Saturday 16 April 2011

Urban Ecosystem Analysis Identifying Tools and Methods

http://www.ias.unu.edu/binaries/UNUIAS_UrbanReport2.pdf



Acknowledgements
This report is based on the research conducted at the UNU/IAS as well as consultation with its partners at the
UNESCO–Man and the Biosphere Programme, the WHO–Healthy Cities Programme and scholars from various
institutions. A number of individuals who attended the Urban Ecosystems meetings jointly organized by UNU/IAS
and its partners contributed in many ways. A list of those individuals is given below (in alphabetical order):
Salvatore Arico, UNESCO–Man and the Biosphere Programme
Xuemei Bai, Yale University
Grant Boyle,UNU Institute of Advanced Studies
Peter Bridgewater, UNESCO–Man and the Biosphere Programme
Carlos Corvalan, World Health Organization
Shobakhar Dhakal, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
Peter Dogsé, UNESCO–Man and the Biosphere Programme
Ian Douglas, University of Manchester
Peter Droege, University of Sydney
Imura Hidefumi, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
Shinji Kaneko, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
Caroline King, United Nations University Centre
Amitabh Kundu, The Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
A Latiff, Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia
Yok–shiu F Lee, University of Hong Kong
Muzaffar Malik, World Health Organization
Peter J Marcotullio, UNU Institute of Advanced Studies
Gordon McGranahan, International Institute for Environment and Development
Hisashi Ogawa, World Health Organization
Awais L Piracha, UNU Institute of Advanced Studies
Thomas Schaaf, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Jacob Songsore, University of Ghana
Takehito Takano, Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Takafusa (Sombo) Yamamura, Asia Pacific Network
Masatoshi Yoshino, United Nations University Centre
A H Zakri, UNU Institute of Advanced Studies
All errors and misinterpretations are the responsibility of the authors.
This report was prepared by:
Awais L Piracha and Peter J Marcotullio
For further information, contact:
United Nations University Institute of  Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS)
5–53–67 Jingumae, Shibuya–ku, Tokyo, 150–8304, Japan
Tel  +81-3-5467-2323, Fax  +81-3-5467-2324
Email  unuias@unu.edu, URL  http://www.ias.unu.edu




Contents.....................


Foreword
Executive Summary
1 Introduction
2 Background and Key Elements
2.1  Urban Ecosystems in the Context of Geographical Scale
2.2 Blending Socio–Economic and Bio–Physical Factors in Urban Ecosystems Analysis
3 Key Tools and Methods of Urban Ecosystem Analysis
3.1 Tools for Urban Ecosystems Analysis
3.2 Methods for Urban Ecosystems Analysis
4 Conclusion
Appendix: Concept Document on Urban Ecosystems
Bibliography..


Executive Summary


Environmental challenges faced by cities around
the world are more complex now than at any other
time in history. In many parts of the world, and
notably in the Asia Pacific, rapid economic growth,
decentralization, privatization, and related socio–
cultural changes are leading to the emergence of a
complex decision making environment. New concepts
and approaches are needed to find constructive
solutions to environmental issues. This paper focuses
on the emerging urban ecosystems analysis (UEA)
to highlight its merits and to point out new tools
and methods in which UEA can be applied to provide
useful information to decision makers.
We believe that crucial information for policy makers
includes the geographic scale of impacts from urban
environmental activities and linkages between socio–
economic, cultural and bio–physical factors. UEA can
help in both instances.
It is unlikely that UEA would have a single
methodology. Instead, we envision a comprehensive
array of guiding methods, tools and techniques to
choose from, so that unique situations can be dealt
with appropriately. Further, new combinations of
techniques are needed to assess the environmental
impacts of proposed policies, plans, and programmes.
In recent years, the availability of data and tools in
the environmental field has increased dramatically.
This means it is now feasible to conduct the
holistic analyses, which previously were difficult to
accomplish. Apart from a general increase in interest
in environmental protection, there are three factors
behind this availability. First, modeling and simulation
computer tools are becoming highly developed and
relatively easily available. Second, in recent years
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have emerged
as a powerful tool for conducting spatial analysis; GIS
is at the heart of environmental modeling. Third, the
availability of environmental data has increased over
the years. Substantial amounts of environmental data,
including GIS maps, are now available on the Internet.
We would like to point out that this paper is not
meant to be policy–prescriptive; it has been written
to be policy–relevant. While the contents of the
paper have been compiled in such a way that their
relevance to policy makers becomes clear, no direct
recommendations or policy prescriptions have
been made.







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