Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Intellectual Challenges in the Ecology of Cities
This chapter discusses the historical connections between biophysical ecology and sociological approaches to urban ecology. This historical narrative lays the foundation for linking the study of spatial heterogeneity in the social and economic sciences with the contemporary understanding of spatial heterogeneity in biophysical ecology that is discussed in the next chapter. To provide context to these historical connections, the chapter first gives an overview of contemporary ecology and its subdisciplines. It then describes the Chicago School of urban ecology and some of its critiques. It locates the Chicago School in the context of four dominant biological perspectives that social scientists have used for the study of cities, before concluding this historical narrative in terms of spatial and organizational complexity issues for the study of urban ecological systems.
Keywords: biophysical ecology, sociological approaches, historical narrative, spatial heterogeneity, Chicago School of urban ecology, contemporary ecology
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