Can cities become self-sustaining ecosystems instead of just green spaces?

Countries & Cities · Published 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Traditional conservation often ignores our most biodiverse crisis zones: our own cities. Urban rewilding seeks to move beyond mere landscaping toward creating self-sustaining, biodiverse ecosystems. It is a shift from managing nature to letting it lead, aiming to restore ecological functions while reconnecting humans with the wild.

Populated regions are seeing a new conservation trend called urban rewilding, which seeks to establish biodiverse and self-sufficient ecosystems. Unlike rural rewilding, which has been debated since the 1990s, urban rewilding has gained significant momentum recently as a way to address the unprecedented biodiversity decline occurring specifically in and around cities. While traditional conservation often focuses on large, protected remote areas, this new approach seeks to restore ecological functions—such as seed dispersal, population control, and nutrient recycling—within metropolitan boundaries.

The practice is defined by various frameworks, with some describing it as any low-to-no management initiative intended to improve urban biodiversity. It can range from passive actions, like letting meadows grow in public parks, to active faunal reintroductions and species translocation. In the UK, this is already manifesting through initiatives like Plantlife’s No Mow May and Southwark Council's meadow creation. However, implementation faces complex hurdles: planners must balance ecological resilience with human-wildlife conflicts and the aesthetic preferences of local residents.

The movement is increasingly transdisciplinary, involving architecture, urban studies, and environmental science to address climate change impacts and environmental equity. Experts emphasize that successful rewilding requires community involvement and a focus on 'novel ecosystems'—environments shaped by human activity but functioning naturally. By reclaiming these spaces, cities can mitigate the cultural and spiritual damage caused by ecological degradation while fostering new relationships between people and nature in the Anthropocene.

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