A transformative shift in urban ecology toward a more active and relevant future for the field and for cities.
Niki Frantzeskaki, Daniel L Childers, Steward Pickett, Fushcia-Ann Hoover, Pippin Anderson, Aliyu Barau, Joshua Ginsberg, Morgan Grove, Marleen Lodder, Ariel E Lugo, Timon McPhearson, Tischa A Muñoz-Erickson, Mien Quartier, Selina Schepers, Ayyoob Sharifi, Katrien van de Sijpe
Author Information
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. n.frantzeskaki@uu.nl. ORCID
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. ORCID
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.
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.
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.
