GEOG 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Urban Ecosystem, Gas Flare, Urban Ecology
Document Summary
The world is shifting towards more urban living (e. g. tokyo is one of the highest populated cities). The impact of urban development on the natural environment (and vice versa). The relationship of urban societies to the natural environment (and vice versa). Study of the ecology and metabolism of cities. There are global and local case studies of the urban environment. Understand the functional relations between society, technology and the natural environment in cities, to: Efficiently manage resources in cities (water, food, energy and fuels, waste). Identify, address, and solve urban environmental issues (hazards, pollution, climate change). By integrating natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and engineering. Cities can be considered ecosystems because they are open systems of living things interacting with their physical environment". Urban ecology is the science of the relationships amongst living organisms, their communities as well as their relationship to their abiotic (physical rather than biological) environment in cities. Physical components of an urban ecosystem include: