01
1.
INTRODUCTION
More than 75% of the population of Australia lives in major cities and is one of the most Urbanized countries in the world. The trend has moved towards people living in cities since around a century. The environment around us and urban ecosystems are a part of the community and affect the health well-being and economic sustainability. A rise in urbanization leads to ecological decline and threatens the environment and in turn the community. (Davies, Corkery, Nipperess, 2017) There is a continuous growth in the urban population, leading to a growth in the rate of development. There are three major districts in NSW’s that are growing vertically- Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle. The growth is taking place through infill development, high density towers and with expansions at the urban edge with new subdivisions. Sydney is expecting to accommodate 1.6 million people by 2034. Cities are highly modified environments and represent a coupled human and natural system, and ecological impacts, such as increase in urban heat, reduction in Biodiversity in cities, infections in natural water systems and deterioration of the health and well-being of the citizens in the city. It is thus necessary to learn to deal with these impacts and reduce their effects on the urban environments and learn and deal with Urban Ecology. (Davies, Corkery, Nipperess, 2017)
Urban Ecology
Urban Ecology ‘Integrates the theory and methods of both natural and social sciences to study the patterns and processes of urban ecosystems’ (Grimm et al., 2008a, p. 756). Urban ecosystems are a combination of natural, built and socioeconomic systems. They are conceptual and physical spaces for dynamic interactions between these different systems.. “Urban ecosystems are places where people live in high densities, or where built infrastructure covers much of the land” (Pickett et al., 2001). Urban ecology is is an understanding of how dense areas affect and influence sparsely dense areas. (Pickett et al., 2001). McPhearsons defines Urban ecology as a multidisciplinary field that provides many tools for advancing the potential of sustainability and resilience in cities (2016). There are different conceptual ways in which urban ecology can be approached and they reflect numerous overlapping ways in which it can be understood (McPhearson et al., 2016). Thus, Urban ecology is tough to define. Urban ecology focuses on design of the surrounding environment and amenities for people in urban areas, and on reducing the impacts of the environment on urban regions when related to planning and urban design (Pickett et al., 2011). The term urban ecology does not have a global consensus (Pickett et al., 2008; Wu, 2014; McPhearson et al., 2016).