National Park City - Urban Nature Amsterdam map In 2019 London became the world’s first…
Pick up the Bristol Urban Nature Map and you’ll see something different – there’s not a building or road in sight. Instead, it’s a patchwork of green and blue spaces, with cycle, railway and walking routes connecting them. It’s designed to inspire locals and tourists to explore the city like never before. Charlie Peel, the map’s creator, tells us more.
The map was created by Urban Good. Can you tell us more about the organisation and what it does?
The map’s the latest release from Urban Good, a community interest company whose maps challenge you to see cities in a new light, to think differently about them and your place in them. We’d made nature maps of cities in the UK and abroad – London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, to name a few. We were looking for the next big city to map, and Bristol was high up the hit list. I’ve known Bristol for decades and it has big green ambitions. It’s exactly the sort of city that would love this kind of map.
What makes the Bristol Urban Nature Map unique?
It changes your perception of the city and reveals how much green space is out there. The map shows people what Bristol looks like if you take away buildings and roads, and reveals open spaces – wetlands, woodlands, playgrounds and more. It shows that you don’t have to travel miles into nature; the city has enough connected places to explore.
What’s your favourite part of the map?
As a map maker, I always like maps that have a bit of coastline and lots of water. Bristol has the River Avon that flows from the south-east out to the Severn Estuary, in the north-west corner of the map. You get a view of the landscape that’s connected to the sea and eventually the ocean. Bristol is an amazing city for growing food as well. The amount of food growing space on the map is huge; there are loads of allotments. It’s nice to have so many contour lines in there too! Some city maps are flatter, but Bristol’s hills give it shape and form.
You launched a crowdfunder to create the map. Tell us more about it…
We launched a successful crowdfunder in 2025, which hundreds of individuals and organisations supported. Aviva Community Fund supported us and offered match funding, so for every person buying a map, we were able to post a second copy to all the city’s libraries and schools. In total, 26 libraries and 199 schools in the city received the map. The crowdfunder really helped build a community of people that want a map to succeed, and it did!
You ran engagement workshops in Bristol while creating the map. Can you tell us more about them?
The crowdfunder provided enough funding for us to hold three engagement workshops, to capture lots of different perspective about nature in the city. One was about the city’s strategic policy in relation to nature and planning. The second looked at biodiversity, ecology and what makes Bristol unique – for example, wild goats in the Avon Gorge, the silky wave moth and the Bristol onion. The third was about people and community – how we get people into nature and engaging with it. These workshops helped provide content for the back of the map, where you’ll find more maps, facts and inspiration for getting outdoors.
How did you find working with Dennis Maps to print the map?
The print quality from Dennis Maps is always world class. I’m always grateful to the team who do a brilliant job. We’ve been printing with Dennis Maps for almost ten years and it’s a real privilege to work with them, as they take their craft seriously.
What size, format and paper did you choose for the Bristol Urban Nature Map?
We’ve produced a high-quality, large-format (950 x 1270mm) folded map with a 1:20,000 scale. There’s also a limited-edition poster version, flat and unfolded, that can be framed or hung on a wall. Both the folded and flat maps are the first ones we’ve printed on a new paper stock. It’s slightly brighter, which goes with our fun, jazzy colour palette.
How has the map been received so far?
We’ve had some really lovely feedback from schools and seeing it used in educational contexts is really gratifying. We’ve also had positive feedback from Bristol City Council and a handful of nature and walking charities; all of whom are grateful this tool exists.
Will there be further editions of the Bristol Urban Nature Map?
We’ve almost sold out and the official launch is 12th June, so we have just asked Dennis Maps to do a reprint! Sales of the Bristol Map were unique compared to other sales – usually they predominantly come through our online shop, but this map has largely been bought from independent shops and institutions in the city. It’s lovely to have their support.
Are there any more exciting plans you can share?
I’ve just got back from Rotterdam; we hope to make an Urban Nature map for there, as well as Norwich, which we plan to start soon. I’d like to make the Berlin Urban Nature Map too. We’re also working on quite a new concept of a map for the Lake District National Park, based on mapping accessible routes to heritage locations.
Image credits
Images one and four courtesy of Peter Brooks, images two and three courtesy of Charlie Peel.
Dennis Maps is one of the leading map printers in the world, producing more than two million maps and charts every year. We offer comprehensive pre-press services, large size printing – large format print solutions using both large format litho printing and large format digital printing, plus specialised map folding and map finishing techniques.