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Do cities need their own ecologists?
NORMALLY city design is left to planners, engineers, architects and perhaps the occasional lobby group. But Dr Xuemei Bai a scientist with CSIRO's Sustainable Ecosystems would like to see another group of professionals given a say: urban ecologists.
In a research paper she has co- authored with US and New Zealand ecologists for the international journal, Science†, Dr Bai argues that the knowledge ecologists have of the natural environment should be applied to a greater degree to answering questions of sustainability now faced by cities.
"Cities are more than just planned spaces," she says. "Planners, engineers and architects should be working with urban ecologists to design, develop and redevelop projects suited to these complex, adapting and evolving environments.
"As ecologists, the natural environment has traditionally been our main concern, but cities affect and are affected by changes in climate, land use, water and biodiversity.
"Because cities are largely designed ecosystems, we have an opportunity to use ecological principles in creating urban living and working spaces, housing developments, open spaces, and aquatic environments that can sustain biodiversity and ecosystem function, while also providing important ecosystem services on which the city's population depends."
