Two Great Newsletters on Eco-Cities

Two Great Newsletters

on Eco-Cities

The Urban Ecologist: The Journal of Urban EcologyStephen Wheeler, Editor, Urban Ecology, 405 14th Street, Suite 701, Oakland, CA 94612; 510/251-6330; urbanecology@igc.apc.org. Quarterly subscription with Urban Ecology membership, $30/year.

EcoCity Cleveland: Ideas and Tools and a Sustainable BioregionDavid Beach, Editor, EcoCity Cleveland, 2841 Scarborough Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118; 216/932-3007. Monthly, $20/year.

The Oakland-based U.S. group has long been active in promoting environmentally sound alternatives to conventional urban development, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their journal, The Urban Ecologist, has become a high-quality forum for exploring and disseminating the urban ecology ideas. While it has long been a quality production, a new “’90s” look now makes it even more accessible and enjoyable.  EcoCity Cleveland is a newer, more region-specific publication. It addresses many of the same topics as The Urban Ecologist but always within the context of the Northeastern Ohio region. The January 1995 issue argues in several articles for the importance of regional solutions to the problems of the inner cities. This argument is supported by a recent article in The New York Times about the decline of older suburbs that appears to be following the decline of inner cities. The article focused on Lakeland, Ohio, Cleveland’s second-oldest suburb, as a case-in-point.

A primary theme in both these publications is the constant striving against suburban sprawl, with all its environmental and social ills. Both celebrate cities for all the benefits they can offer in high-density, low-impact lifestyles, while striving to make cities more humane and environmentally sound. The ills of our transportation systems, and the potential alternatives are frequent topics.

Of the two, The Urban Ecologist is the broader publication, with many articles that are universally applicable. The first 1995 issue, focusing on “Women and Cities,” reveals many striking correspondences between urban design that is more woman-friendly, and that which is environmentally sound. The need for dispersed, interconnected green spaces, for example, and a reduction in long car commutes are cited as women-friendly design objectives. There are also tensions between these two agendas, however, as demonstrated by the need for well-lit outdoor spaces in which women can feel safer—nighttime lighting can adversely affect animals and plants.

In addition to articles organized around a particular focus, each issue of The Urban Ecologist has sections entitled “Ecological Rebuilding: World,” “Ecological Rebuilding: The U.S.,” and “Ecological Rebuilding: The Bay Area.” These sections are digests of news stories gleaned from a wide range of sources about international, national, and regional developments, and they provide a strong sense of the common mission behind this international movement.

The design and construction of specific building projects is only one aspect among the many topics these urban ecology publications address, but they provide an important perspective on the context of many of our design decisions. The quality of their articles and presentation and the clear application of ecological themes to metropolitan settings make both of these publications worthwhile reading for anyone interested in the topic, regardless of their physical location.