Urban ecology has traditionally been considered a field of inquiry emphasizing ecological processes and organization under the conditions of industrial urbanization. There is a growing interest in interdisciplinary, urban theoretical and scholarly research among the natural, social, and planning sciences, especially within the context of rapid global urbanization, population concentration, and industrial and environmental change. As a field of academic inquiry, urban ecology reflects and embodies changes and transitions in both urban theory and ecological theory over the past half-century.

Early Developments

Early urban ecological exploration and explanation in the mid 20th century reflected contemporary ecological thinking and theory involving the supposed linearity and directionality of ecological change (or succession) and the relative stability, efficiency, and coherence of ecological structure and organization. To this end, early academic ...

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