Four urban ecologies: A working typology and alternative conceptual synthesis

Abstract

Urban ecology has evolved into a vast field of work that extends across multiple disciplinary domains spanning the bio-physical sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. In this article I outline a working typology for urban ecology that highlights four analytical vantage points: systems-based approaches; observational paradigms; urban political ecology; and pluriversal ecologies. I develop a conceptual synthesis that offers an alternative to the normative and epistemological dominance of systems-based approaches.