While massive rainstorms and subsequent flooding are regular events, our concrete and asphalt urban environment exacerbates their effects. For far too long, cities have been built in a way that ignores or is in direct opposition to the realities of natural systems.

Recent events highlight two facts: 1) our infrastructure needs to be upgraded to handle the consequences of urbanization in a changing climate, and 2) cities need to be designed and retrofitted so they work more like natural systems, rather than against them. The sustainability of our built environment depends on it.

Note: This appeared as Letter to the Editor in the Globe & Mail.