Journal of Urban Ecology, 2016, 1–2

doi: 10.1093/jue/juv004
Commentary

COMMENTARY

Opportunities for urban ecology in community and

Our species plans. That’s who we are: plan makers. We rely on regional planning as well as civic design, an understanding of
knowledge, instincts, and gut reactions to guide our decisions. the planning process is helpful. This process involves setting
Good plans rely on a careful reading of a place or a situation. goals, assessing the environment, analyzing suitabilities, ex-
Plans require context. Ecology, especially urban ecology, can ploring options, selecting a course of action, testing those ac-
contribute much to an understanding of place and context in tions through design, and implementing a plan. In a democracy,
city and regional planning. the public is involved throughout the process.
Planning theorists have connected what we know to what Ideas put to action generate plans. We want to achieve
we do. For instance, John Friedmann (1987) suggested knowl- something and then decide what it will take to get there. In
edge should lead to action, while Patrick Geddes (1915) placed community and regional planning, we seek to design the use of
diagnosis before treatment. Ecological knowledge can contrib- land and create better places for people to live. Increasingly, we
ute much to the diagnosis of a place before a planning or design incorporate the quality of other species’ habitats as well. An un-
intervention is undertaken. Furthermore, plans should be flexi- derstanding of the ecologies of urban plants and animals is es-
ble and capable of adjusting to changing circumstances and pecially useful in this regard.
new information. From nature, we know that it is neither al- A genesis decision point occurs between the idea of planning a
ways the strongest of species that survives nor the most intelli- place and setting goals. This pivot point marks a transition from an
gent. Rather, it is the species that is most adaptable to change individual idea to a commitment to community ideas. Once that
(this is a paraphrase of a quote often misattributed to Charles decision is made, we begin planning by setting goals, that is, stat-
Darwin. I first saw it on a t-shirt at the Charles Darwin Research ing where we want to go as a community. With a land-use plan,
Station gift shop in the Gala  pagos Islands. Even though Charles for example, our goal might be to develop certain areas of a city or
Darwin never proclaimed this, the idea still rings true.) a county for housing, while preserving other places for wildlife
We humans are an adaptive species. Planning is among our habitat. Goals are often linked with objectives or the steps neces-
most powerful tools for adaptation. Planning is simply thinking sary to achieve where we want to go. Setting objectives comes later
ahead. Community and regional planning involves thinking in the planning process, when we select a course of action.
ahead and formally envisioning the future for ourselves and After we set goals, we need to take stock of the environment
others. These two scales—community and regional—suggest to be affected by the plan. A landscape is the synthesis of the
planners deal with both close-knit groups and larger popula- social and natural phenomena that surround us. We can under-
tions. Environmental and social concerns are equally important stand our communities and regions by learning to read land-
at both scales. Like planners, ecologists work at many scales scapes. Ecology is the science that can advance such literacy
from sites to landscapes on to regions. because it involves understanding the relationships of all or-
Ecology can be useful for the future of our planet through ganisms, including we humans, to each other and our environ-
what has been called, “earth stewardship” (Ogden et al. 2013; ments. Our ecology has far-reaching consequences. As Pope
Sayre et al. 2013) as a result of planning and urban design Francis has observed, “Human ecology is inseparable from the
(Felson, Bradford, and Terway 2013; Steiner et al. 2013). In order notion of common good, a central and underlying principle of
for urban ecology to be more effective in community and social ethics” (2015, 156).

C The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

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Through reading landscapes ecologically, we can discover be able to be adjusted to changing conditions. This requires
that some places are better suited for specific uses than others. that planning and plans are time sensitive and adaptable by
Some places are downright dangerous for certain human uses. design.
For instance, we know that floodplains sometimes fill up with I believe in democracy. As a consequence, I think it is impor-
water, at times quite rapidly. If we locate houses in flood-prone tant for citizens to be involved in making plans. The public
places, people are put in harm’s way. Likewise, we know that should help set goals and objectives, read landscapes, deter-
earthquakes can injure and kill people and result in property mine best uses, design options, select courses for moving for-
damage. Commonsense suggests that a fault zone is an unwise ward, take actions, and adjust to changes.
location for a nuclear power plant. We have the knowledge to We need to make better plans for our communities, cities
minimize harm by locating some development away from and towns, and regions. Improved plans can lead to healthier,
floodplains and fault zones and storm-surge areas. We can also safer, and more beautiful places for us and other species to live.
design buildings and landscapes that limit structural damage We can also plan for places that are both more just and more
and minimize risk to people. profitable. Plans can help us sustain what we value but can also
Since Ian McHarg suggested that we “design with nature” help us to transcend sustainability by creating truly regenera-
(1969), ecologists and other environmental scientists have con- tive communities. Urban ecology can help provide a valuable
tributed much to the inventory and analysis steps of the plan- knowledge base for plans as it helps us understand how living
ning process. The ability to gather scientific information about organisms relate to one another in cities.
an environment and then assess its opportunities and con- To fulfill this promise, what are the most significant steps
straints has been significantly advanced through computer- needed to improve collaboration between urban ecology and ur-
based geographical information systems technology (Steiner ban planning? The first step is to merely acknowledge and re-
2008). spect the differences between the disciplines. From such a base,
Many areas are suitable for several uses. Flat land is often bridges can be constructed. For instance, planners need to iden-
good for farming and urban development. Planners explore var- tify metrics for land-use regulations and controls to implement
ious options for use and help resolve land-use conflicts plans. The ecosystem services concept provides a potentially
(Hersperger et al. 2015). This involves weighing the costs useful framework for planners to assess the environmental,
and the benefits for each option as well as who are the winners health, safety, and welfare consequences of city and regional
and the losers from various paths of action. The idea is to maxi- plans.
mize the benefits for the public good while limiting the negative This suggests changes in city and regional planning theory
impacts. We make decisions based on analyzing the various op- and practice. Ecological literacy for those involved in planning
tions that lay ahead. Trend is not destiny but the choices we processes would be a useful starting point. Planners need to
make in planning may be. know how to link ecological information to actions across
After a preferred option or options are determined, then ob- scales. We have plenty of information about our environments
jectives are established that outline the specific steps that need but need to learn how to convert it to knowledge and then how
to be taken to accomplish the goals for the plan. This might in- to use it to take wise actions.
volve resetting or revising goals. With goals and objectives in
Conflict of interest: None declared.
place, a specific course of action can be determined.
Next, that course is pursued. This might involve enacting a
regulation (for instance, no houses in the floodplain) or de- References
signing a new park (for instance, put the park in the flood- Felson, A. J., Bradford, M. A., and Terway, T. M. (2013) ‘Promoting
plain). The actions may be bold or modest. These measures Earth Stewardship through Urban Design Experiments’,
can be informed through design experiments that explore the Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 7: 362–7.
spatial consequences of actions; by analysis, such as the read- Friedmann, J. (1987) Planning in the Public Domain: From Knowledge
ing of the landscape through an ecological lens; and from pro- to Action. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
jections of population, transportation demand, and the Geddes, P. (1915) Cities in Evolution: An Introduction to the Town
economy. While analysis is most helpful, it is not by itself Planning Movement and to the Study of Civics. London: Williams &
planning. Norgate.
This reality is difficult for environmental and social scien- Hersperger, A. M. et al. (2015) ‘Comprehensive Consideration of
tists to grasp. Scientists are accustomed to collecting and ana- Conflicts in the Land-Use Planning Process: A Conceptual
lyzing data but not applying it. Planners depend on the best Contribution’, Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental
available data. For scientists, the quest is always for better data. Sciences, 10: 5–13.
The remaining steps in the planning process are more an art McHarg, I. L. (1969) Design with Nature. Garden City, NY: Natural
than a science. While creativity is an asset, these steps should History Press/Doubleday.
also be undertaken with the knowledge of law, precedent, de- Ogden, L. et al. (2013) ‘Global Assemblages, Resilience, and Earth
sign, and urban history. For the remaining steps, effective plan- Stewardship in the Anthropocene’, Frontiers in Ecology and the
ners function more like designers—landscape architects and Environment, 7: 341–7.
architects—than environmental or social scientists. Pope, F. (2015) Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of the Holy Father Francis
As we take actions to achieve our goals and objectives, we on the Care for Our Common Home. Vatican City: The Vatican.
need to remain flexible and be able to adjust to change. For ex- Sayre, N. F. et al. (2013) ‘Invitation to Earth Stewardship’,
ample, a dam or a diversion tunnel might alter the floodplain Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 7: 339.
for a river or stream. As a result, we may rethink where the best Steiner, F. (2008) The Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to
spots for houses and for parks are. Global climate change is also Landscape Planning, 2nd edn. Washington, DC: Island Press.
affecting landscapes as biomes migrate toward the poles, —— et al. (2013) ‘The Ecological Imperative for Environmental
bumblebee ranges shrink, and fruit trees flower earlier. Design and Planning’, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 7:
Through planning, we can better adapt to change. Plans need to 355–61.