Designing Cities to Protect Wildlife and Biodiversity

By Jack Shaw

Cities are expanding rapidly. Roads cut through forests, buildings rise where fields once stood, and rivers are rerouted for human use. Wildlife often pays the price during urbanization.

However, urban development and healthy ecosystems can coexist. By carefully designing cities with human and ecological needs in mind, developers can create safe, livable, and sustainable places.

Rethinking City Design

Historically, urban planning has prioritized efficiency, transportation, and housing. However, today, planners and architects are looking at how to design neighborhoods, streets, and entire city districts that allow wildlife to live alongside people.

This means considering how animals move, where they nest, and how they find food before construction even begins. A wildlife-conscious design strategy helps prevent conflict later on and supports a healthier balance between nature and development.

Creating Corridors and Safe Spaces

One of the most critical needs for wildlife is connectivity. When highways or urban sprawl cut off habitats, animal populations become isolated. This isolation can reduce genetic diversity and threaten the survival of species. Wildlife corridors are safe pathways that connect habitats, allowing animals to travel, feed, and reproduce. 

Some corridors are bridges covered with vegetation that span busy highways. Others are tunnels and underpasses that let deer, foxes, and amphibians cross safely. On a small scale, tree-lined streets and hedgerows help pollinators and birds move more freely between parks and gardens. While these spaces are for wildlife, they also create greener, more attractive environments for people.

Blending Built and Natural Environments

Planners can design cities so that nature is part of everyday life. Rooftop gardens bring greenery to areas with little ground space, while vertical forests on building facades provide homes for birds and insects. Green roofs absorb rainwater, reduce heat in the summer, and lower energy costs. 

Bodies of water like wetlands, ponds, and rivers should be preserved or restored instead of paved over. These natural features serve as stormwater management systems and support fish, amphibians, and migratory birds. When built and natural environments blend, cities become more resilient to climate change and more pleasant to live in.

Practical Details to Consider

Designing for wildlife often involves small but powerful decisions. For instance, artificial lighting disturbs nocturnal species and migratory birds. Cities can reduce light pollution without sacrificing safety by installing streetlights with warmer, dimmer tones and shielding them downward.

Another issue is the reflective glass on buildings, which confuses birds and leads to approximately 253 million fatal collisions yearly. Using patterned or coated glass prevents this problem while still allowing natural light indoors. 

Fences are essential, too. Wildlife-friendly fences have small openings or raised bottoms, allowing animals like hedgehogs, tortoises, and rabbits to pass through safely. A fence six to eight feet high can keep larger animals out, preventing dangerous encounters while allowing ecosystems to function properly. These practical details often determine whether urban wildlife thrives or struggles to survive. 

Greener Transportation Options

Traffic creates pollution and puts animals at risk. Roads can act as barriers that split habitats apart. To reduce these dangers, cities can encourage greener transport systems.

Expanding safe cycling paths, investing in electric buses, and designing quieter roads lessen air and noise pollution. If bikes become a more common form of transportation, cities will create more cycling lanes, encouraging exercise and reducing pollution. 

Lower speed limits in wildlife-heavy zones also reduce animal-vehicle collisions. When cities plan transport with wildlife in mind, they protect biodiversity while improving human mobility. 

Conserving and Restoring Waterways

Rivers, lakes, and wetlands are lifelines for people and wildlife. Unfortunately, many have been straightened, covered, or polluted by urban expansion. Restoring these waterways by adding vegetation along riverbanks, creating buffer zones, and preventing runoff from roads makes a huge difference.

Clean waterways support fish and amphibians, attract birds, and offer residents cooler spaces in the summer. They also act as natural flood control systems, protecting cities from heavy rain damage. 

Expanding Urban Forests

Trees create shade, cool streets, filter pollution, and provide nesting sites for countless species. Expanding urban forests through street trees, community woodlands, and pocket parks brings nature back into the city. The more continuous tree cover there is, the easier it is for wildlife to travel, especially birds and insects. For residents, these green areas can improve mental health and strengthen community bonds. 

Designing Buildings With Nature in Mind

Buildings themselves can welcome wildlife, rather than repel it. Nesting boxes for birds can be built into walls. Green balconies can be stepping stones for pollinators between larger parks. Even choosing construction materials that blend into the natural landscape reduces the stress urban growth places on ecosystems. 

Building the Future

Protecting wildlife in cities has a direct and lasting impact on human life. When cities support ecosystems, everyone benefits. The future of cities depends on how efficiently they function and how harmoniously they coexist with the natural world. Each design choice — from large-scale wildlife crossings to neighborhood-level wildlife-friendly fences — shapes this balance. Instead of pushing nature out, the goal is to welcome it thoughtfully and sustainably.

Jack Shaw is the senior editor of the men’s lifestyle magazine Modded and has written extensively about electric vehicles, sustainable practices, and maintaining a green lifestyle through your everyday actions. His writing can be found in Green Living Journal, Packaging Digest, EcoHotels, and more. Connect with him via his LinkedIn.