The 2020 coronavirus pandemic caused countries across the world to implement measures of socialdistancing to curb spreading of COVID-19. The large and sudden disruptions to everyday life thatresult from this are likely to impact well-being, particularly among urban populations that live indense settings with limited public space. In this paper, we argue that during these extraordinarycircumstances, urban nature offers resilience for maintaining well-being in urban populations, whileenabling social distancing. We discuss more generally the critical role of urban nature in times ofcrisis. Cities around the world need to take the step into the 21st century by accepting crises as anew reality and finding ways to function during these disturbances. Thus, maintaining or increasingspace for nature in cities and keeping it accessible to the public should be part of the sustainabilityagenda, aiming simultaneously to strive towards SDG 3 (good health and well-being), and SDG 11(sustainable and resilient cities).