Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Framework
- 1 Foundations
- 2 Spatial patterns and mosaics
- 3 Flows, movements, change
- Part II Ecological features
- Part III Urban features
- Epilogue
- Appendix A Positive and negative attributes of an urban region
- Appendix B Equations
- References
- Index
1 - Foundations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Framework
- 1 Foundations
- 2 Spatial patterns and mosaics
- 3 Flows, movements, change
- Part II Ecological features
- Part III Urban features
- Epilogue
- Appendix A Positive and negative attributes of an urban region
- Appendix B Equations
- References
- Index
Summary
In short, then, it takes the whole region to make the city.
Patrick Geddes, Cities in Evolution, 1914But for all our buildings and lights and roads, for all our signs and words, that human presence is only a thin film stretched over mystery. Let sunlight flame in a blade of grass, let night come on, let thunder roar and tornado whirl, let the earth quake, let muscles twitch, let mind curl about the least pebble or blossom or bird, and the true wildness of this place, of all places, reveals itself …
Scott Russell Sanders, Staying Put: Making Home in a Restless World, 1993Imagine a glorious day in your favorite city being energized at every turn. Sparkling clear air. Hardly any traffic. People alive, interesting. Appealing architecture and gardens (Figure 1.1). Amazing cultural events. Delightful diverse shopping. Food the best. Saw everything … relished it all.
Suddenly a friend appears, an ecologist. Comparing notes, she or he is equally enthusiastic. Luxuriant native street trees with lots of lichens. Clear water in the city pond. Bicycle routes and long walking routes busily used. Songbirds zipping along a shrubby tree strip between parks. No dog droppings. Wind blowing the smokestacks’ noxious air out of the city. Green walls and balconies facing each other over streets. Restaurants with rat-proof dumpsters. Elongated grass-and-flower depressions for riverside floodwaters. The intriguing list goes on. Chuckling, together you have seen almost everything, yet seemingly in two different cities.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Urban EcologyScience of Cities, pp. 1 - 30Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014