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This material is based on work supported by the National Science

Foundation ("NSF") under Grant No. 0607010. Any opinions, findings,

and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are

those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Whatdowethinkofourci1es?

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•  Dowethinkofci1esasbeau1fulplaces?

•  Areci1eshealthyplacestolive?•  Domostoftheworld’speopleliveinci1es?

•  Doci1esfunc1onlikeothernaturalsystems,suchas

desertsandforests?

Theseques1onshelpustoframe

ourinves1ga1onofurbanlandscapes

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Someques)onstohelpusdevelopour

understandingofci)es…•  Whystudyci1esscien1ficallyasecosystems?

•  Howdoci1esdifferfromotherecosystems?

•  Whatadapta1onsdoanimalandplantspecies

haveinordertoexploittheurbanecosystem?

•  Howcanyou,asastudentwholivesinacity,

usethisinforma1on?

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•  Themajorityoftheworld’spopula5onnowliveinci5es(>0%worldwide;>6%UnitedStates)

•  CurrentpaDernofurbansprawl isthemost

ecologicallydamagingmodelfordevelopment

•  Thequalityandcharacterofurbanlandscapesshapehowpeopleviewnature

•  Byfocusingresearcheffortsonurbanecology,ci5escanbecomemorelivable‐developmentpressure

canbetakenoffofsuburbanandrurallands

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Let’sInves1gateanAsiancity

famousforitssize…

•  HongKong,acityoffthecoastofChina,isoneofthefirstmega‐ci1esonearth

•  HongKongisbuiltonaseriesofmorethan

000separateislands

•  Thiscityisconsideredbymanytobethe

bestexampleofahugemetropolis

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Ci1esTakeupphysicalspace‐an

ideacalledtheUrbanFootprint •  Asurbanpopula1onsgrow,thephysicalsize

ofthecitywillgrowtoaccommodatetheaddi1onalpeople,thereforeincreasingthe

sizeoftheurbanfootprint

•  HongKongcannotincreaseitsfootprint‐thereisnomorelanduponwhichtobuild

thecity•  Mostothercityfootprintsaregrowingrapidly;considerthegrowthofBal1moreandWashingtonDCoverthepast40years

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Inthisimagetheurban

footprintsaredepictedfrom992.The

rapid

urbaniza1onwasmadepossiblebytheadventofrapidtransporta1on

andtheabilitytoconcentrateresourcesinto

denselyinhabitedareas

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Growingfootprintsgiveriseto

UrbanSprawl •  Oen,whenthepopula1onofacitygrows,so

doesitsphysicalsize‐thisgrowthofphysicalsizeiscalledUrbanSprawl

•  Inmanyci1es,theaccelera1onofurbansprawlisdrama1candarealchallengetothehealthofthecity.

•  Thefollowingareexamplesofurbangrowthfrom

fourAmericanci1es‐theseci1eshavegrownmuchmorerapidlyinsizethantheyhavein

popula1on.

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The growth of cities has been most pronounced when the data

are measured as changes in land use practices (sprawl)… 

From: Platt, R. (2000) Ecological Cities Symposium at Boston College 

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Thegrowthofurbanareasis

closelylinkedtothedevelopment

oftechnology

•  Ci1eshavegrownrapidlyastechnologyandthe

industrialrevolu1onofthepast50yearshascreatedopportuni1esforpeopleinurbanareas.

•  Theimpactofindustrializa1on,especiallythe

burningoffossilfuels,hasledtoenvironmental

declineduetothereleaseofgreenhousegases.•  Globalwarmingiscloselyassociatedwithhuman

industrialprac1ces.