Abstract: Three different kinds of pioneering projects of urban greenery in Japan were introduced from the viewpoint of urban habitat restoration. 1) EXPO’70 Commemoration Park project was a unique trial to restore natural landscapes, “Self-Sustaining Forest”, as a core greenery of Osaka. It is impossible to realize the goal not only by the initial design of the plant communities and planting methods. After the forest canopy closing, the adaptive management of gap regeneration imitating the natural disturbance is a successful method to improve the species diversity. 2) “Inochi-no-mori” is the first case of a habitat restoration project that was monitored precisely for over 20 years. The monitoring group revealed that the trends of colonization and extinction of species in the habitat varied considerably by taxon. 3) The sacred garden of Heian Shrine is an isolated sanctuary of endangered species in the urban matrix. The reason for the rich biodiversity is related to Japanese landscape garden characteristics, such as “Shukkei” (miniaturizing nature). And, adaptive management needed as an alternative to natural disturbances. Habitat design needs to take into account the three properties of nature: “Elements”, “Patterns”, “Process”; and “Process” is the most challenging issue to deal with.