For centuries, human destruction has occurred within nature, leading to the reduction of biodiversity for evolution and urbanization within the human population. Although the construction of new cities seems to benefit modern society, it equally harms the community and natural ecosystems. Over time, the growth of cities has led to a loss of natural habitats and a decline in biodiversity. The Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point for urbanization, increasing environmental damage through pollution, resource depletion and habitat destruction. As of today, urban expansion continues to harm ecosystems and contribute to declining global environments.
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“Urbanization has harmed society by contributing to environmental damage within our community. But it has also provided economic growth in the community, as well, and for better infrastructure, like it increased access to education and healthcare. Finding less corrosive material when building and also creating more sustainable transportation systems will help the environment around us while we still move into cities,” freshman Elijah Nickolson said.
Throughout human history, urbanization has continued to advance human settlement. Beginning around 10,000 BCE and introducing the idea of humans forming permanent residences, the Neolithic Revolution stands as the first recorded urbanization settlement. After this introduction of permanent settlement, cities began to increase in popularity and eventually became a new normality. In 1800, less than three percent of the world’s population lived in cities with a population of over 20,000 people, which increased to approximately one quarter of the population by the mid-1960s. By the early 21st century, the majority of the world’s population resided in urban centres.
In recent years, people refer to larger cities as common places of residency known as megalopolises, which happen to increase pollution around the world. Similarly, humankind’s earliest cities, Mesopotamia and Israel, did not exist sustainably within the natural ecosystem due to the unsustainable construction. Writing for Nature’s Scientific Reports, an archaeology team led by University of Toulouse Associate Professor David Kaniewski reported the impact of ancient cities, such as Akko (Acre), Israel, that contributed to the critical transformation of the city’s environment. The development of Akko resulted in a collapse of the local ecosystem; with dense coastal forests drying out as a result of the developers of the city, the shrubby
grasslands showed how one of the world’s oldest cities reshaped its local environment. On top of the sudden changes within the Akko settlement, the construction of the city caused shifts in the local climate through the urban heat island effect. The city became slightly warmer — a climate dynamic that affects cities today, though on an increased scale.
Within societies, urbanization explains why people continue to migrate into large cities instead of rural areas. The promise of jobs and prosperity, among other factors, pulls people to cities and justifies the reason for half of the global population living in metropolises. Unfortunately, as the populations in societies grow, pressing problems such as environmental degradation and sustainability issues arise.
When societies expand, urban sprawl occurs, combining the low density and fragmentation of urban areas to increase the average travel distances of daily trips, which unfortunately hinders a shift toward less energy-intensive transportation modes. Due to the expansion of cities, major impacts affect the areas as increased land and soil consumption lead to the environment experiencing extreme damage. These detrimental impacts threaten natural and rural environments, raising greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and elevate air and noise pollution levels, which exceed human safety limits. Thus, urban sprawl produces numerous adverse impacts that directly and indirectly affect the quality of life within cities.
Due to the lack of consideration toward natural habitats, cities begin to expand into the countryside and cause a reduction in the habitats of multiple animals and plants. However, in the process of building these structures, society forgets the natural habitats that already exist and rather destroys a multitude of environments that once provided homes for animal species. When major environmental changes occur, such as deforestation, animals lose their nests, food sources and land they depend on for survival. These scarcities can lead to a decline in species populations and may even lead them to face extinction.
“In our Eco Warriors Club, we really study a variety of different aspects of environmental influences, human activities, and how they influence the environment for better or worse. But of course, human activity has had a profound negative impact on the natural environment. Diseases within a population can spread easily when a couple of things occur. One, anytime you have people living in close proximity or dense populations, when there’s a breakout of a disease, it’s more likely to spread. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s anything wrong with humans living in cities; there are a ton of benefits,” NC Biology Department Lead Grant McDurmon said.
With plants, when cities expand their environment into their habitats, the plants within these cities lose their healthy habitat and face a state of endangerment. The society faces a decrease in clean air and a plentiful resource in food for both the human and animal population due to this invasive behavior on plant habitats, constituting a major problem. Without these carbon collectors, the land can become dry and unstable, leading to other environmental problems like flooding and poor air quality. A solution to this issue, people need to be mindful of nature when expanding cities. Instead of cutting down all the trees in an area, city planners can leave green spaces for animals to live. They can also create parks, plant more trees and design buildings that allow nature to coexist with urban development. By doing so, citizens can build cities that meet human needs without harming the environment.
While these natural habitats shrink, the decline in biodiversity becomes rapid, which ultimately contributes to the decline of animal and plant species. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports that humans have caused a 69% decline in the population of several animal groups since 1970, all due to habitat loss from urbanization. While urbanization harms species habitats, it can also introduce other factors, such as noise and light, that harm wildlife. For instance, a majority of animals, like birds and insects, rely on natural habitats and undisturbed environments to survive, which becomes hard with their destruction or changed habitats. If urbanization continues to occur at this rapid speed, the impact on wildlife will only worsen, causing species to face extinction now and in the coming decades.
As people continue to move into cities, the demand for resources increases as well. Cities require an immense amount of resources to function as a civilization, and a majority of the material comes from the natural environment. Unfortunately, this rapid urban growth leads to the known resource depletion, which causes a decline in resources such as water and energy. According to the United Nations (UN), over 4 billion people around the world face water shortages and as urbanization continues, this problem leads to high pressure on local water sources.
“I am a human geographer, so I look at, as a geographer, the spatial relations of how humans have developed in their relationship with the environment over time and in different places and for different types of people. There is a sort of destruction of rural areas as we build up, like it’s never a clear cut in our world. The sudden change in environment due to urbanization has caused changes in the environment for both plants and animals. For example, a chunk of land called the Aspen Road community was passed down from generation to generation and when Hyundai came in, people began to sell their share of land except for the Aspen Road Community. As of now, the development around the land began and reports of the family now see species they’ve never seen before in their backyard, and it’s because people have just eradicated all these habitats around and where are these animals going to go now?” Georgia Southern University Department of Biology Dr. Rosko Helen, Ph.D. said.
These cities with an overpopulated society struggle with pollution, traffic and a lack of basic services, including healthcare and education. Urban areas tend to accumulate higher levels of air and water pollution, which can lead to serious health issues such as respiratory diseases and infections. While living in crowded, noisy cities, citizens face increased stress levels, ultimately declining mental health. Due to the growth of population, these struggles that put societies in danger outpace the ability of the government to provide services and infrastructure. When the population increases, the need for additional amount of resources becomes high demand and at times, these resources can not be acquired, which forces some into poverty. As a result, these issues can lead to unemployment, homelessness and the lack of access to clean water and sanitation.
With urban sprawl becoming a common way of living, an abundance of towns are turning into upbuilding cities and causing an increase in pollution. Areas such as forests and farmlands face destruction for the sole purpose of highways and malls. As a society that relies on the resources of the land, reaching towards greener planning could create a healthier environment for future generations.
