Urban ecology

The urban ecology is the study of the interactions between the living beings and the city. This term is sometimes used to indicate or study the Ville like an super-organization, for example in Urbanisme. This concept has sometimes a more restrictive direction, indicating specifically the ecology organizations living in an urban area, mainly represented by the green areas, public and deprived and the wild animals.

History

Even if the Jardins of Babylon are sometimes called upon, it is the École of Chicago which is famous being at the origin of the first current of urban ecology, with an approach not very related to scientific ecology, urban ecology finding there nevertheless a first expression with the sociological studies of the École of Chicago, at the beginning of XX^ème century. This school marks also the beginning of the application of social sciences to the city, and more generally to the urban phenomenon. Urban ecology postulates an interdependence between the townsman and his urban environment, that the ecological concept of Empreinte will extend to planet in the years 1990-2000. The city initially described in the form of more or less natural surfaces (concentric diagrams of Burgess) by the school of Chicago east seen like a source place and well, flow and energies, with complex indirect direct impacts and with respect to the biodiversity and of the biosphere or the climate. It reigns there of the particular relations between townsmen, and the urban community is at the same time a space model and a moral order (Robert Park). The generalization of the Périurbanisation and Rurbanisation make fuzzier the limits of ecology urban, but this one remains a framework, for example for the restoration, the protection or the management of some Biodiversité downtown, this biodiversity itself being seen like Bioindicateur or bearable indicator of Développement within the framework for example of the diaries 21.

Urban Ecology and the concept of Bearable City

Urban ecology is a concept which brings closer the ecological stakes with the life in Ville. It defends a transverse approach on all the topics having milked with the promotion of a bearable lifestyle in urban area: transport, town planning, habitat, fight against the Pollution, democracy and local economy…
The concept of the durable cities is better known. On a world level and European, networks of durable cities (Sustainable cities) were constituted, in particular around the ICLEI ( International counsel for the local initiatives environmental or International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives , founded in 1990), which joins together in 2006 nearly 500 governments, cities or regional communities committed in the way of the bearable Développement.

Tendencies

After the Summit of the ground of Rio (June 1992), appeared concepts such as that of Ville renewed on itself, and of a construction seeking to refund its " ecological Debt " , and to reduce its Impressed ecological, for example via a Fifteenth target HQE. These steps develop, as well as the Agenda 21 which start to be translated in the documents and payments of occupation of the ground. Paris for example introduced into its Local plan of Town planning (RAINED) the concept of “ Coefficient of biotope ” which exceeds the number of square meters of green areas per capita, the indicator more used, by also introducing ecological quality standards of spaces.
Les developers not having always in the past respected their obligations as regards free spaces (50% of the project) where often the vegetation was poor and on a layer of insufficient ground, new the RAINED prohibited one free spaces on flagstone, with the profit of installation “ in open ground ” of 20% with the ground located (that is to say 40% of free spaces), by creating additional surfaces vegetalized according to the deficit measured by the city in the zone. (on 20 to 30% of free spaces). If these installations are not possible, the developer must create vegetalized roofs, terraces and/or walls.

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