Report Final (Digital)

7/31/2019 Report Final (Digital)

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SymbioCity

the elimination o the term vermin

Authors

Ioannis Anastasiadis 4186060

Mike Bond 1366998

Joost de Bont 1373412

Paul Van den Ho 1392824

Tim Visser 1235451

Tutors

Felix Madrazo

Wim Schermer

4 November 2011

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SymbioCity

Through this title the main goal o

this project is being displayed. It

consists o two elements, symbiosis

and city. Symbiosis is a biological

term or relationships within nature

in which the participants interact in

dierent ways. The overall goal o

this project is to create a conceptual

urban environment in which the

clients interconnect with nature and

especially animal species.

This research is set out to nd the

proper approach towards reaching

this main goal.

symbiosis

noun, plural -ses /-siz/

the living together o two dissimilar organisms, as in

mutualism, commensalism, amensalism, or

parasitism.

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The project described in thisreport was initiated by The WhyFactory, an initiative o MVRDVand the TU Delt. In this researchstudio students work together todevelop new views on the utureo 'our' cities.

These visionary ideas arealways developed with a specifcsubject as starting point. In thiscase this subject is Biodiversity.This research started in 2010, theyear the United Nations declaredto be the International Year oBiodiversity. It is a celebrationo lie on earth and o the value

o biodiversity or our lives. Theworld is invited to take action in2010 to saeguard the variety olie on earth: biodiversity.

In order to have a rameworkor the research the ocus in this

report will be on Amsterdam.The end goal or this project is todevelop systems that will be parto uture Amsterdam, in whichbiodiversity plays a central role.

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Table ofContents

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Table of Contents

1. Group Vision p. 111.01 View on biodiversity p. 12

1.02 Human perception on nature p. 12

1.03 Creating awareness p. 13

1.04 Mutual benets p. 13

1.05 Long-term solutions p. 14

1.06 Reducing the impact o the threats p. 14

2. Urban Environments and Biodiversity p. 152.01 Human settlements through history p. 16

2.02 Factors that infuence urbanization p. 17

2.03 Urbanization and environment p. 19

2.04 On biodiversity p. 20

2.05 Benets o biodiversity p. 20

2.06 Threats to consider p. 21

3. Systems of symbiosis p. 25

3.01 Forms o symbiosis p. 26

3.02 The infuence o symbiosis on biodiversity p. 27

3.03 Case studies and typologies p. 27

3.04 Human specializations and symbiosis p. 30

3.05 Animals as specialists p. 32

4. Human Perception on Animals p. 35

4.01 Human and non-human cooperation p. 36

4.02 The infuence o vermin on human needs p. 36

4.03 History o vermin p. 41

4.04 Vermin and health issues p. 42

5. Contextual Research in Amsterdam p. 47

5.01 Biodiversity in Amsterdam p. 48

5.02 Air pollution in Amsterdam p. 48

5.03 Water pollution in Amsterdam p. 49

5.04 Waste management p. 51

5.05 Specic approach to problems with vermin p. 53

5.06 Citizen's perception on vermin p. 54

6. Recommendations p. 596.01 Mapping the biodiversity in Amsterdam p. 60

6.02 Impact o applications on biodiversity p. 60

7. Synthesis p. 637.01 Creating product directions p. 64

7.02 List o product ideas p. 64

References p. 70

Appendices p. 73

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1

Group Vision

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To address biodiversity in Amsterdam and

to set out a research as part o the design

process, a vision on the subject is composed.

This vision states what will be done with the

biodiversity o Amsterdam, how this will be

approached and in which direction this should

lead.

1.01 View on biodiversity The current versatile biodiversity o Amsterdam has lead the design

team to aim on sustaining this current level o biodiversity. The versatility

has been visualized by an expert on biodiversity (Geert Timmermans) in

Amsterdam. Furthermore, increasing biodiversity and thus introducing

new species could unbalance the current ecosystem, which could result

in urther implications.

The idea o sustaining biodiversity is a direct reaction to the act that

certain (human) actors are threatening the biodiversity o Amsterdam.

Threats to consider in this are: global warming, habitat destruction,over-exploitation, pollution and the introduction o alien species.

We (as humans) have to make sure that we work on new ways o dealing

with our problems, without putting pressure on nature. This should not

solely be seen rom the perspective o an environmental riendly approach,

but also or the sake o humans themselves. A proper level o biodiversity has

been shown to have a benecial eect on human health in multiple

researches.

1.02 Human perception on natureIn order to address the problems humans are causing and the involved

threats on biodiversity, people have to become more aware o the eects

In uture cities, animals currently consideredvermin, will cooperate with humans in a

mutual benefcial manner in order to sustain

biodiversity.

VISION

their actions have. The ocus lies on changing the human perception on

nature, rom an oten negative perception into a positive one. A negative

perception will lead people to oten be careless towards nature, which

lowers the boundaries to contribute to the problems.

Ater identiying the aspects o nature within cities that people perceive

as being negative, a campaign can be developed to turn this around.

1.03 Creating awarenessWhen it is made clear to people that animals they specically dislike turn

out to be very useul to them, awareness within people will be established.

The animals that are disliked by people oten get labelled as being vermin.

Some people do not even see animals they call vermin as part o nature. By

drastically changing the imageo these animals a strong push is given

towards a higher level o awareness. An important aspect in this campaign

is that people should explicitly experience an interaction with these animals,

because otherwise it all happens unnoticed.

Eventually the approach o making disliked animals useul will lead to the

complete elimination o the term vermin.

1.04 Mutual benefitsIn nature there are a lot o interactions between dissimilar species at

hand. The phenomenon involved is called symbiosis, a orm o this is

CITY

HUMAN

PROBLEMS

SYMBIOSIS

EXPERIENCE

NATURE

SOLUTION

BIODIVERSITY

NATURE

VERMINamsterdam

systems

interaction awareness

aim

sustaincance

threats to biodiversity

percep

tion negativ

eeffe

cts

sym

ptom

fighting

PRODUCT

ARCHITECTURE

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

global warming

habitat destructionoverexploitationpollutionintroduction of alien species

mutualismcommensalismparasitism long-term

mutual benefits

interconnectingspecies*

figure 1.1 Vision overviewCombining all the dierent aspects o the groups vision into one overview

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2

UrbanEnvironments

and

Biodiversity

mutualism, wherein participants derive mutual benets. The beauty o

nature is shown in these systems, where seemingly unrelated species

coexist in an inspiring manner. When these kind o relationships can be

achieved between people and so-called vermin the nature experience will be

even more striking.

1.05 Long-term solutionsAchieving a greater awareness within people through the systems will

eventually ght back the possibility that citizens contribute to the problems.

I the citizens know about the useulness o animals, it is less likely that they

will try to exterminate them and thus the biodiversity will be protected.

The change in the way people act will lead to long-term solutions or the

big problems presented beore. This begins on a small scale: citizens will

preserve their immediate surroundings with more care. And on a large scale,

awareness will infuence the major urban decisions, which are made by

municipalities.

It is thereore important that the eventual developed systems will not only

ocus on product scale, but also on architectural and urban development

scale.

1.06 Reducing the impact of threatsIn order to deal with the negative eects that the threats on biodiversity

have, the eventually developed systems should not only acilitate the

'awareness-campaign' that is described above, but also work as a reducing

actor on the impact o these threats. This can be seen as symptom ghting,

which might seem to be only hal a solution, but because o it is part o the

bigger picture it will only lead to a better unctioning system.

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Since the project is set in the urban

environment this chapter provides insights

on dierent aspects o cities and in the

end a connection to the environment and

biodiversity will be made.

2.01 Human settlements through historyCities have always been developing into dierent orms and a lso

dierent ways o unctioning. Presently people live in cities which are

oten part o a whole network o cities, which sometimes makes it hard to

understand the way they work, or even what the whole purpose o living

in a city is.

Since the world has past the point o more than hal o the world's

inhabitants living in cities (and people still are moving towards cities rom

other areas), the purpose o living in cities is a very topical subject. (this will

be elaborated on in paragraph 2.02)

In order to get insight in what uture cities will be like as a result o

current trends, the essence o a city has to be determined rst (gure 2.1).Basically, the core aspect o the city is that it is a human settlement. A

science was developed in order to systematically investigate human

settlements. This science, termed Ekistics, takes into consideration the

principles man takes into account when building his settlements, as well as

the evolution o human settlements through history in terms o size and

quality. 1

The whole range o the subject ' human settlements' is a very complex

matter, in order to be able to have a systematic approach on the matter

Doxiadis distinguishes ve key elements o Ekistics. These elements are

named in a chronological order in the development o human settlements.

ve elements o Ekistics 1

1 nature

2 anthropos (human being)

3 society

4 shells

5 networks

The initial element o a human

settlement in this order would be

nature, this precedes the human

being (anthropos) itsel. When

multiple anthropos meet in one

location this will lead to a society, which will start building shells (dwellings

etc.) or themselves. At the end networks o inrastructures will be

introduced.

When envisioning the uture o cities there has to be striven to optimize

the relationships between these ve Ekistic elements (gure 2.2) in order to

provide in a high quality o the anthropos' system o lie. 1

2.02 Factors that influence urbanizationUrbanization is the process o people shiting rom a rural to an urban

society. Some common indices that are used to dene urban environments

are size and density o the population. Over the last century the world is

becoming more and more urbanized and the cities become larger and more

powerul day-by-day, see gure 2.3

nature

anthropos

societyshells

networks

figure 2.2 Ekistic elements 1

Optimization o the quality o Anthropos'

relationship with his system o lie

city

presenthistory future

trendscatalytic

factors

human settlement

in communities

figure 2.1 City developmentThe very essence o a city is that it is in the rst place a location where humans have settled

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

urban

rural

figure 2.3 Percentage of world population 2

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According to gure 2.3, currently more than hal o the world population

lives in cities and the projection or the next 30 years shows that this number

will increase dramatically.

The motives that make people move to a city can be d ivided into two

categories, the push and pull actors (gure 2.4). Push actors are the

negative aspects that cause people to leave one area (mainly an area with a

smaller population) and move to a new one. Besides these push actors, pull

actors are the positive attributes that draw people to the new area. 3

There is less migration rom a rural to an urban environment (or vice

versa) in the (more) developed countries. This is probably because in the less

developed countries inrastructure planning is mainly ocused on urban

environments, whilst in the (more) developed countries many inrastructures

are also present in rural areas. Thereore, the migration rom rural to urban

areas is considerably less signicant.

The table below depicts the actors that infuence urbanization according

to the degree o development o a country.

2.03 Urbanization and environmentProbably most o the major environmental problems emerge rom the

continuous growth o human population in urban areas. I we do not learn

to build, expand and design our cities with a respect or nature, we will have

no nature let anywhere.5, says Peter Kareiva, chie scientist at The Nature

Conservancy.

Due to the growing population, demands or water, ood, housing, heat,

energy, clothing and consume goods are increasing dramatically. At the

same time, the air, water and soil pollution aect the quality o citizens

lives. In many cities (both developed and less developed) the air is already

polluted to such an extent that it has been causing illnesses and premature

deaths among elderly people and children.5

In developing countries, where the urbanization is occurring more rapidly,

there are not enough acilities and technology to ace these problems.

LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Rural Push Factors

More poverty in rural than urban areas

Less work opportunities

Limited education opportunities

Fewer medical facilities

General utilities (water supply, electricity, etc)

Urban Pull Factors

Possibilities of jobs

Better and higher education

Better healthcare

More affortable housing

Cost of goods and services

Cultural factors

Entertainment and recreation

General government policies

MORE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Rural Push Factors

Lack of higher education

Small community atmosphere

Lack of jobs

It has become commonality (follow the trend)

Urban Pull Factors

Possibilities of jobs

Better and higher education

Better healthcare

Cultural factors

Entertainment and recreation

figure 2.5 Push and pull factors 4

the dependence o the actors on the development o t he country

city ruralareaF

pull

Fpull

= Urban pull factors

Fpush

Fpush

= Rural push factors

figure 2.4 Push and pull factorsvisualization o the way these actors work

URBANIZATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Demands for food and facilities

CRUCIAL PROBLEMS

Air pollution

Soil pollution

Water pollution

Solid waste

Noise

Traffic

Food production

figure 2.6 Urbanization and environmental effects 5

the crucial problems caused by urbanization

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2.06 Threats to considerEvery day, species get extinct. Today, the rate o the loss o species is

higher than in prehistoric times. This is mainly due to human activity.

Five (human) actors that threaten biodiversity: 9- Habitat destruction- Pollution- Over-exploitation- Introduction o alien species (exotic or genetically new)- Global warming

Like every human activity, cities also infuence biodiversity. Three levels o

interaction between cities and biodiversity can be seen: cities infuence

urban biodiversity, regional biodiversity and global biodiversity.

Urban biodiversity is the number o species living within city boundaries.

Local biodiversity is mainly infuenced by city pollution which infuences a

wider area than only the city and resources that are taken rom the area.

Global biodiversity is infuenced by taking resources rom areas ar away.

Thereore the infuence o a city on biodiversity is not limited to its city

boundaries.

Unortunately, many rapidly urbanizing areas are located near biodiversity

hot spots. This implies that in the uture, the infuence o cities on

biodiversity will grow even more.

Meanwhile, in the more developed countries, many systems have been

developed in order to reduce the pollution, but still the problems are crucial.

The most important environmental eects that take place in Amsterdam

are described in the chapter 5.

2.04 On biodiversityThe ollowing denition o biodiversity can be ound:

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given

ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health

of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. 6

Still, the word biodiversity can be interpreted in several ways. It can be

explained as species diversity or species richness in an ecosystem, but can

also be seen as the total o genes, species and ecosystems o a region. The

latter is o course broader.

Biodiversity is not equal in dierent regions. It varies, dependent on

temperature, precipitation, altitude, soils, geography and other species

being present. In general one can say that the presence o energy (in the

orm o ood and heat) is a determining actor.

Thus, closer to the equator (tropics), the biodiversity is in theory greater

than closer to the poles because these regions 'catch' more energy rom the

sun. In general, this is true. An equatorial rainorest has greater biodiversity

than a polar snoweld.

Regions where great numbers o endemic species (species ound nowhere

else) can be ound are called biodiversity hotspots. These hotspots are most

oten ound in isolated areas.

2.05 Benefits of biodiversityBiodiversity certainly has benets, both or mankind as or other species.

Biodiversity infuences air quality, climate, water purication, pollination,

erosion-prevention, nutrient storage and recycling, pollution breakdown and

absorption and the ability to recover rom unexpected events 7. These arebenecial or both mankind and other species.

Next to the actors above, mankind can prot rom biodiversity via

agriculture, medicinal resources, pharmaceutics, wood products, breeding

stocks. Also, human health is infuenced due to the presence o medicinal

plants and more importantly, certain species can act as 'animal buers'

between diseases and human.

Aesthetic value is a nonmaterial benet. Humans like to live in a green

and natural environment and to 'experience nature'.

When these benets are expressed in money value, it can be seen in gure

2.7 that biodiversity is o great value or human. 8

Comment

25-50% derived from genetic resources

Many products derived from geneticresources (enzymes, microorganisms)

All derived from genetic resources

Some products derived from geneticresources. Represents naturalcomponent of the market.

Size of Market

US$ 640 bn. (2006)

US$ 70 bn. (2006) from

public companies alone

US$ 30 bn. (2006)

US$ 22 bn. (2006) for herbal supplements

US$ 12 bn. (2006) for personal care

US$ 31 bn. (2006) for food products

Sector

Pharmaceutical

Biotechnology

Agricultural Seeds

Personal Care, Botanicaland Food & BeverageIndustries

figure 2.7 Market sectors dependent on genetic resources 8

Value o biodiversity expressed in monetary units

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references1 C. A. Doxiadis, Ekistics: An introduction to the Science of Human Settlements(Oxord University Press,

London, 1968), 27-31.

2 Population Division o the Department o Economic and Social Aairs o the United Nations Secretariat

(2007) World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision and World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision.

Online. Available HTTP: http://esa.un.org/unup (Accessed 3 November 2011).

3 J. F. MacDonald and D. P. McMillen (2007) Urban Economics and Real Estate, Theory and Policy : chapter 2,

World Urbanization, 8-29. O nline. Available HTTP: http://books.google.nl/books?id=yZ_mH-P6OYQC&prints

ec=rontcover&hl=nl&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0 (Accessed 30 October 2011).

4 G. S. Kainth, 'Push and Pull Factors o Migration: A Case o Brike Kiln Industry o Punjab State.' Asia-

Pacific journal of Social Sciences1 (2009), 82-116.

5 The Nature Conservancy (2008) Global Impact Of Urbanization Threatening World's Biodiversity A nd

Natural Resources. ScienceDaily. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.sciencedaily.com/

releases/2008/06/080610182856.htm (Accessed 2 November 2011).

6 J. Lloyd (2011) Biodiversity. Encyclopedia o Earth. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.eoearth.org/

article/Biodiversity?topic=49480 (Accessed 20 September 2011).

7 A. Shah (2011) Why is biodiversity important and who cares?Online. Available HTTP: http://www.

globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares (Accessed 20 September 2011).

8 TEEB (2009) The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for National and International Policy Ma kers

- Responding to the Value of Nature. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.teebweb.org/LinkClick.

aspx?leti cket=I4Y2nqqIiC g%3d&ta bid=1052& language= en-US (Accessed 2 November 2011).

9 J.A Puppim De Oliveira, O. Balaban, C.N.H. Doll, R. Moreno-Pearanda, A.Gasparatos, D.Iossiova and

A.Suwa, 'Cities and biodiversity: Perspectives and governance challenges or implementing the convention on

biological diversity (CBD) at the city level' Biological Conservation 144 (2011) 13021313

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3

Systems ofSymbiosis

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In order to design systems or sustaining the

biodiversity essential aspects o systems o

symbiosis will be used. In this chapter these

aspects will be elaborated. Next to that, it will

be explained how these can be implemented

in an urban environment.

3.01 Forms of symbiosis Symbiosis is a orm o interaction between dierent species which has

an eect on both parties involved.1 At the same time these orms o

interaction are based on a long term relationship between these species

involved. The dierent orms as described in the table below have either a

negative, positive or neutral eect on one or both par ties.

As can be seen in gure 3.1 the orms o symbiosis (written in orange)

come in di erent ways. Some o them are moreover having a negative

infuence or no net positive eect on the species involved and because o

that they dont have a positive infuence on the biodiversity o the

ecosystem. On the other hand there is the orm o symbiosis which is called

mutualism, this has a positive infuence on both species that are involved.

Mutualism has as a result that both parties benet rom the relationship

that exists, so called mutual benets. These mutual benets exist rom the

exchange o services and/or resources. In the next part this will be

described more in depth through case studies that describe the dierent

possible mutual benecial relationships.

3.02 The influence of symbiosis on biodiversitySymbiosis is an important actor in the unctioning o an ecosystem and in

particular mutualism has a positive infuence. This is explained by many

examples, or instance by the dependence o almost all tropical plants on

animals, which is mentioned by Darwin. 2 Mutual benecial ecologic

structures are the basis o continuous biological diverse ecosystems, or the

symbiosis guarantees an adequate continuation o the system as a whole. A

successul symbiosis needs species that are able to connect and interact

with each other, which requires a morphological pattern o interaction. To

use a puzzle as a metaphor, you need every single piece in the puzzle to

complete the whole system and make it work. The created networks can be

strengthened by interconnecting other species into the network, which

leads to a kind o rich-gets-r icher process as Bascompte and Jordano

describe.2 This means that by connecting more species to each other the

positive eect on the biodiversity grows exponential ly.

Species that can aect their

environment and adjust it, so that

new properties emerge are so called

bioengineers3. These species can

be seen as the link between a lot o

other species that prot rom that

interconnection or are supported by

the new situation that emerges. (g.

3.2) Systems can change in aspects

o thermal properties, provided ood

or biomass density.

In case o positive mutual

interaction an increase o the

biodiversity is measurable in that

given ecological system. Since

sustaining the biodiversity is theaim, providing interconnections to

maintain and provide mutual

behavior is an aim.

3.03 Case studies and typologiesThe dierent orms o symbiosis are studied by collecting examples and

analyzing them. Some o the examples will be described in the ollowing

passage to give an idea o how these relationships are analyzed and

visualized. The rst example is that o the tree sloth, algae and the moth

which is elaborated in gure 3.3.

Animal interactions

effect

on x

effect

on y

type of interaction

0 0 neutralism

- 0 amensalism

+ 0 commensalism

- - competition

+ + mutualism

+ -parasitism/

predationfigure 3.1 Forms of animal interactionNot all interactions between species are

categorized as being symbiosis

species1

species2

specie

s3

x

supported/profiting species

bioengineer

?

species 2

species 3

species 3species 1

species 2

figure 3.2 Bioengineer3

The puzzle as a metaphor or the connecting role

o a bioengineer in an ecosystem

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What can be concluded in this case, which is an example o a more

complex system, is that the tree sloth and the algae both depend on each

other to survive, the symbiosis is so to say obligatory. The moth that is

included in this system doesnt necessarily depend on the ood provided by

the other species, it is acultative, and also doesnt do anything back, so this

is an example o commensalism. This explains how the exchange o dierent

services (camoufage) and resources (habitat, nutrients and ood) can work.

The relation in this case is a so called service-resource relation.

Another example is the case o the mutua l relation between the lea cutter

ant and the streptomyces bacteria as is explained in gure 3.4. In this casethe relation is a so called service-service relation, the ant oers shelter to the

bacteria while the bacteria oers the ant a livable environment. It is again a

more complex system since there is a case o parasitism involved in the

situation. This comes with the bacteria ghting the ungus, so that the

ungus will not overrun the ant. In this case the bacteria can be seen as a

key species in the system.

All the case studies are collected and categorized in a database which

gives an overview o all the individual cases and their properties. All the

dierent properties and aspects o the dierent relations are given in this

table. By this it is possible to see all the dierent ways in which a symbiosis

can exist.

From this analysis it can be concluded that mutualism always exists o the

exchange o dierent specializations by the involved species. One species

depends on the other because it lacks the ability to provide in a certain

resource or service itsel. In this sense mutualism can be seen as the

exchange by dierent specialists. This is also an analogy to the trade by

dierent proessions that is present in an urban society. By this comparisonthe possibilities o implementing systems based on mutualism in the urban

environment can be seen.

leaf cutter ant

bacteria (streptomyces)

(parasitic) fungus

fungus free

environment

shelter

decrease

fight

In this system there is both mutualism and

parasitism, mutualism between the ant who

provides shelter to the bacteria whereas the

bacteria fights the fungus to make sure that the

ant can sustain living in this environment.

The fungus on itselfs is parasitic to the ant and so

when the bacteria is not present in the system the

fungus will overrun the ant.

mutualism

parasitism

figure 3.4 Leaf cutter ant, bacteria and fungusphoto reerence5

A complex interconnection between several species

habitat

nutrients

tree sloth

algae

moth

mutualism

co

mmensalism

camouflage

food

food

The Tree Sloth has algae growing in its fur. These algae help to

camouflage the sloth against the lichen-covered tree. There is

even a moth that lives only in the sloth's fur and consumes the

algae; this is a commensal relationship between the moth and the

sloth.

figure 3.3 Case study 1 | Tree sloth, algae and mothphoto reerence4

A complex interconnection between several species

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3.04 Human specializations and urban societiesAs mentioned beore, in urban societies there is an exchange o basic

needs. This exchange will be urther elaborated in paragraph 4.02. Next to

this internal exchange there is an

exchange o basic needs and

resources with the hinterland andarmland (gure 3.6). This exchange

also consists partly o polluting

actors, which are (one o the earlier

mentioned) threats to the

biodiversity. These pollution actors

in relation to Amsterdam are urther

investigated in chapter 5.

The fows entering the city and

leaving the city are urther

elaborated and presented in more

detail in gure 3.7. Next to this, cities are not only exchanging with their

own hinter/armland, but also with other cities (gure 3.8). Between cities

there are dierent aspects (such as culture or knowledge) exchanged, these

aspects are other then the ones that are exchanged between a city and its

hinter/armland. This regional, or

sometimes even global exchange is

resulting in a network o cities, in

which each city is specialized in a

particular eld. For instance, in the

Netherlands, The Hague is

specialized in politics, while

Rotterdam is more specialized in

the shipping o goods.

The exchange o services and

resources within the city is based

on the act that all individualsinvolved in this exchange are

specialists (gure 3.9). An analogy

can be seen between this model

and the systems o symbiosis that

occur in ecosystems. Figure 3.9

represents an example o a way to

implement animals into this system

o exchange between specialists.

The concept that has to be designed

will acilitate this mutual

relationship between human and

interaction number species category dependency additions source

a resource - serviceexchange

X Y Z

b resource - resource

M ut ua li sm 1

c service - service

1.1 Ant Aphid a bbc.co.uk1.2 Mongoose Warthog a bbc.co.uk1.3 Oxpecker Giraffe a bbc.co.uk1.4 Grass Fungi a article1.5 Mussels Urchin c article1.6 Plant Spider a facultative article1.7 Chital deer Langur monkey c bbc.co.uk1.8 Fig tree Wasp c bbc.co.uk1.9 Sun fish Half moon fish Sea gull a bbc.co.uk1.10 Algae Spotted salamander b asknature.org1.11 Plant Microorganism b asknature.org1.12 Ter mite Protozoans b obligatory endosymbiosis1.13 Coral Dinoflagellates a1.14 Bullhorn Acacia Acacia ant a1.15 Sloth Algae a1.16 Mistletoe Mistletoe bird a1.17 Leaf cutter ant Bacteria (streptomyces) c asknature.org

Commensalism 2

2.1 Fig tree Tree bbc.co.uk2.2 Crested hornbill Moustached monkey eol.org2.3 Carrier crab Coral eol.org2.4 Sharksucker Shark eol.org2.5 Marmoset Human eol.org

P ar as it is m 3

3.1 Leaf cutter ant Fungi asknature.org3.2 Mistletoe Tree obligatory hemi-parasite

3.3 Cuckoo/Cowbird Birds brood parasite3 .4 P las mod iu m An op hel ine mos qu ito Hu ma n en dop ar as ite3.5 Tick Mammals/birds ectoparasite (hematophagy)

A me ns al is m 4

4.1 Human Lichens/plants pollution4.2 Human Birds/Mammals habitat loss4.3 Penicil lium Bacteria4.4 Black walnut neighbouring plants4.5 Sheep Grass

Complex systems 5

5.1 Sloth Algae Moth commensalism and mutualism BioMed Central1.15 sloth algae a facultative2.4 sloth moth facultative

figure 3.5 Case studies overview and categorizationbetween human and animal through product

energy

heat

contaminated water

wastepolluted air

hinter/farmland

food

airproducts

water

CITY

figure 3.6 Exchange of basic needs andresourcesbetween city and hinter-/armland

figure 3.7 Flows entering and leaving the city

resources provide in basic needs or humans which leads to output o the city

basic needs

in the city out of the cityinto the city

resources

air

energy

food

water

materials

psychological

self-actualization

output

homeostasis

warmth

excretion

rest (homes, hotels)

property

social network

knowledge

family

health

sex

employment

security

polluted air

heat

waste

products

culture

knowledge

politics

politics

knowledge

products

ideas

hinter/farmland

exchange of basic needstrade

CITY

culture

hinter/farmland

CITY_1

hinter/farmland

CITY_3

hinter/farmland

CITY_2

ideas

products

politics

culture

knowledge

figure 3.8 Exchange in a network of citiesbetween cities

energy

heat

contaminated water

wastepolluted air

flora/fauna

food

airproducts

water

PERSONexchange of

services/resources

figure 3.9 Exchange in a network of citiesbetween cities

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references1 Encyclopdia Britannica (1997) Symbiosis. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.britannica.com/

EBchecked/topic/577677/symbiosis (Accessed 4 October 2011).

2 J. Bascompte and P. Jordano, Plant-Animal Mutualistic Networks: The Architecture o Biodiversity,

Annual Review Ecology, Evolution and Systematics38 (2007), 567-593.

3 J. J. Stachowicz, Mutualis m, Facilitation, and the Structure o Ecological Communities, BioScience 1

(2001), 235-246.

4 Wikispaces (2010) Three-toed sloth. Online. Available HTTP: http://tropicalbiology2010.providence.

wikispaces.net/le/view/three-toed_sloth.jpg/124142505/three-toed_sloth.jpg (Accessed 27 September

2011).

5 Anywhere Costa Rica (2007) Leaf-cutter ant. Online. Available HTTP: http://image.anywherecostarica.

com/costa-rica/eco/lea-cutter-ant/400x-ant-3.jpg (Accessed 27 September 2011).

6 J. Bellows (2007) This looks like a job for vermin! Online. Available HTTP: http://www.damninteresting.

com/this-looks-like-a-job-or-vermin/ (Accessed 16 October 2011).

7 The Worm Haus (2011) Vermicomposting. Online. Available HTTP: http://thewormhaus.com/vermicom-

posting.html (Accessed 16 October 2011).

8 E. M. Costa-Neto and M. V. M. Oliveira Cockroach is Good or Asthma: Zootherapeutic Practices in

Northeastern Brazil, Research in Human Ecology2 (2000), 41.

9 M. Pfanz (2005) Giant rats to be used to sniff out TB vic tims. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.

telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/3324566/Giant-rats-to-be-used-to-sni-out-TB-victims.html (Accessed

16 October 2011).

10 J. Klein (2008) On the intelligence of crows. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.ted.com/talks/

joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_o_crows.html (Accessed 16 October 2011).

11 History Learning Site (2011) Pigeons and World War One. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.

historylearningsite.co.uk/pigeons_and_world_war_one.htm (Accessed 16 October 2011).

12 R. Plau (2010) Leather Tanneries in Fs, Morocco. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=owhYEq4p17Q (Accessed 16 October 2011).

13 Indiana State Department o Health (2011) Rats and Mice. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.in.gov/

isdh/23256.htm (Accessed 16 October 2011).

14 M. G. Paoletti and M. Hassall Woodlice (Isopoda: Oniscidea): their potential or assessing sustainability

and use as bioindicators, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment74 (1999), 157.

15 P. Firth (2011) Ecosystem Services - Water Purification. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.sciencenet-

links.com/lessons.php?DocID=275 (Accessed 16 October 2011).

animal and by this wil l orm the

bridge between the human and the

auna/fora (gure 3.10).

3.05 Animals as specialistsAll animals have their own specialization

as already mentioned in the previous

paragraph. This does not only count or

animals acting in a system o symbiosis, but

or all animals in general. There are many

examples to be given. Next is an

enumeration o the usages o animals (with

certain specializations) that are commonly

considered to be vermin:

- Rats are used to seek and reveal (land)mines 6

- Anecic worms are used or composting systems 7

- Cockroaches to treat asthma 8

- Rats used to sni out TB victims 9

- Crows are used or collecting garbage 10

- Pigeons are extremely reliable message senders 11

- Pigeon droppings can be used as both agriculturalnutrient and or leather industry 12

- Rats can eat and separate biodegradable waste 13

- Woodlice can be used as bioindicators o or instanceheavy metal pollution 14

- Caddisfies and black fies can be used or waterpurication15

From these examples directions or the

application o animals can be concluded.These typologies o application are

visualized in gure 3.11.

figure 3.10 Exchange of resource s andservicesbetween human and animal through product

resource/

service

resource/

service

product

human

animal/

plant

figure 3.11 Application directionsroles that animals could play

animal as sensor/detector

animal as gatherer/worker

animal as processor/catalyst

animal as food/nutrient supplier

animal as disease treater/medicine

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4

HumanPerceptionon Animals

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People have a certain perception on animals.

That has an infuence on the way they behave

towards these animals. In this chapter this

perception on animals now considered as

vermin will be explored. Also an insight will

be given on how this could be changed.

4.01 Human and non human cooperation All species in nature cooperate with one or more other species living in

their surroundings. Humans however cooperate dierent than other

species. The similarity between human and non-human cooperation is

that individua ls must work together to achieve a common goal which

otherwise would be harder or even impossible to obtain.

Considering the latter, cooperative behavior o individuals rom the same

or dierent species is an important aspect o every (human) society. This

cooperation between members o every society balances the needs o every

participant so that everyone can gain mutual benets.

Cooperation between unrelated individuals in a specic environment can

evolve only i both the actor and the receiver obtain immediate, direct

benets rom the interaction, or i the individuals obtain a uture benet

greater than the initial investment. 1

What distinguishes human rom non-human cooperation is that humans

have developed strategies to understand the uture consequences o their

actions. When an individual ails to play its role, this will not only have

implications or the individual, but or all other participants as well. On the

other hand, cooperation between animals relies on the immediate benets

or the participants. Most o the times, animals do not cooperate in order to

obtain uture benets but they only care about present benets.

4.02 The influence of vermin on human needsA research is conducted in order to gain more insight on the human

perceptions and prejudices on urban auna.

When talking about interaction o human and nature, it is good to have a

look at perception. Exploring the perception o people on certain animals can

explain why certain animals are disliked whilst others are liked.

Part o the human perception can be explained in terms o their human

equivalents. A classication o animals divides the dierent animal species

into six groups, the groups can be linked to their human equivalent.2

This classication makes it easier or humans to categorize a certain

animal in a group. For example: strangers are the human equivalent o wild

animals. They do not have any positive or negative infuence, and there is

limited contact between human and this certain animal. In this way, all

animals can be classied.

Hypothetically, these groups can be linked to Maslows pyramid o basic

needs as can be seen in gure 4.1. Maslow explains that the human being

has several basic needs, which can be grouped into physiological needs,

saety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs and sel-actualization

needs. In this research, the hypothesis is stated that each group o animals

has its infuence (positive or negative) on one or more o the basic needs. It is

thought that vermin and oxes, the groups o animals which humans dislike,

are perceived to have a negative infuence on the human basic needs, so on

the levels o saety and physiological needs.

The research questions are:

- Which animals do humans consider to have a negative infuence on their

daily lie?

- What are the reasons that humans have a negative perception on

certain species?

- On which locations do humans expect negatively perceived animals to

be ound?

figure 4.1 human basic needs pyramid and animal classificationeect o certain animal groups on the human basic needs input: 2 and 3

Basic

needs

Psychological

needs

Self-fulfillment

needsSelf-

actualization

Belongingness and love needs

Safety needs

Physiological needs

Esteem needs

wild animals

vermin

farm animals

foxes

pets

game

English classicationWild animals (strangers)Foxes (enemies)Game (riends)Farm animals (neighbors)

Pets (companions)Vermin (criminals)

2

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The hypothesis is that humans consider rats, mice and cockroaches to

have the most negative infuence on their daily lie. Humans perceive certain

species to have a negative infuence on their basic needs, as stated by

Maslow. These needs are the ability to breathe, eat and drink, warmth, rest,

security o home, saety, amily, health, mental health, sel-esteem and

sel-actualization. 3 It is expected that the animals above are perceived to

mainly have a negative infuence on health and saety. Furthermore, it is

expected that humans expect these animals to be ound in sewage systems,

attics and cellars.

The questionnaire can be ound in the appendices.

It is important that the term vermin is never mentioned in this

questionnaire, since this implies a certain group o animals and might give a

wrong output. The researchers denition o vermin is Animals that are

perceived to have a negative infuence on human day-to-day lie.

Discussion

When looking at the rst research question:

Which animals do humans consider to have a negative infuence on their

daily lie?

The ollowing conclusions can be drawn:

It can be seen that the group o arthropods is considered to be the most

negative. This can be seen when the total number o replies on a group is

divided by the total number o participants. This can be seen in gure 4.2

and 4.3.

However, also in the other groups o animals, some animals are oten

mentioned. The ten most mentioned animals are:

When looking at the hypothesis, where rats, mice and cockroaches wereexpected to be most negatively perceived, it can be said that this hypothesis

was partially true. These animals indeed are considered as a nuisance and

are present in the top ten, but they are not the three most mentioned

animals.

About the second research question: What are the reasons that humans

have a negative perception on certain species?, and the hypothesis that

these animals are perceived to have a negative infuence on health and

saety, the ollowing can be said: Overall it is true that certain basic needs

are perceived to be infuenced by disliked animals. However, rest, security

in ones home and the ability to drink are considered most important. This is

shown in gure 4.4.

93%

40%

266%

65%

1%

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

Mammals Mollusks,Reptiles,

Amphibians

Arthropods Birds Fish

figure 4.2 relevances of the different animal groupsArthropods are clearly the group o animals that is disliked the most

0.0775 0.08

0.266

0.08125

0.0025

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

Mammals Mollusks,Reptiles,

Amphibians

Arthropods Birds Fish

figure 4.3 relevances of the different animal groupscorrected or the number o species per group

Common fruit fly 71

Mouse 49

Silverfish 45

Ant 36

Spider 34

Moth 31

Pigeon 30

Rat 25

Snail 24

Cockroach 24

38 39


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When looking at the dierent animal groups however, it can be seen that

there is a dierence between the dierent groups. The comparison o

mammals, arthropods and birds shows the most distinguishable dierence.

For the group o mammals counts it is mainly rest and eeling o security

in home that are infuenced. For the group o arthropods, also the ability to

eat and drink is perceived to be infuenced. Birds seem to only infuence

ones rest.

These dierences can probably be explained by looking at the size,

location and behavior o these animals. Small animals like arthropods are

probably more oten ound near sources o ood. A lso, the act that some

arthropods have wings and can actually fy into human ood might

contribute. Birds are not very oten ound indoors, which might explain the

absence o perception o eelings o secur ity in home. The birds can however

produce loud sounds, which infuence peoples rest.

The third research question: On which locations do humans expect

negatively perceived animals to be ound? and the expectation that humans

expect these animals to be ound in sewage systems, attics and cellars, can

be answered as ollows:

The participants expect unwanted animals to be ound in sewage system,

kitchen, and cellars. This can be seen in gure 4.5.

4.03 History of verminThe bad reputation o animals that are considered as vermin is mostly

based on stories and myths (partly actual based) rom the past, or as A.

Thompson put it: not scientic, not learned, not academic; rather, they are

predominantly based on tabloid scare stories, unsavory anecdotes and

myth. 7 The most clear example o this is the rat, that appears over and over

again in books, lms and tales as malevolent and threatening. 7 This seems

to be one o the most important reasons or people to dislike this group o

animals, next to the actual problems that people really have experienced

themselves with these animals and the occurring health issues, which will

be discussed in the next paragraph.

Next to that the conception o vermin is highly contextual based and

diers per culture. Cockroaches are in the western culture mostly

considered as vermin and useless, while in other cultures cockroaches are

seen as ood or have other unctions. This is also proved by the act that

isolated monocultures al have their isolated monocultures o vermin. 7

The contextual actor however can be on a very low scale as well, this A.

Thompson explains very well here: Vermin ought to be thought similarly as

animals out o place? Finding a mouse in the garden is appropriate, maybeeven charming; nding one in the larder is another matter!. 7

Also can be said that every era has his own top-vermin, some get a better

image through the years, others will stay as much disliked as beore. So

some o them are not considered to be vermin anymore like the red kite and

the raven, like they were in medieval times. 7 Others like pigeons that now

are considered as vermin by a lot o people, had a much better image in

ormer times (pigeons were amous or their trustworthy mail deliver

abilities and seen as really useul animals). A conclusion that can be drawn

rom this is that to which animals the term vermin is addressed is very

susceptible. And thus it is very likely that the bad image o animals that are

1.13

1.50

1.08

1.79

1.57

1.391.33 1.33

1.18

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

2.00

breathing ability to eat

and drink

warmth rest feelings of

security in my

home

feelings of

safety

health mental health self-esteem

figure 4.4 basic needs influenc ed by disliked animals

rest is the basic need that is being infuenced the most

76

70

57

53

47

41

36

2826

21

15

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Sewagesystems

Kitchen Cellar Attic Streets Parks Bathroom Livingroom

Mainsquares

None ofthe above

Publictransport

figure 4.5 locations where people expect vermin to beplaces where animals considered as vermin live

40 41


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considered to be vermin can be changed into a positive image i they will

have a unction in the eyes o the people.

Animals considered as vermin have always been with us and most likely

always will be. In this sense it can be said that maybe we dont like these

animals, but they seem to like us, since they live really close to us. To this

can be added that these animals seem to be, as Ben Campkin puts it, the

most human o animals, those that arrange their lives around the business

and rhythm o the human world. 8 They will be with us and very close to us

or much more years to come, so we better nd a good way to share space

and resources in both the city and rural areas.

All the attempts in history to totally ban vermin out o the human society

ailed. These animals will return anyway to live in human areas one way or

another. Approaches that did work were the better management o waste, as

A. Thompson explains here: reduced requency o collection and general

litter (especially ast ood) encourages vermin. I we clamp down on waste,

vermin will not fourish. 7

Through the years vermin always has been a reason o improving the built

environment and systems in cities, like sewage systems and building

insulation, to keep vermin out. But until the day o today still (mostly low

social class) housing is suering rom vermin through bad conditions o the

built environment in relation to these animals. A good explanation o this is

given in the ollowing description by Mr. Matheson o London housing

complex: there was a big problem with rats on the estate, part icularly in

the tower block because o the chute system used to dispose o the

household waste. 9

We have to prepare or a continuing coexisting in the urban context with

animals now considered as vermin or in the uture considered as vermin,

mostly because o the changing conditions in the city and ecological system.

The best way to deal with this is to give these animals a place in our

eciency and specialization based urban society.

4.04 Vermin and health issuesAs stated beore most o the animals we consider to be vermin live very

close to human activity. The place where the nuisances o animals appear to

happen mostly is in houses. Where they actually live is visualized in the

cross section o a typical house as can be seen in gure 4.6. What kind o

health issues they actually cause will be elaborated in coming part.

Most o the problems caused by animals nd their basis in human actions.

Not taking care o waste and so ort, all these problems can be solved by so

called passive control as described by Bonneoy et al. in the next passage:

when pests lack the conditions they need to breed, such as ood, drink,

warmth and sae harborages, they simply cannot survive in an area. This

very basic approach is valid or all pests. 10 The way people have to deal

with these problems, together with better building conditions (related to

problems that are shown in the sect ion as well) to prevent nuisance o

animals (as described in the ormer paragraph), are the most ruitul ways to

decrease health issues caused by this kind o animals. Education and

inormation distribution in this sense plays a very important role. 10Techniques used should be considered really good, as is explained by A.

Thompson: Once [the rats are] inside the building however, the only course

o action is trapping; poisoning has the adverse eect o leaving a decaying

body trapped in the abric o the building, compounding the problem o

inection, distress and discomort. 7 Also the risks o vermin in the city not

only consist o health issues due or instance disease spreading by the

vermin itsel, but also due to the pesticides used to ght them and the way

(mostly unproessional) these are used. 10

Currently one o the mayor urban diseases related to these animals is

asthma, also explained by Bonneoy et al.: The evidence or a relationship

animals considered

as vermin and

where they live

wall voids

drop ceilingscracks/crevices

garbage

food waste

cockroach

rat/

mouse

rat/

mouse

rat/

mouse

flea

kitchen

closetsbuilt-in appliances

attic

basement

cockroach

house dustmitefly

fruitfly

flyfruitfly

silverfish

rat/ mouse

cockroachhouse dustmite

house dustmite

house dustmite

bed bugs

silverfish

pigeon

pigeon

rat/

mouse

bathroom

carpetsfurniture

silverfish

roofcracks

matresses

bedding

sewage

cracks

figure 4.6 section of a typical Amsterdam canal houseplaces where animals considered as vermin live, input: 10

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between allergic asthma and domestic exposure to cockroaches, mice and

dust mites is strong. 10 Cockroaches are also a problem related to

contaminating ood, just like mice, voles, rats, (ruit) fies and silversh can

be named as causers o this problem. 10 This problem o course is most easily

to be solved by better waste management and ood hygienic. These are also

a ew o the main points in the strategy o Integrated Pest Management

(IPM), which ocuses more on solving the problem in its roots rather than

ghting the symptom. 10 For house dust mites it counts that a lot o problems

will be solved as well by avoiding high humidity levels, mostly through

building technological solutions.

Bedbugs eed mostly on people, they are especia lly a problem and in a way

not to be avoided. There are several techniques to ban the nuisances o

these animals, not using pesticides, including use o extreme temperatures

and insecticide active products, although most o them are still in a test

phase. Most important is to keep in mind the transmit o human pathogens,

especially those that cause new or emerging diseases. 10

Fleas and ticks mostly cause problems by intruding our habitats through

the ur o rodents and even our own pets, how these problems can be

prevented urther is explained by Bonneoy et al. in the next quote: Also,

conducive conditions must be eliminated or rectied, including structural

eatures that encourage wildl ie in and around peoples homes. 10 Another

animal that has to be noted is the human lice; they have the ability to

transmit inections, which is a problem that possibly can have a big impact.

Again in this case, the most important thing is to educate and develop and

distribute inormation about these hazards.

What must be considered as well, is that or instance birds mostly aect

our cities by spreading other (smaller animals), which explains as well the

importance o keeping in mind how these animals are connected to other

species in the ecosystem. This is also elaborated by Bonneoy et al. here:

Beside the harm some wild urban bird species (mostly eral pigeons) cause

to buildings by their activity and droppings, their nesting sites can be thesource o abundant ectoparasites (such as argasid ticks, mites, bugs and

feas) that produce al lergic reactions in people. 10

Commensal rodents can also be an intrinsic danger to people, mostly in

the same way like birds as mentioned beore: Commensal rodents, such as

the brown rat, the roo rat and the house mouse, present a great risk to

human health, especially to people whose health is already compromised.

Studies show that rats and mice can be inected with a large variety o

parasites and zoonotic agents, which elevates their status rom mere

nuisances to public health pests. 10

In short it can be said that most o the problems can be avoided by better

building design and reviewing the existing built environment (also sewers

and drains) related to these cases. 10 Also the need or hygiene and removing

sources o ood and shelter or these animals in unwanted places is evident.

Also related to the already mentioned actor o poverty in this case it is

important to summarize that better housing conditions have an enormous

positive eect on this. The control o animals that are considered as vermin

can be seen as well as an indicator o welare and health to this respect in a

certain neighborhood or city.

references1 A.P. Melis and D. Semmann (2010) How is human cooperation different?(London: The Royal Society)

Online. Available HTTP: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/365/1553/2663.ull.html#re-list-1

(accessed 14 september 2011)

2 E. Leach, Levi-Strauss, (London: Fontana/Collins, 1974), 40.

3 A. H. Maslow, A Theory o Human Motivation, Psychological Review50 (1943), 370-396.

4 D. Cliton et Bryant, The Zoological Connection: Animal-Related Human Behavior, Social Forces58

(1979-1980), 399.

5 R. G. Webster, The importance o animal infuenza or human disease, Vaccine20 (2002), S16-S20.

6 M. Beko (2010) Animals in medi a: Righting the wrongs: The misrepresentation of animals continues when

animals go to press, Animal Emotions. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/

animal- emotions/ 201001/anim als-in-medi a-righting-the -wrongs (Accessed 28 October 2011)

7 A. Thompson (2008) Vermin: The future development of cities... and other stories(London: This Is Not A

Gateway). Online. Available HTTP: http://thisisnotagateway.squarespace.com/salon-archive/TINAG How

Vermin Are Shaping Our Future Cities Post Salon ESSAY.pd (accessed 11 October 2011).

8 J. Kerr and Andrew Gibson, London from Punk to Blair(London: Reaktion Books, 2003), 216

9 Matheson, C. (2004) Inner-city ood waste compost scheme set or expansion. Online. Available HTTP:

http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/compost/inner-city-ood-waste-compost-scheme-set-or-

expansion (accessed 27 October 2011)

10 X. Bonneoy, H. Kampen and K. Sweeney, Public Health Signicance o Urban Pests, (Copenhagen: World

Health Organization, 2008).)

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5

ContextualResearch inAmsterdam

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This chapter goes deeper in to the actual

aspects o the city o Amsterdam. This in order

to get a better view on the actual context

where the to develop concepts have to be

implemented a urther analysis is needed.

5.01 Biodiversity in Amsterdam The level o biodiversity in Amsterdam is already very high. There are

about 10.000 species in Amsterdam, varying rom birds to ungi. This is

mainly due to the amount o landscape variation around the city, the high

temperature in the city, the large amount o courtyards and the mixing o

sweet and brackish water in the IJ lake / canal. 1 This indication contra-

dicts the need or more species in Amsterdam, but argues more or

preserving this degree o biodiversity, because this is one o the qualities

o the city.

On one hand there is the high level o biodiversity o Amsterdam, but on

the other hand there is also a high variety o protected species. The

municipality o Amsterdam lists 66 protected species that should not be

harmed by the building sector and also states that there are more than 300

species on which the municipality ocusses to preserve the value o nature in

Amsterdam. 2,3 This can be interpreted as a city quality as well: The city

eatures o Amsterdam oer suitable breeding places or protected animals.

5.02 Air pollution in AmsterdamAir pollution is not only a threat to biodiversity (or nature in general) but

also to the inhabitants o Amsterdam themselves. For the latter reason the

municipality o Amsterdam now is taking steps to decrease the

concentration o PM10 which will lead to a higher lie expectation, especially

or vulnerable people. 4 The municipality is mostly taking steps to decreasethe emissions by motorized vehicles, because these are o the biggest

infuence. These steps that are to be taken dier rom urban zones to

supporting the use o lters in cars and the use o public transport. 4

The air pollution has a direct infuence on the mortality rate and not only

consist o pollution by CO2, but also by SO2 , NO2 and CO. 5 So is not only the

challenge to decrease air pollution or the sustaining o biodiversity, but or

the nature as a whole including the human being (in this case the citizens o

Amsterdam.

From the most recent measure result can be concluded that concentrations

o NO2 are in several areas in Amsterdam higher then the norm, these areas

are around the measure stations in the Haarlemmerweg, Einsteinweg, Jan

van Galenstraat, Stadhouderskade and Van Diemenstraat. 6

For the concentration o PM10 particles the area o the Einsteinweg was

mostly problematic, but or now the concentrations are almost the on the

same level all over the city, without trespassing the norm. 6

Other trac axis with high NO2 concentrations are the Amstelveenseweg,

Prins Hendrikkade, Tweede Hugo de Grootstraat, Amsteldijk and

Surinamestraat. 7 All together these are the main problematic trac axis in

Amsterdam in sense o the air pollution that is caused. These results are

collected in the ollowing overview map (gure 5.1).

5.03 Water pollution in AmsterdamThe most problematic causers o pollution o water are the industries. 8 The

biggest problems are caused by chemicals that are released into the water.

Next to that a lot o residues rom domestic water use end up in the watersystem. On the other hand also biological causes can be named or the

pollution o water, or instance by blue-green algae that cause diseases or

excrements o birds, sh and other animals. But o course these are not the

biggest problem in the sense most o this problems are balanced out in the

ecosystem itsel. The main actor o pollution is the human, because the

chemicals and other harmul substances have a long-term negative eect on

the water quality.

The importance o clean water or humans seems to be evident, since it s

one o our basic needs and necessary or the natural balance in our body, we

need to stay hydrated. For this reason the availability o clean water is o a

5 4 3 2 1 0 5

kilometers

figure 5.1 Problematic traffic axis in the whole city of Amsterdamresult o measurements in 2009/2010(3,4)

48 49


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big importance. Next to the act that clean water supply is necessary or

maintenance o the human body, clean water is also important in the sense

that it keeps out health problems, because a lot o diseases were spread in

history by contaminated water. These are the main two reasons or the

immense importance o clean water or humans.

The importance o clean water diers very much or dierent animals. O

course or animals that are living in the water this has a whole other value

then or animals that dont. Amphibians are specially sensitive to polluted

water, mostly because they chemical trough their skins i these are in the

water. 9 On the other hand there are also a lot o animals that dont

signicantly suer rom polluted water. This is actually only a small group o

animals; a ew examples are aquatic worms, leeches, and snails. 9 All

together it can be said that most animals (in larger or smaller degree) suer

rom polluted water. For many dierent reasons: a lack o available oxygen,

chemicals, detergents and so on. 9

Amsterdam and clean water

The water management organization o Amsterdam has organized that

100 million kilograms o dredged sludge is delivered to the waste-powered

power plant o Amsterdam. The dredging not only helps to clean the water,

but also prevent the water to rise too high, causing fooding. The water

height is thereore controlled by the water management organization. One o

the near-uture projects is to re-arrange the Wibautstraat. The organization

decided to take out all the old waterworks and replace them with steel

ones.10

Canals

Many citizens complained that the canals should be more opened up. They

complained about the amount o dirt, weeds, houseboats, piers and rats

that adversely aected the sight and sailing ability. 11 As a response to this

development and to keep the canals healthy and clean, the municipality

decided that the houseboats should be attached to the sewage system since2005, as well as the radical three-times-a-week fushing o most o the

canals. 12 This could actually be bad or some smaller species that live rom

the dirtiness o the water.

At least the situation is much improved since in the 19th century the

pumping system was introduced, with that the water quality in the canals

increased immensely. Beore the city was also known as the 'beauty with

bad breath', which says enough about the ormer situation o the cana ls. 13

Drinking water Amsterdam

The drinking water in Amsterdam seems to be one o the cleanest o all o

the Netherlands. It is pre-ltered in the dunes, while it is originally taken

rom the Rhine river. Also the water supply company (Waternet) uses state-

o-the-art technology or its water purication process. This all together

makes it that Amsterdam has a very high quality drinking water supplies.14

On the other hand the technologies used by the water purication

industries are also harmul to the environment, due the release o harmul

substances. 8 This can be seen in gure 5.2 as well, also visualized here is

the possible alternatives to this. This makes it worth to search or other,

more ecological and bio riendly alternatives or the purication o water.

An addition to this subject in context o the proposed direction would be

to use animals or water purication, since they can be implemented in the

ecosystem in a more balanced way. An example here is the abi lity o

caddisfies to puriy water with the nets they build. 15Threats that have to be considered are the health risks o direct contact

between animals and water and the possible risks o disease spreading and

contamination.

5.04 Waste managementAt this moment, Dutch waste can be divided into two categories:

municipal solid waste and commercial and industrial waste. Municipal solid

waste is the most mixed and diverse, whilst commercial and industrial

waste comes in bigger volumes o the same material, but can contain severe

pollutions. Only municipal waste is considered in this chapter. It can be seen

in gure 5.3 that one third o the waste is organic. 16

ECOSYSTEM

WATER

PURIFICATION

INDUSTRY

alternative

water filtration

by animals/systems

pollution

HARMFULSUBSTANCES

figure 5.2 water purificati on industry pollutiondue to use o chemicals and possible alternatives

50 51


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In history, most waste was landlled, but according to the European

Union (EU) landll directive, the amount o biodegradable waste that is

landlled in Europe must be reduced by 65% by 2016 (in EU Council 1999). 17

Currently, most waste is incinerated. The incineration process can create

energy, this is called 'waste to energy' (W2E). However, useable materials

are also burned and nevertheless, the process has an eciency o only 30%.17 The most ecient plants are ound in Amsterdam. 18

There are several possible solutions to use organic wastes to create

energy. 19 It is possible to use biomass such as orestry residues, crop wastes

and animal waste (this includes human manure and sewage sludge) to

create bio gas with anaerobic digestion. This bio gas can be used to create

electricity or as a uel and the residues can be incinerated to create more

energy. 20

However a third o all waste is organic, nutrients recovery is still

something only done on a small scale. This is due to high costs and sub-

optimal quality o the nutrients. 21 Animals however dont care about the

composition or quality o waste, as long as it is still edible. This can be seen

when looking at the number o birds eating waste that is let on the streets

by humans, as can be seen 5.4. 22 A possible solution to use the organic

matter in waste is so-called solid waste digestion. In these devices, solid

waste is digested, by which the organic matter is transormed into bio gas

and biomass. The residues can sti ll be inc inerated in order to create energy.23

In uture, maybe

animals can be o

use to help us sort

out our waste?

5.05 Specific approach to problems with verminDPB (Dier Plaag Beheersing, in Dutch) is a part o community services

(municipality) Amsterdam, thereore controlled by aldermen and Municipal

Council. DPB has 24 employees and their turnover is 18 million euro. Since

2005, policy has shited rom killing animals to inorming citizens about

living together with animals. The DPB strives or an animal- and

environmental riendly approach.

Since 2010, the employees are trained in applying IPM (Integrated Pest

Management), see gure 5.5. The old approach directly started at the top o

the pyramid, while the new approach starts rom the bottom and goes up to

the top.

The DPB will start a research in November about where animal plagues

are ound and what the relations are between infuencing actors like,

temperature, water level, concentration o available ood, how people eed

the animals, culture and social situation.

The goal o the DPB is to make citizens think in a dierent way about the

animals they live together with. Next to that, nuisance is reported. In DPBs

vision animals should never be killed when not absolutely necessary.

Thereore they ocus on prevention instead o symptom ghting. In order to

be able to act preventively, risks have to be analyzed, which wi ll be done in

the research.

2

2

3

6

9

11

11

11

21

38

67

78

78

82

85

99

329

351

422

455

611

1076

1263

3758

Metal

Tyres

Drinks cartons

Other plastics

Other Glas

Tapestries

Asbest

Roofings

Small Chemical Waste

Useable furniture

Textile

Building residue

Metals

Plastic packaging

White/Brown goods (electronics)

Soil

Wood

Glas packaging

Small stones

Garden waste

Big residue (other)

Paper

Green waste (organic)

Municipal residue waste (other)

figure 5.3 Composition of municipal solid wastedierent components set out with percentages input: 16

figure 5.4 Pigeons eating from opened garbage bagspigeons eat biodegradable waste photo source 24

figure 5.5 Integrated Pest Management pyramidsystematic approach to avoid or even ban the use o pesticides input: 24

IPM Pyramid

Use

Pesticides

(if justified)

DECISION-MAKING

Economic threshold

Monitor for pests & NE

PLANNING & PREVENTION

Site selection, soil analysis and

preparation, cultivars, pest-free / healthy plants,

planting date, rotations, farmscaping

IPM KNOWLEDGE

Identify pests & natural enemies (NE),

biology and interactions with farmscape, tactics and methods

Supp

ression

Surv

eillan

ce

BePr

epared

&Avo

idan

ce

Integrated Pest Management

52 53


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According to DPB, the most mentioned complaints are animal droppings,

health issues and sound nuisance. DPB states that all these reasons

are actually due to limited knowledge and a bad image o the animals.

In the last two years, a top ten is made rom the complaints, as can be

seen gure 5.6.

The main results o the

interview are the top-ten o

complaints in which can be

seen that rats are by ar most

mentioned ollowed by

wasps, mice and

cockroaches.

Also, the reasons or these

complaints are quite

interesting. According to

DPB, the most mentioned

complaints are animal

droppings, health issues and

sound nuisance. DPB states

that all these reasons are

actually due to limited

knowledge and a bad image

o the animals.

5.06 Citizens' perception on verminWhen looking at the top ten o the questionnaire and the DPB, it can be

seen that however the order is dierent, the animals are quite similar.

However, wasps, bed bugs and fees are not present in the questionnaire.

When looking to the reasons or the nuisance mentioned by DPB; health,

sound nuisance and animal droppings, these can be compared to the resultso the questionnaire where health, rest , eeling o security in ones home

and ability to eat and drink are mentioned most.

Health and animal droppings mentioned by DPB can be related to health

in the questionnaire. Sound nuisance can be related to rest.

It is also seen that DPB believes that inorming citizens about how to live

together with animals will decrease the number o complaints. This is

justied by the questionnaire, where many participants answered that the

animals infuence their day-to-day lie, even though they are not close to

them.

Species 2010 2011

Rats 1874 1452

591 399

Mice 477 368

467 388

Bed Bugs 85 74

Flies 85 51

Pigeons 65 49

24 20

Gees 15 7

Flees 15 5

Wasps, bees

Cockroaches

Silverfish

figure 5.6 Top ten vermin in AmsterdamOverview o complains in 2010 and 2011

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references1 G. Timmermans, The Wild City, presentation (Delt , 13 September 2011)

2 Buursink, E. (2008) Doelsoortenlijst. O nline. Available HTTP: http://www.amsterdam.nl/toerisme-vrije-

tijd/groen-natuur/fora-auna/doelsoortenlijst/ (accessed 28 November 2011)

3 Knibbeler, G. (2009) Amsterdam doet mee aan Coaliti e Biodiversiteit 2010. Online. Available HTTP: http://

www.amsterdam.nl/toerisme-vrije-tijd/groen-natuur/fora-auna/coalitie/ (accessed 28 November 2011).

4 H. Van Bergen (2008) Clean air planning and traffic related health action plan Amsterdam. Online.

Available HTTP: http://www.umwelt.nrw.de/umwelt/pd/pronet/actsheets/14.pd (accessed 18 October

2011).

5 P. Fischer, G. Hoek, B. Brunekree, A. Verhoe and J. van Wijnen, Air pollution and mortality in the

Netherlands: are the elderly more at risk?, European Respiratory Journal40 (2003), 34-38.

6 H.J.P Helmink and S.C. van der Zee (2010) Luchtverontreininging Amsterdam. Datarapport meetresultaten

2010. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.luchtmetingen.amsterdam.nl/pool/3/documents/11-1132%20

Amsterdam%20jaarverslag%202010.pd (accessed 22 October 2011).

7 Programmabureau Luchtkwaliteit (2011) Schone lucht voor Amsterdam. Herijking Amsterdamse

maatregelen luchtkwaliteit. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.vng.nl/Praktijkvoorbeelden/RWMV/2011/

herijking_maatregelen_luchtkwaliteit_amsterdam_2011.pd (accessed 22 October 2011).

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Amsterdam water supply: A LCA approach, Journal of Water Supply: Research and TechnologyAQUA 4

(2002), 217-227.

9 S. Fears (2009) Effects of Water Pollution on Aquatic Ecosystems. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.

brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/13705.aspx (accessed 24 October 2011).

10 Waternet (2011) Wibautstraat vervangen waterleiding. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.waternet.nl/

projecten/wibautstraat (accessed 24 October 2011).

11 W. Schoonenberg (2010) Visie van stadsdeel op water is geen stap in goede richting. Online. Available

HTTP: http://www.amsterdamsebinnenstad.nl/binnenstad/210/visiewater.html (accessed 24 October 2011).

12 J. Ekkelboom (2003) Waterbeheer in waterrijk Amsterdam. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.

neerslag-magazine.nl/magazine/artikel/335/ (accessed 24 October 2011).

13 J.E. Abrahamse (2006) The Beauty with Bad Breath: The Issue of Amsterdam as a Water City In the 17th

century. Online. Available HTTP: http://users.bart.nl/ ~leenders/hgt/24-1c.html (accessed 24 October 2011).

14 Simply Amsterdam (2007) Amsterdam has the best tap water in the Netherlands. Online. Available HTTP:

http://www.simplyamsterdam.nl/news/Amsterdam_has

_the_best_tap_water_in_the_Netherlands.htm

15 P. Firth (2011) Ecosystem Services - Water Purification. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.sciencenet-

links.com/lessons.php?DocID=275 (accessed 16 October 2011).

16 Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (2011) Gemeentelijke afvalstoffen; hoeveelheden. Online. Available

HTTP: http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?DM=SLNL& PA=7467&D1=1-25,76-86,128&D2=0& D3=l&

HDR=G1,G2&STB=T&VW=T (accessed 2 November 2011)

17 O. Gohlke and J. Martin, Drivers or innovation in waste-to-energy technology, Waste Management

Resources25 (2007), 214.

18

O. Gohlke, Eciency o energy recovery rom municipal solid waste and the resultant eect on thegreenhouse gas balance, Waste Management and Research 9 (2009), 894-906.

19 S. Siddhart, Green energy-anaerobic digestion, 17th International Congress of Chemical and Process

Engineering(2006), abstract.

20 G. Boyle, Renewable energy: Power for a sustainable future(Oxord, 2004).

21 H. Kirchmann, 'Recycling municipal wastes in the uture: From organic to inorganic orms?', S oil Use and

Management21 (2005), 152-159.

22 Meeuwen Overlast (2011) Meeuwenoverlast in de stad. Online. Available HTTP: http://w ww.meeu-

wenoverlast.nl/home.html (accessed 15 October 2011)

23 G. Lissens, P. Vandevivere, L. De Baere, E. M. Bieyand W. Verstrae, 'Solid waste digestors: Process

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24 J. Hurley, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in the School Setti ng: Strategies for Protecting Children from

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Recommen-dations

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species have certain properties (such as ood preerence, certain excrement

and transport o nesting materials) and specializations, a change in amount

o the targeted specie will have an infuence on other species, the human

relations and the habitat. A more exact spectrum o relations should be made

to evaluate the concepts o choice and to take into account in the elaboration

o the nal concept. Relations that are threatening the biodiversity

(including the possibility o re-enorcing the negative human perception on

nature) should eventually be tackled, avoided or minimized as ar as

possible. Thereore, the eventual concept should be regulating the benets

or the targeted specie and thus the infuence o the system on the amount o

species. This model can be used and extended in order to create a spectrum

o relations.

targeted species

amount

properties

specializations

other species

amount

human relations

nuisance

benefits

habitat

chemical balance

materialsfigure 6.1 diagram of the impact on biodiversity by future concepts

In order to create urther concepts, there are

three aspects that are recommended as a

contribution to the generation o, evaluation

o and elaboration on the concepts. In this

chapter these will be described, in this case

the mapping o data and the prediction o the

impact on biodiversity.

6.01 Mapping the biodiversity of Amsterdam To gain more knowledge about the biodiversity o Amsterdam, data was

requested rom the GAN (Data Authority Nature). This data consists o the

amount o each species per square meter. To visualize the data, it needs to

be plot upon a map o Amsterdam. This map about Amsterdams biodiver-

sity will be used to provide more in depth knowledge about the biodiver-

sity o Amsterdam. Especially with regard to animals on which this vision

is aiming.

Next to that map, a map can be made to plot the data o the perception on

vermin, which is generated by the online questionnaire. This will give

inormation about the areas to target with eventual concepts in order to

create more awareness in these areas. Furthermore, this mapping should be

made in a way that it can be applicable to other cities, so that the data about

the perception on vermin in other cities is the only thing that is needed to

create a plot or other cities.

6.02 Impact of applications on biodiversityThe eventual products, architectural designs and urban plans developed

in this project i implemented will certainly have an eect on the current

biodiversity in a particular way, depending on each di erent developedconcepts. A more detailed analysis on the impact o each concept will be

done and taken into account the eects a nal concept can be chosen.

While generating and analyzing concepts, being aware o multiple actors

which have an impact on the biodiversity is required. The main actors that

should be taken into account are: the target species, the amount o other

species, infuences on habitat and human relations. The relation between

these actors will be explained in the next paragraph.

As the group vision states: the relation which will be created between

human and animal will be mutual. This could mean, depending on the

concept, that population size o the ta

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