Linking ecological and built components of urban mosaics: an open cycle of ecological design

1 By the end of this decade, the majority of people will live in cities and suburban areas. Urban areas, including suburbs and exurbs, are expanding rapidly worldwide. 2 Plant ecology has largely ignored cities, or has primarily focused on the discrete urban green spaces within cities. 3 Plant ecology is increasingly engaging urban ecosystems as integrated natural-human systems, in which human agency is part of the complex of feedbacks. 4 Linking plant ecology with urban design (architecture, landscape architecture, civil engineering and urban planning) can help to integrate research and understanding of plants into the structure of cities, and to make use of urban design projects as ecological research tools. 5 Synthesis. A cycle of ecological design illustrates the linkage of plant ecological research with the ongoing transformation of urban systems by urban designers and civil society. Quality of life, human health, public appreciation of ecological processes in cities, and scientific understanding can all be enhanced by participating in a cycle of ecological urban design.