READ: “Residential green spaces protect growing cities against climate change” (The Conversation)
By Michael Drescher, Dawn Parker, and Rebecca Rooney from the University of Waterloo
Canada is a highly urbanized country, with more than 80 percent of residents living in urban centres. The urban population is growing by more than 400,000 annually, and these new urban residents need housing.
With affordable housing in decline, there are loud calls to massively increase the number of homes being built. Unfortunately, conventional residential development destroys large amounts of green space. The average greenness of urban areas across Canada declined five percentage points between 2001 and 2019, and even more in larger cities.
The loss of urban green space leads to increases in urban heat and flooding, which are amplified by climate change, and can threaten human health and well-being, and property. They also degrade natural ecosystems and the biodiversity they support.
Perversely, poorly planned cities themselves contribute to climate change. As Canadian cities move to tackle the housing shortage, they should take care not to worsen climate change and its impacts.
