A U.S. professor has received an award for trying to balance urban planning with environmental protection.

Awarded this year's International Cosmos Prize at a Wednesday ceremony in Tokyo was Anne Whiston Spirn, professor of landscape architecture and planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The award consists of a commendation, medallion and 40 million yen in cash.

Spirn emphasized that urban areas can coexist with nature, saying, "It is possible to build an urban area that is harmonious with the natural environment around it."

To achieve this goal, she said the world "must understand what has often been ignored or denied: that cities are part of the natural world and that the fate of urban development is often determined by natural processes."

"Nature is ubiquitous, and cities are part of nature. This (perspective) has critical implications for how cities are built and maintained," she said.

She is also the author of two books -- "The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design" in 1984, and "The Language of Landscape" in 1998.

The award, in its ninth year, was established in 1993 to mark the 1990 International Garden and Greenery Exposition held in Osaka. It is awarded annually to an individual or team, in line with the theme "The Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Mankind."