2020; Beatley 2020). Multispecies urban planning is largely uncharted territory and while it may seem daunting, it is nonetheless compelling (Houston et al. 2017). Humans do not live outside nature and our welfare is tied intimately to the fate of the other species with whom we share the planet. This is why biodiversity loss is considered one of the core planetary boundaries, along with climate change (Steffen et al. 2015; Hoornweg et al. 2016). It can lead us to a point of no return, further from the conditions of the Holocene, which have supported life as we know it and which we arguably have a duty to protect. Cities, national governments and global governance bodies have crucial roles to play in terms of vision and of enabling the protection of urban biodiversity and nature by creating the multispecies cities of the future.


Each of these ambitious and integrated dimensions for urban transformation and its related goals must be started and then constantly evolved over time in the face of changes in context. The vision and goals for the cities of the future and the strategies to achieve them will face many challenges. Moreover, progress towards achieving goals will not be uniform over time. On occasions, our limited capacity to imagine and implement these transformative pathways and to innovate, collaborate, act and persevere may slow their achievement but they also hold the key to realizing our ambitions for planetary survival and wellbeing.


4.3 Working across dimensions for maximum local to global impact


This chapter has considered three dimensions of integrated urban action as ways of transforming cities for the future. However, it has also noted that these dimensions are neither separate nor separable. Actions across dimensions increase the potential for cities to address systemic, cross-cutting issues and to contribute to global urban agendas:


v circular cities can promote social inclusion by improving the quality of air, soil and water, reducing waste, creating new economic opportunities, and achieving near net- zero built environments that make buildings (including housing) healthier, less expensive to operate, and more comfortable;


v sustainable cities can support circular economies by redesigning urban land, transportation systems and urban infrastructure in general to reduce GHG emissions and other pollution, while resilient cities can support biodiversity conservation and social inclusion by providing green infrastructure and climate adaptation programs based on equity and participatory planning principles;


v multispecies cities in which residents respect non- human lives and the diverse soils and plants that support them can build urban resilience by protecting urban green space, conserving habitat and biodiversity, improving ecosystem services (including urban thermal comfort), and promoting plant-based diets.


The approaches for these dimensions of integrated urban action contribute to achieving critical global urban agendas and reversing the damaging environmental trends outlined in chapter 3.


4.3.1 Links across dimensions


Firstly, circular cities are a pathway to sustainability, justice, equity and health. An economy redesigned on principles of circularity can address the need of all urban residents for access to livelihoods, clean air and fairly distributed clean water. It can create new jobs, occupations and markets, and allow waste to be used as inputs for manufacturing and agriculture. Reductions in pollution and GHG emissions are also important benefits from circular production processes (Haines et al. 2007). Compact, walkable cities and affordable and low-emissions public transportation improve air quality (Vardoulakis et al. 2018). Energy-efficient buildings and local renewable energy microgrids can reduce indoor emissions and toxic chemicals and increase thermal comfort (World Health Organization [WHO] 2016). Finally, water-efficiency measures can have ecosystem benefits and provide clean water for all (Delgado Ramos and Blanco 2017).


Secondly, there are human and environmental health benefits from restoring biodiversity, by planning inclusive and multispecies cities for the future. Biodiverse cities can promote physical and mental health, equitable access to nature, smaller environmental footprints and resilience. Nature-based and multispecies plans and policies recognize both the inherent and instrumental value of all organisms and support local and endemic species (Maller 2021). Granting spaces for people and non-human nature to thrive can also help to ensure a resilient, biodiverse urban ecosystem.


Finally, food security and resilience can be supported by local and regional diets and food systems that also avoid food waste (Coulson and Sonnino 2019; Reina-Usuga et al. 2020). Changes in urban diets, which are currently energy and water intensive can make a big difference to energy and water footprints. Promoting healthier diets that take into account sustainability could reduce water footprints by 18 per cent, while vegetarian diets could reduce this footprint by up to 37 per cent (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2020, p. 105). Similarly, in the United States, the consumption of fossil fuels associated with the food system could be reduced by 3 per cent by shifting towards healthy diets and up to 74 per cent for energy-efficient ones.


Regional food systems are also relevant for large cities where local and regional production, distribution and processing can work together using environmentally sustainable production practices (such as agroecological practices; Egerer and Cohen eds. 2020). In the Global South, local provision has a particularly important role to play in creating a stronger social economy while moving towards a healthier and more affordable food system that respects and preserves diverse foodways and biocultural heritage (Vierikko et al. 2015; Buizer, Elands and Vierikko 2016;). Regional food systems can also increase urban resilience, reduce organic waste, support soil health, nourish urban plants and forests and reinvigorate green spaces, including urban farms, vegetable gardens and urban orchards.


Cities that Work for People and Planet 83


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