As human activity and environmental change come to be increasingly recognized as intertwined phenomena on a rapidly urbanizing planet; the field of urban ecology has risen to offer useful ways of thinking about coupled human and natural systems.On the forefront of this discipline is Marina Alberti; whose innovative work offers a conceptual framework for uncovering fundamental laws that govern the complexity and resilience of cities; which she sees as key to understanding and responding to planetary change and the evolution of Earth. Bridging the fields of urban planning and ecology; Alberti describes a science of cities that work on a planetary scale and that links unpredictable dynamics to the potential for innovation. It is a science that considers interactions - at all scales - between people and built environments and between cities and their larger environments.Cities That Think like Planets advances strategies for planning a future that may look very different from the present; as rapid urbanization could tip the Earth toward abrupt and nonlinear change. Albertis analyses of the various hybrid ecosystems; such as self-organization; heterogeneity; modularity; multiple equilibria; feedback; and transformation; may help humans participate in guiding the Earth away from inadvertent collapse and toward a new era of planetary co-evolution and resilience.
#2178093 in eBooks 2016-06-08 2016-06-08File Name: B01GSP4Z7E
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