Australia is experiencing mounting pressures related to processes of urbanisation, biodiversity loss and climate change felt at large in cities. At the same time, it is cities that can take the leading role in pioneering approaches and solutions to respond to those coupling emergencies. In this perspective piece we respond to the following question: What are the required transformations for prioritising, valuing, maintaining and embracing nature in cities in Australia? We adopt the mission framework as an organising framework to present proposed pathways to transform Australian cities as nature-positive places of the future. We propose three interconnected pathways as starting actions to steer urban planning, policy and governance in Australian cities: First, cities need to establish evidence-based planning for nature in cities and mainstream new planning tools that safeguard and foreground urban nature. Second, collaborative planning needs to become a standard practice in cities and inclusive governance for nature in cities needs to prioritise Aboriginal knowledge systems and practices as well as look beyond what local governments can do. Third, for progressing to nature-positive cities, it is paramount to empower communities to innovate with nature across Australian cities. Whilst we focus on Australian cities, the lessons and pathways are broadly applicably globally and can inspire science-policy debates for the post COP15 biodiversity and COP26 climate change implementation processes.

澳大利亚正在经历与城市化进程、生物多样性丧失和整个城市的气候变化相关的越来越大的压力。同时，在应对这些耦合紧急情况的开创性方法和解决方案方面，城市可以发挥主导作用。在这篇透视文章中，我们回答了以下问题：在澳大​​利亚的城市中，优先考虑、重视、维护和拥抱自然需要哪些转变？我们采用使命框架作为组织框架，提出将澳大利亚城市转变为未来自然积极场所的拟议途径。我们提出了三个相互关联的途径，作为指导澳大利亚城市的城市规划、政策和治理的启动行动：首先，城市需要为城市自然建立循证规划，并将新的规划工具纳入主流，以保护和突出城市自然。其次，协作规划需要成为城市的标准做法，城市中对自然的包容性治理需要优先考虑土著知识系统和做法，并超越地方政府的能力。第三，要向自然积极的城市发展，最重要的是让社区能够在澳大利亚城市中进行自然创新。