*2.1. Cities in the Age of the Capitalocene*

The impact of human activity on the environment is fundamentally changing ecological processes, and at the heart of this so-called 'Capitalocene' is the urbanisation of humanity [34–37]. Cities occupy between 2–3% of the global land coverage, which is set to triple by 2030 based on the current trajectory of low-density urban sprawl [38]. It is estimated that 1.8–2.4% of croplands will be converted to urban areas by 2030, resulting in widespread wildlife habitat loss, reduced biodiversity, and further food insecurity [39,40]. Cities are also the economic drivers of the world economy, accounting for 80% of the global GDP output with a commensurate environmental cost; cities consume over two-thirds of the world's energy and account for more than 70% of the global CO<sup>2</sup> emissions [41].

Opportunities for improved living conditions are found in urban environments, and thereby, become strong 'pull factors' driving the 'second wave of urbanisation' in Asia and Africa at a scale unprecedented since the industrial revolution [42]. The so-called secondary cities of less than 500,000 inhabitants are the fastest growing, and they account for 75% of urban dwellers. The UN [43] has estimated that, by 2050, approximately two-third of the global population (i.e., 6.68 of 9.77 billion people) will live in cities. Ninety per cent of urban land cover is near coastlines, raising concerns about resilience to flooding caused by rising sea levels and other impacts of climate change [44].

Environmental activism in the wake of the threat of Holocene extinction (or the sixth mass extinction) has placed the rights of nature on the global agenda [45–49]. Some countries have already enacted rights of nature, including Ecuador's 2008 constitutional reforms and Bolivia's 2010 'Rights of Mother Earth' act. In India, the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers have been recognised with legal personhood [50], and in New Zealand, ecosystems such as the Whanganui River and the Urewera Forest have been granted legal rights [46]. Environmental advocacy and community activism groups such as the Australian Earth Laws Alliance (AELA) are lobbying national governments to follow suit [47]. The rights of nature agenda implicitly invoke the wisdom and cultural heritage of Indigenous populations past, present, and future, which provides cues to rethinking of spatial planning as ecological stewardship [48,51,52] grounded in an ethos of 'Caring for Country' [4,5,28,53–55].

Fighting for quality natural environments in cities ought not to be just an agenda of environmentalists. Studies have proven that healthy ecologies make people happier, healthier, more inquisitive, and more productive [56–60]. Local communities tend to experience a greater sense of local custodianship when urban green and blue belts are protected, healthy, and intact. They are also more likely to participate economically and coproduce outcomes such as ecotourism opportunities [59,61]. Conservationists and planners also have a responsibility to retain social access to these environments, since the phenomena of 'green gentrification' and elitist enclaves further entrench existing inequalities and access restrictions [59,62–66].
