Table of ContentsBackground and SignificanceCase Study A: Singapore PangolinsCase Study B: Chicago CoyotesConclusionThis article examines the resilience of the natural environment to the impacts of urbanization through two specific case studies: Singapore and Chicago, United States, and attempts to offer solutions for environmentally sustainable urban development. Urbanization refers to the process of urbanization of an area and can be characterized by the migration of people from surrounding rural areas to concentrate on a single urban area, the shift from an agrarian to an industrialized economy as well as the supported development. infrastructure and amenities. The term resilience refers to the ability of the system to adapt and cope with changes and continue to grow (Moberg & Simonsen, 2014). Although the resilience of the natural environment can be studied from various aspects, in the context of this article, the resilience of the natural environment will be examined through the population of local species and how the population of the species concerned has may be affected due to the impacts of urbanization on their habitats, their food sources and the threats to their lives. A resilient species will therefore be one whose population is able to thrive thanks to urbanization, while a non-resilient species will experience a significant decline in its population, or even a naturally irreversible decline. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayThrough the analysis of case studies as well as other publications on environmentally sustainable urban development, this article will seek also to suggest possible solutions for cities. develop through environmentally friendly methods.Background and importanceToday, more than half of the world's population lives in urban areas and it is predicted that by 2030, more than two-thirds of the world's population will live in urban areas (United Nations, 2018). . Furthermore, this article recognizes that natural environments have both intrinsic and instrumental value (Sandler, 2012). The intrinsic value of natural environments refers to the value granted to them by natural law. The instrumental value of natural environments arises from the role the natural environment plays in regulating global and local climate, producing resources for human consumption, and providing recreational benefits to humans. Therefore, given the macroeconomic trends of urbanization and the importance of nature both to humans and in itself, it is imperative to examine the resilience of the natural environment to urbanization and to explore solutions for ecologically sustainable urban development, so that future cities can develop without significantly deteriorating the natural environment. Compared to other publications on sustainable urban development, this article places more emphasis on the environmental dimension. This emphasis is due to the fact that the other two dimensions, economic and social, tend to have greater priority in policy making due to the satisfaction of political, economic and societal interests (Brundtland et al., 2012) . Furthermore, the natural environment is generally considered an obstacle to development and must be removed for the city to achieve economic and social sustainability (Basiago, 1999). However, what must be understood is that the environment is the broader sphere that encompasses economic functions andsocial problems of the city and that it is therefore necessary to protect the natural environment to ensure even more sustainable economic and social development (Basiago, 1999). .Case Study A: Singapore's PangolinsSingapore has rapidly urbanized into a thriving metropolis over the past 50 years. Such development has resulted in the disappearance of most of Singapore's primary forest cover and its replacement by buildings, transportation infrastructure or secondary vegetation. Today, less than 0.2% of primary forest cover remains, compared to approximately 80% in the mid-1800s (Noreen & Webb, 2013). Rapid urbanization in Singapore has led to a decline in biodiversity species variety, particularly 34–87% inferred and documented extinctions of various forest wildlife species with fewer observed extinctions (Brook, Sodhi, & Ng, 2003 ). This article will focus specifically on the construction of the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) in 1986 and its impacts on the environment since. The BKE is an 11 km long highway and is the subject of this case study as it passes through one of the last areas of primary rainforest in Singapore – the Central Catchment Area. In doing so, the Central Catchment was divided into two parts of forests known today as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) and the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR). However, during the construction of the BKE, little was done to assess the impacts on the different wildlife species living within these forests. As a result, habitats were destroyed, food sources depleted, and some animal populations were divided and stranded in the two patches of forest. Many animals attempting to cross the four-lane highway were often victims of traffic accidents. This was of particular concern since CCNR and BTNR were home to some of Singapore's threatened species, such as the critically endangered Sunda pangolin (Challender et al., 2013). The Sunda Pangolin is a shy anteater that lives in mature forests and plays an important role in controlling the ant and termite population in reserves as well as promoting soil aeration when feeding (Lim , 2010). However, due to their poor eyesight, slow movements, and instinct to curl up into a ball when threatened, Sunda pangolins are often hit by oncoming vehicles when attempting to cross the river. BKE to forage for more food (National Parks Board, 2019). From 1994 to 2014, a total of 24 pangolins were killed by oncoming vehicles and in 2016, the pangolin population in Singapore was estimated at around 100 individuals (Chew & Pazos, 2015; Tan, 2016). As threats to their survival and habitat increase with urbanization, Sunda pangolins are unable to adapt and cope with these changes. Combined with a low fertility rate of 1 to 2 pups per year, the Sunda pangolin population is in decline. The endangerment of these creatures was only partially saved thanks to the construction of the EcoLink@BKE bridge in 2013, which allowed small animals to safely cross between CCNR and BTNR. However, these efforts have proven insufficient, with already 8 pangolin deaths caused by vehicles in the first half of 2019 alone (Lim K., 2019). The unadaptable nature of Sunda pangolins requires human intervention and conservation plans for pangolins have already begun, such as the National Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for Sunda Pangolins in 2018 and breeding in captivity of pangolins since 2011. However, it isuncertain how successful such pangolins will be. intervention will be, with the captive breeding program producing only 5 pangolin offspring over a 6 year period and the conservation plan slowly taking off. Therefore, given the lack of resilience of species as unadaptable as Sunda pangolins, it is important that cities attempt to prevent a decline in the population of these species instead of focusing solely on conservation after the urbanization as a remedy. B: Chicago CoyotesWhile Sunda pangolins in Singapore have demonstrated a lack of resilience in the face of rapid changes brought about by urbanization, elsewhere in Chicago, United States, where urbanization has largely stabilized, the coyotes slowly return to their country of origin. Coyotes were rare in the third most populous city until the 1980s due to heavy hunting of the species in the early 1900s, with poachers killing 6.5 million coyotes during the peak hunting period (Worral , 2016). As a result, coyotes live mainly in the forested outskirts of the city. However, they are making a comeback due to the city's lack of predators and abundance of food. The coyote population in Chicago increased from approximately 25 coyotes in 1991 to approximately 2,000 coyotes in 2018 (Gehrt SD, 2004; Anchor, 2018). Unlike Singapore's pangolins, Chicago's coyotes are much more resilient to urbanization and, in fact, specific animal species such as coyotes, raccoons and red foxes are known to thrive in urban areas due to their great capacity for adaptation (Dell'Amore, 2016). ). Chicago coyotes, in particular, have been observed moving through car traffic, adopting a nocturnal lifestyle to avoid people, and creating dens in the smallest crevices of urban population centers (Dell'Amore, 2014). These coyotes are known to be misanthropic synanthropes. They are misanthropic in behavior, largely avoiding humans, and synanthropic in terms of demographics, having a high population density and being able to breed in close proximity to humans. The characteristics of misanthropes and synanthropes are explained in more detail in the table below. The natural introduction of coyotes into the city and their high adaptability to the urban environment illustrate a high level of resilience of the coyote population to urbanization. However, Chicago coyotes have been perceived as a threat largely due to existing stereotypes that coyotes are savage and capable of harming pets or even a human child, as well as high-profile cases of coyote attacks. So, due to public pressure and fear, the government has attempted to reduce the coyote population through lethal culls, which involves trapping and euthanizing coyotes. However, these methods soon proved useless, as the coyote population could easily rebound by breeding at earlier ages and having larger litters (Quirin and Gehrt, 2012). This reproductive capacity was the result of many years of evolution in the struggle to survive under intensive hunting (Worral, 2016). The coyote population's resistance to lethal removal further illustrates their high level of resilience and suggests that other management strategies need to be developed. However, given the misanthropic behavioral nature of coyotes, researchers at the Urban Coyote Research Project say urban coyotes do not pose a great threat to city dwellers. In fact, instead of being a threat, coyotes could prove to be..