The formula BIOTOPE CITY is the invitation to a “serious game”: to regard city not any longer as a contrast to nature, but rather as a specific variation of nature, just as there exist various forms of landscapes in nature. This reflects also the integration of the various already developed approaches of sustainability in a conception of the city as a largely self-regenerating overall system with minimal external effects: the biotope as space of a careful and exciting co-existence of humans, flora and fauna.

The inner logic of BIOTOPE CITY will also lead to a new enchantment in which nature and the invisible content of sustainability both refere to a new language of form. It holds to keep our eyes open for the other, special beauty that can allow the conception of the city as a biotope to emerge.

Theoretical reflections, research results and projects from different cities as Potsdam, Berlin, Tokyo, Vienna, Eindhoven and Amsterdam are collected in this publication, experiments that show a successful integration of nature and city: new forms for urbanity which combine high density with space for nature, for flora and fauna, creating an integral sustainable environment and a healthy living climate. We hope that these contributions wil stimulate engaged discussion and practice among all concerned with the construction of sustainable urban living conditions: architects, urban planners, traffic planners, civil engineers, landscape architects, housing managers, biologists, sociologists, politicians e.a.

Helga Fassbinder