Although sometim–always– trodden underfoot, the paved pathways we walk every day are fairly close and far from “where we’ve come from”. On one hand they represent, at their most basic, the small deer paths and game trails you can find wherever semi-to-very-large life is. On the other hand we’ve paved over the earth and roots removing the nature aspect.
The second example is related, the stairs. They are, to me, a more egregious affront to whatever “nature” is. They break the smooth slopes of hills with their cliff-like edges…which may make them to be just as natural as anything else. I’m not committed strongly one way over another.