Urban and natural paradigms are trapped in their stereotypically opposing identities. Urban is rough and pragmatic, natural soft and poetic. Even though we have developed ourselves far beyond the concepts that formed this opposition, the perspective we have on the urban realm has not changed. It is still to a large extent defined by the concept of density, access and industrialization. Did we simply accept the fact that cities have to be loud, dark and crowded? That urban environments, oriented towards efficiency and economic growth, have to sacrifice their ‘soft side’ defined by qualities that are crucial to our sensorial well-being? Can’t we imagine density without claustrophobia? It would not only be fantastic, but also reasonable to think of perspectives that go beyond the ones we already know. And search for new ‘natures’ of the city that are based on qualities, which would make our urban lives more balanced and enjoyable.

Escape. Brightness, silence, thrill, liberty, adventure, light, vastness, horizons and openness are luxuries that can scarcely be experienced in cities, but are plentiful in nature. These immaterial luxuries, found in the mental and natural qualities of the vast open parts of our planet as the Arctic, stand in opposition to distraction, regulation, hastiness, multitasking and running behind schedule. Imagine we could turn them into new urban standards that would counterbalance the current over-stimulation. That offer novel perspectives to the way we live, and build cities and ground them on a new kind of wealth. Focused on pleasures, which they could deliver us everyday.