The global population is expected to peak at more than 10 billion by 2080, and over the next generation, two-thirds of growth is projected to occur in cities. The numbers are daunting. The world is becoming increasingly urban. But is that all bad?

If cities are the future, what are the biggest challenges we’ll face?

Dr. Haines: Accessing nature. Spending time in nature is important for our well-being. But living in cities can make that challenging. The expenses and travel time needed to access nature outside of cities mean that socioeconomic status can influence who is able to enjoy nature. 

Dr. Lillebuen: Scientific research shows how extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. That means climate disasters are no longer a rural problem, but an urban one. Just take a look at what happened in 2023, when a constant smoke haze, and a record-high 299 smoke hours, ruined our summer. 

Dr. Papin: Cities have increasingly become places of disconnection – disconnection from nature, from communities, from self. City governments are expected to do more, for more people, with less money. They are also epicentres of transmissible diseases, host to many noncommunicable diseases and injuries, and the effects of climate change. With more and more social inequalities, those who pay the price are already more vulnerable to a variety of challenges, especially unhoused folks. 

Dr. Zutter: With urbanization, we’re losing connection to the process of watching plants grow. As Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer says, a berry is created by water and sunlight from the sun and by eating the berry you are now connected to them. It's full circle. We don't think about it that way when we eat food from a grocery store. 

Where do you see opportunities? What makes you optimistic? What do you hope things look like in 2080?

Dr. Haines: There is growing awareness that cities are important habitats for many wild species. We can grow native plants, protect natural areas and restore areas with natural vegetation – to reduce barriers and increase access to nature. My hope is that cities will recognize the importance of protecting and creating natural species within urban areas and provide funding and other supports so that we will have more urban biodiversity by 2080. 

Dr. Lillebuen: All too often, the news industry has treated climate change as if it’s happening elsewhere, or as something to worry about later. It can overlook the everyday realities that shape how individuals experience the world around them. But that’s changing, and that gives me hope. 

Dr. Zutter: We still have spaces where we can experience our relationship to plants – how they interact and flourish together. Growing things requires effort, time and patience. There are opportunities for youth to build that connection and understand how important it is not just to eat the food, but to understand how the food is grown. 

Dr. Papin: Some cities are taking on the mission of urban wellness. They have – at heart – social inclusion, and maintaining or improving services to communities and individuals. I hope that cities seek to recreate lost connections to nature by building more harmoniously around nature, dense and thriving communities that are more walkable and offer people various options to move from one point to the other. 

How do you think the growth of cities will impact our lives as individuals? As communities?

Dr. Haines: As populations grow, we expand our suburbs. That is leading to the loss of our highest-quality and most fertile farmland, impacting our ability to access healthy, local food. Our expanding cities lead to habitat loss, which threatens many wild species. Almost 80 per cent of the habitat surrounding Edmonton has been removed or altered by humans. This has caused the decline of many species and the risk of extinction, including Franklin’s ground squirrels, which depend on forested habitat and may be at risk of disappearing from Alberta. Biodiversity becomes impoverished even where natural habitats persist. 

Dr. Lillebuen: Climate adaptation is going to be a complicated issue as our cities get bigger and hotter. We know that climate change is disproportionately affecting marginalized and low-income people in our cities, so how we pay for climate adaptation – say through home retrofitting, reducing urban heat islands, or addressing outdoor working conditions like air quality and heat exposure – will be a major dilemma for governments and citizens to sort out together.

Final thoughts?

Dr. Papin: Thinking of Earth Day, cities cause many environmental issues. And while cities are here to stay, we should not objectify them. There is not just one (environmentally destructive) model for cities. We need to rethink how we build our cities and how we live in them so we can grow sustainably and recreate lost connections that affect our city life. And this is not just about the environment. We need to think systemically about cities, so that the well-being of all urban residents may improve.   

Dr. Zutter: We're part of the environment that we live in, and if we keep changing it to these concrete and asphalt and constructed places, it becomes artificial. But enough people understand that it's important to protect spaces for people to experience, not just walking through gardens, but by getting their hands in the ground and getting dirty. This is something we've been doing for millennia. We've been growing food for over 10,000 years. But we were collecting food for many thousands of years before that. There's so much satisfaction in it if you give it time.

Dr. Lillebuen: I’m inspired by my journalism students and our early work with climate disaster survivors to share their stories with the public – growing cities can be caring communities. By focusing on lived experiences, journalism can foster empathy and connection rather than distance. This has the potential to help build communities that are not only informed, but more compassionate and resilient. That is good news for us all.

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MacEwan University is a diverse community with 2,528 faculty and staff supporting almost 21,000 students. We are proud of our more than 90,000 alumni in communities across Canada and around the world. We could only fit six voices into this piece, but we invite you to join the conversation on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.