City as Seed: The Urban Resonance Field and the Case for Sonic Awareness in Ecological Renewal

Abstract

Seeds, the “abominable mystery” (Darwin, 1897), hold our past and potential future. They also hold sound. Much like cities, they are sites of growth, transformation, and resilience. This thesis draws parallels between laboratory research on the sensing capacities of seeds and embodied experiences of sensing within urban landscapes, exploring how living systems interact with sound and vibration. Through both scientific and poetic approaches, it examines how seeds respond to sonic environments and how this sensitivity can inform human engagement with acoustics in the urban context. The investigation of intangible forces, vibration, resonance, and sound reveals a shared responsiveness between seeds and cities, documented through graphs, sound spectra, and reflective narratives that bridge science and art. Focusing on sound as a strategic lens, this work brings attention to often-overlooked sensory domains, inspiring a more ecologically and socially responsive urbanism. Ultimately, it advocates for practices of deeper listening as a method to engage openly and imaginatively with human and nonhuman worlds, and to reimagine urban environments as spaces of attunement, dialogue, and co-existence.