Pakistan is rapidly urbanising, and from a financial perspective, it is excellent that we are commencing economic progress. However, we must ensure that we do not commence economic growth at the expense of our environment. Our cities are growing exponentially; however, this rapid expansion is eclipsed by an increase in environmental problems.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) points out that Pakistan has the highest rate of urbanisation in South Asia. In fact, the UN Population Division predicts that almost half of Pakistan’s population is expected to live in cities by 2025. The already discussed figure must serve as a wake-up call for us to strengthen biodiversity in our urban areas and to make them more livable for us as well as for other forms of life on earth. A question that arises here is, how can we make this happen? The answer to this question is quite simple. We must integrate forests in our urban areas to make them socially equitable, ecologically viable and financially sustainable for all.

The concrete jungle ideology is neither working today nor will it work 20 years from now.

From a bird’s eye view, our urban areas are nothing but a concrete jungle, and all we can see are buildings of different........

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