Ecosystem Services Come To Town

About the Author xi Acknowledgement xiii 1. Introduction 1 Modern Cities and the Disconnected 1 Population Spike 2 Limits to Growth 3 Global Threats 3 Ecosystem Services and Stewardship 4 Greening Cities is Necessary 5 Hope 5 2. Origins of Cities 7 Why Look Back? 7 Emergence of the Human Species 7 Great Leap Forward 8 Agriculture and Permanent Settlements 8 Agriculture Around the World 10 Agriculture Intensifies 11 Empires Rise and Fall in Mesopotamia 12 Nile Valley 12 Indus Valley 13 Ancient China 13 Ancient Greece 14 On the Ganges 15 Rome 16 The Moche 16 Mesoamerica 17 Fortified Centres of Administration 17 European Renaissance 18 Early Modern 19 Squalor 21 3. Modern Cities 23 Origins of the Modern City 23 Industrial Revolution 23 Railways 24 Rapid Growth 25 Ill Health 26 Distinctive New Districts Emerge 27 Paris Re-born 28 Railways and Suburbs 29 Planning and Zoning 29 Garden Cities 29 Motor Vehicles Herald in the Oil Age 31 A Humane Outlook 32 Going Up 33 Continued Rise of the Motor Vehicle 33 Decline of the Inner City 34 New Towns 35 City Plans 36 An Unfinished Task 37 4. Issues Facing Contemporary Cities 39 Impacts of Cities and City Living 39 Habitat Loss 40 Habitat Fragmentation 41 Impacts on Soil 41 The Water Cycle 42 Water-borne Pollution 44 Urban Heat Islands 44 Air Pollution 45 Noise 46 Light Pollution 47 Agricultural Land Take 47 Concrete 48 Steel 48 Glass 49 Timber 49 Waste 49 Drivers of Population Growth 50 Peak Oil 52 Peak Phosphorus 52 Post Oil 53 5. Working with Nature 55 Ecology and Ecosystems 55 Born Free 56 Saving the Great Lakes 56 Earth Summit, Ecosystem Assessment and Ecosystem Services 58 Cities as Part of the Biosphere 59 Ecological Restoration 59 Urban Wildlife 60 Green Infrastructure 60 Sustainable Sites Initiative 61 Advice from Professional Bodies and Others 61 Mimic Nature 62 Working with Nature Works 63 6. Urban Nature 65 Open Space Preservation 65 The Naturalists 66 Nature Leaves the City? 66 Urban Nature Returns 68 Wildlife Gardens 69 Encapsulated Countryside 70 Bukit Timah 71 The Urban Forest 72 Urban Wastelands 73 Canvey Wick 74 Emscher Park 75 Urban Farming 76 Biodiversity Action Plans 77 River Corridors 78 London's South Bank 79 Minneapolis Riverfront 79 7. Water and Cities 81 Fresh Clean Water - Essential and Increasingly Scarce 81 Civilisation has Modified the Water Cycle 82 Water Consumption 82 Embodied Carbon 82 Virtual Water 83 Catchment Management 84 Rainwater Harvesting 84 Grey Water 85 Sustainable Urban Drainage 85 Water Sensitive Urban Design 86 Rain Gardens 86 The Streets are Changing 86 Ponds 88 Potsdamer Platz 89 River Restoration 89 The Cheonggyecheon River 90 Singapore 91 Water and Urban Heat Islands 93 Towards the Water Sensitive City 93 8. City-wide Greening 95 Bioregions 95 Catchment Management for Clean Water 96 Catchment Management for Ecosystem Services 97 Regional Green Infrastructure Plans 99 Biomass and the Bioregion 99 Regional Ecological Networks 100 Community Forests 101 Green Belts 101 Green Grids 103 Transport 103 Urban Heat Islands 105 Blue Networks 105 Masterplanning 107 Regional Plans, Local Implementation 107 9. Greening Neighbourhoods and Buildings 111 Sense of Neighbourhood 111 Living Streets 112 Standardising the Neighbourhood 113 Design Your Own Park 113 A Phoenix Rises 114 Growing Their Own 115 Learning from Squatter Settlements 116 Rain Gardens 117 They Paved Paradise 118 Clapton Park Estate 118 People of the Trees 119 Tree Pits 120 Tree Trenches 121 No Space? 122 Energy Efficient Buildings 123 Water Efficiency 123 Autonomy 123 Building-integrated Vegetation 124 A Coat for Buildings 124 Value of Shade 125 Living Walls 126 Cooling Effect of Green Roofs 128 Green Roofs, Rainwater Attenuation and Cooling 129 Green Roofs Need the Right Substrate 130 Green Roofs for Biodiversity 130 London's Black Redstart Roofs 131 Biodiverse Green Roofs in North America 132 Roof Gardens for People 133 Worldwide Applications 133 Wildlife and Buildings 134 Rooftop Harvests 136 10. Conclusion 137 Interesting Times 137 The Positives 138 Cities and Citizens Take the Initiative 138 Greening Requires Greenery 140 Appendices I: award winning projects from IHDC website 141 II: useful resources 177 Notes and References 197 Index 209