ABSTRACT
Cities, in addition to being home to the majority of the world’s human population, are also home to an immense range and variety of species. A large European-based initiative ‘BiodiverCities’ estimates some 25,000 species are found in urban areas with 130 of these being so adaptable that they are found in almost every city. Humans are only one of these species. This means that cities are or can be places where biodiversity and humans interact to the benefit of both. Urban ecosystems are one of the few ecosystems significantly increasing in extent. Planners can play a critical role in managing urban ecosystems. The importance of green plans and strategies and their exponential growth in cities worldwide is encouraging, but their support too often takes second place to more economically motivated developments. By adopting a caring approach, planners are able to ameliorate some of the worst effects of urban growth and enhance the potential for urban biodiversity and people to coexist and co-benefit from city life. Cities are at the forefront of the biodiversity crisis in both their contribution to biodiversity fragility and extinction, but also in finding solutions.
