Urban Ecology

"Man is a guest of nature and should behave accordingly."
Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Natural resources have been utilized since the emergence of humans approximately 300,000 years ago. In those times, when the human population was small and land and resources were abundant, the existing natural balance could be maintained without disruption. However, with the discovery of agriculture, the industrial revolution, and the information age—milestones in civilization—population growth, diversification of human needs, and urbanization have led to the depletion of natural resources and environmental pollution. Today, within the framework of environmental problems, excessively rapid and unplanned urbanization has brought new concepts such as natural resource management, carrying capacities of natural resources, urban comfort, livable cities, and urban ecology to the forefront. Urban ecology research, which is the subject of this book and examines cities as human ecosystems, is a product of this period. It draws on many disciplines such as earth sciences, soil sciences, biology, planning, urbanism, architecture, ecology, botany, zoology, climate sciences, sociology, economics, and political sciences, and presents an interdisciplinary field of study. Urban ecology uses methods that ensure conservation-use balance and plans that are compatible with ecological parameters for new development areas, determined by national and regional development models. In short, urban ecology is the planning of urban growth with an ecological approach. In this context, this book is expected to serve as a guide for academics, students, politicians, local administrators, and researchers working on urban studies.