Urban Nature: The Final Frontier?

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Danny Czamanski21 March 2016

Urban nature

the final frontier?

complexcity.csregistry.org

ABC – The Science of the City

complexcity.csregistry.org 2

Is “urban nature” an oxymoron?

Urban scholars are concerned with the CBD and its surroundings

Traditional ecology is concerned with “natural” ecosystems

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The spatiotemporal resolution in the classical urban story –

cities are non-porous built-up spaces

Traditional ecologists and urbanists agree -there is no room for nature in cities…

1. Ecosystem services affect human well-being. 2. Ecosystems services change under various urban scenarios.3. The interactions between humans and ecosystems are time and

space dependent.

Humans and nature in cities interact through ecosystem

service

• Toger, M., I. Benenson, D. Czamanski and D. Malkinson. The connectivity of the Haifa urban open space network in Environment and Planning B, 47, 2015, pp 1–23

• Czamanski, D., D. Malkinson, D. and M. Toger. Nature in future cities – prospects and a planning agenda in Built Environment, 40:4, 2014, pp. 508-520

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There is nature us cities

cat

Dog

herpestes

fox

jacka

l

porcupine

wild

_boar Hyra

x

Badger

partridge

rodent

hedgehog co

w goat

Coypu

unrecognize

d

marte

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500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

1242

23582 6

3217

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721

99 137 50

978

90 14910 28 33 2

Mammal species in Haifa area

BioGIS Our cameras

Apodemus flavicollis Yellow-necked mouseצהוב יערוןצוואר 1

Canis aureus Golden jackal זהוב תן 1 1Canis lupus Gray wolf מצוי זאב 1 Felis silvestris Wild cat בר חתול 1 Gazella gazella Mountain gazelle מצוי צבי 1 Herpestes ichneumon Egyptian mongoose מצויה נמייה 1 1Hyaena hyaena Striped hyena מפוספס צבוע 1 1Hystrix indica Indian crested porcupine מצוי דרבן 1 1Lepus capensis Cape hare מצויה ארנבת 1 Martes foina Beech marten הסלעים דלק 1 1Procavia capensis Rock hyrax סלע שפן 1 1 Rattus rattus Black rat מצויה חולדה 1 Suncus etruscus Etruscan shrew זעיר חדף 1 Sus scrofa Wild boar בר חזיר 1 1Vulpes vulpes Red fox מצוי שועל 1 1Erinaceus concolor Southern white-breasted hedgehog מצוי קיפוד 1Meles meles European badger מצויה גירית 1 1Myocastor coypus Coypu נוטריה 1 1

19 11http://www.biogis.huji.ac.il/

Animal city scape

Sourcesemi-

natural

Sinkopen

spaces

Transit agriculture,

yards

Hostile built,

paved, roads

2010201120122013

Boar sightings are a function of distance between patches

Frequency

Distance between patches

Over the years the distribution is becoming more “fat-tailed” (Lévy flights) compared to a “null” negative exponential

Perplexing question

Why are wild animals leaving natural open spaces and entering the “unfriendly” cities?

Where do they meander? Why?

ChallengesThree issues for theory of urban nature:

What is the most useful spatial resolution/scale for understanding cities/nature interactions?

At what distances do feedbacks among biodiversity, ecosystem services and the built environment operate?

What are the characteristic times that govern each of the relevant systems?

What is the most useful spatial resolution/scale for understanding cities/nature interactions?

•The environmental policy debate and land-use regulations are dominated by analyses of sprawl at a crude spatial resolution.

•The appropriate spatial resolution is much finer – buildings and not building-lots.

When growing cities consume land, what is left behind?

• Series of Haifa OS19451962198619992004

Series of Haifa OS Network evolution

194519621986199920042010

(data Balter 2010)

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 20100

50010001500

200025003000350040004500

811

2205

3614394938963814

Series1323

542806 877888 862

patches numberlinks

Patch importanceBetweenness centrality Component ID Node 1574 deleted Node 1584 deleted

NodeID=1581 BC=0.55NodeID=1574 BC=0.28

NodeID=1584 BC=0.37NodeID=0593 BC=0.01

Year 2004

Betweenness centrality is a good proxy for node importance in the network

At what distance do feedbacks among biodiversity, ecosystem services and the built environment operate?• Nature generates benefits for people at distances that

do not exceed several hundred meters.• People affect nature at much greater distances.

What are the characteristic times that govern each of the relevant systems?

Built environment - - - the time from the purchase of property rights until realization of return on investment.

The main component - - - planning board decisions concerning land-use variance decisions and building permits.

Analysis of pig movement based on cost minimization alone….

Urban consumption of land - - what is left behind?

Urban morphology is the key player

What is a link?

The unbuilt part of the lotenables passage

Indian crested porcupine

(Hystrix indica)


Land-use and Land Cover

classification and cost values per

meter

code Land use Description cost category

30 Veg OS Semi-natural vegetated

0.001 OS31 Forest Semi-natural and planted forests and woodlands

32 Shrubs Mediterranean scrubland

33 Grassland Herbaceous vegetated areas, burnt land, grasslands

22 Orchard Vineyards and orchards 0.1

transit

13 GardenManaged vegetated areas: parks, gardens, lawns, sport facilities, monuments, recreation, and yards.

0.25

41 Wasteland Garbage, dunes, beach, mines wasteland open areas

42 Fallow Abandoned and fallow fields

11 Backyard Backyards, squares, logistic spaces around buildings

0.5

21 Field Agricultural cropland and cultivated open areas

63 Dirt road Unpaved roads

64 Foot path Paved foot paths

65 Trail Unpaved foot paths and trails

15 Transport Railroads, parking lots, transport logistic space, air and sea ports0.75

61 Roads paved roads

111 Buildings building footprints

∞ Obstacles

12 Industry Industrial areas, cemeteries, prisons, exurban commercial areas

14 Construction Construction sites

23 Built agriculture Greenhouses and warehouses

51 Water Water reservoirs, rivers, lakes and sea

999 NoData No Data


Cost minimizing behavior does not explain the movement of wild boars in Haifa


Major processes in the model

Dusk: Food sources appear in the city… Pigs wake up in open spaces

Dawn:Pigs return to open spaces for the day

Dusk to dawn:Pigs detect food…Pigs go to foodand feed


Optimal foraging

𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 = 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑–𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ–𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ + 𝑡𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 Max net energy intake per unit of time

Model space

The space consists of actual Haifa morphology

Urban zone of urban uses

Open spaces

NetLogo platform


Model basicsPigs are distributed randomly at the outer edges of the built areas

Food – garbage bins are distributed to reflect the distribution of households

Pigs enter the built-up area in search of food and obey 2 rules: first come first serve; No fighting – if site is occupied go to next site.


Simulations without memory


Depth of penetration of boars into the city


Total distance traveled by boars



Land-use/land-cover composition of the Haifa sample (LEFT) versus measured composition of the average path of pigs (RIGHT)


Model improvementsInclusion of memory of sites visited;

Complex behavior due to group interactions;

Policy design issues and means;

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Urban Nature: The Final Frontier?