Eco-metropolis: Re-interpreting ecological conservation in the context of innovative agglomeration.

•Economists have identified contemporary urban development as innovative agglomeration, instead of linear expansion.•Conservation should go beyond natural infrastructure and find new ways for agglomerative factors to coexist with ecology.•Technological innovation makes conservation cost-efficient and coordinates public debate with conservation initiatives.•Service industries in an agglomeration economy is critical in coordinating public and private sectors to finance conservation.