#35: How Can Urban Development Protect Biodiversity?

Emmanuel Bois: First of all, I would like to mention three primary challenges due to increasing urban population: 80% of the growth domestic product (GDP) is already concentrated in urban areas. That's a fact today. Secondly, by 2030, worldwide urban expansion is projected to alter 290,000 square kilometers of natural environments. That's a lot. And finally, by 2050 nearly 80% of the worldwide population will be living in urban areas.

We can see that this rapid urban population growth is putting an immense pressure on land, natural resources and urban infrastructures, which necessitates the expansion of urban areas. That means roughly 5 trillion USD of investment will be needed in urban infrastructures worldwide per year. This is according to the World Bank.

This will be done most often at the expense of natural habitats, which most of the time can lead to a biodiversity loss. That's an immense pressure. For this reason, we believe that effective urban planning must balance the need for housing and infrastructure with the preservation of green spaces and ecosystems.

I would also like to say that the increasing urban population means an increased demand for resources, higher carbon emissions, increased soil sealing and loss of biodiversity. That means urban areas must become more resilient to climate impacts while also protecting and enhancing biodiversity.

Climate change affects biodiversity also throughout the temperature and precipitation patterns. We can see it in the news every day. That can disrupt ecosystems as well. We can hear a lot about heat islands, heat waves, extreme weather events: changing environments can threaten species survival and reduce biodiversity.

For instance, the surface temperature in cities can sometimes be up to 5 to 10 degrees higher than in rural areas. That happens in France, that happens worldwide. There has been a 24% increase of people living in flood-prone areas between 2000 and 2015.

Of course, these impacts vary significantly. For instance, coastal cities may face sea level rise and ecosystem loss for marine species, while inland cities might experience more intense heat waves, droughts, wildfires, flooding. The type and quality of urban development and the amount of existing green infrastructure also play crucial roles in determining these impacts.

Emmanuel Bois: We have to think the city differently. We have to change our mindset in designing the city.

For instance, we need to rethink densification, that means a compact urban design. We need to support green building standards, for instance, new materials, eco-friendly materials. We also need to design low carbon emission infrastructures, and we have technical solutions for that. And finally, we need to protect natural ecosystems within urban areas such as integrating biodiversity corridors. That's, I would say, an introduction to the first priority, but let's go a little bit into detail if you don't mind.

Repurposing and rehabilitating buildings: that means to allow for already existing building to get them a second life and for the ones to be built to be constructed with a short and long-term vision of what purposes they will serve. And this is new in the mindset. We can see it every day in the news.

For example, in France, there are a lot of talks today about the future of the schools. What could be done with the schools, with the land schools are built on for other usage than the schools themselves. You know, for example, for the weekends or during bank holidays. So that's an example, but there's so many around us.

Public spaces and green infrastructure are also key. They help mitigate climate change by reducing urban heat islands, improving air quality and managing storm water. They provide environments for various species, thus supporting biodiversity.

Just two examples: One is in Singapore. Singapore's gardens by the bay. They integrate diverse plant species and promote biodiversity within an urban setting, which is very dense.

Another example here in France, we worked on within Dassault Systèmes. We worked together with a French city to identify and create an index of the existing vegetation ecosystem in a collaborative platform in order to improve the quality and lifetime of the existing biodiversity.

And I would like to mention an even more recent example we worked on close to Paris, in Meudon. We worked on heat islands effect within Meudon and we helped the city to decide and to make the best solutions to reinvent public spaces within the city of Meudon.

Finally, I would just say a word about transportation ability, which is also key to reduce carbon emissions and minimize impact on local wildlife. We need to promote public transportation, cycling and walking within urban areas, because these solutions can significantly reduce carbon emissions and pollution.

Additionally, designing wildlife-friendly infrastructure such as green bridges and underpasses can help minimize the impact on local wildlife. 

Emmanuel Bois: Well, virtual twins help create digital replicas of urban environments and their carbon emissions. Because all the data which is available will be put in a single solution, the collaborative platform, that will allow planners to simulate and analyze the impacts of different scenarios on carbon emissions and biodiversity.

This virtual twin will help in making informed decisions that balance development with conservation. Virtual twins also provide simulation and predictive analytics. They enable planners to visualize the long-term impacts of urban development and their carbon emissions on climate and biodiversity.

It helps simulate various scenarios to define the most relevant ones and propose different paths of mitigation. This is a proactive approach and it helps in creating more sustainable and resilient urban environments.

Emmanuel Bois: First, I would like to mention that policies and incentives can take various forms and surround multiple aspects of biodiversity. There are a lot of effective policies which include zoning laws that protect green spaces, natural areas or natural parks for example, incentives for green building practices, regulations about soil sealing, incentives to reduce car congestion, etc. It depends on each country.

City leaders can assess national or local policies in the virtual twin crossed with their own objectives. For example, the air and climate plants in French cities over 20,000 inhabitants. Another example I would like to mention is we worked with the University of Moncton in Canada on a biodiversity corridor to identify where it should be done, what data should be involved in thinking it and protecting it and how it should evolve in the future.

The virtual twins allow both to understand the complexity of this corpus by listing all the prerequisites in a collaborative tool and to make various simulations before taking enlightened decisions. The community engagement is also very important because the virtual twin allows to present future projects to citizens in a very pedagogic way. Thus, it allows to engage citizens in the projects and decisions taken. 

Emmanuel Bois: I would mention as an example, because there are as many policies as countries and regions, but in France here we have a law which is called Zero Artificialization Net and which is quite powerful because by 2030 in urban areas for each square meter built, you will need to mitigate and to have one square meter of natural land. So that's very simple, but that allows at least not to spread urban areas too much in the grounds and to protect biodiversity. That's just an example, but there are a lot of examples worldwide.

We can mention five main factors which influence on biological diversity. First of all, the first one is the transformation of natural environments into artificial environments. The second factor is the diverse pollutions which include pollution of air, ground, water, noise and light as well. The third one is over-exploitation of natural resources. The fourth one is the climatic changes, which include of course flooding, we've said a word about it before, but also heat islands for example. And the last one is the introduction of exotic invasive species.

So, we can see that the virtual twin allows to identify, simulate and take the best decisions on most of these parameters to protect the global biodiversity.

Narrator: Thank you, Emmanuel. It's been a pleasure having you on for this discussion. As cities grow and regulatory pressures on sustainability intensify, biodiversity can't be an afterthought. It has to be integrated from the beginning of urban planning. With the virtual twin solution, planners can visualize and simulate urban impacts to make smarter, biodiversity-positive decisions. That's it for today's episode. We'll see you in our next one.

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Disruptors Unleashed is produced by Dassault Systèmes. For more episodes, follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, or your nearest audio streaming platform. To learn more about Dassault Systèmes, visit us at 3ds.com.