Hotspot cities: Identifying peri-urban conflict zones

Abstract

This article summarizes research regarding urban growth in the world’s biodiversity hotspots. We examined 423 cities in the hotspots in order to identify the degree to which their forecast (2030) peri-urban growth is in direct conflict with remnant habitat and endangered species. As a subset of these 423 cities, we zoomed in on thirty-three of the biggest and fastest growing cities in the hotspots to ascertain the degree to which, as per the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 15, their local planning cultures are inclusive of ‘ecosystem and biodiversity values’. This paper presents the results of this global analysis and also offers a brief discussion of how periurban landscapes have been, but can no longer be, overlooked or underestimated as peripheral territory.