The impact of urbanisation on non-human species and the need for eco-centric focus in urban planning
By Elijah Viegas
The nature of
human existence within our landscape is undergoing an enormous transformation as
we see increasing movement from rural environments into urban spaces and
cities. This global trend is fuelled by technological advancements,
globalisation, a growing international economy and economic expansion, as well
as population growth. A study conducted by the United Nations conducted in 2007
show that over 50% of the population currently resides in urban or city
environments, compared with 30% in 1947. This is expected to increase to 60% by
2030 (The Nature Conservancy, 2008). This mass scale migration into new built
environments is occurring most rapidly within developing countries, most notably
places such as China, India and Brazil, although is certainly not limited to
developing countries (Walsh, 2015). As our interconnectedness as a globe grows;
it is becoming increasingly evident that urbanization is creating drastic environmental
changes in all corners of the world. Cities historically have grown largely
through environmental exploitation and destruction of animals and habitats, and
urban planning continues without much regard for the environment or
consideration of non-human species (Wolch, 1998).
Our understanding
of the effects of urbanisation on ecosystems and habitats is also increasing, with
scientific development and a growing trend of environmental consciousness.
However, even with this expanding knowledge, environmental focus in urban
planning still remains in the background, as capital gain, and an egocentric,
human focus is still what motivates our drive for urban expansion (Wolch, 1998). Growing waste output,
emissions, ecosystem removal, land clearance and the destruction of
biodiversity are just a few of the direct results of urbanisation. We are seeing the destruction of some of our
most important habitats and ecosystems as well as the displacement and
destruction of animal species (McKinney, M. 2008). The role and importance of animals within our environment is facing a change.
Our ability to farm animals on large scale and our desire to exist in urban
space rather than rural form is separating us from animals and the natural
environment (Wolch, 1998).
Research
conducted has bought alarming information to the surface. Areas in which
endemic species are affected most drastically by urbanisation often tend to
exist in small, but crucial ecosystems. 8% of vertebrae species have been
labelled as endangered globally as a direct result of rapid urban growth in the
last decade, with the number set to rise (The Nature Conservancy, 2008). It is predicted for example that in Eastern areas of Asia, the average
distance between urban environments will decrease from 43 kilometres in 1995
down to 22 kilometres (McKinney, 2003). While some data has shown an increase
in variety of plant species during urban expansion, this is usually directly as
a result of human introduction of non-native plants, and in the case of
animals, the trend shows urbanisation results in decreased number of animals.
[Table]
(McKinney, 2008)
The growth of
cities results in the shrinking of habitats into smaller spaces, which are too
often not large enough to support the ecological systems animals require to
live. Data from the UK showed that urbanization has resulted in the extinction
of 35% of scarce animal species.
Urban sprawl in
the United States has had similar effects, being directly responsible for 279
different species becoming endangered. While the introduction of non-native
species may be the leading cause of the endangerment and extinction of up to
300 different species, it is urban development that is often the cause of this
introduction (Thompson, K. 1999).
The city of
Concepcion in Chile has seen a decrease in land used for agriculture as well as
bushland and forest. 1734 hectares of wetlands as well as 1417 hectares of
agricultural land and forest have been destroyed between 1975 and 2000 (Paucharda,
2006). In the US more than 5% of land is considered urbanised, which
dramatically exceeds the amount of land that falls under conservation areas or
national parks (McKinney, 2002).
[Image]
Figure 2: An example of a species forced to adapt to an urbanised
environment (Mountain, M. 2011).
Growing human
population in urban space is also increasing our burden on the natural
environments that exist on the border of these areas. The separation of our
urban space to the natural environment means we are becoming increasingly
disconnected with where our resources come from. Urban growth is believed to be
one of the top causes of damage to species, and we can see a direct correlation
between urban growth and the destruction and extinction of animals (McKinney,
2002).
Urban growth and
expansion is inevitable. As our population grows exponentially, technology
advances to allow us to build and expand further into the corners of the world
(Walsh, 2015). Our response so far to considering the role animals play within
urban spaces in western culture seems like a poor token attempt at recreating
spaces for animals or designated man made environments that disrupt the natural
processes of our animals create little resolution.
A zoo
environment, while promoting to conserve and protect animals, is in fact a
complete contradiction, as it simply removes animals from their natural habitat
into an small scale man built environment for their exploitation and for human
gain.
With the technology and knowledge we possess in regards to
our understanding of our actions impacts on the environment and its feedback to
affect our potential future, combined with an ever-growing environmental
consciousness with our growing global interconnectedness, change can happen. It
must be noted however that with a lack of both funding and organisation,
particularly in developing countries, where urbanisation appears to be having
the most drastic impact on ecosystems and the destruction of species, implementing
strategies can be extremely difficult (The Nature Conservancy, 2008).
Information of the impact of urban growth on animals needs to
be a primary focus of planners and city builders. Reintroducing animals back
into our environments so that we can live in harmony with animals needs to be
implemented into models of urban planning. We face a huge challenge to re-evaluate
the role of non-humans and their role in society. If an ecocentric focus is not coupled with the way in which we approach
urban planning, we will not only experience the loss of our world’s most
important natural environments and animals, but also the impact that this will
have on our ability to exist within the environment will jeopardise our own
existence as humans.
References
Atkins,
P. (2012). Animal cities. Beastly Urban Histories. ‘The Great Seperation of Animals and
Humans in the Modern City. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate.
Gaston, K. (2010). Urban
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McKinney, M. (2002). Urbanization, Biodiversity and
conservation. BioScience. 52, pp. 883-890
McKinney, M. (2008). Effects of urbanization on
species richness: A review of plants and animals. Urban Ecosystems,
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Mountain, M (2011)
http://www.earthintransition.org/2011/06/rise-of-the-uber-raccoon/ (Accessed 5
May 2015) via Google Images
The Nature Conservancy. (2008). Global Impact Of
Urbanization Threatening World's Biodiversity And Natural Resources. ScienceDaily.
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Thompson, K. and Jones, A. (1999).
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Walsh, B.
(2015). Urban Planet: How Growing Cities Will Wreck the Environment Unless We
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http://science.time.com/2012/09/18/urban-planet-how-growing-cities-will-wreck-the-environment-unless-we-build-them-right/
(Accessed 1 May 2015).
Wolch, J.
(1998). ‘Zoopolis’ in Wolch and Emel (eds) Animal
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