Transforming artificial creations into thriving ecosystems: the future of infrastructure and construction

We all want to live a good life. Healthy, happy, comfortable and prosperous. So why is this natural desire of ours causing so much misery on our planet? The economic development of countries driven by this desire is the main cause of the nature crisis.

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The experts calculate that between 0.01 and 0.1% of all species will become extinct each year (WWF). 

Only a largely intact biosphere, acting as both a stock and a flow regulator of carbon, water and nutrients, can adapt to external pressures and ensure that the Earth system continues to function (Gupta et al., 2024).

The root cause of the current nature crisis lies in a fundamental mindset: when building a house, our focus is almost exclusively on fulfilling human needs. We clear vast stretches of meadows or forests, construct a building, plant a few ornamental dwarf trees, and lay down a pristine lawn. And that’s it. What once served as a haven and a source of sustenance for hundreds of species is reduced to supporting the life of just one: humans.

Thankfully, in various countries, we have legislative measures to compensate for the loss of biologically active surfaces. These regulations vary in effectiveness, from robust and mandatory to loosely enforced. Standards like BREEAM or LEED are also gaining traction, increasingly incorporating biodiversity compensation requirements, including the much-needed Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) approach, pioneered in the UK.

Yet, in my opinion, the core attitude of businesses in industries such as construction and infrastructure hasn’t fundamentally changed. There’s still a tendency to ignore the interconnectedness of human life with the rest of the natural world. Many projects aim to solve immediate human problems, often at the expense of leaving a net negative impact on the environment.

Why does this happen? The answer lies in inertia. We build the way we always have, following well-trodden paths, lacking innovative alternatives.

So, what needs to change? Infrastructure projects of the future — and increasingly of the present — must move beyond simply creating roads, bridges, or residential complexes. They need to become artificially created ecosystems with the function for humans. Not just a bridge, but a bridge as an ecosystem that supports life for other species and is part of a global complex of artificial and natural ecosystems that support conditions for all life on Earth. While current adaptive methodologies are based on the principle when nature is used as an infrastructure for human needs (e.g. green infrastructure), the real progress will be when human-made objects become an infrastructure for nature as well.

Sounds strange? Let me explain. Imagine a bridge, a road, a soundproof screen, or an energy facility designed not just to serve its primary human function but also to embody the traits of an ecosystem. It would form a biotope, hosting a community of plants and animals, with energy and material cycles, and even a trophic chain.

In this vision, the ecological function of human-made structures will not be an afterthought or a secondary benefit. It will hold equal importance to their primary purpose for humans. Every artificial structure should not only support but actively stabilize and enhance the conditions for all life forms — human and non-human alike.

These infrastructure ecosystems would be interconnected, much like natural ecosystems in the wild, creating a web of life that mimics nature’s harmony.

While someone like Elon Musk dream of escaping to Mars, I’d argue for building ecosystems right here on Earth. The good news is that the solutions already exist. Ingenious engineering and design innovations inspired by biomimicry are being developed as we speak. There is a bright future and it lies in the transformation of artificial objects into full-fledged ecosystems.

The author: Oleh Bykh, the Deep Eco's founder