What does “spring up here” mean in this sentence?

What is the meaning of this sentence:

To wish a vital urban life might somehow spring up here is to play with day dreams.

I understand the meaning of individual words, I just cannot understand it grammatically.

Answer

Break it up into parts:

To wish

a vital urban life

might somehow spring up here

is to play with day dreams.

Here’s what we’ve got:

1. Wishing that

2. a place teeming with cafes, night life, and bohemians …

3. might one day suddenly arise here, replacing whatever is here today …

4. is exactly like wishing that a silly day dream might one day come true.

Spring up here means suddenly arise here.