Cities often not contribute so much to health. People breath polluted air. Water is often nearly undrinkable. Food might be of low quality. Waste lies around and people might feel unsafe. While it is not the whole solution, urban farming makes life in cities better in many aspects.

The State of Nature in the EU report says that especially the European freshwater environment and its species are in a worrying state. The trend is that the pressures on freshwater will increase resulting in negative effects on society and economy. Ultimately these effects will need to be managed leading to higher costs. It is clear to experts that good water management is the best investment to counter this situation. But this is not so clear to most European citizens, civil servants, business people and politicians.