Often important in original development. Vegetation drastically changed - deforested and replanted with ornamental trees. Very little that is natural. With deindustrialisation former factory lands become brownfield sites and can only be reused if extensive soil remediation is undertaken. Urban Sensitivity to Environmental Hazards.
Cities have profound impacts on environment - both deliberate and unintentional.
As cities have grown in size the scale of this impact has kept pace, and perhaps exceeded the population growth. But the environmental problems may be excessive. C. Urban Environmental Management and Prototypes for Urban Forms with Reduced Environmental Impact 1. And, water quality is declining. And as ownership of cars and increased fossil fuel use increases in 3rd World cities the climate change difficulties incease.