The Big Picture
By 2050, the United Nations estimates that 68% of the world’s population will live in urban areas[1]. This means that nearly 6.5 Billion people[2] will spend most of their lives in a city.
This implies more cars being driven, more infrastructure being built, more domestic waste being produced and fewer green spaces available in order to accommodate the increasing need for more residential dwellings.
This phenomenon is global and the Vancouver Metropolitan Area is no exception.
According to a news release[3] by Metro Vancouver on February 24, 2023 “By 2050, it's estimated that a million new residents will call this region home. Metro 2050 includes updated population, housing, and employment growth projections, and anticipates the need for the creation of approximately 500,000 new jobs and 500,000 new homes over the next 30 years.”
In a 2019 Regional Tree Canopy Cover and Impervious Surfaces[4] report published by Metro Vancouver, it is stated that “Projected growth in the Metro vancouver region over the next 20-30 years is expected to impact tree canopy within the UCB (Urban construction boundary) as land planned for future urban growth are developed and single family detached housing stock is redeveloped. The canopy cover in the UCB is projected to decrease from 32 percent to 28 percent from these sources of loss.”
In its Ecological Health Framework[5], Metro Vancouver has established a set of “Regional Ecological Health Indicators’ that provide a state of the region’s environment. However, none of them account for urban wildlife.
Our intent is to collect and maintain data at the Dissemination Block (DB)[6] and make it available to the public on a daily basis in order to support Burnaby's climate action framework[7].
1. https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html
2. https://www.un.org/en/desa/world-population-projected-reach-98-billion-2050-and-112-billion-2100
3: https://metrovancouver.org/media-room/media-release/783
4: https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/Documents/ecological-health-tree-canopy-cover-impervious-surfaces.pdf#search=Ecological%20health%20tree%20canopy
5: https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/Documents/ecological-health-framework.pdf
6: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/92-195-x/2021001/geo/db-id/db-id-eng.htm