Urban Biospheres

In the XXIst century, sustainable development has become one of the biggest issue of the society. To do so, some cities decided to become urban biosphere.

 What can we do to make our cities sustainable ?

New York green roofs

But first, what is an urban biosphere ?

An urban biosphere is a densely populated city that manages to respond to our current needs and improve our quality of life, while promoting a sustainable development and protecting the environment.

An Urban Biosphere is a Biosphere Reserve characterized by important urban areas where the natural, socio-economic and cultural environments are shaped by urban

 influences and pressures, and set up and managed to mitigate these for improved urban and regional sustainability.

Three main functions are expected from an urban biosphere reserve. They are conservation, development and logistic support. It is expected that an urban biosphere reserve would contribute to conservation of its landscape and ecosystem, and foster both economical and cultural development. It is also expected that it would support demonstration projects, environmental education and training, and research on sustainable development issues.

What is the urban biosphere’s issue ?

The main issue of an urban biosphere is to engender cities with greater social-ecological resilience in the context of global environmental change.  In other words, combine our social life with the current environmental concerns, in a sustainable way.

The need of urban biosphere reserves is very important, knowing that the number of people living in the world's cities has reached three billion, nearly half of the total population. By 2050 two-thirds of the total population will be living in the cities. The rapid expansion of the cities and of their populations poses a challenge for a viable global environment. Although some of the existing biosphere reserves include cities and towns, entirely urban-oriented biosphere reserves have yet to be included in the list.

Interview of Christine Alfsen

On November, the 10th, we had the chance to participate to an environment day proposed by Saint Joseph Institution and taking place at the Palais de l’Europe, in Menton. Christine Alfsen, lecturer at Political Science college and urban biosphere specialist accepted to answer our questions.

What is an urban biosphere ?

« An urban biosphere is a city that takes into consideration the ecosystem services provided by the green spaces inside and outside the city. They create some kind of organization between those two systems because generally cities concentrate ressources but have very little regard for the services provided by rural people.

In a urban

biosphere you choose a different administration. Instead of just managing your city, you take in consideration Rural.”

Do you think the French Riviera is an urban biosphere ?

« Not at all. There’s a complete mental border between the French Riviera and the Rural as if it was a different planet. It is a very new phenomenon that is hungry in ressources and that produces lots of waste they sent into rural environment. Towns don’t recognize the services produced by rural systems in the way cities are managed. It’s a build up region. »

What are the countries etablishing the most the concept of urban biosphere ?

            « Well, it’s always the countries with the best education system, the best social system, end the best economy that’s why the Scandinavian countries are now etablishing the most this concept. »

While you were in New York as an office manager for the UNESCO, did American people really care about environment ?

« Actually, they are very conscious of the local economy. It’s a very large country so the government doesn’t have as much handle as the French one for exemple on this kind of actions. Even if the United States are often associated with waste which is true, when people start being affected by their actions and the consequences they have on the planet, they face problems and don’t wait for the government to act. Lots of universities have now green spaces generally in the most affected states like Arizona or California. »

What can the cities do to build themselves as urban biospheres ?

« Well, they can manage their natural capital like they would manage their historical buildings by spending money in restoring the. They must take the natural capital as something valuable and convince people that part of their taxes will go into restoring the ecosystems. These systems have to be restored by public investments. »

To conclude, creating urban biospheres is a way to maintain soil and CO² and to make cities sustainable. To do so , it is important to create a connection between the city and the rural systems by encouraging the one who benefits to the cities ressources and by creating an economical system which allows to restore the ecosystem. This day and mostly this interview was really inspiring because it made us realize not only our impact on the planet but also that we could do something in our everyday life to change the world.

Mcdonald O., Novelli A., Dangin T., Malzis A.