Embodied urban design: Fostering nature connectedness for pro‐conservation behaviour

Abstract Those who feel more connected with nature are more likely to act in ways that support biodiversity. How connected people feel with nature depends in part on how meaningfully it figures into their experience of the built environment. Despite an increase in urban greening measures, these approaches often overlook how people perceive, interact with, and ultimately, relate to nature. This article reviews and synthesises insights from several research fields, including embodied cognition, environmental philosophy and environmental psychology to advance a more relational approach to ‘greening’ cities and explores how such an approach might be realised. Embodied interactions shape how people experience and relate to the world, and sensory‐rich nature experiences are central to connecting with nature. A shift from traditional design approaches that prioritise detached visual observation (less relational) towards biodiversity‐inclusive design that promotes active multisensory engagement (more relational) is therefore more likely to foster nature connectedness amongst urban dwellers. The potential opportunities for interacting (also known as affordances) with urban nature are not always perceived and thus enacted upon, particularly by those with lower levels of nature connectedness. Therefore, in addition to creating more opportunities for engagement, designing to enhance their perception by prompting users to notice and interact with the multisensory information present in the environment is essential. Rather than prescribing guidelines for designers, the paper offers a conceptual contribution intended to enrich the literature on nature connectedness, urban design and biodiversity planning. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.