As cities expand, natural ecosystems are rapidly shrinking. Urban development replaces forests, wetlands, and grasslands with roads, buildings, and concrete infrastructure. While this growth supports human needs, it comes at a significant cost of habitat lass, habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict, and biodiversity decline.
If we continue to design cities withput considering nature, we risk creating environments that are less sustainable, less resilient, and less humane.
The chart below shows how Bellevue, WA has become more urban from 1980 to 2026. As population and development have increased, tree cover has declined—making it increasingly difficult for wildlife to survive.
