Urban ecosystem : holistic approach

The Urban Ecosystem Project of The Institute of Ecology (TIE) was undertaken in late 1971 with the hope that urban problems could be avoided or ameliorated if knowledge of the ecological interrelationships of people and their urban environments were trans mitted to those responsible for urban plan ning and management. The project specified as first steps: the creation of a multi-disciplin ary advisory council; the convening of a na tional worship to identify national and re gional urban needs; and the The initial phase of the Urban Ecosystem Project culminated in the national workshop held at the University of Texas, Austin, from March 29 to April 4, 1973.development and stimulation of communication between various disciplines and practitioners. At the workshop, each task group produced a draft chapter for use in this report. During the six days in Austin the task groups at tempted to review current knowledge in their subject areas, to prepare their draft statement, and to make recommendations designed to assist those planning, conducting, funding and utilizing urban research. The result of their effort, which forms the substance of this re port, reveals the complexity involved in deal ing with a completely man-dominated system, the city, from an ecological point of view.

The workshop report is presented in two parts. Part One includes: a brief introduction; the general workshop recommendations, structured to correspond to the arrangement of the full document (Part Two); and a sum mary view of the urban system. Part One is a readily accessible overview of the workshop's frame of reference, its recommendations, and its conclusions.

Part Two is the workshop report. It is di vided into four sections: 1) Goals: values and jurisdictions; 2) Components: population, physical structure, and resource flows; 3) Pro cesses: interventions, indicators, and models; and 4) Case Studies.

Section One is comprised of the reports from the task groups on "Goals for the Urban Ecosystem" and "Institutional Structures". Section Two incorporates the work of the groups studying "Population Processes" "Physical Structure and Function", and "Re sources: Water, Energy, Materials", Section Three presents the reports on "Indicators of Urban Ecosystem Function and Health" and "Systems Capacities, Limits and Intersystem Linkages". The final section is the report from the task group on "Case Studies of
Cities and Urbanized Regions". In some instances, material from particular task group reports has been deleted, rear ranged or moved to another section.