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An Ecology for Cities: A Transformational Nexus of Design and Ecology to Advance Climate Change Resilience and Urban Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel L. Childers

    (School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Mary L. Cadenasso

    (Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • J. Morgan Grove

    (Forest Service, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Victoria Marshall

    (Parsons The New School for Design, New York, NY 10011, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Brian McGrath

    (Parsons The New School for Design, New York, NY 10011, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Steward T. A. Pickett

    (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Cities around the world are facing an ever-increasing variety of challenges that seem to make more sustainable urban futures elusive. Many of these challenges are being driven by, and exacerbated by, increases in urban populations and climate change. Novel solutions are needed today if our cities are to have any hope of more sustainable and resilient futures. Because most of the environmental impacts of any project are manifest at the point of design, we posit that this is where a real difference in urban development can be made. To this end, we present a transformative model that merges urban design and ecology into an inclusive, creative, knowledge-to-action process. This design-ecology nexus—an ecology for cities—will redefine both the process and its products. In this paper we: (1) summarize the relationships among design, infrastructure, and urban development, emphasizing the importance of joining the three to achieve urban climate resilience and enhance sustainability; (2) discuss how urban ecology can move from an ecology of cities to an ecology for cities based on a knowledge-to-action agenda; (3) detail our model for a transformational urban design-ecology nexus, and; (4) demonstrate the efficacy of our model with several case studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel L. Childers & Mary L. Cadenasso & J. Morgan Grove & Victoria Marshall & Brian McGrath & Steward T. A. Pickett, 2015. "An Ecology for Cities: A Transformational Nexus of Design and Ecology to Advance Climate Change Resilience and Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:4:p:3774-3791:d:47533
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. John Robinson & James Tansey, 2006. "Co-production, emergent properties and strong interactive social research: the Georgia Basin Futures Project," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(2), pages 151-160, March.
    4. John Thackara, 2006. "In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262701154, December.
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