An ecosystem is a community of living things interacting with nonliving things. A city is an urban ecosystem, where large numbers of people live in structures built in close proximity to one another. Human actions have an impact on ecological factors (plants, air, soil, animals), while ecological factors influence our urban planning decisions (where to build houses, parks, highways, schools).
Urban ecosystems have the same basic kinds of interactions as other ecosystems, but those interactions are greatly affected not only by the structures that people have built and the resources they use, but also by people's cultures, behaviours, social organisation and economy. The system is complex, interactive and dynamic. This new understanding of interactions goes beyond traditional studies where, historically, urban issues did not consider environmental issues. Today we recognise that the social, economic, demographic, political, and environmental consequences of urban development are all connected.
Sydney Olympic Park considered environmental and social aspects during the remediation and restoration of the site for the 2000 Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games. Researchers continue to study and assess environmental sustainability issues at the site.
By undertaking research in our urban area (as we do for other ecosystems), we can study issues like consumption of resources (water, food and energy) waste production and sustainable development to improve urban planning and share that knowledge with others.
Read the proceedings from the Restoring Urban Ecosystems seminar held at Sydney Olympic Park in February 2003.
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