HALIFAX - While urban spaces are being rethought across the country, Halifax's own St. Mary's University is leading the way in the Maritimes. As it stands now, there is only so much room for green space in our urban environment. Think about it: industrial sectors, vast networks of paved streets and highways, swaths of residential neighborhoods and commercial districts make up the edifice of the modern city, and this built environment has in large part succeeded in separating us from nature. To be sure, we’re getting better at reversing this trend. The green building movement is gaining momentum and city planners and developers are – albeit slowly – becoming increasingly cognizant of the need to incorporate more of the natural into our built environments. Green spaces, though, are not mere city frills; they need to be thought of, rather, as necessities of urban space in the same vein as schools and public transportation. Beyond the touted restorative powers of nature, parks provide many other benefits to a city, including ecological biodiversity and natural temperature regulation. However, as long as green spaces are confined to the areas between buildings these benefits will be scarcely felt. Unused space atop every building affords a rare chance to bring a little more nature into the concrete jungle while simultaneously providing important ecological services in urban areas. If legislation recently passed in Toronto and currently being considered in Vancouver and Ottawa is any indication, green roofs will soon become much more prevalent in our cities. More specifically, St. Mary's University is currently exploring the economic and enviromental viability of applying green roof technology in Halifax, both in terms of new construction projects and retrofitting existing buildings.