Cities and Biodiversity Outlook – Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

The world is increasingly urban, interconnected, and changing. If current trends continue, by 2050 the global urban population is estimated to be 6.3 billion, nearly doubling the 3.5 billion urban dwellers worldwide in 2010. More than 60 percent of the area projected to be urban in 2030 has yet to be built. Most of the growth is expected to happen in small and medium-sized cities, not in megacities. Even under scenarios of considerably slower urbanization rates, urban areas all over the planet are currently facing severe challenges. There is therefore a particular need for enhanced focus on governance capacity to deal with the challenges related to urbanization both within and outside city boundaries . This will require action at multiple scales, from the local to the international. Maximizing the biodiversity potential through improved urban governance globally will require more comprehensive local knowledge, especially of under-researched cities in the Global South.

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