By 2050 around 80% of the world's population will be living in urban areas. Currently, they occupy 3% of the Earth's surface but produce around 72% of greenhouse gases. Growing urbanization along with climate change will have a serious impact on our life in cities in terms of air quality, warmer temperatures and higher flood risk.
But solutions to reducing the environmental impact and improving people's quality of life has been found in nature. Scientists working at the European project URBAN Green-Up in Valladolid, Spain are testing Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) that could allow sustainable urban development.