Blake Granger

Dead and dreary. Cities aren’t ‘bustling and alive’ - what life is there? Grey, concrete and steel, unnatural materials, no plants to be seen for miles. Okay, maybe there’s an occasional tree or hedge here and there, but these places are congregations of alien monoliths piled on top of real, alive and bustling forests and beaches. Cities in the modern day replace biodiverse ecosystems with buildings and skyscrapers, and the few animals and plants that live in them are very few and far between. I mean, how many times have you stood still in a city and been able to see green at all? Cities should be as biodiverse as any other part of the world should be, verdant green, bustling and alive with animals and birds, sustainable. Cities now are overrun by just a few species, and are some of the biggest centres for emissions and pollution. But we can make our cities sustainable and biodiverse, all it takes is dedication.

Besides concrete, glass and steel, there is one other sight that populates the city view - pigeons, and their crap. Pigeons - and only pigeons - barring obviously a few coastal cities in which there are seagulls - are the quintessential urban bird, worldwide I might add, as they are the same kinds of bird, all over the globe, something that is not normal for most species. In Sweden for example, there are half as many bird species present in just forests in urban spaces than in rural spaces. These large numbers of pigeons and seagulls in cities drown out any presence of indigenous species, never to be seen in these areas again. Anywhere else in the world, unless you’re at sea, you see verdant green populating your view, but these natural forests and grasslands and habitats are teared down to place harsh pale concrete geometry and flats. These environments have only a few different types of plants, some small trees, some hedges, most of the time invasive and not indigenous to the actual ecosystems they are from. This decreased biodiversity leads to the birds and animals not having their natural habitats in the trees and in the shrubbery, driving them further from their natural homes. We should build our cities with more trees, more shrubs, the natural, indigenous ones, and allow for spaces for indigenous animals to live, where they belong.

And although it may be hard to sympathise with plants and birds, cities also harm us. Cities are by far the biggest hotspots for carbon emissions and pollution in the world. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, cities account for 75% of global emissions. If we cannot accept that we owe the land we live on its respect, surely this will get us to change the way we make our cities. The U.N.E.P. also says, quote, “Only with a coordinated approach and action at the global, regional, national and local levels, can success be achieved. It is essential, therefore, to make cities an integral part of the solution in fighting climate change.” If we are to live in a sustainable world, we must recognize that cities are where we must look to change first. We must live in greener cities, where there are not pollutants being pumped into the sky day in and day out, built sustainably, and with our whole world in mind.

I’ve talked about why cities today are so terrible, but what should we actually do with them? First, we need to design buildings to at least have spaces to allow for the indigenous plants to grow on, and streets should be lined with naturestrips to allow for shrubbery and trees to have full space to grow. And cities that are less car focused, walkable with tram, bus and train systems that are far more emission efficient. This way we can live in living, bustling cities without standing on the ruins of ecosystems. But, of course, you’re just a citizen, what can you do? You can support funds, charities, movements fighting for justice on these issues. There are many looking to reform cities from the car centric carbon polluting hellholes they are today. So yes, there is something you can do, fight for whats right.

Cities are in need of change, and they must change. We must build cities with the entire world in mind, green as forests, with air as free as one as well. Ecosystems are torn down to build them, then invasive species overrun them and replace the natural wildlife, and as they pump pollutants and emissions into the air all the while. I hope my speech as given you the motivation to support efforts to make our cities green.