My latest fascination is the concept of an urban ecosystem. An ecosystem is defined as "a general term used to describe one or more communities that are interacting with their environment as a defined unit (Freedman, 2004)." An urban ecosystem, then, is simply those communities and interactions taking place within a city.

I love the idea of the city as a living entity, like the Gaia Hypothesis, that breathes and sweats and excretes waste like any other organism. Cities are so fascinating because they are founded on a bundle of man-made buildings and infrastructure, yet are encapsulated within the greater biosphere of our Planet.

Cities are just as natural as an anthill or a beehive. Organisms are constantly modifying their environment, and buiding organized structures to suit their needs. Cities are peoples' expression of this, and also host a huge diversity of other organisms including squirrels, cockroaches, racoons, and pigeons. We need to stop viewing ourselves and our structures as unnatural blemishes on the Planet and start learning how we can more effectively integrate our civilization into Earth's cycles and processes.

References/Further readings:

Freedman, Bill. 2004. Environmental Science: A Canadian perspective (3rd Edition). Toronto: Pearson Education Canada, Inc.

Rogers, Richard. (1997). Cities for a small planet. Great Britain: Faber and Faber Limited.

Trefil, James. 1994. A Scientist in the City. New York: Doubleday.