Shifting concepts of urban spatial heterogeneity and their implications for sustainability

• Published in: Landscape ecology Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 15 - 30
• Main Authors: Zhou, Weiqi, Pickett, Steward T. A., Cadenasso, Mary L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Ecology; Ecosystem studies; Environmental Management; Landscape Ecology; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Life Sciences; Nature Conservation; Perspective; Spatial analysis; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Urban areas; Urban development; Spatial heterogeneity; Urban sustainability; Urban design; Ecology of cities; Ecology in cities
• ISSN: 0921-2973; 1572-9761
• DOI: 10.1007/s10980-016-0432-4

Context Spatial heterogeneity has myriad influences on ecosystem processes, ecosystem services, and thus the sustainability of urban areas. It acts as a medium for urban design, planning, and management to determine how processes affecting sustainability can operate and interact. Therefore, how spatial heterogeneity is conceptualized and measured in cities is crucial for enhancing sustainability. Objectives We show that the two most commonly used, but contrasting paradigms of urban ecology, ecology IN versus ecology OF the city, determine how spatial heterogeneity is thought of and used in different ways. We identify the key implications of these theoretical contrasts for the practice and assessment of sustainability in urban areas. Methods We review and compare the different ways in which ecology IN versus ecology OF the city affect how to conceptualize, model and map urban spatial heterogeneity. We present a new framework to guide the comparison of spatial heterogeneity under the two paradigms. Results and conclusion The integrative nature of this new framework becomes apparent under the ecology OF the city paradigm, because it recognizes the hybrid social and bioecological nature of heterogeneity in urban ecosystems. The hybrid approach to patchiness resonates with the three pillars of sustainability—environment, society, and economy. We exemplify how the more comprehensive and integrated framework of spatial heterogeneity under the ecology OF the city paradigm (1) supports more effective measurement and integration of the three components of sustainability, (2) improves management of heterogeneous urban ecosystems, and (3) satisfies calls for improved ecological tools to support urban ecosystem design.