An Ecological Approach to Urban Management

Abstract

This chapter focuses on an ecological approach to urban management. The quality of life in urban areas in contemporary United States has become an issue of political importance. The chapter describes the way the natural ecology and analytical and predictive tools being developed by ecologists can be incorporated into the planning and management processes of urban governments to improve the way land-use decisions are made. The ecological planning method is premised on an understanding of the principles of a natural ecosystem as they can be applied to an urban area. A natural ecosystem is an organized unit, containing plants and animals and nonliving components in sufficient diversity and interrelationship to be self-sustaining. The proposition underlying the ecological planning method is one of utmost simplicity; it is merely that an understanding of biological and physical systems is indispensable to intelligent land-use decisions. The method of ecological planning can lead to principles of land development and preservation for any region, metropolitan area, municipality, or site.