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Frantzeskaki N, Childers DL, Pickett S, Hoover FA, Anderson P, Barau A, Ginsberg J, Grove M, Lodder M, Lugo AE, McPhearson T, Muñoz-Erickson TA, Quartier M, Schepers S, Sharifi A, van de Sijpe K. A transformative shift in urban ecology toward a more active and relevant future for the field and for cities. AMBIO 2024; 53:871-889. [PMID: 38643343 PMCID: PMC11058736 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-01992-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
This paper builds on the expansion of urban ecology from a biologically based discipline-ecology in the city-to an increasingly interdisciplinary field-ecology of the city-to a transdisciplinary, knowledge to action endeavor-an ecology for and with the city. We build on this "prepositional journey" by proposing a transformative shift in urban ecology, and we present a framework for how the field may continue this shift. We conceptualize that urban ecology is in a state of flux, and that this shift is needed to transform urban ecology into a more engaged and action based field, and one that includes a diversity of actors willing to participate in the future of their cities. In this transformative shift, these actors will engage, collaborate, and participate in a continuous spiral of knowledge → action → knowledge spiral and back to knowledge loop, with the goal of co producing sustainable and resilient solutions to myriad urban challenges. Our framework for this transformative shift includes three pathways: (1) a repeating knowledge → action → knowledge spiral of ideas, information, and solutions produced by a diverse community of agents of urban change working together in an "urban sandbox"; (2) incorporation of a social-ecological-technological systems framework in this spiral and expanding the spiral temporally to include the "deep future," where future scenarios are based on a visioning of seemingly unimaginable or plausible future states of cities that are sustainable and resilient; and (3) the expansion of the spiral in space, to include rural areas and places that are not yet cities. The three interrelated pathways that define the transformative shift demonstrate the power of an urban ecology that has moved beyond urban systems science and into a realm where collaborations among diverse knowledges and voices are working together to understand cities and what is urban while producing sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges and envisioning futures of socially, ecologically, and technologically resilient cities. We present case study examples of each of the three pathways that make up this transformative shift in urban ecology and discuss both limitations and opportunities for future research and action with this transdisciplinary broadening of the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niki Frantzeskaki
- Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz Building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Daniel L Childers
- School of Sustainability, WCPH 442, Arizona State University, POB 877904, Tempe, AZ, 85287-7904, USA
| | - Steward Pickett
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
| | - Fushcia-Ann Hoover
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA
| | - Pippin Anderson
- Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7707, South Africa
| | - Aliyu Barau
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bayero University Kano, PMB 3011, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Joshua Ginsberg
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
| | - Morgan Grove
- Baltimore Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, 5523 Research Park Drive, Suite 350, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Marleen Lodder
- Dutch Research Institute for Transitions, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burg. Oudlaan 50, Mandeville Building, T16-42, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ariel E Lugo
- International Urban Field Station, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Jardín Botánico Sur, Río Piedras, PR, 00926-1115, USA
| | - Timon McPhearson
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
- Urban Systems Lab, The New School, 79 Fifth Avenue, 16 Fl., New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tischa A Muñoz-Erickson
- International Urban Field Station, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Jardín Botánico Sur, Río Piedras, PR, 00926-1115, USA
| | - Mien Quartier
- Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, Stadsplein 1, 3600, Genk City, Belgium
| | - Selina Schepers
- Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, Stadsplein 1, 3600, Genk City, Belgium
| | - Ayyoob Sharifi
- The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8529, Japan
| | - Katrien van de Sijpe
- Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, Stadsplein 1, 3600, Genk City, Belgium
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Pickett STA, Frantzeskaki N, Andersson E, Barau AS, Childers DL, Hoover FA, Lugo AE, McPhearson T, Nagendra H, Schepers S, Sharifi A. Shifting forward: Urban ecology in perspective. AMBIO 2024; 53:890-897. [PMID: 38642313 PMCID: PMC11058125 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-02007-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
The world has become urban; cities increasingly shape our worldviews, relation to other species, and the large-scale, long-term decisions we make. Cities are nature, but they need to align better with other ecosystems to avoid accelerating climate change and loss of biodiversity. We need a science to guide urban development across the diverse realities of global cities. This need can be met, in part, by shifts in urban ecology and its linkages to related sciences. This perspective is a "synthesis of syntheses", consolidating ideas from the other articles in the Special Section. It re-examines the role of urban ecology, and explores its integration with other disciplines that study cities. We conclude by summarizing the next steps in the ongoing shift in urban ecology, which is fast becoming an integral part of urban studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Niki Frantzeskaki
- Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz Building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3485 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Erik Andersson
- Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 1, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
| | - Aliyu Salisu Barau
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bayero University Kano, PMB 3011, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Daniel L Childers
- School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, POB 877904, Tempe, AZ, 85287-7904, USA
| | - Fushcia-Ann Hoover
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA
| | - Ariel E Lugo
- International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Jardín Botánico Sur, Río Piedras, PR, 00926-1115, USA
| | - Timon McPhearson
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
- Urban Systems Lab, The New School, 79 Fifth Ave, 16 Floor, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Harini Nagendra
- Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Azim Premji University, Burugunte Village, Bikkanahalli Main Road, Sarjapura, Bangalore, IN, 562125, India
| | - Selina Schepers
- Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, Stadsplein 1, 3600, Genk City, Belgium
| | - Ayyoob Sharifi
- The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8529, Japan
- School of Architecture and Design, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon
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Grove M, Pickett S, Boone CG, Buckley GL, Anderson P, Hoover FA, Lugo AE, Meléndez-Ackerman E, Muñoz-Erickson TA, Nagendra H, Selles LK. Forging just ecologies: 25 years of urban long-term ecological research collaboration. AMBIO 2024; 53:826-844. [PMID: 38643345 PMCID: PMC11058169 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01938-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
We ask how environmental justice and urban ecology have influenced one another over the past 25 years in the context of the US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program and Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) project. BES began after environmental justice emerged through activism and scholarship in the 1980s but spans a period of increasing awareness among ecologists and environmental practitioners. The work in Baltimore provides a detailed example of how ecological research has been affected by a growing understanding of environmental justice. The shift shows how unjust environmental outcomes emerge and are reinforced over time by systemic discrimination and exclusion. We do not comprehensively review the literature on environmental justice in urban ecology but do present four brief cases from the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia, to illustrate the global relevance of the topic. The example cases demonstrate the necessity for continuous engagement with communities in addressing environmental problem solving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan Grove
- USDA Forest Service, 5523 Research Park Drive, Suite 350, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
| | - Steward Pickett
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
| | - Christopher G Boone
- School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, PO Box 877904, Tempe, AZ, 85287-7904, USA
| | - Geoffrey L Buckley
- Honors Tutorial College, Ohio University, 1 Ohio University Drive, Athens, OH, 45701-2979, USA
| | - Pippin Anderson
- Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Private Bag x3, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa
| | - Fushcia-Ann Hoover
- University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA
| | - Ariel E Lugo
- USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman
- Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, 17 Ave Universidad STE 1701, San Juan, PR, 00925-2537, USA
| | - Tischa A Muñoz-Erickson
- International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Jardín Botánico Sur, Río Piedras, PR, 00926, USA
| | - Harini Nagendra
- Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Azim Premji University, Burugunte Village, Bikkanahalli Main Road, Sarjapura, Bengaluru, 562125, India
| | - L Kidany Selles
- University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Facundo Bueso Building (FB-003) 17 Ave. Universidad STE 1701, San Juan, PR, 00925-2537, USA
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Andersson E, McPhearson T, Pickett STA. From urban ecology to urban enquiry: How to build cumulative and context-sensitive understandings. AMBIO 2024; 53:813-825. [PMID: 38643344 PMCID: PMC11058139 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01959-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
This paper positions urban ecology as increasingly conversant with multiple perspectives and methods for understanding the functions and qualities of diverse cities and urban situations. Despite progress in the field, we need clear pathways for positioning, connecting and synthesising specific knowledge and to make it speak to more systemic questions about cities and the life within them. These pathways need to be able to make use of diverse sources of information to better account for the diverse relations between people, other species and the ecological, social, cultural, economic, technical and increasingly digital structures that they are embedded in. Grounded in a description of the systemic knowledge needed, we propose five complementary and often connected approaches for building cumulative systemic understandings, and a framework for connecting and combining different methods and evidence. The approaches and the framework help position urban ecology and other fields of study as entry points to further advance interdisciplinary synthesis and open up new fields of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Andersson
- Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 1, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Albanovägen 28, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa.
| | - Timon McPhearson
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Albanovägen 28, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
- Urban Systems Lab, The New School, 79 Fifth Avenue, 16th Fl., New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
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Frantzeskaki N, Pickett STA, Andersson E. Shifts in urban ecology: From science to social project. AMBIO 2024; 53:809-812. [PMID: 38643342 PMCID: PMC11058140 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-02000-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Niki Frantzeskaki
- Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz Building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | | | - Erik Andersson
- Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 1, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
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