A common urban habitat, the lawn, consists of short grass and sometimes herbaceous plants. While modern artificial lawns have been connected to a negative environmental impact, lawns in the past have been more sustainable, and they promoted biodiversity and the growth of native plants. These historical lawns are impacting lawn design today to create more sustainable ‘alternative lawns’.
In Medieval Europe, lawns rich with flowers and herbaceous plants known as ‘flower meads’ are a good example of a more sustainable lawn. Since then, this idea has been used. In the Edwardian Era, lawns full of thyme, whose flowers attracted insects and pollinators, created biodiversity.  A 20th century take on this lawn, the ‘enamelled mead’, has been used in England, and has the purpose of both aesthetics and for stormwater management.
During the height of the Renaissance, public areas became more common in new cities and infrastructure. These areas were carefully selected and would often be urban parks and gardens for the public to converse and relax at. Other than social uses, urban parks and gardens were used to improve the aesthetic of the urban environment they were present in. Urban spaces had environmental uses for the implementation of fresh air and reduced urban heating.