?Cities? illustrates how human habitats are increasingly incompatible with the species that lived there first In the final episode of Planet Earth II, Sir David Attenborough?s measured narration takes a sudden, introspective turn.
?In the last 6,000 years, the surface of our planet has undergone a sudden change,? he says. ?A new habitat has appeared, entirely designed and constructed by one species for its own purpose.?
Well, when he puts it that way, the rapid urbanization of the planet doesn?t sound so good, does it"
?Cities? is the sixth episode of Planet Earth II, the sequel to the popular documentary series, which debuted on BBC last year and is now streaming on Netflix. And it?s the first time that the humans producing the series turn the cameras on their own kind.
Opening with a stunning nighttime shot of the Supertree Grove in Singapore?which feels like a pretty sorry attempt at constructing an urban forest after watching the ?Jungles? episode?Attenborough?s tone is upbeat, billing cities as a place of ?surprising opportunity? for certain animals. Footage of people moving through Shanghai crosswalks and escalators, while cranes erect skyscrapers at a dizzying speed, make city life look every bit as dazzling as the Madagascar locust swarm in ?Deserts.?
But our human habitats are unfair, unfriendly, and often deadly to any species but our own.
Some animals thrive living in close proximity to millions of humans, or rather, because of the food that is produ...