City and nature

The picturesque parts of the world are often selected by people as favourite habitable spots. Cities grow and sometimes swamp or erase the natural beauty that existed before people, change sliding on a scale. Suburbs, roads, firebreaks, and infrastructure all carve their slices off the starting natural landscape.

Mountains, however, present beauty that challenge the full transformation into human comfort zone. Some of the most beautiful cities are close to mountains, the huddle of nature and culture superficially amicable. Nature continuously works hard at holding her own, also in and around cities. Her successes appear to people as if she is smiling back. Today’s urban animal life residu on the Cape Peninsula, mainly baboons, caracals, porcupines, and more so the leopards are squeezed into smaller spaces. Whether nature’s smile has switched to a grimace is now more suspicion than riddle, not leaving us with good thoughts. 

How good it all looked before the first people arrived is spilt milk. What remains of mountains by the sea next to the city continues to appear pretty to later generations. They have full or limited awareness that this isn’t what their grandparents were looking at. Latecomers are in a bind to use the land, remembering to be careful, to conserve, while remaining aware of the ongoing slide hurting nature. The inescapable fact? Tamed land is disfigured land. And time deals harshly with comparisons of escalation.

Loving the mountains can harm the mountains, a paradox appearing a lesser one, or inviting despair. Even the outdoor culture of hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and dog walking leave footprints. Literally. Also footprints of desperate people dropped out of society who harm the nature lovers.

We understand all that. We have to live somewhere, so we have to start somewhere. People also love beautiful cities and our compromises can be clever, must become even cleverer! But what will the generations down the line still have to do here for the benefit of the ones coming after them?