I've been following permaculture for a while now, where the goal is to work *with* nature instead of against it to grow crops. It sounds like many of the same philosophies can also be applied to urban design. I know, I was just reading about the difference between heat retention in bare earth versus earth with a ground cover, and that's dramatic (5 degrees C). Even just adding pockets of grass to a parking lot can significantly reduce the overall heat radiated. Thanks for this excellent overview article!