It is estimated that in just 35 years' time, six billion people — the equivalent of the entire world population in the year 2000 — will be living in cities. With three quarters of humanity settled in urban areas — a phenomenon that can be described as the greatest migration in human history — considerable pressure points will arise. During this period, it will be our task to rethink the role played by cities in an increasingly populous world.

Natural solutions

You will no doubt be familiar with the saying "necessity is the mother of invention". Throughout history, humankind has found solutions to many of the major challenges it has faced, for the simple reason that the times demanded thinking outside the box. Innovation has entailed strong will, a little luck, and an unceasing curiosity about what the world had to offer.

Some of the solutions humanity has found have always been right before our eyes. Nature Conservancy is one of the most effective and successful environmental organisations in the world: through its Global cities program, it is committed to demonstrating that nature offers many of the solutions our cities need. As a science-driven and science-backed organisation, Nature Conservancy aims to demonstrate the important role that nature can play in shaping our cities of the future so that they are more resilient, liveable and prosperous.

Cities need nature

Improvised and temporary urban planning solutions should give way to natural systems in order to provide cities with the means they need to thrive. Particularly sweltering summers in the United States, Europe and India have highlighted the ever-growing risks faced by millions of urban residents. Excessive heat, poor air and water quality, a greater risk of flooding and the loss of biodiversity are interconnected problems largely caused by inadequate urban design and investment, compounded by the impact of climate change.

Embedding nature within urban planning holds the promise of creating cities that are more resilient, liveable and prosperous places.

Resilient cities

A combination of traditional grey infrastructure and natural green solutions can help mitigate some of the most significant challenges cities face, namely the management of urban heat, poor air quality and rainfall intensity. These solutions can help create cities that are more resilient to the challenges of climate change.

Nature Conservancy operates in highly urbanised countries such as the United States, working with nature to address pressing needs. The organisation, together with its partners, is for example examining how tree planting could help tackle the public health problems of heat and air quality, and improve living conditions in cities such as Louisville, New York and Houston. In other cities, such as Miami, Nature Conservancy is studying natural solutions to protect urban areas from storms and rising sea levels. Furthermore, the organisation's work has a global reach, with projects in Hong Kong, Melbourne and Quito, to name just a few of the metropolises involved.

Liveable cities

It is possible to improve the quality of life of millions of residents for years to come. Indeed, many mayors see themselves as recruiters, attracting diversity and talent to their cities. By investing in numerous opportunities to make room for nature within and around cities, citizens can access green spaces, better air quality and cleaner water resources, thus creating places where people want to live, not just places where they have to.

Prosperous cities

Finally, our goal is to rethink the very essence of cities — to go beyond merely making them "less bad" and to understand how to make them "better". Imagine a city that grows its own food and is part of a broad network of biodiversity. Imagine a city where nature-based solutions help people to thrive, in terms of physical and mental health, wellbeing and productivity.

The relationship between nature and cities is two-way

Nature needs cities too: in the coming generations, 75 per cent of the world's population will be living in cities. This means that we risk a situation where the majority of people around the world, including their leaders, will have limited — if any — access to nature in their everyday lives. Growing up with a sharp disconnection from nature, people lose awareness of its importance and lose interest in being its advocates.

We must therefore ensure that people living in cities understand how important nature is to their everyday lives, because this will have an impact on how cities manage their environment and on how they ensure that future generations do not lose their love of and curiosity for nature.

For all these reasons, we must analyse the potential of the city of the future in order to effectively and permanently integrate natural systems at its very beating heart.

Translated by Camilla Soldati