Advancing urban ecology in the global south: emerging themes and future research directions
- Authors: du Toit, Marie J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Cilliers, Sarel S , Davoren, Elandre
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433713 , vital:72996 , ISBN 978-3-030-67650-6 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67650-6_17
- Description: The rapid growth in urban ecological research and application has been led by countries of the Global North, particularly Europe and the USA, albeit not restricted to them. However, this belies that most urban growth is currently in the Global South, with the differential set to increase in the future. Thus, there is an imbalance between where the bulk of urban ecological research and framings are developed and where the majority of urban citizens globally live, work and seek to meet their aspirations. This chapter illustrates how this book addressed the identified research gaps in the Global South. We also highlight dominant recurring themes in Global South research discourse and importantly, where future research efforts over the next decade should be focussed. Eight themes are considered, namely: inequality; informality; urban–rural links; small and medium-sized towns and cities; urban green infrastructure, biodiversity and ecosystem services; understanding and accommodating multiple worldviews of urban nature; human health and urban nature; and specific research approaches.
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- Date Issued: 2021
Ecosystem provisioning services in Global South cities
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433764 , vital:72999 , ISBN 978-3-030-67650-6 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67650-6_8
- Description: All of humankind, urban and rural, rich and poor and whether living in the Global South or the Global North rely to some degree on provisioning ecosystem services such as food, water, timber, fibre and medicinal products. However, in contrast to the Global North the contextual forces shaping many urban livelihoods in the Global South necessitate that many people access the needed provisioning services themselves by directly harvesting or collecting from the immediate, local urban and peri-urban environments, or purchasing them from those who do. Thus, the need for and local availability of provisioning services has profound implications for not only the quality of urban livelihoods, but also the urban ecology in relation to extent and use of urban green infrastructure from where the provisioning services are sourced and the species within them. This chapter summarises compelling evidence from throughout the Global South regarding the extent of use of locally sourced provisioning services by urban communities. It shows that Global South contexts prompt the use of a diverse array of resource types and hundreds of different species in specific settings, much greater than found in Global North cities.
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- Date Issued: 2021
Livelihood and vulnerability analysis
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Schreckenberg, Kate , Shackleton, Sheona E , Luckert, Marty
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433811 , vital:73002 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: Livelihood analysis and vulnerability analysis are integrative approaches and consequently draw on a variety of methods to collect and analyse primary and secondary data covered in other chapters. Core ones include systems scoping (Chapter 5), ecological field data collection (Chapter 6), interviews and surveys (Chapter 7), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), action research (Chapter 15), statistical analysis (Chapter 18), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22) and spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24).
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- Date Issued: 2021
The need for an urban ecology of the Global South
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Cilliers, Sarel S , du Toit, Marie J , Davoren, Elandre
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433744 , vital:72998 , ISBN 978-3-030-67650-6 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67650-6_1
- Description: Urban ecology is a key discipline in guiding urban development, sustainability and consequently human wellbeing. However, most urban ecological research has, and continues to be, undertaken in the Global North, and thus urban ecological methods, principles and frameworks are dominated by contributions and understandings from the Global North. However, there are a multitude of local- and national-scale contextual differences between the Global North and the Global South that limit or question the universal application of Global North perspectives and knowledge. This chapter lays the foundation for the rest of the book in two ways. First, it explores the development and definitions of the terms ‘urban ecology’ and ‘Global South’. Second, it presents the major biophysical and socio-economic contextual characteristics of Global South towns and cities that differentiate them from those in the Global North. These contextual differences need to be accounted for in urban ecological research, theory and application towards the development of an urban ecology that is more relevant for the Global South, and when conjoined with understandings from the Global North allow for the exploration and development of truly universal urban ecology principles and frameworks.
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- Date Issued: 2021
Urban ecosystem disservices in the Global South
- Authors: Davoren, Elandre , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433780 , vital:73000 , ISBN 978-3-030-67650-6 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67650-6_11
- Description: As much as people benefit from the ecosystem services provided by nature, ecosystem disservices also impact daily lives. This is especially true for many urban communities in the Global South due to (1) the often greater diversity of ecosystem disservices and (2) higher vulnerabilities, which together can lead to greater impacts of ecosystem disservices in many Global South settings. This chapter provides an overview of the current understandings of urban ecosystem disservices and their assessment and management with an emphasis on the Global South, albeit with reference to the Global North where useful. This overview reveals a lack of detailed and systematic empirical research on urban ecosystem disservices generally, but even more so in the Global South, despite the greater diversity and vulnerability in Global South settings. This needs to be acknowledged in urban ecology framings of urban dynamics in the Global South and translated into better integration of both ecosystem services and disservices within common research, policy or management frameworks. It is only through such integration that appropriate context-relevant policy directions and management options can be identified, thereby promoting the wellbeing of urban citizens in the Global South.
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- Date Issued: 2021