Building better cities with nature

Heat waves, growing populations, and rising stress have made access to parks and green spaces essential in cities around the world. But how do we ensure everyone can experience urban nature every day? UBC professors lead this conversation on how to better integrate housing and nature into design, planning, and policy. Explore how urban nature can help build healthier, more just, and more resilient communities—and what that means for where we live.

This webinar is part of UBC Magazine's SPOTLIGHT series on The Future of Housing.

Moderator

Sharon Nadeem, MJ'18 (she/her) – Journalist; Sessional Instructor, UBC School of Journalism, Writing, and Media

Speakers

Dr. Keunhyun (Keun) Park – Assistant Professor of Urban Forestry, Faculty Lead of the Urban Nature Design Research Lab (Under Lab), UBC and Adjunct Professor at Utah State University

Dr. Penny Gurstein, BArch’76 – Professor Emeritus, School of Community and Regional Planning, and Founding Director, Housing Research Collaborative, UBC

Thomas Davidoff – Associate Professor, Strategy and Business Economics Division, UBC Sauder School of Business; Director, UBC Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate

Recorded on May 21, 2026.

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