The Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology

Ian Douglas, P M L Anderson, David Goode, Michael C. Houck, David Maddox, Harini Nagendra, Puay Yok Tan, Ian Douglas, P M L Anderson, David Goode, Mike Houck, David Maddox, Harini Nagendra, Puay Yok Tan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780429015267
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Reference

This second edition covers recent developments around the world with contributors from 33 different countries. It widens the handbook's scope by including ecological design; consideration of cultural dimensions of the use and conservation of urban nature; the roles of government and civil society; and the continuing issues of equity and fairness in access to urban greenspaces.

New features include an emphasis on the biophilic design of homes and workplaces, demonstrating the value of nature, in order to counter the still prevalent attitude among many developers that nature is a constraint rather than a value. The volume explores great practical achievements that have occurred since the first edition, with many governments increasingly recognizing and legislating on urban nature and green infrastructure matters, since cities play a major role in adapting to change, particularly to climate crisis. New topics such as the ecological role of light at night and human microbiota in the urban ecosystem are introduced. Additional attention is given to food production in cities, particularly the multiple roles of urban agriculture and household gardens in different contexts from wealthy communities to the poorest informal settlements in deprived communities. The emphasis is on demonstrating what can be achieved, and what is already being done.

The book aims to help scholars and graduate students by providing an invaluable and up-to-date guide to current urban ecological thinking across the range of disciplines, such as geography, ecology, environmental science/studies, planning, and urban studies, that converge in the study of towns and cities and urban design and living. It will also assist practitioners and civil society members in discovering the ways diff erent specialists and thinkers approach urban nature.

Part I

Urban ecology: the field of study, its growth and present concerns

Introduction

David Goode

The first part of the book considers the nature of urban ecology and how the subject has evolved over the past hundred years. We start with some definitions. Nancy McIntyre (Chapter 1) provides a broad perspective in her search for what is urban, summarizing the obvious properties of urban areas as high levels and density of population, anthropogenic forms of land use (built development), and altered forms of land cover, including deleterious impacts on ecosystem services. She points out that in addition to population size and density there are other features arising from human activities that are part of the urban definition. Cities modify the local climate by creating heat islands. Similarly the local hydrology is severely modified by built development, creating a greater frequency of spate conditions in urban waterways. Cities also have global effects through the magnitude of their ecological footprint. It is clear that urbanization can have a profound impact on biota, reducing biodiversity, promoting homogeneity, and damaging ecosystem services. But we should also be aware that at a regional level in developed countries the biodiversity of large cities, which support a patchwork of many different habitats, may often be much higher than in surrounding intensively farmed monocultural landscapes.

In her concise résumé Nancy pinpoints a theme which recurs within these first chapters. Urban ecology has demonstrated a gradual change of emphasis from basic documentation of patterns and processes in urban ecosystems to a far more complex subject spanning a wide spectrum of activity. It now extends far beyond pure ecology to encompass socio-economic, cultural, and political issues concerning environmental decision-making in towns and cities, and the impacts of urbanization on the wider world.

Our second chapter uses archaeology to extend the reach of urban ecology back in time, providing insights into the way that early urban societies were able to ensure availability of food and water through their deep knowledge and carefully tailored management of ecological conditions. Christian Isendahl and his colleagues (Chapter 2) explore the pathways of food production in such societies in tropical regions which are of great importance in explaining how occupation of built environments came into being. An example is the way Southeast Asian farmers mastered the monsoon climate, with its annual floods which provided rich aquatic resources alongside rice production. Climate and hydrology were crucial factors in determining the structuring and location of early urban settlements. Considering archaeological data may generate new insights into urban and peri-urban agriculture as sources of food security in the cities of today. There is ample scope to integrate archaeological knowledge within urban ecology research, and also potentially in the design and management of modern cities.

Returning to the twentieth century, in Chapter 3, we explore the rapid evolution of urban ecology through a series of key ‘events’. Some of these were particular historical events, whilst others were part of a gradual evolution of scientific concepts and social attitudes. During the second half of the century the discipline of urban ecology increased dramatically in its scale, scope, and complexity. Specific events, such as dereliction caused by World War II, and the spontaneous emergence of post-industrial habitats following the later decline of heavy manufacturing industry, led to detailed investigations of the urban fauna and flora in many countries, especially in Europe. A number of pioneering ecologists developed their skills in this novel environment. New research departments were founded in universities, led by notable ecologists such as Sukopp in Germany, Luniak in Poland, Numata in Japan, and Bradshaw and Gilbert in the UK. The science of urban ecology became firmly established as an academic discipline. But even so it remained a poor relation in the wider horizons of ecological science. Most ecologists still preferred to work in ‘pristine’ environments.

Other major drivers influenced the way urban ecology developed. One was the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme 11, led by John Celecia, whose aim was to investigate the functional processes of big cities. Another pioneer in that field was Stephen Boyden who led the first multi-disciplinary study of human ecology in a major city, Hong Kong, in the 1970s. These new approaches prompted detailed studies of cities in many countries.

Meanwhile, public concern for the environment was gaining momentum and the United Nations conferences, on the Human Environment, Stockholm in 1972 and on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro in 1992, had profound consequences. In response to the requirements of sustainable development new concepts were born, such as city metabolism and ecological footprint analysis. Ecological teams working on cities in the USA argued for ecologists to take greater account of human activities by working as broadly based multi-disciplinary teams. The sudden blossoming in the 1980s of urban nature conservation in many parts of the world, often led by citizen groups, was another key feature, bringing people and nature together to improve both quality of life and the environment in urban areas.

Alongside a huge growth of academic studies in urban ecology the final decade of the twentieth century saw the emergence of a new professional discipline, the practice of urban ecology. In the UK a new Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management was launched in 1991 which gave great impetus to the work of ecological practitioners bound by a code of professional practice that respects the value of biodiversity. In the urban context ecology had moved into a different realm, involving many new players including sociology, economics, health professionals, and politicians. By the turn of the century individual cities were investigated as complex ecosystems, of which humankind was considered to be a key integral and functional component rather than somehow separated from them. Urban ecology became central to delivery of the policies and practice of sustainable development.

Our fourth chapter, by David Goode, examines how urban ecology has developed during the twenty-first century from the perspective of a practitioner in the UK. Climate change has become a central issue. Whilst the science is now widely accepted, progress on mitigation is still seriously hindered by intransigence on the part of some politicians and business interests. But there are strong signs that public opinion is now recognizing the urgency for action. Young people in particular are making their voice heard, nationally and internationally, pressing for action in a climate emergency. Led by Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, children in many countries are pressing governments to respond with real action. On 3 May 2019 the UK Government Committee on Climate Change announced that action must be taken immediately to set a legally binding target to cut greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050. The following week the UK Parliament declared a National Climate Emergency. Books such as The Uninhabitable Earth (Wallace-Wells 2019), with its detailed synthesis of the science, together with numerous examples of catastrophic events that are already happening, bring the subject into sharp focus.

Ecologists are working with designers to develop adaptations to the built environment that can cope with rising sea level and increased frequency of extreme weather events. Climate proofing is becoming a significant industry, designing and integrating green and blue infrastructure more effectively. Alongside this there has been an equally important development, how the design of ecological infrastructure affects the delivery of important ‘eco-psychological’ services which will have huge economic and social implications globally as the human race becomes 80 percent urbanized by 2100. The key outcome of such thinking in terms of impact on the urban realm has been the emergence of the theory and practice of biophilic design led by pioneers in the USA and Northern Europe.

However, progress is still slow. Although much work in urban design is directed towards finding sustainable solutions, major barriers exist which prevent ecological dimensions being fully explored. New urban developments and major redevelopment schemes are generally led by architects and urban designers who are not trained in holistic ecological design, and whose main focus is on the built environment. There is a clear professional hierarchy which generally excludes effective consideration of ecological issues in the grand design. It is exceptionally rare for fundamental ecological concepts to form the basis of a master plan. Eco-psychological issues, including ecological aspects of health and social well-being, are even less likely to be addressed. If we are to take sustainability seriously, ecologists need to be involved as practitioners alongside other professions from day one, to ensure that the natural capital of biodiversity and green infrastructure are fully integrated in the overall design. We also need to be aware that ecologists themselves need to be better versed in all facets of ‘eco-psychology’.

But it is not just a question of professional hierarchies. Interdisciplinary literacy and understanding of fundamental differences in the values that underpin the key professions need to be better appreciated for real progress to be made. Multi-disciplinary approaches, including the broader goal of multivariate optimization, require that all players are much better trained in the fundamentals of each other’s disciplines and hence equipped to become engaged in urban design and regeneration on an equal basis to ensure a holistic and fully optimized approach is achieved. Chapter 60 explores these issues in more detail.

The science of urban ecology is developing through new avenues of investigation, especially evolutionary adaptation to the urban environment which is fast becoming a major research theme. It is clear that public appreciation of the values and benefits of nature for the health and well-being of the urban population has grown significantly over the past 20 years. This may be linked to a strong resurgence of ‘nature writing’ in the UK. Ecological examples of citizen science are increasing dramatically. A striking example of the new philosophy that promotes nature and people is the fact that London has been designated as a National Park City, in recognition of the enormous value of its nature, green spaces, and open landscapes to the people of London (see http://nationalparkcity.london/).

At the same time there is increased awareness of the acute problems caused by air pollution from traffic in many cities, an issue that is being tackled both nationally and locally. Another critical issue that has only recently become widely known is the widespread pollution of waterways, seas, and oceans by all forms of plastic including microplastic particles that are now prevalent in natural and economic food chains throughout the world. These are just two examples of the leakage of contaminants from the metabolic pathways of towns and cities.

Over recent years practitioners and researchers have all benefited from the interactive website The Nature of Cities which provides a crucial forum for all concerned. The study and practice of urban ecology is continuously developing and there will be even greater urgency in future years to find solutions to the problems that lie ahead.

Reference

Wallace-Wells, D. (2019) The Uninhabitable Earth, London: Allen Lane.

1

Urban areas and urban ecology

Nancy E. McIntyre

Urbanization is one of the most profound cultural and ecological phenomena that have been identified, a leading cause of biodiversity decline, and is projected to increase in the foreseeable future (McKinney 2006). Although settlements began at least 10,000 years ago, urban growth in the past 200 years has been unprecedented and dramatic. Even though cities and towns comprise about only 2 percent of the Earth’s land surface (Wu 2006), they contain an ever-increasing proportion of the world’s population. In 1700, the largest city in the world was Constantinople at ~700,000 residents. By 1800, one city had over a million inhabitants (Peking). By 1900, 16 cities exceeded 1 million residents. By 2000, over 300 cities in the world had more than a million inhabitants (Berry 1990; Pickett et al. 2001). Currently, there are about 33 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants (United Nations Economic and Social Affairs 2018). Over half of the human population now lives in urban areas, and this proportion is projected to continue to rise. As perhaps the most prominent signal of the Anthropocene, urban growth has influenced climate, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and many other factors – hence the development of urban ecology (Collins et al. 2000). Since the first edition of this book, much more work in urban ecology has been done, including an expansion from ‘ecology in’ to ‘ecology of’ to ‘ecology for’ cities (Pickett et al. 2016). Cities are now recognized as ecosystems with ‘urban syndromes’ (Pickett et al. 2011): climatological, hydrological, biotic, and human conditions t...