Ecology for Health
As cities plan for climate change and ways to address threats to biodiversity, many around the world are developing and implementing plans to better integrate nature within urban settings. However, not all greenspaces are created equal when it comes to biodiversity support and human health provision. Our Ecology for Health Guide aims to aid local communities and design professionals in increasing biodiversity and community use of recreational and social spaces to promote improved health and well-being.
The Ecology for Health guide is based on an extensive review of ecological literature on the potential of cities to support native plants and wildlife, as well as research exploring the health benefits of access to biodiverse greenspace. Anyone making decisions about land use and urban design in cities across the world can benefit from the recommendations in this guide (including community-based organizations, local non-profits, local leaders and policymakers, city planners, urban designers, landscape architects, engineers, gardeners/horticulturists/arborists, residents, and landowners).
This guide focuses on three scales: urban planning, site design, and detailed design. Within each scale, it offers practical strategies to create urban green areas that resolve tradeoffs and maximize benefits between biodiversity conservation and human health support. Urban planning relates to the process and spatial distribution of greening in the urban landscape. Site design strategies focus on seven common types of urban greenspaces, while design details are applicable across specific site types.
Key design guidance strategies from Ecology for Health are incorporated into our Making Nature’s City Toolkit website. This online platform for city-building professionals offers examples and data capturing SFEI’s Urban Biodiversity Framework, and Ecology for Health’s design guidance for urban planning, site design, and detailed design scales.
Support for this project was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Dates:
2019 to 2023
Funders:
Associated Staff:
Joe Burg
Bronwen Stanford
Brandon Herman
Stephanie Panlasigui
Project Site:
Programs and Focus Areas:
Resilient Landscapes Program
Urban Nature Lab
Related Projects, News, and Events:
Making Nature's City (Project)
Cities will face many challenges over the coming decades, from adapting to a changing climate to accommodating rapid population growth. A related suite of challenges threatens global biodiversity, resulting in many species facing extinction. While urban planners and conservationists have long treated these issues as distinct, there is growing evidence that cities not only harbor a significant fraction of the world’s biodiversity, but also that they can also be made more livable and resilient for people, plants, and animals through nature-friendly urban design.
Making Nature’s City Toolkit (Project)
In partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Urban Alliance, the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) has developed the Making Nature’s City Toolkit
Introducing the Making Nature's City Toolkit (News)
Making Nature’s City Toolkit (makingnaturescity.org) is an interactive, beautifully designed website that guides cities through an actionable, science-based approach to support biodiversity in cities. Based on SFEI’s 2019 report titled Making Nature’s City, the Toolkit is intended to make the report’s core urban biodiversity framework more accessible to actors and decision-makers in cities across the world.
ASLA-NCC Lunch with Leaders Connecting Biodiversity and Health (News)
Join us for a lunch webinar on March 20th, 2024, where Vanessa Lee (Associate Environmental Scientist), Karen Verpeet (Resilient Landscapes Program Managing Director), and Kelly Iknayan (Senior Scientist) will speak to members of the ASLA Northern CA Chapter about research, strategies, and projects at the intersection of science and landscape architecture.
New Ecology for Heath report forges tighter connections between human and ecological health (News)
The same features in urban parks that support biodiversity can also benefit human health. Even biodiversity itself may help us — and the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) wants to see more of it. To that end, the nonprofit released an innovative report in September called Ecology for Health. It’s a practical guide for planners and designers to aid both biodiversity and human health in urban settings.
Next Generation Urban Greening (Project)
SFEI is working with partners across the Bay Area to design tools to help cities achieve biodiversity, stormwater, and climate benefits through multifunctional green infrastructure.