Planning Bird-Safe Cities

By Natalie Lambert

Research indicates nearly one billion birds annually may die due to window collisions. Our Safe Passage work at Detroit Bird Alliance recognizes this threat, and we have been with Wayne State University to install working bird-safe windows at the WSU Law complex. As an intern for Detroit Bird Alliance and a soon-to-be graduate student in urban planning, I find myself thinking about how we can develop our world to align more with natural habitat rather than against it.

What do Detroit or other cities do to coexist with birds? Toronto has set the bar, being the first municipality in the world to adopt bird-friendly building design regulations per the 2007 Toronto Green Standard. Similar bird-friendly bills have been passed in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco. This past spring, bird-friendly building standards were brought into Detroit City Council discussions. However, the Legislative Policy Division has yet to act.

SQ Condominium Building in Alexandra Park in Toronto. The exterior is only 3 percent glass, significantly reducing the bird collision hazard.

Creating Nature-Friendly Cities

As a future planner, I think of what I can do in my career to promote more nature-friendly cities. Tim Beatley, author of The Bird-Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats, states, “What’s good for birds will be good for humans.” It sounds simple enough. Planting trees benefits birds and balances a concrete city aesthetic. Trees can even help combat the heat island effect that often happens in cities. There is even an economic benefit in planning to protect birds. A study at Texas A&M found a positive relationship between home prices and bird diversity. To hear birds sing in an urban space is a sign of good ecological health in the surrounding area. 

There are also deeper environmental justice factors at play, according to the recent New York Times article, Why Warblers Flock to Wealthier Neighborhoods. Certain areas that have been previously deemed dangerous according to redlining standards lack bird diversity, whereas neighborhoods with a larger proportion of white residents have greater levels of biodiversity and genetic diversity. Urban planners can and should become stewards of the natural world so that a diversity of people and birds can coexist now and in the future.