely ignored by both science and government.

Instead of spikes in demand and coal-fired solutions, fridges and washing machines may soon be available that can regulate their own energy usage.

Most councils value their public parks at a mere £1, says the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment

No more financial meltdown, poor communication and substandard food – if we ditch the middlemen and get co-operative, what couldn’t we achieve?

Capital Growth and British Waterways have teamed up in a bid to convert London’s canals into flourishing floating vegetable gardens.

How to deal with the job crisis? Try saving your soul by retreating as far as possible from the system that landed us all in this sorry mess

Can there be wildlife in our urban jungles? Matilda Lee meets a man campaigning to let nature live on city rooftops

Paul Kingsnorth on the battle to keep land for people to grow their own food, rather than for developers to grow rich.

When communities are broken apart by migration towards towns and cities, rural life suffers.

Under cover of darkness, a dedicated team of activists is slowly rescuing unloved pockets of land from botanical meltdown. Olly Zanetti meets the guerrilla gardeners lighting up London.

Far from being a silver bullet for climate change, efficiency is the driving force for ever more gluttonous consumption patterns and all the health and environmental consequences they entail

The South West Regional Development Agency is letting down planet and people despite promises to redevelop the former site of Morland leather works 'sustainably'.

We interrupt our regular programming for a moral advisory...

We interrupt our regular programming for a moral advisory

We interrupt our regular programming for a moral advisory...

From all sides, the cry is the same: something must be done. More must be done.

With the global credit crunch grabbing all the headlines, issues concerning economies on a lesser scale are easily sidelined.

Allotments are good for the soul and enjoying a resurgence in interest, says Tony Baldry, which is why local councils and developers should be required to grow their own

More people are turning to eco communities as a viable alternative to urban life. Laura Sevier reports

So you want to go off-grid? Or maybe you want to find out what it’s like before taking the plunge? How about taking one room of your house off grid? It’s a less expensive way of learning the technology, before committing yourself.