PARENT SESSION
Symposium #19: Cities of Resilience: Integrating Ecology into Urban Planning, Design, Policy, and Management .

Organized by: L Musacchio and J Wu
Wednesday, August 7. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Leo Rich Theatre.

Integrating the ecological, socio-economic, and planning realms: Insights from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study.

PICKETT, S^*,1, CADENASSO, M¹, ¹ Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY

ABSTRACT- The phrase "cities of resilience" can serve as a powerful metaphor to motivate planning enhanced by ecological principles. The phrase can counterbalance equally powerful metaphors, such as "the garden city," or "the radiant city" that emphasize only aesthetics or the structure of metropolitan areas and not their integrated ecological, social, and infrastructural functions. The term "resilience" in ecology has two distinct meanings that are associated with contrasting paradigms. One meaning invokes the paradigm of equilibrium and stability, while the other connotes a non-equilibrium paradigm and the adaptability of ecological systems. The non-equilibrium paradigm is appropriate to urban ecosystems, because it suggests that spatial heterogeneity is an important component of the persistence of adaptable metropolitan regions. Planning for resilience can profit from the application of the ecological principle of heterogeneity, and from integrating the heterogeneities in ecological, social, and economic realms. The "authority" for planning does not reside in ecological or professional information alone, but emerges from a public dialog that incorporates ecological, social, economic, and community concerns.

KEY WORDS: urban, resilience, socio-economic, patch dynamics