Urban ecological and social-ecological research in the city of Cape Town: insights emerging from an Urban Ecology CityLab

Summary

There is an ecology that is particular to the urban (Breuste et al.
2008). Urban ecological systems are deeply situated in the functioning
of society, and as such have unique drivers and selection pressures
(Collins et al. 2000, Yli-Pelkonen and Niemela 2005, Sochat et al.
2006).

What has emerged in recent work is a complex of in- and of- city
ecologies which strive to address sustainability at multiple scales,
often in the context of joint anthropogenic and conservation agendas
(Grimm et al. 2008). In the City of Cape Town there are multiple demands
on urban land use to meet development and conservation needs.

The consequences of an unjust history are still very much evident in the
City of Cape Town today where development discrepancies are acute and
the demand for short term delivery high (Turok and Watson 2001). The
City is also host to exceptional, and geographically restricted,
biodiversity, on a scale that gives it international conservation
attention (Myers et al. 2000).

Like other cities around the world, Cape Town has seen phenomenal population growth in the last century, growing from just over 630,000 in 1951, to 3.7 million today (Quick 1995, City of Cape Town 2010). This developing City, situated in the south, with its myriad of social and environmental issues, playing out at various scales, makes Cape Town both a relevant and exciting place to further the field of urban ecology. 

Information

Link to centre authors: Elmqvist, Thomas
Publication info: Anderson, P. and T. Elmqvist 2012. Urban ecological and social-ecological research in the City of Cape Town: insights emerging from an urban ecology CityLab. Ecology and Society 17(4): 23. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-05076-170423

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