The consequences of growth—increases in insects, microorganisms, birds, water cycling, and nutrient flows—tend toward the positive kind that enrich the vitality of the whole ecosystem. The consequences of a new strip mall, on the other hand, while they may have some immediate local benefits (jobs, more money circulating through the local economy) and may even boost the country’s overall GDP, are gained at the expense of a decline in overall quality of life—increased traffic, asphalt, pollution, and waste—that ultimately undermines even some of the mall’s ostensible benefits.
