CityLab Daily: A Call for Cities to ‘Design Against Extinction’

Monarch-itecture: In June, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to decide whether the monarch butterfly will be protected under the Endangered Species Act. No matter what the official decision is, it’s clear the insects already face an array of existential threats. One such threat is habitat loss due to pesticides and urban development—and there’s actually quite a bit that architects and cities can do to reverse some of this damage.

St. Louis, for example, has dedicated acres of public space to making monarch-friendly gardens, while also hosting free seed giveaways and plant sales to get the community involved. A new exhibit in New York, meanwhile, shows how a building wall can act as a vertical meadow and butterfly sanctuary. “Every stem adds up, so by planting even small gardens, urban areas can have great collective impact,” says one education coordinator for the Monarch Joint Venture, which wants to encourage architects and planners to “design against extinction.” Today on CityLab: Making Urban Space for Monarch Butterflies