Only nature can save the cities.
Cities are the centers of the world
A bit more than 50% of the world's population today lives in cities. It is estimated that by 2030, which is a little more than half a decade from now, that number will rise to 60% and will continue to grow over the years. This means that this planet will be populated predominantly by urban dwellers who will build their lives in urban ecosystems. This also means that urban ecosystems, their quality and the ecosystem health, will be crucial to life on most of the planet Earth.
If we look at the situation on a smaller, continental level, the cities across Europe are becoming denser and more populated. Europe is one of the most urbanized continents in the world, where most of the people lives in cities. This is a constantly growing trend which cannot but cause major economic changes, including change in the social dynamics and affect the environment. About 75% of the population in Europe today lives in urban areas and this number is continuously growing. There are many reasons for this, but primarily it is due to better economic opportunities, better access to goods and services and a better standard of living compared to the surrounding rural areas.
This intense trend of urban development, driven by strong demographic changes, leaves a big footprint on the environment. In a short period of time, urban areas are expanding, occupying new areas and territories, nature is being degraded and the need for natural resources is increasing. Cities in Europe are one of the main polluters – mostly because of the physiology of these human ecosystems.
All these negative consequences pose a huge danger to the lives of the people living in the cities. The increased urbanization, without taking care of preserving the natural characteristics of the cities, leads towards a greater environmental danger for the cities which, in turn, threatens their environmental security. Such threat to the environmental security of the cities affects most of the population regardless of where they are.
Environmental security – we don't think about it until we need it
Environmental security refers to the protection of natural resources, ecosystems and ecological processes which are crucial for the well-being of the human society. The purpose of environmental security is to preserve nature from degradation, pollution, destruction and thereby ensure the sustainability of the ecosystems and the resilience of the society when dealing with various environmental hazards and threats.
Cities are the epicenters of human civilization, the main drivers of economic development and the main field of innovation. However, the rapid development and urbanization happening on a global scale are putting an enormous pressure on the environment and threatening the delicate balance between urban development and environmental security. The environmental security is the ability of the ecosystems to sustain life and the main environmental processes that will directly affect the quality of life of the people. It is precisely because of this that the link between the cities, as urban ecosystems, and environmental security, as areas, must be developed in parallel.
Source: doma.edu.mk
Urbanization is closely related to urban ecosystems and cities. New urban landscapes are born from urbanization. This process brings with it a plethora of environmental challenges. The intensive sprawling of cities leads to destruction of natural habitats, loss of biodiversity and disturbance of natural ecosystems. Urbanization leads to urban growth, which in turn brings deforestation, soil degradation, permanent water and air pollution, as well as the generation of huge amounts of waste. Additionally, population concentration and economic activities in cities lead towards maximum utilization of natural resources and directly increases greenhouse gas emissions, with which the cities significantly contribute to climate change. All these challenges not only endanger the environment, but they are also a serious threat to the health and well-being of the population living in urban areas.
The environmental degradation happening in the urban ecosystems is closely related to environmental security. The pollution of water, soil and air means contamination of the most vital conditions for life, thus endangering and compromising the quality of life of both humans and wildlife. Biodiversity loss disrupts the ecosystems and the environmental balance throughout, thereby reducing the resilience and the resilient qualities of the ecosystems, disrupts their physiological function which has a cascading effect on the ecosystem services such as air and water purification and regulation of the climate at the local and regional level. The vulnerability of the cities to natural disasters such as floods, extreme storms and heat waves increases proportionally with the environmental disruption, putting human life, infrastructure and economic stability at direct risk.
Natural based solutions – the last chance to save cities
Natural based solutions (NBS) are approaches that use natural processes and ecosystems in order to resolve various social challenges such as those related to urban development and environmental sustainability. In the context of urban ecosystems, the NBS have a key role in increasing the resilience of ecosystems, promoting the development of biodiversity, mitigating the effects of climate change and increasing the quality of life of the urban residents overall.
The natural solutions in urban regions help preserve biodiversity by providing habitats and hiding places for many species of plants and animals. Open and public green spaces such as parks, urban forests and green corridors serve as refuges for wildlife and are key to maintaining environmental diversity and the proper functioning of the ecosystems.
Urban nature is the key to mitigating the effects of climate change by regulating carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, reducing the heat island effect and increasing carbon storage in vegetation and soil. Green areas, especially lawns, provide an opportunity for absorbing the heat that is endogenously generated in cities, and parks with trees provide shade and cooling. These methods directly reduce the amount of energy needed for cooling and they improve the quality of the ambient air.
Natural solutions are a very easy remedy in the aimless search for new and innovative, and often unsustainable, ways to improve air and water quality in cities. Vegetation in cities already helps purify the air, especially by immobilizing the free particles in the atmosphere, absorbing greenhouse gases and regulating the water cycle in urban ecosystems. The developed vegetation captures the pollutants from the air, especially PM particles, and reduces the concentration of carbon gases. In parallel, the green infrastructure regulates the water in cities, especially during extreme weather events, and also regulates the quantities of groundwater.
However, one should not forget the influence of the greenery on the human psychophysical health. Open green and forested areas are places for recreation, physical activity and mental relaxation. Access to greenery improves mental health, reduces stress levels and improves the overall quality of life in the cities. Green spaces are a clear presentation of shared, open and public space that can greatly influence the building of better and stronger local communities.
Urban Macedonia
The urban communities in Macedonia are characterized by incredibly inhumane living conditions. The cities are located in an urbanistic, architectural, ecological, aesthetic, sanitary, communal and social stalemate position. The heavy and often illegal urbanization has turned Macedonia's big cities into concrete, urban cells for open-air torture. The urban landscape is expressed in the form of clumsy and unplanned buildings that are distributed through narrow and dark alleys, a lot of waste and little greenery that completely dries up during the summer, hot periods. Soils are full of pollutants, they are hard, non-porous and dry – the worst form of technosols. The cities are completely and utterly exposed to weather disasters, without the possibility of protecting the lives of the citizens. Every type of storm ends with large economic damages that directly lead to the endangerment of human lives. We should add to this the unsafe, old and unsustainable infrastructure that acts as a silent executioner over the lives of the citizens. All forms of disasters, regardless of their intensity and severity, represent a step towards a greater humanitarian disaster for the residents of Macedonia.
Source: doma.edu.mk
The residents of Skopje, Tetovo and Bitola have been breathing the most polluted air in Europe for decades, which is quite counterintuitive for cities that are otherwise surrounded by protected forests and national parks. This deadly feature of "the most polluted city" repeats for years and creates a form of social and verbal indifference among the managers and the political leaders of the cities. No local or central government has so far taken a strict and scientifically supported attitude towards changing the status quo and changing the situation. Empty political slogans and dubious small, almost cosmetic, interventions cannot even touch the surface of the problems waiting to be solved.
Compass towards making good decisions
The basic rule in the environmental protection is It is better to preserve than to restore - that is, conservation before reparation. It is ecologically and economically unjustifiable and unrealistic to destroy the last traces of nature in the cities by promising new, small pot and planter solutions. Even the new directions in urban development and landscape architecture lead to the "wilding" of cities - that is, the restitution of any form of naturalness to the urban ecosystems using various environmental methods that include: delayed mowing, expansion of urban forests, installation of green corridors, measures for the development of autochthonous mural vegetation as well as the creation of micro habitats for wild species.
Any measure that would be adopted in the future with the aim of improving the quality of life in the cities must not originate from the wishes, attitudes and plans of individual politicians, coalitions or councils - rather, science and scientific research and experiences from practice must and should be the main compass when making decisions. Not everything that is green is sustainable and not everything that is green is necessary. There are no catalog-based or fair solutions. Each neighborhood, each small town and municipality has its own needs and its own shortcomings. For every solution, a plan is needed, but for every plan, a detailed investigation of the situation on the ground is also needed. If we want the new green solutions to survive and improve the conditions in the city, they must be adopted not only in accordance with the law, but also in accordance with the real needs.
Caring for urban ecosystems is not just a secondary optional activity, but a main requirement for safe and quality life for everyone.
This text is published as part of the "Stories from the Region" initiative implemented by ResPublika and ICS, in cooperation with the partners from Kosovo (Sbunker), Serbia (Autonomija), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Analiziraj.ba), Albania (Exit News), and Montenegro (PCNEN), within the "Use facts" project implemented by ICS, with the support of the British Embassy in Skopje. This edition of “Stories from the Region” is also carried out in partnership between ICS and the UPSURGE project, funded under Horizon 2020 of the European Union and in accordance with the Grant Agreement No. 101003818.
