There has to be development. I am not opposed to development. I am a biologist, but I also have training in architecture. We must do a lot more thinking about integrating all the development models. Whether it be residential, commercial, industrial or institutional development, we must integrate them into the natural environment. The proximity of a natural environment adds value to any development project.
I am convinced that, if you had the choice to live in an urban environment, you would prefer to live near a natural environment, a wetland or a forest. You need only think of Central Park in New York. Go and look at the prices of condos around Central Park: they are unaffordable. Why do people want to live there? Because there is a lung there. The same is true of Mont Royal in Montreal and the major regional parks.
Everyone in every city of the world wants to live near a natural environment. If promoters seized the opportunity to integrate natural environments into their development projects and to consider all their benefits, everyone would win. Nature would win, promoters would make money, people would be happy, we would be in better health, and so on. That would also cost us much less for water treatment.