PART IV

Synthesis
CHAPTER 16
Synthesizing urban ecology research and
topics for urban environmental management
Matthias Richter1 and Ulrike Weiland2
1
Environmental Scientist, Publicist and University Lecturer, Germany∗
2
Institute for Geography, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
The subject of this last chapter is the question as to
which urban ecological research results of the authors
of this book contain starting points for urban environ-
mental management and thus for an ‘‘applied urban
ecology.’’ For this evaluation the articles of Part III
Selected Fields of Applied Urban Ecology will be used,
in which research and action fields of urban ecology
are prepared thematically.
‘‘Applied Urban Ecology – A Global Framework’’ is a
contribution to support the improvement of environ-
mental quality in urban settings by mutually learning
from other attempts. The purpose of this book is to pro-
vide urban ecological knowledge in a nutshell tailored
for supporting environmentally sound urban devel-
opment. As an applied scientifically based approach,
urban ecology gives advice about where and how
the urban environment may be protected from fur-
ther harm, and how environmental quality and thus
physical human living conditions may be improved.
If one subjects the articles of urban ecological
research in general and the contributions of this book
in particular to a comparative analysis one determines
that not only the thematic areas and subjects of urban
ecology boast a large range; the respective understand-
ing of urban ecology is also different. Urban ecology
can be conducted not only in an analytical–descriptive
perspective (‘‘how it is’’) but also in a normative
perspective (‘‘how it should be’’). Whilst many urban
∗
Contact information: http://www.Dr-Matthias-Richter.de
Applied Urban Ecology: A Global Framework, First Edition. Edited by Matthias Richter and Ulrike Weiland.
© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2012 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ecologists take an analytical–descriptive perspective,
in accordance with their view of themselves as natural
or social scientists, others (who follow the goal of a
change to and improvement of the urban environ-
ment) take a normative perspective. The editors of
this book support the view, that a careful and ‘‘sober’’
normative perspective (‘‘should-be perspective’’) must
be added to the analytical–descriptive perspective (‘‘is
perspective’’) of urban ecological analysis out of which
then impulses for the protection and the improvement
of the urban environment could arise.
The interesting question is whether the different
normative views about urban ecological topics in this
book can be brought into line? Due to the variety
of topic areas and subjects mentioned, the author’s
view is that this will only work under general terms
such as ‘‘long-term environmentally sound’’ or – more
broadly – ‘‘sustainable’’ urban development. Thus as
soon as one is dealing with real decisions on the ground,
priorities are to be set in favor of certain goals, which
in turn more or less exclude the realization of other
goals. In this way, for example, urban climate pro-
tection usually requires different measures from those
of biodiversity protection and this also requires differ-
ent ones from resource protection in the sense of a
prioritization of renewable resources.
In Chapter 4 topics such as the urban heat island
effect, biodiversity and the CO2 concentration of the
208 Synthesizing urban ecology research and topics
atmosphere are dealt with by Wu et al., building on the
LTER study in Phoenix, Arizona. A central concern
of the chapter is to deliver a transdisciplinary view of
urban ecosystems. The contribution from Wu et al.
deals with an improved understanding of the driving
forces in relation to patterns and processes in urban
systems. The research on urban development is based
on a landscape ecological approach, which is portrayed
through computer-based modeling and landscape
metrics. The effects of urbanization on different partial
aspects are presented in particular, whereby to a great
extent an analytical–descriptive perspective is taken.
The normative perspective refers to the improvement
of the linking of social, economic and ecological aspects
within urban ecological research. The proclamation
of sustainable urban development remains, however,
very abstract:
Urban ecology is expected to play an instrumental
role in improving existing cities and developing new
ones that are more sustainable ecologically, econom-
ically, and socially. To realize this goal, urban ecology
needs to go beyond the city to consider broader
landscapes and go beyond ecology to embrace design
sciences. (Wu et al., 2011, Chapter 4, pp. 48–49)
Material aspects and the question of sustainable
urban development are topics of Chapter 5 written
by Baccini. In this, existing analyses of the ‘‘material
situation’’ of urban regions and social systems are
portrayed in relation to the resources of water,
biomass, construction materials and energy alongside
the presentation of strategies and suggestions for
sustainable urban development. Two main questions
are posed in the contribution:
• What are the main characteristics of urban systems?
• In what way should they be reconstructed?
Thus not only the analytical–descriptive but also the
normative perspectives are represented. The chapter
is implicitly accompanied by the concern that with the
current growth of the world population the limitation
of resources could lead to a disaster. As the author him-
self explains, the integration of ecological principles,
such as the reuse of building materials and the increase
in energy efficiency, comprises approaches that can
prevent the horror scenarios from becoming reality.
It must be commented here that humans have
always been very resourceful at using alternative
materials or products. It should also be asked whether
the limitation of fossil fuels will not be compensated for
in the near future by the intensive use of renewable
energy, e.g., in the form of geothermal energy, solar
energy, wind energy, and water power. Large invest-
ments in the further development of these resources
are both in preparation and being undertaken. The
question still remains as to whether their use will
also lead to an equality of distribution. Especially here
skepticism has its place and is thematized in relation to
water resources in Chapter 15.
In Chapter 6 Aggarwal and Butsch look at the envi-
ronmental problems in Indian mega-cities using the
example of Delhi. These include serious air, water, and
soil pollution, which lead to massive health problems
of the urban inhabitants. In addition, the contribu-
tion reveals that the poor population classes are more
strongly affected by these environmental problems than
the middle and upper classes; the question of the social
distribution of environmental pollution is made clearly.
Much environmental data is presented in this chapter;
however the normative perspective is taken in which
conclusions for the regulation of urban development
are made. The social–political dimension is rightly
referred to, without the inclusion of which solutions
to the problems are only possible to a limited extent.
To quote:
From a socioecological perspective societal reform is
also urgently needed to overcome the vicious cir-
cle of environmental degradation and poverty. In
brief, to produce environmentally sound, sustain-
able, inclusive and harmonious mega-cities, there is
a need to reinvent urban planning, to bring about
reforms in urban administration, and to have good
governance, strong political will and a persistent civil
society engagement. (Aggarwal and Butsch, 2011,
Chapter 6, p. 80)
It will be difficult, and probably only possible in the
long term, to bring about the required reforms and
ways of thinking and to lead to practical improve-
ments of the environmental situation. However, it
must be remembered that the environmental condi-
tions in European and North American cities were
disastrous in the early days of industrialization, but
were improved in the long term. The current mega-
cities thus have an advantage over the early industrial
cities: today there is much more knowledge, technol-
ogy and many more methods for the protection of the
environment than back then. Since the articulate and
mobile middle classes develop quickly in upcoming

nations such as India and China and (can) make
higher demands with regards to their quality of life
and on the environment than the industrial workers in
the early days of industrialization in Europe and North
America, there is a glimmer of hope for an improvement
of the environmental situation in newly industrial-
ized countries and ‘‘young industrial nations’’ in the
near future.
In the contribution by Rink and Herbst in Chapter 7
the topic of ‘‘urban wilderness’’ is considered from
various perspectives, including from the planning per-
spective and the social and ecological perspectives. The
reference area for the literature study for this article
extends from central, western and northern Europe
to the United States. The article includes a portrayal
of facts and definitions and thus takes an analytical–
descriptive perspective. However, it also has an appeal-
ing character, in which the importance of areas for
experiencing nature is emphasized and in which sites
of urban wilderness are propagated as places for envi-
ronmental education.
What is interesting is the consideration about how
urban wilderness is viewed in an intercultural compar-
ison. It seems to be that first a certain cultural shaping
of the living conditions in the industrialized nations has
led to the valuation of these areas, whereas in other
regions of the world, such as in Africa or in the former
Soviet Union, these areas are either ignored or seen
to be of little value. As shown in this chapter, even in
Europe these areas are not always valued. It can also be
assumed that in the long term the relationship between
indoor and outdoor experiences of urban inhabitants
will continue to move in favor of the indoor experi-
ences. Thus the skepticism remains valid as to whether
areas for experiencing nature will continue to play a
role on derelict land. If Konrad Lorenz is correct in
his assumption in relation to nature, which is that we
only protect that which we know, then this seems to
indicate the necessity to think more deeply about sev-
eral things: first, experiences of ‘‘nature’’ are becoming
virtual more often, this means conveyed by media and,
second, a filtering of urban nature experiences to more
exotic and spectacular examples is gaining ground.
Thus, the visitor numbers in zoos continue to be high
and the keeping of exotic animals in urban apartments
is on the increase. Thus the third point could be that
areas for experiencing nature on derelict land are only
selective and are important only for certain groups
of the population and that the high point for their
acceptance has already been reached.
Synthesis 209
The contribution from Kerle and Alkema in Chapter 8
deals with the risk of flooding and the prevention of
floods using the example of Naga City in the Philippines
and thus provides a contribution to the linking of
urban ecology and risk research. The chapter addresses
specific data and experiences with the authorities and
the urban inhabitants. The normative perspective is
implicitly included, in which the protection of human
life and the entire values threatened by flooding are
mentioned. According to the authors it is necessary to
use various geoinformatic tools and techniques in order
to optimize this protection. It is important to emphasize
that not only disaster is perceived as an acute and
immediate threat, which is promoted by reports in the
media, but also that the creeping threat through, for
instance, air and water pollution and long-term health
effects are also heeded appropriately by the urban
environmental policies.
In Chapter 9 Nikolopoulou presents the experiences
from seven European cities from the EU-funded project
RUROS. The legally protected good here is also human
health, as in the previous article, whereby mainly the
climatic quality of the surroundings in urban open
spaces is dealt with. The chapter clearly portrays what
the human adaptability mechanism looks like in unfa-
vorable climates. The normative perspective becomes
clear from the implicitly included demands for the,
when possible, climatically acceptable urban open
spaces. Solutions are also specifically mentioned, such
as the examples in the part of this chapter named
‘‘design interventions,’’ in which landscape architec-
tural and material–technical suggestions are given for
the design of urban open spaces.
In Chapter 10 plant diversity in gardens is investi-
gated by Cilliers et al. In contrast to many studies in
central Europe, not only the species diversity of sponta-
neous and subspontaneous flora is included, but also of
planted species. In this chapter it is determined that the
cultural, social, and economic make-up or the status
of the garden owner is decisive for the design of the
garden and its species diversity. Using the example
of two South African settlements, Potchefstroom and
Ganyesa, it is shown that apart from the ‘‘luxury
effect’’, which says that the species diversity increases
with socioeconomic status, further factors come into
play with respect to the diversity of the plant species,
such as previous use, or whether existing vegetation is
deliberately included in the garden design.
The normative perspective remains more under-
represented overall, even when, at the beginning,
210 Synthesizing urban ecology research and topics
health aspects are briefly named as a service of urban
green and towards the end a mixture of bottom-up
and top-down approaches is requested regarding man-
agement for the provision of ecosystem services. Fur-
thermore, conservation oriented planning is implied,
which should use a participatory approach to include
all parties on all levels.
In particular, at the transition from the analytical–
descriptive to the normative perspective, the limited
possibilities for controlling urban biodiversity are re-
vealed in the case of gardens. The actors here are the
garden owners, or those who are responsible for the
design of the garden and the selection of the plant col-
lection. For these people the decisive factor is whether
the garden suits the needs of the user; this is, however,
not dependent on a high or low biodiversity. Rather,
the species diversity is a result of the needs as well
as the social and economic possibilities and the level
of education of the user, as is revealed. Thus, in the
conclusion of the contribution the question of social
justice is rightly posed with respect to the availability
of resources and services by local governments, as well
as the aspects of participation of the population in the
relevant decisions.
In Chapter 11 Ignatieva shows which influences
Anglo-American and European garden and landscape
traditions have and had on garden design (with an
emphasis on the British influence and, in particular,
Victorian gardens). The homogenization and global-
ization that arise with the modern use of planting
material are lamented. As an alternative the use of
native species is shown in historical perspectives and at
a country-specific level. Although it is mostly facts that
are given, intrinsically, and in the layout of the article,
the Euro-American consumer’s vision as well as the
globalization of garden styles and plant material is crit-
icized and the use of native plant material is propagated
as the normative perspective. As already revealed in
Chapter 10, it becomes clear that the biodiversity of
plants in cities is steered by cultural influences, which
find their expression in the layout of open spaces, as
well as in the use of species. One question is interesting:
how the use of species is driven by the behavior of
the markets and the attitude of the actors; inexpensive
plant material becomes established because the buyer
and the customer decide to purchase it. For the majority
of those responsible for garden and open space man-
agement, a good esthetic effect and a low price are more
important in the end than the knowledge that native
material has been used.
Chapters 12, 13 and 14, which are placed in Section
E of Part III (Environmental Urban Design), will be dis-
cussed together since they show some similarities
in relation to the analytical–descriptive and norma-
tive perspectives. Section E deals with the connection
between scientifically funded landscape and environ-
mental planning on the one hand and landscape archi-
tecture oriented towards a design principle or rather
landscape design on the other hand. The implemen-
tation of urban ecological principles is demonstrated
on various scales. The practical examples come from
China, The Netherlands, and Germany.
It becomes clear from Section E that landscape archi-
tecture and ecology have found mutual crystallization
points through various practical projects in the last
few decades. This means, for example, that concepts
such as the creation of seminatural recreation pos-
sibilities are connected to the topic of biodiversity.
Whilst the basic ideas leading design come from ecol-
ogy, design techniques and techniques from landscap-
ing are used for their implementation. This can be
linked to the transformation of contaminated derelict
areas to semi-natural, esthetically pleasing and useful
open spaces.
The administrative preconditions for urban land-
scape planning are different in the three countries dealt
with in Section E – Germany, The Netherlands, and
China; this becomes clear in the individual chapters.
What they have in common, however, is that the
analytical–descriptive and normative perspectives are
closely interlinked. The realization of ecological prin-
ciples is dealt with under the explicit inclusion of the
possibilities for use by users of green- and open space.
Since the green and open space planners usually do not
have any power of control over the planned areas, they
are dependent on the acceptance of their ideas by the
decision makers. In the meantime, ecological principles
have blended into the general conscience so that also in
landscape architectural competitions at least now and
then success can be achieved in the form of winning
prizes. It is obvious here to which degree the imple-
mentation of urban ecological principles is dependent
on the consciousness of the decision maker (and the
general public).
The identity of spaces is addressed in Chapter 14
in view of the redesign of an open space in Shanghai
into Houtan Park; it is also mentioned at the beginning
of Chapter 11, where, in view of the effects linked to
globalization, ‘‘the loss of the uniqueness of the place’’
is lamented. The use of native plant material can, in

contrast, contribute to the establishment of an identity
of urban landscape areas.
It should be questioned critically, whether a uniform
design (in contrast to ‘‘loss of uniqueness’’) cannot have
an identity establishing role and whether non-native
species could also have a potential for establishing
identity? Uniformity of designer elements per se is not
necessarily negative, but can also be something expe-
rienced positively by user groups or provide something
meaningful in the sense of a clear use or mood asso-
ciation. This includes the increasing use of palms in
central European roadside cafes. The fact that these are
seen positively by visitors as ‘‘southern holiday flair’’
shows that identification and identity do not, or do
not have to, have anything to do with native species.
Identity is not static, and for many people globaliza-
tion and some of its consequences, such as the partly
connected cosmopolitanism, are something positive. In
places where, however, due to globalization local and
familiar things get lost, and where no urban spaces
with a new positive identity arise in their place, there is
a danger of the complete loss of identity of an area.
In Chapter 15 ‘‘urban political ecologies’’ are por-
trayed through the example of water as a resource and
its daily availability using global practical examples.
The focus of this portrayal lies in the approaches that
can contribute to a democratization of water availabil-
ity. The criticism of several aspects of the daily use of
water has a target that neither the infrastructure linked
to it, nor the exertion of power for water distribution
are unchangeable. Rather, it should be understood
that the availability and distribution of water can
be changed.
The normative approach in this chapter is consti-
tuted from a plea for a ‘‘democratization of water
supply’’, which is understood as a contribution to a
better and more just life. In this respect a social utopia is
implicitly defined on the one hand. On the other hand,
the path shown is oriented towards existing practical
examples and to existing political–ecological theoret-
ical approaches, in which not only social–political
concepts but also up-to-date discussions about ‘‘ecolo-
gies of water’’ are taken into account. Thus, it is
shown that in many cases neither the privatization
Synthesis 211
of the water sector, nor its exclusive retention as being
the municipality’s responsibility reveal the optimal
way for a guaranteed daily water supply for every-
one. In contrast, a corporatization of water supply
(water distribution and consumption) and the associ-
ated infrastructure and services can be the best solution.
The generally formulated approach for urban
political ecologies should be emphasized, which is
shown using the example of the ‘‘lived reality of
water distribution and consumption’’: urban political
ecologists endeavor – building on a process- and
actor-related understanding of the distribution of
ecological resources – to reduce the existing unfairness
by politicizing topics such as the ‘‘lived reality of water
distribution and consumption.’’ To quote from Loftus
(Chapter 15):
Such understandings disrupt the sense in which the
city appears as an immutable never-changing thing,
one to which our theories must simply accommodate
themselves. Instead they demonstrate the ongoing
reciprocity between theorization and action, philos-
ophizing about and changing the world. (Loftus,
2011, Chapter 15, p. 202)
In this quotation the interaction between the
analysis and description of the existing relationships
(‘‘is perspective’’) and the normative urban ecologi-
cal positions (‘‘should-be perspective’’) are adequately
revealed.
To conclude, the chapters of this book convey an
‘‘applied urban ecology’’ even when they build on dif-
ferent areas and topics and even though the normative
perspective is dealt with in different ways. Taking into
account the different geographic and political contexts
from which the contributions and examples come and
on which they are based, no further generalizing state-
ments about their implementation can be made, the
national and regional differences are simply too big. Let
this book serve as a stimulus to reflect on the approaches
shown here in relation to their respective national and
cultural backgrounds and to use them for one’s own
analyses with the goal of improving the environmental
quality encountered!