Our Common future-The Clean Environment

   Balancing Housing Development and Nature Restoration: A Sustainable Solution for Urban Growth (SDG 11&15) Cities are both drivers of ecosystem degradation and vulnerable to it. Urban areas occupy less than 1 percent of the Earth’s land surface but house more than half its people. Despite their steel and concrete, crowds, and traffic, cities and towns are still ecosystems whose condition profoundly marks the quality of our lives. Functioning urban ecosystems help clean our air and water, cool urban heat islands, and support our well-being by shielding us from hazards and providing opportunities for rest and play. However, through rapid and unplanned urbanization, humans keep transforming the natural world and creating new realities. Left unchecked, urbanization has devastating impacts on natural ecosystems, negatively affecting the well-being of urban populations. As cities grow, they take space from agricultural and industrial lands that need to expand into other eco...