Urban Habitats: Cities and Their Potential
for Nature Protection
Jan Jansen and Carsten Hobohm
Abstract What can cities do to harbour and promote wildlife, to support nature
conservation and environmental sustainability, and also to improve people’s relationship to nature, both by direct interventions and by education/communication?
To answer this question a few main lines are followed and linked to each other.
These include (1) natural history, (2) ecological aspects, (3) nature management,
(4) attractiveness of nature and the affinity to nature, and (5) future perspectives. We
reviewed publications relating to three broad scientific disciplines as applied in
current urban ecology, namely: (1) natural sciences, (2) engineering/urban planning,
and (3) social sciences.
The relationship to nature including urban climate, urban biodiversity and land
use, is important for the whole urban life including health. To improve that relationship, it is necessary to have the support of citizens for policies of biodiversity
management and protection. This is a promising development; however, in many
cases the use of indigenous species and the acceptance of spontaneous developments
in vegetation and wildlife within urban areas is hardly getting underway.
Cities are agglomerations of artificial constructions and humans tolerating little
space for wildlife. Nevertheless, by use of horticulture, greening of roofs and walls,
and species conservation programmes, cities and urban areas can play an important
role for wildlife and the survival of rare species inside and outside urban regions.
Because of the heterogeneity and the diversity of habitat types which they offer,
cities—certainly in intensive farming regions—are regularly more species-rich than
comparable rural areas in the surroundings.
Thus, spontaneous natural processes in urban areas should be allowed as much as
possible, under conditions such as the safety of citizens and the control of invasive
and exotic species. Then, evolution can progress even in urban environments at the
J. Jansen (*)
Plant Ecology and Physiology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
e-mail: Jan.Jansen@science.ru.nl
C. Hobohm
Department of Ecology and Environmental Education, University of Flensburg (EUF),
Flensburg, Germany
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. Hobohm (ed.), Perspectives for Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Environmental
Challenges and Solutions, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57710-0_18
425
for Nature Protection
Jan Jansen and Carsten Hobohm
Abstract What can cities do to harbour and promote wildlife, to support nature
conservation and environmental sustainability, and also to improve people’s relationship to nature, both by direct interventions and by education/communication?
To answer this question a few main lines are followed and linked to each other.
These include (1) natural history, (2) ecological aspects, (3) nature management,
(4) attractiveness of nature and the affinity to nature, and (5) future perspectives. We
reviewed publications relating to three broad scientific disciplines as applied in
current urban ecology, namely: (1) natural sciences, (2) engineering/urban planning,
and (3) social sciences.
The relationship to nature including urban climate, urban biodiversity and land
use, is important for the whole urban life including health. To improve that relationship, it is necessary to have the support of citizens for policies of biodiversity
management and protection. This is a promising development; however, in many
cases the use of indigenous species and the acceptance of spontaneous developments
in vegetation and wildlife within urban areas is hardly getting underway.
Cities are agglomerations of artificial constructions and humans tolerating little
space for wildlife. Nevertheless, by use of horticulture, greening of roofs and walls,
and species conservation programmes, cities and urban areas can play an important
role for wildlife and the survival of rare species inside and outside urban regions.
Because of the heterogeneity and the diversity of habitat types which they offer,
cities—certainly in intensive farming regions—are regularly more species-rich than
comparable rural areas in the surroundings.
Thus, spontaneous natural processes in urban areas should be allowed as much as
possible, under conditions such as the safety of citizens and the control of invasive
and exotic species. Then, evolution can progress even in urban environments at the
J. Jansen (*)
Plant Ecology and Physiology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
e-mail: Jan.Jansen@science.ru.nl
C. Hobohm
Department of Ecology and Environmental Education, University of Flensburg (EUF),
Flensburg, Germany
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. Hobohm (ed.), Perspectives for Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Environmental
Challenges and Solutions, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57710-0_18
425