Urbanization, biodiversity and ecosystem services : challenges and opportunities : a global assessment / Edited by Thomas Elmqvist [and ten others].

Includes bibliographical references.

Includes bibliographical references.

A Global Outlook on Urbanization / Karen C. Seto and Susan Parnell -- History of Urbanization and the Missing Ecology / Thomas Elmqvist and Charles L. Redman -- Urbanization and Global Trends in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services / Robert I. McDonald and Peter J. Marcotullio -- Regional Assessment of Asia / Karen C. Seto -- Sub-regional Assessment of China: Urbanization in Biodiversity Hotspots / Burak Güneralp and Karen C. Seto -- Sub-regional Assessment of India: Effects of Urbanization on Land Use, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services / Harini Nagendra and H.S. Sudhira -- Local Assessment of Bangalore: Graying and Greening in Bangalore -- Impacts of Urbanization on Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity / H.S. Sudhira and Harini Nagendra -- Local Assessment of Tokyo: Satoyama and Satoumi -- Traditional Landscapes and Management Practices in a Contemporary Urban Environment / Ryo Kohsaka, Wanyu Shih and Osamu Saito. Local Assessment of Shanghai: Effects of Urbanization on the Diversity of Macrobenthic Invertebrates / Wenliang Liu, Xiaohua Chen and Qiang Wang -- Patterns and Trends in Urban Biodiversity and Landscape Design / Norbert Müller and Maria Ignatieva -- Urban Ecosystem Services / Erik Gómez-Baggethun and Åsa Gren -- Shrinking Cities, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services / Dagmar Haase -- Regional Assessment of Europe / Jakub Kronenberg, Azime Tezer and Dagmar Haase -- Regional Assessment of North America: Urbanization Trends, Biodiversity Patterns, and Ecosystem Services / Timon McPhearson, Roger Auch and Marina Alberti -- Regional Assessment of Oceania / Robert Dyball and Christopher D. Ives -- Local Assessment of İstanbul: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services / Burak Güneralp, Azime Tezer and İlke Albayrak -- Local Assessment of Stockholm: Revisiting the Stockholm Urban Assessment / Johan Colding. Local Assessment of Chicago: From Wild Chicago to Chicago Wilderness -- Chicago's Ecological Setting and Recent Efforts to Protect and Restore Nature in the Region / Liam Heneghan and Christopher Mulvaney -- Local Assessment of New York City: Biodiversity, Green Space, and Ecosystem Services / Timon McPhearson, David Maddox and Bram Gunther -- Local Assessment of Melbourne: The Biodiversity and Social-Ecological Dynamics of Melbourne, Australia / Christopher D. Ives and Ruth Beilin -- A Synthesis of Global Urbanization Projections / Michail Fragkias and Burak Güneralp -- Urbanization Forecasts, Effects on Land Use, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services / Burak Güneralp and Robert I. McDonald -- Regional Assessment of Africa / Pippin M.L. Anderson and Chukwumerije Okereke -- Local Assessment of Cape Town: Navigating the Management Complexities of Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services in the Cape Floristic Region / Julie Goodness and Pippin M.L. Anderson -- Climate Change and Urban Biodiversity Vulnerability / William Solecki and Peter J. Marcotullio. Feeding Cities: Food Security and Ecosystem Support in an Urbanizing World / Lisa Deutsch, Robert Dyball and Will Steffen -- Urban Governance of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services / Cathy Wilkinson and Marte Sendstad -- Regional Assessment of Latin America: Rapid Urban Development and Social Economic Inequity Threaten Biodiversity Hotspots / Aníbal Pauchard and Olga Barbosa -- Local Assessment of Rio de Janeiro City: Two Case Studies of Urbanization Trends and Ecological Impacts / Cecilia P. Herzog and Ricardo Finotti -- Urban Landscapes as Learning Arenas for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Management / Marianne E. Krasny and Cecilia Lundholm -- Restoration Ecology in an Urbanizing World / Steven N. Handel and Osamu Saito -- Indicators for Management of Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: City Biodiversity Index / Ryo Kohsaka and Henrique M. Pereira -- Stewardship of the Biosphere in the Urban Era / Thomas Elmqvist and Michail Fragkias.

To understand how the world's ecosystems are changing we need to understand cities, and to create better cities we need to understand the ecosystems they depend on. The failure of most markets, government policies and even urban studies to take these relations into account has put cities, and increasingly the whole world, in a difficult position. Studies like Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services can help us to extricate ourselves, provided we act on the knowledge they provide. Gordon McGranahan International Institute for Environment and Development The challenges of urbanization are profound, but so too are the opportunities. Cities can reconcile human society and biodiversity by creating environments that are ecologically sustainable, economically productive, socially just, politically participatory and culturally vibrant. I commend this study to all who have a stake in creating ecologically sustainable urbanization for the benefit of humanity and the planet-- Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General, United Nations.

Also issued online.