i grew up in an awful grinding suburban area in a filled wetland that then got surrounded by toxic waste dumping industry on a large scale. This is in southern California. In terms of landscape ‘wildness’, it’s very close to zero, but it’s actually a tiny bit better now there than when i was a child. More animals have learned to adapt and there are more squirrels, lizards, etc than a few decades ago, and now even coyotes. Much of the lawn has been replaced due to cyclical drought made worse by climate change, etc. On the other hand it is true large trees have been replaced by smaller plants which perform less urban ecosystem function. There are a few more rain gardens, bioswales, etc. I’d actually say in that area there is some slow progress, though not nearly fast enough. I agree the fake mulch is awful, it stinks and is hot and looks jarring. It’s commonly used even here in Vermont where sugar maples dump a constant stream of nutrient rich insect friendly mulch that is often raked and thrown away or composted. There is a push here in my progressive city to do ‘no mow may’ which i have mixed feelings about because it then becomes very hard to mow in June unless you have a bulky resource intensive lawnmower. I prefer just getting rid of any lawn not being directly used by kids, dogs, snow pile storage, etc (and kids don’t need huge lawns, they love nature! you just gotta monitor for ticks). So yeah.
I don’t think the battle against ecosystem collapse is one we win or use. Like ecosystems it is complex, and varies from palce to place. The bad news is it is true no one can stop large scale ecosystem collapse that is already occurring and has bene ongoing for a long time. The good news is on a local scale we all can make a significant difference to small scale ecosystems. If humans make it, we make it in a more resilient and rich world. If humans die off or society totally collapses, at least there is more there to regrow that way.