The Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology (2^nd Ed.)

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 1: Urban Ecology: the Field of Study, Its Growth and Present Concerns Introduction 1. Urban Areas and Urban Ecology 2. Urban Ecology in the Ancient Tropics: Foodways and Urban Forms 3. 20th century growth of urban ecology 4. Urban Ecology: Its Boom in the First Fwo Fecades of the 21st Century Part 2: Humans as an Integral Component of Urban Ecosystems Introduction 5. A Transdisciplinary Urban Ecology Approach to Complex Urban Systems 6. Science is Not Enough: Grassroots and Bottom-Up Action in Urban Ecology 7. Biophilic Cities: Elements of the Vision and Emerging Practice 8. Urban ecology: Art and the cultivation of ecological mindsets 9. Urban Greenspaces – understanding patterns of use and greenspace distribution in England to inform spatial planning Part 3: Nature in the city: a biophysical environment Introduction 10. Climate of Cities 11. Understanding urban heat islands 12. The impacts of artificial light at night on urban ecosystems 13.Urban hydrology 14. Urban Geomorphology 15. Urban estuaries and coasts 16. Vulnerability of urban nature to climate change: an overview of impacts and assessment approaches, with examples from urban forests 17. Urban Soils Part 4: Cities as biophysical landscapes: diversity of habitats and species Introduction 18. Biodiversity and cities 19. The invasion of walls, pavements and building surfaces by organisms 20. Urban cliffs 21. Habitat heterogeneity in suburbia; the importance of the urban mosaic 22. Urban food production sites: diversity of habitats and species with special reference to Africa 23. Urban green corridors: connectivity, multifunctionality and implications for wildlife movement 24. Landscaped parks and open spaces 25. A man-made watercourse absorbed into the natural landscape – England’s Manchester Ship Canal: a case study in adaptive re-use and brownfield restoration 26. Grassland on reclaimed soil, with streets, car parks and buildings but few or no mature trees 27. Urban rivers and their ecology 28. Wetlands in Urban Environments 29. Mammals in urban environments 30. Urban birds: Urban avoiders, urban adapters and urban exploiters 31. Urban Insects 32. Urban soil fauna 33. Recent examples of colonisation and adaptation by birds in UK towns and cities 34. Introduced and invasive animals: species interactions in towns and cities 35. Feral animals in the built environment 36. Alien plants in cities: human-driven patterns, risks and benefits Part 5: The urban ecosystem: urban metabolism Introduction 37. The analysis of cities as ecosystems 38. Urban Metabolism Analysis 39. Urban ecological footprints: the city region and the wider world 40. Human microbiota and human health in the changing urban ecosystem 41. Urban agroecology: principles and applications 42. The City as a Life Support System: Ecopoiesis Revisited Part 6: Biophilia and the value of urban nature Introduction 43. Assessing ecosystem services in urban areas 44. Ecosystem disservices from urban nature 45. Diversity in Perceived Values of Urban Nature 46. Recreational values of urban nature 47. Urban nature and its potential to contribute towards human well-being 48. Urban Nature and Human Physical Health 49. Cooling the urban environment: Effect of tree transpiration on outdoor air temperature 50. Mitigating air pollution and the urban heat island effect: the roles of urban trees 51. Public attitudes towards urban nature 52. Cultural and sacred worship of urban nature 53. The role of urban nature in fostering social capital and sense of place 54. Values, Justice and Urban Ecosystems 55. Creative conservation 56. Giving multicultural community groups a voice in creating, using and managing urban green space 57. Innovative stormwater management through natural and built green infrastructure 58. Urban waterways 59. Rewilding urban landscapes: attributes, types and application as a greening policy 60. Urban ecological design - towards an holistic interdisciplinary vision 61. Incorporating the multiple benefits of urban nature into ecological design 62. Designing neighborhood greenspaces with urban ecosystem services Part 7: Protecting urban wildlife Introduction 63. Ensuring equitable green space to deprived social groups 64. An inclusive approach towards the co-creation and management of urban greenspace as a response to the demand for sustainable cities 65. Capacity building through international collaborations for nature in cities and urban green infrastructure 66. Using cultural and everyday societal meanings of connection to flora and fauna to build commitment to nature 67. Using economic and health assessment to make a case for urban greenspace 68. Urban greening: the role of international organisations and civil society Part 8: Governance, targets and valuation of urban greenspace, from global to local Introduction 69. Intergovernmental bodies and the greening of cities: roles of UN bodies and international conventions 70. Local governments and urban ecology: planning and practice examples from Africa, Asia and Europe 71. Urban Green Infrastructure – Strategic Planning of Urban Green and Blue for Multiple Benefits 72. The role of targets and standards in delivering urban greenspace for people and wildlife 73. Valuation of Urban Ecological Capital Part 9: Environmental Justice, fairness and equity in urban ecology Introduction 74. Urban nature and justice: unequal access to resources and ecosocial resistance in the contemporary city 75. Urban agriculture planning for environmental justice and food security 76. Ways of creating usable, multipurpose greenspace in impoverished settlements in cities of the Global South Conclusions: continuing debates 77. How to conserve natural resources in housing developments: design, construction, and post-construction 78. Native planting versus non-native planting: the state of the debate 79. Global eco-urban futures – green and sustainable, or brown and vulnerable? 80. Urban ecology for the future

Ian Douglas is Emeritus Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Manchester, UK.

P M L Anderson is a lecturer and director of graduate studies in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science and urban ecology researcher at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

David Goode is an ecologist and naturalist, formerly Head of Environment at the Greater London Authority, and now Honorary Professor at University College, London, UK.

Michael C. Houck is The Urban Naturalist of the Urban Greenspaces Institute, Portland, OR, USA.

David Maddox is the Founder and Editor of The Nature of Cities, New York, USA (www.thenatureofcities.com).

Harini Nagendra is Professor of Sustainability at Azim Premji University, India.

Tan Puay Yok is an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore, Singapore.