BIODIVERCITIES

BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES

WITH BIODIVERSITY

MARÍA ANGÉLICA MEJÍA AND

JUAN DAVID AMAYA-ESPINEL, EDITORS.
 BIODIVERCITIES
BY 2030
TRANSFORMING CITIES
WITH BIODIVERSITY

Editors: María Angélica Mejía

and Juan David Amaya-Espinel.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030
TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Edited by: María Angélica Mejía
and Juan David Amaya-Espinel.
Editorial assistance:
Érika A. Peñuela.
Authors: Albert Kreisel, Alejandra Osejo,
Alejandro Serrano, Ana María Garrido,
Ana Vicente-Álvarez, Andrea Padilla,
Andrés Ibáñez, Andrés Suárez-Castro,
Angélica Hernández-Palma, Bibiana
Gómez-Valencia, Brian Amaya, Brigitte
Baptiste, Carlos Betancur, Carlos Correa,
Carlos Cortés, Carlos Montoya, Carlos
David Montoya, Carlos Mario Wagner-
Wagner, Carmen Antuña, Carmen
Bouyer, Carolina Rodríguez, Cassandra
Johnson, Cielo Holguín, Claudia Álvarez,
Cristina Camacho, Dairo Escobar, Daniel
Raven-Ellison, David Montgomery, Diana
Ruiz, Diana Wiesner, Duncan Mackay,
Édgar Mora, Eduardo Haene, Edward
Buitrago, Eliana Cardona, Eline van
Remortel, Elizabeth Riaño, Emily Norford,
Fernando Flórez, Frances Taylor, Germán
Andrade, Germán Torres-Morales, Harini
Nagendra, Ioana Biris, Irene García,
Jaime Rovira, Jennifer Lenhart, Jhon
Rodríguez, Juan Caicedo, Juan Guhl,
Juan Múnera, Juan Sebastián Ulloa,
Juana Figueroa, Juana Mariño, Julián
Restrepo, Juliana Montoya, Laura Sokka,
Leon Kapetas, Lucía Rojas, Luis Inostroza,
Maéva Dang, Manuel Jaen, Marcela
Noreña, María Camila Díaz, María Camila
Méndez, María Cecilia Londoño, María
del Pilar Arroyave, María Stella Sáchica,
Marianne Katunaric, Mario A. Murcia-
López, Masatoshi Funabashi, Mateo
Hernández, Matías Ramírez, Maximilian
Becker, Menno Schilthuizen, Natalia
Trujillo, Nathalia M. V. Flórez-Zapata,
Nicolás Galarza, Norbert Peeters, Óscar
Mejía, Pablo Lazo, Paola Morales, Patrick
Lydon, Piero Pelizzaro, Rigoberto Lugo,
Sandra Castro, Sara Cabrera, Simon Bell,
Tadashi Matsumoto, Theresa Williamson,
Valentina Tovar and Yenifer Herrera-
Varón.
Editorial Direction .Puntoaparte:
Andrés Barragán and Juan Mikán.
Proofreading: Nicole Bedoya,
John Güechá, Andrés Hernández
and Nicolás Sepúlveda.
Translated by: Lina Grisales.
Art Direction: Mateo L. Zúñiga,
Andrés Álvarez and Felipe Caro.
Illustration: Guillermo Torres, Nere
Guarrotxena, Sofía Londoño, Andrea
Santana and Dylan Quintero.
Design: Andrés Álvarez, Felipe Caro,
Inti Alonso and Laura Gutiérrez.
Photos and maps: Amazonian Institute
of Scientific Research Sinchi, Carlos
Montoya, Carlos Mario Wagner-Wagner,
Catalytic Communities, Charlie Peel,
Charlie Peel, Densurbam, EAFIT
University, Eduardo Haene, Érika A.
Peñuela, Fideicomiso Lagos de Torca,
Germán Torres-Morales, Gimnasio
Femenino, Illustrated guide to the
birds of Santiago de Cali, Iván Potes,
Jhon Rodríguez, Juan Hinacapié,
Leonardo Centeno, Luis Inostroza,
Maéva Dang, María Angélica Mejía,
Ministry of Environment of Chile,
Muncipality of Montería, Municipality
of Curridabat, Olger Guzmán, OPUS.
Design, architecture, landscape,
Rizoma, Sebastián Saiter, Secretariat of
Environment of Medellín, Senderos de
Chile Foundation, Sergio Gómez, TALLER
Architects, Taxon Expeditions, Urban
Oasis Foundation (Fundación Oasis
Urbano), VTT Technical Research Centre
of Finland and Yumbo Futuro (TU).
Satellite images: Google Earth
and IDECA Infraestructura de
datos espaciales de Bogotá.
Geographic and demographic
information: Amazonian Institute of
Scientific Research Sinchi (Instituto
Amazónico de Investigaciones
Científicas–Sinchi), Official Website
of the Republic of Argentina
(Argentina.gob.ar), Brazilian
Institute of Geography and Statistics
(Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia
e Estatística), Chile National
Congress Library (Biblioteca del
Congreso Nacional de Chile - BCN),
Los Llanos University (Universidad
de Los Llanos), National Planning
Department (Departamento Nacional
de Planeación–DNP), Los Llanos
Road Concession (Concesión Vial de
Los Llanos S.A.S.), Greater London
Authority Official Website, Medellín,
how are we doing? (Medellín, ¿Cómo
vamos?), Metropolitan Regional
Government of Santiago (Gobierno
Regional Metropolitano de Santiago),
Municipality of Bogotá, Municipality
of Medellín, Municipality of Montería,
Municipality of Santa Cruz of
Mompós, Municipality of Santiago
of Cali, Municipality of Yumbo,
National Administrative Department
of Statistics (Departamento
Administrativo Nacional de
Estadística–DANE), National Statistics
and Census Institute INEC - Costa Rica
(Instituto Nacional de Estadística y
Censos-INEC Costa Rica), NLS National
Land Survey of Finland, Shenzhen
Government Online, Statistics Finland
and Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity was developed
under Contract No. 21- 017, signed
by the Administrative Department
of the Presidency of the Republic of
Colombia and the Alexander von
Humboldt Biological Resources
Research Institute. The latter carries
out the conceptual and methodological
development and global positioning
of the BiodiverCities transformational
initiative. BiodiverCities is part of the
Public Sector Strategic Management
Capacity Strengthening Program,
through the line of urban development
and Cities System for sustainability,
productivity, and quality of life.
Alexander von Humboldt Biological
Resources Research Institute
Hernando García, General Director.
Cristina Gómez García-Reyes, Advisor to
the Director (outgoing).
Sandra Perdomo, Head of Policy and
International Affairs.
María Angélica Mejía, Lead of the
BiodiverCities by 2030 Initiative.
Gabriela Guerrero, Manager of the National
Commission on BiodiverCities by 2030.
Érika A. Peñuela, Project Assistant.
First edition
July, 2022
Bogotá D.C.
Alexander von Humboldt Biological
Resources Research Institute and
Administrative Department of
the Presidency of the Republic
of Colombia (Dapre).
Suggested complete work citation:
Mejía, M. A., Amaya-Espinel, J. D. (eds.).
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt, 2022.
CATALOGING DATA SHEET:
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity / edited by
María Angélica Mejía and Juan David
Amaya-Espinel. ― Bogotá: Instituto de
Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt, July 2022.
288 p.; 20 x 25 cm.
Includes bibliographical references, tables,
figures, maps, and index.
ISBN printed work: 978-958-5183-48-3.
ISBN digital work: 978-958-5183-49-0.
1. Urban biodiversity, 2. Urban ecosystem
services, 3. Urban ecology, 4. Urban
Land use planning, 5. Colombia. I.
Mejía, María Angélica and Juan David
Amaya-Espinel (Eds.), II. Instituto de
Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt
CDD: 354.35 Ed. 23.
Contribution number: 533.
Humboldt Catalog Record: 14972.
Cataloging in Publication (CIP) –
Francisco Javier Matís Mahecha Library,
Alexander von Humboldt Institute.
CONTENTS EXPERIMENTATION OPINION ARTICLES
Introduction London National Park City..................................... 110 The Transformative Power of Urban Rivers..... 236

Rivers of Change ...................................................... 116 The Privilege of Being Part of a Novel,

Planning Rooted in Biodiversity...........................122
Urban Amazon ..........................................................126
The Sweet City...........................................................132
Evolving Urban Ecosystem................................... 237
Urban Biodiversity? Artists Have the Keys...... 238
We Need to Stop Treating Soil
Like Dirt – Even in Cities........................................ 239

Neighborhood Scaled BiodiverCities...................138 How to Address Biodiversity in Cities –

Urban Biotopes ..........................................................144
Win-Win Scenarios..................................................148
OPENING STATEMENTS 6
The Value of the Urban Forest................................152
Transformation Green Rooftops...........................................................158
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 12 A River Runs Through It..........................................162
Urban Bio-Corridors.................................................166
A Bird’s Eye View of Cities......................................170
INTRODUCTION Industrial Environmental Fabric.......................... 174
No One Level of Government Can Do It Alone... 240
Urban Expansion: An Ally of Biodiversity........ 241
The Cyborg Nature of Cities.................................. 242
Does Housing Insecurity Influence
Greenspace Civic Engagement?........................... 243
Eat Me. Drink Me......................................................244
Basic Ecological Knowledge Left Behind
in the Urban Greening Rush.................................. 245
Have You Ever Heard of Blue Health in Cities?.... 246

Unexpected Benefits of a Planetary Health

Understanding BiodiverCities From a Learning environments..........................................178
Diet on Urban Biodiversity.................................... 247
Transformative Change Approach.........................18
Experimentation The City’s DNA...........................................................182
Top-Down and Bottom-up for More BiodiverCities?
From Urban Biodiversity to BiodiverCities......... 30
The Sounds of the City.............................................186 Transforming Our Cities Through Biodiversity... 248

Social and Natural Fabric.......................................190 Are Nature-Based Solutions Good for Everyone?
TRANSFORMATION Densurbam .................................................................196
Promoting Social Equity in
Nature-Based Solutions.......................................... 249

Sustainable Favelas ................................................ 202 Does Wild Flora Have a Place in Cities?............. 250
BiodiverCity and Region: A Unitary System....... 40

Wooded Trails That Weave the City.................... 206 Designing Ecologically Smart, Just Cities.........251
Biodiversity Thrives in the Built Environment..... 48

Weaving Stories of People and Plants.................210 Living in a Hotspot of City and

Sustainable Urban Economies: Transitions
Biodiversity – The Case of Synecoculture........ 252
Based on Biodiversity Knowledge......................... 60
Circular Forest Bioeconomy...................................216
Five Lessons for Meaningful Local
Transformative Citizens to Propel Learning
Urban Nature Amsterdam...................................... 220 Engagement in Urban Projects – De Ceuvel,
BiodiverCities.............................................................. 72
a Circular Green Hotspot in Amsterdam............ 254
BiodiverCity Planning: Strategies for
Incorporating Urban Biodiversity and Its
Ecosystem Services................................................... 80
LEARNING ANNEX
Towards the Financing of the BiodiverCity........ 88
Glossary...................................................................... 256
Indicators for the Measurement Learnings From
and Monitoring of BiodiverCities.......................... 96 Opinion articles the BiodiverCities...................................................... 228 Behind the Articles.................................................. 266
 6 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
BIODIVERCITIES,
A MODEL FOR
THE FUTURE
Iván Duque Márquez
President of the Republic of Colombia
It is undisputable that we are
living a mejor climate crisis.
Global warming, the loss of
biodiversity, and pollution
are endangering our survival.
Delaying actions to tackle
these challenges is not an
option, particularly when
some of the most relevant
actions relate to cities.
It is currently estimated that major
cities contribute 80% of the world GDP
and represent 75% of global green-
house gas emissions. Furthermore, it
is foreseen that by the year 2050 large
cities will house 75% of the world pop-
ulation, thus exerting even greater
pressure on ecosystems.
Hence, the measures we
adopt today in cities will have a pos-
itive impact on millions of people,
enhancing their quality of life. Specif-
ically, because these will impact the
provision of drinking water, food se-
curity, health, energy, etc.
Thus, giving rise to the con-
cept of BiodiveCities, whose definition
starts with the ever more pressing
need to integrate environmental pro-
tection in the cities’ development, as
well as promoting processes that cre-
ate new ties between the urban and
the rural that optimize land zoning,
develop a nature-based economy, pro-
mote citizen participation, and include
sustainable practices in their services.
I therefore present the 2030
BiodiverCities vision, together with
the World Economic Forum, which
seeks that those urban centers ad-
vance towards carbon-neutrality and
consolidate a sustainable develop-
ment that incorporates biodiversity
as an element for closing the social
divide and generating equity.
This means connecting natural wealth
to urban growth strategies, driving the
energy transition, and clean mobility. Its
main pillars are territorial planning for
incentivizing the creation of responsible
habits, bearing in mind that citizens are
at the center of this change.
Another equally important
aspect of this concept is that it pro-
motes a nature-based urban economy.
This includes stimulating innovation
for developing biodiversity conserva-
tion capabilities and promoting the
circular economy, carbon markets
and, aboye all, the transformation of
productive sectors.
Our central government has
promoted this road to sustainability
under the premise of “produce con-
serving and conserve producing”.
And, we have reaffirmed the need for
this change with clear goals for tack-
ling the global climate crisis.
Thanks to the Road to Zero strate-
gy, we committed to reduce overall
greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by
the year 2030 and move towards zero
emissions by midcentury.
To that end, we established a
clear roadmap that includes the Biodi-
verCities strategy, thanks to which we
now have 14 large cities consolidat-
ed in the country with projects in the
amount of USD$ 126 million. And what
is most important is that most of them
are intermediate cities, thus evidenc-
ing that this process does not require
huge investments.
We have also advanced
in the energy transition. Over the
course of the last four years, we put
in place projects for multiplying 100-
fold the installed capacity of uncon-
ventional renewable energy existing
in 2018. We are leaders in clean mo-
bility having over 8,100 electric ve-
7
hicles in circulation and the largest and around urban areas is crucial for
electric vehicle public transportation assuring planetary health. Biodiver-
fleet In Latin America. sity must stop being an element that
And we have promoted sustainable is distant from large cities to become
construction. We have multiplied the the complement for developing more
construction of EDGE-certified buil- competitive, sustainable, and equita-
dings and designed financial assis- ble cities. And, in this road, Biodiver-
tance programs for driving sustai- Cities are the model for the future.
nable housing. Furthermore, we are
the first country in the region with
a green taxonomy for promoting the
mobilization of resources towards
environmental investments.
It is estimated that 44% of the
global GDP in cities is at risk due to the
loss of nature, which makes the Bio-
diverCities a model for transforming
the future of urban centers and whose
implementation must be accelerated.
This model can avoid the degrada-
tion of ecosystems and the negative
impacts on the environment and on
human well-being. The nature inside
 8 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
A GLOBAL NETWORK OF
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030
– WHY AND HOW
Lena Chan
Senior Director, International Biodiversity
Conservation Division, National Parks Board.
Co-Chair, Global Commission on
BiodiverCities by 2030
Mauricio Rodas Espinel
Visiting Scholar, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Co-Chair, Global Commission on
BiodiverCities by 2030
Most of us reading this article
live in a city, as does 57% of
the world’s population. Drawn
from our personal experience
and increasingly supported
by well-designed long-term
research, it is recognized that
frequent interaction with
biodiversity is essential for
our physical, mental, and
psychological wellbeing. We
are embedded in nature, and for
our survival, we must conserve
biodiversity in areas where we
live, play, and work – cities.
Healing the urban-rural linkages is
critical for making progress on glob-
al agendas such as the New Urban
Agenda, the Sustainable Development
Goals, and the Global Biodiversity
Framework, among others. To effec-
tively conserve and restore biodiver-
sity, we need to address the current
weak ties between urban and rural
areas by implementing a policy strat-
egy and working to mitigate urban
sprawls, protect local food systems
and raise awareness of the social and
economic cost of biodiversity loss.
As biodiversity knows no boundar-
ies, its conservation and restoration
must be carried out by everyone
through global partnership at all lev-
els. Many areas, widely spread geo-
graphically, face the daily existential
challenges of biodiversity conserva-
tion and climate change, manifested
as floods, droughts, rising sea levels,
soaring temperatures, etc. Urgent ac-
tion must be taken before we reach
the tipping point.
WHERE DO WE START?
The Global Commission on Bio-
diverCities by 2030, comprised of
a committed team of multidisci-
plinary expertise, is a joint initia-
tive of the World Economic Forum
and the Alexander von Humboldt
Institute. Championed by the Gov-
ernment of Colombia, it was es-
tablished to inspire, motivate and
assist city governments, business-
es, and people in cities to thrive in
harmony with nature by 2030. The
Commission published a report ti-
tled “BiodiverCities by 2030: Trans-
forming Cities’ Relationship with
Nature” in January 2022. The Alex-
ander von Humboldt Institute has
taken one step further by compiling
this handbook.
WHO CAN WE DRAW
LESSONS FROM?
Colombia and Singapore are high-
lighted as two countries that have
success stories to share, despite
differences in their physical size,
culture, geographical features, and
history. Both are firmly committed
to the biodiversity agenda, as re-
flected in their numerous biodiver-
sity conservation efforts. Medellín
adopted a local action plan on ur-
ban biodiversity, “Medellín, a city
of life,” linking biodiversity and hu-
man wellbeing through ecosystem
services. Singapore evolved from a
Garden City to a City in a Garden in
the past 50 years. To counter cur-
rent existential challenges, Sin-
gapore is transforming into a City
in Nature through nature’s resto-
ration in the city for liveability, sus-
tainability, and wellbeing. This is
achieved by applying nature-based
solutions for climate, ecological
and social resilience.
While the implementation
details might differ, the key CREATE
principles to adhere to for biodiversi-
ty conservation are:
9
The processes of biodiversity con-
servation must be facilitated by key
Conserve indigenous
enablers, this is:
natural ecosystems
Restore, rehabilitate and 1
Active, comprehensive, and
enhance ecosystems
all-inclusive participation by ev-
eryone. Active involvement by
Ecologically connect youth as they must play a prom-
natural areas inent role in helping shape the
future responsibly.
Apply science and 2 Application of science, technol-
technology, especially ogy, and digitalization will help
nature-inspired ideas and make the journey more efficient.
nature-based solutions
It is imperative for our survival that
Totally involve everyone we hasten the momentum to convert
cities worldwide to become Biodiver-
Evaluate and monitor
Cities by 2030 and beyond. We have
biodiversity efforts
no other choice. Let’s collaborate now
using tools like the
to make our cities BiodiverCities!
Singapore Index on Cities’
Biodiversity, IUCN Urban
Nature Index, etc.
 10 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY 11

PREFACE
Hernando García
General Director
Alexander von Humboldt Biological
Resources Research Institute

Ecology, the science of nature’s
interconnections, teaches
us that every plant, fungi,
mammal, fish, bird, insect,
and bacteria is deeply engaged
with each other and with
water, gravity, pressure, wind,
fire, soils, temperature, and
climate. The Earth is made out
of interdependences, yet we
humans have built political,
physical, and disciplinary
barriers to make sense of our
complex world. This paradox
of seeking understanding and
control while upsetting the
balance of the system has led
us to the current situation: a
compartmentalized planet
with siloed subsistence
and survival efforts.
Let’s take cities as a microcosm of our
planet. Cities are living systems con-
nected with forests, oceans, moun-
tains, and valleys. They have intakes,
outtakes, and dynamic interactions
with their environment and their
fundamental parts: nature, the built
environment, and social systems.
Cities have grown remar-
kably in the last decades, resulting
in more and more people living in
landscapes that are regrettably dis-
jointed from nature and mainly do-
minated by asphalt, glass, bricks,
and cement. Understanding the im-
plications of such growth for nature
and society became one of the Hum-
boldt Institute’s main objectives in
2012. The Institute has since dedica-
ted substantial efforts to analyzing
the causes and effects of urbaniza-
tion in a megadiverse country.
For such a purpose, we have
built networks and alliances with
local governments, universities, or-
ganizations, and the private sector in
the last ten years and mobilized ex-
pert and practical knowledge throu-
gh multi-stakeholder dialogues at the
global, regional, and national scales.
These partnerships and exchanges
are represented today in twelve ‘ur-
ban projects’ that include wildlife
radio telemetry, ecosystem services
mapping, urban bioeconomy, ecosys-
tem-based adaptation, nature-based
solutions, and citizen science.
In April 2020, during strict
confinement due to Covid 19 and im-
mersed in thought about what was
happening on the planet, I had a deci-
sive space for reflection with President
Iván Duque. He urged me, as recently
appointed General Director of the Hum-
boldt Institute, to jointly lead a global
contemplation on the role of cities and
those of us who live in them in the fight
for planetary sustainability.
It was a crucial moment of
ambitious drive for BiodiverCities – a
national strategy led by the Minis-
try of Environment and Sustainable
Development of Colombia seeking to
contribute to the National Develop-
ment Plan targets. From that conver-
sation with President Duque, it beca-
me clear that this discussion had to be
scaled up globally, given the planetary
context and the importance of reflec-
tion. The aim was then to further the
BiodiverCities framework proposed by
the Government of Colombia. And we
would do so by bringing together two
high-level commissions of experts
and practitioners from the public and
private sectors, academia, and civil so-
ciety to combine insights and co-crea-
te a forward-looking perspective on
nature-positive cities.
To this end, we developed a
strong partnership with the World
Economic Forum, a significantally
supporting the implementation of
the global ambition of BiodiverCities,
known today as the BiodiverCities texts will provide you with innovati-
by 2030 initiative. The Forum’s Na- ve approaches, multiple options, and
ture Action Agenda has galvanized inspiring opportunities to design,
this initiative to greater visibility live and enjoy cities in harmony with
and impact through the Global Com- nature. Today is the time to rethink
mission on BiodiverCities by 2030, planetary health from within cities.
artificial intelligence systems, and Today is the time for cities to commit
crowdsourcing technologies. to planetary sustainability. Let’s wel-
The initiative’s first year is come new urban futures that ignite
coming to an end, with crucial miles- all forms of life. Let’s start transfor-
tones like the BiodiverCities by 2030 ming the planet with BiodiverCities.
Insight Report released in January
2022, a report showcasing invest-
ment opportunities for increasing
nature in cities. And so, the time has
come for the second issue -and final
output- of this burgeoning first phase:
the BiodiverCities by 2030 book.
The book in your hand
brings together knowledge and les-
sons from transformative actions
taking place in Colombia, Latin Ame-
rica, and the world. Each of these
experiences from very different con-
 12
BOOK SUMMARY
18 TRANSFORMATIVE ACTIONS
TO DESIGN, LIVE IN AND
ENJOY CITIES IN HARMONY
WITH NATURE BY 2030
María Angélica Mejía
Lead, BiodiverCities by 2030 Initiative.
Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources
Research Institute, Colombia.
Juan David Amaya-Espinel
Professor, Department of Ecology and Territory, Faculty
of Environmental and Rural Studies.
Pontifical Javeriana University, Colombia.
Editors.
Global urbanization
represents a genuine social
and environmental paradox.
Cities have become the most
important centers of access
to services, housing, physical
infrastructure, and the
development of knowledge and
processes of technological and
social innovation. However,
cities are also responsible for
an extensive transformation
of the natural ecosystems
on which they are settled,
as well as biodiversity and
their capability to provide
services closely linked to the
wellbeing of urban dwellers.
This centrality of cities as hotspots of
world population growth and demand
for better living conditions worldwide
highlights the urgency of understand-
ing how urban areas’ economic, social,
and ecological functions can work to-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
gether to benefit the environment and
human society alike. Our transition
to new growth and sustainable devel-
opment models will inevitably pose
serious challenges. Tackling the latter
by reconciling human and ecological
dimensions is the most significant
contribution cities can make to a na-
ture-positive world by 2030.
BiodiverCities arise as an
opportunity for humans to live,
work and evolve in harmony with
their environment. This vision is an
action framework in which cities
can be comprehensively planned
as truly interconnected living so-
cio- ecological systems that ensure
ecosystems’ integrity and ability to
offer human well-being and climate
resilience. Thus, BiodiverCities rep-
resents a transformative concept of
city futures that can avoid environ-
mental degradation of ecosystems
and the negative impacts on natural
environments and human well-be-
ing. This transformative vision of
BiodiverCities emphasizes the need
for change processes based on a new
approach to policy that goes beyond
“systems optimization” through top-
down technocratic approaches.
According to the Alexander
von Humboldt Biological Resourc-
es Research Institute and the World
Economic Forum, BiodiverCities can
restore the balance between urban
management and nature, by increas-
ing green infrastructure; improving
governance schemes that promote
nature-based solutions; the genera-
tion of positive links between the ru-
ral and the urban, the conservation
of biodiversity; the prioritization of
circular economy models and inno-
vative actions for economic competi-
tiveness; and the promotion of a new
mindset and set of values. Biodiver-
Cities by 2030 promotes five commit-
ments and three enablers as follows
(Figure 1):
13
To heal urban-rural linkages To embed biodiversity in the built
BiodiverCities build reciprocal environment
relationships with their BiodiverCities recognize the
surroundings – protecting the comprehensive benefits that biodiversity
ecosystems they interact with
and the natural resources
they depend on, as well as
brings to the built environment, from
climate resilience to human health and
prosperity. Special emphasis is made on
regenerating biodiversity on a the need for a more equitable distribution
regional scale. of urban nature benefits.
Figure 1. Commitments
to achieve BiodiverCities
by 2030
To promote a new mindset
through nature To make nature a competitive
BiodiverCities invest in nature as
a catalyst for a renewed sense of
advantage
BiodiverCities draw on natural
citizenship, and cultivate a mindset capital to develop new ventures
where cities are seen as homes to and technologies, while
all species, not only humans. They embracing innovative models
promote sustainable behaviors centered on biodiversity, such as
through education programmes, bio-economy, biomimicry and
civic campaigns and nature-
circularity.
sensitive urban design
To adopt nature-positive governance
BiodiverCities promote shared
responsibility and polycentric
governance of urban nature – where
new alliances with civil society and the
private sector drive actions that not only
promote biodiversity conservation, but
also improve social equality and living
standards.
Spatial
integrated
Measuring
the state and
planning of
ENABLIN
G ENVIRONMENTS
trends of
nature
biodiversity
Urban
nature
financing
Source: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and the World Economic Forum, 2021.
 14
The achievement of these commit-
ments will depend on actions, tools
and instruments aimed at the spa-
tial integration of nature, the inte-
gration of nature for urban investors,
as well as the measurement of the
status and trends of biodiversity and
ecosystem services.
When this book project
started, we invited all contributors
to reflect on the question: What are
the transformations needed to reach
BiodiverCities by 2030? With this in-
vitation in mind, in August 2021, over
80 scholars, practitioners, leaders,
promoters, and visionary individ-
uals from 44 cities were convened
to reflect on the commitments and
enablers mentioned above in which
cities can transform and move to-
wards sustainability by restoring
their relationship with nature (see
section Transformation). This book
showcases conceptual approaches,
case studies, and op-ed articles ad-
dressing why nature in and around
cities is crucial to ensuring plane-
tary health.
Contributors analyzed ur-
ban natures ranging from Montería
and Mompox (riverside cities that
functioned as amphibious lands
in pre-colonial times) to real estate
practices in Milan and Villavicencio.
Their analysis included a circular
green hotspot in Amsterdam, plane-
tary health diets in Quezon City and
Copenhagen, a pan-European tool-
box to manage blue environments,
a comprehensive methodology to
value the benefits of urban trees in
Medellín, a food security approach
based on green roofs in Rio de Ja-
neiro, and practical applications to
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
advance biodiversity in the public
space in the Chinese “sponge-city”
of Shenzhen. We organized these
contents to guide readers into under-
standing why a system transforma-
tion is needed to adopt a nature-pos-
itive approach to urban development
and how it actually happens.
In the following pages, we
propose a set of transformative ac-
tions grouped in six dimensions
to initiate (and navigate through)
change toward cities in harmony
with nature by 2030. System trans-
formation implies change across
all those dimensions. The book also
contains vital messages that offer
new approaches to promote change
and, hopefully, trigger transforma-
tive actions. We hope these actions
speak to and inspire subnational go-
vernments, national authorities, the
international community, business,
finance, and society in general to
imagine the future cities we want to
live in -and make them happen.
TRANSFORMATIVE ACTIONS
Values, beliefs, and worldviews
Overcoming the notion of cities
as a threat to biodiversity. Some
emerging concepts that accom-
pany this change of mentality
are urban landscape design,
re-naturalization, Nature’s Con-
tribution to People (NCP), and re-
generation (p. 110, 206, 252).
Envisioning the role of Biodiver-
Cities in enabling transformative
change. As more people access
education, communication tools,
and financial means, they hold
greater potential to make critical
reflections, discuss imaginaries of
future cities and build new devel-
opment pathways1 (p. 138).
Reconnecting citizens to na-
ture for creating stewardship
-through education programmes,
civic campaigns and biophilic,
playful urban design (p. 178, 182).
Norms and regulations
Shaping new economies to align
economic demands with bio-
diversity maintenance. Cities
demand models of multilevel
governance, market regulation,
bio-intensification, and environ-
mental accounting that ensure
maintaining large-scale ecologi-
cal processes e.g. water, materials,
and energy cycles, and ecological
succession (p. 216).
From BiodiverCities to Biodi-
verRegions? Urban planning
and, overall, our urban way of
living overlook the ecology that
governs, determines, explains,
and makes every city possi-
ble. It is important to transform
norms and regulations that di-
rectly address the environmen-
tal liabilities caused by cities at
regional scale.
Informing land use planning
with data on urban expansion
on priority areas for biodiversi-
ty. It is pivotal to provide local au-
thorities with information about
where and how cities should ex-
pand, taking biodiversity as the
entry point of the analysis. This
data and information will ideally
impact land market dynamics,
densification policies and part-
nerships with land owners to
recognize and safeguard nature
(p. 116, 241).
Information and knowledge flows
Promoting citizen engagement
to generate biodiversity data.
Digital platforms such as eBird
and iNaturalist can stimulate
participatory projects for moni-
toring and inventorying biodiver-
sity in urban environments and
feeding systems for its evalua-
tion and monitoring.
Give way to platforms that help
spread good ideas and practices
in maintaining and recovering
biodiversity in cities. Collabo-
ration, co-creation, and innova-
tion processes can be supported
by generating and exchanging
knowledge based on positive
links between governmental and
academic sectors and local com-
munities (p. 110, 202).
Ensuring that local reports
demonstrate the value of main-
taining and recovering biodiver-
sity concerning the achievement
of key SDGs at the urban level.
It is crucial to develop evalua-
tion systems and indicators that
can monitor long-term interac-
tions between drivers, pressures,
states, impacts, and responses
that describe the relationship be-
tween biodiversity and several
human dimensions (p. 152).
Resource flows
Developing a new urban econ-
omy based on biodiversity and
equitable distribution of its
benefits. Adopting circular bio-
economy models, nature-based
economies, and biomimicry will
allow cities to increase compet-
itiveness while proposing ways
to redistribute wealth (p. 210).
Diversifying the supply of fi-
nancial instruments, incen-
tives, and aids to promote the
incorporation of biodiversity in
urban planning. Cities seeking
to increase nature’s contribu-
tions to people’s well-being need
to develop incentive programs
and tax schemes that facilitate
public, private, or joint invest-
ments around the maintenance
and recovery of ecological and
social functions of ecosystems
and biodiversity.
Encouraging the creation of nat-
ural capital funds and NbS proj-
ects at the municipal level. An
agency or fund to finance NbS
projects focused on nature, bio-
diversity, and ecosystem adap-
tation to climate change in cities
could explore several direct or in-
direct forms of financing.
Roles and routines
Placing the Urban Commons at
the heart of a BiodiverCity. Ur-
ban Commons include material
resources such as parks, com-
munity gardens, streets, aban-
doned buildings, and intangible
aspects such as culture, public
services, and community bonds
(p. 166, 220).
Promoting experimental spaces
implying the creation of plat-
forms for new interactions. Such
is the case of a growing number
of Urban Living Labs (or FabLabs),
Makerspaces, and “Transition
15
arenas” where stakeholders envi-
sion transformations.
Instead of doing more, we need
to do less. It is important to let
nature reconquer urban spaces—
to abandon our fixation on order
and the “cleanliness” of green ar-
eas. Instead, city managers could
try preserving the biomass that
allows ecological succession and
maintains ecosystem services
(such as pollination) that have a
regional impact.
Power relations
Approaching cities as a space for
distributed agency. Cities are no
longer a clean-cut green vs. gray
system or a human against the
non-human matrix. They are now
a socio-ecological system where
people experiment, connect,
share, learn and innovate (p. 138).
Promoting a shared vision of
the future city based on princi-
ples of equity and well-being.
Biodiversity management can
benefit from community-led net-
works that push for institutional
and behavioral changes around
nature, well-being, sufficiency,
and inclusion (p. 254).
Acting decisively to reduce so-
cial gaps around the distribu-
tion and access to the benefits
derived from biodiversity in
cities. Nature’s contributions to
people e.g. disaster risk reduc-
tion or adaptation to climate
change must be capitalized
equally for the entire population,
rather than just becoming an-
other inequality factor, especial-
ly for the most vulnerable.
 INTRO
DUCTION
Introduction

Understanding BiodiverCities From a

Transformative Change Approach.........................18

From Urban Biodiversity to BiodiverCities......... 30

Transformation

Experimentation

Learning

Opinion articles
 18
UNDERSTANDING
BIODIVERCITIES
FROM A
TRANSFORMATIVE
CHANGE APPROACH
INTRODUCTION
ARENAS FOR TRANSFORMATION
OR SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION?  solutions” (NBS), where green roofs,
The redefinition of cities as centers of
world population growth worldwide
highlights the urgency of understand-
ing how ecological, economic and so-
cial functions in urban areas can work
together to benefit the environment and
human society alike. BiodiverCities
offer a vision of the city where human
beings can live, work and evolve in har-
mony with their environment. We will
argue that this represents a transfor-
mative concept of city futures that can
avoid environmental degradation of
ecosystems and the negative impacts
on natural environments and human
welfare. Cities are centers of creativity
and lifestyle, culture, and learning. They
can also be drivers of a new ecological
infrastructure in which parks, gardens,
open spaces, and water catchment
areas thrive and support healthy eco-
systems and biodiversity. Examples of
these include the work by van der Jag-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
ton (2020) and others on “nature-based
bioswales, and urban agriculture offer
promising ways in which innovative
use of nature can help address sustain-
ability challenges in cities.
A central message of this
publication is that, especially for cit-
ies in the Global South, addressing
challenges of sustainable develop-
ment requires a new approach to pol-
icy that goes beyond “optimizing sys-
tems” through top-down technocratic
approaches. Transformations involve
radical changes in socio-technical
and social-ecological systems and
how these relate. The term “radical”
refers to the scope of change rather
than its speed (Grin et al., 2010). This
is embodied in the sustainable de-
velopment goals that highlight the
link between environmental and so-
cial sustainability. Transformations
also  refer to multi-actor processes
that entail interactions between dif-
ferent social groups such as firms,
Introduction
Matías Ramírez
Andrea Padilla
University of Sussex, UK
user groups, scientific communities,
and social movements.
We draw upon a substantial
body of academic literature that dis-
cusses how to steer transition dy-
namics and help create the basis of
a new policy approach (Rohracher &
Späth, 2017; Sengers et al., 2016; Tor-
rens & Schot, 2017). These are based
on three basic principles: direction-
ality, experimentation, and learning.
Transformation is about establish-
ing new Directions: This is import-
ant because historical studies have
shown that most innovations are
cumulative and, therefore, can be
said to have a direction that is seen
as natural or inevitable. For this
reason, only certain solutions are
looked for and others are ignored.
Transformative innovation pro-
poses that not all innovations are
positive; some can be highly dam-
aging and create social inequality.
Therefore, new directions must be
considered, and new development
trajectories opened to fulfill socie-
tal and environmental goals.
Early phases of transition are often
characterized by experimenta-
tion. It is not clear which different
developmental paths are the best
options for society. Experiments
can be a mechanism for building
niches. These can be important for
socio-technical change by chal-
lenging existing approaches, set-
ting up new collective priorities,
and guiding transformations.
Experimenting with different op-
tions should generate 2nd  order
learning, the process of questioning
existing routines, rethinking how
problems are defined and what
solutions are considered appropri-
ate. This involves reflexivity – the
ability of actors to reflect on their
practices and assumptions and
those of others. It should also stim-
ulate actors to engage with each
other to allow 2nd order learning.
19
Quote as: Ramírez, M., Padilla, A. Understanding BiodiverCities
From a Transformative Change Approach. P. 18-29. In: Mejía, M.A.,
Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
This first introduction chapter de- tainability transitions literature. It
livers a valuable contribution that presents the main concepts, ratio-
outlines systemic change and sus- nales, and values of socio-technical
LATIN AMERICAN HUB
The Latin American Hub of the Transformative Innovation Policy Consor-
tium (TIPC) is a community of practice that brings together organizations
based in Latin America in a joint venture to implement methodologies
of experimental policy and formative evaluation developed in TIPC. It
works with the ideas and methods of transformative innovation policy to
build a new approach to science, technology, and innovation policy rele-
vant to addressing significant challenges in the region.
Members undertake transformative experiments whose objective is to
advance transformations of socio-technical systems, for example, in
energy, transport, and access to clean water and food. These experi-
ments focus on transforming practices within the system by applying
a common framework and methodology.
For more information, visit:
https://hubinnovaciontransformativa.net/ (Spanish)
 20 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Introduction 21

and socio-ecological systems and sically linked to questions over who UNLOCKING tems to understand processes of negative implications for coastal dominant configurations expressed
the connections between them. governs, whose vision of sustain- change. These systems exist in areas or river ecosystems in urban and in a series of practices, rules, and be-
Next, we discuss the complexi- ability is prioritized, and the value of SYSTEM that fulfill basic social needs such as peri-urban areas (Sabater et al., 2018; haviors that define production and
ty of biodiverse urban transitions
and how visions of optimization or
promoting urban planning. Finally,
we present conclusions about the
TRANSFORMATION energy, mobility, food, education, and
healthcare. Each system involves a
Wear et al., 2021). Due to increasing
pressure on the provision, quality,
consumption dynamics in a given
system. This is similar to that de-
transformation can lead to differ- implications of a transition towards wide range of human and non-hu- and cost of water resources, cities scribed above, with the dominant
ent outcomes, particularly when BiodiverCities. As the first introduc- WHAT IS A SOCIO- man actors, different regulations are engaging with nature-based preference for car-based mobility.
considering Global South urban dy- tion for this publication, this chapter, TECHNICAL SYSTEM? and policies, a mix of market dynam- solutions that support natural wa- Niches, by contrast, are alternative
namics. In addition, it discusses the sets out the underlying themes that ics, a collection of scientific and lay ter cycles and increase urban water system practices that challenge the
challenges around the governance mark the overall guiding framework Transitions theory has emphasized knowledge, and a series of technolo- system resilience. These include al- incumbent regime by developing
of BiodiverCities, which are intrin- for the subsequent publication. the notion of socio-technical sys- gies and recurrent practices (F. Geels, ternative innovations such as recy- shared visions and different so-
2002). An example of socio-technical cling mechanisms for rain, storm, cio-technical innovations within a
systems in urban settings is the wa- and wastewater, reconnecting rivers “protected space,” in other words, a
ter system. Cities depend on their with their floodplains, and support- space where the rules of the incum-
Figure 1. Water
Socio-Technical
water supply quantity, quality, reli- ing urban watersheds that function bent system do not predominate.
System dimensions. ability, and affordability for drinking, as catchment basins (Butler et al., Non-fossil-based fuel mobility al-
food production, sanitation services, 2017). For example, in Italy's Lom- ternatives such as electric cars and
HUMAN ACTORS manufacturing, and industrial activ- bardy region, the Gorla Maggiore scooters and water-resilient innova-
WATER USERS ities. A systems approach to manag- water park project is an urban wet- tions such as nature-based solutions
STATE BODIES ing water resource systems can help land development that protects and have emerged as niche experiments.
PRIVATE COMPANIES urban planners and practitioners by improves water quality and pro- The landscape also influences this
providing a comprehensive picture motes socioenvironmental co-ben- process, an exogenous environment
POLICIES NON HUMAN ACTORS of the social, environmental, techni- efits (Masi et al., 2018). The project that pressures the system through
cal, economic, and political dimen- includes a sedimentation tank, ver- trends or shocks (F. Geels & Schot,
PRICING MICROORGANISMS
MECHANISMS sions involved. That is, acknowledg- tical water flow wetlands, a large 2007). For instance, climate change,
CONSERVATION MACROORGANISMS
MINERALS ing the role and interaction between pond, green open spaces, cycling, macro-economic trends, or the
REGULATIONS
human actors, non-human actors, and walking recreational paths. COVID-19 pandemic are considered
policies, market dynamics, infra- These elements combined prevent landscape events. Thus, transforma-
structure, technologies, and social flooding, support domestic water tion occurs due to external pressures
practices (see Figure 1, for example). treatment, and enable noise reduc- and emerging niches that co-evolve
Together, these actors and elements tion and temperature control. Ul- through time and space and create
illustrate urban water systems as timately, the park promotes biodi- new configurations for existing so-
complex systems in which technol- versity conservation and supports cio-technical systems.
ogy, society, and natural components human wellbeing. Depending on the desired
are in constant co-evolution. (See vision of systemic change, the inter-
MARKET DYNAMICS INFRASTRUCTURE Geels (2005) for a historical example UNDERSTANDING REGIMES, action between regimes, niches, and
SUPPLY COST TREATMENT PLANTS of water supply socio-technical sys- NICHES, AND LANDSCAPE landscapes can lead to alternatives
PRIVATIZATION PUMPING STATIONS tem transition in the Netherlands). of either system optimization (Di
WATER USE DRAINAGE NETWORKS
FORECASTING The urban water system has As stated before, complex problems Maio, 2014) or system transforma-
been affected by rapid urbanization require comprehensive approaches. tion (R. Byrne et al., 2011; F. Geels &
rates, population growth, and cli- Transitions theory has developed a Kemp, 2007). In both cases, technolo-
mate change consequences. Hence, now well-recognized approach to de- gy and innovation play a fundamen-
water scarcity, pollution, and high scribe and provide heuristics for so- tal role. However, in system optimi-
supply costs are increasingly dis- cio-technical system change known zation, change originates mainly
SOCIAL PRACTICES rupting social, economic, and envi- as the multi-level perspective (MLP) from reacting to specific problems
TECHNOLOGY
ronmental conditions. Urban plan- (F. Geels & Schot, 2007); see figure 2 using the practices of existing sys-
REDUCE HOUSEHOLD
CONSUMPTION WATER METERS ning often fails to deliver appropriate below for a graphical representation tems. Policymakers often find this
AWARENESS LEAKAGE solutions for extreme weather con- of the mobility system using MLP. approach more convenient as it is
DEMAND FOR EASY DETECTION DEVICES
ICT SYSTEMS ditions such as heat stress, droughts, This describes the change process in supported by rationales of efficien-
WATER ACCESS
or flooding (Güneralp et al., 2015) but socio-technical systems as arising cy, competitiveness, and market-led
Source: Prepared assume constant urban extent. Sim- from interactions in three different dynamics. Actions of system opti-
by the authors. ilarly, flawed water disposal mecha- and interconnected levels: regimes, mization are often based on tradi-
nisms induce water stress and have niches, and landscape. Regimes are tional managerial methods such
22 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Introduction 23

as strategic planning, cost-benefit system transformation but differ

Figure 2. Landscape, regime, and niches in the mobility socio-technical system.
analysis, and target monitoring. in terms of the system definition.
They usually emphasize technical Socio-ecological systems are com-
and technological advances as tools posed of two primary domains –
LANDSCAPE that contribute to system change. social and ecological– that hold
By contrast, system trans- several sets of interdependent and
formation emphasizes the need to dynamic elements in constant in-
TRENDS AND EVENTS reconfigure systems and requires a teraction (Fischer et al., 2015). These
shared vision of change. Such a re- elements are reflected in the eco-
Information and configuration requires changes in nomic and socio-cultural institu-
Communication the rules and practices of the exist- tions that support our communities
Aging Oil depletion Financial
population
Technology
crises
ing system. This means working to in the social domain. As seen in fig-
(ICT) change system features, such as the ure 3, people can modify how they
nature of markets, infrastructures, use and care for natural elements.
and technologies, and some of the In the ecological field, they involve
values, expectations, and preferenc- biological processes related, for in-
Climate
es that guide the choices and ac- stance, to geological, water, air, and
change
tions of actors in the system (Geels & mineral cycles which provide the
Schot, 2007). necessary materials and benefits
REGIME
to support human life –and human
Maintenance Industry WHAT IS A SOCIO- lifestyles. As interactions between
and structure ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM? people and nature increase in their
distribution scale and intensity, it becomes
network The concept of BiodiverCities needs clear that the boundaries between
to address transformations in both human and environmental struc-
Markets
Regulations
and user socio-technical and socio-ecolog- tures are artificial (Berkes & Folke,
an policies
practices ical systems. These are similar 1998). They are all part of the same
concepts regarding their focus on system and thus can be affected by

Road IDENTIFYING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SYSTEM

infrastructure Fuel OPTIMIZATION AND SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION
CURRENT
and traffic
TRANSPORT infrastructure
system SYSTEM
Are you having a dialogue with traditional actors or involving
Culture and
symbolic a broad and diverse set of actors? (Diversity)
Vehicle
meaning FUTURE
TRANSPORT Are you recognizing different opinions, interests, and needs
SYSTEM among stakeholders? (Inclusion)
Are you mimicking a solution developed for a specific setting
or adjusting it to your geographical and social context?
(Context-based)
Are you encouraging different actors to meet with each other
and create lasting bonds? (Networking)
Are they co-creating new narratives, visions, and goals for
NICHES Battery Electric the desired future? (Co-creation)
vehicles
Driverless
Are actors sharing knowledge or ideas and reflecting on the
vehicles system change process? (Learning)
Are you promoting development solutions that exhibit
links between practices, technologies, and knowledge?
Source: Geels et al., (2017). (Experimentation)
 24 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Introduction 25

changes in any of the two primary
domains.
A vital characteristic of the inter-
twined relation between social and
ecological domains is that they are
governed by feedback loops (Knoot
conditions and attributes with human
preferences, values, and needs by ex-
ploring the complexity of social and
ecological interactions.
Because humans and nature are
embedded in the same system, any
activities. Such as ecotourism,
Figure 3. Interlinked dynamics of
outdoor sports, or even using na- Global scale
environmental and societal change in
ture as inspiration for artistic or
socio-ecological systems.
creative purposes.
In urban settings, ecosystem services
are fundamental for human health, Regional scale

et al., 2010). According to their poten-
tial, loops can be positive or negative
to enhance change and support the
system’s natural dynamism. When
ecological systems are disturbed
(intervened by humans), it creates
an imbalance and forces the system
to adapt and self-regulate. For ins-
tance, while human-made dams can
be intended for irrigation or renewa-
change in one part of the system’s
components affects another. Thus,
socio-ecological systems are in a con-
stant process of co-evolution. This
means that people, economies, and
culture depend on (and are shaped by)
the biosphere around them and vice
versa. Such interdependence occurs
across multiple scales that range from
an individual level to the local, nation-
and humans are less prone to physi-
cal and mental diseases by support-
ing air purification, noise reduction,
Landscape scale
and temperature cooling. Ecosystem
services can also enhance or avoid
economic costs. For example, homes
near green cover often have higher
market value, and those shaded by
trees often have lower energy costs Temporal Nature
People Nature
People
(Byrne & Houston, 2020). dynamics elsewhere elsewhere

ble energy purposes, they also in-
fluence migratory movements of se-
veral species, as well as changes in
temperature, oxygen, and sediment
conditions that alter water cycles
and riverine wildlife (Mcallister et
al., 2001; Wu et al., 2019). It is constant
interaction between the social and
ecological domains that enables fur-
ther variation through the exchange
of matter, energy, and information
that pushes the system away from a
state of equilibrium and into one of
continuous change.
The socio-ecological analyt-
ical framework focuses on the link-
ages between ecosystems and social
institutions. This framework reflects
on socio-ecological interactions, feed-
back loops, tensions, and mutual ben-
efit dynamics across different scales
(Berkes & Folke, 1998). For instance,
while exceptional ecosystem condi-
tions promote tourism and foster local
economic development, overexploita-
tion can degrade the very same land-
scape qualities that attract most tour-
ists. Similarly, the growth of informal
urban settlements —most of which are
driven by vulnerable people’s desire to
improve their livelihood— can lead to
economic benefits for those migrat-
ing while at the same time creating
damaging footprints on urban ecology
(Aguilar & Santos, 2011). Research has
advanced our understanding of how
decision-making can align nature’s
al, regional, and global levels. For ex-
ample, within urban settings, green
spaces provide habitats with essential
characteristics for a wide range of or-
ganisms and microorganisms. At the
same time, the biodiversity in these
urban settings provides core goods and
services that city dwellers depend on.
An essential aspect of so-
cio-ecological interactions is the
so-called ecosystem services (Gó-
mez-Baggethun & Barton, 2013).
These are benefits that humans ob-
tain from the ecosystems that sup-
port different societies’ development
and sustainability. They include:
Provisioning services and goods
obtained from ecosystems. For
instance, food production in
peri-urban farm fields, back-
yards, community gardens, or
water supply for drinking, sew-
age, or industrial uses.
Regulation services that provide
benefits obtained from ecosys-
tem processes. Urban vegetation
in parks often provides climate
regulation, water purification,
and erosion control.
Supporting services are those
that allow other ecosystems to
function, such as nutrient cycles,
crop pollination, and enabling
living habitats for species.
Cultural services related to rec-
reational, spiritual, or cognitive
SUPPORTING THE “COMMONS”
An important aspect of the discus-
sion of the transformation of cit-
ies as sustainable socio-ecological
spaces and systems is supporting,
building, and managing the “Com-
mons” as an alternative represen-
tation of urban areas (Foster, 2011;
Foster & Iaione, 2015). Commons are
either spaces or natural resources
that are finite and non-excludable to
rivals, that is, resources that anyone
can use but with a limited amount
available. When it is in the best in-
terest of each individual to overuse
a resource with no regard for others,
these are prone to overexploitation
or to what Hardin called the “Trage-
dy of the Commons” (1968). Forestry,
pasture, and fisheries are classic ex-
amples of these shared resources as
they can exhibit clear signs of over-
exploitation through deforestation,
soil erosion, water scarcity, and spe-
cies extinction. In urban settings,
the Tragedy of the Commons be-
comes apparent in areas such as au-
tomobiles congestion rates. In cities
such as Moscow, Mumbai, and Bo-
gotá, the number of cars exceeds the
capacity of urban arterials and leads
to some of the world’s worst traffic
jams (TomTom, 2021) and thus to ve-
hicle emission air pollution (Zhang &
Batterman, 2013). According to Har-
Source: Fischer et al. (2015).
din, amid the failure of trust in one
another and the absence of strong
social institutions to enable coop-
eration, the tragedy is only solved
by the state’s intervention that reg-
ulates resource usage by fostering
long-term preservation or extending
the private property to individuals.
Therefore, the owners will reap the
consequences of over-exploitation
and reduce over-exploitation.
As the discussion over Bio-
diverCities extends, policymakers,
activists, and scholars are increas-
ingly embracing the notion of Ur-
ban Commons. This notion is guid-
ed by principles of solidarity, active
citizen engagement, inclusion, and
social justice (Borch & Kornberger,
2015; Foster, 2011). Urban Commons
offers a wide range of resources in
the cities that can be made acces-
sible and used by all dwellers, es-
pecially those who have difficulty
accessing these types of services.
Examples of Urban Commons in-
clude material resources such as
parks, community gardens, streets,
and abandoned buildings. They
also include intangible aspects
such as culture, public services, and
community bonds (Hess, 2008).
REIMAGINING
CITIES AS HUBS
OF BIODIVERSITY
AND RESILIENCE
Historically cities have been vibrant
centers of political, social, cultural,
and economic activities. All around
the world, the clustering of these ac-
tivities contributes to the provision,
distribution, and access of numerous
essential services around housing,
transportation, communication, ed-
ucation, health, sanitation, and other
everyday human needs. Similarly,
within every urban area, the inter-
action between people, firms, and
governments shapes the formal and
informal rules that guide the way
dwellers live and how they relate to
the services mentioned above. There-
fore, the high density of activities and
interactions within the same geo-
graphical space strengthens interde-
pendence and feedback loops among
socio-technical and socio-ecological
systems. In turn, this makes urban
dynamics more complex.
This complexity emerges
partly because, since industrialization,
the dynamics of urban services have
 26
constantly changed. With the intro-
duction of new technologies also came
changes in user preferences reflected
-among others- in higher demands
for a wide range of products and ser-
vices (Dholakia, 2012; Gaile-Sarkane,
2009). This led to significant economic
growth and a shared notion of oppor-
tunities that attracted people to cities.
In the global south, urban development
is shaped today by urban expansion
and increasing migration of people
from rural to urbanized areas. Cur-
rent urbanization trends indicate that
by 2050, 68% of the global population
will settle in urban areas. This means
an increase of 2.5 billion people in 30
years, nearly 90% of which will be liv-
ing in Asian and African cities (United
Nations, 2019). Cities like Lagos, Nige-
ria, are struggling to accommodate the
needs of an increasing influx of dwell-
ers. The housing deficit is currently
estimated at 2.5 million units, which is
why there are now over 200 informal
settlements, with 66% of the population
living in slums (Wallace & Alake, 2019).
Not to mention insufficient amenities
for mobility and social security.
Additionally, as cities expand,
they have also become a focus of en-
vironmental concern. Issues such as
air pollution, land degradation, water
stress, and loss of biodiversity can all
be linked (at least to some extent) to ur-
ban dynamics (Seto et al., 2011). Auto-
mobiles, industries, and construction
infrastructure all provide essential
services to dwellers. However, in do-
ing so, a contradiction emerges as they
also entail higher demands for natural
resources, higher energy needs, and
higher waste production (Inostroza &
Zepp, 2021). This increased pressure
on the biophysical environment leads
to significant climate change con-
sequences when poorly managed or
overlooked. Paradoxically, it is the cit-
ies and their dwellers who experience
the effects. In Mexico City, air pollution
is climbing as the cause of death of its
inhabitants (Cromar et al., 2021). In Sao
Paulo, water management infrastruc-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
ture collapsed as the city grew faster
than expected, and in 2015 it suffered
a significant drought leading to so-
cioeconomic tensions (Romero, 2015).
Similarly, in Mumbai, the pollution of
rivers with industrial materials has
increased water scarcity, provoking
severe health issues, particularly in
the city's slums (Subbaraman et al.,
2013; Subbaraman & Murthy, 2015).
On many occasions, these damag-
ing consequences affect not only city
dwellers but extend to a greater geo-
graphical region. Thus, preserving the
natural environment and protecting
human health and wellbeing are in-
trinsically intertwined across time
and spatial scales.
THE ROLE OF BIODIVERCITIES
IN SUSTAINABLE URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
While it is true that cities have played
a significant role in creating and re-
producing many societal challenges,
they can also be part of the solution.
Urban economic growth and devel-
opment entail environmental chal-
lenges and knowledge production
and innovation sources. As more
people access education, commu-
nication tools, and financial means,
they hold greater potential to make
critical reflections, discuss imagi-
naries of future BiodiverCities and
build solutions that can contribute to
sustainable development pathways.
Hence, cities are not passive scenar-
ios where transitions can happen
(Bouzarovski & Haarstad, 2018) but
rather fundamental actors that can
influence the process of transition.
Recent urban agendas have
introduced narratives of “regener-
ation," an idea that draws insights
from socio-ecological relations
to deliver real-world solutions for
urban planning (Raymond et al.,
2004). For example, an increasing-
ly diverse set of nature-based solu-
tions aim to protect, restore, or man-
age natural ecosystems inside and
around cities. These actions are dis-
cussed by local communities and
adapted to their context, so they fo-
cus first on understanding the soci-
etal needs and then exploring alter-
natives to address them. Green-blue
infrastructures such as green roofs
and walls, urban canals, and urban
allotments are typical examples of
nature-based solutions with some
interventions in ecosystems and
landscapes (Muller et al., 2010; Tar-
sitano et al., 2021). However, many
communities have also expanded
these initiatives to activities with
minimal intervention, such as "no-
grass mow" seasons to contribute
to pollination and protection of ma-
rine areas to conserve biodiversity.
New forms of interaction
between citizens can also stimu-
late alternative urban governance.
Cities can push forward sustainable
solutions by facilitating citizen en-
gagement, encouraging the creation
of communities of practice, and sup-
porting existing networks and as-
sociations. Thus, cities function as
platforms for a diverse group of peo-
ple –from different backgrounds and
with different knowledge– to come
together, participate, share ideas and
explore their creativity. This can cre-
ate an atmosphere where it is more
likely to build constructive and in-
novative ways to positively impact
urban development (Sutz & Tomas-
ini, 2013). However, as people come
together, they can envision different
ways to tackle urban challenges.
Depending on the imaginaries or
expectations of what future Biodi-
verCities will be like, the change pro-
cess can lean towards optimization
or transformation, representing two
entirely different approaches.
URBAN SUSTAINABILITY IN THE
GLOBAL SOUTH: CHALLENGES
AND OPPORTUNITIES
Urban areas of the global south often
face additional and more profound
Introduction 27
CREATING A LOCAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE mental solutions have encouraged poli-
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY cymakers, businesses, and ordinary cit-
izens to experiment with different ideas
Transition to biodegradable packaging materials and reach creative solutions. The well-
known Bus Rapid Transit system origi-
The municipality of Iza, Colombia, is famous for its local deserts. The nated in Curitiba, Brazil, and has spread
production of deserts makes a significant contribution to the local to other Global South cities, providing
economy as it supports small food businesses and constantly attracts an example of efficiently using limited
tourists. However, as producers used polystyrene for packaging des- funds to address a mobility challenge
serts, in 2018, the municipality’s success turned into an environmental (Rodriguez & Vergel Tovar, 2013). Like-
crisis. Over 4.500 monthly polystyrene packaging exceeded the capaci- wise, low-income households dealing
ty of waste management landfills. with high pressures due to inequality,
poverty, and infrastructure deficits in-
The landfill crisis motivated local authorities to consider alternative creasingly use frugal innovations. These
solutions for food packaging. In partnership with Iza Desserts Produc- are often bottom-up, disruptive, and low-
tion Association, they experimented with several packing materials cost solutions that minimize the use
and raised the importance of responsible and sustainable consumption. of materials to address fundamental
Since desert production is such a relevant activity for the municipali- service provision gaps (Khan, 2016). In
ty, the process was highly driven by the participation and interaction Nairobi, Kenya, the lack of an adequate
of tourists and many local citizens, part of which led to tensions and sanitary system has forced dwellers to
negotiations. As a result, in 2019, a new policy prohibiting polystyrene create decentralized community solu-
food containers in Iza was enacted. Following this example, other mu- tions such as shared on-site sanitation,
nicipalities in the region passed similar policies. They are now using community or privately owned sanita-
compostable containers made from rice fiber or corn cane. tion in public spaces, portable toilets, and
container-based toilets (van Welie et al.,
This illustrates an interesting case of bottom-up social innovation. By 2018). Clearly, there are several oppor-
building a multi-actor, transdisciplinary and local community of prac- tunities to proactively deal with unsus-
tice, producers, consumers, and policymakers were able to co-create a tainability and South cities’ vulnerabili-
shared vision for transitioning to environmentally sustainable solutions. ties that strengthen resilience-building
in emerging urban centers. All without
Source: “Social Innovation and the polystyrene prohibition policy in Iza” necessarily reproducing the same dis-
(Marin, 2019) courses and solutions that the North has
established, thus avoiding path-depen-
dency and lock-in effects.
pressing challenges in poverty and rates, illiteracy, and increasing pol-
HOW TO
inequality, with fragile institutions lution (Datta & Shaban, 2017; Monca- DEFINE THE
and a lower set of financial resourc- da, 2013). Moreover, many cities ex-
es (Dobbs et al., 2018; Olken & Pande, perience tension between pursuing GOVERNANCE OF
2012). Many of these cities also face economic growth while minimizing
unstable governance due to weak adverse environmental impact and, BIODIVERCITIES?
democratic processes and poor ad- at times, social inequality. Questions of governance of technol-
ministration. Likewise, governmen- Despite these negative external ogy and innovation are associated
tal financial capacity for policy de- factors of the urbanization process, cit- with questions about who science
sign and implementation tends to be ies of the global south have also shown and technology are for, who does it
lower. While these challenges apply strong capacities to innovate and ex- benefit, who benefits, who gets a say,
in different scopes to each city, the periment with alternative pathways to and whose agenda is being followed.
most common societal challenges urban sustainability. Still, their endog- When confronting questions of the
involve insufficient physical infra- enous capabilities, creativity, and prob- environment, it is also about asking
structure, inadequate housing, high lem-solving orientation are often over- who benefits from biodiverse initia-
unemployment rates, inefficient re- looked (Nagendra et al., 2018). A young tives (environmental justice), who
sources management, rising crime population and demand for environ- gets access to these services – such
 28 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Introduction 29

as green spaces - and who partici- resource/transforming-experimen- of public-transportation infrastruc-

Table 1. Modes of experimental engagements.
pates in the distribution of these ben- tation-experimental-policy-engage- tures (Sengers et al., 2016). In terms of
efits? In addition, how does one deal ments-and-their-transformative-out- BiodiverCities, there have also been
with differences of opinion and pos- comes/). important initiatives on urban food MODES OF MODE 1: MODE 2: POLICY MODE 3: MODE 4: MODE 5:
sible conflicts of interest, and which sovereignty (the right to healthy and EXPERIMENTAL POLICY DESIGN INSTRUMENT CREATING SUPPORTING, EXPERIMENTAL
POLICY ELEMENTS AND POLICY EXPERIMENTAL CONNECTING GOVERNANCE
investments in science and technolo- Policymakers can initiate poli- culturally appropriate food, produced ENGAGEMENT PROCESS SPACES AND CULTURE
gy are prioritized? This is a topic that, cy instruments and policy pro- ecologically by using sustainable EXPERIMENTS EVALUATING
SOCIETAL
to a large extent, has been ignored cesses. They could include ex- methods) encouraged by small-scale EXPERIMENTS
within mainstream policies for tech- periments with public dialogues urban farms. These make locally
nology and innovation and by large in the context of public partic- sourced food and positively affect Role of Assists in the Setting up Creates Articulates Creates flexible
parts of the academic literature on ipation, explorative planning the absorption of urban waste. experimentation formulation, of specific dedicated existing and proactive
science, technology, and innovation. processes, and policy pilots for in policy calibration and experimental environments experiments governance
Our specific interest here is to climate risk adaptation. KEY MESSAGES justification policy and a carried out by arrangements,
discuss how to materialize new think- Experimental spaces involve of policy interventions constituency for multiple actors, including
ing of governance for policy and how creating platforms for new in- Relationship transformation of instruments in the form of experimentation, facilitates open-ended
new forms of policy governance can teractions. This is the case of a biodiversity and cities. Cities new policy where the normal learning from goals, allowing
act as a spur for transitions in Biodi- growing number of Urban Liv- and urban conurbations were orig- instruments or conditions and between decentralised
verCities. The work of Jessops (2016) is ing Labs or Fablabs and Maker- inally constructed and designed to policy processes (e.g. regarding experiments, and
relevant here. He argues that the scale spaces and ‘transition arenas’ further industrial production and tried out permits, and supports the experimental
and depth of a sustainability transi- where stakeholders are hosted economic development. Their design temporally or in taxation) are development of interventions by
tion cannot be top-down and based on to envision a transformation. initially paid little attention to social a small scale relaxed networks multiple actors
technocratic principles or founded on Supporting, connecting, and re- aspects and even less to the ecolog-
Actors involved Policymakers, Policymakers Lead users, Networks As others, but
innovation based on technology-push. viewing societal experiments ical damage, they could produce.
and recipients and policy entrepreneurs, implicated in with aim of
New approaches to policy governance focuses on supporting already The reconstruction of cities based
of the policy analysts, technology experiments, broadening
have emerged to support these ap- existing (often bottom-up) entre- on principles of biodiversity requires
treatment stakeholders advocates, intermediaries participation to
proaches. These include, for example, preneurial experimentation and broader approaches that offer a mul-
involved in the designers, civil and actors normally
the work on formative evaluation by grassroots initiatives. Accord- tidimensional, multi-actor, and con-
experiments society actors, policymakers expluded from
Molas-Gallart et al. (2021), which seek ing to Schot et al. (2019), such an text-based vision of development and
policymakers policy process
to support partnerships between pol- effort may also entail measuring sustainability.
icymakers and stakeholders through or evaluating unfolding transfor- BiodiverCities as socio-ecologi-
Approaches Randomised Experimenting Urban living Intermediary Strategies and
formative (rather than auditive) as- mation and identifying specific cal systems. Systems of mobility,
Control Trial, with new formats Labs, policy organisations iniciatives
sessment principles that encourage needs to establish new or sup- housing, water, and electricity need to
Behavioural in established labs, walk-shops, and platforms, to promote
mutual learning. A significant change port existing intermediaries. work together and integrate biodiver-
Experiments policy transition arenas workshops, experimental
in policy practice is also the principle Experimental governance culture sity within notions of development.
instruments online resources culture;
of policy experimentation to support is promoted as a deliberate strate- Ecologists and biologists can work to-
/ processes rewarding
transformation processes (Schot et al., gy or activity to encourage an ex- gether with planners, architects, and
(programmes, reflexivity and
2019). Experimentation as a policy gov- perimental governance culture. other social scientists to unravel the
subsidies, learning
ernance concept has become increas- This may involve promoting dis- complexity of coupled socio-ecolog-
regulation)
ingly influential in broad policy circles ruptive technologies for tackling ical systems and understand the re-
(beyond transformative innovation). climate change and other complex lationships between biodiversity and Source: Schot et al. (2019).
Growing recognition of the need to ad- societal challenges. This mode of socio-technical systems.
dress sustainability challenges in com- empirical policy engagement may The importance of transdis-
plex environments requires processes provide the learning required for ciplinary and intersectoral
of experimentation that encourage the emergence of a new culture of approaches. It is urgent to open the
learning by a range of actors. This is governance that embraces and re- process of knowledge production to rectionalities and encourage positive Moreover, social organizations and and ecosystem services can bene-
particularly the case in cities and large lies on experimentation. transdisciplinary collaboration from links between urban, peri-urban, and social movements can play a central fit from shared visions of the future
urban environments that require inte- Well-known examples of experi- non-academic actors such as citizens rural settings. role in generating new ways of devel- city and practical efforts towards
grated systems thinking. mentation in niche urban areas in- of local communities. While sustain- The meeting point between cit- oping conservation practices and res- collective goals. They also benefit
Schot et al. (2019) summariz- clude transdisciplinary approaches able, innovative ideas emerge in na- ies and biodiversity. For Just toration of nature through experimen- from community-led networks that
es five ways in which experimental to initiate, monitor, and evaluate ture-based solutions, those ideas that city transitions based on principles of tation and collective learning. push for institutional and behav-
policy engagements for transforma- novel bus-rapid transit systems effectively reach cross-sector and biodiversity to emerge, it is essential The shared vision of biodi- ioral changes around biodiversity
tion can take place (see table 1) (see addressing traffic, air pollution, cross-actor partnerships will most that “the commons” and urban collab- versity. Urban regeneration conservation values, wellbeing, suf-
in https://www.tipconsortium.net/ climate change, and affordability likely open spaces for alternative di- orative governance are strengthened. initiatives integrating biodiversity ficiency, and inclusion.
 30
FROM URBAN
BIODIVERSITY TO
BIODIVERCITIES
RECONCILING
SOCIETY AND
NATURE IN CITIES
This chapter narrates the transfor-
mation of the link between society
and nature in urban spaces. It starts
historically with recognizing the
city as a threat to biodiversity and
moves on to understand the impor-
tance of managing these built en-
vironments for human well-being
and the close relationship with the
regional perspective. In this jour-
ney, it becomes evident how the
original views of intrinsic values
of nature and the notions of man-
agement focused on human threats
gave way to the consideration that
the quality of life of urban commu-
nities depends on those spaces that
contain biodiversity and provide
ecosystem services.
With a changing conceptu-
al approach to nature and city, the
creation of protected areas in urban
environments, the planning of eco-
logical connectors, and the manage-
ment of specific elements of biodi-
versity advanced. In parallel, schools
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
of urban ecology documented nature
and urban biodiversity, understand-
ing them first as the exceptional spe-
cies and natural spaces that occur in
a gradient from the wild and then as
spaces that emerge from design in
urban interventions.
Thus, concepts such as ur-
ban landscape, design and renat-
uralization, co-production of con-
tributions from nature to people,
governance, and environmental
justice emerged in urban environ-
ments. BiodiverCity emerges in this
context as a conciliatory concept of
some of these paradigms, as well
as an opportunity for reconciliation
between nature and the city, in the
pressing context of global change.
THE CITY AND BIODIVERSITY
The city emerges and grows as a phe-
nomenon of negation of what is natural,
and civilization is also a concept that ex-
pands in parallel with urban expansion.
Germán I. Andrade ab
a
Multidisciplinary Expert Panel
(MEP), Intergovernmental Science-
Policy Platform on Biodiversity and
b
Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Territorial Sustainability Laboratory,
EAN University, Colombia.
Thus, what is urban has historically
developed at a conceptual and practical
level as the opposite and primary threat
to conserving biodiversity perceived
as abstract and remote. Today, howev-
er, elements are being sought to build a
new relationship -which here is called
conciliation - based on a historical view
of the concepts and practices that con-
verge in what is urban, especially when,
amid a global environmental crisis,
most humans live in cities (United Na-
tions, 2014).
Conciliation must be un-
derstood in the context of evolving
the very ideas of nature as well as
the approaches for its conservation,
which have been linked to changing
the concept of biodiversity and its re-
lationship with society (Mace, 2014).
Thus, there has been a shift from the
idea of biodiversity being untouch-
able, with an exclusively intrinsic
valuation in which humans are pre-
sented only as a threat, to a concep-
tion of biodiversity as a source of ben-
Introduction
efits for people as well as an essential
part of a system of nature and people
interacting in a coupled manner.
Thus, in the growing global
urbanization, the idea of the biodi-
verse city, as we know it today, has
taken root. However, the biodiverse
city is one in which this concept is
transformed into a melting pot of
interactions between human beings
and other living beings in the built
habitat. The city, in this sense, is not
unnatural but has a new identity,
in which the concept of the human
in nature and nature in the human
changes in a reciprocal manner.
Urban biodiversity as a con-
cept is an open and evolving catego-
ry. With this notion, we do not intend
to describe only the wildlife that is
distant or adjacent to the city, but the
wildlife that persists there without
human agency and, in turn, what hap-
pens there deliberately through man-
agement. In other words, it is a catego-
ry of agency that must be understood
with a transdisciplinary view that
deals with several knowledge sys-
tems of knowledge that interact. From
this basis, a conciliatory concept such
as BiodiverCity has emerged.
WHAT IS URBAN AS A THREAT?
The narratives that emerged in the
modern idea of conservation in the
mid-20th century led to the adop-
tion of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD). As the first global le-
gal agreement, the CBD captured the
prevailing conservation ideas at the
time, emphasizing the need to pre-
serve the values of nature that per-
sist “despite of people” and the threats
their activities generate to it (cf. Mace,
2014). In this early formulations of
conservation biology (Soulé & Wilcox,
1980), it is evident that urban spaces
are implicitly conceived as a destruc-
tive factor of those considered natu-
ral. Such a position becomes apparent
when it is suggested that, unlike ar-
31
Quote as: Andrade, G. From Urban Biodiversity to BiodiverCities.
Reconciling Society and Nature in Cities. P. 30-37. In: Mejía, M.A.,
Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
eas that are considered natural, cities
retain very few natural elements.
Thus, the initial strategies for
biodiversity conservation in the face
of the urban environment were aimed
at isolating what is considered arti-
ficial from what is natural, creating
physical or legal boundaries for this
purpose. However, this vision, which
only finds what is human as part of
the problem, was evidently a barrier to
the appropriation and social valuation
for those life forms that coexist with
humans in cities.
In this context of separating
what is natural from what is urban,
those wild spaces that persisted in
proximity to the city appear excep-
tional. Wild nature as a landscape
adjacent to the city is presented in
protected areas in cases such as the
Avila in Caracas or the Eastern Hills
in Bogotá (Mejía, 2016). The images
of the large fauna of Nairobi Nation-
al Park against the backdrop of the
city are also evidence of this. The
 32
city highlights the character of these
spaces, which would otherwise
maintain their own identity.
The city-nature tension
in this vision of what is urban as a
threat is also manifested in the oc-
currence of protected areas that are
trapped within the urban fabric.
Perhaps the most notable cases in
this sense are the Table Mountain
National Park, surrounded by the
urban fabric of the city of El Cabo, or
the Tijuca National Park as an island
in the middle of the city of Rio de Ja-
neiro (Mejía, 2016). Likewise, region-
al metropolitan natural park Cerro
El Volador, as a protected area in the
middle of the urban fabric of Me-
dellín, presents us with a new nature
as a green island in the middle of the
city. The recognition of protected ur-
ban areas as “protected areas located
on the edge of large population cen-
ters” (Trzyna et al., 2014) by the In-
ternational Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) accelerated this
integration of protected areas with
urban life.
DEPENDENCE AND
INTERDEPENDENCE
An important step towards construct-
ing a new concept of urban biodiver-
sity was the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MEA, 2005), which pro-
poses understanding the relationship
between biodiversity and society
from its human benefits through the
concept of ecosystem services. This
paved the way for the initiative to
manage urban ecosystem services
(TEEB, 2011), one of the first approach-
es to address the relationship between
the city, human well-being, and bio-
diversity, including the definition of
guidelines for its management.
The dependence on nature
of what is urban became evident as
a predominantly long-distance re-
lationship, due to the usually remote
location of the water sources of nu-
merous aqueducts, especially in
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
mountainous cities. This dependence
becomes very notorious, for example,
in cities located on the dry slopes of
the Andes, where water comes from
ecological systems situated at great
distances. Such is the case of Trujillo,
Lima, La Paz, or Santiago, whose need
for nature is also threatened by global
climate change.
In line with the development
of conservation sciences, elements
began to slowly appear within ur-
ban spaces that made it possible to
maintain or recover ecological con-
nectivity and, with it, the flow of bio-
diversity and its ecosystem services.
Landscape ecology thus appeared in
the urban context.
The conceptual and prac-
tical arrival of concepts such as
ecological structure and ecological
networks to maintain or recover bio-
logical connectivity stands out (Ben-
nett, 2003). This vision followed the
first global impulses on the possible
role that biological nodes and corri-
dors can play in connectivity at the
landscape scale, a perspective that
could not remain alien to conserva-
tion efforts in urban environments.
(Andrade et al., 2013).
However, the urban land-
scape matrix continues to receive
almost no persistent attention in
terms of landscape ecology. There-
fore, the connectivity required for
the persistence and flow of biodi-
versity and its ecosystem services
within urban spaces is still an un-
resolved issue. Various conflicting
social, economic and political inter-
ests converge and are assumed to
be at odds with each other.
Beyond these nodes and con-
nectors, urban growth goes beyond
the managed city and manifests it-
self as a regional phenomenon. For-
man (2008) speaks of urban regions,
where the built matrix dominates the
landscape. It is an expression of what
Zepp et al. (2021) propose as the “end
of the city” as an enclave, which has
led to what is urban being considered
a regional and global phenomenon.
Luis Inostroza makes this explicit in
this same book on the importance of
this link in the very emergence of the
concept of BiodiverCity.
Beyond the protected areas
and the connecting elements that
relate biodiversity to the city in ad-
jacency or at a distance, the interde-
pendence between urban areas and
nature takes on greater importance
when analyzing the biodiversity that
occurs amid these built environments
and its true relationship with those
who live there. It is not only present in
urban protected areas but as a variety
of green structures associated with
purely urban typologies. For many cit-
izens, this urban greenery represents
the opportunity to experience what is
perceived as natural and makes up for
the lack of a sense of nature.
URBAN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Over time, cities began to consider
that they not only consume ecosys-
tem services provided at a distance
but also produce them. Gómez-Bag-
gethun & Barton (2013) propose a ty-
pology for some of these so-called ur-
ban ecosystem services (UES). Thus,
cleaner air, meso or microclimatic
regulation, reduced risk of natural di-
sasters, or the very presence of wild-
life in the urban environment, which
is positively valued, constitute a nar-
rative of reconciliation amid the city’s
ongoing divorce from nature.
Inostroza et al. (2014) pro-
pose the concept and indicator of
“technomass,” which arises from the
interaction of urban ecology, meta-
bolic studies, and urban planning.
Their approach understands the city
as an ecosystem where matter accu-
mulates and energy flows. It tends
to design forms of social control of
urban development that guide the
structural and functional evolution
of the city. In this way, it would be
possible to improve the quality of
urban life and mitigate its growing
Introduction
environmental problems. In this line
of thought, the balance of biomass
and technomass would determine
the future of a city. Therefore, talking
about urban ecosystem services im-
plies recognizing the existence of
benefits co-produced precisely due to
the interaction between society and
nature, according to IPBES (Díaz et
al., 2015).
The concept of UES cannot
be approached similarly in cities that
function as enclaves in wild areas
areas and those amid landscapes
profoundly transformed by agribusi-
ness. The central issue is not only
the existence of spaces that provide
flows of benefits to society but also
the way these are valued, which is
neither unique nor uniform.
Some urban conformations,
in fact, confront the concept of UES
since nature manifests itself as a
set of benefits and disservices. The
presence of pathogens or predators
in urban environments, for example,
is a subject of study in urban ecology
and sociology. Similarly, the contra-
dictory valuation of urban wetlands
is a notorious case when they collect
sewage and untreated water in cities
and at the same time provide spac-
es in which nature recreates itself.
An interesting case is Nairobi, where
water purification areas have become
highly valued for bird watching.
The disservices become more
evident in environments lacking pub-
lic services, where the positive valu-
ation of urban biodiversity conflicts
with issues such as cultural diversity,
lack of urban sanitation, insecurity,
and the lack of evidence for the nature
benefits for the people´s well-being. For
example, a less recognized disservice
of nature in an urban environment in
the public perception is the relation-
ship between wildlife and risk in ae-
rial operations. The above is just one
of several situations in which some
manifestations of biodiversity, which
tend to be valued in generic terms,
may be undesired.
URBAN BIODIVERSITY AS
A POLITICAL OBJECT
Biodiversity in urban environments
has emerged as a presence and as a
purpose and political object of ter-
ritorial planning. A large part of the
environmental citizens’ movements
has emerged in the cities around the
spaces of nature that are recognized.
These are new citizenships (Kow-
arick, 1991), ready to defend these
environments in the political arena.
These social struggles have led, for
example, to the creation of urban
protected areas (Quimbayo, 2012) or
the protection of wetlands in a city
like Bogotá (Galindo, 2003).
Thus, the first urban biodi-
versity management policies were
aligned with the levels of separa-
tion-integration between society and
nature posited by Mace (2014) and
now recreated in the collective social
imagination. This more diverse and
complex way of understanding ur-
ban biodiversity has, of course, direct
implications for its management.
Some elements acquire relevance
from the citizen’s perspective, even
with contradictions. This is the case
of invasive exotic species or pred-
ators within the urban habitat, as
well as the staunch defense of green
spaces with preservation arguments
that do not recognize the fact that
these are the product of human in-
teraction with nature, as occurs
with the urban wetlands of Bogotá
(Van der Hammen, 2003). Examples
of this complex valuation are creat-
ing urban habitat for wild species,
the diversification of flora managed
in the city, or the urban trees them-
selves, which usually arouse empa-
thy and suspicion when they need to
be managed.
In this sense, tropical cities
have the potential to contribute not
only species through horticulture
but also typologies of spaces and
forms of management. Urban gree-
nery amid housing presents an in-
33
teresting evolution in “young cities”
although the recent origin of their
inhabitants is rural, this attribute
does not persist due to the tremen-
dous economic value that urban
space is acquiring. Green spaces be-
come community spaces and places
to meet where there is feedback on
social acceptance.
With the advent of a com-
plete concept of biodiversity as spac-
es and species, the equation changes:
we no longer speak only of depen-
dence but of interdependence. It is not
the benefits of nature for people, but
the benefits of people for nature. Thus,
urban biodiversity management goes
beyond the disciplinary agendas de-
rived from conservation sciences
and becomes an object for social en-
trepreneurship in areas such as ar-
chitectural design, gardening, urban
vegetable gardens, landscaping, tree
planting, eco-efficient vertical gar-
dens, and green roofs.
EVOLUTION OF URBAN
ECOLOGY
The evolution of the concept of bio-
diverse cities has been taking place
under other notions that come from
disciplines such as urban ecology.
The re-creation of the city’s identity
in its relationship with nature has
been primarily driven by this disci-
pline, which emerges with historical
roots and differentiated emphases.
However, just as there is no
single discipline of ecology (Drou-
in, 1991), neither is there a single ur-
ban ecology. The paradigms under
construction emerge imbued with
unique and special cases because the
differences between the knowledge
and practice of biodiversity in the
world are still vast. Particularly rele-
vant in this context is the integration
proposed by Dramstad et al. (1996)
of the principles of landscape ecol-
ogy (applied to wild or rural spaces),
landscape architecture (used as a
complement to urban planning), and
 34
land-use planning that, with their
distinct professional strands, have
not yet met harmoniously.
Most of the world’s schools
of urban ecology have their origins
in Europe and North America, in the
absence of an obvious systematiza-
tion of their evolution in the rest of the
world. The first root that can be iden-
tified is the large urban park designed
for human benefit, whose inspira-
tion in North America was Olmsted
(1822-1903) based on the “ecological
approach to understanding the city”
of the Chicago School. This initiative
takes an analogical view of social sys-
tems as ecological systems that en-
able “the set of relationships between
city dwellers and their living environ-
ment” (Joseph & Grafmeyer, 1990).
In urban planning, some
precedents are more relevant today. Le
Corbusier, for example, proposed net-
works of urban green spaces similar
to what today we would call green in-
frastructure “for the recreation of the
body and spirit". Thus, the design of
large urban parks came to life in cities
such as Bogotá, Santiago, Mexico City,
etc. In fact, it is interesting how the
concept of the human benefit came to
these spaces first, and later that of bio-
diversity, contrary to the recent con-
ceptual construct of biodiversity-ser-
vices and human well-being.
The systemic ecology ap-
proach, focusing mainly on urban
metabolism and describing the or-
ganizational functions of nature,
also allowed for a new interpreta-
tion of the city. In this case, ecolo-
gy has been used as an instrument
to explore the analogy of the city as
an ecosystem through the flows of
energy, materials, and metabolism.
We talk about the machine city, the
entropic city, and the city interpret-
ed through the paradigm of ecology
(Camargo, 2005).
The identity of what is natu-
ral in the city, a manifestation of the
wildlife in the urban intervals of un-
built or abandoned spaces, acquires
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
an identity of its own for Clément
(2004) 1 . With this proposal, the ur-
ban landscape is widely developed
as a space for integrating conserva-
tion. Clergeau’s (2007) in his “urban
landscape ecology” brings a conser-
vation biology approach to the func-
tioning of the urban landscape, seek-
ing to overcome the vision of the city
as irreconcilable with the principles
Figure 1. Approaches and
purposes describing shifts and
variations in the addressing the
relationship between nature and
society in cities around the world.
Source: Prepared by the author.
CITY AS THREAT
CITY AS RECEPTORS
OF BENEFITS
CITY AS A SOCIO-
ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM
CITY AS A
BIODIVERCITY
of ecology. This author concludes
with the approach of a green mesh
(maillage vert) that applies the con-
cepts of connectivity to the city. In
the same vein, Wu Jiango (2014) de-
velops a school of applied research
on the city as a multi-scale phenom-
enon, pointing out the challenges of
constructing urban settlements that
effectively address sustainability
SOCIETY-NATURE
RELATIONSHIP
Opposing and based on
urbanization as a threat to
nature.
Utilitarian and based on
capitalizing on goods
and services provided by
nature.
Systemic and based on
cities as coupled social
and ecological systems.
Functional and based
on social and ecological
transitions to urban
sustainability.
Introduction
and global environmental change
(Grimm et al., 2008).
Nonetheless, landscape and
aesthetic approaches, and the contri-
bution of the humanities, which are
fundamental in the practice of what
is urban, there is still a distance in
the construction of knowledge about
the relationship between society and
nature in the city. The perspective of
PERCEPTION OF
BIODIVERSITY
Abstract, untouchable, and
remote from the cities.
Source of ecosystem
services that provide
well-being.
Factor of resilience and
cities' adaptive capacity.
Central determinant of
human development,
innovation and social
equity.
Patricia Johanson’s projects, for ex-
ample, invites us to link art and sur-
vival, proposing the design of the built
with the forms and functions present
in nature (Kelley, 2006). Therefore, the
evolution of urban ecology is not only
an academic matter but a process that
has been accompanying new forms
and purposes for its management.
(Details for the diversity of approaches
PREDOMINANT
APPROACH
Ecology without
the city.
Ecology in the city.
Ecology of the city.
Ecology for the city.
35
to address the relationship between
nature and society in Figure 1).
BIODIVERCITY AS A SPACE
FOR RECONCILIATION
The new attributes and recognized
dimensions of urban biodiversity are
now driving new paradigms in city
management. Thus, urban landscape
PRACTICAL
STRATEGIES
Declaration and
management of peri-urban
protected areas.
Declaration and
management of peri-urban
protected areas.
Ecosystem-based
adaptation.
Nature-based solutions.
Transformative ecology.
Transition to socio-technical
regimes.
 36 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Introduction 37

design now involves the need to pre-

serve, conserve, restore and sustain-
ably use biodiversity, an approach
that will be fundamental to sustain-
ably transforming the territory.
Some emerging concepts that
accompany this change of mentality
are urban landscape design, renatu-
ralization, contributions of nature to
people, and regeneration. The com-
pilation of experiences around the
concept of urban nature (Mejía, 2016)
constitutes a step on which to develop
the conciliatory concept of Biodiver-
Cities, which has the potential to en-
compass a new way of seeing what is
urban with a different purpose. Thus,
in a BiodiverCity, urban biodiversity is
linked to the purpose of understand-
ing, conserving, or improving it.
The new concepts men-
tioned above also call for a multidis-
ciplinary approach. Ecological struc-
tures and networks become not only
the space for the practice of conser-
vation sciences but also the scenario
par excellence for a multi-scale and
interdisciplinary encounter in which
the “pieces” of a new landscape can
be “assembled” (Andrade et al., 2013).
A representative example of
the evolving concepts of urban bio-
diversity and the emergence of the
BiodiverCity is given around water WHAT CAN BE UNDERSTOOD BY URBAN PROTECTED
AREAS FROM A LANDSCAPE POINT OF VIEW?
spaces, not only in the landscape
management of “waterfronts,” where
urban design and landscaping con- It is a vision of the city that, on the one hand, considers the structuring elements: the mountain
verge (Franco, 2011) but also in the range, the tutelary hills, the hydrological system, etc.; and on the other, finds opportunities for bio-
search for a city that harmonizes with Photo: Leonardo Centeno diversity in the urban fabric: green corridors, wetlands, parks, and gardens (Montoya et al., 2018).
the hydrological cycle, creating new
balances between what is natural
or naturalized and what is artificial. tion and the recounting of examples, KEY MESSAGES close link that truly unites city, biodi- a conciliatory concept resulting from banization on a global scale, it is
These water spaces integrate aquatic this proposal’s challenge lies in its so- versity, and human well-being. the main paradigms that have defined urgent to bring about a profound
species, protected areas, the blue net- cial practice, including public policies. Conciliating city and nature. Transforming the vision of the way in which human beings have and persistent change in the un-
work, and sustainable urban drainage. In the BiodiverCity, interactions be- Civilization and city are concepts what is natural in the city. What related to nature in the framework of sustainable tendencies of this
The urban river emerges as that place tween humans combine learning and that have grown parallel but antago- is urban has moved from primordial urban areas. The BiodiverCity is an op- process. In this context, the city
where past management engages and innovation, that is, reflection on the nistic to what is considered natural. visions of a threat to biodiversity to the portunity for reconciliation between is no longer just a threat to biodi-
invites us to recreate the new future. human experience and the imagina- The disciplines that address these con- recognition that the quality of life in nature and the city, of great relevance versity or a dichotomous green
At the core of the concept of tion of better futures. Thus, the city is cepts in practice have persisted in ap- cities depends on spaces that at local in the pressing context of today’s global network or gray matrix system.
BiodiverCity is the need to bring about no longer just a threat, a green network, proaching them from the perspective or regional scales contain biodiversity environmental change. It is a socio-ecological system in
a transformative change that can pro- and a gray matrix, but a socioecological of a relationship mediated by threat. and provide ecosystem services. BiodiverCity as an oppor- which human activity is the agen-
mote deep and lasting transforma- system in which human activity is the Today we are looking for elements to BiodiverCity as an emerging con- tunity for transformation. cy of new processes that combine
tions. Therefore, beyond conceptualiza- agency of new processes. build a new relationship based on the cept. The BiodiverCity emerges as Given the expansive growth of ur- learning and innovation.
 TRANS
FORMATION
Introduction

BiodiverCity and Region: A Unitary System....... 40

Biodiversity Thrives in the Built Environment..... 48

Sustainable Urban Economies: Transitions

Transformation Based on Biodiversity Knowledge......................... 60

Transformative Citizens to Propel

BiodiverCities.............................................................. 72

BiodiverCity Planning: Strategies for

Incorporating Urban Biodiversity and Its
Ecosystem Services................................................... 80

Experimentation Towards the Financing of the BiodiverCity........ 88

Indicators for the Measurement

and Monitoring of BiodiverCities.......................... 96

Learning

Opinion articles
 40
BIODIVERCITY
AND REGION: A
UNITARY SYSTEM
THE PARADIGM
SHIFT IN 21ST
CENTURY URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
INTRODUCTION
The conception of the regional ur-
ban system and urban development
management requires a funda-
mental paradigm shift in the 21st
century. In the last hundred years,
society has undergone profound
changes in its ways of life and the
way it relates to the natural envi-
ronment and biodiversity. In addi-
tion, the high complexity of urban
systems has rendered obsolete the
paradigms, concepts, and knowl-
edge that have described and ex-
plained them. Therefore, today, ur-
ban development trajectories and
spatiotemporal behavior and what
they mean for people’s well-being
cannot be justified under past para-
digms, especially those that under-
stand the city as a system isolated
from its environment, autonomous,
and governed by its own laws.
In the emblematic book Cit-
ies in Evolution, Patrick Geddes, a
founder of urban planning, said at the
beginning of the 20th century that “it
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
takes a region to make a city.” Ged-
des was the first to draw attention to
two aspects. The first aspect is that
time is a fundamental component of
the structure of cities; therefore, cit-
ies evolve not only in space but also
in time and even “conurbate.” This
term describes how cities extend and
merge spatially over time. The sec-
ond aspect is to consider the region
as the primary socio-ecological sys-
tem encompassing the urban system
as a whole and a fundamental com-
ponent of the urban structure: region
and city are a unitary system.
On the contrary, the reduc-
tionist and objectified vision of ur-
ban planning and urbanism of the
20th century sees and understands
the city as an object isolated from
the regional environment deprived
of ecology. This view is still valid,
for example, in Professor Michael
Batty’s book “ The New Urban Sci-
ence,” which addresses fundamen-
tal urban research topics, such as
Luis Inostrozaab
a
Ruhr University Bochum, Insti-
tute of Geography, Germany.
b
Universidad Autónoma de
Chile, Chile.
transportation, land use, and popu-
lation, among others. Batty’s urban
characterization is sophisticated
and quantitative, making it an out-
standing contribution to urban sci-
entific knowledge. However, there is
not a single reference to the ecology
of urban systems. It seems as if the
urban phenomenon emerged on a
blank canvas, an empty landscape
without ecology and biodiversity in
which the city appears and devel-
ops following its own socially deter-
mined laws.
The disciplines traditionally
dedicated to studying and analyzing
cities, which today continue to deter-
mine urban development manage-
ment, persist in omitting the ecol-
ogy that governs, defines, explains,
and makes every city possible. This
omission will prevent progress to-
ward ecologically sensitive develop-
ment that considers biodiversity a
fundamental component of integrat-
ed urban development.
Transformation
THE CITY-NATURE DICHOTOMY:
A PARADIGM THAT FOSTERS
ECOLOGICAL DEGRADATION
The city concept has been historically
dichotomous, opposed to the natural,
and separated from nature by founda-
tional acts. Such as those implement-
ed by the Greeks and Romans, who
drew a clear line dividing the dom-
inated world -that is, the sphere of
the civilized and the scope of human
rationality- from the rest -that is, the
wild and untamed world and the un-
certainty of a threatening, intimidat-
ing, unknown and aggressive nature.
The urban environment then consti-
tuted a place of certainty in which sol-
id walls excluded natural forces and
the surrounding biodiversity.
Thus, for example, within the
medieval mythology associated with
forests and wetlands, ominous signs
- such as witches, spells, curses, and
diseases - always appear; that is, the
evils attributed to those natural envi-
ronments that medieval civilization
had systematically destroyed. This
destruction process inherited from a
threatening conception of nature still
continues, although the reasons are
more pragmatic and economic today.
The change we have observed in the
environmental awareness of West-
ern civilization has not yet reached
urban development. In the vast ma-
jority of the world’s cities, the latter is
still anchored in obsolete concepts -
essentially aesthetic, pragmatic, and
economic - that do not make room
for new paradigms that truly incor-
porate ecological processes and bio-
diversity as supports for the well-be-
ing of their local populations.
BIODIVERCITY AND REGION
AS ONE UNIFIED SYSTEM
Everything materially necessary for
a city to function -including water,
food, and the materials needed for in-
frastructure- comes from outside the
41
Quote as: Inostroza, L. Biodivercity and Region: A Unitary
System. The Paradigm Shift in 21st Century Urban
Development. P. 40-47. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
urban limits, in many cases from dis-
tant latitudes. From a metabolic point
of view, which considers the inflows
and outflows of matter and energy,
the city and the region form a unitary
and indivisible system (Kennedy et al.,
2007; Baccini and Brunner, 2012). That
is, without a region, there is no city.
Until the industrial revolu-
tion, most of the inputs that support-
ed urban life came from surround-
ing areas. Land use location models,
such as Von Thünen’s, considered
the city as the center of a system of
concentric rings in which agricul-
tural, forestry, and other activities
were located following an order that
obeyed the commercial valuation of
their respective products. Thus, the
production of the most expensive
goods was found in the rings closest
to the urban center, reducing trans-
portation costs to deal with the high-
er land costs of such locations.
Likewise, archaeological evi-
dence shows that proto-urban systems
 42
-such as Ur, Babylon, or Çatalhöyük-
were surrounded by agricultural areas
that supplied food and construction
materials. In other words, the trade of
goods from distant places was a luxury
and was concentrated on small items
of very high value. Thus, the region ex-
plained the phenomenology of each
city (Mumford, 1956; Bairoch, 1988).
From the point of view of bio-
diversity, the unitary system has been
maintained despite industrialization.
City-biodiversity relationships have
become more complex but are still
strongly determined by spatial inter-
actions at local and regional scales.
These interactions are visible in pat-
Figure 1. Patterns of change in ecosystem functions and metabolic behavior across the urban-regional system.
Source: Prepared by the author.
URBAN ECOSYSTEM
FUNCTIONS
Carbon
emissions
Technomass
Heat
INTENSITY
URBAN SUBURBAN
Urban
Ecosystem
Range of proper urban functions
(reproduction, flow)
These are context-specific spatial patterns evident in matter accumulation, e.g., technomass, temperature, primary productivi-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
terns of change in ecosystem func-
tions and metabolic behavior across
the urban-regional system. In partic-
ular, processes such as accumulation
of matter - e.g., technomass, a concept
that points to all matter that has been
transformed by human labor per unit
area and time - biophysical dynamics -
e.g., temperature and primary produc-
tivity - and biogeochemical dynamics
- e.g., carbon emissions and primary
productivity - are determining local
ecological processes but generating
context-specific spatial patterns at the
regional level (Figure 1).
Urban development that pro-
motes BiodiverCities must necessar-
HANPP: Human
appropriation
of net primary
production
RURAL AGRICULTURE
Human dominated Human influenced
ecosystem
Range of appropiation functions
ty, and biogeochemical dynamics, carbon emissions
ily incorporate regional and peri-ur-
ban ecosystems into its spatial
structure while recognizing and re-
specting their ecosystem functions.
This makes it possible to maintain
and increase the flow of ecosystem
services that these ecosystems pro-
vide to local populations.
FUNDAMENTAL BIOPHYSICAL
INTERACTIONS, CITY-REGION
The primary resource that every city
consumes is air, followed by water.
Both materials come from outside
the urban boundaries to be processed
physicochemically through a series
NPP: Net
primary
production
RURAL WILD
Natural
ecosystem ecosystem
Global
Transformation
of complex transformations related
to specific urban functions. Generally,
when air and water leave the urban
limits, they present lower levels of
quality due to the presence of pollut-
ants, unwanted nutrients, and other
elements that, if not adequately treat-
ed, can affect regional ecosystems. It
is widely recognized in urban science
and practice that the urban benefits
enjoyed by city dwellers ultimately
have adverse effects on air and water
that extend beyond urban boundaries.
Another product of urban
metabolism that affects the ur-
ban-regional system is heat. Heat
comes from both the structure and
functioning of the city. The thermal
patterns present in cities are complex
and exceptionally heterogeneous,
even though they obey regularities
present in the vast majority of the
world’s cities (Lemoine Rodríguez
et al., 2022). A clear example of this
is the concept of urban heat islands,
which indicates that the temperature
inside any city will be between 2 and
6 degrees higher than the tempera-
ture of the surrounding region (Oke
et al., 2017). Thus, the greatest chal-
lenge of the hotter urban climate is
related to climate change, which will
increase exposure to heat waves and
affect the well-being of urban pop-
ulations. This urban heat will also
directly affect ecosystems and biodi-
versity, both within cities and in the
urban-regional context (Figure 2).
BIODIVERCITY AND
ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES
Ecology characterizes ecosystems
through four fundamental ecolog-
ical processes. First is the water cy-
cle, which moves or accumulates in
soil - in rivers or lakes - or the air - in
air humidity and evapotranspiration
from vegetation. Then comes the
material cycle, which includes fun-
damental elements such as carbon
and oxygen in addition to nutrients
such as phosphorus and nitrogen.
Third, comes the energy cycle, which
is fundamentally captured by vege-
tation -primary producers- and in-
troduced into the food webs of any
ecosystem -the food chain. And last
is ecological succession, which is
the change in the composition and
structure of the species present in an
ecosystem over time.
For urban ecology, urban
systems are the particular habitat of
human beings that, to materialize, re-
quire the transformation of the earth’s
surface, which leads to a series of fun-
damental changes in the four eco-
logical processes underlying all eco-
systems. For example, the alteration
resulting from the sealing of the soil
by pavements and built structures
adds many new materials coming
from distant places, sometimes thou-
sands of kilometers away (Inostroza
and Zepp, 2021). These materials have
different bio-geochemical behaviors
and allochthonous elements that can
eventually alter the health of ecosys-
tems, such as heavy metals intro-
duced by the wear of infrastructure
in environments free of them that
threaten local populations of fragile
species, such as amphibians.
On the other hand, a city has
between 2,500 and 9,000 tons of ac-
cumulated anthropogenic materials
on average. This volume increases
to close to 70,000 tons in city centers
such as Bogotá, reaching 500,000
tons in New York. This enormous
body of material in urban systems is
constantly growing and constitutes
one of the most significant challeng-
es for BiodiverCities. Why?
When observing the ma-
terial behavior of ecosystems like
forests and corals, there is a rule in
terms of the ecosystem’s physical
structure growth: the total sum of
the biomass of the primary produc-
ers, such as plants and trees. Growth
stops when the ecosystem reaches
its climax. At this point, material pro-
ductivity - the amount of biomass an
ecosystem produces per unit of time
43
- and respiration stop increasing and
the physical structure of the ecosys-
tem stabilizes. The stabilization of
productivity and respiration allows
the size of the ecosystem to remain
stable over time. This closed ma-
terial cycle is an ecological behav-
ior that ensures ecosystems’ long-
term health and resilience and from
which urban systems must learn.
ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES
IN A BIODIVERCITY
A city seeking to move towards a Bio-
diverCity should promote the main-
tenance and recovery of ecosystems
such as soil, urban forests, wetlands,
rivers, green areas, and green infra-
structure in general. These ecosys-
tems contribute to the sustainability
of urban life through the provision
of ecosystem services, such as rain-
water infiltration and flood risk re-
duction, local climate regulation and
control, recreation, and particulate
matter absorption, among others
(Costanza et al., 2017). Without such
ecosystem services, urban life would
not be possible.
That is why these ecosys-
tems need to be managed with eco-
logical criteria. A BiodiverCity must
pay special attention that the man-
agement of the four fundamental
ecological processes of any ecosys-
tem ensures ecosystem resilience.
Including first, a water cycle that
maintains the air and soil moisture
levels and ecological flow required
by wet ecosystems; second, a mate-
rial cycle that ensures that critical
nutrients, such as nitrogen and phos-
phorus, are at adequate levels for the
entire food web. Third, a cycle of en-
ergy from the sun that is adequately
distributed at each trophic level; and
fourth, a process of ecological suc-
cession as a mechanism that deter-
mines a species composition of ur-
ban ecosystems that is ecologically
tuned with the species composition
at the regional scale.
 44 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Transformation 45

Figure 2. From a metabolic point of view,
the urban system and the biodiversity it
contains are one unitary system.
For example, urban wetlands may have
increased biodiversity due to habitat
effects that produce higher temperatures
- i.e., urban heat islands - and nutrient
inputs from the urban environment. These
influences are context-specific.
Source: Prepared by the author.
RAINFALL INPUT
(+- 50%)
+2ªC +NPP Eutrohication
integrating the biodiversity found
in the cities with that present in the
larger regional ecosystem due to
their linear-directional condition.
In the urban-regional con-
text, biodiversity-city interactions
can be understood through the con-
HEAT
cept of basins. A biodiversity basin
is the area of movement and habitat
larger than the urban area where
URBAN HEAT species exist. A biodiversity basin is
ISLAND always specific and will vary in size,
shape and spatial extent depending
on the size, mobility, reproductive,
and feeding habits of the species
RAIN
in question1 . Thus, a BiodiverCity
should promote an intra-extra-urban
system of biodiversity basins that al-
low the movement, interaction, and
reproduction of as many local spe-
cies as possible.
LESS IS MORE:
TRANSFORMATIVE
Urban POLLUTANTS CHANGE IN THE
CONTEXT OF
URBAN-REGIONAL
RUN OFF WATER DEVELOPMENT
AND
Infiltration MANAGEMENT
and that only understands its social
and economic implications. The
ecology of the city, in the city, and
for the city (Wu, 2014) is an essen-
tial scientific foundation that can
provide rationale and empirical ev-
idence to enable urban planning to
achieve a BiodiverCity’s goals.
Likewise, a change in the
paradigm that governs how green
infrastructures are managed and
handled within cities is required.
Today, aspects such as species com-
position and biomass management
are mainly based on aesthetic cri-
teria. While large lawns are period-
ically mowed, and fallen leaves are
constantly removed, any symptoms
of colonization by other local species
are immediately controlled, even
with nineteenth-century pruning
practices. This is ecologically blind
management that neutralizes the
colonization processes of local spe-
cies and the formation of specific
ecosystem communities that may
change in their taxonomic composi-
tion due to ecological succession.
Current practices do not al-
low urban green areas to become
ecologically attuned to regional
CONTEMPORARY URBAN DESIGN,
ECOLOGY, OR COSMETICS?
biodiversity or to become nodes in a
more extensive ecological network.
To change this trend and
prevent its effects, instead of doing
more, we must do less. We must let
nature and its processes reconquer
the spaces that we can free of pave-
ments and infrastructures so that
local species can arrive and com-
pete following their own dynamics.
We must abandon the unhealthy at-
titude of aesthetic maintenance of
green areas and parks in which the
grass is periodically cut and all the
biomass extracted. This prevents
the ecological succession essential
to maintain ecosystem services -as
vital as pollination- that possess
spatial dynamics of regional scope.
A green infrastructure
with less human intervention is
potentially healthier and, there-
fore, will be in a position to provide
more benefits than only aesthetics.
A wilder nature free from human
control is the aesthetic and ecolog-
ical paradigm of a BiodiverCity that
coexists with the fundamental
processes of its ecosystems in tune
with regional-scale environmental
cycles.

Transforming urban-regional sys-

BIODIVERSITY ISLANDS
AND BASINS
Spatial interactions between a re-
gion’s biodiversity and urban sys-
tems are complex and depend on
each species and taxonomic group.
It is usual that different organisms
require different environments for
reproduction and survival and pos-
sess differential displacement ca-
pacities. Thus, the interior of urban
areas can offer vital habitat and
nutritional possibilities for those
species flexible enough to cope with
the pressures and stresses of the ur-
ban environment. In addition, the
reduced presence of predators cre-
ates favorable conditions for colo-
nization by opportunistic species.
In general, within urban systems,
green areas, urban parks, rivers,
wetlands, and coastal edges are
places that diverse living organisms
use, either as islands or as ecologi-
cal connectors, allowing them to
move within urban areas or the re-
gional environmental system.
Islands are highly biodiverse urban
spaces not ecologically well con-
nected to the more extensive region-
al system. These islands are not well
integrated with the flows of biodi-
versity that move and interact at the
regional scale. In the latter, each spe-
cies has differential ranges of move-
ment that can be greater or lesser de-
pending on their motor skills or the
degree of fragmentation of the land-
scape. On the other hand, elements,
such as river basins and coastal edg-
es, generally operate as connectors
tems into BiodiverCities requires a
transformative change in the par-
adigm of urban development and
management. Adequate manage-
ment of the four ecological process-
es of any ecosystem must consid-
er the urban-regional system as a
large ecosystem and not concen-
trate on arbitrary administrative
limits defined as boundaries. To
incorporate truly ecological con-
siderations, it is also necessary to
transform the merely aesthetic and
cosmetic conviction that predomi-
nates in urban planning and design
Over the last few decades, several urban projects have appeared
claiming ecological principles. In many cases, such principles
have been treated superficially without proper environmental as-
sessment tools constructed using the scientific method. Therefore
therefore, such projects have not been able to deliver the promised
benefits. An example of this merely cosmetic ecological manage-
ment is the Houtan Park in Shanghai, China, which intended to
clean up more than 600,000 gallons of polluted water from the
Huangpu River and increase plant and animal biodiversity. The
author visited the park in 2016, and it is closed with no public ac-
cess allowed. During that visit, the deterioration of vegetation and
fish deaths were observed.
 46
URBAN DEVELOPMENT,
ECOLOGICAL DETERIORATION,
AND URBAN-REGIONAL
PLANNING: THE CASE
OF LATIN AMERICA
Although urbanization trajectories
faced by Latin American cities are
heterogeneous, diverse, and complex
-as are their ecosystems from Mexi-
co to Patagonia- it is possible to iden-
tify four particular characteristics of
their urbanization processes.
1 Rapid urban expansion. Urban
expansion processes are brisk and
with high land consumption rates
-which can reach 20 m2 per min-
ute- and take place in the absence
of comprehensive urban planning
that respects or enhances ecosys-
tems and their benefits (Inostroza
et al., 2013).
2 Size and urban structure. Capi-
tal cities in Latin America have
a high primacy over the respec-
tive configuration of the urban
system, as capital cities con-
centrate most of the population
within a relatively demograph-
ically weak remaining urban
system (UN Habitat, 2012). This
primacy affects biodiversity in
densely urbanized territories,
their regional ecological con-
nectivity, and, therefore, the
flows of ecosystem services
generated from it.
3 Informal urban development. A
large part of urban development
in Latin America is informal (In-
ostroza 2016, 2017; Inostroza and
Tábbita, 2016) and is markedly
located in vulnerable areas that
constitute relevant, fragile, and
highly biodiverse urban ecosys-
tems. Informal urban develop-
ment in Latin American cities
is a problem of inequality that
encompasses social and gender
asymmetries in access to urban
land. In turn, it is affecting the
most fragile ecosystems.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
4 High biodiversity under threat.
The biodiversity present in ur-
ban and peri-urban ecosystems
is high and relevant. It is strongly
threatened by the lack of adequate
intra-extra urban ecological con-
nectivity, which adds to the in-
creased fragmentation of urban
ecosystems in Latin America and
is a fundamental challenge for
sustainable urban management
(Inostroza et al., 2013). In spatial
terms, biodiversity also responds
to a center-periphery pattern.
As a result of these trends, forests and
peri-urban wetlands in Latin Ameri-
ca are permanently threatened by ur-
ban development that views them as
available land and does not incorpo-
rate the benefits they provide to local
populations into their valuation struc-
ture. An example of this is Chile’s ur-
ban and peri-urban wetlands, which
have suffered systematic fragmenta-
tion and habitat reduction (Rojas et al.,
2015; Arriagada et al., 2019; Muñoz Lo-
bos et al., 2020). This is the case of the
Tres Puentes urban wetland in Punta
Arenas, which provides habitat for
more than 70 nesting birds -including
the endangered Ruddy-headed goose,
a species in danger of extinction-
concentrated in 65 hectares. This
wetland is threatened by the urban-
ization process promoted by the State
with the construction of road infra-
structures that induce fragmentation,
habitat reduction, and, consequently,
loss of biodiversity (Kusch et al., 2008;
Inostroza, 2009).
The need to modernize regu-
latory frameworks with 21st-century
ecological criteria that allow better
management of urban-regional eco-
systems is a pending task in much of
the world. In Europe and China, sig-
nificant efforts are being made to im-
prove the institutional framework for
urban-regional planning by including
concepts such as ecosystem services
(Zepp and Inostroza, 2021; Zepp et al.,
2021). In Latin America, it is evident
Transformation 47
that planning and land use systems
are generally weak in their ecological
A flock of common
components. They are challenged by kestrels flying over the Tres
the scarcity of resources for invest- Puentes wetland in Punta
ment in environmental infrastructure Arenas, Patagonia, Chile.
and the lack of qualified human re-
Photo: Luis Inostroza.
sources for analyzing and managing
urban-regional environmental rela-
tionships. There is a high sectarianism
Flamingos in a Patagonian
degree in Latin American territorial steppe lagoon.
planning systems with fragmented
Photo: Sebastián Saiter.
competencies in a range of authorities
and institutions that often have com-
plex and atomized governance tradi-
The biodiversity of urban
tions. This generates significant un- wetlands can occasionally
certainties regarding the positive and exceed that of non-urban
negative ecological impacts of new wetlands.
urban developments, their effect on re-
gional ecosystems, and the delivery of
ecosystem services.
Urban planning and man-
agement in Latin America are exam-
ples of the global need to implement
specific urban development policies
that address their impacts on urban
ecosystems’ ecological structure
and consider the populations’ vul-
nerability in their vicinity (Inostroza,
2017). It is also necessary to advance
in the materialization of urban-re-
gional ecological connectivities that,
although they may be considered in
existing planning instruments, in
many cases have not been imple-
mented (Vasquez et al., 2016).
KEY MESSAGES
City, an obsolete concept. A
change is needed in the approach
to the city as a system isolated from its and infrastructure in general at a re- this is by implementing nature-based Instead of doing more, we need to
environment, autonomous, and gov- gional scale. Without such ecosystems solutions that enable ecological con- do less. It is necessary to change
erned by its own laws. The current par- and their ecosystem services, urban nectivity of the urban-regional system the way green infrastructures are
adigm omits the ecology that governs, life would not be possible. as a whole, going beyond the emphasis managed within cities, based main-
determines, explains, and makes every Four processes that every Bio- on strictly intra-urban connectivity. ly on aesthetic criteria. It is important
city possible, as well as the scale (re- diverCity must maintain. The How could BiodiverCities be to let nature reconquer urban spaces,
gional and global) on which it operates. development of BiodiverCities should characterized? In the urban-re- abandoning the fixation on order and
Without a region, there is no city. be focused on maintaining four funda- gional context, biodiversity-city inter- the “cleanliness” of green areas. On the
Everything materially necessary mental ecological processes to increase actions can be understood through the contrary, we must conserve the bio-
for a city to function comes from out- their resilience to global environmental concept of basins. A biodiversity basin mass that allows ecological succession
side the urban limits. This implies the change: i) water cycle, ii) material cycle, is the area of movement and habitat, and maintain ecosystem services, as
maintenance and recovery of urban iii) energy cycle, and iv) ecological suc- always more extensive than the urban vital as pollination, that have spatial
forests, wetlands, rivers, green areas, cession processes. One way to achieve area where certain species exist. dynamics of regional scope.
 48
BIODIVERSITY
THRIVES
IN THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT
Six city visions aimed at
improving the link among
spaces, human inhabitants,
and non-human inhabitants.
There is now a broad consensus
that the planet’s health depends
on the coexistence between rap-
idly growing cities and the natu-
ral world (Mansur et al., 2022). One
strategy to improve this coexis-
tence is to incorporate urban plan-
ning, management, and design ap-
proaches that recognize the value
of complex interactions between
society and nature in built environ-
ments (Alberti et al., 2018; Mansur et
al., 2022). This chapter presents con-
ceptual approaches that address cit-
ies from a systemic perspective in
which nature and biodiversity can
be integrated into the urban matrix.
These interventions can improve
the quantity and quality of habitats
for diverse species as well as con-
sidering how citizens perceive and
reclaim biodiversity, encouraging
citizen participation, and promoting
equitable access to nature’s benefits.
In this context, we propose
six visions of BiodiverCities that
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
highlight the necessary transitions
in the traditional urban develop-
ment narratives and practices for
creating scalable policies and ac-
tions that allow us to take advan-
tage of the opportunities offered
by biodiversity in the construction
of fairer, healthier, more sustain-
able and resilient urban futures.
These visions reflect comprehen-
sive approaches to the role of bio-
diversity and nature in the urban
matrix. Beyond being tools to solve
specific urban challenges, they are
scenarios in which diverse actors’
interests, values, and expectations
converse and disciplines such as
ecology, planning, and urban de-
sign meet.
Although the dramatic
speed and scale at which urbaniza-
tion processes occur increasingly
lead to the conclusion that the planet
of the 21st century is an urban plan-
et (Elmqvist et al., 2019; Zhou et al.,
2019), this era is not only recognized
Diana Ruiz
Alexander von Humboldt Biological
Resources Research Institute, Colombia.
Andrés Ibáñez
National Univeristy of Colombia, Colombia.
for the challenges it implies, but also
for the critical opportunities avail-
able to transform the way we relate
to nature and how we build, design,
plan and govern our cities (McPhear-
son et al., 2021; Mansur et al., 2022).
Some authors agree that to advance
in this transformation, it will be es-
sential to strengthen a systemic,
relational, and transformative per-
spective of the urban environment
in which nature is recognized as
the axis of sustainable development
(Frantzeskaki et al., 2021; Grimm
et al., 2008; Alberti et al., 2018). This
means that, from the systemic per-
spective, integrative solutions are
required to understand cities as
ecosystems dominated by human
activities in which the interactions
between biological, social, and tech-
nological-artificial elements define
the system’s functionality.
From the relational per-
spective between citizens and their
immediate environment, coordi-
Transformation
nated and innovative actions are
also required to link people, plac-
es, meanings, visions, and ecosys-
tems. In this perspective, city spac-
es should be understood as a web of
narratives, meanings, stories, and
cultural symbols in which social
and natural capitals, as well as so-
cial innovation, are manifested and
contribute to urban sustainability
(Frantzeskaki et al., 2021; Faldi et
al., 2021). Finally, the transforma-
tive perspective allows us to face
profound changes in governance
systems, relationships, and policies
that potentialize the development
of innovative actions and reorient
urban growth patterns towards
sustainability (Alberti et al., 2018;
Westley et al., 2011; Wolfram and
Frantzeskaki, 2016). In all three
cases, the comprehensive manage-
ment of biodiversity and its contri-
butions for the people´s well-being
within the urban matrix is a key
tool that requires articulated efforts
of various actors and disciplines,
with ecological and socio-econom-
ic implications.
Under this systemic and rela-
tional conception of cities, the interac-
tions and interdependencies between
social-cultural-economic-gover-
nance, climatic-biophysical-ecologi-
cal, and technological-infrastructure
dimensions determine urban patterns
and processes, and thus the genera-
tion and access to nature’s contribu-
tions by citizens (McPhearson et al.,
2021; Markolf et al., 2018, Keeler et al.,
2019). A city that designs and manag-
es its matrix by promoting these in-
teractions can increase the supply of
ecosystem services at the local scale,
reduce its dependencies and pressures
on peri-urban and rural ecosystems,
and strengthen equitable access to
these services (Alberti et al., 2018; Kee-
ler et al., 2019) (see Figure 1).
The following six city
scenarios are proposed based on
visions that recognize the com-
49
Quote as: Ruiz, D.M., Ibáñez, A. Biodiversity Thrives in the
Built Environment. P. 48-59. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
plexity and dynamism of urban
systems and shed light on concrete
strategies to improve the link be-
tween spaces, human inhabitants,
and non-human inhabitants. This
exalts the hybrid nature of cit-
ies, the role of built infrastructure
and technology as mediators of
society-nature relationships, the
importance of recognizing local
capacities, and each context's bio-
logical and cultural capital. These
visions are complementary and
can operate jointly. Still, they are
based on different ways of under-
standing the urban matrix in space
and time, drawing from design,
ecology, and territorial planning
approaches. Each vision highlights
the narratives and paradigms that
must move towards new ways of
integrating the biological, social,
and technological dimensions and,
thus, achieve cities that contribute
to biodiversity conservation, devel-
opment, and human well-being.
 50 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Transformation 51

Figure 1. Comparative types of urban matrix including: 1) urban matrix that demands ecosystem services generated
mainly by peripheral and rural ecosystems (left) and 2) Urban matrix in which the ecosystem services are generated
at the local scale that contribute to the generation of ecosystem services at the local scale (right).

Source: Prepared by the authors.

Infiltration and damping

Bridges for non-humans
Permeable pavements

Permeable pontage
Gray infrastructure

Gray infrastructure

Biological corridor
Retention channel
Artificial wetlands
Vertical gardens

Rain gardens

Urban forests
Brown roofs
Green roofs
Pathways

Pathways
Buildings

Buildings

pontage
Forest

Forest
Park

Park
Flow of contributions from nature

Flow of contributions from nature

1. FROM THE the building’s facades after they were sought to raise the quality of life of GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ABOVE THE GROUND OR IMPLEMENTATIONS
punctured by non-human neighbors: human beings (Allen, 2010; Birke- ON THE GROUND? WHAT IS BEST FOR BIODIVERSITY?
HUMAN CITY TO parrots. The architects and designers land, 2008). However, the reality of

THE METAHUMAN considered dozens of factors when

CITY
WHAT IS A PARROT
AIMING FOR?
In the city of Medellín, Colombia,
there is a recent case of a building that
caused more than one headache for its
managers due to the constant repairs
they had to make to the cork panels of
selecting materials for their projects.
Still, none of them took into account
the needs of non-human life forms, at
least not those that shared their hab-
itat with the building. An interesting
win-win situation would have been
for the building to integrate nesting
spaces and other requirements of
these birds into its architecture.
In theory, cities were con-
ceived as agglomeration centers that
many cities today is far from this
purpose. They deepen adverse con-
ditions that have neglected other
ways of life and affected dimensions
of human well-being, including
mental and physical health or social
segregation (Gruebner et al., 2017;
Vandecasteele, 2019; Clichevsky,
2000; Grant, 2012; Ibáñez, 2019; Kraas,
2008). This suggests that, on an in-
creasingly urbanized planet, the
health of different life forms depends
There is no need to repeteadely discuss the benefits of green installations in cities. We know that greener is
better for all living creatures, from microorganisms to human beings. Just one thing: washing and painting
green vertical and horizontal surfaces mean nothing if the selection of the invited plant species is not carefully
managed. A green installation will be sustainable only if high plant diversity is introduced, each species being
installed in the right place according to its genetic and behavioral requirements. The result will be, perhaps, the
creation of a new urban ecosystem. Of course, with about four billion human beings living in the world’s cities,
creating new ways for urban biodiversity is a real challenge.
Patrick Blanc
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
 52
on how cities are designed and how
this ensures the integrity of ecosys-
tems (Ibáñez, 2019; Birkeland, 2008;
Cole, 2012; Reed, 2007).
The distortion of the origi-
nal purpose of cities can be reversed
through the path of biodiversity. The
metahuman city starts with the
question of what or who inhabits the
urban landscape and, therefore, re-
flects on the coexistence of diverse
life forms. It overcomes the vision of
the “user” or “client” and understands
that human well-being is closely
linked to the health of other living
beings (Forlano, 2017). This decen-
tering of the human being as the sole
representative of life that governs
the city’s destinies invites us to re-
think the relationship of human pop-
ulations with other life forms and
how the design and management of
the urban matrix influence this re-
lationship. How do we reconcile the
needs of human comfort with those
of a tree’s roots in a public space?
Why are temporary hotels important
for pollinators? How can the noise
produced by a city affect the com-
munication of birds? How can we ad-
dress the challenges associated with
coexistence between humans and
other species in relation, for exam-
ple, to conflicts with the emergence
of zoonotic diseases?
ATTRIBUTES OF THE
METAHUMAN CITY
It maximizes positive inter-
actions between different life
forms, considering the services
and disservices offered by na-
ture in urban contexts.
It explores new methods for
identifying non-human require-
ments related to, for example,
habitat availability or conditions
to ensure the mobility of certain
species.
It recognizes natural cycles and
the behavior of life forms in rela-
tion to these cycles.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
It integrates life at different
scales of urban planning and
management.
The world’s biodiversity represents
a unique opportunity and a huge
challenge to take advantage of the
natural and cultural capitals of the
territory in urban environments.
How should urban centers gener-
ate habitats for birds and design
adequate infrastructures for visi-
tors who practice bird watching?,
and how can the great diversity of
orchids, bromeliads, lichens, and
bryophytes be used to enrich ur-
ban infrastructures (Ibáñez, 2014)?
These questions suggest that urban
planners, architects, and designers
should incorporate knowledge gen-
erated by other disciplines - such as
biology, ecology, or social sciences -
and work together on innovative de-
sign proposals that promote healthy
spaces for diverse life forms (Tzou-
las et al., 2007). Another area of par-
ticular interest for the future of the
metahuman city is the use of new
information technologies and the
articulation between various sec-
tors of society (Forlano, 2017).
2. FROM THE
GREEN CITY TO
THE WILD CITY
HOW MANY SQUARE
KILOMETERS DOES A
BEE MEASURE?
Natural ecosystems are expressed in
numbers that seem to defy common
sense. A beehive is a tiny thing, but
its reach over a territory is unimag-
inable: one bee can visit up to 7,000
flowers in a single day (National Geo-
graphic, 2019). Orlando González is a
citizen of Bogotá, Colombia, who cre-
ated a habitat for nine hives on the
terrace of his house. Above his home,
an aerial highway of tiny, winged
insects is seen every day coming
and going in the direction of the Bo-
tanical Garden of Bogotá. Without
intending to, his 50-square-meter
terrace expanded to an entire urban
district with one of the most neces-
sary ecosystem services to maintain
life on the planet: pollination.
Historically, the biotic di-
mension of urban environmental
quality has been related, above all,
to two parameters: the number of
square meters of green areas and the
number of individual planted trees
(Díaz et al., 2014, Bolund et al., 1999).
While these indicators facilitate the
understanding of the presence of
biodiversity in a city and usually
contribute to organizing and man-
aging the benefits they can provide
to its inhabitants, they are limited
in accounting for the potential that
this set of natural or semi-natural
parts can offer to the quality of life
and sustainability of urban space
(Grant, 2012; Ibáñez, 2019). While ur-
ban growth is accelerating in many
regions stimulating the creation of
“megacities” (Kraas, 2008), divergent
trends have been observed in areas
of economic decline where “wild”
ecosystems have begun to appear
in urban-industrial areas (Kowarik
and Körner, 2005). This illustrates
the ecological and social potential
of urban environments and sponta-
neous vegetation to increase green
areas’ biodiversity and reduce costs
in their management (Sikorska et
al., 2020).
The case of bees and Or-
lando González shows how a small
green area with diverse vegetation
can positively impact other nearby
green areas by providing resourc-
es for insect species that contribute
to pollination and, therefore, to the
social-ecological functionality of
those areas. Following this logic, a
large green area dominated by alien
grasses may provide fewer ecosys-
tem services than a smaller diverse
ecosystem.
Transformation
The wild city has the challenge of
giving attention to environmental
quality and performance indicators
beyond the amount of vegetated
area or tree inventories. Therefore,
it is necessary to explore strategies
that decrease human intervention
in managing urban green areas
considering the benefits this rep-
resents for biodiversity (Bonthoux
et al., 2019; Sikorska et al., 2021) and
the associated challenges with hu-
man comfort and health or infra-
structure maintenance.
Japanese botanist Akira
Miyawaki developed the idea of gar-
dens bearing his name, planted in
limited-area sites the size of a pocket
park or basketball court. The idea is
to create small, very dense, and bio-
diverse forests, replicating the dy-
namics of a wild environment. This
public space intervention method
produces an area that grows 10 times
faster, is 30 times denser, and is 100
times more biodiverse than conven-
tional city naturalization methods
(Hewitt, 2021; Urban Forests, 2021).
ATTRIBUTES OF THE WILD CITY
It builds a vision of the rela-
tionship between biodiversity
and urban quality of life be-
yond green area indicators and
the number of individual trees
planted per inhabitant.
It seeks to maximize interac-
tions between social and ecolog-
ical systems.
It prefers the complexity of the
relationships among various life
forms to the simplicity of the in-
dividual.
It balances human maintenance
and control with self-regulation
and adaptation.
It allows for spontaneity and val-
ues it as a form of resilience.
Natural ecosystems express them-
selves in diverse and complex ways.
Explicitly incorporating them into
city planning, structurally and func-
tionally, requires progress in knowl-
edge management and tools that
measure effectiveness and predict
the cost-benefit of strategies, such as
the intentional abandonment of cer-
tain areas or the promotion of natural
succession (Sikorska et al., 2021). In
practice, disciplines such as resto-
ration ecology, biology, architecture,
and urban planning should work
hand in hand to include these types
of actions in managing the urban ma-
trix. This mitigates the possible risks
for humans and non-human species
that inhabit the city and considers
each region's bioclimatic, social, and
cultural context.
3. FROM THE
COMPLETE
CITY TO THE
UNFINISHED CITY
DID IT TRULY BEGIN WHEN THEY
THOUGHT IT WAS ITS END?
The High Line Park in New York City
in the United States is an important
reference point for public space in re-
cent urban history due to its exciting
transformations and evolution over
more than a century. This mobility
axis has changed its essence and
face several times, without these
transformations having been fore-
seeable from urban planning. As an
elevated linear park, it is a palimp-
sest that contains many lessons for
cities and several layers of history
written on the same parchment: the
stretch of Manhattan’s western rail
line. Initially, the rail line at ground
level carried freight. However, by
the early 19th century, it had run
over nearly 600 people, causing their
deaths. Therefore, the decision was
made to raise the railway line using
a sort of viaduct built in concrete and
steel. With the massification of the
53
use of freight trucks, some sections
of the elevated rail line stopped oper-
ating in the 1960s, and the entire line
canceled all operations by 1980 (Kim
et al., 2018).
The last page of the High
Line’s history was written against
all odds by biodiversity. As calls
grew for the total demolition of
what was left standing of the
building, nature reclaimed the
underutilized space, and plants
began to grow spontaneously, cre-
ating habitats for birds, insects,
and other non-human life. Hun-
dreds of people came together for
the common purpose of caring for
that new space. It is now an elevat-
ed park recognized worldwide for
completely changing the face of
Manhattan’s west side by creating
wild places for recreation, contem-
plation, citizen gathering, urban
agriculture, and arts and cultural
events (Kim et al., 2018).
ATTRIBUTES OF THE
UNFINISHED CITY
It recognizes cities as dynamic
socio-ecosystems in constant
change.
It contemplates several future
scenarios considering the op-
portunities for collective con-
ception and production of the
urban habitat.
It designs and builds in uncer-
tainty, even in the absence of ac-
curate information.
It prioritizes adaptability in ur-
ban design processes.
It enables the participation of
communities and citizens in the
city’s construction.
It formulates strategic interven-
tions at strategic points to trigger
new processes in the future.
It values urban planning actions
that strengthen flexibility and
adaptability over time.
It values spontaneous citizen ini-
tiatives.
 54
In the developing world, the (un)
finished city is a common dynam-
ic that has existed since the emer-
gence of urban settlements. More
than 20% of a megacity like Bogotá
has an informal origin, with set-
tlements characterized by inade-
quate or absent infrastructure in
high-risk areas and limited access
to essential public services (López
Borbón, 2018). Given that the pro-
cess of formalizing these neigh-
borhoods is complex, slow, and te-
dious, thousands of citizen groups
come together to intervene in pub-
lic spaces with works that seek to
improve the quality of life of their
inhabitants and strengthen citi-
zen identity through participatory
activities that involve the entire
community (Ibáñez et al., 2014).
To walk through these neighbor-
hoods is to see a mosaic of un-
finished citizen interventions in
constant transformation: graffiti,
tactical urbanism, signage, eco-
logical restoration, public space,
parks, markets, and urban agricul-
ture. Likewise, planting food and
ornamental plants in urban spaces
is common in the informal areas
of Bogotá, such as Ciudad Bolivar.
This area has become an enclave
of urban farmers, seed and food
preservers, and leading defend-
ers of biodiversity and local na-
ture since many of its inhabitants
come from rural territories.
In the (un)finished city, the
collective conception and produc-
tion of the urban habitat are valued
based on recognizing the specific
conditions of each territory. 1 Pro-
moting planning as a dynamic pro-
cess facilitates the inclusion of the
perceptions, interests, and expecta-
tions that communities have about
the city’s development. This in-
cludes the different ways in which
citizens relate to nature, which is
contrary to a linear and static pro-
cess defined by actors other than
those who inhabit each territory.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Transformation 55
4. FROM THE top of what is built. What should be tosynthesis in a dark space due to its of the overlapping city, as recreation- of biodiversity. In different popu-
on this urban site: a park or a build- location below street level. This was al spaces and biodiversity enclaves lations, it is not the clock that ac-
SEGMENTED ing? That’s a difficult choice for city achieved by incorporating optical were created on pieces of function- companies human activities but
CITY TO THE planners when both are required.
However, perhaps it’s easier than it
devices in the urban space to cap-
ture, reflect and redirect solar radia-
al city infrastructure, such as water
storage tanks.
the natural rhythms that produce
a profusion of sounds, shapes, col-
OVERLAPPING sounds: you can have the two spaces
overlapping.
tion into the subway space (The Low
Line, n. d.).
These cases demonstrate
that, contrary to popular belief, if
ors, and aesthetic experiences that
mark the daily lives of millions of
CITY The possibility of buildings we know how to take advantage of people. Likewise, in rural territories,
being crowned with large parks or ATTRIBUTES OF THE these spaces and advance in the the workday begins with the crow-
A FOREST WITH A FACADE OR green and biodiverse surfaces is not OVERLAPPING CITY necessary research on the condi- ing of roosters before dawn. In some
A BUILDING WITH A CANOPY? the only option, nor the best. Still, tions and requirements of organ- environments close to water, the
there are various ways to overlap liv- It assigns the land several uses isms in these environments, cities tides determine changes in human
From one angle, it looks like a mod- ing space and built space to multiply and functions simultaneously. with high occupancy density rates activities or milestones throughout
ern, corporate building that has been activities and functionalities accord- It builds spatial relationships in still have space available for bio- the day, such as meetings and gath-
covered by reverberating vegetation ing to each place’s needs and spatial three dimensions, not two. diversity. Interventions that make erings (Ibáñez, 2021).
fodder that tops out over an urban characteristics (Pauleit et al., 2020; It integrates human activities more efficient land use in cities can Many modern cities are
park. From another angle, it looks Ibáñez et al., 2019). into areas destined for biodiver- significantly and positively impact asynchronous with natural phe-
like a lush mountain forest. In reality, Architect James Ramsey set sity conservation. biodiversity and socio-economic de- nomena and are designed primarily
it is a facade of modern building ma- in motion an idea as far-fetched as it It incorporates compatible uses velopment. This brings nature back for visual appreciation, like a mosa-
terials that enlivens the avenue on was brilliant: to build the world’s first into protected areas, which re- into the built environment, reduces ic of static landscapes adorning a
the north side of the property. Archi- subway park, the Low Line, in an duces conflicts. the infrastructure footprint, frees up photo. Ignoring the other senses in
tect Emilio Ambasz’s Acros building abandoned and underutilized under- It accepts and promotes biodi- land for nature, and generates new city planning and, above all, their
in Fukuoka City, Japan, multiplies ground urban space on Manhattan’s versity conservation outside economic value (World Economic synchrony with natural rhythms
the functionality and use of an urban east side subway line. The key to the protected areas. Forum, 2022). creates a disconnection between in-
site by placing the green elements on project’s success was enabling pho- It operates like a forest, as differ- habitants and the life experience of
ent things happen at various lev-
els and win-win interactions are
5. FROM THE biological cycles, the types of light
the sun produces throughout the
RESTORATION, RENATURATION, REGENERATION,
OR REHABILITATION IN URBAN CONTEXTS?
built, generating co-benefits. PUNCTUAL CITY day, the seasons, weather changes,
It promotes and constructs atmospheric phenomena, plant phe-
buildings and inert infrastruc- TO THE nology, and water cycle dynamics.
Infiltrating nature and the natural world into the urban environ- ture with green roofs and other The term bio-performative is used
ment, on a transformational scale, at every opportunity, and as the elevated elements and creates BIO-PERFORMATIVE here in the same sense as “perfor-
background to (and context for) everyday life is urgent and essen-
tial for meeting the enormous environmental, social, and econom-
corridors.
CITY mative architecture” (Kolarevic,
2005), which refers to how one or
ic challenges we all face. By definition, this means that places will In cities, avenues connect distant USING THE CLOCK OR more environmental events deter-
look different, be used differently, be used by different people, and places of origin and destination but THE PARROTS SONG? mine a space or place; in this case,
be looked after differently compared to how we do things now. It’s have fractured relations of proximi- events caused by non-human life
a radical ecological approach, a restorative ecology, repairing dam- ty and pedestrian connectivity. The In Hong Kong, at 7 p.m. sharp, hun- forms and natural cycles.
aged places, bringing together human community and rich biodi- overlapping city suggests that these dreds of people gather on the Ave-
versity. And it’s challenging for all concerned, including ecologists, road mobility axes, especially the de- nue of Stars to appreciate the color- ATTRIBUTES OF THE
because we must stop looking backward all the time, to the past, as pressed sections, be covered by liv- ful performance of music and laser BIO-PERFORMATIVE CITY
the only source of our ecological reference points. Instead, we also ing surfaces that attract biodiversity lights that the city displays on the
have to look forwards, and embrace a new nature, a ‘Future Nature’ and articulate the urban fractures other side of Victoria Harbour in It connects and communicates
that’s fitted to the disturbing urban environment and the changing caused by road axes for pedestrians an impressive display of artificial urban human inhabitants with
climate: a Novel Ecosystem. A joyful and productive interaction, a (Ibáñez, 2014). The Bicentennial Park intelligence-assisted coordination. natural cycles, life processes,
cosmopolitan mix, poised and adapted for decades to come, putting in Bogotá, built on a depressed sec- In Leticia, the capital of the depart- and, in general, environmental
people at the heart of nature in cities. tion of El Dorado Avenue, is a start- ment of Amazonas in Colombia, at phenomena, thus promoting the
ing point for this strategy of efficient every sunset, a cloud of parakeets, incorporation of such phenome-
use of space to be replicated in other swallows, and other birds covers na in the design of public spaces
Nigel P. Dunnet parts of the city and urban centers in Santander Park producing a sub- and built structures.
University of Sheffield Colombia. Likewise, in Medellin, an- lime natural spectacle for the eyes It incorporates the circadian cy-
other Colombian city, the Articulated and ears of tourists and locals who cles of human beings and the
Life Units are an excellent example come to see and hear this staging biological cycles of non-human
 56 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Transformation 57

Figure 2. Cities typologies that describe the different relationships between social PIEDMONT OR HOT AND HARDENED
challenges, ecological conditions and capacities of local communities that converge RIVERSIDE CITY CITY (CONSOLIDATED)
in urban areas. Opportunities to face characteristic social challenges based on the FLOW ATTENUATION EVAPOTRANSPIRATION,
cities biodiversity are presented. MICROCLIMATE REGULATION/
HEAT ISLANDS
Riparian forests, hybrid
solutions to retain soil Urban forest, green roofs (urban
and water (example: built gardens can be integrated),
networks and green cover) bodies of water, orchards.
DENSIFIED MOUNTAIN
CITY CLOSE TO STRATEGIC
ECOSYSTEMS FOR WATER
SUPPLY
INFILTRATION/RETENTION

Green covers, rain C

gardens, urban systems
of sustainable drainage
A
(vegetated gutters,
permeable pavements).
Protected urban areas E
to ensure water supply.

D
B

COASTAL CITY
COASTAL CITY
RIVER DELTA
B
COASTAL EROSION FLOW ATTENUATION

Mangroves, hybrid D Conservation of natural

infrastructure (elevated wetlands, integration of
houses and bridges; artificial wetlands and
Source: Prepared by the authors.
floodable public space) ponds, basins and ridges.
 58
beings into urban planning and
design processes.
How do we incorporate the
potential of biodiversity in the connec-
tion of people with their immediate
environment in cities of the present
and future? Some conditions define the
environmental behavior of the territo-
ry and characterize aesthetic experi-
ences. Cities and architecture must be
a sounding board that amplifies these
experiences, for example, the sound
of animals, the management of water
and rain as an integral element of the
inhabited space, or the incorporation of
natural light. The bioperformative city
understands the biological and climat-
ic changes that occur over time and in
each territory and seeks to incorporate
them into the design of infrastructure
and public space.
6. FROM THE
ORNAMENTAL
CITY TO THE
BIOMIMETIC CITY
HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN
WORKING WELL?
In 2019, the Global Biomimicry Insti-
tute announced the winning entry
in its global nature-inspired design
competition: Bryosoil, a modular, po-
rous pavement system for managing
water in cities (Ibáñez, 2019; Biomim-
icry Institute, n.d.). This design was
inspired by the bryophyte plants of
the world’s largest páramo, the Suma-
paz páramo (a high, cold plateau, sim-
ilar to moorland) in the Colombian
Andes. The Colombian team behind
Bryosoil started with a question: How
do we replace impermeable pipe sys-
tems and containers with a solution
that allows multifunctionality so that
rainwater management systems do
not collapse when cities expand?
Every city in the world relies
on systems of linear pipes and con-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
tainer spaces to evacuate rainwater
and prevent flooding. However, these
conventional systems become ob-
solete as cities grow because they,
in turn, produce a greater volume of
runoff water that must be evacuated
due to the catchment of impervious
surfaces. Bryosoil was developed
from the morphological character-
istics of páramo mosses to promote
the functions of natural soil: con-
ducting, evaporating, infiltrating,
reducing flow, redirecting, filtering,
and separating water. The result is
a hand-portable and multifunction-
al three-dimensional module that
works similarly to the mosses in the
páramos and improves soil perfor-
mance to protect communities set-
tled in areas at high risk of flooding.
The case of Bryosoil shows
that, although biodiversity can be
incorporated directly into cities and
their infrastructure, it can also be
present as a mentor and reference
when designing solutions and tech-
nologies that solve functional prob-
lems in the artificial world. This is
achieved by studying the practical
principles of organisms and eco-
logical processes that are adapted
to local environmental conditions,
identifying their biological strate-
gies, their abstraction to turn them
into technological strategies, and
validating their advantages in a sce-
nario of application in real situations
(Ibáñez, 2019).
Although biomimicry or na-
ture-inspired design is recent and
little implemented, it is estimated
to produce at least 30% of economic
growth in several technology sec-
tors globally, including construc-
tion and architecture (Ivanic et al.,
2015; Kennedy et al., 2015). At the
city scale, biomimicry has explored
how some characteristics of natural
systems can guide strategies to im-
prove the resilience of urban infra-
structures. Among these strategies,
the inclusion of diversity in different
dimensions and scales of the sys-
tem, the strengthening of multifunc-
tional design and urban-regional
relationships, and the management
of local biodiversity from the eco-
system-based adaptation approach
stand out (Helmrich et al., 2020; Bio-
mimicry 3.8, 2013).
ATTRIBUTES OF THE
BIOMIMETIC CITY
It integrates strategies inspired
by the functioning of organisms
and biological systems.
It uses climate adaptation strate-
gies of local species and ecosys-
tems.
It prioritizes principles and pat-
terns of operation over form.
It replaces traditional technol-
ogies with solutions based on
how nature works.
It creates an environment of in-
novation based on the study and
local biodiversity research.
TOWARDS POSSIBLE
FUTURES
Although cities offer opportunities
as global centers of transformative
innovation, catastrophic visions of
their future still prevail, hindering
the implementation of plans and
policies for creating more positive
scenarios, both locally and global-
ly (Bennett et al., 2016; McPhearson
et al., 2021; Iwaniec et al., 2021). The
visions presented in this chapter
seek to contribute to more positive
discussions about the future of ur-
ban environments and thus moti-
vate actions and inspire processes
that will generate transformative
changes in the years to come from
a relational and systemic perspec-
tive. For example, the vision of an
overlapping city increases the pos-
sibilities for relationships among
citizens and between citizens and
nature within the urban matrix;
likewise, the vision of an (un)fin-
ished city recognizes city-building
Transformation
as a complex and emerging phe-
nomenon resulting from the inter-
action among multiple socio-eco-
logical factors (Alberti et al., 2018).
Increasingly, governments
and academia are adopting ap-
proaches that promote green and
inclusive cities through concepts
such as sustainable urban devel-
opment, urban ecosystem ser-
vices, green infrastructure, or na-
ture-based solutions. However, it is
necessary to strengthen languages
and approaches that transcend the
instrumental conception of nature
and human activities as drivers of
negative transformations towards
socio-ecological models that rec-
ognize the multidimensionality of
society-nature relationships in the
context of each territory (Kohler et
al., 2019; Mansur et al., 2022).
In this sense, some authors
have proposed conceptual and meth-
odological frameworks, such as na-
ture-based thinking (Randrup et al.,
2020; Maller, 2021), which suggest
transcending the use of nature as
an isolated solution to specific urban
challenges to think and act in order
to build regenerative and biophil-
ic cities that provide spaces for bio-
diversity and ecological processes.
All this while effectively integrating
cultural diversity and the particu-
lar way in which local communities
relate to nature. This perspective
is relevant in constructing the six
proposed visions in which biologi-
cal and cultural capital constitutes
a real opportunity to integrate com-
munities' values, expectations, and
capacities that relate to nature in dif-
ferent ways.
This diversity offers mul-
tiple alternative solutions in cases
where economic and institutional
capacities are limited, fosters the
collective construction of knowl-
edge, and provides scenarios for
innovation, promotion of local
technologies, experimentation, and
transdisciplinarity. For biodiversi-
59
IS BIODIVERSITY MANAGED BY GOVERNMENTS
OR BY PRIVATE CITIZENS/ENTITIES?
Biodiversity is recognized as universal welfare but is dangerous-
ly decreasing. We, therefore, need to coordinate all the elements
and actors involved to avoid this upcoming problem. Coordination
means inclusion and not exclusion (not only versus), with the partic-
ipation of academia, administration, enterprises, NGOs, and individ-
uals. The challenge is how to organize the actions. The experience
from Spain shows University research and teaching activities, with
a Germplasm Bank in the UPM that has been preserving native spe-
cies since 1973, integrated into ESCONET. The Ministry of Climate
Change develops programs with Biodiversity Foundations at the
administration level. In addition, both the Regional Administration
and the City Hall in Madrid have special projects (Metropolitan For-
est) which involve biodiversity issues. However, pending subjects
are green roofs and walls, where native species may be recovered
with citizen participation.
Julián Briz, Isabel de Felipe and Teresa Briz
Polytechnic University of Madrid
ty to thrive in the urban matrix, un- infrastructure and technology as
derstanding how various aspects - mediators of society-nature relation-
such as diversity of human groups, ships and the particular opportuni-
histories, governance schemes, ties offered by local capacities and
environmental characteristics, and the biological and cultural capital of
urban forms - jointly influence the each context.
creation of barriers or opportuni- Promote integrated approach-
ties to manage biodiversity and es to the role of biodiversity
ecosystem services within cities is in the urban matrix. Beyond being
required (Mansur et al., 2020; Shih a tool to solve specific challenges,
et al., 2020). these approaches should serve as
a scenario for the dialogue of in-
KEY MESSAGES terests, values, and expectations
of various stakeholders and the
Promote interactions among meeting of disciplines, such as
the biological, social, and tech- ecology, territorial planning, and
nological-artificial elements that urban design.
constitute the urban landscape. Transform the way we build,
This interaction increases the sup- design, plan and govern our
ply of ecosystem services at the lo- cities from a biodiversity perspec-
cal scale, reduces the dependencies tive. This change requires a sys-
and pressures that cities generate temic and relational perspective
on peri-urban and rural ecosystems, in which cities are understood as
and strengthens equitable access to complex and dynamic socio-eco-
their benefits. systems and in which coordinated
Incorporate the hybrid nature and innovative actions are pro-
of cities in their planning. This moted to link people, places, mean-
implies recognizing the role of built ings, visions, and ecosystems.
 60
SUSTAINABLE
URBAN
ECONOMIES:
TRANSITIONS BASED
ON BIODIVERSITY
KNOWLEDGE
The New Urban Agenda, adopted
by the United Nations Conference
on Housing and Sustainable Deve-
lopment in October 2016, provides
a roadmap to guide efforts toward
developing more inclusive, compact,
and connected cities. To this end, it
puts forward three transformative
commitments: ensuring that no one
is left behind (considering principles
of justice and equity), developing
sustainable and inclusive urban eco-
nomies, and ensuring environmental
sustainability (UN, 2017).
The interest in ensuring the
development of sustainable urban
economies is not surprising. Cities
and metropolitan areas are central
axes of economic growth as they
contribute 60% of the world's gross
domestic product (GDP). However,
they are also responsible for about
70% of global carbon emissions and
more than 60% of natural resource
use (UN, n. d. ). Food, water, energy,
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
and raw materials are demanded
daily by urban centers to provide
goods and services to a population
that has been growing on a global
scale. Today, this represents over
55% of the planet's inhabitants, but in
regions such as Latin America and
the Caribbean (LAC), it may exceed
80% (UNEP, 2021).
Thus, the growth of cities is
a phenomenon that has been put-
ting pressure on ecosystems and
the biodiversity linked to those
services demanded by the majori-
ty of the world's urban population.
This situation is worrying, given
the growing ev idence that sug-
gests that human activities have
been pushing the Ear th system
outside its ecological limits, thus
altering the stable environmental
state of the last 10,000 years, with
detrimental or even catastrophic
consequences for a large part of the
planet (Rockström et al., 2009).
Mario A. Murcia-López
Nathalia M.V. Flórez-Zapata
Brian Amaya
Alexander von Humboldt
Institute for Biological
Resources Research, Colombia.
One of the limits crossed has been
precisely the transformation of
ecosystems and the loss of biodiver-
sity, which has driven the high con-
sumption of resources derived from
it, as well as the degradation of en-
vironmental conditions as a result of
economic growth itself (Otero et al.,
2020). This has put at risk the possi-
bility that these ecosystems and their
biodiversity can continue to provide
the goods and services that meet the
needs of a growing human popula-
tion and, therefore, the economy and
the well-being of communities living
mainly in urban centers.
The economic and social cri-
sis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,
coupled with the evidence that we are
increasingly close to crossing planetary
boundaries that threaten our survival
as a species, suggests that we must
rethink business and our relationship
with nature in order to achieve a resil-
ient and sustainable economic recovery.
TRANSFORMATION
Urban economies can play a leading
role in this scenario, given their con-
tributions to GDP, human well-being,
and planetary sustainability.
This chapter presents some
conceptual frameworks developed
around sustainable economies. The
discussion contemplates the trans-
formation required for urban centers
to move towards BiodiverCities in
which it is possible to establish a
positive economy with nature based
on knowledge, generating well-being
for the communities that live there,
without losing sight of the global
scope required for this purpose. This
proposal for change towards sus-
tainable urban economies includes
integrating a bioecological vision
from a systemic approach. Through
transformative innovation, research
and development efforts are directed
to provide answers to urban and
rural populations' social and envi-
ronmental needs.
HOW TO ACHIEVE
SUSTAINABLE
KNOWLEDGE-
BASED URBAN
ECONOMIES?
The search for alternatives that
allow the sustainable use of natu-
ral resources and thus avoid future
ecological collapse (due to the des-
truction of ecosystems and the mass
extinction of species), climate (given
global climate change), or economic
collapse (due to the lack of natural
resources that sustain it) has been
mainly supported by research and
innovation processes that seek to
use the knowledge generated and
new technologies to guide the way in
which these elements can be com-
prehensively managed. An example
of this is using raw materials such
61
Quote as: Murcia-López, M., Flórez-Zapata, N., Amaya Guzmán,
B. Sustainable Urban Economies: Transitions Based on
Biodiversity Knowledge. P. 60-71. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
as biomass or molecules derived
from biodiversity in biorefineries to
replace fossil fuel derivatives that
are considered non-renewable re-
sources. Biomass, whether from
biodiversity or residues from these
productive and industrial processes,
thus becomes a great asset for all
countries, especially those with high
concentrations of biodiversity, such
as those located in tropical and neo-
tropical regions.
It is recognized that biodi-
versity is essential for sustainable
development and the well-being
of humans and non-humans alike
since it provides us with fundamen-
tal goods and services such as food
supply and the regulation of climate
and life on the planet. In fact, it is
also considered to be a source of em-
ployment opportunities in activities
such as agriculture or biotechnology.
Therefore, without adequate measures
to conserve biodiversity and sus-
 62
tainably use its components, associ-
ated goals like the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development will not be
achievable (CBD, 2018).
In this context, the develop-
ment of built environments in urban
centers and industrial progress have
been shown to contribute significantly
to the dynamics of ecosystem degra-
dation and biodiversity loss that are
evident on a planetary scale. For this
reason, it is precisely in these spaces
that the search for opportunities to
enable a planetary transition towards
the desired sustainability becomes
urgent. A fluid interaction between
built and natural environments that
converge in cities will be essential in
maintaining and improving human
well-being (Opoku, 2019).
A transformative vision
such as that proposed by Biodiver-
Cities offers a new paradigm that
can promote sustainable develop-
ment in urban environments from a
perspective that recognizes as cen-
tral pillars the links that cities and
their human well-being have with
ecosystems, biodiversity, and their
ecosystemic services at different
scales. However, moving towards a
BiodiverCity will necessarily imply
talking about a knowledge society and
economy, which means a permanent
connection with the discussions and
dialogues between the social and
economic sciences (Krüger, 2006).
According to Chen and Dahl-
man's (2005) proposal, in what we
can call the new knowledge econo-
mies, "knowledge is acquired, created,
disseminated and used effectively
to improve economic development."
Thus, knowledge, applied to produc-
tion, is determining the standards
of living and welfare beyond the
availability of land, machinery, in-
frastructure, and labor that a country
has (Information Society Commis-
sion, 2002), making the factors of
production established in the classi-
cal economy more efficient.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Terms such as "bioeconomy," "cir- king gradual transitions to achieve
cular economy," "green growth and the social and economic transfor-
economy," "nature-based solutions," mations required for planetary stabi-
and "doughnut economy" are beco- lity and sustainability.
ming more and more frequent in the Urban environments offer
public discussion agenda. These des- favorable scenarios for developing
cribe proposals for economic trans- innovations and structural chang-
formation and ecological relations- es that promote these sustainable
hips that lead us towards sustainable economies since they group most
development models and economies of the economic activity and have a
at the level of cities, regions, and so- high concentration of institutions
cieties. These new "green" or "sus- that generate and transfer knowl-
tainable" economies focus on the edge (e.g., universities and research
dilemma between economic growth centers). Although different forms
and sustainability. Within the Bio- of sustainable economies have been
diverCity development framework, proposed on a global scale, those
this dilemma leads to the need to use that can be directly articulated to the
approaches such as those proposed transformative vision described by
by bioecology, which focus on see- BiodiverCities are described below.
Figure 1. R&D&I intensity and technology-based transformation to produce
value-added goods and services from biodiversity.
PRODUCTIVE BASE BIODIVERSITY
DEVELOPMENT (RAW MATERIALS)
Pharmaceutical
Creation of
Anamú (Petiveria
phytomedicine
alliacea)
industries
Development of
Tourism
routes and tourist Urban-regional
packages based on protected areas
urban biodiversity
Agrobusiness
Use of residual Residual forest or agro-
biomass industrial biomass
R&D&I INTENSITY AND TECHNOLOGY-BASED TRANSFORMATION
Source: Prepared by authors.
TRANSFORMATION
CIRCULAR BIOECONOMY
There is no single narrative around
the bioeconomy. It is often associa-
ted with an economy that uses na-
tural resources, especially biomass,
to sustainably produce goods and
services, mediated by innovations
resulting from knowledge genera-
tion. At the urban-regional level, this
can generate integrated, sustaina-
ble, and profitable value chains and
networks, such as those associated
with using biological assets to obtain
economic value (e.g., the use of com-
mercialized wild plants). Also, this
can contribute to the generation of
integrated, sustainable, and profita-
ble value chains and networks, such
LOW ADDED VALUE
Commercialization of
Anamú-based infusions,
which are believed to have
medicinal properties for
cancer treatment
Nature tourism in urban-
regional ecosystems
Digester bales for the
production of organic
fertilizer
R&D&I INTENSITY AND TECHNOLOGY-BASED TRANSFORMATION
as those associated with the use of
biological assets to obtain econo-
mic value (e.g., the use of wild plants
marketed in urban distribution cen-
ters), development of controlled en-
vironments (e.g., urban agriculture)
or generating new products from
biomass (e.g., biorefineries) (Taylor
and While, 2021).
It is worth noting that an
essential part of the developments
around the urban bioeconomy has
been aimed at promoting a circular
bioeconomy. This perspective inte-
grates circular economy principles
aimed at reducing and closing mate-
rial resource loops based on renew-
able energies and non-toxic materials
with a sustainable bioeconomy, which
INTERMEDIATE
ADDED VALUE
Development of a
phytomedicine based
on Anamú for cancer
treatment
Avitourism
Obtaining energy from
residual biomass
63
transcends the replacement of fossil
resources with renewable biological
resources (Tan and Lamers, 2021). In
fact, the European Union's Bioecon-
omy Strategy proposes that cities be
turned into major centers of circular
bioeconomy. Some examples of these
initiatives can be found in the HOOP
project (https://hoopproject.eu/).
Building a sustainable bio-
economy in a BiodiverCity will be
possible if research-mediated sus-
tainable uses of biodiversity are in-
tegrated with new converging tech-
nologies and innovation to create new
high value-added goods and services,
business sophistication, and new in-
dustries. Figure 1 shows different ex-
amples of how the intensification of
HIGH ADDED
VALUE
Isolation and
commercialization through
biotechnology of the active
anti-cancer compound from
Anamú (dibenzyl trisulfide)
Scientific tourism or
specialized Avitourism
(e.g. Avitourism for the
visually impaired)
Biorefinery
 64 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY TRANSFORMATION 65

research, technological development,
and innovation (R&D&I) management
systems can lead to achieving these
value-added products or services
from urban biodiversity.
tal, and economic dimensions at the
same level of importance (Nesshöver
et al., 2017). Recently, NbS have been
described as contributing co-benefits
such as improved attractiveness of
tively), these aim to create new jobs
required to implement and maintain
these NbS over time.
The COVID-19 pandemic gen-
erated an unprecedented social and
HOW CAN THE Regarding indicators relat-
ed to sustainable economies, our
IMPACT OF NEW research shows the relationship be-
SUSTAINABLE tween 11 indexes that classify the per-
formance of cities, evaluated in four
and all their activities are un-
derstood as embedded in an
ecological system. This means
that the source-sink vision of the
economy on nature, where its im-

NATURE-BASED ECONOMIES
This conceptual framework propo-
ses a nature-based economy pers-
pective, which explicitly recognizes
that nature is a fundamental input
for producing and generating valua-
ble products in the economy (Mc-
Quaid et al., 2021). This conceptual
proposal emerges in the new con-
cept of nature-based solutions (NbS).
NbS makes a direct link to
the dimensions of sustainable devel-
opment, putting social, environmen-
DOUGHNUT ECONOMICS
places, health, and quality of life. Also,
these solutions are considered to rep-
resent open innovations that require
the engagement of multiple stake-
holders, bringing together social and
economic interests and thus stimu-
lating new green economies and jobs
(Raymond et al., 2017). Examples of
the above are the INNOQUA project
in Quito (Ecuador) and the Green Cor-
ridors initiative in the city of Medellin
(Colombia). In addition to generating
solutions to social challenges in ur-
ban environments (wastewater treat-
ment and urban heat islands, respec-
economic crisis characterized by the
loss of many jobs. At one of the most
critical moments of the pandemic
(June 2020), it is estimated that as
many as 31 million jobs were lost in
the LAC region alone (Azuara et al.,
2021). Therefore, creating new jobs is
an urgent priority in light of the eco-
nomic recovery. In this regard, it has
been proposed that NbS can play a
leading role (Kopsieker et al., 2021). The
World Wild Foundation (WWF) and the
International Labor Organization re-
cently published a detailed analysis
of how NbS can drive the recovery of
green employment (Lieuw-Kie-Song
and Perez-Cirera, 2020).
Green businesses or bio-busi-
nesses that generate sustainable
goods and services from natural re-
ECONOMIES IN
A BIODIVERCITY
BE ASSESSED?
Although sustainable economies are
based on a conceptual framework
that suggests learning from mistakes
made in the development practices
that have led to environmental de-
terioration and social problems, it is
necessary to evaluate whether we are
genuinely achieving sustainability
goals through their implementa-
tion. Therefore, a BiodiverCity must
promote the use of adjusted monito-
ring metrics that allow it to identify
its progress in terms of sustainabi-
lity in all its dimensions and scales
(e.g., local, regional, global). In this
pillars and ten thematic areas. As a
result, it is evident that cross-cutting
indicators from human capital, inno-
vation, and the market help develop
sustainable economies (Figure 2).
However, there are no robust indica-
tors to evaluate the performance of a
city based on sustainable economies
from the perspective of biodiversity.
Their estimates are only based on
measuring a city's stock of supplies
(e.g., number of waste products gen-
erated, amount of area protected, stra-
tegic area), and not the flows between
ecosystem services and economic ac-
tivities, nor their returns to conserva-
tion, which would be more effective
indicators for making decisions at
that level.
pacts are treated as externalities,
must disappear so that they can
be internalized in the intrinsic
feedback loop of nature.
Socio-technical systems in which
the complexity of interactions be-
tween society, organizations, and
economic sectors is addressed,
together with their evolution and
possible transformations from the
different types of innovation.
Creation of value networks in-
corporating principles of in-
dustrial symbiosis, cleaner pro-
duction, circular economy (e.g.,
RedES-CAR initiative), and con-
nection between different com-
plementary and supplementary
value chains. This will make it
possible to create more efficient

This approach recognizes that public policies of the last century

sources can also be framed within
this concept of a nature-based econ-
were mainly oriented to promote constant GDP growth, resulting omy. Considering the urgency of the
in degenerative economies that have led to the depletion of the nat- current environmental crisis, this
ural resources on which human welfare depends. Furthermore, type of business is becoming increas-
this approach argues that inequities and concentrated wealth in a ingly relevant in the global context
small percentage of the population have been generated (Raworth, since they are associated with value
2017a). The doughnut economy recognizes in this context that hu-
man well-being depends on each person being able to lead a life
chains with maximized profits and
optimized practices, which generate
of dignity and opportunity while safeguarding the integrity of positive impacts on the use of natural
life-support systems (Raworth, 2017b). This approach then estab- resources and contributions to social
lishes the parameters of an economy for it to function sustainably. welfare (Hasan et al., 2019).
In that regard, it identifies that the economic system is restricted Another example is biomimic-
by two limits defined by ecological and social aspects so that only ry. According to the Biomimicry Insti-
an economy that is located within those two limits (called environ- tute (https://biomimicry.org/), it values
mental ceiling and social foundation, respectively) will approach nature for what we can learn, not for
real sustainability. what we can extract. That is, through
patterns and strategies tested through-
The city of Amsterdam, for example, has decided to adopt this sus- out the evolutionary history of living
tainable economy framework to become a pioneering city seeking organisms, sustainable innovations to
a systemic transformation towards a prosperous, regenerative and human challenges can be generated.
inclusive city for all citizens while respecting the limits of the plan- According to this premise, biomim-
et (Maldini, 2021). Likewise, Philadelphia and Portland have adopted icry could become a way to create
this framework by joining the Thriving Cities Initiative (TCI), which solutions to urban challenges and
seeks to test new ways of thinking, governance, and collaboration to develop new designs that materialize
foster community-led action for a green and just future. in products or services harmonized
with nature that can sustainably gen-
erate economic returns (Fig. 2).
way, it will be possible to determi-
ne whether the decisions made and
actions undertaken are on the right
track or whether it is necessary to
concentrate efforts on reorienting
policies (Robert et al., 2020) and pro-
moting more efficient public-private
investment.
It is important to highlight
that within these metrics proposed
to measure the impact of sustain-
able economies in a BiodiverCity,
some concerning the stock and flow
of natural capital should be included.
These should consider the returns to
its conservation and build comprehen-
sive indicators for decision-making.
Currently, there are models used to
map and value the goods and ser-
vices of nature proposed by the
Natural Capital Project with the
help of the InVEST software (Stan-
ford University, 2021). The results of
these exercises would be beneficial
for defining indexes that estimate the
economic, social, and environmental
performance of cities in a compre-
hensive manner.
HOW SHOULD
SUSTAINABLE
URBAN-REGIONAL
ECONOMIES BASED
ON BIODIVERSITY
KNOWLEDGE BE
PROMOTED?
Below, we propose some approaches
or principles that would allow the
creation of policies oriented to the con-
solidation of sustainable economies
based on biodiversity knowledge in
urban-rural contexts:
Systemic approach: promotes re-
cognizing the connections between
nature and people in their multiple
dimensions and interdependencies,
which requires an approach based on
complexity. To this end, is required:
Socio-ecological systems in
which human beings, society,
and productive value networks
that will stimulate competitive
and high value-added commer-
cial circuits at the local, regional,
and even international levels.
Multiscale approach: seeks to unders-
tand that planetary boundaries, eco-
nomy, and sustainability are expressed
at different scales: local, regional (subna-
tional), national and planetary. To this
end, is required:
Telecoupling as a way of understan-
ding that the positive and negative
processes of urban systems at lo-
cal scales have repercussions at
regional and planetary scales, as
well as on two-way scales.
Functional territories as a way
of focusing policies, economies,
and actions, not only on people
but also on spatial relationships,
which requires understanding
and analyzing the functions and
connections between scales, as
evidenced by the Functional Ur-
ban Areas (FUA) methodology.
66 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY TRANSFORMATION 67

ECOINCREMENTAL LABORATORY.
ADVISOR: ANDRÉS IBÁÑEZ GUTIÉRREZ
These illustrations are based on the photos
provided by Ecoincremental Lab Research
Group from the Pontificia Universidad
Javeriana, Colombia.

BRYOSOIL - PAVING SYSTEM FOR FLOOD RISK AREAS BASED

ON BRYOPHYTE PLANTS FROM THE PÁRAMO ECOSYSTEM

Biodiversity can be incorporated into nature-based economies through processes of direct use, but
also it can also be used indirectly as inspiration and reference when designing solutions and tech-
nologies that solve functional problems in the artificial world. Bryosoil is a multifunctional mod-
ular flooring system that uses 3 geometric patterns inspired by the morphological characteristics
of bryophytes plants found in the páramo ecosystem in Colombia. Bryosoil help to prevent flooding
and combat the heat island effect. It captures the water of a flood and manages it, according to the
risk. It is made up of 3 layers that perform 5 functions: it slows down the flow, redirects it, infiltrates
the water into the natural soil, collects rainwater, or evaporates it. These layers replace the existing
water management paradigm that is based on pipe systems. Thus, Bryosoil has creates an environ-
ment of innovation that could produce economical value and services based on the study and local
biodiversity research.
 68
Biointensification approach: seeks
that biodiversity becomes a central
factor of production and competiti-
veness while generating returns to
conservation and social welfare in all
economic processes, under aspects
such as:
Focus economies on technological
and innovative uses of biodiversity
in more innovative and sustaina-
ble value chains, value networks,
and businesses.
Seek new ways to incorporate bio-
diversity as a value factor in value
chains and networks, businesses,
corporations, and industries,
fostering more sustainable and
regenerative economies.
Fair and equitable benefit distribu-
tion under the framework of the
Nagoya Protocol, which becomes
the key to developing sustainable
biodiversity-based economies that
ensure social justice in monetary
exchanges.
Environmental accounting approach:
it is necessary that metrics at all eco-
nomic levels - micro, meso, and macro
- incorporate natural capital as a source
of analysis and orientation of transfor-
mations. This implies:
Developing national and subnational
accounts with all types of metrics
for these sustainable economies.
Incorporating natural capital into
GDP measurements.
Promoting the inclusion of natural
capital or environmental factors
more forcefully in corporate accoun-
ting and sustainability metrics.
Including biodiversity or natural
capital metrics in the innova-
tion, competitiveness, city, and
functional subregion analysis
indexes.
Plurality, heterogeneity, and diversity
approach: promotes equity and social
justice in the development of these
sustainable economies based on:
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY TRANSFORMATION 69
Each region and territory has Figure 2. Components and pillars Economy Social Innovation Environmental
its own capacities and poten- of indexes that measure the
tial to develop transformative performance of cities.
niches that mobilize socio-te- Source: Prepared by the authors.
chnical changes, which in turn
lead to socio-ecological transi-
tions towards sustainability. It Components
implies the development of both National Indicators
top-down and bottom-up policies
International Indicators
with a pluralistic approach.
It is necessary to consider that
nature's contributions to people
are not exclusively mediated by
the market but recognize diffe-
rent levels of value and contribu-
Human Climate
tion to human well-being. Well-being Governance Infrastructure Market Fiscal Investigation Energy Residue Biodiversity
Capital Change
Other forms of local and welfare
economies, among others, that
also contribute to short commer-
cial circuits and better sustaina-
bility from a territorial point of
view must be respected.
Post-consumption and market regu-
lation approach: arises from policies
to generate extended responsibility to
both producers/businesses and con-
sumers to become responsible for the
waste derived from their production
and consumption. This requires fo-
cusing not only on public policies but
also on generating more significant
market incentives. It also implies:
Conduct life cycle analysis of
products to increase efficiency,
circularity, and returns to natural
heritage conservation.
Generate incentives such as
green taxes that induce a positi- City Global City Smart City
ICES-BID
Global Power Sustainable Modern European European Latin Singapore
ve change for the planet, both for Competitiveness Index Index City Index City Index City Index Green Capital Green City American Index
Index-ICC Award Index Green City
the consumer and the productive
Index
sector.
More efficiently regulate the ne-
gative impacts of the economy on
ecosystems and climate change. the framework of transformative Respect and incor porate all technological innovation, process community, ethnic and social repre-
Decarbonization of economic changes, this implies recognizing the forms of knowledge in society innovation, social innovation, and sentative organizations. This includes:
activities and society that gui- niches of innovation and socio-techni- under a pluralistic approach to frugal innovation, among others.
de socio-ecological transitions cal changes that can occur at different building knowledge societies Participation, equity, and social
towards sustainability. levels, guided by economic and compe- and economies. Multi-level and polycentric gover- justice policies.
titiveness objectives and incorporating Recognize and stimulate all for- nance approach: recognizes that the Policies that favor the organization
Research, technological development, social and environmental goals. To this ms of innovation in favor of tran- actors of change are not only govern- and its participation in the chan-
and innovation approach: within end, it is required: sitions to sustainability, such as ments or companies but also different ges in the economy and society.
 70 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY TRANSFORMATION 71

rate bottom-up strategies to generate account all their relationships and

Figure 3. Multi-level perspective of changes in the urban food system related to sustainable economy in cities.
transformations in line with the di- interdependencies, in order to move
SOCIO-TECHNICAL fferent regional contexts (Schot et al., towards sustainable economies
OVERVIEW 2020). This indicates a scope beyond based on biodiversity knowledge.
PARIS AGREEMENT
Exogenous context increases in competitiveness and pro- Examples of these developments are
ductivity of the economic apparatus the circular bioeconomy, nature-ba-
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AGREEMENT and points to higher purposes such sed economies, and biomimicry, as
as social justice and equity, poverty they are transversal to all economic
SDG
reduction, combating climate change, and industrial activities.
Shifts to more diverse and generating returns to conserva- Sustainable urban economies
and sustainable urban
tion and well-being. must be based on R&D&I pro-
food systems
Therefore, urban-rural te- cesses. The transition of cities
Market
rritorial systems of innovation that towards sustainability will imply
LEVEL OF STRUCTURING OF LOCAL PRACTICES

Culture consider the principles of transfor- intensifying efforts in these three

mative innovation make it possible to dimensions within a framework in
Technology
FOOD reconfigure socio-technical systems which not only competitiveness is
SYSTEMS
Socio-technical
to perform essential functions for sought but also the consideration
System society. To this extent, it is necessary that these processes must provide
Industry
to consider the distinctive features answers to significant urban so-
Politics of the territory and efficiently ma- cial and environmental challenges
Science
nage biodiversity as an opportunity (transformative changes and trans-
to achieve goals associated with so- formative innovation).
cio-ecological sustainability. Indicators of the state of biodi-
Circular harnessing of
Figure 3 proposes an example versity are required as key va-
biodiversity to diversify and
of how this transformative innovation riables for measuring the sustainable
meet urban food needs
approach could influence changes development of cities. Indicators make
in socio-technical systems to move it possible to monitor and analyze the
towards sustainable economies in a stock and flow of natural capital and its
BiodiverCity. In a multi-level analy- benefits to integrated urban manage-
sis of urban food systems, it is iden- ment, facilitating the creation of more
tified that, given the pressures of the adaptive and evidence-based policies.
INNOVATION environment, networks of actors Sustainable economies based
NICHES GASTROBOTANY URBAN GARDENS USE OF WASTE FROM MARKETS AND RESTAURANTS
begin to generate innovations rela- on knowledge of biodiversi-
(Samper Mendoza (Huerto Romita - (Simba - Lima) ted to the provision of products and ty must be promoted. Policies that
Case - Bogotá) CDMX) associated services (e.g., through consider the spatial relationships of
TIME the development of gastro-botani- cities with their socio-economic and
cal prototypes). This is linked to the socio-ecological dynamics, promo-
Source: Adapted from Geels (2011). creation of urban gardens and the ting models of multi-level governance,
circular use of waste to generate va- market regulation, biointensification
lue-added products through biopros- and environmental accounting, with
pecting, which provide economic principles of social justice and equity
BIODIVERCITIES mies based on biodiversity, making it nology, and innovation is fundamen- competitiveness and focuses on crea- opportunities to different sectors un- are required.
possible to achieve levels of competiti- tal in determining the type of impul- ting linkages, clusters, and networks der sustainability principles and end Socio-economic developments
AS SPACES FOR veness and productivity within ecolo- se that these types of economies will that stimulate learning and facilitate up guiding changes in this socio-te- in cities must abandon the

TRANSFORMATIVE gical limits that ensure sustainability

INNOVATION
SYSTEMS
Advances in biological knowledge and
technological development are essen-
tial for developing sustainable econo-
at different scales. This purpose im-
plies that research and development
are a pathway for generating value,
wealth, and social equity and there-
fore frame these types of sustainable
economies also in knowledge econo-
mies. In this way, the configuration of
the territorial system of science, tech-
have in a BiodiverCity.
Three frameworks have been
described to determine science, tech-
nology, and innovation policies. The
first seeks to institutionalize gover-
nment support for R&D to contribute
to economic growth, prioritizing the
competitiveness of the productive
sector. The second also emphasizes
entrepreneurship. Finally, the third
framework calls for transformative
change, proposing that innovation
should be directed to respond to social
and environmental challenges (Schot
and Steinmueller, 2018). This last
framework highlights that research
efforts should focus on the production
of academic knowledge and incorpo-
chnical system and the associated so-
cio-ecological system.
KEY MESSAGES
Cities must be spaces for inno-
vation. Urban-rural environ-
ments are conducive to developing
innovations of all kinds, taking into
source-sink and degradation of na-
ture model. Cities should not only
respond to a logic of source of re-
sources for their development and
subsequent waste sink but should
also generate positive returns to na-
ture conservation, climate change
mitigation and adaptation, and hu-
man well-being.
 72
TRANSFORMATIVE
CITIZENS TO
PROPEL
BIODIVERCITIES
Citizens as a fundamental
axis for making urban
biodiversity everyone's
business
In response to the constant urgen-
cies of environmental degradation
perceived in cities around the world
and the evident impacts of these
phenomena on the quality of life of
their growing populations, new ca-
pacities, values, and attitudes are
emerging in citizens that partici-
pate in and manage their territory
based on reconciling their rela-
tionship with nature. From learn-
ing about natural history to new
narratives that lead to contempla-
tion, curiosity, and awareness of
well-being linked to biodiversity,
urban dwellers are leading actions
and mobilizations around the world
to transform their connection with
the environment and face the so-
cial challenges imposed by global
change. This chapter seeks to rede-
fine citizens as the axis of Biodiver-
Cities’ empowerment: BiodiverCiti-
zens who think, feel, and do, that is,
who actively participate in shaping
the quality of daily life and, conse-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
quently, in harmonious coexistence
with the diversity of life forms.
FEATURES OF CONTEMPORARY
CITIZENS, AND THEIR ROLE IN
FOSTERING BIODIVERCITIES
The planet is becoming increasingly
urban, as shown by population pros-
pects in which 68% of the world’s in-
habitants will live in cities by 2050
when urban coverage will have
tripled (United Nations, 2019). This
phenomenon thus becomes one of
the most transformative processes
facing the planet in the 21st centu-
ry. The unsustainable patterns on
which global urban development
is being created have intensified its
capacity for environmental degrada-
tion and the persistence of multiple
forms of poverty and inequalities
linked to the loss and degradation of
ecosystems and biodiversity. (Unit-
ed Nations, 2017). In this scenario of
global urban expansion, as well as
Juliana Montoya
Urbam - Center for Urban and Environmental
Studies of EAFIT University, Colombia.
the deepening of its social and envi-
ronmental impacts (Photo 1), the role
of those who inhabit these spaces,
i.e., citizens, will be decisive in re-
versing, reducing, and mitigating the
urgent challenges that this phenom-
enon generates at local and even
global scales. Citizens thus emerge
as a fundamental factor in energiz-
ing the transformation of this real-
ity, primarily through actions that
allow urban development to be rec-
onciled with preserving all forms of
life. Such reconciliation seeks that
cities and the territories where they
are immersed become spaces where
human beings can live, work, and
evolve in harmony with their envi-
ronment: BiodiverCities.
The social and environmen-
tal inequity conditions that mate-
rialize in urban environments of
much of the world determine how
the people who live there see, act and
persist in search of improving their
quality of life and habitat. There is
transformation
growing expectation for the active
emergence of these actors who are
faced with scenarios of increasingly
socially and ecologically impover-
ished cities. They live daily in urban
habitats, can question, get upset, and
act to mobilize, convene and man-
age the collective imaginaries of
what may represent a transforma-
tion towards a new city. A city that
protects and restores its biodiversi-
ty, and also uses it sustainably for
social and economic purposes, thus
improving the quality of life of urban
inhabitants. This transformation is
what BiodiverCities propose, under a
context in which citizens are the pri-
mary actors to demand and promote
the conservation of urban life diver-
sity as a way of valuing it and feeling
part of it. This agency will gradually
build a collective welfare based on
solidarity and harmony with nature.
Thus, building a collective
model of environmentally sustain-
able cities (Montoya & Garay, 2017),
which are reconfigured based on
biodiversity management from dif-
ferent scales and approaches (Biodi-
verCities), will only be possible from
the leadership of active citizens that
aim at transformative action. That
is why sustainable development is
citizens in action (Álvarez-Vanegas,
2020) because, as urban citizens, we
are participants and creators of co-
existence in the spaces we inhabit.
Therein lies the ability to move to-
wards transformative innovation
and collective intelligence and re-
claim the right to nature.
HOW ARE CITIZENS EMPOWERED
WITH THE HOPE OF LIVING IN
HARMONY WITH NATURE?
The emergence of new citizens, char-
acterized by direct participation and
management in how to inhabit urban
space, based on a more harmonious
relationship with the environment,
is evident in various cases. Examples
73
Quote as: Montoya, J. Transformative Citizens to Propel
BiodiverCities. P. 72-79. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
of collective appropriation processes
mediated by education and partici-
patory restoration have allowed the
eastern hills of Bogotá in Colombia
to be protected (Mejia, 2016); a wet-
land in a historically marginalized
area of Cape Town to be restored; a
post-industrial site in New York like
“The High Line” to be intervened; and
a green space considered “worth-
less” in the outskirts of London to be
transformed. These examples show
how groups of citizens with different
degrees of cooperation lead success-
ful interventions for protecting the
nature of these urban centers, thus
breaking down conventional distinc-
tions between city and nature (Aalto
& Ernstson, 2017).
In addition, these cases are
the best representation of how a new
scale of capacities, values, and atti-
tudes is being consolidated in differ-
ent urban environments around the
world, in which citizens engage with
nature from an ethical-political stand-
 74
Photo: EAFIT University
PREDOMINANT SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
DISRUPTIONS IN URBAN SETTINGS
The photograph shows children playing in a sandbox on the banks of the Medellín River in the El Sinai neighborhood in the northern
zone of Medellín, Colombia. It is an emerging territory inhabited by people who have been displaced by violence. They come to an
area characterized by self-construction and solidarity, but also by social inequality, by living in risky riverbank areas, and by being a
scenario of speculation for macro mobility projects that ignore the territory's reality.
Photos: Urbam-EAFIT archive, 2017.
point. This represents a significant
change in the paradigm of superiori-
ty over nature that modern societies
have embedded. It was based on a re-
lationship of extraction, experimenta-
tion, transformation, and exploitation
that would solve the needs of a grow-
ing human population through the
development of an industrial model
but also deteriorated the quality of soil,
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
water, air, and the forms of life that in-
habit it (Sanderson et al., 2002).
A change in this paradigm
implies certain transformations:
going from a nominal citizen who
declares that they have rights
(low-intensity citizen) to becoming
a representative citizen, capable of
building and deliberating on their
rights (high-intensity citizen); from
transformation
is co-responsible for the territory
they inhabit.
This transformative per-
spective of citizens based on their
relationship with nature emphasiz-
es the need to reconfigure the rela-
tionship between social and ecolog-
ical systems that configure urban
environments based on a shared vi-
sion of change. This implies chang-
ing characteristics associated with
the values, expectations, and pref-
erences that guide the choices and
actions of the actors that converge
there (Geels & Schot, 2007). In this
context, methodologies aimed at
producing proactive and transfor-
mative knowledge emerge. The one
proposed by Participatory Action
Research - PAR (Investigación-Ac-
ción-Participación - IAP) enables
the population to learn about and
become critically aware of its reality,
empowerment, collective mobiliza-
tion, and its transformative action.
Figure 1. The awakening of feeling, thinking, and doing from which new citizens emerge in biodiversity transformation
a citizen who votes to one who, un- Language / Narratives
der the pressure of the contempo-
rary world’s challenges, is capable
THINKING
of meeting with others, mobilizing
actions, and fine tune their sens- LEARNING
es around nature (Fox, 2005). This
change implies the emergence of
a sensitive, transforming citizen
who reasons, learns, manages,
and encourages other citizens and
Under this frame of reference, the
transformation of citizens is a redefi-
nition that seeks to be part of a project
in which the quality of daily life is the
fundamental premise. Hence, RAP is,
in turn, linked to the term sentipensan-
te (one who feels/thinks), which deno-
tes a person who combines everything
they do in the territory, reason and
passion, body and heart; they are tho-
se who continuously build their own
world, their worldview and their reality
(Jaramillo, 2012; Escobar, 2014). Thus,
the perspective opened by BiodiverCi-
ties points to a transformation towards
citizens that think, feel, and do accor-
ding to the biodiversity they inhabit,
where nature is not what is outside of
us but a comprehensive part of what
we carry inside (Figure 1).
This triad of thinking, feel-
ing, and doing is anchored to the
ethical-political dimension of citi-
zens and relates to one of the stra-
tegic areas of UNESCO’s education
ENJOYING
Attitude / Curiosity
FEELING
EMERGING
CITIZENS IN
BIODIVERCITIES
DOING
MANAGING
Activism / Advocacy
75
program: global citizens education,
based on three learning domains.
(UNESCO, 2015):
 Cognitive: capacities for acquiring
knowledge and reflection neces-
sary to better understand the world
and its complexities through per-
ception, memory, or language. This
refers to the action of thinking and
is evidenced through learning and
constructing new narratives.
 Socioemotional: values, attitudes,
and social competencies that
contribute to the affective, psy-
chosocial, and physical develop-
ment of people and enable them to
live with others respectfully and
peacefully. It refers to feeling and
is perceived through enjoyment
and the ability to question and be
interested in other ways of life.
 Behavioral: conduct, perfor-
mance, practical application, and
commitment. It is materialized
Source: Prepared by the author.
 76
in doing, one of the most chal-
lenging processes since moving
to action requires having gone
through knowledge, conviction,
and coherence to manage and
defend the quality of life.
Therefore, it is essential to apply the
term sentipensante to move from a
state of a city that is disconnected
from its ecological processes where
ecosystems and biodiversity are
considered as external entities, in-
dependent and isolated from human
beings, controlled, designed, and
managed by environmental author-
ities. This implies, from the every-
day life of citizens, experiencing the
city as a socio-ecosystem, resulting
from an interaction that society has
been building culturally (Frank et
al., 2017). For these ecological and
everyday processes to acquire value
in decision-making, social practices
that protect urban nature are need-
ed through local actions and neigh-
borhood narratives (Ernstson, 2013;
Aalto & Ernstson, 2017). Therefore,
the transformation posed by Biodi-
verCities from sentipensar (feeling/
thinking) consists of recognizing,
coexisting, mobilizing, and promot-
ing urban nature based on respect,
admiration, and dignity of diversity
at the local scale.
BIODIVERCITIZENS?
A redefinition of citizens as proposed
by the BiodiverCities implies that citi-
zens become part of a project in which
quality of life is a fundamental prem-
ise, which may be possible based on a
new way of relating with nature. This
purpose can only be achieved through
citizen participation that recogniz-
es the role of all urban inhabitants as
representatives and actors in develop-
ing this socio-ecosystem, thus incor-
porating an empathetic relationship
with all those representations of na-
ture in the rights agenda.
Citizen participation is, there-
fore, the set of actions, facts, and atti-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY transformation 77
tudes that a group of individuals as- which this chapter proposes the sco- In this way, information plays a cru- ering that there is much to learn a question here of moving towards
sumes regarding matters of common pe of redefining new citizens in ter- cial role in training citizens, as a about the environment’s ecologi- citizens who transform their envi-
interest; it is the action in political ms of BiodiverCities. central factor in the collective and cal processes, as well as contribute ronment based on the art of observing
life, not only to defend the particular public life of citizens’ urban lives to reclaiming nature’s wealth and and their capacity to contemplate.
or individual interest but, fundamen-  THINKING (cognitive): learned (Maya, 2001). The way in which the promoting its care and respect. The art of observing things is
tally, the common, collective, public and informed citizens who quantity and quality of the informa- not something that can be transmitted
interest (Maya, 2001; Miller-Rushing make nature their own through tion made available to the population Conscious and Curious Citizens through rules and precepts. It is an es-
et al., 2012). It is also a social scenario other forms of knowledge and are accessed is a crucial part of the These citizens emerge with aware- sential component in the eye and ear,
of a complex network of interactions new narratives. awakening of learned and informed ness and curiosity for the biodiversity that is, in the mind and soul, of which
where controversies and disputes of  FEELING (socioemotional): con- citizens (although we should not they inhabit and have no prejudices. these are organs (Burroughs, 2018). A
cohesion and vital and constantly scious and curious citizens who confuse information with knowle- They enjoy an open and broad per- transition is required from learned and
changing differences arise. It allows know that well-being depends dge, since the latter presupposes in- spective for sharing space with other informed citizens to conscious and cu-
society to be configured based on on biodiversity, who contemplate, formation, but not that someone who living beings. They formulate a differ- rious citizens because knowing is not
each citizen’s daily life, as it material- observe, investigate and register is well informed is knowledgeable ent scenario from that of today’s cities, everything; it is only half. The other
izes their interests and their vision of the species they coexist with. by definition). The democratic as- in which citizens are encouraged to half is to love. Love of nature is synony-
the social and cultural appropriation  DOING (behavioral): bold and piration is for information to enable detach nature from the human condi- mous with understanding what makes
of nature. When we invoke other citi- active citizens who perform competent and reasonable citizen tion as if it were something separate or us human (Burroughs, 2018).
zens, we gather a polyphony of voices sustainable daily actions, who participation and evaluate indivi- distant. Cities have disconnected the Once nature is admired, we
through participation levels based on seek to act, defend, mobilize and duals as actors in their processes human element from the biodiverse perceive an inexhaustible world of
cognitive, socio-emotional, and be- make urban nature their own. (Maya, 2021). one so that the cycles and dynamics that which moves the heart, attracts
havioral aspects that are in constant Thanks to the vast amount of nature, which are characterized the mind, and triggers the imagina-
interrelation and involve an admira- Learned and Informed Citizens of information, new inspiring nar- by slow processes, are incompatible tion because it means health for the
tion for being part of nature. Citizens have not been trained to ratives appear that respond to col- with the immediacy of productivity, body, stimulus for the intellect, and
Citizens that emerge from have systemic thinking and to un- lective imaginaries. For example, profitability, fast food, schedules, and joy for the soul (Burroughs, 2018).
this new form of relationship with derstand that the universe of rela- contempt for what is different, constant contact with social media, The biologist Edward O. Wilson has
nature, a product of citizen partici- tionships, from waking up to feed- even for other forms of life with which alienate the human and natu- called this feeling biophilia, that
pation, can be sketched around three ing oneself to dressing, moving, and which we coexist in cities, has ral dimensions (Maya, 2021). This rup- impulse of association that we feel
categories: the learned and infor- interacting with others, all have to become normalized. This is repre- ture is evident in the lack of interest in towards other forms of life, loaded
med, the conscious and curious, and do with nature, surrounding ecosys- sented, for example, in the stereo- processes considered imperceptible with memories, observations, and
the bold and active. These allude to tems, and the landscapes we have typical disgust for cockroaches, as but present in the city’s daily life. It is anecdotes of everyday life, in coex-
feeling, thinking, and doing, from built in that process. opposed to empathy for ladybugs,
or the stereotypical association of
waste and filth for vultures and BOX 2.
BOX 1. MARAVILLOSOS PERSEGUIDOS (WONDERFUL buzzards, as opposed to the admi- URBAN NATURALISTS
ONES CHASED) FOR THEIR GOOD REPUTATION!
ration and inspiration produced,
for example, by songbirds, among
many other cases. Urban societies “In an urbanizing world, curiosity about all life forms found
Maravillosos perseguidos is a successful transmedia cam- have been built based on examples daily in cities takes on unprecedented relevance. Observa-
paign carried out by the Explora Park of Medellin, Colombia, of disgust and hatred, justified in tions, drawings, records, and community environmental
to train citizens to respect biodiversity. It is an ethical public tastes and aesthetics of contempt projects show civil society’s role in managing Colombian
campaign that emphasizes, as priority obligations, learning to (Forbes, 2020). The invitation of biodiverse cities [...]. Knowing with whom the urban habitat
respect not only what is similar to us but also bringing citizens BiodiverCities is to create new nar- is shared will provide knowledge to build, manage, use, and
closer to real biodiversity, that which is profuse in its forms, ratives based on informed citizens protect it in a balanced way, so it is necessary to continue
complex in its life systems, and escaped from common places. who make nature their own and sharing, recognizing, and mobilizing collective actions of
Through a mixture of resources, from popular culture, litera- become spokespersons for biodi- the inspiring world of nature in cities” (Montoya et al., 2018).
ture, plastic arts, music, cinema, and biology, they seek to re- verse practices and other forms of
claim the role of unloved species such as opossums, piranhas, knowledge about its conservation, More information (in Spanish) at:
cockroaches, bats, moths, weeds, toads, snakes, etc. recovery, or use. From a cognitive http://reporte.humboldt.org.co/biodiversidad/2017/cap3/303/
point of view, these learned and http://reporte.humboldt.org.co/biodiversidad/2020/cap2/201/
More information at: informed citizens (see Box 1) seek http://reporte.humboldt.org.co/biodiversidad/2020/cap3/306/
https://encasa.parqueexplora.org/maravillosos-perseguidos/ to reclaim biodiversity and respect
for what is different as an essen-
tial part of who we are, consid-
 78
istence with other forms of life. It re-
fers to a deep emotional need to be in
intimate and constant contact with
living beings (Wilson, 1984) by walk-
ing through a forest, contemplating
sunsets, watching water flow, and
socializing with those we love under
the shade of a tree.
In the global landscape of
the pandemic, essential changes
in how we interact with each other
and our environment were appar-
ent. Particularly evident was the
impact of lockdown on the mental
health of citizens and the role na-
ture plays in counteracting it. The
increased use of green space and
outdoor socialization to reduce vi-
rus transmission during this period
has led many people to appreciate
the mental health benefits of local
parks (Roe & McCay, 2021). This ex-
ample shows how interaction with
nature creates multiple cultural and
immaterial benefits for us: land-
scape and green public spaces that
allow physical exercise, relaxation,
and contemplation and reinforce
socialization, social cohesion, and
a sense of belonging (Gómez-Bag-
gethun, 2016).
By awakening the sense
of observation for nature’s daily
events and reflecting on the ecolog-
ical processes that determine hu-
man well-being, curiosity flourishes
for those living beings with which
the urban and rural space is shared:
this promotes questions, observa-
tion, inventories, and participatory
monitoring processes, i.e., science
in the hands of citizens. In this con-
text, proposals such as citizen sci-
ence appear, a space for knowledge
production that attracts a very het-
erogeneous group of actors to a col-
laborative learning space (Lafuente,
2017). This space facilitates a vast
network of participating citizens
who collaborate and provide data
through different platforms (e.g.,
iBird and iNaturalist) and, at the
same time, acquire new learning
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY transformation 79
and skills related to the enjoyment curiosity, which turns them into as the youth movements led by and mobilize actors, resources, and  Cities are the most crucial point
of and interdependence with nature people who implement daily sus- Greta Thunberg, from Sweden, information for the transformation of convergence of social and
(Sanz et al., 2014). tainability practices. These citi- through the worldwide student of their habitat, their block, their ecological challenges for the
From the socioemotional zens also seek spaces and oppor- movement “Fridays For Future” territory; leadership capabilities re- persistence of humanity, mak-
point of view, these conscious and tunities that allow open debates, (https://fridaysforfuture.org/), and lated to the undertaking of sustain- ing them the main laboratory in
curious citizens require a capacity where ideals and shared visions Francisco Vera, in the Colombian able actions to make nature their which to reactivate the hope of
to pay attention daily, to know how are built. Spaces in which every- case, with the “Guardians for Life” own; and finally, the hope that they redefining and re-educating for
to ask questions through curiosity, one can intervene. These are the movement. They are people who can promote significant changes in a better tomorrow. Transforma-
to be passionate about cities’ natural bases for being able to talk about act according to environmental harmony with nature. tive actions that can effectively
histories, to record the enthusiasm of citizenship, social inclusion, and precepts, seeking to maintain the address these challenges will
everyday life as if they were expedi- a new relationship with nature. harmony of their daily actions WHAT COMES FIRST: facilitate the transition of these
tionists in the face of an urbanizing In short, a society worth living in with nature. As a result of their THE BIODIVERCITY OR spaces into biodiverse, livable,
world that calls for a new role, that (Subirats, 2011). This is why citi- convictions, they get involved and BIODIVERCITIZENS? equitable and resilient cities.
of urban naturalists (see Box 2). This zen participation is a fundamen- lead community movements for  Reconciling the relations be-
social reclaiming of nature begins to tal ingredient of sustainable de- environmental education and sus- The transformation proposed by tween society and nature pro-
establish another type of action in velopment because a world that is tainable development. BiodiverCities implies new ca- posed by BiodiverCities requires
the territory, where it is evident that fairer and more respectful of na- This activation requires pacities, values, and attitudes of moving towards active partici-
biodiversity management is in the ture does not depend on those in that appropriate information be citizens who participate in and pation of new citizens in making
hands of each citizen. power (Álvarez-Vanegas, 2019) but transformed into adequate knowl- manage their territory based on judgments on matters of com-
on those who manage their terri- edge to discern the problems, reconciling their relationship with mon interest, in decision making,
Bold and Active Citizens tory daily. their implications, and multiple nature. This process calls for the in ethical-political reflection, as
The daily life of citizens who are It takes audacity and ac- incidences. It is central that each emergence and empowerment well as in executing and moni-
open to learning about nature tivation of the senses to act, de- citizen asserts themselves in bio- of new types of citizens that, in toring what has been decided and
and informed about their territo- fend, mobilize and make urban diversity and learns how to partic- terms of biodiversity, can be guid- what is expected to be achieved.
ry, observe, contemplate, and are nature one’s own. Traits that ipate in decision-making. Hence, ed by principles such as:
aware of the benefits that biodi- have been close to the new gen- management is the highest form KEY MESSAGES
versity offers for their health and erations through environmental of citizen participation. Manage-  Being a citizen is not a given. We
enjoyment. In addition, it creates influencers and activists, such ment in terms of citizens, that is, have a surplus of nominal citi- The challenges of this new ur-
in the horizon of a policy and a zens, a bonanza of information ban era, brought about by the
general sense that seeks to “cre- and situations. Still, we have a ecological crisis and growing in-
BOX 3. ate a concept of collective action profound deficit of real and ac- equality, can only be met through
ESCAZÚ YOUTH AGREEMENT that allows citizens to imagine tive sentipensante citizens who education. It is urgent to train and
and cross the frontiers of what is consider themselves part of na- empower new citizens who, aware
socially possible” (Medellín, 1994). ture and act for it. This change and knowledgeable of their environ-
Assimilating the growth of multiple environmental youth However, becoming part implies sensitive, transforming ment, are willing to transform the
movements around the world, the United Nations Children’s of ecosystems does not only imply citizens who reason, learn, man- society they dream of based on this
Fund (UNICEF) promotes a toolkit created collectively among protecting, regenerating, or even age and encourage others and knowledge.
young activists from 15 countries in Latin America and the Ca- building them but also agreeing to are co-responsible with the terri- Ecosystems are the product
ribbean in the context of environmental protection and human govern and manage them. Once tory they inhabit. of human actions and culture;
rights: the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public the will of citizens has been mani-  The new citizens that emerge therefore, they are a material and
Participation, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters fested, building harmonious coex- in BiodiverCities act decisively symbolic construction. Cities re-
in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement). This istence must become a habit (Bap- to ensure that the well-being semble the world of relationships be-
platform seeks to encourage and guide young environmental tiste, 2014). This process must occur of those with whom they coex- tween the social and ecological sys-
activists’ active and informed participation and presents the through active participation in local ist (humans and non-humans) tems they host and, consequently,
following reports: Tools for Climate Action, What is Climate processes to foster collective and and the care of the ecosystems their citizens’ decisions about their
Governance?, Get Ready to Act!, Paris Agreement for Young Peo- guided action and be part of citizen in which they interact go hand development.
ple, and Climate Glossary for Young People. (UNICEF, 2020). networks, debates, self-behavioral in hand. This must occur with- Citizens are key actors in shap-
changes, and seek political action out being detrimental to other ing socio-ecosystems based
More information at: and public discussion. people or ecosystems. Biodi- on the cognitive, socio-emotional,
https://www.unicef.org/lac/informes/acuerdo-escazu-para-jo- Bold and active citizens re- verCities are built with citizens and behavioral aspects that are in
venes quire, from the behavioral point of willing to achieve a full life in constant interrelation and interde-
view, some guidelines concerning harmony with the natural sys- pendence with the nature humans
BiodiverCities: the ability to attract tems on which they depend. admire.
 80
BIODIVERCITY
PLANNING:
STRATEGIES FOR
INCORPORATING URBAN
BIODIVERSITY AND ITS
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Urbanization is advancing progres-
sively and rapidly throughout the
world, particularly in countries con-
sidered to be developing. These grow-
ing urbanization trends since the
mid-20th century have been marked
by the generation of significant oppor-
tunities and the emergence of critical
social, economic, and environmental
challenges. Human agglomerations
facilitated by urban areas have led
to substantial economies of scale at
local and regional levels and consid-
erable global progress in indicators of
human well-being (Chen et al., 2014;
Van Zanden et al., 2014). However, at
the same time, urban growth has pro-
duced high costs and externalities at
local and regional scales associated
with the loss of natural cover, air and
water pollution, or phenomena such
as heat islands. Climate change or
the depletion of natural resources are
precisely the results of these urban-
ization phenomena, which ultimately
affect the quality of life of a growing
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
urban population that is directly ben-
efited or affected by the environmen-
tal conditions that cities generate at
different scales (Grimm et al., 2008;
Seto et al., 2012).
In response to the challeng-
es posed by urbanization, different
approaches to the proper planning
of these spaces have been tested and
implemented worldwide. Such plan-
ning is usually oriented to achieve
economic, social, cultural, and envi-
ronmental objectives by developing
spatial visions, strategies and plans
and applying a set of principles, tools,
mechanisms, and instruments in in-
stitutional or regulatory aspects (Ra-
ven et al., 2018). Urban planning has
thus become a powerful instrument
to reshape the forms and functions
of cities and their surrounding re-
gions. Not only to generate economic
growth, prosperity, or employment
but also to ensure social and envi-
ronmental conditions that compre-
hensively address the quality of life
Paola Morales
Alexander von Humboldt
Institute for Biological
Resources Research, Colombia
Claudia Álvarez
Ministry of Environment
and Sustainable Development of
Colombia.
demands of the human groups living
there (Barton & Grant, 2013).
The spectrum of planning
tools, mechanisms, and instruments
that cities worldwide employ to re-
spond to these challenges has been
growing and changing, reflecting an
evolving continuum (Oliveira & Pinho,
2010). This growth and change, in re-
cent decades, has shown the need to
address the effects that the processes
of loss and transformation of natu-
ral ecosystems resulting from urban
growth can have on the quality of ur-
ban life. Such phenomena are direct-
ly linked to the loss of fundamental
ecological functions to maintain the
provision of regulatory, provision-
ing, and cultural ecosystem services
that determine human well-being in
all cities (Niemelä, 1999; Nilon et al.,
2017). In this context, urban planning
has become a fundamental strategy
for maintaining the growth dynam-
ics of cities. Doing so by providing the
necessary elements for their develop-
TRANSFORMATION
ment, preventing the environmental
degradation that this may generate,
promoting their resilience, and guar-
anteeing the well-being and quality of
life of the people who live in them.
Urban planning that incor-
porates ecosystems and biodiversity
has made it possible to recover cit-
ies’ importance and comprehensive
view and break paradigms around
management based exclusively on
the urban gray. This perspective
highlights the value of the natural
capital of cities in human well-being
and the quality of life they can offer,
as well as the challenges that may
lie behind their explicit inclusion in
mechanisms, tools, and instruments
that address planning in both urban
and urban-regional contexts.
BIODIVERSITY IN URBAN
PLANNING?
Urban planning is currently con-
ceived as a participatory, technical,
and political process led by the State,
which involves all stakeholders in
its development. In a new vision that
incorporates the regional dimen-
sion and recognizes the importance
of ecosystems and biodiversity as
structuring elements of a function-
al landscape, these processes must
be oriented to support and articulate
decision-making and action on the
territory at different scales, including
the urban scale. This approach will
make it possible to prevent, solve and
more effectively mitigate the con-
flicts that affect the balance between
biodiversity conservation, ecosystem
services, their resilience, and the de-
velopment of socio-economic activi-
ties and dynamics (Nilon et al., 2017).
Incorporating these dimen-
sions implies understanding that
they must be integrated as funda-
mental, inescapable, and insepara-
ble components of these processes.
Planning thus makes it possible to
understand the territory and, to this
81
Quote as: Morales Ramírez, P.A., Álvarez Londoño, C.M.
BiodiverCity Planning: Strategies for Incorporating Urban
Biodiversity and Its Ecosystem Services. P. 80-87. In: Mejía, M.A.,
Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
extent, provides a synthesis of the
structure and dynamics of ecosys-
tems and their biodiversity at the
regional scale. It also provides an
assessment of the problems in the
face of urban transformation trends
and recognizes the territorial po-
tentialities that support their func-
tioning and sustainability (Ahern
et al., 2014). Thus, comprehensive
management of biodiversity and
its ecosystem services in urban-re-
gional contexts becomes relevant to
“promote sustainable development
processes based on land use and
occupation patterns in accordance
with biodiversity, its ecosystem and
social services, the population, cul-
ture, and the development poten-
tial of each one” (Ahern et al., 2014).
(Márquez, 1997).
In this context, the structur-
ing character of ecosystems, biodi-
versity, and their ecosystem services
in planning processes becomes ev-
ident, elements traditionally incor-
 82
porated in rural components under
planning instruments but which
have been little recognized in urban
environments as integrating ele-
ments of territorial occupation mod-
els. It’s worth emphasizing that as
the more fine-grained scale —such as
the urban— becomes more detailed,
the more representative elements of
ecosystem functionality at the ru-
ral level become less noticeable. And
the social functionality of biodiversi-
ty and its impact and benefits on the
well-being of the population becomes
more important (Cilliers, 2010).
Beyond its biological attri-
butes, urban biodiversity thus re-
flects historical processes of territo-
rial transformation that have been
conditioned by geographic, political,
and economic characteristics and
specific social and cultural values.
This set of factors, materialized in a
territorial occupation model, recre-
ates the landscape at different spatial
and temporal scales (Alberti et al.,
2003). Therefore, the models of ter-
ritorial occupation at the urban level
that are designed and projected from
territorial planning must be built
based on ecosystems, which usual-
ly go beyond the limits of a city. This
landscape perspective establishes
the need to structure a model that in-
tegrates elements at urban-rural and
urban-regional scales. This urban-re-
gional planning model (see the chap-
ter “BiodiverCity and region: a unitary
system. The paradigm shift in urban
development in the 21st century” in
this book) will make it possible to
manage the ecosystem services de-
manded by the city more efficiently
and comprehensively. It also ensures
the conservation of a mosaic of cov-
erages that allow their provision at
the regional scale (Norton et al., 2016).
From a global perspective,
fundamental challenges have been
identified in the generation of knowl-
edge on the biodiversity-ecosystem
services relationship in urban-re-
gional settings and its importance
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
in planning processes at that scale.
For example, issues such as the ben-
efits of ecological restoration in ur-
ban environments are still poorly
understood (Gómez-Baggethum et
al., 2013). This lack of understanding
also applies to urban biodiversity’s
role in generating benefits for citi-
zens and the objectives that should be
managed around these relationships
in aspects such as the protection of
green areas and their connectivity,
integration, and multifunctionality.
From a management perspective,
although the relationships between
natural dynamics and physical-spa-
tial, sociocultural, and political dy-
namics are significant (supply of eco-
system services, the concurrence of
natural disasters, for example), these
interactions and flows have been
poorly understood and included in an
urban-regional planning perspective.
(Forman, 2010).
On a global scale, there is ev-
idence of efforts to incorporate eco-
systems and biodiversity in urban-re-
gional planning processes, which
are usually based on public admin-
istration and, on other occasions, on
the initiative of social organizations
or driven by international coopera-
tion agencies. Two cases in the Latin
American region well represent and
exemplify the possible global panora-
ma around these efforts.
In Brazil, in the last 50 years,
the urban population increased from
45% to 85%. This phenomenon has
brought severe environmental im-
pacts, especially related to the degra-
dation and reduction of green areas,
thus contributing to an increase in
flooding, landslides, and other per-
sistent risk situations in Brazil’s ur-
ban environments (Da Mata et al.,
2007). In response to this problem,
the country has begun to focus on
integrated territorial management to
reconcile its demands for economic
growth with the conservation of nat-
ural resources and the quality of life
in cities. In this context, innovative
TRANSFORMATION 83
planning instruments are emerg- ecological structures (EEP, for its HOW TO INCORPORATE conditions that allow their sustain-
ing, such as ecological-econom- Spanish acronym)— in urban-region- BIODIVERSITY IN URBAN able use (Figure 1). These strategies,
ic zoning as the basis for land use al environments, the development PLANNING? which can be complementary, con-
planning in the country’s cities. It and use of effective urban green area tribute to the construction of possi-
is also worth mentioning programs indicators, and the conceptualization There are various strategies for plan- ble biodiversity and local ecosystem
such as Greener Cities (Ciudades + and implementation of frameworks ning urban biodiversity on a global services action plans. The latter can
Verde), created by the Brazilian Min- such as green infrastructure. The scale. They range from preserving be developed considering the need
istry of the Environment. It is one of latter allows glimpsing significant existing natural elements, restoring for different tactics for each scale at
the axes of the National Urban En- advances in linking ecosystems and those under conditions of degrada- which biodiversity is manifested, or
vironmental Quality Agenda, whose biodiversity in territorial planning tion or fragmentation, generating urban ecosystem services are config-
objective is to increase the quantity within this country’s regions and ur- knowledge to have more details for ured (Dearborn & Kark, 2010; Kowarik,
and quality of urban green areas and ban areas. decision-making, and establishing 2011; Nilon, 2011).
improve the quality of life in cities.
In addition to this, the integration of
areas of great ecological value, such
Figure 1. Strategies to incorporate urban biodiversity in urban planning.
as the São Paulo City Green Belt Bio- Source: Prepared by the authors.
sphere Reserve, created in 1994, has
been integrated into planning. This
area, which has more than 600,000
hectares of forest, offers city resi-
dents numerous essential benefits to
ensure their well-being, mainly be- Consolidate systems of Define soils in need of
PERSERVATION
cause of its role in food security, air municipal protected areas protection
quality, water supply, cultural heri-
tage, and climate stabilization.
Meanwhile, in Colombia, ad-
dressing the relationship between
the phenomenon of urbanization,
Strengthen biodiversity
ecosystem transformation, and bio-
inventory and monitoring
diversity loss represents a great chal- Consolidate research
GENERATING processes and services
lenge, both for the research agenda KNOWLEDGE groups
and for incorporating this knowledge (e.g., Biodiversity
into territorial planning schemes and Information Systems).
processes at all scales (national, re-
gional, and local). However, this trend
has been changing through methods
developed by organizations such as
the Alexander von Humboldt Insti- Integration of
tute. These processes have begun Functionality and surrounding areas
RESTORATION
to include conceptual approaches, ecological connectivity Adaptation of species
methodological approaches, indica- to available spaces
tors, and strategies focused on biodi-
versity, such as using nature-based
solutions (NbS), thus recognizing
the dynamics of ecosystems at ur-
ban-regional scales. This is coupled Define areas of Actions to prevent loss (e.g.,
with the development made by in- environmental importance environmental education).
stitutions such as the Ministry of SUSTAINABLE USE
Encourage urban Incentives for conservation
Environment and Sustainable Devel-
agriculture and preservation
opment (2015). This development is
evidenced in exercises for the iden-
tification and regulatory recognition
of ecological networks —called main
 84
The preservation of urban biodi-
versity refers to those actions that
seek to maintain the structure and
natural functioning of ecosystems
and biodiversity and its ecosystem
services by limiting or eliminating
human intervention in them. With-
in this framework, it is worth high-
lighting those processes leading to:
Consolidate urban protected area
systems based on the identification,
declaration, and effective manage-
ment of urban and peri-urban areas.
Develop systematic planning
processes to identify conserva-
tion gaps and use them to guide
legal and practical protection
processes in priority sites.
Identify protected soils with re-
stricted possibilities for urban-
ization due to their geographic,
landscape, environmental charac-
teristics or because they are part
of public utility zones for the pro-
vision of public utilities or areas of
threat and unmitigable risk for the
location of human settlements.
Manage urban green areas, con-
sidering important aspects such as
the resilience of these spaces and
the development of actions aimed
at maintaining native species, con-
trolling invasive plants and ani-
mals, recovering nutrient cycles, or
increasing landscape connectivity.
Information and knowledge man-
agement refers to obtaining and com-
piling data that, when integrated and
analyzed, allow us to understand the
structure and functioning of urban
areas, their biodiversity, and the eco-
system services they provide. It also
seeks to feed and guide decision-mak-
ing that ensures the maintenance
of this biodiversity while reducing
the pressures that affect it at the ur-
ban scale. These objectives can be
achieved through actions such as:
Strengthen urban biodiversity
inventory processes, including
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
collecting information on func-
tional groups and traits, compo-
sition patterns, ecological struc-
ture and function, and mapping
of ecosystem services and their
connection with indicators of
urban human well-being.
Consolidate networks for the
generation, collection, and anal-
ysis of information related to
biodiversity and ecosystem ser-
vices at the urban scale.
Identify criteria, references, and
baselines that allow regular
monitoring of biodiversity and
urban ecosystem services and
the effectiveness of those ac-
tions focused on their mainte-
nance and persistence.
Restoration describes the processes
aimed at the rehabilitation, remedi-
ation, or recreation of ecosystems,
their components, functions, or ser-
vices to increase the coverage of
habitats and ecosystems, mitigate
the effects of fragmentation, reestab-
lish landscape connectivity and en-
sure the provision of vital ecosystem
services for the well-being of the ur-
ban population. Among the actions
contemplated are:
Rehabilitate, remediate or restore
spaces with ecological and social
criteria that contribute to main-
taining urban biodiversity, in-
cluding remnants of native vege-
tation or bodies of water such as
rivers and urban wetlands.
Renaturalize or recreate attri-
butes or functions of nature in
cities through landscape design
and eco urbanism approaches.
Generate follow-up and moni-
toring processes to evaluate the
effectiveness of the restoration
objectives.
Develop initiatives to generate a
change in the social, economic,
or political practices that led to
the degradation of the ecosys-
tems to be restored.
TRANSFORMATION 85
Sustainable use refers to the actions define urban planning and the pos- clusion adequately, tools that facil- both by the actors who carry out this
of direct or indirect use that humans sibility of incorporating biodiversi- itate this task are necessary. In this task and by those who contribute
make of the biodiversity present in ty into them are evident (Ministry sense, they should focus on different in one way or another to the devel-
or around urban areas and the ser- of Environment and Sustainable planning moments or be transversal opment and application practice of
vices it provides to produce a ben- Development, 2015). To achieve in- to them and be designed to be used these processes.
efit for present generations while
maintaining its potential to meet
the needs and aspirations of future
Figure 2. Planning and land use instruments that incorporate ecosystems, biodiversity,
generations. In the framework of and ecosystem services at regional and local levels in Colombia.
truly sustainable use, such actions Source: Prepared by the authors.
must involve all stakeholders: from
all urban dwellers to policymakers,
ADMINISTRATIVE PLANNING LAND USE
urban planners, scientists, and de- LEVELS INSTRUMENTS INSTRUMENTS
cision-makers, to define guidelines,
strategies, and tools to preserve and
restore biodiversity, the services it REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN
provides, and reduce natural risks in
the urban environment.
Usually, planning instru- STATES/ Urban
Departmental
ments that can incorporate this type PROVINCES/ Development
Development Plan
of strategy are developed at different
REGIONAL
REGIONS Treatments
scales (national, regional, local). This
same logic is followed in urban-re-
gional settings, generally with inter- Integrated
actions at different planning scales. METROPOLITAN Metropolitan Partial Plans
It is vital to include tools that allow Development Plan
the management of ecosystems and
MASTER PLANS
biodiversity to their functional ca-
pacity to provide ecosystem services
from beginning to end. Among the
Urban Development
instruments that usually present
Treatments
more significant opportunities for MUNICIPALTIES/ Municipal Territorial Partial Plans
LOCAL
this purpose are those that define COUNTIES/ Development Management Territorial Managemen
land-use planning at national scales
TOWNS Plan Instruments Instruments
and planning tools that address in-
termediate scales (e.g., partial plans,
urban development treatments, ur-
ban planning units, etc.). Programs URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
at regional scales such as metro-
politan strategic land-use plans are
usually linked to these mechanisms,
along with socio-economic planning In this frame of reference, we propose to identify at least five
instruments that become an im- different types of tools aimed at:
portant way to manage biodiversity. Institutional arrangements.
The latter is because they are used Characterization of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Financing.
to plan the development of cities, de- Information management. Social awareness and civic participation.
velop projects and allocate resources
(Ahern, 2013; Heymans et al., 2019).
An example of this joint
work is presented in Colombia. As Tools related to the characterization nostic stages of planning. These pro- mation and, on the other, to prioritize
shown in Figure 2, in this case, the of biodiversity and ecosystem ser- cesses make it possible, on the one the collection of information that is
relationship and interaction between vices are technical processes that hand, to approach knowledge of the essential to guide decision-making
various tools and instruments that are generally developed in the diag- urban territory using available infor- in planning processes (Figure 3).
 86
Figure 3. Application of tools at
different stages of land planning.
Source: Prepared by the authors.
EVALUATION, MONITORING
AND CONTROL
Mechanisms, indicators,
actions
MANAGEMENT
Mgmt. Instruments (How
will this be achieved?)
Economic
compensation,
incentives, etc
Financing tools are usually as-
sociated with the formulation and im-
plementation stages of the planning pro-
cesses since they are called to guarantee
the actual application in the territory of
the proposed proposals. The occupation
model agreed upon with stakeholders is
also partly managed through them (see
chapter “Towards the financing of the
BiodiverCity” in this book). Thus, these
tools are essential to complement territo-
rial management and make the guideli-
nes and strategies proposed in the action
plans and other programmatic compo-
nents a reality (Figure 3).
The tools aimed at institution-
al management and social ownership
constitute cross-cutting elements
in the planning and management
processes to the extent that they are
fundamental for carrying out the pro-
cedures in a coordinated and collab-
orative manner. Likewise, these tools
help ensure that the processes are car-
ried out inclusively and that the deci-
sions made in the planning framework
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
DIAGNOSIS
Base line, situational
analysis
Information Mgmt
Institutional
Arrangements
Social Awareness
Citizen Participation
Strategies, actions,
guidelines, norms,
policies, programs,
Tools in place for land planning policy
are consistent with the territorial reali-
ty and social demands (Figure 3).
PLANNING RECIPROCAL AND
POSITIVE RELATIONS BETWEEN
THE CITY AND REGION
Societies must think and manage cit-
ies beyond the political-administrative
boundaries of urban areas but recognize
that there is biodiversity and, therefore,
ecosystem services within and outside
these spaces (Anthopoulos & Vakali,
2012; Norton et al., 2016). This implies
recognizing the relationship and joint
work that should always exist between
the different scales of biodiversity and
its roles in various urban, peri-urban,
and rural contexts, considering their
implications for the provision of ecosys-
tem services and benefits.
The city needs the services of
ecosystems outside the city, such as
water and food, which are generally
provided by rural areas or contiguous
regions, and urban biodiversity, which
Characterization of
the BiodiverCity and
ecosystem services
PROSPECTIVE
Objectives, goals,
territorial model
definition
FORMULATION
projects
provides more specific services typi-
cally associated with the population’s
well-being. Thus, biodiversity man-
agement in urban environments must
consider strategic ecosystems. Al-
though not necessarily found within
the city, these ecosystems are essen-
tial for their inhabitants’ quality of life
(see the chapter “BiodiverCity and re-
gion: a unitary system. The paradigm
shift in urban development in the 21st
century” in this book). To this end,
ways must be established to structure
the connectivity of urban-rural and
urban-regional elements to maintain
and manage multiple ecosystem ser-
vices demanded by cities in a more
efficient, comprehensive, and sustain-
able way (Kim & Kwon, 2021).
There are cases where the con-
tinuity of urban trees, for example, allows
structural connectivity between ecosys-
tems or can even generate functional
connectivity by facilitating the transit of
particular species or flows of ecosystem
services between different areas. There
TRANSFORMATION
are also cases in which forest areas pro-
tecting urban water flows, with proper
management, promote connectivity
between important rural and urban
ecosystems. It is here where the identifi-
cation of urban ecological networks and
green infrastructure strategies, together
with other structures at supra-urban and
regional scales, can be vital elements for
managing urban ecosystem services
and quality of life in cities (Ignatieva et al.,
2011; Van Oijstaeijen et al., 2020).
REALITIES AND CHALLENGES
IN THE PLANNING OF
BIODIVERCITIES
Territorial planning has been the sub-
ject of countless challenges on the
road to building more resilient ter-
ritories, better adapted to social and
environmental changes, friendlier,
and capable of offering better living
conditions to their inhabitants. In this
context, territorial planning has en-
abled the incorporation of tools that
allow cities and regions to know and
manage their territory programmat-
ically and prospectively, considering
their particularities. For this purpose,
installed capacities, information,
technical knowledge, and instru-
ments are required to help develop
these processes most accurately and
efficiently. Likewise, tools are needed
to learn about and strengthen the un-
derstanding of biodiversity’s role and
the services derived from it to sustain
the development of their territories
and their socio-economic dynamics.
The institutions that support
planning processes at the territorial
scale need tools that allow them to
jointly and in a coordinated manner
address the challenges above, pro-
viding them with the necessary ele-
ments to generate institutional strat-
egies per specific territorial realities
and specific social and ecological de-
mands. Cities, being complex, highly
transformed territories with unique
dynamics, require a differential ap-
proach to their planning and man-
agement, recognizing that they are
both demanders and generators of
ecosystem services and social bene-
fits provided by their ecosystems and
urban biodiversity.
One of the most important
strategies for linking biodiversity and
its services in urban planning has
been the development of the concepts
of ecological networks, green infra-
structure, and environmental struc-
tures (Andrade et al., 2013; Ignatieva et
al., 2011; Minor et al., 2017). The imple-
mentation of these concepts in plan-
ning has facilitated the development
of processes aimed at maintaining, re-
covering, and sustainably using func-
tional networks of green elements
that constitute the basis that articu-
lates the urban-regional system, from
biodiversity and ecosystem services,
as support for territorial development.
In practice, these efforts have gathered
different elements to guide the work
with the regions and territorial enti-
ties in the planning and management
processes since they allow knowing
the organization and functionality of
the natural and semi-natural areas in
the territory, including the urban-re-
gional environments. These networks
that define a territorial functional eco-
logical structure are then constituted
as a determining element of territorial
planning and an opportunity to:
Recognize the structuring nature
of biodiversity as a basis for land-
use planning.
Serve as a valuable framework for
land-use planning and natural re-
source management. It does not re-
place land-use planning instruments.
Support decision-making on land
use, zoning, and land conserva-
tion strategies.
Promote complementarity between
different land uses to maintain eco-
logical integrity and connectivity.
Sustain a framework that guaran-
tees the articulation with territori-
al planning processes at different
spatial and temporal scales.
87
KEY MESSAGES
Mainstream biodiversity as a
critical element to achieve urban
sustainability. As fundamental stra-
tegies for maintaining the dynamics
of urban growth throughout the world,
territorial planning and management
must expand a field of action based
exclusively on urban gray and incor-
porate the actual value that biodiversi-
ty and its ecosystem services have on
the quality of life in cities.
Move towards integrated ma-
nagement of urban biodiversity.
Planning processes should comprehen-
sively address the links between social
and ecological systems that converge
in a city. They should promote strategies
that incorporate land use and occupa-
tion patterns, cultural practices, social
demands with biodiversity, ecosystem
services, and their role in urban areas’
resilience and adaptive capacity.
Articulating planning instru-
ments at various spatial scales.
For cities seeking to face a transfor-
mation that will drive them towards
sustainability based on their urban
biodiversity, developing planning pro-
cesses that transcend established po-
litical-administrative boundaries is a
priority. And they should be doing so
by recognizing and incorporating the
links and flows that cities and their
demands for services have at a spatial
and temporal level with ecosystems,
biodiversity, and ecosystem services
found at the regional level.
Develop complementary stra-
tegies for biodiversity-based
planning and managing. The expli-
cit incorporation of biodiversity in
cities should start with complimen-
tary use of preservation, restoration,
and sustainable use strategies. The-
se should be coordinated through
knowledge management that feeds
and guides decision-making pro-
cesses that ensure the maintenance
of biodiversity, reduce the pressures
that affect it, and promote adaptive
strategies based on learning.
 88
TOWARDS THE
FINANCING
OF THE
BIODIVERCITY
Investment
mechanisms for
incorporating
biodiversity in urban
planning
The world’s cities will become a key
element in reversing the effects of
climate change, as well as the dama-
ge to ecosystems and, consequent-
ly, their capacity to provide human
well-being. This is what the con-
ceptualization of BiodiverCities and
their implementation is aimed at.
Since the creation of the United Na-
tions Environment Program (UNEP)
in 1972, there has been significant
institutional growth to promote en-
vironmental protection - climate
change, preservation of ecosystems,
environmental governance and
“green” finance,1 which has led to en-
vironmental problems becoming a
priority on the global agenda. A key
in this process has been encoura-
ging investment strategies and poli-
cies, both public and private, to stren-
gthen natural capital2 .
Within this framework, the
phenomenon of urban expansion
acquires great importance due to its
recognized impacts on nature (WEF
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
et al., 2022), its contribution to green-
house gas (GHG) emissions, and the
high risk of human and material
damage that can stem from the re-
sulting degradation of ecosystems.
This situation requires urgent action,
given that, as the United Nations3
points out, 55% of the world’s people
live in cities today, and this propor-
tion will increase to 68% by 2050. It
is, therefore, a priority to accelerate
climate mitigation and adaptation in
cities, based on the preservation and
restoration of their ecosystems and
biodiversity, seen as a way to effecti-
vely address these challenges (WEF
et al., 2022). It is a matter of adapting
urban planning to environmental
criteria and orienting investments
towards natural capital. This is the
reason for the scope that financing
acquires, within the framework of
the BiodiverCity concept, as a model
for sustainable urban development.
In this sense, “Nature-based
solutions” (NbS) are a key element that
Rigoberto Lugo
Consultant on urban planning
and financing issues, Colombia.
Pablo Lazo
World Resources Institute (WRI),
México.
has emerged in actions to protect, sus-
tainably manage and restore natural
or modified ecosystems around cities
while at the same time being useful to
enhance their benefits for human we-
ll-being. The BiodiverCity thus emer-
ges as a concept around which invest-
ment should be prioritized through
these types of solutions. The aim is to
have greater possibilities to organize
the urban territory, respond to the cli-
mate emergency and reduce its im-
pact on biodiversity.
Designing and defining fi-
nancing mechanisms to develop NbS
projects in cities is already underway.
However, these mechanisms must be
accompanied by a public policy, which
requires articulating several elements
to promote their effectiveness. An
important issue is guaranteeing the
financing of investments, which can
be a complex bottleneck in the case
of LAC.4 Despite this, the potential for
investment in NbS projects exceeds
US$500 billion, generating more than
Transformation
50 million jobs (WEF & Alexander von
Humboldt Biological Resources Re-
search Institute, 2022). In this sense,
the operationalization of the Biodi-
verCity concept can provide an impe-
tus to make these investments more
viable. Thus, it is necessary to expand
the financing of these actions, as well
as the design and adoption of novel fi-
nancial instruments, so that together
with the traditional ones - public bud-
gets, multilateral or local loans - they
can guarantee “green” investments
in those cities that seek a transition
towards sustainability. All this is ba-
sed on the protection, restoration, and
sustainable use of their ecosystems
and biodiversity.
This chapter presents pos-
sible mechanisms that can facilitate
this financing, mainly focused on the
case of LAC countries. Thus, it points
out alternatives for NbS funding, both
public and private, focused on stren-
gthening the commitment made by
BiodiverCities and their consequent
89
Quote as: Luego, R., Lazo, P. Towards the Financing of the
BiodiverCity. P. 88-95. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
TYPES OF NBS FOR PRIORITY INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES
IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (LAC)
In a recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), primary, sec-
ondary and tertiary investment objectives and up to three
of the NbS implemented in 156 different projects were clas-
sified and analyzed across 129 broader initiatives in LAC.
This made it possible to qualitatively establish the degree
of applicability of each NbS option in relation to the priority
challenges that different sectors may be facing. As a result, a
relationship of NbS types was established against the most
important investment objectives, especially those related to
water quantity and quality, urban flooding, coastal erosion
and flooding, landslide risk, and river flooding. The main
types of solutions identified are related to the protection and
recovery of different types of ecosystems and the develop-
ment of agroforestry and silvopasture processes, good agri-
cultural practices, bioretention systems, artificial wetlands,
and urban parks, among others.
Source: Ozment, S. et al., 2021.
 90
benefits in urban planning and ma-
nagement in the region. In addition,
the information presented seeks to
contribute in the creation of public
policies that make viable the articu-
lation of projects, the confluence of
funds, and the efficient execution of
other related public policies.
GENERAL
CONTEXT AND
THE VALUE OF
BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
The financing of projects that link
biodiversity and the city, mainly su-
pported by NbS, must consider that
what is urban refers not only to that
which is built. It must also recognize
that biological diversity has an im-
portant capital value in these spaces,
as it provides ecosystem services
that are fundamental for the well-be-
ing of citizens. In other words, biolo-
gical diversity is an asset equivalent
to land surplus value.
These natural assets that
should be valued within the con-
cept of BiodiverCity are diverse and
operate at different scales. They can
be represented by protected areas,
green zones, rivers, canals, wet-
lands, coastal areas, including flora
and fauna found in these spaces, as
well as water sources and food and
energy supply areas, among others.
TYPOLOGIES OF INVESTMENTS
IN NATURAL CAPITAL AND
URBAN BIODIVERSITY
The investments that arise in this
context are of different types in ter-
ms of components and technologies.
Regarding the former, they corres-
pond to the conservation or the par-
tial or total recovery of ecosystems
and green infrastructures. Regar-
ding the latter, they cover two diffe-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
rent areas: NbS and hybrid solutions
(gray, combined with NbS). 5 These
have great potential for contributing
to sustainability and generating so-
cio-environmental benefits.
In most cases, these NbS or
combined investments correspond
to public assets and should, there-
fore, be defined and operated main-
ly from that sector. However, there
are some cases in which they are
public assets or assets transferred
to private parties. As far as possi-
ble, they should be provided by pri-
vate parties or through agreements
between the State and private or
community entrepreneurs, through
concessions or public-private part-
nerships (PPPs).
Urban-regional biodiversity
is usually incorporated in this con-
text through territorial planning and
management instruments, which
identify and define as determinants
the different types of elements that
are considered to provide fundamen-
tal ecosystem services. In the case
of a country such as Colombia, for
example, this occurs precisely with
the Land Management Plans, un-
der the figure of the main ecological
structure. This instrument has three
connotations of interest: (i) it can be
a mandatory action framework for
public environmental management
and indicative of the private sector;
(ii) it has a long-term validity; and
(iii) the mandate is the responsibility
of the State (whether at the munici-
pal, regional or national level).
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
IN BIODIVERCITIES
According to Funds Society, for the
World Economic Forum, more than
half of the world’s GDP is directly de-
pendent on nature’s goods and ser-
vices. This means that a reduction
in natural capital, resulting from the
loss of biodiversity and the deterio-
ration of renewable reserves, poses a
real risk to companies, their profits,
and investors. This has been con-
firmed by recent research,6 which
shows that the positive impacts of
investments in nature outweigh the
costs that the economy would have to
bear for the losses caused by the dete-
rioration of ecosystems.
Biodiversity investments
thus face two significant challenges.
On the one hand, to adopt, as much
as possible, NbS, for which financing
mechanisms must be promoted, but
targeted in a specific way. On the
other hand, recognizing that these
are medium- and long-term projects
due to the very essence of the pro-
blems to be addressed. It is essential
to point out that international expe-
rience shows that the way to promote
NbS as the driving force of Biodiver-
Cities requires the efforts of govern-
ments, international organizations,
and multilateral financing agencies
to channel resources toward a new
generation of urban green infrastruc-
ture that includes NbS.
FINANCING THE
BIODIVERCITY:
EXPERIENCES
AND CHALLENGES
The financing of biodiversity mana-
gement in projects to promote Biodi-
verCities based on NbS requires en-
vironmental policies and actions at
global, national, regional, and local
levels. These take the form of four
main instruments: (i) planning; (ii)
command and control; (iii) econo-
mics; and (iv) education, informa-
tion, research, and citizen participa-
tion. The first refers to development
plans, watershed plans, waste ma-
nagement plans, and land use plans,
among others, which, as mentioned
above, exist in practically all coun-
tries. The second is a matter of re-
gulation and establishes specific
standards or limits that economic
Transformation
agents must comply with.7 The
third is based on using economic or
market incentives to generate be-
havioral changes in agents. Finally,
the fourth seeks to train, educate
and inform society about relevant
aspects of the environment.
FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS
FOR BIODIVERCITIES
Financial capital - or, more generi-
cally, finance - is an enabling asset
because it enables the exchange of
funds between legal entities or na-
tural persons over time and makes
investment for capital formation
viable. When the object of financing
is natural capital, it is often referred
to as “green” finances or financing.
A financing solution for bio-
diversity8 (BIOFIN - UNDP, 2018) is a
financing mechanism, tool, option,
and strategy (or some economic
instruments) that facilitates finan-
cial flows for conservation, sustai-
nable use, and equitable sharing of
ecosystem benefits (see Box 2).
It is worth mentioning three
aspects that can influence financing
and investment in natural capital
and NbS in a context of transforma-
tions such as those proposed by the
BiodiverCities:
1 There is a current imbalance be-
tween public or private funding
for investments in activities that
are harmful to ecosystems and
biodiversity - fossil fuels, agricul-
ture, fisheries, mining, and infras-
tructure, among others - versus
activities that enhance natural
assets and promote sustainable
use (Dasgupta, 2021).
2 In the case of private financing,
the main concern is the uncer-
tainty of the profitability of the-
se investments, as they have a
longer time to generate income
flows. This reduces the attrac-
tiveness of projects by affecting
the liquidity of these assets.
91
3 Conservation and restoration the valorization of environmental
projects are generally inadequa- assets as drivers of cities with better
te in size for private investment. quality of life (WEF & Alexander von
Humboldt, 2022).
Although the situation in this regard The Cambridge Institute
has improved, traditionally, financial for Sustainability Leadership [CISL]
markets do not adequately value bio- (2021) recently published the ma-
diversity outcomes and avoid inves- nual and framework for identifying
ting in NbS. This makes it necessary financial risks related to nature,
to establish incentives that particu-
larly motivate institutional investors
allowing financial institutions to
start integrating this issue into the
to consider the value of biodiversity main financial models, risk fra-
assets, both in making funding de- meworks, and portfolio strategies.
cisions and in the process stimula- In any case, it is necessary to create
ting markets to channel investment the conditions and technical capa-
from various stakeholders. Evidence cities in each country to structure
from developments in the broader
climate finance landscape indicates
projects that promote transforma-
tions in BiodiverCities at the feasibi-
that this may be achievable, thanks lity level (“ready for investment”), in
to the considerable reduction in risk addition to policies that incorporate
exposure and growing evidence of these projects into environmental
FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY
Financial solutions for biodiversity are based on a combination of
elements, including one or more financial instruments, sources of
funding, key actors or intermediaries, beneficiaries or key stakehol-
ders, and the desired financial outcome. The main elements of a fi-
nancial solution are:
• Sources of financing on which the solution is based.
• The main agent or intermediaries in charge of managing the
implementation of the solution.
• Instruments or mechanisms used to mobilize, raise, manage
and disburse the corresponding financing, with strictly finan-
cial instruments such as bonds, shares, or tax and regulatory
reforms.
• The desired financial results, including those related to: (i) avoi-
ding future expenses; (ii) providing measures that improve
cost-effectiveness and efficiency in budget execution, achieve
synergies, align incentives and favor a more equitable distribu-
tion of resources; (iii) generating revenues; and (iv) realigning
expenditures.
• Beneficiaries or stakeholders, i.e., the principal recipients who
receive the funding or are the targets of the instrument.
Source: UNDP (2018).
 92 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Transformation 93

planning. Specifically, their “banka- funds and tax revenues or sur- activities that enable the conser-
bility”9 and “scalability”10 should be charges from specific public vation, restoration, and sustainable
sought to facilitate financing. service providers; multilateral use of nature.

ntrol
loans; and private investment, This market is expected to
NbS Funding Experiences among others. see an increase in the issuance of

d co
Private financing: financing by green bonds, social bonds, sustaina-
Investments that drive the transfor- public and private companies that ble bonds, blue bonds, and all bonds

d an
Ci

Economic
mations proposed by bio-green cities are associated with the benefits of a similar nature related to sustai-

tize

man
Rese
can be made by combining traditio- derived from these investments. nable development spending by na-

np
nal interventions and NbS, especia- tional or subnational governments

ar

Com
arch
tic
Public financial instruments

ing
lly in infrastructure. Recent expe- and the private sector.

ipa
riences in the implementation and for the BiodiverCity

nn
G
ra

tio
STRATEGIES

Pl a
nt financing of these NbS demonstrate

n
s an
d that they are a way to boost green in- In general, national or subnational
Fe
do
na frastructure, in many cases in more governments allocate resources FOR THE
es tio INSTRUMENTS cost-effective conditions. In addi- for financing and investing in bio-
an
ds
urc
ns
tion, these NbS interventions allow diversity and green infrastructure. FINANCING OF
Fisc ha recognizing a wide variety of instru- They do so through: (i) direct in-
a l inc
om
rge
s ments that are implemented in the vestments from the public budget, BIODIVERCITIES
ea
nd projects’ financial solutions (Ozment whose sources may be general re-
tran
sfer et al., 2021). venues, debt, taxes, fees, or ear- The BiodiverCities initiative is an
s
Comp The main NbS financing ins- marked fiscal contributions; (ii) the appropriate and timely global res-
e nsa t
FIN

ion pr truments identified in that context creation of environmental incen- ponse to ensure sustainable ur-
ogram
s
ANCIA

(according to Ozment et al., 2021) are: tives and regulations; and (iii) pu- ban-regional development, as it
FINANCING blic-private partnership schemes, takes into account the challenges
Debt resources OF Grants and donations: these are concessions, and other joint parti- and opportunities provided by bio-
L SOLUTIO

the primary source of funding cipation mechanisms. diversity as a cornerstone within

BIODIVERCITIES for NbS. They usually come from In addition, public finan- urban planning processes. The re-
Loans PROJECTS public entities or international or ce also has access to debt sources, integration of local ecosystems in
local foundations. such as multilateral credits, throu- these processes, mainly with green
NS

ds Economic instruments: funds gh green financing lines, and to infrastructure, will lead to improved
en bon from fees and surcharges from the capital market, through green quality of life in cities.
Gre
public service providers, tax re- bonds. Likewise, the world’s green In the short and me-
ts
en venues, fiscal transfers, or reve- finance is supported bilaterally or dium-term, the formulation and fi-
tm
i nves nues from compensation pro- multilaterally by both developed nancing of these programs should
a l
pit u- grams. These instruments bring countries and multilateral develop- be guided by strategies that mini-
Ca h ro s
tt ie together national and territorial ment banks or agencies (Swann et mize structural obstacles and diffi-
en olic INV
e m p ESTMENT SCOPES public sources. al., 2021). culties. As an initial approach, the
a g nc e following are some ideas that seek
an ura Return-based instruments: debt
k m ins resources, i.e., local or interna- Private financing to promote the financing of the pro-
R is gh
tional loans from commercial or jects proposed by the BiodiverCities
c es

Pub

multilateral banks, green bonds The international community re- (Figure 2):
Private

issued by local or national go- cognizes that public funds alone

an

lic

vernments, and equity invest- are not, and will not be, sufficient to STRATEGY 1. DEVELOP A GREEN
alli

ments such as private or public ensure that current trends in bios- BOND PACKAGE TO FINANCE
ate

Figure 1. Instruments,
financial solutions, and investment funds.11 phere degradation slow down. For ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS AND
priv

investment areas that

Risk management instruments: this reason, as in the public sector, GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AS
lic -

define the financing of

innovative scheme to mitigate private investments have access to AN ARTICULATING AXIS
Pub

projects such as NbS that

project risk through insurance
make the development of
BiodiverCities viable.
policies.
Multi-source strategies: poten-
Source: Prepared by tial financing from a combina-
the authors tion of grant sources; matching
instruments such as green bonds,
sustainability-linked loans, private
equity funds in support of biodiver-
sity, environmental impact bonds,
and other insurance products for
Provide a secure financial mecha-
nism at the national and regional
level that allows the sustainability
of ecological networks and green in-
 94 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Transformation 95

Figure 2. Strategies to promote the financing of projects that can

make BiodiverCities more dynamic and viable.

DEVELOP PROMOTE ARTICULATE PROMOTE

FINANCIAL SEED POLICIES AND GREEN
MECHANISMS CAPITAL INSTRUMENTS FINANCE

Develop financing mechanisms (e.g. To explore financial support Comprehensively review and articulate Promote public investment primarily
green bonds) aimed at promoting projects that catalyzes interventions financial policies and instruments in aimed at developing projects
that boost the urban-regional link with at a small and medium order to optimize their resources and (e.g. NbS) that allow planning
biodiversity and its ecosystem services. scale in the short term. enhance investment efficiency. and managing biodiversity in
the urban-regional sphere.

frastructure as the articulating axis
of the BiodiverCity projects, guaran-
teeing the connection of the elements
of urban-regional development with
the biodiversity of the cities and their
ecosystemic services in a compre-
hensive manner. This will facilitate
the formulation and structuring of
subprojects and their financing. These
green infrastructure networks could
be strengthened in areas where prece-
dents of green bonds for air pollution
control, environmental education, and
NbS, among others, already exist.
STRATEGY 2. EXPLORE THE
CREATION OF A CATALYTIC
FUND FOR BIODIVERCITIES
It can be achieved through a partner-
ship between the three levels of go-
vernment and multilateral agencies
to obtain a financial base and provide
capital for projects within the initiati-
ve. This may include results-based fi-
nancial support such as green conser-
vation bonds, watershed restoration,
or water quality improvements. Such
a strategy could facilitate financing for
small- to medium-scale interventions.
STRATEGY 3. ARTICULATION
BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT POLICIES
AND INSTRUMENTS
It is essential to properly articulate
environmental management poli-
cies and instruments and financing
schemes following new trends in fi-
nancial markets, private investment,
tax revenue possibilities, and interna-
tional cooperation modalities. In this
regard, a comprehensive review of all
environmental policy instruments,
particularly those related to biodiver-
sity, should be carried out. The use of
existing environmental fiscal resour-
ces should be optimized, and mecha-
nisms should be redesigned to impro-
ve the efficiency of public spending.
STRATEGY 4. PROMOTION
OF GREEN FINANCE
The budgetary and financing ins-
truments available for public invest-
ment should be, as a priority, oriented
towards biodiversity projects and
should be advanced mainly at the ur-
ban-regional level, specifically throu-
gh NbS projects with a medium-term
vision. Likewise, greater public budget
allocations at different scales should
be earmarked for NbS projects, who-
se bankability has been previously
demonstrated not only in direct eco-
nomic benefits but also through the
monetization of natural capital assets.
The strategies presented seek to propo-
se an urban planning model that consi-
ders natural capital assets a cornerstone
for a socially just and economically via-
ble urban transformation based on the
protection, restoration, and sustainable
use of ecosystems and biodiversity re-
lated to urban centers. The approach to
the necessary changes in the regulatory
framework, public policy, and financial
institutions seek precisely to reorient
the financing process in order to reflect
the real cost of nature and its importan-
ce for the future of cities.
What follows are a series of
recommendations and the key mes-
sages that emerge from the pers-
pectives, tools and financing instru-
ments to catalyze biodivecities.
To make the BiodiverCity via-
ble, it is necessary to define and
implement public policies that
favor the preservation and reco-
very of biodiversity in cities.
Regulatory environments and ins-
titutional arrangements must be
created - at municipal, regional and
national levels - that favor invest-
ments in these projects and state
and/or private financing. These are
vital elements to consolidate the pu-
blic policy of a BiodiverCity.
To guarantee the BiodiverCity,
it is essential to articulate envi-
ronmental management policies
and instruments and financing
schemes according to new trends
in financial markets, private in-
vestment, tax revenue possibili-
ties, and international coopera-
tion modalities.
The strengthening of green fi-
nance, the diversification of fi-
nancial instruments and local
and international aid, and mar-
ket access facilities should be
part of the plan for the construc-
tion of the BiodiverCity.
KEY MESSAGES
Create innovative municipal bu-
dgets focused on incentivizing
green infrastructure and Nature-ba-
sed Solutions. Explore this through
channeling and integrating funds
from different government sources,
green infrastructure projects, and,
specifically, NbS.
Encourage the creation of natural
capital funds and NbS projects at
the municipal level. Define and con-
solidate an implementing agency to
finance NbS projects focused on natu-
re, biodiversity, and ecosystemic adap-
tation to climate change in cities. This
fund could explore various direct or in-
direct forms of financing.
 96
INDICATORS
FOR THE
MEASUREMENT
AND MONITORING
OF BIODIVERCITIES
Measuring the status and trends of
biodiversity and ecosystem services is
critical to understand whether a city is
adequately managed to protect various
ecological and social processes. For
example, indicators of biophysical as-
pects, referring to the size of vegetation
patches and their degree of connectivi-
ty, are necessary to assess the viability
of wildlife populations within the ur-
ban matrix (Litteral & Wu, 2012; Yang
et al., 2021). A BiodiverCity, however,
should not only be characterized by
its capacity to provide favorable condi-
tions for the preservation of different li-
ving organisms. It should also promote
better relationships between citizens
and nature and inspire new ventures
and technologies that take advantage
of ecosystem services at local and re-
gional scales (Gaston et al., 2013; Wang
et al., 2019). Therefore, measuring and
monitoring a BiodiverCity is a task that
requires models that address the city
as a complex and dynamic socio-eco-
logical system. These models are com-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
posed of multiple indicators, chosen
depending on the type of pressures,
impacts and management actions to
be understood and evaluated (Figure
1). Likewise, indicators should be asso-
ciated with clear targets and verifiable
outputs included in monitoring plans
(Mori et al., 2015; Mori & Yamashita,
2015; Pierce et al., 2020).
THE CHALLENGE OF
MEASURING A BIODIVERCITY
Defining indicators in the framework
of BiodiverCities represents a cha-
llenge both for those who generate
information and those responsible
for formulating policies related to the
sustainable use of biodiversity and
ecosystem services in urban areas.
These challenges may be related to
aspects such as the implementation
of methodologies to acquire and up-
date information in a cost-effective
way, the definition of a measurement
scale (Goddard et al., 2010), and the
Andres Suárez-Castro
Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith
University. Nathan, QLD, Australia.
María Camila Diaz
Diana Ruiz
María Cecilia Londoño
Yenifer Herrera-Varon
Dairo Escobar
Bibiana Gómez-Valencia
Alexander von Humboldt Biological
Resources Research Institute,
Colombia.
integration of biodiversity into so-
cial and economic goals (Kohsaka et
al., 2013; Pierce et al. 2020). It is also
important to keep in mind that ur-
ban areas are heterogeneous and
host multiple actors associated with
different institutions and mana-
gement levels, which have diverse
visions regarding the use of nature
(Goddard et al., 2010). Thus, obtaining
indicators that reflect the multiple
perspectives of urban stakeholders
is a primary task for effective moni-
toring in a BiodiverCity (Uchiyama &
Kohsaka, 2020).
In addition to promoting con-
servation opportunities, a BiodiverCity
must also be able to provide a wide
range of ecosystem services that fa-
cilitate relationships between social
groups and the exchange of goods at
regional scales. A key concept is "social
sustainability" (Kimpton, 2017), which
addresses place attachment, social co-
hesion, collective efficacy, and social
norms and sanctions. These dimen-
Transformation
sions can be translated into indicators
aimed at measuring whether a city en-
ables, among other aspects, sustainable
economic growth and citizen partici-
pation. Additionally, due to the diversi-
ty of social groups, indicators should be
applied considering the values, visions,
and motivations that different sectors
of society have about nature (Pereira et
al., 2020; Soma et al., 2018).
Recently, the concept of Na-
ture-based Solutions (NbS) has been
used to identify benefits that bring to-
gether the interests of multiple stake-
holders on social, cultural, environ-
mental, and economic issues (Kabisch
et al., 2016; Raymond et al., 2017). NbSs
can lay the groundwork for engag-
ing cities in meeting global goals in
the face of biodiversity loss, climate
change, or equity by paying attention to
the types of targets and indicators con-
sidered relevant, practical, and mea-
surable. In this sense, identifying these
solutions can help define indicators to
measure the benefits derived from the
recovery or rehabilitation of ecosystem
functions and biodiversity to make
them meaningful for different popula-
tion groups (Xie & Bulkeley, 2020).
Despite the challenges of mea-
suring and monitoring biodiversity,
there are several opportunities to gen-
erate quality information that facilitates
the use of indicators in urban environ-
ments. For example, new advances in
the development of remote sensors and
databases have enabled access to rele-
vant information on urban biodiversity
trends (Dobbs et al., 2017; Goddard et al.,
2021). In addition, cities have become
ideal locations for community science
projects (Li et al., 2019; Callaghan et al.,
2020), as well as for developing indica-
tors that integrate biophysical, social,
and economic aspects (Alam et al.,
2016; Chan et al., 2021; Pierce et al., 2020;
Wang et al., 2019). These indicators offer
a more inclusive vision of sustainable
cities, which considers biodiversity
conservation and its relationship with
the well-being of citizens.
97
Quote as: Suárez-Castro, A.F., Diaz, M.C., Ruiz, D.M., Londoño,
M.C., Herera-Varon, Y., Escobar, D., Gómez-Valencia,
B. Indicators for the Measurement and Monitoring of
BiodiverCities. P. 96-105. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
TOWARDS A
BIODIVERCITY
ASSESSMENT AND
MONITORING
MODEL
An essential step in monitoring a
BiodiverCity is to identify a compre-
hensive set of indicators that represent
the state of biodiversity in a study
system, as well as the type of pres-
sures and actions that lead to its loss
and transformation. The driver-pres-
sure-state-impact-response (DPSIR)
model (Figure 1) can be very useful
for distinguishing between these di-
fferent types of indicators (Hughes &
Chan, 2021; Maxim et al., 2009). This
model helps to identify the social
and economic drivers that pressure
the urban environment, generating a
change in the state of its biodiversity
and ecosystem services. Changes in
 98 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Transformation 99

Figure 1. Examples of
Within the DPSIR framework, complementary indicators, it is pos- by allowing descriptions of different
aspects considered to the following types of indicators can sible to identify a baseline to com- levels of interaction at the societal lev-
define indicators within be identified (Figure 1, Table 1): pare drivers, pressures and mana- el (Nassl & Löffler, 2015). Moreover, they

ng
a DPSIR (driver, pressure, gement opportunities that involve enable the assessment of DPSIR com-

Ec

usi
Infra
Driver indicators: describe social, different stakeholders. ponents, considering that a network
state, impact, and

on

er v or ho
ulture
om
response) framework.
demographic, and economic de- To establish a rigorous man- of related ecosystem services contrib-

Tourism
struc

s
ice
ic

f
velopments in societies that lead agement and monitoring framework, utes to human well-being (Alam et al.,

nd
Agric
ac

t u re
Source: Prepared by the

ma
tivi
to changes in production and con- it is crucial to understand that the 2016; Nassl & Löffler, 2015). For exam-

ds
authors

De
tie
sumption levels, thereby putting relationships between drivers, pres- ple, native vegetation relicts in urban

an
s
nd c es pressure on the environment. sures, states, impacts, and responses parks fulfill multiple functions and
ta r
Ch e n r sou Pressure indicators: describe pres- are synergistic (Patrício et al. 2016). services, such as providing habitat for
an DRIVERS d i m te
a
ge se sures exerted by society on natural Cause-effect relationships where a wildlife species, carbon sequestration,
in l ss s in w
an ce t
ds
ca
E x rien
t
resources, which are manifested state is linked to a single pressure and temperature regulation, water cycle
str
uc
pe nu in changes in the environmental action are uncommon. For example, maintenance, and cultural and recre-
tur g es
e han conditions of a system. the state of a wildlife population with- ational services. Each of these services
- u se c
Lo s s o d
f hab La n Condition indicators: describe the in the urban matrix is influenced by has different beneficiaries with differ-
itat q
u alit ys
quantity and quality of physical, multiple pressures such as noise gen- ent values and governance systems.
RESPONSE tation chemical, biological, and socioeco- eration, land-use changes, and frag- Causal network approaches attempt
Fragmen
nomic attributes in a given area. mentation processes, among others to integrate this complexity through
Frequency of flooding IMPACT REGULATIONS PRESSURES Impact indicators describe chang- (Lepczyk et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2021). social-ecological interactions, where
ACTIONS es in the state of the environment In turn, each pressure originates from impacts and responses reflect the link
Energy cons
INCENTIVES umption
e r of resulting from specific pressures. a wide range of drivers related to the between nature and society (Nassl &
Numb
s p e cies Impact indicators focus on chang- demand for housing, transportation, Löffler 2015). A key challenge consists
gered and recreation in areas surrounding
enda
n Noi
se l e es in the state of environmental on conducting quantitative analyses
e ve l s
tur attributes that may influence bio- green and blue spaces. These drivers that integrate these models with urban
- na ips
m an s h diversity and ecosystem services. can modify people's behaviors and areas' biodiversity monitoring.
u on Am
i n h re l a t i
Response indicators: describe the thus promote both positive and neg-
ge ou
n nt
ha of
HIERARCHICAL
C CO responses of different groups of ative responses to the shape, size, and
STATE em
citizens and decision-makers to spatial configuration of species habi-
2
iss
SRUCTURES AND
ion
s prevent, compensate, improve or tats within the urban matrix (Goddard
s
div cie

La

adapt to changes in the state of the et al., 2010). In this sense, monitoring
y

SPATIAL SCALES
sit

nd
nd sp e
er

H ab

environment. a BiodiverCity depends not only on

sc
ace

osure

Air qualit
e a of

ap

measuring physical and biological at-

itat
nc rns

ec
n sp
t te

INDICATORS AND CAUSAL tributes but also how these attributes The hierarchical structure of resi-
ha
Noise exp

qua
re e
Pa

ra

NETWORK MODELS relate to demographic and socioeco- dential landscapes affecting biodi-
y

ct
lit y
da

to g

er
un

nomic indicators (e.g., population versity and the provision of ecosystem

ist
ess
ab

ics

The implementation of different density, occupancy rates, etc.) that services is a challenge for the manage-
Ac c

types of DPSIR indicators in urban reflect the pressures and actions of ment and monitoring of a BiodiverCity.
areas requires identifying various human populations on environment. Hierarchical structure means that the
Actions Incentives Regulations citizen groups and their motivations Given the complexity associ- urban environment can be conceptua-
Vegetation restoration, establishment Housing subsidies, payments for Territorial management plans. for promoting the conservation and ated with the relationships between lized as a set of nested spatial units.
of protected areas, maintenance of environmental services, economic use of urban biodiversity. Motiva- social actors and biodiversity, new (Norton et al., 2016; Uchida et al., 2021).
gardens and green spaces. incentives for biodiversity protection.
tions include preserving local biodi- conceptual frameworks have been pro- These units are temporally dynamic,
versity, maintaining urban-regional posed to move from a causal chain to can be defined according to the study
connectivity, fostering relationships a causal network (Hou et al., 2014; Nie- system, and are managed by different
the states of biodiversity are, in turn, addition, they allow the design of 2013) or to be linked to ecosystem ser- between people and nature, and con- meijer & De Groot, 2008). These include types of citizens. For example, an indi-
reflected in impacts on human health, evaluations and the identification vices and social benefits (Atkins et al., serving areas that favor ecosystem combining DPSIR frameworks with vidual garden constitutes the scale at
ecosystem functioning, urban infras- of actions and policies aimed at solving 2011; Nassl & Löffler, 2015). It is recom- services (Dearborn & Kark, 2010; Sha- models that highlight the interdepen- which citizens manage vegetation on
tructure, and the economy. each problem through adaptive man- mended to consult Patrício et al. (2016) nahan et al., 2018). Monitoring these dence of four key dimensions of sus- their private property. Still, the size and
Frameworks such as DPSIR agement. The DPSIR model has been and Nassl & Löffler (2015) to become objectives requires complementary tainability: environmental, econom- configuration of different interconnec-
facilitate environmental monitoring by adapted to include specific aspects familiar with other extensions of the indicators that consider different ic, social, and political (Maxim et al., ted gardens and parks are controlled by
categorizing different problems along such as ecosystem-based manage- DPSIR model and understand further values, drivers of consumption and 2009; Spangenberg et al., 2009). These urban planners, housing developers,
a cause-effect chain (Qu et al., 2020). In ment (EBM) (EBM-DPSER) (Kelble et al., advantages and limitations. management strategies. By using approaches go beyond linear causality and local authorities. The definition
 100
Figure 2. A BiodiverCity is heterogeneous and hosts different types of green and blue spaces.
Photos: Juan Sebastián Hincapié, Érika Peñuela and María Angélica Mejía.
Regional Nature Reserves
URBAN-REGIONAL SCALE
of hierarchical structures has been
successfully used in applications such
as habitat quality assessment of urban
landscapes (Goddard et al., 2010), re-
search to understand socioeconomic
drivers (Pickett & Cadenasso, 2006), and
the study of biogeochemical processes
in urban ecosystems (Zhang et al., 2013).
In addition to recognizing a
hierarchical structure, the definition
of urban indicators also requires as-
sessing the heterogeneity of green and
blue spaces in cities. A BiodiverCity
promotes the existence of multiple
types of green and blue spaces that
facilitate biodiversity conservation
and the provision of ecosystem ser-
vices (Garrard et al., 2018; Goddard et
al., 2010); these spaces include public
parks, strips of trees on roads, wet-
lands, and private gardens, among
others (Figure 2). Urban green and
blue spaces are incredibly heteroge-
neous, satisfying the provision of differ-
ent ecosystem services depending on
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
LANDSCAPE-SCALE
Wetlands
Urban Nature Reserves
Tree rows
their physical characteristics (e.g., size, attributes such as vegetation structure,
vertical vegetation structure, degree of the availability of particular habitats
fragmentation), their accessibility, and (such as ponds), and the presence of
the presence of amenities (Dade et al., domestic species that put wildlife at
2020). This heterogeneity acts differ- risk (Garrard et al., 2018). However, the
entially on biotic communities and effectiveness of these spaces in pro-
the social needs of human societies tecting viable wildlife populations will
(Lepczyk et al., 2017; Wood et al., 2018). depend on other landscape attributes;
For example, parks with high forest such as the size of patches and their
cover and more significant vegetation degree of isolation or the density of
heterogeneity are generally associated built infrastructure, which influences
with activities based on contact with the permeability of the urban matrix
nature (Bjerke et al., 2006; Shanahan (Burkman & Gardiner, 2014, Spotswood
et al., 2015). Similarly, large and linear et al., 2021; Uchida et al., 2021; Yang et
parks are associated with a greater al., 2021). This permeability promotes or
diversity of cultural and recreational hinders the movement of species and
amenities (Brown et al., 2014). individuals through the urban land-
Green and blue spaces are scape and depends on factors such as
also immersed in a heterogeneous the presence of vegetation corridors,
matrix - dominated by human activ- essential habitat patches (e.g., wet-
ities - so it is essential to define their lands), and the proportion of built
identity and the spatial and social environments (Beninde et al., 2015).
context surrounding them. A specific Spatial context also affects
garden or park can promote or affect the type of human-nature relation-
species conservation, depending on ships, which depend not only on
Transformation
Green walls/rooftops
Urban parks
physical features such as patches of
natural vegetation and open areas.
Other aspects such as proximity, ac-
cessibility, and perceived safety are
also important (Kimpton 2017). For
example, roads and trails that con-
nect parks to residential areas can
increase the likelihood of people
accessing nature and gaining rec-
reational and health benefits (Mitch-
ell et al., 2015; Takano et al., 2002).
In addition, there is an increasing
recognition of ecological footprints in
cities that extend beyond their bound-
aries, spanning regional and global
scales, where cities have significant
impacts and dependencies (Figure 2)
(Hughes & Chan, 2021). This means
that management decisions regard-
ing zoning and governance in the
surrounding landscape impact peo-
ple's ability to interact not only with
resources at local scales (Goddard et
al., 2010), but also with systems that
are interconnected across regions.
Private gardens
NEIGHBORHOOD
Understanding the relationships
across spatial scales is thus a fun-
damental aspect of defining indi-
cators to monitor nature within
and beyond the city. As processes
occurring at local and regional
scales are considered, the plura-
lity of perspectives that influen-
ce the development of joint goals
and visions increases. Therefore,
indicators must use a multiscale
approach that facilitates commu-
nication among various stakehol-
ders in the use and management
of biodiversity at local, landscape,
and regional scales. Because the
type of interactions among stake-
holders acting at multiple scales
can be highly diverse, indicators
should also be interdisciplinary;
they should not be limited to in-
cluding contributions from biology
and ecology but also those from
architecture, engineering, and the
social and economic sciences.
101
GLOBAL
INDICATORS FOR
A BIODIVERCITY
Different indices and global initiatives
can be applied in the measurement
and monitoring of a BiodiverCity. An
index refers to a group of indicators
that allow the aggregation of mul-
tiple aspects into a single value. For
example, the Human Development
Index (HDI) has been used to measu-
re the development of countries by
integrating three factors: life expec-
tancy, level of education, and gross
domestic product (GDP) per capita.
Specifically, one of the most widely
used indices for measuring urban
biodiversity is the City Sustaina-
bility Index (CSI), which integrates
environmental, economic, and social
indicators (Table 1). This index mea-
sures pressures, impacts, states, and
responses at both local scales (e.g.,
parks, wetlands, and neighborhoods)
and at scales beyond the city's geo-
graphic boundaries. Another index
with an integrative approach is the
City Biodiversity Index (CBI), or Sin-
gapore index (Chan et al., 2021), which
can be included in the CSI.
The Singapore index is divid-
ed into three components to measure
urban biodiversity. The first refers to
biodiversity within the city, and it
includes indicators such as the pro-
portion of natural city areas or the
change in the number of vascular plant
species. The second refers to the eco-
system services obtained from urban
biodiversity. Associated indicators in-
clude water quantity regulation or the
proportion of tree cover. Finally, the
third component addresses the gover-
nance and management of biodiversity
and it includes indicators related to ed-
ucation, budget invested in biodiversity,
and community support. Examples of
governance indicators include the bud-
get allocated to biodiversity or policies
and incentives for green infrastruc-
ture (Chan et al., 2021) (Table 1).
 102
To standardize the application of dif-
ferent indices, the International Or-
ganization for Standardization (ISO)
created the technical committee on
sustainable cities and communities
in 2012. This committee was formed
under the Global City Indicators Facil-
ity (GCIF), which seeks to contribute
to the development of requirements,
frameworks, techniques, and tools
to achieve sustainable development
objectives in urban and rural areas.
The ISO standard, its pilots, and other
similar initiatives - such as the "Red
de Ciudades Cómo Vamos" in Colom-
bia (RCCV, 2021) - focus mainly on
social and governance aspects, while
urban biodiversity aspects are in the
background. Although other local ini-
tiatives focus on biophysical elements
like urban tree management (SIGAU,
2021), their implementation is still in
development. Numerous academic
studies have been conducted on ur-
ban biodiversity monitoring, with
particular emphasis on biophysical
aspects and focal species (Beninde
et al., 2015; Burkman & Gardiner, 2014;
Carvajal et al., 2020; Spotswood et al.,
2021; Villaseñor et al., 2020,). However,
social and economic issues in biodi-
versity are less studied. This duality
in approaching urban monitoring is
a challenge that must be addressed
to adequately understand the rela-
tionships between biodiversity con-
servation and human well-being in a
BiodiverCity.
FROM DATA TO
INDICATOR
Data and indicators are related entities
but have their own characteristics. An
indicator allows communicating the sta-
te of one or multiple variables through
arithmetic ratios of data that have been
measured directly or estimated by di-
fferent methods. Thus, the feasibility of
calculating indicators in BiodiverCities
also depends on the institutional and
technical capacity to collect biophy-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
sical, socioeconomic, and ecosystem
services data. Data can be acquired
through numerous sources, including
primary biodiversity data platforms,
community science programs, and lo-
cal government public documents that
house key information on economic and
governance issues. In addition, land-use
planning policies and other instruments
can generate opportunities to collect
TYPE OF
INDICATOR
DRIVER
PRESSURE
STATE
data needed to calculate indicators.
This is because planning tools consider
existing institutional resources (e.g., fi-
nancial resources, human talent, phy-
sical resources, and infrastructure for
data collection) that help diagnose the
potential for applying indicators in the
medium and long term.
An example of the existing
planning instruments that can help
COMPONENT
SOCIOECONOMIC
SOCIOECONOMIC
BIOPHYSICAL
BIOPHYSICAL
SOCIOECONOMIC
Transformation 103
to define indicators in urban areas tenance of ecological processes, and The MES concept is based on the
is the concept of Main Ecological the provision of ecosystem services. recognition of an unifying axis
Structure (MES) used in Colombia Although MES has been defined composed by a series of elements
(Andrade et al. 2014). The MES is an mainly at the regional scale, it can that interact at different spatial and
instrument that seeks to incorporate also be represented at urban and local temporal scales. Axes are defined
biodiversity and ecosystem services (e.g. wetlands) levels. Thus, there is depending on the regional context.
criteria in territorial planning; it is a multiscale nature within MES that For example, an unifying axis can be
based on a network of interconnect- can help with its implementation at the urban and rural water network
ed green spaces that contribute to the different hierarchical levels, from the (Humboldt Institute & municipality
protection of biodiversity, the main- garden to the urban-regional scale. of Envigado, 2018) since it is assu-
INDICATORS
Table 1. Examples of indicators for the different
components that comprise a BiodiverCity.
Population growth rate (%)
GDP growth rate (%)
Urbanization rate (%)
Population density (inhabitants/km2)
Unemployment rate
Amount of CO2 emissions
Amount of solid waste generated
Relationship between expansion areas and population growth
Greenhouse gas emissions (tons per capita)
Metrics of landscape structure (composition and configuration): average size of vegetation patches,
isolation of patches, proportion of land cover types.
Blue-green area structural connectivity indices (size, distance, proportion)
Indicator of resistance to species movement (e.g. proportion of built-up and blue-green areas)
Average vegetation strata diversity
Atmospheric concentration of Hg
Atmospheric concentration of PM10
Indicator of microclimatic regulation: heat islands vs. green-blue areas ratio.
Proximity and accessibility to green spaces
Square meters of space in public recreational facilities
Percentage of population with sewage collection, potable water, sewage treatment, and drinking water
Percentage of untreated wastewater
Percentage of solid waste disposed in landfills
 104
med that the provision of water ser-
vice is the basis for sustaining both
human communities and biodiver-
sity. Thus, providing water requires
green and blue spaces capable of su-
pporting resilient ecosystems and
the urban infrastructure that allows
access to water for all citizens (Oral
et al., 2020). In this sense, monitoring
the water network requires recogni-
tion of the intrinsic heterogeneity of
urban spaces through biophysical
indicators (such as the diversity of
key species) and socioeconomic in-
dicators (such as the total volume of
water used to produce goods and ser-
vices consumed by the community)
(Van Leeuwen et al., 2012).
The definition of a unifying
axis also allows to diagnose specif-
ic pressures, actions, impacts, and
responses, depending on the mea-
surement objective and the type of
space being analyzed. The axis of the
MES is composed of diverse spaces
that can serve, among others, as core
biodiversity protection areas, corri-
dors, sustainable use areas, or buffer
zones. Although indicators such as
the percentage of area loss due to
infrastructure construction can be
applied to all components of the MES,
explicit recognition of the different
types of spaces allows prioritization
and implementation of actions that
require differentiated management
and monitoring. For example, mon-
itoring conservation sites for water
provision requires indicators that re-
flect the status of critical ecosystems
and the amount of area protected and
physicochemical parameters that
reflect ecosystem health. By incor-
porating indicators differentiated by
space within the MES, it is possible to
identify functional attributes with ex-
plicit social value (Andrade et al., 2014).
Several challenges exist for
the application of indicators within
a BiodiverCity. Although there are
multiple indicators of the function-
ality of green and blue spaces in
terms of connectivity, biodiversity,
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
TYPE OF COMPONENT
INDICATOR
BIOPHYSICAL
IMPACT
SOCIOECONOMIC
BIOPHYSICAL
RESPONSE
SOCIOECONOMIC
or accessibility of the population to collected, analyzed, and manipulat-
recreational and cultural services ed (Goddard et al., 2021), even though
(Table 1), in most cases, institutional there are challenges related to the
capacities are limited to ensure a cost of implementing these technolo-
continuous updating of information gies and their effect on attributes of
(Wilkinson et al., 2013). Including biodiversity and urban ecosystems.
citizens in data collection and guar- Implementing these technologies,
anteeing free access to information strengthening institutional capacities,
will be fundamental for more ro- and using multidisciplinary approaches
bust monitoring. In addition, new to understand the diversity of human-
technologies from robotics and au- nature interactions, are significant
tonomous systems (e.g., drones and challenges for establishing protocols
remote sensors) have revolutionized to monitor urban areas at different
how environmental data is detected, spatial and temporal scales.
Transformation 105
INDICATORS
Change in species richness and abundance
Change in the number of endangered species
Change in the proportion of native species of focus group species (birds, arthropods, plants)
Proportion of invasive species
Water footprint
Congestion cost (distance to city center)
Public satisfaction
Sense of security and sovereignty; health
Number of protected areas
Number of ecological corridors or networks against fragmentation
Percentage of habitat area restored
Water quantity regulation
Research centers or groups related to knowledge and innovation for urban biodiversity issues
Budget used for biodiversity protection
Number of biodiversity conservation and restoration projects initiated by the city per year
Number of local groups supporting restoration processes
Percentage of urban protection soils included in land use plans
Status of green and blue space management plans in the city
Biodiversity-related responses to climate change
Policy and incentives for green infrastructure as Nature-based Solutions
KEY MESSAGES Because cities are highly heterogeneous Table adapted using examples from City
environments, the design of indices Biodiversity Index (Chan et al., 2021), City
An effective monitoring frame- should encourage collaboration among Sustainability Index (Mori & Yamashita,
work considers urban spaces actors with different views and values. 2015), Worldbank (Worldbank, 2021), urban
as causal networks. that recognize Understanding how these actors relate environmental quality indices (Cerquera-
Losada et al., 2019) and CITYkeys (Bosch et
the complexity of synergistic inter- to each other at multiple spatial and
al., 2017).
actions between drivers, pressures, temporal scales is essential for defining
states, impacts, and responses. These indicators to monitor nature inside and projects engaging people in information
interactions also consider the diversi- outside the city. generation and decision-making. These
ty of relationships that exist between Citizen science is fundamental to projects should be supported by a ro-
nature and society. generating essential information bust institutional framework and new
The indices should reflect the hi- and connecting people with nature. technological advances that enable
erarchical structure and spatial BiodiverCities should take advantage of effective biodiversity and ecosystem
heterogeneity of urban environments. opportunities to develop citizen science services monitoring.
 EXPERI
MENTATION
Introduction

London National Park City..................................... 110

Rivers of Change ...................................................... 116

Planning Rooted in Biodiversity...........................122

Transformation
Urban Amazon ..........................................................126

The Sweet City...........................................................132

Neighborhood Scaled BiodiverCities...................138

Urban Biotopes ..........................................................144

Experimentation Win-Win Scenarios..................................................148

The Value of the Urban Forest...............................152

Green Rooftops...........................................................158

A River Runs Through It..........................................162

Urban Bio-Corridors.................................................166

A Bird’s Eye View of Cities......................................170

Industrial Environmental Fabric.......................... 174

Learning
Learning environments..........................................178

The City’s DNA...........................................................182

The Sounds of the City.............................................186

Social and Natural Fabric.......................................190

Opinion articles
Densurbam .................................................................196

Sustainable Favelas ............................................... 202

Wooded Trails That Weave the City.................... 206

Weaving Stories of People and Plants.................210

Circular Forest Bioeconomy...................................216

Urban Nature Amsterdam..................................... 220

 108
READING GUIDE
FOR EXPERIMENTATION CASES
The nodal structure of the book
presents each experience in a self-
contained and independent manner.
Hence, the reader has a toolbox in
their hands and, thanks to the defined
labels, can navigate interconnectedly
throughout the work.
1 the extension of the territory and
Main author’s data (complete
information can be found
in the appendix).
2 2022. 288 pages.
BiodiverCity commitments (p. 13)
attributed to each case study.
1 Urban-regional linkages
2 Biodiversity in the built environment
3 Sustainable economy
4 Governance
5 New values and mindsets
6 Planning (Enabler)
7 Financing (Enabler)
8 Monitoring (Enabler)
3 KEY LESSONS
Legend for cartographic
resources: map title, thematic
source (when applicable),
cartographic source and credits.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY 109
144 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY EXPERIMENTATION 145
URBAN
Julián Restrepo
TALLER Architects,
Colombia.
BIOTOPES
SHENZHEN,
CHINA
Pop. 17,494,398
4
2,050 km²
A new perspective on the Biogeographical information of
integration of biodiversity in 5 m.a.s.l. the city or region object of the
public space. experience: it presents population,
EXPERIMENTATION
COMMITMENTS 119
altitude. The sources of these
2 6
data are indicated on the legal
N
page of the publication.
Quote as: Restrepo, J. Urban Biotopes. P.
144-147. In: Mejía,Valparaíso
M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
ARGENTINA
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
5
Alexander von Humboldt.
Santiago EXPERIMENTATION 147
An illustration that
de Chile contextualizes the
Specifically, the linear park design incorporated diation properties, and contributes to the absorption of
experience and,
four types of vegetation that characterize the Shenzhen excess rainwater in the city.
region ―wetlands, jungle, grasslands, and bamboo forest. in other cases,
The project is innovative to the extent that it recreates GUANGMING: NEW PERSPECTIVES
specific plant arrangements within the urban matrix. FOR NEW TRAILS
summarizes the
PACIFIC
OCEAN The interrelation between nature and what is
KEY research outcome.
urban stands out to the extent that the biotopes overlap Another experience the consortium carried out was the
CONCEPTS
various functions of the city. The bamboo forest or the Guangming2 Forest and Sports Park project. A space
BIOTOPES
jungle, for example, generates shaded areas in a region built in under four years and inaugurated in 2021, dis-
characterized as subtropical, which creates spaces for tinguished by a 5 km-long red bridge that SPONGE connectsCITIES
the
appropriation and attracts greater biodiversity. The wet- city’s public space with the mountainous areas and
UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY
land allows continuity with Shenzhen Bay, has bioreme- its natural reserve, including areas for recreation and
sports, and even concerts.
In the first instance, addressing this inter-
The public space intervention in Qianhai, of the territory to ensure that natural systems work hand ture that offers a relationship with ecosystems beyond park services and green land of 90.87%. Likewise, 41.2% of
vention in public space meant questioning cities’ as-
Shenzhen’s financial center, proposes a new in hand with artificial systems for adequate water regula- an aesthetic and contemplative purpose. The Govern- the city’s territory is covered by forest, and its PM2.5 met-
sembly based on the repetition of European and North
vision of landscaping and architecture that tion. Thus, the cities attached to the policy carry out pub- ment of China has implemented an urban development rics place it among the top ten cities with the best air quality 6
American models. This work was based on a clear in-
offers a relationship with ecosystems beyond lic space projects that contribute to retaining, draining, or plan for the past 40 years, aimed not only at turning the in the country. (Shenzhen Government Online, 2022). Also
tention to recover the area’s biodiversity, respect the
an aesthetic and contemplative purpose. regulating water levels according to their specific needs. city into a center of economic and technological prog- worth mentioning are the advances and explorations in Key concepts that
farmers who live there, and showcase Shenzhen’s in-
Such is the case in Shenzhen, located in the ress but also at developing policies for environmental the integration of flowers into urban space, pollution control
novative character. are developed in the
The ambition for an ecological transformation of Chi- Pearl River Delta, the largest urbanized area in the world. preservation and the inclusion of nature in human life. in the river, and landscape renovations through projects to
The project involved significant social and eco-
nese cities has given rise to a national public policy of In this city, one of the conurbations of the delta, the public Thanks to these measures, Shenzhen had 1,090 improve aquatic environments. In this way, Shenzhen has
logical transformations. An example of this was the
glossary (see Appendix).
Master Plan for the Mapocho and Maipo riverbanks in the munici-
sponge cities, leading to regionalpalities
and local proposals. space intervention in Qianhai, Shenzhen’s financial cen- parks at the end of 2019. Among them, 33 are natural, 152 succeeded in meeting all the requirements to be classified as
of Peñaflor, Talagante, El Monte and Isla de Maipo. premise of providing universal access to various demo-
This city building strategy is based on the hydric
Detailed behavior
planning ter, proposes
of interventions a new
in the riparian vision
zone of of landscaping and architec-
the con- are urban, and 905 are community, totaling a coverage of a national forest city, a goal set in 2015 (Qian, 2018).
graphics within society, including people with disabil-
fluence area of the Mapocho and Maipo rivers in the urban sector, Source:
C ities, older adults, children, etc. Likewise, tree manage-
leading to its ecological restoration and use for sustainable recre- Ministry of Environment and
ation and environmental education. U.N. Environment, 2020. ment has been an opportunity to bring in new species
BAMBOO and revitalize the forest, which encouraged the commu-
KEY LESSONS BIOTOPE nity’s relationship with the ecosystem and popularized
the mountain route.
Metro entrance
The four strategies addressed by the project -usually High-density buildings
7
worked on as separate units- can be implemented si- Public spaces with high
ECOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL multaneously in a combined and integrated work. concentrations of people
IN THE PROJECT’S ECO-LOCAL PLAN AREA Capacity building is more effective through a “learn- People’s approach to nature can go beyond a contem- This section summarizes the
GEF MOUNTAIN 2030 ing by doing” methodology. D plative mindset by introducing them to a functional
main findings and lessons
Communication and dissemination of results are relationship that provides social and ecological benefits,
vital to promoting and understanding a project of among many others. learned from the experience
Cores Urban area
these characteristics, especially if all levels are consid- Regarding the red bridge project, there is a clear op-
Nodes Green ring portunity to promote sports activities that involve all
and presents the most relevant
ered: local, regional, and national.
Main corridors Potential corridors The implementation of the Communication, Educa- the senses in the forest space, such as meditation, yoga, points for replication.
Priority parks tion and Public Awareness Program (C.E.P.A., for its climbing, archery, and tai chi.
Secondary corridors
name in Spanish), proposed by the Convention on Biological Along the same lines, establishing a network of hik-
Glaciers and water bodies Area of watercourse
Diversity and adapted for training, was a significant learn- ing trails, horseback riding, and mountain biking
influence
Core buffer zone ing experience for municipal officials and local leaders. has been proposed.
Participation mechanisms should focus on ecolog-
ical preservation, recognizing the benefits of this
type of project; among them, conservation awareness and
N
biodiversity visibility, for example, through signage on the
LONDON
110
NATIONAL
PARK CITY
Improving life in the
city through small and
achievable actions
COMMITMENTS
2 4 5
Quote as: Raven-Ellis, D. London National
Park City. P. 110-115. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
The London National Park City is a movement
that has coordinated the efforts and actions
of residents, visitors, and partners to promote
London as a National Park City and make the city
greener, healthier, and wilder. It successfully
campaigned to make London the world’s first
National Park City in 2019 by leading inspiring
grassroots campaigns and recruiting allies and
politicians with a non-partisan agenda. Next
up is what the London National Park City’s
promoter told the editors during an interview.
REFRAMING THE IDEA OF A CITY
London is internationally famous for being a cultur-
al, political, and financial center, but it’s an ecological
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Based on an interview with:
Daniel Raven-Ellison
National Park City
Foundation, UK.
center too, even if people don’t think of it that way. But
why approach London –or any city in the world— from
the national park mindset? Life in cities is somehow
perceived as inferior. Scientists have historically de-
cided which piece of nature is worth protecting, argu-
ing biodiversity values or the importance of ancestral
knowledge. Cities are not usually thought of as habitats
or places hosting valuable knowledge about nature.
Therefore, this approach is a significant reframing of
the city as a whole.
There are three main types of Natural Parks
in the world. The first is where the federal government
holds most of the power. Then there are those work-
ing through a partnership where you deal with private
businesses, groups, and individuals owning large parts
of the land. The national authority also has to encour-
Experimentation
age and use policy to get people to do what they want
in this kind of park system. And finally, those where lo-
cal people are supported by the policy but look after the
place themselves. London National Park City is a com-
bination of all three of those: it takes inspiration from
the world’s family of national parks to call on and em-
power people in London and other urban areas to make
where they live greener, healthier, and wilder – to get
more people to enjoy themselves outdoors, and benefit
from doing so, while creating a new identity both for the
city and for the people living in it. And even though it is
supported by the City Mayor of London and some parts
of national and regional government, it’s still a grass-
roots initiative. In contrast, the new Adelaide National
111
LONDON,
UNITED KIGNDOM
Pop. 8,961,989
1,572 km²
25 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
GRASSROOTS
LANDSCAPE APPROACH
LONDON NATIONAL PARK CITY
Park City is led by Green Adelaide, a statutory body that
the State Government set up.
Ultimately, the movement is about unlocking cre-
ativity and imagination and hoping to tackle issues like
poverty, flooding, air pollution, inequality when accessing
natural resources and health outcomes. It’s about refram-
ing the fundamentals of what this issue is for and taking a
landscape approach in which everyone, everywhere, and
everything in the city is involved. It’s a very inclusive en-
deavor. For instance, how can investment be spread a flat-
ter way so that you see the power of the many in tackling
issues like flooding? We ask ourselves, what might be the
solution for flooding? Is it a mega sewer?, or could it be mil-
lions of people doing green infrastructure?
112 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 113

LONDON NATIONAL PARK CITY GREEN SPACE

GREATER LONDON AREA Public park or garden including Country Parks

Religious ground, cemetery & churchyard

Grass, heath, meadow, farmland

Woodland & forest

BLUE SPACE
Tidal & inland water, river, canal

Wetland & marsh

PLAY SPACE FOOD SPACE

Playing field & sports arena Allotment

Golf course City farm

PROTECTED SPACE
National Nature Reserve

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

CIVIC SPACE
Pedestrian area

POINTS OF INTEREST PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Hill peak Rail or Overgrownd
Outdoor swimming station
pool or pond Tube and DLR station
Sailing
City farm

WALKING
Walk London
Source:
London Greenways Charlie
Peel - Urban
Other capital walks Good. 2021.

Most maps of cities are focussed on roads

and built infrastructure. As part of both
campaigns and ongoing communications,
London National Park City teamed up
with Urban Good to create a 1m2 map to
reveal the city’s green, blue, open and
wild spaces. The purpose of the map is
to inspire people to explore the city, to
help see opportunities to make it greener
and to help people reimagine London as
landscape and National Park City.
 114
THE NATURE OF THE PROJECT
The National Park idea gives citizens a common lan-
guage for negotiating what it is trying to achieve for
the city. That means organizing festivals or gatherings
where we ensure that the people on stage come from dif-
ferent sectors and interest groups to cross-fertilize ideas.
As it was a grassroots and innovative initiative,
it took a while for the UK Government to support Nation-
al Park Cities. This is mainly because of the way it was
framed, defined and co-created. Suppose a landscape
approach is applied and London’s population of nine
million people is potentially included, even if those nine
million people (dis)agree on the place’s future. In that
case, diversity becomes the project’s greatest strength. It
is possible to have a unifying vision without necessar-
ily agreeing on the specifics of how you get there. The
fact that the project doesn’t have a blueprint and an exact
plan for what it is trying to achieve gives it tremendous
power. The vision would actually be very divisive if it
were more specific.
The London National Park City has helped nor-
malize the idea that cities can become a new kind of na-
tional park, both in the UK and other places. The remark-
able thing about doing it in London, to some extent, is
that people understand that London’s a big, complex city.
And if London, as famous as it is, can do it, why shouldn’t
other cities worldwide do it too?1
METHODOLOGY
The National Park City Journey Book (www.national-
parkcity.org/journey) sets out ten steps for becoming a
National Park City. Some essential methods include:
› Meetings should be organized with people from very
different backgrounds and interests asking, “What if
we made this city a national park city?” should be
organized. These conversations should take place
in cultural, non-academic spaces where people feel
imaginative and collaborative instead of alienated.
Similar meetings should be constantly organized
and cultivated (there will be a point where they will
require a venue for 100+ attendees).
› Politicians should be recruited from the get-go to guar-
antee support for any National Park initiative, making
it possible to create a mandate from the people them-
selves. For this to happen, evidence should be collect-
ed through independent polling, media attention must
be captured through presentations, letters, and inter-
views, and a non-partisan agenda must be set.
› Careful thought should be put into telling stories
with, of, and for individuals, communities, and the
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 115
city itself. Stories about the hundreds of thousands
STATE OF THE LONDON
of homes at risk of flooding, children not playing NATIONAL PARK CITY 2018
outside, air pollution, and species in decline. These
stories should include indicators and numbers to
which individuals (and governments) can relate. GREENER ENJOYING THE OUTDOORS MORE
› Grassroots teams should reach out and allow any or-
47% 43%
ganization that shares their aims to befriend their PERCENT OF LONDONERS
PERCENTAGE AREA OF GREATER WHO MET UP IN A PARK (EX-
movement. For instance, the London National Park LONDON THAT IS PHYSICALLY GREEN
2015
2018
CLUDING FOR A PICNIC)
City has developed a network of about 300 organiza-
tions that range from small people who look after local
52% 18%
gardens right up to big international organizations. PERCENT OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH PERCENT OF LONDONERS
ACCESS TO PUBLIC OPEN SPACE WHO HAVE GROWN FOOD
2013
2013
IN THE LAST YEAR
KEY LESSONS
21%
Like many cities in the world, London is full of the TREE CANOPY COVER (NOT
people, ideas, and ingredients for making the city a TRACKED ANNUALLY) NATIONAL PARK CITY CULTURE
2018
better place to live while tackling social, economic, and
10%
environmental crises. But also like in many other cities PERCENT OF LONDONERS AWARE
in the world, a challenge in London is that the energy, re- THAT LONDON IS BECOMING
2018
HEALTHIER A NATIONAL PARK CITY
sources, and solutions are not being delivered at a suf-
ficient scale and are not spread equitably. A vital aim of
6%
PERCENT OF LONDONERS ASKED
4%
the London National Park City is to help good ideas and BY DOCTOR TO SPEND MORE PERCENT OF LONDONERS
practices spread through the city. TIME OUTDOORS IN THE LAST VOLUNTEERED OR TAKEN
2018
YEAR (SINCE NOV 2017) ACTION TO HELP MAKE LONDON
2013
Inspired by traditional national parks, The London A NATIONAL PARK CITY
National Park City is growing a National Park City
7.3 7.4 7.4 7.5
Ranger program. Supported by the outdoor brand Tim-
berland, this program includes over 100 coordinated vol-
2014-2017
unteers who have a diverse range of specialisms to share. WILDER
The National Park City Rangers include storytellers, art- WELL-BEING MEASURE (HAPPINESS SCORE OUT OF 10)
ists, scientists, rewilders, community organizers, play ex-
perts, and people with many other diverse interests and 13.9 17.1 15.4 16.1 15.9
backgrounds. The ambition is for London to have 1,000 or
418
2014-2018
NUMBER OF “FRIENDS OF” GROUPS
even 2,000 National Park City Rangers in the future - all REGISTERED WITH PARKS FOR LONDON WILDLIFE: BIRD ABUNDANCE - THE SUM OF THE AVERAGE
2018
NUMBER OF THE TOP-10 BIRDS PER LONDON GARDEN
helping with the transfer of solutions, energy, and culture.
Mapping has been vital in the London National City
48%
Park project. Charlie Peel’s one-meter square map of PERCENT OF LONDONERS WHO
London was the first map that showed London as a land- HAVE ENJOYED SEEING WILDLIFE IN
2018
The flagship indicator for London as a National Park City THE LAST YEAR (SINCE NOV 2017)
scape with all its green spaces, and it let people imag-
is the percentage area that is physically green: the most
ine how they might explore it differently or join in green recent estimate from Greenspace Information for Greater
spaces in a publicly consumable way. He still works with London (GiGL) is a remarkable 47%, and our aim is to Source:
the foundation because these visualization efforts help increase this to over 50%. London National Park City Foundation. 2019.
people think of their city in new ways.
Other groups and organizations should also become
involved at a deeper level to help resource the effort ter, but they don’t know what that looks like, and they’re for many of the problems we face. The problem lies in
appropriately. In contrast, organizational structures that intelligent enough to work out how to do it for themselves. the fact that those solutions many of us are aware of
are flat enough for everyone to feel like they can get in- Sometimes it’s more about the what rather than the how, are not spread equitably across cities and are not being
volved in one way or another should be set up from the as people are smart enough to work out the latter. scaled up quickly enough. In this sense, the National
start. That ensures other people are not accidentally ex- The London National Park City reframes the pur- Park City project has made a slight power relation shift
cluded or alienated. pose of the city to galvanize people into action possible in terms of power relations in the mentality of
People from one part of the city should be taken to across all sectors and interest groups. The key insight people. We can’t necessarily rely on governments to do
visit another, just to show them what’s possible. here is that across our cities, wherever we are in the everything for us, nor can governments achieve every-
Sometimes people know they want something to be bet- world, we have the solutions, the ideas, and the energy thing on their own.
 116 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 117

PLANNING
ROOTED IN Marianne Katunaric
Jaime Rovira
Ministry of Environment
of Chile, Chile.
METROPOLITAN REGION
OF SANTIAGO, CHILE

BIODIVERSITY
Pop. 5,614,000

641 km²

570 m.a.s.l.

Participatory territorial
management in high
mountain cities

COMMITMENTS
1 7

KEY
CONCEPTS
PRODUCTIVE PRACTICES
Quote as: Katunaric, M., Rovira, J. Planning CONSERVATION LANDSCAPES
Rooted in Biodiversity. P. 116-119. In:
Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.). LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.

The mountain ecosystem of Chile’s central
Mediterranean region offers its inhabitants
multiple ecological benefits, but it is
currently facing accelerated deterioration.
The GEF1 Mountain project designed a
participatory portfolio of management,
governance, and monitoring strategies
to protect its ecosystems and native
biodiversity in response to this problem.
Along the mountains of the Andes and the mountain
ranges of the Chilean coast, a vast territory of 1.3 mil-
lion hectares is home to more than seven million people.
They are distributed mainly between the capital city of
Chile and a network of small and medium-sized periph-
eral towns that are part of the Metropolitan Region of
Santiago de Chile. This growing network of urban settle-
ments has brought adverse environmental effects to the
region, such as air, water, and soil pollution, the loss of
natural ecosystems due to changes in land use in favor
of urban expansion, the proliferation of invasive species
in wild environments, and the overexploitation of natu-
ral resources. These pressures are compounded by more
than a decade of extreme drought in this mountainous
environment, resulting from the harsh and accelerated
impacts of climate change.
All of the above factors have led to a significant
loss and transformation of the biodiversity of the cen-
tral Mediterranean region of Chile and its ecosystem
services. This complex scenario was the starting point
for an initiative that aimed to protect and improve the
condition of biodiversity in this region. This initiative
was called the GEF Project. “Protecting Biodiversity and
Multiple Ecosystem Services in Mountain Biological
Corridors of the Mediterranean Ecosystem of Chile”. This
project, with influence in urban and rural areas of 36
municipalities in the region, worked towards:
› Strengthening the conservation management ca-
pacities of these territories.
› Improving the State’s effective promotion mecha-
nisms to incorporate biodiversity protection into
subsidized actions.
› Establishing a permanent system of biodiversity in-
formation and monitoring for the region.
To achieve all of the above, GEF Montaña implemented
four strategies described below. These strategies seek
to create a sustainable territorial intervention model,
where conservation and production coexist thanks to a
series of good practices.2
 118 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 119

STRATEGY 1. ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE › Report on the state of biodiversity and ecosystem

PLANNING OR ECO-LOCAL PLAN
The municipalities in the study area demanded instru-
ments capable of dealing with environmental problems
that threatened the ecological integrity of the territory
(destruction and contamination of urban wetlands and
their edges; substitution of natural habitats on the cit-
ies’ outskirts, etc.). In response, the GEF Mountain proj-
ect designed an ecological planning tool at a local scale,
known as the Eco-Local Plan.
The latter allowed:
› Providing updated information on the state of biodi-
versity to strategic development projects and plans.
› Resolving the atomized administration of the 36
municipalities within the project area, which result-
ed in 36 different kinds of territorial management.
› Identifying networks of interconnected territories of
relevance to maintain critical ecosystem processes.
› Creating conservation landscapes such as the
Peñalolén foothills and the Peñalolén Municipal Na-
ture Reserve.
IN FIGURES:
• More than 20 municipalities are working
on different types of biodiversity
conservation initiatives.
• 15 of the municipalities in the project area have
biodiversity protection projects designed by
their officials and financed by GEF Montaña.
• 100% of the project area has been assessed
for its environmental components and
ecosystem services of water supply, air
purification, and carbon storage.
N
services for 2020.
› Manual of good municipal practices for biodiversity
Valparaíso
management.
ARGENTINA
› Floristic and plant survey in the GEF project area.
› Guidelines for the management of bat colonies in
constructions.
Santiago
de Chile
IN FIGURES:
• To date, 30 of 36 municipalities in the
project area have officials trained in
biodiversity protection strategies.
PACIFIC
OCEAN
STRATEGY 3. INCENTIVES FOR GOOD
PRODUCTION PRACTICES
In this regard, the restoration management of the sclero-
phyllous forest on 15,000 hectares of land in the project
area stands out, as the implementation of management
plans with forest management criteria and restoration
objectives was tested using financing from an existing
law that had not been used until now. Thus, the owners
of the native forest were in a position to carry out sus-
tainable forest management.
IN FIGURES:
• 390,000 hectares of natural ecosystems
have sustainable soil and forest
Master Plan for the Mapocho and Maipo riverbanks in the munici-
management plans in wilderness areas. palities of Peñaflor, Talagante, El Monte and Isla de Maipo.
• 15,000 hectares of sclerophyllous Detailed planning of interventions in the riparian zone of the con-
forest are being restored. fluence area of the Mapocho and Maipo rivers in the urban sector, Source:
leading to its ecological restoration and use for sustainable recre- Ministry of Environment and
ation and environmental education. U.N. Environment, 2020.

STRATEGY 4. INFORMATION AND MONITORING KEY LESSONS

STRATEGY 2. MUNICIPAL CAPACITY BUILDING
GEF Montaña’s second strategy included training ex-
ercises for public officials. These training initiatives
included specialized courses, peer-to-peer learning in-
ternships, and two diploma courses at the University of
Chile on local environmental management, land-use
planning, and environmental project development and
monitoring, among other topics.
Technical and technical-divulgative products
have also been created to guide the actions of munici-
palities, private associations, N.G.O.s, and civil society
organizations, among which the following are worth
mentioning:
An additional product of the GEF Mountain project was the
regional Simbio module, an information monitoring system
that evaluates the region’s Mediterranean ecosystems under ECOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL
the pressure-state-response model at two scales. At the land- IN THE PROJECT’S ECO-LOCAL PLAN AREA
scape scale, the territory is analyzed using current remote GEF MOUNTAIN 2030
information or information from previous years. Indicators
such as air quality, carbon sequestration, sclerophyllous forest
Cores Urban area
degradation, and degree of landscape fragmentation are used.
On the other hand, local monitoring examines Nodes Green ring
native flora and fauna that serve as a witness to the con- Main corridors Potential corridors
dition of biological diversity and its trends. High Andean Secondary corridors Priority parks
vegetation and the response of these fragile ecosystems Area of watercourse
Glaciers and water bodies
to global warming are also being monitored as that of influence
plant communities and other altitudinal gradients. Core buffer zone
The four strategies addressed by the project -usually
worked on as separate units- can be implemented si-
multaneously in a combined and integrated work.
Capacity building is more effective through a “learn-
ing by doing” methodology.
Communication and dissemination of results are
vital to promoting and understanding a project of
these characteristics, especially if all levels are consid-
ered: local, regional, and national.
The implementation of the Communication, Educa-
tion and Public Awareness Program (C.E.P.A., for its
name in Spanish), proposed by the Convention on Biological
Diversity and adapted for training, was a significant learn-
ing experience for municipal officials and local leaders.
 120 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 121

RIVERS OF
Jhon Rodríguez
Secretariat of Planning of Montería,
Colombia.
Carlos Montoya
Ministry of Environment and

CHANGE
Sustainable Development, Colombia.

MONTERÍA,
COLOMBIA

Pop. 390,344

The revolution of the 3,043 km²

public space around the
Sinú river 11 m.a.s.l.

COMMITMENTS
2 5 6 7

Quote as: Rodríguez, J.N., Montoya,

C. Rivers of Change. P. 120-125. In:
Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.).
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.

KEY
CONCEPTS
SINÚ RIVER
GREEN CORRIDORS
PUBLIC SPACE
LAND MANAGEMENT INSTRUMENTS

The city of Montería has reminded the world and
its citizens of the importance and development
possibilities that riverside cities offer, as they have
direct access to 0.94% of the world’s freshwater.
The recovery of the Sinú river bank as a landscape
attraction reflects a city vision that seeks to
connect urban interventions with the riverbank,
adapt urban design to biodiversity, and transform
the inhabitants’ relationship with the river.
The Sinú Riverbank, a linear park of approximate-
ly 2.8 kilometers, has its origins in Montería’s ear-
ly development, when the entrance to the city was
through the river and all of its buildings were located
on the riverbank, making it a space for social, sports,
and economic activities. At first, the riverbank was a
meeting place, and the Sinú River was the center of
the city’s growth. However, through time and urban-
ization processes, the river lost its importance as a
structuring axis and access point to Montería 1 . This
led to various social problems and the loss of public
space, as the river became synonymous with degra-
dation, danger, devaluation of private property and
the city’s red-light district.
In response to this context, in 2002, Montería pro-
posed a novel public license model 2 for one hundred
parks, including a section of the Sinú riverbank.
This model required licensees to design, build and
maintain the delimited public spaces for twenty
years and would initiate a major transformation for
Montería. Since then, the recovery of the Sinú river-
bank has been guided by a structuring vision of the
city, as it not only seeks to intervene in the river-
bank but also to connect the urban fabric with the
river, establish design under the principles of res-
pect and enhancement of its biodiversity, and pro-
mote new scenarios for the growth and well-being
of the city’s citizens.
According to data from 2018, the Sinú riverbank
is home to 7,942 plant species and 22 fauna species, and
the river is considered a key nature reserve for biodiver-
sity conservation, as well as a fundamental ecological
asset for generating a refreshing microclimate within
the city (IDB et al., 2014). To date, there are 3,400 kilo-
meters of built riverbank and 200 meters in the nearby
western zone, which are segmented due to the com-
plexity of recovering the area, relocating the settlers in
the area, and intervening the necessary spaces.
122
CENTRAL RIVERBANK
Ecological zone: characterized by dense
forests and high presence of fauna. In this zone,
priority was given to greater permeability,
low lighting, and reduced commercial
presence to protect the animals.
Active recreation zone: close to the financial area
and the city’s largest shopping mall. Children’s
playgrounds and restaurants were built here.
Artisan and renovation zone: located on the
city’s old pier. Here a small square was created
for artisans and open-air exhibitions.
Cultural zone: it is integrated into the city’s
foundational square. In this case, the project
proposed a museum for itinerant shows, a meeting
and event room, and an open-air puppet theater.
A Before B After
A A
A of bicycle paths and the public bicycle system. In the fu-
Photos: Carlos Montoya
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 123
B BIODIVERSITY AS A GUIDE FOR URBAN DESIGN
NORTHERN RIVERBANK
Some of the main criteria used for the intervention of the
Sinú Riverbank were: (i) adapt design to the existing bio- Located in a residential area whose construction
diversity, as well as to the river’s dynamics; (ii) identify began in 2008 and was put into operation in 2010.
ecological criteria to intervene the space in all its phases This area was reforested with trees, and the
and not cut down any trees except when they presented natural environment was re-qualified. The project
phytosanitary problems; (iii) adapt the spaces and paths also included the construction of a lookout point
marked by daily citizen movements; (iv) choose the con- overlooking the Sinú River, a puppet theater, sales
struction methodology and materials giving priority to and restaurant modules, children’s playgrounds,
the permeability of the spaces, taking into account the and street furniture.
maintenance commitment acquired by the license, and
(v) promote the social component by carrying out con-
sultation and dialogue activities with the community.3 Photos: Carlos Montoya
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES WITHIN THE CITY A
As the community’s relationship with the Sinú River-
bank improves, the challenges and projects related to it
change. One of the new challenges is how to connect the
riverbank with the rest of Montería. A new city project
has emerged in response to this, complemented by urban
development processes: the green corridors. These per-
pendicular corridors give access to the riverbank and are
B designed under the same logic of adapting to the existing
vegetation. In this way, ecosystem services generated by
the river bank not only remain there but also penetrate
the city, improving Montería’s ecological connectivity. B
Green corridors have already begun to be created
in potential locations in the city by taking advantage of
rainwater channels and using Nature-based Solutions
and biodiversity monitoring. Previous demonstration
projects have been so effective that all residents want to
have green corridor-like areas within their city spaces.
For this reason, today, these channels are con-
sidered in the city’s land management plan as part
of the mitigation and adaptation strategies. They are
buffer areas between the buildings and the edge of the
B wooded channels and are associated with the network
ture, it is expected that these spaces, together with the The riverbank is approximately 70% green area
green corridors, will be small river corridors and public and 30% cobblestone (articulated pavement).
areas protected by their inhabitants. It is also expected
that future public investment projects will maintain the
connection with the bike paths so that the city’s central win-win situation for both public and private sectors. Al-
projects can be traveled by bicycle. though often overlooked, these instruments have great
potential for the country’s growth, as they enable the
PLANNING AND FINANCING development of intermediate cities and improve both
citizen satisfaction and political gain. In fact, Colombia
The beginning of the Sinú riverbank recovery was pos- stands out for its land management instruments, for ex-
sible thanks to land management and financing instru- ample, the right of first refusal and priority development
Photos: Iván Potes
ments for infrastructure development, which created a and financing instruments such as valuation and capi-
 124
MONTERÍA CENTRAL MARKET
The intervention in this area began with police
intelligence work in 2013 that dismantled the
micro-trafficking gangs that dominated the
sector. A social mapping exercise was also carried
out, making it possible to relocate the 1,500
informal vendors established there and connect
them to formal trade in a market adapted to their
needs. Thanks to this joint effort, 20,000 m2 of
degraded public space have been recovered.
A Before B After
A already applying nature-based solutions, as the
tal gains. However, few cities use these mechanisms, so
it is essential to promote their implementation.
One of the consequences of the restoration of
the Sinú riverbank has been the capital gains of near-
by land. It has thus been proposed that the land that has
benefited from the valuation should contribute to con-
tinuing the river bank.
In intermediate cities, the needs of the city and
its inhabitants will always exceed financial and admin-
istrative capacities. Due to these limitations, it is rec-
ommended that cities rely on land management and
financing instruments to carry out this type of renova-
tion and construction, which are costly.
A NEW GENERATION IN CONNECTION
WITH THE RIVER
The works for the recovery of the Sinú riverbank in-
volved, in turn, a transformation of the citizens’ relation-
ship with nature and with the works carried out in public
areas. On one hand, the project was committed in using a
horizontal language to promote an understanding among
citizens of the importance of riverside cities in the world.
It also reconnected citizens with nature by preserving
the fauna and flora in these spaces (red howler monkeys,
sloths, squirrels, and iguanas, among others), signage for
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
B the project - the river as a unifying element - it was
Photos: Municipality of Montería and Jhon Rodríguez
each species, and education on the importance of na-
ture-based solutions. Thus, as a result of the restoration, a
new generation emerged in contact and coexistence with
the fauna and flora of their city. On the other hand, there
was public distrust of the licensed works and the fulfill-
ment of what was promised. In this case, the discovery
of the riverbank’s first zone was a turning point, since
the quality of the work changed the citizens’ relationship
with the project. From this point on, the work progressed
smoothly and with the support of the inhabitants, as well
as with a high sense of responsibility and expectations
for the project’s continuity. For this same reason, various
efforts and activities were carried out to keep the new
scenarios active, strengthening citizens’ sense of belong-
ing to the riverbank, and increasing tourism in the city,
including management of the puppet theater, invitations
to school trips, the Summer Festival, the Monteria Jazz
Festival, and other day and nighttime activities.
The recovery of the Sinú riverbank began as a
project of the mayor’s office to recover an initial stretch
of the riverbank. However, it is now a city project that the
community itself demands of the mayor’s office every
four years. Many of the benefits that the Sinú riverbank
now provides to its inhabitants were not considered ini-
tially. However, as the project has evolved, new aspects
to be considered have been included. Thus, for example,
Experimentation
Tom Park Concert, 2013.
Parade of floats in the Fiestas del Río, 2013.
Photos: Olger Guzmán
it has been understood that: i) the more continuous the
riverbank is, together with the green corridors, the better
the city’s ecological connectivity will be; ii) the project
has generated economic development and greater use of
public space; and iii) thermal regulation is maintained
and improved each time more sections are joined, so the
Sinú riverbank functions as a buffer area and adaptation
to climate change.
ONE CITY, ONE RIVER
Prior to the recovery of the Sinú river, its left bank was
lagging, with high levels of inequality and no presence
from the State. Using the vision, the city proposed for
125
decided to build the new town hall on the left side of
the city. This symbol of State presence in a sustainable
building was the catalyst for the development of the
area. With the new town hall came new urban parks,
shopping malls, ATMs, housing projects, and jobs. In
addition, a social project was carried out that provid-
ed 5,340 housing solutions for people living on the riv-
erbank, accompanied by didactic activities to adapt to
change; for example, educational talks in simple lan-
guage on the functions and correct use of the systems
and services offered by these homes.
KEY LESSONS
B e fore learning about the concept, Monteria was
riverbank recovers and improves the conditions of the
public space using the ecological benefits already exist-
ing in the area.
T he Sinú riverbank recovery project and its ad-
ministration have demonstrated that there can be
human uses that are respectful and compatible with na-
ture. If, on the contrary, these spaces are not occupied
with certain citizen and urban uses, they run the risk of
being invaded, degraded, and can no longer provide eco-
system services to humans and other species.
It is necessary to use existing land management
and financing instruments for infrastructure de-
velopment, especially in intermediate cities. Likewise,
it is essential to use these instruments to construct the
next sections of the Sinú riverbank in areas that are not
urbanized, so that the continuation of the riverbank be
considered an urban development burden.
I nve s t i ng in public space is very important, as
people with fewer resources depend on public
space to use their free time.
T he more continuous the riverbank is, along with
the green corridors, the better the ecological con-
nectivity of the city. The Sinú river corridor is a buffer
and adaptation area for climate change. Thus, for ex-
ample, thermal regulation is maintained and improved
each time more stretches are added to the corridor.
C it i z e n participation in the design process is
vital. Without participation, there is no appropri-
ation, but this should be done in a horizontal language
between the different actors (government, technicians,
unions, and citizens).
P u bl ic space projects, especially green infrastruc-
ture, should be designed based on the ecosystem
services they can provide to all forms of life that inhabit
the city (humans, plants, and animals).
URBAN
126
AMAZON
Evolution of human settlements
in the Colombian Amazon and
of their living conditions
COMMITMENTS
1 6 8
Quote as: Riaño, E., Guhl, J.F. Urban Amazon.
P. 126-131. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.
The balance of almost twenty years of research
work in the Colombian Amazon region shows
a unique urban settlement phenomenon
in the country: the establishment of a vast
settlement ring whose characteristics reflect the
extraordinary biological and cultural diversity
of the green ocean that represents the Amazon.
One reason that makes the Amazon synonymous with
water is that its forests keep the atmosphere humid
3000 km from the ocean. Together, Amazonian trees
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Elizabeth Riaño
Juan Felipe Guhl
Amazonian Institute of Scientific
Research - Sinchi, Colombia.
contribute 20 billion tons of water to the atmosphere in
a day (Nobre, 2014). This region is, in turn, the habitat
for almost 40 million people living in large, intermedi-
ate cities, towns, villages, veredas, and indigenous ca-
bildos (Learning UCLG, 2018). Regarding the Colombian
Amazon territory, calculations by the National Admin-
istrative Department of Statistics (DANE) estimate about
1,289,612 inhabitants, of which 47.63 % live in municipal
capitals (614,246) and 52.37 % in rural areas (675,366).
This population comprises about 93 different
tribes of indigenous peoples, colonist-peasants, Af-
Experimentation
ro-descendants, and urban dwellers from different
regions, which gives rise to an enormous ethnic and
cultural diversity. How these settlers are linked to and
organize the space where they live has led to heteroge-
neous territorialities: from those closest to the natural
environment with minimal changes to the most trans-
formed, as in the case of different types of urban settle-
ments in which nature is usually excluded.
The Sinchi Institute, through the Socio-environ-
mental Dynamics Program, has identified and character-
ized the processes of occupation, settlement, and urban-
127
AMAZON REGION,
COLOMBIA
Pop. 1,289,612
483,163 km²
96 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
SETTLEMENT RING
URBAN HIERARCHY
RIGHT TO THE CITY
ization in this region for almost two decades (Riaño and
Salazar, 2016). Over time, this sustained effort has made it
possible to recognize the particularities of settlements in
the territory on a regional scale and, in turn, the challeng-
es that arise at the urban level to ensure food sovereignty
and access to water for the inhabitants of the region.
In this sense, embracing the vision of BiodiverCit-
ies in the Amazon is both a local and a planetary aim capa-
ble of reversing urban expansion as an engine of biodiversi-
ty loss. It is also a guarantor of contemporary and ancestral
practices that preserve and sustainably use biodiversity.
 128

JU2020
JU2015
JU2010
JU2005
La Pedrera
Paná Paná
Mapiripana
Cacahual
Limit

Morichal
RING

La Guadalupe
Municipal

19.17 %
Barrancominas
San Felipe
SETTLEMENT

Puerto Colombia
Pacoa
Yavaraté
La Victoria
Papunaua
Tarapacá
Puerto Arica
El Encanto
La Chorrera

BEHAVIOR OF THE URBAN HIERARCHY OF 70 POPULATED

Mirití Paraná

CENTERS IN THE COLOMBIAN AMAZON FROM 2005 TO 2020

Puerto Alegría
Puerto Santander
Cumaribo
Puerto Rico ( Meta )
Mapiripán
22.48 %

San Juan de Arama

Vistahermosa

1
Mesetas
92,608.19 KM2

2
Puerto Concordia
2002

Santa Rosa 3
Taraira
La Macarena
4

Cartagena del Chairá

Miraflores
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY

Carurú
5

Calamar

El Retorno
Uribe
Puerto Nariño
Puerto Leguízamo
the most lacking.

Solano
Experimentation

Solita
San Miguel
Puerto Caicedo
San Francisco
Santiago
Colón
Puerto Guzmán
108,630.49 KM2

Curillo
2016

Milán
Piamonte
Albania
Valparaíso
Belén de los Andaquíes
San José del Fragua
26.13 %

La Montañita
Morelia
El Doncello
The urban hierarchy of population centers is determined by analyzing the supply of ser-

El Paujil
vices and facilities available. In 2005, the Sinchi Institute established five hierarchical levels,
with the first level being the cities with the most significant coverage and the fifth level being

Puerto Rico ( Casanare )

Puerto Asís
Valle del Guamuez
Orito
Sibundoy
Villagarzón
126,204.83 KM2

San Vicente del Caguán

2020

Inírida
Mitú
Mocoa
San José del Guaviare
Leticia
129

Florencia
Source: Instituto Amazónico de
Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, 2020
 130
A LIVING RING IN EXPANSION
Just as the Amazon region is not a homogeneous space,
neither is the geographic space defined as a settlement
ring. In these rings, urban structures can be identified:
through communication networks, they advance pen-
etrating the Amazon region from its periphery towards
the center, supported by the areas already consolidated
by urban hierarchies and typologies. As a result, a con-
tinuous stain is observed, that then extends over the rest
of the Colombian Amazon.
The ring overlaps and transforms protected ter-
ritories, particular management areas, and indigenous
communities (reservations, partialities, ancestral regions,
or colonies of nomadic indigenous communities). Conse-
quently, as it progresses, the functional structures of the
Amazonian natural ecosystem are altered due to the pro-
ductive extractive activity that generates surpluses for
self-consumption and market. One of the predominant
impacts is the fracturing of forests and the contamination
of water bodies, which supply local aqueducts and are a
source of protein supply for the riverside communities.
The configuration of the population ring from
2002 to 2020 shows the progress in the occupation, pop-
ulation, and urbanization of the Amazon region, which
occurs similarly in the rest of the Greater South Ameri-
can Amazon countries. While in 2002, the ring’s exten-
sion was calculated at 92,608.19 km2, in 2020, it reached
126,204.83 km2, which means an increase of 36.28 % in
18 years. Notably, the departments of Caquetá, Meta, Gua-
viare, and Putumayo are the ones that show the highest
percentage of urban areas in expansion.
FOUR AMAZONIAN WAYS OF LIVING
In order to understand the dynamics that have led to the
Amazon population ring, it was necessary to define the
regional territory. To this end, the Socio-environmental
Dynamics Program used the urban hierarchy analysis
of the territory’s urban centers and their relationships.
Thus, the diverse typologies of present settlements and
the configuration of an urban system, together with the
economic interests and environmental characteristics
of the Amazon, consolidate four recognizable sub-re-
gions: Western Amazonia, Northwestern Amazonia,
Northeastern Amazonia, and Southern Amazonia.
The study of these different subregions has re-
vealed large territorial imbalances expressed in high
population densities, as in the western subregion; high
levels of intervention in the environment, and others
sparsely populated, as in the southern subregion, and
with a lower level of ecosystem impact.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
SUBREGIONS
A B
A WESTERN
› Extensive overland road
network linking urban centers
with other country centers.
› Regional importance.
› Economy based on
commodity production.
› Pastures and livestock
predominance.
› High incidence of
coca cultivation.
› Presence of illegal
armed actors.
B NORTHWESTERN
› Linked to the markets of
Meta and the country’s
interior by a river.
› Extensive livestock.
› High incidence of
coca cultivation.
› Armed conflict scenario.
› Forced displacement.
C D
C SOUTH
› Natural communication
route constituted by the
Amazon and Andean rivers.
› Extractive economy.
› Culturally diverse
indigenous groups.
› Leticia concentrates
population flows from
the region’s interior
and the country.
D NORTHEAST
› Reduced road and
merchandise links with the
interior of the country.
› The tropical rainforest
predominates.
› Dispersed population,
primarily indigenous.
› Subsistence-based economy
(chagras, settlers’ plots,
and extraction of forest
resources such as fibers
and ornamental fish).
› Low level of forest loss.
Experimentation
HOW DO YOU EXPERIENCE
THE AMAZON?
Human settlements in Amazonia fulfill different roles
determined by supplying products or providing regular
or occasional services to the inhabitants -for example,
they can be market centers or administrative head-
quarters-which ends up being expressed in social and
spatial reality. There is thus a differentiated pressure on
ecosystems and their services that gives rise to various
typologies of Colombian Amazonian settlements: cap-
ital cities, urban centers, municipal headwaters, head-
waters of non-municipalized areas, population centers,
settlements in rural areas, settlements of indigenous
communities, settlements of peoples in isolation and
the recent territorial spaces for training and reincorpo-
ration (ETCR) (Riaño and Salazar, 2018).
It should be noted that the settlement dynam-
ics in the Amazon region have had severe environ-
mental consequences. On the one hand, the typical
conditions of any urbanization process that is neither
planned nor guided by social welfare criteria are pres-
ent. These conditions include unemployment, crim-
inality, poverty, and environmental degradation. On
the other hand, in urban centers such as Florencia or
Mocoa, the way the territory is occupied increases the
population’s vulnerability, given the processes of envi-
ronmental degradation and location in risk areas.
Moreover, the natural attributes of the Am-
azon, which could well be incorporated into better
forms of cities in the tropical rainforest, and the ele-
ments of indigenous and mestizo architecture with a
unique intercultural mix, are not valued. Extractivism,
in particular, becomes a serious environmental prob-
lem because it is an economic model that intensively
uses a resource that does not fix economic and social
capital in the area, leaving instead human and envi-
ronmental degradation. Thus, in the end, what we see
are urban centers that do not guarantee the right to
the city.
Despite the challenges facing urban occu-
pation in the Colombian Amazon, the region has an
immense capacity for action with creative attitudes,
boundless energy, and confidence in the future. On
this basis, Amazonian cities can be transformed to
offer a high quality of life to their inhabitants, priv-
ileging human development and reducing their im-
pact on nature, with a prosperous economy for all
and based on the active, direct, and committed par-
ticipation of citizens.
In this order of ideas, what is urban and the city
in the Amazon are issues that require further study to
131
understand their complexity and specificity. Planning
and management strategies can then be proposed and
adjusted to the Amazonian environment and its in-
habitants, whose participation is essential to meet the
challenge of having cities for life within the region.
The experience of the Socio-environmental Dynamics
Program sheds light on five fronts on which it is worth-
while to undertake efforts.
KEY LESSONS
It is necessary to propose planning and manage-
ment strategies adjusted to the Amazonian envi-
ronment and its inhabitants, whose participation is es-
sential to meet the challenge of having habitable cities
in the region.
It is necessary to recognize the ongoing urbaniza-
tion process and its lack of inclusion in public pol-
icies. Considering all the region’s urban diversity, build-
ing cities in the Amazon is today’s challenge for such
policies and their transit towards sustainability and that
of the territory in which they are immersed.
Integrating the main ecological structure with
a public and urban green space system is es-
sential, recognizing the social and environmental
value of protected areas, rivers, streams, wetlands,
and parks.
The role of the Amazon as a wetland requires the
implementation of circular economy guidelines ap-
plied to water and waste generation cycles that reduce
the impact of urban settlements on the surrounding eco-
systems.
A promising mechanism for ensuring food sover-
eignty in the urban environment is to appropriate
the region’s ancestral farming systems, such as the cha-
gras. In this sense, it will be necessary to:
› Focus on food for the people.
› Value food suppliers.
› Locate food systems.
› Place control at the local level.
› Promote knowledge and skills.
› Be compatible with nature.
BiodiverCities could not be sustained without a
component to promote science and citizen aware-
ness. Recognizing both scientific and traditional knowl-
edge about biodiversity that persists in urban settle-
ments and its role in the well-being of its inhabitants is
key to fostering interaction between scientific and citi-
zen actors around the planning and future expansion of
their cities.
 132 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 133

THE SWEET
CITY
Irene García
Municipality of Curridabat, CURRIDABAT,
Costa Rica. COSTA RICA
Édgar Mora
University for International Pop. 80,677
Cooperation, Costa Rica.

Urban planning around 15.95 km²

pollinators 1,208 m.a.s.l.

COMMITMENTS
2 5 6

Quote as: García, I.M., Mora, E. The Sweet City.

P. 132-137. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt. 2
022. 288 pages.

KEY
CONCEPTS
BACKCASTING
POLLINATORS
HAPPINESS
ASSISTED ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

The vision known as Sweet City has brought
happier citizens and changed roles and routines
in Curridabat, Costa Rica. By promoting a
different relationship with urban spaces and
with the other ways of life found there, the
inhabitants of this town have developed a
long-term sense of identity based on integrity,
mutuality, and shared governance.
Curridabat is one of the 31 cities that make up the
largest urban agglomeration in Costa Rica (Greater
Metropolitan Area), where about three million people
live. Despite efforts to promote economic and educa-
tional development to benefit the 77,000 inhabitants
of Curridabat, there are still social and ecological
problems associated with unplanned densification
and informal settlements. For example, the city’s
densely populated areas show a reduced drainage
capacity due to the narrowing of the channels of the
bodies of water found there and a level of urban vege-
tation cover that is highly fragmented and asymmet-
rically distributed.
In 2015 Curridabat implemented the Sweet City
program, seeking to respond comprehensively to the
social and ecological challenges imposed by the terri-
tory’s urbanization. The Sweet City model arose then
as a response to the challenges brought by urbaniza-
tion to Curridabat, with significant achievements in
terms of public policy. In 2016 Sweet City was included
in the local party’s Government Plan. The Municipal
Strategic Plan also adopted it for the period 2018-2020,
and, finally, it was agreed that it become the official
brand for Curridabat (García and Muñoz, 2020).
Sweet City promotes the development and plan-
ning of a territory that is friendly, receptive, and sensi-
tive to the different forms of life that inhabit the city. To
this end, the initiative incorporates pollinating species,
more precisely native bees, as the central axis of the
city’s redesign, not only as part of its productive dynam-
ics but also from an ethical perspective that recognizes
the value of life.
Within the program’s framework, experiences
and actions have been generated that range from rais-
ing awareness of the importance of the rational use of
water (a drop of water), waste management (earthworm),
conscious and nutritious diet (sap), peaceful neighbor-
hood development, and social interactions (ants) or trust
(beehive) to the need for physical exercise (humming-
bird) or a better relationship with nature (güitite). Thus,
Sweet City opens a new city management perspective
that includes environmental, political, urbanistic, and
pedagogical objectives.
 134 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 135

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE TYPOLOGIES BEFORE AND AFTER - PARQUE DEL FROM OBJECTIVE TO ACTION
FOR THE CANTON OF CURRIDABAT. RECUERDO [MEMORY PARK]1

Systematization of the existing and desirable green infrastructure for demonstrative

Sweet City used backcasting as a planning strategy, a
and educational purposes and as a guide for future developments. methodology that traces actions from the expected re-
sult, from back to front. Thus, Curridabat’s vision prior-
itizes what is defined by demand and not by previously
established objectives or projects.
Through this scheme, projects were grouped to
address five dimensions of work: infrastructure, habitat,
biodiversity, productivity, and coexistence. The aim was
to structurally and functionally integrate urban infra-
structure with biodiversity, reducing segregation and in-
equity in the opportunities and services that interaction
with nature can offer. These dimensions also address
Urban Municipal Botanical Vacant urban productivity from a production perspective, not
forests Parks gardens lots 2017 2021 just from a consumption perspective, and ensure a more
harmonious and inclusive coexistence between human
beings and all other forms of life.

BETWEEN SWEET SIDEWALKS AND

ECOLOGICALLY ASSISTED RESTORATIONS

An action that exemplifies the transformation Sweet

City entailed in the planning and management of pub-
lic spaces, roads, and buildings is the call to live in a for-
est inside the city. To this end, the planting and use of
Linear Sweet Rain Green sweet plants was proposed to increase the presence and
trees sidewalks gardens roofs integration of pollinating species in Curridabat’s infra-
structure. By providing better conditions for these spe-
cies to do their job, it is possible to create a more diverse,
comfortable, and colorful city, where the inhabitants are
aware of its biodiversity, its functioning, and its contri-
butions to the population’s quality of life.
As a fundamental part of the planting and use
of sweet plants, the concept of assisted ecological res-
toration was incorporated. This is a strategy aimed at
recovering biodiversity in the city and the functional

Sports Road Urban Riverbank

fields islands cemeteries forests

Live Urban vegetable Green Green

Photos: Municipality of Curridabat
fences gardens pergolas walls
 136 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 137

integrity and health of the ecosystems in which it is lo- initiatives such as sweet sidewalks, which have a ESSENTIAL SPACES FOR
cated in areas that have lost their natural dynamics due detailed guide that invites inhabitants and real estate ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIVITY
to constant human disturbances. developers to plant native plants considered sweet
As a result, native species have been planted along the city’s pedestrian corridors. It is hoped that Curridabat boundary

in the Parque del Recuerdo since 2017, not only as a these sweet sidewalks will promote the variety of
way to commemorate deceased inhabitants but also sweet plants in the city, expand public awareness Source:
as a strategy to recover the plant structure and hab- of their value, and ultimately ensure the presence of Municipality of
itat for the city’s biodiversity. This is in addition to pollinators in the city. Curridabat

GREEN COVERAGE IN THE Forests and woodlands Municipal parks >0.5 ha

CANTON OF CURRIDABAT (2019) along riverbanks
Isolated trees Municipal parks <0.5 ha

Tree-covered
coffee plantation Vacant land

Peri-urban forests and

Trees in a line
woodlands
15,86 %
Cemeteries

Sports and recreational fields

772,2
Other green areas, road islands,
gardens, green pergolas, sidewalks,
landfills, green areas of buildings,
HECTARES roadsides.

Barely essential

Not very essential

GREEN COVERAGE
Moderately essential

Essential

Highly essential

KEY LESSONS
0,12 %
Unde r s t a nd i ng community activism and the ori- P roj e c t s are not enough. By 2015, projects had

47,7 % gin of rebellion in Curridabat served as the basis for

building the city’s vision that would later be implement-
been implemented in Curridabat. However, there
was still no vision for the city’s planned future. Faced
10,03 % 0,30 % ed there. with this void, imitation of and inspiration from nature’s
A f te r gaining power and municipal management processes was adopted as a design path to generate suit-
capacity, a leadership model was proposed based able conditions for biodiversity.
on the question “How many people have we made hap- Before, the city made decisions without taking
0,74 % 0,36 % py today?” which arose from the understanding that the into account citizens’ demands. Now, the munici-
city must produce well-being. Happiness gave a new ob- pality has begun to govern by demand, transformed its
jective to city management and the provision of specif- budget, and incorporated new institutional ramifica-
ic services, generating measurement instruments such tions. To this end, it was essential to propose a change
Source: as the “happiness map,” which functioned as a tactical in the administrative language: now, the administra-
6,81 % 5,79 % 5,75 % 1,37 % 0,56 %
Municipality of foundation for identifying problems and seeking cre- tive documents produced under this vision use a radi-
Curridabat ative solutions around a common objective. cally different tone.
 138 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 139

NEIGHBORHOOD
SCALED María Stella Sáchica
Juan Carlos Caicedo
Grupo Ecomunitario,
Colombia.
BOGOTA,
COLOMBIA

BIODIVERCITIES
Pop. 7,181,000

1,775 km2

2,640 m.a.s.l.

An initiative by a group of
Gran Chicó neighbors to learn
about its biodiversity resulted
in recognition of the area as a
prioritized ecological corridor
in Bogotá.
COMMITMENTS
2 5 6 8

Quote as: Sáchica, M.S., Caicedo, J.C.

Neighborhood Scaled BiodiverCities. P. 138-
143. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.

KEY CONCEPTS

CITIZEN SCIENCE
ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIVITY
PHENOLOGY CALENDAR
FOOD GUILDS

In the Chapinero District, a group of citizens
curiosity to learn about flora and fauna in their
new neighborhood gave rise to a landscape and
multifuncional vision of the sector’s green areas.
The Gran Chicó ecological corridor has gained
valuable institutional and political recogni-
tion thanks to this citizen science exercise.
In 2014, neighbors of the Gran Chicó, began to explore the
sector’s green areas and record flora and fauna, consolidat-
ing observations on the iNaturalist and eBird platforms. In
the process, they discovered that these spaces faced chal-
lenges in terms of management, as the high biodiversity,
previously unknown, that the area harbored was not being
recognized. This information gap inspired the creation
of Grupo Ecomunitario in 2015, a non-profit organization
that promotes the development of ecological knowledge
to foster better management practices for urban green
spaces that increase biodiversity, climate resilience, and
human well-being. Several concerns arose as the flora
and fauna species list continued to grow in the neighbor-
hood. For example, how to contextualize the biodiversity
found in the Gran Chicó sector and compare it with other
areas of Bogotá?. The most detailed inventories of flora and
fauna at the time were restricted mainly to 15 district eco-
logical wetland parks and the Thomas Van der Hammen
and Bosque Oriental de Bogotá reserves, all very different
from the urbanized mosaic of parks, street medeans, and
gardens of Gran Chicó. However, although the number of
species began to equal or in many cases exceed these ar-
eas, the District administrative office did not incorporate
the biodiversity present in Gran Chicó. Thus, the project
sought to approach decision-makers to bring the impor-
tance of biodiversity management to the table. Thanks to
Grupo Ecomunitario’s efforts, the District is making prog-
ress in managing urban green areas that have not been
traditionally considered for their ecological contributions.
Today, the Gran Chicó is a prioritized corridor for ecolog-
ical connectivity in the District Development Plan 2020-
2024 and the new Land Use Plan 2022-2035.
 140 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 141

KEY ACTORS IN TUNE WITH THE GRAN CHICÓ’S BIODIVERSITY

ECOLOGICAL NETWORK
Vascular Birds Moths and Flies True Bugs Beetles Bees Dragonflies Mammals Other fauna Total
First, it was necessary to stress the importance of under- flora Butterflies (Diptera) (Hemiptera) (Coleoptera) (Apidae) (Odonata) groups
standing that green areas are habitats, and fauna species are (Lepidoptera)

excellent bioindicators for measuring ecological quality. In

Number of
this sense, it is essential to consider that, while some species
are common and generalists, others are rare and special-
species by
group
623 116 90 50 50 30 12 11 9 100+ 1100+
ists in their requirements, both in terms of food, shelter and
nesting sites. To illustrate, we can draw a parallel between
the ecological enrichment of habitat and a party. For the par-
ty, it is crucial to know which friends are carnivores, vege-
tarians, or vegans, which ones drink liquor or not, etc. A good GREEN PUBLIC SPACE TYPOLOGIES Río ECOLOGICAL
OF THE GRAN CHICÓ Bogotá CONNECTIVITY
party has a variety of food and drinks with this in mind. For 9) Cll

15
.
Av .9
4
2(

ra
wildlife, these resources include water, nectar, pollen, fruits, Gran Chicó Polygon highlighting l 9
na

rre
seeds, and host plants. Similarly, the concept of food guilds ecological connectivity at the a go Connectivity

Ca
Di
applies to shelter and breeding site guilds for leaf litter, tree neighborhood scale. Green spaces
Gran Chicó
with no designated color correspond
cavities and decaying wood among others. (Polygon)
to private green spaces such as the
On the other hand, it was essential for the project

11
Seminario Mayor and Museo El Chicó.
to know the different types of existing green areas, what

ra
Other typologies not visible due to

rre
rules regulated them, who administered them and how the map’s scale include gardens,

Ca
they articulated with each other. In this case, the project ornamental water fountains, and Humedal
Pa Chicú
sought to go beyond a traditional figure (for example, a ra- green building facades. rqu
e9
vine, a wetland or stream) and consolidate a polygon of 621 Riparian Ecological 3
hectares, so the existence of different typologies implied Corridor (R.E.C.)

7
establishing a compatibility between environmental man-

ta norte

ra
Parks greater

rre
agement, ecological functionality and inter-institutional than 1 Hectare

Ca
articulation.

Au topis
Parks less than Cerros
In the context of Bogotá, the management of public Pa
1 Hectare rq Orientales
green areas has mostly been limited to certain environmen- ue
El
Vi r
tal services (such as shade and air quality), along with aspects Green sidewalk strip r ey Seminario
Seminario Gran Chicó’s strategic
of security, aesthetics, and recreation, without considering Mayor de
Mayor
Museo Bogotá positioning for ecological
ecological functionality. In addition, there is a substantial Roads with green
El Chicó
median strip connectivity within the
percentage of public green spaces without clear regulations, Cuenca del Río Salitre
such as road corridors, green sidewalk strips, as well as front (Salitre Watershed)
gardens, and other private areas. between the Cerros
GRAN CHICÓ’S Orientales (Eastern Hills)
AREA IS OF
A NEW VISION FOR THE GRAN CHICÓ and the Río Bogotá

261 ha
(Bogotá River).

Given the administrative complexity and the need to

move from data collection to decision-making influence,
a strategy for coordination and discussion between key
public and private actors was proposed. As a result, in
2015, the Gran Chicó Working Group was created as an
inter-institutional instance for effective participation district entities to provide more diverse and healthi- Cl
l. 8
Reserva Forestal
focused on providing all public and private actors with er habitats for fauna. Some of the projects include: new 5
Bosque Oriental de
a more comprehensive vision that enhances biodiversi- tree species that complement and balance the wildlife
Bogotá (Bogotá
ty and climate resilience. Through regular meetings, we food supply, planting gardens for pollinators, integrat- Eastern Forest
seek to direct investments toward more multifunctional ed pest management, and safe management of dead Source: IDECA - Reserve)
projects compatible with nature-based solutions that trees and decaying wood. For example, Grupo Ecomu- Infraestructura de R.E.C. Chicó
contribute to the corridor’s objectives. nitario has managed to transform institutional prac- datos espaciales
In the working group, Grupo Ecomunitario has pro- tices regarding integrated pest management, reducing de Bogotá R.E.C. Virrey
posed and implemented pilot projects with several the standardized use of pesticides in public green areas
 142 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 143

A B C D E F G A Tree specie 1
PHENOLOGY CALENDAR
B Tree specie 2

Januar y

b er
Open flowers Umbel flowers C Shrub

D e cem
Tubular flowers Fruits/berries D Garden plant 1

E Garden plant 2
Raceme flowers Seeds

F Garden plant 3

Feb

b er
TREE CANOPY G Host Plant

vem
ua r
y

No
Conceptual illustrations to
design multi-strata and multi-
TREE SUB-CANOPY species urban landscapes
that incorporate a diverse
wildlife food supply during an
M

er
ar annual cycle.

b
ch

to
Oc
PHENOLOGICAL CYCLE

SHRUB
LAYER Ap r Host plant
r il be Leaf and other
em
ept herbivory herbivores
GARDENING S
LAYER
Pollinators
Ma
y u st and other
Aug
Flowering
GRASS flower
visitors
June July
Fruit feeding
Fruiting and
(in Gran Chicó alone, there are more than 200 species of dispersal
insects, and pesticides are one of the main stressors af-
fecting them). At the same time, there has been a robust Seed
outreach effort on the area’s importance, challenges, and feeding and
Seeding
opportunities through guided hikes, lectures, content on dispersal
social media, didactic maps and illustrations of the Gran
Chicó1 , technical and legal reports, and fauna and flo- KEY LESSONS
ra identification guides. To this extent, we seek to build
free and open-access tools for environmental education It is possible to articulate common objectives
that can be replicated or scaled in other urban areas (see through effective participation by relying on a tech-
www.grupoecomunitario.org). nically and legally supported ecological and normative
Several years’ work, together with perseverance baseline. Thus, it is feasible to reach a shared vision and
through different district administrations, allowed us to achieve the objectives of the District’s development plans
transcend from the management of green areas as de- from different competencies and interests.
limited and independently administered spaces to the Adequate land use planning guarantees the recogni-
consolidation of a polygon that, although highly urban- tion of protected areas and other typologies, avoids
ized, can be planned from a multifunctional perspective. habitat homogenization, and guarantees multi-species
As a result, today, the Gran Chicó is a priority corridor for and multi-strata landscape designs, increasing climatic
Bogotá’s ecological connectivity. resilience and the habitat quality for wildlife.
 144 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 145

URBAN
Julián Restrepo
TALLER Architects,
Colombia.

BIOTOPES
A new perspective on the
SHENZHEN,
CHINA

Pop. 17,494,398

2,050 km²

integration of biodiversity in 5 m.a.s.l.

public space.

COMMITMENTS
2 6

Quote as: Restrepo, J. Urban Biotopes. P.

144-147. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.

KEY
CONCEPTS
BIOTOPES
SPONGE CITIES
UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY

The public space intervention in Qianhai,
Shenzhen’s financial center, proposes a new
vision of landscaping and architecture that
offers a relationship with ecosystems beyond
an aesthetic and contemplative purpose.
The ambition for an ecological transformation of Chi-
nese cities has given rise to a national public policy of
sponge cities, leading to regional and local proposals.
This city building strategy is based on the hydric behavior
of the territory to ensure that natural systems work hand
in hand with artificial systems for adequate water regula-
tion. Thus, the cities attached to the policy carry out pub-
lic space projects that contribute to retaining, draining, or
regulating water levels according to their specific needs.
Such is the case in Shenzhen, located in the
Pearl River Delta, the largest urbanized area in the world.
In this city, one of the conurbations of the delta, the public
space intervention in Qianhai, Shenzhen’s financial cen-
ter, proposes a new vision of landscaping and architec-
ture that offers a relationship with ecosystems beyond
an aesthetic and contemplative purpose. The Govern-
ment of China has implemented an urban development
plan for the past 40 years, aimed not only at turning the
city into a center of economic and technological prog-
ress but also at developing policies for environmental
preservation and the inclusion of nature in human life.
Thanks to these measures, Shenzhen had 1,090
parks at the end of 2019. Among them, 33 are natural, 152
are urban, and 905 are community, totaling a coverage of
park services and green land of 90.87%. Likewise, 41.2% of
the city’s territory is covered by forest, and its PM2.5 met-
rics place it among the top ten cities with the best air quality
in the country. (Shenzhen Government Online, 2022). Also
worth mentioning are the advances and explorations in
the integration of flowers into urban space, pollution control
in the river, and landscape renovations through projects to
improve aquatic environments. In this way, Shenzhen has
succeeded in meeting all the requirements to be classified as
a national forest city, a goal set in 2015 (Qian, 2018).
 146 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 147

QIANHAI: A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING AND found in the ability of public space to replicate the place’s Specifically, the linear park design incorporated diation properties, and contributes to the absorption of
REPLICATING ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY ecological complexity. The first necessity was to deci- four types of vegetation that characterize the Shenzhen excess rainwater in the city.
pher the landscape; understand how the transition took region ―wetlands, jungle, grasslands, and bamboo forest.
For more than seven years, architecture firms TALLER, place between the ecosystems of the Pearl River delta, in The project is innovative to the extent that it recreates GUANGMING: NEW PERSPECTIVES
LOLA Landscape, and L+CC1 have worked on ecological this case, between the G’uiwan River, Shenzhen Bay, and specific plant arrangements within the urban matrix. FOR NEW TRAILS
and public space projects in Latin America, Europe, and the Nanshan Mountain. The interrelation between nature and what is
Asia; taking advantage of their unique knowledge com- Once the biotopes in the mentioned delta were urban stands out to the extent that the biotopes overlap Another experience the consortium carried out was the
bination to explore new ways of building cities, ideally identified, the architects pre-selected which ones could various functions of the city. The bamboo forest or the Guangming2 Forest and Sports Park project. A space
connected with nature. Such is the case of the urban re- be compatible and mutually beneficial with human ac- jungle, for example, generates shaded areas in a region built in under four years and inaugurated in 2021, dis-
newal project in Qianhai, the financial center of the great tivity and align with the users’ needs. The premise was characterized as subtropical, which creates spaces for tinguished by a 5 km-long red bridge that connects the
municipality of Shenzhen, where one of the interven- to design urban biotopes or typologies that would rep- appropriation and attracts greater biodiversity. The wet- city’s public space ​​ with the mountainous areas and
tions consists of designing a 2 km linear park. licate the transition between ecosystems, allowing the land allows continuity with Shenzhen Bay, has bioreme- its natural reserve, including areas for recreation and
Wondering about the future of public space in continuity of the vegetation and the creation of atmo- sports, and even concerts.
cities, the architects discovered that the answer could be spheres to avoid abrupt breaks. In the first instance, addressing this inter-
vention in public space meant questioning cities’ as-
QIANHAI sembly based on the repetition of European and North
American models. This work was based on a clear in-
tention to recover the area’s biodiversity, respect the
Bamboo Biotope Jungle Biotope farmers who live there, and showcase Shenzhen’s in-
Wetland Biotope Meadow Biotope novative character.
A
Intervened area
The project involved significant social and eco-
Buildings
logical transformations. An example of this was the
premise of providing universal access to various demo-
graphics within society, including people with disabil-
C ities, older adults, children, etc. Likewise, tree manage-
B ment has been an opportunity to bring in new species
BAMBOO and revitalize the forest, which encouraged the commu-
BIOTOPE nity’s relationship with the ecosystem and popularized
the mountain route.
Metro entrance
High-density buildings
Public spaces with high KEY LESSONS
concentrations of people
People’s approach to nature can go beyond a contem-
D plative mindset by introducing them to a functional
WETLAND relationship that provides social and ecological benefits,
BIOTOPE among many others.
Regarding the red bridge project, there is a clear op-
Close to natural water
Surrounded by residential portunity to promote sports activities that involve all
buildings the senses in the forest space, such as meditation, yoga,
climbing, archery, and tai chi.
Along the same lines, establishing a network of hik-
NEEDS ing trails, horseback riding, and mountain biking
has been proposed.
A Quiet areas
Relaxing spaces
Participation mechanisms should focus on ecolog-
ical preservation, recognizing the benefits of this
B Calm and contemplative spaces type of project; among them, conservation awareness and
Shared areas for sunlight protection N
biodiversity visibility, for example, through signage on the
JUNGLE
C Cultural area bike path about the respective biotope.
BIOTOPE
Open spaces MEADOW Public space design and development can learn from
Public squares Busy area natural systems and integrate them. Biomimicry on
Food plazas
BIOTOPE
Expensive area with luxury hotels Source: an urban scale can radically change how we conceive our
D Contemplative spaces in the future TALLER Architects, 2020 environments.
 148 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY experimentation 149

WIN-WIN
SCENARIOS
Nathaly Rojas
Sara Cabrera
VILLAVICENCIO,
COLOMBIA

Pop. 552,010

1,338 km²
Secretariat of Environment of
Villavicencio, Colombia. 467 m.a.s.l.
Alejandro Serrano
Villavicencio Planning Secretary’s Office, Colombia.

Two decrees aim at

recovering six valuable
and biodiverse wetlands
in Villavicencio.

COMMITMENTS
2 3 5

KEY
Quote as: Rojas, N., Cabrera, S.M., Serrano,
CONCEPTS
A. Win-Win Scenarios. P. 148-151. In:
Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.). WETLANDS
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto BUILDABILITY RIGHTS
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt. BIOBLITZ
2022. 288 pages.

Through two decrees and a broad inter-
institutional committee, the Villavicencio mayor’s
office seeks to recover six of the more than 270
wetlands identified in the municipality and
their associated biodiversity, including endemic
and endangered species, by proposing another
alternative for the care of these ecosystems.
Although there are important environmental areas in
the municipality of Villavicencio, such as wetlands, one
of the biggest problems is the loss of ecosystem services
due to urbanization and noncompliance with man-
agement plans. As a result, these areas are exposed to
land movements, deforestation, land filling, draining of
swamps, hunting of animals, and pesticides affecting
fish and amphibians, among other harmful activities
to the ecosystem. These problems have been reported
over the years by environmental organizations and have
been the subject of control and monitoring processes by
the Secretary’s Office of the Environment.
Within the long road of the institutional frame-
work to address this environmental deterioration is the
Land Management Plan (LMP) 287 of 2015. This instru-
ment has made it possible to generate, establish and
implement buildability rights for construction and reg-
ulate the ownership of these environmental areas. The
necessary conditions were thus established in the ap-
proval of Decrees 304 of 2020 and 152 of 2021, which seek
to promote the protection of the municipality’s wetlands.
Firstly, through Decree 304 of 2020, a broad in-
ter-institutional committee was created that has carried
out different diagnoses of six wetlands in Villavicencio to
recognize the potential of these areas and manage them
in the best way possible. The problems identified in this
work gave rise, on the other hand, to the formulation of
Decree 152 of 2021, which regulates the management in-
strument called “transfer of additional buildability rights
for environmental conservation applicable to regional
protected areas.” This new regulatory framework allows
landowners to understand that the protected land, which
previously had no value and was seen as a burden, is now
seen as a benefit. They, therefore, may do their part to pro-
tect it until, in return, they can opt through the decree for a
higher building height or additional density.
These planning tools illustrate how the infra-
structure sector is a key partner in urban biodiversity
conservation and can also benefit from coordinated ac-
tion with the local authority.
 150 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY experimentation 151

COLLABORATIVE WORK STRATEGIES
The creation, study, and implementation of Decrees 304
of 2020 and 152 of 2021 have occurred through various
processes:
› Communication and outreach: The pro-nature dis-
course has been promoted through communica-
tional pieces that expose the city’s natural wealth,
the importance of not building on these lands, and
some of the norms, decrees, and laws that support
Owners of land located in regional protected areas can take advantage of the
ADDITIONAL BUILDABILITY management instrument described in Decree 152 of 2021. The purpose of this
RIGHTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSERVATION norm is to transfer to the municipality of Villavicencio the ownership of the gene-
SUMMARY DECREE 152 OF 2021 rating areas in exchange for receiving greater buildability in receiving areas. The
following are two hypothetical examples illustrating how this mechanism could be
applied in regional protected areas.

› Intersectoral dialogues: Decree 152 has been an op-
portunity to get to know the various stakeholders
in the territory related to protected areas. NGOs and
environmental leaders in the city have become criti-
cal allies of property owners in monitoring and con-
trolling their properties.
› Inter-institutional coordination: The joint work
through workgroups between the Villavicencio
mayor’s office and Cormacarena1 was fundamental
in the creation of the decree.
› Participatory diagnosis: Thanks to the approach of
the Secretary’s Office of the Environment to envi-
ronmental protection groups and communities liv-
ing in areas near wetlands, the formulation of the
decrees took into account the knowledge that these
groups had in terms of biodiversity. Another form of
citizen participation consists of bioblitzes: citizen
science activities through which the inventories of
protected areas, wetlands, and forest reserves are
strengthened thanks to the use of citizens’ mobile
devices.
RESULTS OF THE
BIOBLITZ 2021
NUMBER OF SPECIES
OBSERVATION
SITE
Birds Mammals Macro-
all these processes.
Type of assignment Elements to which it applies
Buildable square meters Commercial buildings, equipment,
A total of 12 participatory spaces, 4 workgroups, and (without exceeding the maximum allowed in the LMP) and housing projects other than
5 participatory diagnostic tours have been convened.
social and priority interest housing.
Assignment calculation
STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTING DECREE 152 OF 2021 Area to be received* x 9,3%** = m 2 to be granted
*Generating area **Benefit ratio.
1. Identify owners who have partial building plans2 or
urban development permits3 in progress and whose
properties include protected areas.
2. Estimate the extent of the area and the conditions in
which biodiversity can be found there.
3. Identify various social problems such as illegal oc-
cupations that lead to the loss of the land’s environ-
mental value.
20,000 m2 = 1,860 m2
4. Share and make the conditions and benefits of the
decree known and agree on the terms of the assign- Kirpas - Pinilla - La Cuerera Soil Conservation District
ment.4 The benefits that the owners may receive are
defined as:
› Buildable square meters (MCE - for its acronym
in Spanish), which may not exceed the occu- Type of assignment Elements to which it applies
pancy rates defined by the LMP. They may be Number of buildable units Two-family, multi-family, and
built to a greater height, but not with a greater (Maximum 250 units) high-rise housing projects.
occupancy in area. Assignment calculation
› Number of buildable units (NUC - for its acronym Hectares to be received* x number of homes** = number of constructible homes to be granted
in Spanish), represented in social interest housing *Generating area **For priority interest housing, multiply by 42 units. For social interest housing, multiply by 28 units.
(VIS - for its acronym in Spanish) and priority in-
terest housing (VIP - for its acronym in Spanish).
As an example, it can be understood that for every 9.3%
198.24

7.09 ha =
invertebrates of land in building rights, the builder will obtain 930
m2 of buildable area per hectare, equivalent to 9 cm per
social interest
Alma Viva square meter. housing to
Metropolitan
Park
47 0 0 › A new space for environmental governance is cre-
ated for protected areas, which is multilevel and in-
Calatrava Wetland Ecological Park Recreation Area
be granted

cludes the mayor’s office, Cormacarena, the commu-

46 1 0
Bavaria nity, and various environmental organizations.
Forests › The Secretary’s Office of the Environment should co-
ordinate and carry out recovery and conservation pro- servation areas that have lost all their biodiversity, so The instrument’s recent application demon-
18 0 0
Coroncoro
grams for protected areas in possession of the mayor’s it is essential to update and modify some of the official strated the need to review the requirements for
Wetland
office, per the corresponding management plan. documents that are guidelines for the wetland man- owners to be able to transfer area to the municipality.
agement route. Some deeds and topographic surveys do not match.
27 1 9
La Gloria
KEY LESSONS Many environmental management plans are It is urgent to create transparent policies and gov-
Park
obsolete, expired, and without characterization. ernance instruments that protect the permanence
The transformation of wetlands and other areas There is also no control or monitoring of such plans, of biodiversity conservation initiatives such as the de-
TOTAL 138 2 9 of environmental importance makes it necessary and these are overloads that hinder the implementa- crees referred to here that seek to strengthen conserva-
to review their zoning. There are preservation or con- tion of the decrees. tion strategies.
 152 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 153

THE VALUE OF
THE URBAN MEDELLÍN,
COLOMBIA

FOREST
Pop. 2,427,129

María del Pilar Arroyave 382 km²

EIA University, Colombia.
Carolina Rodríguez
Juan Camilo Múnera 1,479 m.a.s.l.
Fernando Flórez
Sandra Castro
Center of Science and Technology of
Antioquia - CTA, Colombia.
A methodology for a Marcela Noreña
Secretary’s Office of the
comprehensive valuation Environment, Colombia.

of ecosystem services in
urban areas

COMMITMENTS
2 8

Quote as: Arroyave, M.P., Rodríguez, C.,

Múnera, J.C., Flórez, F., Castro, S., Noreña,
M. The Value of the Urban Forest. P.
152-157. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander KEY
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages. CONCEPTS
AIR POLLUTION
HEAT ISLAND
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
i-TREE ECO SOFTWARE
ECOSYSTEM DISSERVICES

A part of La Hueso stream in Medellín,
Colombia, was the pilot site for an
innovative methodological approach
to valuing ecosystem services. By
combining ecological, social, and economic
components, urban planning institutions
and citizens now have a complete picture
of the contributions of this stream’s
biodiversity to human well-being and a
tool that can be replicated in other areas.
When forests are not valued, they are increasingly sus-
ceptible to development and conversion pressures. Lack-
ing a formal market, these natural assets are traditionally
absent from society’s balance sheet, and their critical con-
tributions are often overlooked in public, corporate and in-
dividual decision-making (U.S. Forest Service, 2007).
The urban forest, in particular, helps mitigate air pol-
lution, captures and stores carbon, regulates the water cycle
and microclimate, provides habitat and food for wildlife, and
represents a significant landscape contribution (Arroyave
et al.). For example, the net cooling effect of a single healthy
young tree is equivalent to running ten air conditioners in a
room for 20 hours a day (McDermott, 2012), thus helping to
combat the heat island effect. Therefore, it is necessary to
make the value of these benefits explicit at a multi-scale level
so that decisions made around public and private spaces are
informed and contribute to the implementation of climate
change mitigation and adaptation mechanisms.
Intending to strengthen green infrastructure
management, specifically by assessing its benefits, the
environmental authority of Medellín developed a meth-
odology that had its first pilot application in La Hueso
stream, located in the Atanasio Girardot soccer stadium
area. The experience can be replicated in different mu-
nicipality regions, establishing payment schemes for en-
vironmental services based on information that allows
companies and citizens to compensate for their carbon
footprint. In addition, through this methodology, it has
been possible to identify measures to address problems
that afflict the city, such as heat islands and air quality.
 154 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 155

ECOLOGICAL VALUATION SOCIAL VALUATION ECONOMIC VALUATION

Three methodologies were employed:
1 I-Tree Eco model
Estimates of carbon storage and sequestration, air
pollutant removal, and water regulation.
2 Direct estimations in an experimental plot in
a short period
Conduction of 700 perception surveys in the 16 comunas Perception of the ecosystem disservices of urban Part of the analysis of the ecological
of the city and focus groups on the comunas of the green areas. assessment results.
project’s pilot area. These reflected:
Assignment of socio-cultural values of urban green Estimation of costs that would have to be incurred if the
areas identified as providers of ecosystem services. ecosystem service were unavailable.
Socio-cultural
characterization. Association of ecosystem services that are subject to
Needs for the management and social appropriation commercialization with their market price.
Local perception of urban of knowledge by interested groups.
green spaces. Identification of unit values of ecosystem services that can
be extrapolated to different areas of Medellín.
Knowledge about the ecosystem
services provided by urban
green areas.

Experimental plot to measure a

rainy month.

Measurement of external and internal

precipitation in the ground cover to identify PILOT AREA IN LA
canopy interception. HUESO STREAM
Av
en
ida
Measurement of soil moisture Sampling polygon
Co
lom
retention. bia
Urban green areas

Trees
3 Establishment of four 10-meter transects to Sampling plots

a 80
determine microclimate regulation
Sampling transects

id
Aven
DETAIL
Installation of devices equipped with sensors for
temperature and relative humidity measurement.

Estimation of temperature variation range

and specific humidity of the air in each
transect, from the green zone to the
urbanized areas.

llín
de
Me
R ío
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE
Avenida San
The Secretariat of Environment of Medellín, the CTA, removal- and variables with the most significant impact Juan

and EIA University developed a two-phase process. First,
a state-of-the-art on urban ecosystem services was pre-
pared, and case studies were referenced. Four ecosystem
services were prioritized -carbon capture and storage,
water regulation, microclimate regulation, and pollutant
were characterized. Finally, a methodology for their as-
sessment was proposed. Then, in the second stage, La Source:
Hueso stream was chosen as a pilot site, and the propos- Secretariat of
al was applied, which contemplates three assessments: Environment
ecological, social, and economical. of Medellín
 156 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 157

SOCIAL ASSESSMENT ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT:

ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT IN THE PILOT AREA (Percentage of the
ECOSYSTEM SERVICE
(What is the ecosystem supply?) population that identifies
the ecosystem service) UNIT VALUE ($/TON) VALUE FOR THE PILOT ZONE ($)

CARBON STORAGE 4,195 tons of stored carbon, equivalent to 15,384 tons of carbon dioxide. 35 % COP 128,272 per ton in storage COP 1.971.795.023

231 tons of carbon captured per year, equivalent to 847 tons of carbon
CARBON SEQUESTRATION 35 % COP 128,272 per ton captured COP 108,495,674/year
dioxide.

COP 9,972,304/year for deaths averted

3671 kilograms of pollutants removed per year: 1419 kg/year of nitrogen
REMOVAL OF AIR POLLUTANTS 80 % Not available and COP 898,391/year for cases of disease
dioxide (NO2), 1448 kg/year of ozone (O3), and 803 kg/year of PM2.5
averted.

The experimental results suggest that surface runoff can be close to 50%
COP 16,100 per m2 of green
WATER REGULATION of total precipitation, in contrast to impermeable urbanized areas where 11 % COP 5,966,086,907 per year
infrastructure
it is 100%.

Differences of up to 8 °C between the sensors closest to the green zone

MICROCLIMATE CONTROL 53 % COP 12,439 per m2 of tree cover COP 6,141,637,500 per year
and those farthest from it.

THREE METHODS IN ONE MODEL
For ecological assessment, carbon storage and seques-
tration, air pollutant removal, and water regulation were
estimated using the i-Tree Eco software. (USDA Forest
Service, 2017). This model requires a secondary and field
data collection phase, followed by data processing and
results analysis.
An experimental plot was established to com-
plement the quantification of water regulation in a green
zone of the pilot area, where measurements were taken on
a rainy month. This way, it was possible to recognize the
importance of the combined effects of water interception
in the trees and its storage in the soil to reduce overflow.
Subsequently, four different parameters repre-
senting urban green areas of varying shapes and sizes
were established to estimate microclimate regulation.
The range of temperature variation and specific air hu-
midity was assessed, determining how they changed
from green areas as they approached urbanized areas.
The social assessment mainly used two tools. The first
consisted of a perception survey, with a sample of 700
surveys in the 16 comuna of the city. This allowed the
socio-cultural characterization of the surveyed pop-
ulation and the local perception of urban green areas,
identifying their uses and knowledge about the existing
supply of ecosystem services. Perceptions about possible
ecosystem disservices were also collected.
The second was creating a focus group in the pi-
lot area with various stakeholders (public, institutional,
community), who, based on their experience and knowl-
edge, carried out a socio-cultural assessment of the eco-
system services associated with the study area.
Unit values were compiled for the economic assessment
based on the results obtained in the pilot zone. Then,
based on these, unit values were obtained that can be ex-
trapolated to other areas of Medellín. Different benefits
were considered for each service: health benefits for pol-
lutant removal, reduction in pressure on the public sew-
er in the case of water regulation, and thermal comfort
for microclimate regulation. For these services, the as-
sessment method was the avoided cost method, which
estimates the value of the costs that would have to be
incurred if the ecosystem service were not available.
Meanwhile, carbon storage and sequestration were val-
ued by associating them with the market price at which
they are traded.
A NECESSARY STANDARD
It is essential to comprehensively assess the ben-
efits that green areas provide to the population to
inform urban planning processes. This assessment
makes it possible to create schemes that encourage
a balance between green, blue, and gray infrastruc-
tures and provide a sustainable territorial offer. Hav-
ing a standardized methodology based on scientific
concepts such as the one developed and validated in
the case of the municipality of Medellin will make
it possible to establish a baseline on the ecosystem
supply and analyze how it changes over time. This
represents a valuable tool for decision-making by lo-
cal and environmental authorities.
KEY LESSONS
The i-Tree software is an effective tool for the
ecological assessment of urban ecosystem ser-
vices. It yields valuable results in a short period of
time for the management of urban green spaces.
This assessment exercise can be an input
for creating new carbon footprint offsetting
schemes to be applied in urban areas. It can also be
used to manage green infrastructure, for example,
when issuing a building permit and establishing its
cost.
The structural analysis of trees, green areas,
and their ecosystem services can be the source
of information for an urban forest observatory that
measures the quality of this resource. The project
could then lead to an indicator monitoring exercise
that measures the supply of ecosystem services
over time and the perception that citizens have of
these benefits.
In the planning stage of an urban development
project, the information obtained through the
ecosystem service assessment would make it possi-
ble to evaluate the opportunity cost of the ecosystem
service that will be affected.
This analysis of different dimensions contrib-
utes to meeting the standards outlined in inter-
national programs such as Tree Cities of the World,
which seeks to recognize those cities committed to
properly managing and assessing their trees.
The project sheds light on possible changes that
can be implemented in the flow of resources.
For example, the design of payment programs for ur-
ban ecosystem services could be based on economic
value rather than opportunity cost through this in-
formation.
These inputs feed into the monitoring and fol-
low-up system to implement nature-based solu-
tions for renaturalization and biodiversity enhance-
ment.
GREEN
158
ROOFTOPS
GIS data, rooftop
agriculture, and green
urban transformation
COMMITMENTS
2 4 5
Quote as: Dang, M. Green Rooftops. P. 158-
161. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.
Rio de Janeiro is an ever-changing and
expanding city that is facing challenges in
terms of food security, urban sprawl, and the
fragmentation of the green infrastructure. By
mapping the surface area of the urban rooftop
landscape and finding spatial synergies
with the city’s socially and environmentally
vulnerable areas, a case can be made in
favor of implementing a rooftop agricultural
infrastructure capable of meeting roughly 40%
of the city’s yearly demands for vegetables.
Rio de Janeiro is a 1200 km 2 city with 6,4 million in-
habitants. It is a changing and growing urban system
with a fragmented green infrastructure, a food secu-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Maéva Dang
Delft University of
Technology and
AMS Institute,
Netherlands.
rity crisis, and the constant threat of flooding. The
current economic crisis and the unevenly distrib-
uted income increased the gap between the richest
and the poorest classes in the last years. As a result
of insufficient income, almost a third of the Brazil-
ian population does not have adequate resources for
acquiring the appropriate quantity and quality of food
(Meade et al., 2004).
The city is a combination of dense urban areas
in the northeast, tropical forests, gray streets and fave-
las, and extremely dense urban areas that grow organi-
cally on rocky hillsides.
After working in the city of Vienna in Austria,
where flat roof surfaces were identified as underused
spaces, the team of researchers started to explore Rio de
Experimentation
Janeiro’s potential for rooftop agriculture. This meant: a)
carrying out a LIDAR-based mapping exercise (which
located all of the roofs with an inclination inferior to 5
degrees on 69% of the city’s surface), b) analyzing key ar-
eas with high flat roof potential, c) evaluating the grow-
ing capacity of this flat roofs landscape, d) calculating
the yearly demand of vegetables in the city, e) using data
from the municipality and the Social Development In-
dex (which combined educational level income, housing
quality and level of basic sanitation) to determine which
areas were socially vulnerable and, in turn, ripe for food
insecurity, and f) visualizing specific locations with po-
tential for rooftop agriculture. The project showed that
1,385 hectares of roofs would be suitable for rooftop agri-
culture and that this productive roof surface could meet
159
RIO DE JANEIRO,
BRAZIL
Pop. 6,748,000
1,200 km²
2.13 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
FOOD SECURITY
URBAN ACUPUNCTURE
ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIVITY
LIDAR-BASED MAP
the yearly demand for vegetables of 39,2% of the popula-
tion of Rio de Janeiro.
This initiative aimed to look at how rooftop ag-
riculture could address food insecurity and the frag-
mentation of the green corridor networks. In simple
terms, the research team created a model that connect-
ed geographic data with different parameters located
within a given area. By looking at rooftops, seeing how
big they were and how much food they could produce,
you could ask questions such as: Would it make sense
to have a rooftop farm in X place where there is a lack
of supermarkets? Would it be interesting to have a com-
munity-based garden in Y? The idea was to test this
model in Rio de Janeiro, where you have different chal-
lenges, ecosystems, and types of inhabitants.
 160 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 161

After looking at all the flat roofs (and making some calcu- MULTIFUNCTIONAL ADDED
lations), researchers found that the highly populated zones GREEN STRUCTURE
had the greatest potential, but they were also the areas
with the highest social vulnerability. These are the typical Green rooftops layer

community areas, such as favelas, where all this “block”

kind of architecture can be seen, usually on two levels Building Layer

with a flat roof. People typically build them so that they

can extend their structures later when they have more
money (that is, when they build another level for a cousin,
an uncle, etc.). What was interesting was that these sorts
of buildings are constructed in a way that makes them
strong enough to hold those rooftop gardens. Furthermore,
if the rooftop is lower to the ground, then the green area on Source:
the rooftop has more impact on the microclimate on the Maéva Dang, 2019.
street level1 . So, it makes more sense to green those than
the ones located in really high-rise buildings where they
currently have little impact on the urban microclimate.
On rooftop gardens, you don’t only grow food; you
can also have flowers with substantial pollen and nec-
tar for pollinators: the model took into account this aspect
by looking at how far away those flat roofs are from each
other. If they were within 500 meters from each other, THE RESULTS SHOW THAT IF
it represents a suitable flight foraging distance for most
common bee pollinators. Then the researchers considered THE CITY TRANSFORMS Green corridors
that it would be like a green corridors network, which is
connected enough so that pollinators could access it physi-
ONLY 53% OF ITS FLAT network

cally. In this sense, the study was also about raising aware- ROOF LANDSCAPE Urban heat
ness about the fact that ordinary urban spaces can be part
of this flying path of pollinators. In a sense, it implies a com- INTO ROOFTOP THE ENTIRE ROOFTOP SURFACE island

COULD PRODUCE
plete change of perspective about the cityscape.
One project outcome was to create a digital map
GARDENS, AROUND 134’985 Food production

available on the municipality platform. The green roof

IT WOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH VEGETABLES
TO FEED ANNUALLY ALL THE INHABITANTS
TONS OF VEGETABLES potential

potential map can be used as a tool to identify green roof
locations in dense areas where little green space is avail-
able. Among other results, this research showed that 1,383
hectares of roofs would be suitable for intensive greening
within the study area. This information was made available
on the municipality platform2 so property owners could have
discussions and trigger community meetings and grass-
roots initiatives to start a rooftop agriculture movement.
In the end, the project is about much more than
technical results and scientific findings. It is about people
coming together to reconnect with nature and learning to
work and grow food collectively. It’s about social innova-
tion in the sense that you need to raise awareness among
citizens and communities not only about sustainable agri-
culture, permaculture, agroforestry, food, nutrition, etc., but
also about consumers becoming producers of their own
food so that they’re not just tied to where the supermarket
is located (in the favelas there are few supermarkets, but
plenty of small shops that never sell fresh, healthy food). By
helping citizens become their own producers, they are be-
ing empowered.
OF THE FAVELAS. IN ADDITION, IT WOULD
STIMULATE BETTER FOOD EDUCATION AND
PROVIDES FRESH VEGETABLES DIRECTLY IN
AND BY THE HOUSEHOLDS.
Finally, deep in its core, the study was not only about im-
plementing a systemic approach using rooftop agricul-
ture as a structure for urban transition but also about the
concept of urban acupuncture, which is about finding
relevant pinpoint strategies. In short, it was about pursu-
ing localized selective interventions rather than exten-
sive, expensive greening projects.
KEY LESSONS
Multifunctional rooftop agriculture provides a large
range of environmental benefits: the enhancement
of the green corridors network connectivity, the improve-
ment of the air quality, the production of local food, and the
mitigation of the urban heat islands effect.
PER YEAR,
WHICH REPRESENTS 39.2% OF THE Roofscape for
EVALUATED VEGETABLE REQUIREMENT urban agriculture
OF RIO DE JANEIRO.
Rooftops are underused areas in cities3 . Small-scale
interventions such as rooftop gardens can be as envi-
ronmentally and socially catalytic for urban environments
as more expensive projects.
We should go beyond the dichotomy of rural and ur-
ban spaces. This misconception states that you grow
your food only in the countryside or the city’s outskirts,
while the urban area is not made for it. In reality, those
spaces could be used directly next to the consumer, so you
don’t have to transport processed food and package it, re- The best way to trigger a bottom-up approach is to pro-
ducing pollution by bringing rural functions inside the city. mote successful cases on buildings owned by the mu-
Making projects happen in favelas is challenging be- nicipality to have the contagion effect. When something
cause people mistrust public authorities, and there’s a works well in communities like these, others replicate suc-
lot of violence. You need to have a bottom-up approach as a cessful practices. This should always come from the citi-
recommendation to start such a project. zens themselves and should never be imposed.
 162 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 163

A RIVER RUNS
THROUGH IT
Carlos Betancur
Carlos David Montoya
MOMPOX,
COLOMBIA

Pop. 44,124

645.4 km²
Manuel Jaen
Opus. Design, Architecture, 33 m.a.s.l.
Landscape, Colombia.

The revitalization of
Momposino public
spaces through water.

COMMITMENTS
2 5

Quote as: Betancur, C., Montoya, C.

Jaen, M. A River Runs Through It.
P. 162-165. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities
by 2030: Transforming Cities
with Biodiversity. Bogotá.
Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
KEY
CONCEPTS
LIVING HERITAGE
PARTICIPATORY DESIGN
ZENÚ SOCIETY
GEOTUBES

Participatory work in Mompox led to several
agreements and new ideas for urban space
design. It has been an opportunity for the city’s
inhabitants to rethink how they interact with
the flooded environments of this amphibious
landscape of high biodiversity in one of
the tributaries of the Magdalena River.
Due to its geographic location on the Magdalena riverbank,
Mompox has a long history of flooding that has taken over its
spaces. Although these do not endanger the lives of the area’s
inhabitants, they significantly affect people and businesses’
mobility. Likewise, hotel occupancy does not reflect the at-
tractiveness that - one might suppose - is implied by the fact
that the city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO
in 1996. Faced with this panorama, architects from Opus pro-
posed a landscape, urban and architectural project to revital-
ize the urban axis of La Albarrada de Mompox, Bolívar.
Carried out within the framework of the Mom-
pox Special Management and Protection Plan (PEMP
after its name in Spanish), the project proposed the in-
tervention of 2.7 km in length and an area of approxi-
mately 180,000 m 2 , including the Santa Barbara, San
Francisco, and La Concepción squares. Despite their
initial skepticism towards the project, the city’s inhab-
itants contributed to adjusting, rethinking, and improv-
ing many of its components through different instances
of participatory work. And together with the Ministry of
Culture and the local mayor’s office, they rethought their
relationship with water.
Thus, the people of Mompox found spaces to rethink their dy-
namics with the flooded areas, to make them more produc-
tive and beneficial. Therefore, the city has managed to boost
its economic development, considering its historical heritage
as an amphibious community that knows how to interpret
and respect the bodies of water with which it coexists. In this
sense, the process results also outline a broader form of heri-
tage, a living heritage that transcends physical structures to
contemplate a landscape, a cultural legacy, and a way of in-
habiting a territory such as the Momposina Depression.
 164
DESIGN AND COMMUNITY: THE
FIRST MAJOR CHALLENGE
In its pilot phase alone, the project faced its most tre-
mendous controversy: the community’s claim of not be-
ing part of the objectives, the intervention criteria, and
the decisions that were being made about their spaces.
In response to this need, a participatory design strategy
was created, which involved meetings with the inhabi-
tants of each sector to be intervened, representatives of
the mayor’s office, local media, members of the tourism
industry, the history academy, urban collectives, school
principals and teachers, and vendors.
The public space was also used as a platform for
participation, and several activities were carried out:
› Hikes showing the design proposals in each specif-
ic sector, which facilitated people’s understanding of
the impact and transformation.
› Exhibitions in the squares showing the general de-
signs of the project.
› Interventions like the “time capsules,” developed
by the builder’s social team, inviting people to leave
messages to future generations of Mompox in an urn
buried in the square.
SANTA BARBARA SQUARE
Before
After
Source:
OPUS. Design, architecture,
landscape, 2012
Source of all photos: OPUS.
Design, architecture, landscape,
and Sergio Gómez.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
› Technical talks about the project (e.g., on the results of
the hydraulic studies).
› Design workshops with the Mompox Workshop School.
› Exhibitions on the archaeological findings that re-
sulted from the works.
This outreach and cooperation effort led the proj-
ect’s new street furniture to be designed with local
materials and techniques (such as the bollards that
evoke local goldsmithing with the filigree technique).
Species of cultural value according to the community,
PASEO DE LA ALBARRADA
Before
After
Before
After
PLAZA DE LA CONCEPCIÓN
Experimentation
initially discarded because they did not represent a sig-
nificant ecological value, were also considered:
› Golden Shower Tree. Cassia Fistula.
› Cañaguate (Tecoma,Yellow Bells). Tecoma Spectabilis.
› Royal Poinciana. Delonix Regia.
› Elephant’s Ear Tree. Enterolobium Cyclocarpum.
› Rosy Trumpet Tree. Tabebuia Rosea.
› Rain Tree. Albizia Saman.
Soft structures are not always the answer to flooding.
There are not enough public resources for soil
maintenance in cities like Mompox, whose buildings
may be several hundred years old and where the water
table fluctuates and reaches very high levels. So the
most appropriate thing to do is to preserve traditional
construction techniques.
Hydraulic and hydrogeomorphological
studies concluded that simple
technologies were sufficient to handle
edge flooding.
Before
After
AMPHIBIAN TRAILS
165
FROM DEFENSE TO COEXISTENCE:
FLOOD MITIGATION STRATEGY
The main proposal to mitigate flooding consisted of
moving from a static to a dynamic design concerning
the water: amphibious design. The project incorporat-
ed water cycles into its aesthetics and functionality by
rethinking the city’s relationship with the river. This
changed the logic of the city’s conventional flood risk
mitigation infrastructures: the walls and the jarillones
(longitudinal mounds).
Inspired by the camellones (ridges) of the Zenú
society, the project employed biotechnologies such as
geotubes, flexible tube-shaped structures made of high-
strength woven geotextile with unique filtration and
retention properties. This intervention was based on
hydraulic and hydrogeomorphological studies, which
concluded that complex works such as retaining walls
were unnecessary, and rather efforts should be focused
on simple technologies.
KEY LESSONS
Although the project design incorporated existing
native and culturally valuable vegetation to define
the space and conserve biodiversity, conflicts between
humans and wildlife began to arise, for example, with the
appearance of the blood snake in one of the project’s gar-
dens. Therefore, it was necessary to rethink the ecological
connectivity proposal and the creation of undergrowth in
some of the gardens.
Professional knowledge must be complemented with
local knowledge and uses. An example of this was the
work of tree planting in squares to reduce the temperature
and provide spaces for new outdoor businesses.
A correct interpretation of the ecological dynamics
of the territory can give better results than the con-
ventionally accepted alternatives to phenomena such as
flooding. For example, strategies to permeabilize the soil,
such as rain gardens, are not viable in the historic center of
Mompox. The water table of the Magdalena River is highly
fluctuating, so seepage would destabilize the ground, put-
ting at risk the foundations of the city’s three-century-old
buildings. Therefore, no changes in drainage patterns were
sought in these sectors.
Although the municipality’s economic, social, and
spatial dynamics have changed a lot, and the inhabi-
tants have accepted the challenge of opening up to cultural
tourism and ecotourism, it is clear that the physical trans-
formation of the space is not enough. Other tools (e.g., train-
ing) are needed to improve the local economy.
 166 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 167

URBAN
Eduardo Haene
University of
Belgrano, Argentina.

BIO-CORRIDORS
Small private habitats that
BUENOS AIRES,
ARGENTINA

Pop. 2,890,151

203 km²

add nature to the city 25 m.a.s.l.

COMMITMENTS
2 5

Quote as: Haene, E. Urban Bio-Corridors. P.

166-169. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.

KEY
CONCEPTS
BIO-CORRIDORS
STEPPING STONES

Faced with the reality of environmental
degradation in Buenos Aires, a hopeful
act arises: citizens with the capacity to
change and enrich urban biodiversity.
This initiative seeks to increase the
amount and heterogeneity of green spaces
in the urban landscape and thus, to offer
habitat for wildlife in the shape of bio-
corridors. This will improve the status
of native species and the ecosystem
services they provide to the city.
In October 2021, the municipality of Escobar del Gran Bue-
nos Aires hosted the “Flower Festival.” The space had eight
flower pots containing specimens of plants that provide
food for the southern monarch butterfly (Danaus erippus).
The author, professor Eduardo Haene, professor at the uni-
versities of Belgrano and Buenos Aires, had brought a plas-
tic monarch to represent its approach to the flower beds for
an open-air lecture he was to give there. However, to every-
one’s surprise, a real monarch approached, flew in front of
the attendees and left eggs on one of the plants. After that,
many people came up to ask for seeds of those plant spe-
cies. Those people left that day with the hope that “planting
fauna” by using native plant species is possible.
This re-encounter with nature in the urban
space is what is proposed by the Bio-corridors program.
This initiative considers it possible to add biodiversity to
the urban space by enriching the vegetation with native
plants of each house or public green area. In this way, the
city’s wildlife can count on stepping stones to maintain
its life network. The aim is to recover the city’s native
flora, guaranteeing the supply of habitats for the arrival
of a greater number of wildlife species.
The initiative draws on ecology and conservation bi-
ology knowledge to respond to one of the most sig-
nificant challenges facing cities today: transforming
the concept of a green space as an “empty space” to
be enhanced with human-designed materials. In-
stead, it is about interpreting nature’s own require-
ments for connection and diversity. This program
also makes the value of articulating the efforts of
specialists in the biological sciences with other pro-
fessionals from various disciplines involved in ur-
ban planning evident.
 168 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 169

NEW TERRITORIES
In the 2000s, searching for alternatives to integrate biodi-
versity into urban planning, at the Green Spaces Project
Unit of the Buenos Aires City Government we identified
bio-corridors as an ideal alternative. It was evident that,
if the city is a sea of cement, sheet metal, and asphalt,
the emergence of “continents” (urban nature reserves),
“islands” (parks and squares), and “islets” (gardens, ter-
races, balconies) could function as a kind of “archipela-
go” to increase the supply and connection of habitats to
promote wildlife.
According to studies of green coverage in Bue-
nos Aires, in 2019, 69% of the area was built, and the rest
had green spaces. Private gardens and parks, in partic-
ular, occupied 11%, providing about 8 m2 of green space
per inhabitant. Combining these spaces with local na-
ture would make it possible to consolidate bio-corridors
suitable for increasing populations of species groups
such as butterflies and wild birds. Thus, to the extent
that bio-corridors are consolidated as a comprehensive
strategy in the territory, the urban biodiversity of Buenos
Aires will increase.
THE VALUE OF POLLINATORS
Peri-urban belts and orchards within cities are essential
in supplying fresh fruits and vegetables with low trans-
portation costs. The action of pollinators increases the
reproduction of 87% of flowering plants or angiosperms,
and 30% of world food production depends on the activ-
ities of pollinating animals. The most significant diver-
sity and abundances of pollinators, like butterflies and
bees, live in the wilderness. One of the environmental
services of urban bio-corridors is precisely to serve as a
habitat for pollinators
Many pollinators nest in urban reserves and other
sites with spontaneous vegetation. Bio-corridors achieve
a more homogeneous distribution of pollinator refuges in
cities and surroundings —and the closer the crop to polli-
nate, the greater the frequency of visits of these insects.
The production of honey from native stingless
bees, comprising the tribe Meliponini, typical of the
subtropical and tropical areas of the world, is growing.
In South America alone, there are 400 species, and in
Argentina, 36. In addition to being efficient pollinators,
they produce nutritious honey with medicinal proper-
ties. They can be raised in cities without the restrictions
of domestic bees due to their sting and the seriousness
caused by allergic people. The performance guarantee
of native stingless bees is to have a variety of flowers in
their environment, and urban biocorridors are the best
strategy for this
.
KEY LESSONS
The idea of bio-corridors should arise and be pro-
moted locally. Therefore, it is key to prioritize native
plants that are nutritious for butterfly caterpillars and
that bear fruit for birds.
Just as a bio-corridor connects wildlife, these initia-
tives can lead to the formation of social networks in
which individual actions take on a collective dimension.
Although governmental responses to recover na-
tive biodiversity in the city are fundamental and ef-
fective in the short term, it will be impossible for this to
happen without another group of actors supporting ac-
tions in private areas with a significant multiplier effect.

CONSOLIDATION OF BIO-CORRIDORS FROM THE LOCAL LEVEL GREEN COVER IN THE RECONQUEST OF BUTTERFLIES Photos: Eduardo Haene
BUENOS AIRES

“Green cover” is defined as the surface Agraulis vanillae Junonia genoveva Phocides polybius
BEFORE AFTER occupied by the vegetation perceived from
the air. Thus, a sidewalk flowerbed of 4 m2,
with a tree with a crown of 60 m2, provides
60 m2 of green cover. It is an easy indicator
to monitor and relate to the environmental
services provided by urban vegetation.

20 14 m2 /inhabitant

8 m2 /inhabitant

11

69
System of beds with native plants in the Agronomy Department of the University of
Buenos Aires’s bio-corridor. On the left, in March 2019; on the right, in November
2019, flowering pampas grasses are observed.
48 m2 /inhabitant Verbena bonariensis Wild grasses Glandularia peruviana

During the 2000s, the most effective native plants for feeding caterpillars of
diurnal Lepidoptera and for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds with
their flowers were revealed. The response of these groups of wild animals,
even in cities, makes it possible to prove in a few months that native plants
are linked to wildlife. It is not an imposed fact; it is a personal discovery
that encourages questions such as “Where did it come from?” “How did it
arrive?” to be asked. Thus begins a process of deduction that allows us to
understand nature’s functioning as a network. The number of native plant
nurseries is reaching a level never before seen in Argentina.
The largest butterfly in the Buenos Aires metropolitan region is the so-called “Argentine flag” (Morpho epistrophus), given its
characteristic white and light blue tones. However, the destruction of native forests resulting from urbanization - and their local
nutritious plants - made this species disappear.
The recovery of plant species in urban reserves and other green spaces in the city since the beginning of the 21st century has
%Built environment gradually favored the presence of adults of this insect on the banks of the La Plata River in the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires.
An encouraging sign in this sense is the presence of butterfly caterpillars in 2021 in the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve and later,
%Green public spaces %Green private gardens
in January 2022, of several adults.
 170
A BIRD’S EYE
VIEW OF
CITIES
Birdwatching tourism as an
economic development alternative
COMMITMENTS
2 3 5
Quote as: Wagner-Wagner, C.M.
A Bird’s Eye View of Cities. P.
170-173. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities
by 2030: Transforming Cities
with Biodiversity. Bogotá.
Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
The Colombia Birdfair is an event that, in
addition to promoting interest in birdwatching
and conservation, also promotes birdwatching
tourism as a rural economic development and
conservation strategy. The fair has shown
that birds transform lives and are the perfect
ambassadors to learn about and conserve nature.
In Santiago de Cali, better known as Cali, Colombia’s
third-largest city, the Colombia Birdfair is held annu-
ally, an international fair that brings together around
150,000 people and 83 institutions, organizations, and
companies involved in birdwatching tourism and
bird conservation in the country. Although its first
version was organized in 2015, the event’s origins
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Carlos Wagner-Wagner
Birdfair, Colombia.
can be traced to 2004, with the declaration of the San
Antonio cloud forest and other surrounding ecosys-
tems as Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA).
This milestone spurred interest in bird conservation
among the local community and was the first stop in
an empirical process of birdwatching tourism over
several years.
The idea of organizing a birdwatching tourism
fair in Colombia began to take shape in 2012, following a
visit by several European business people and influencers
promoted by Procolombia to analyze the country’s poten-
tial as an international destination for this tourism seg-
ment. Among these experts was Tim Appleton, co-found-
er of the British Birdwatching Fair, the first international
birdwatching fair and the most important in the world.
Experimentation
His proposal to take advantage of the country’s wealth of
birdlife sowed the seed of what, in 2015, with the support
of the city’s private sector and some public institutions,
would germinate as the Colombia Birdfair.1
While the government’s birdwatching strat-
egy is aimed at attracting the international market,
the fair was the ideal opportunity to contemplate the
potential of domestic tourism, particularly in the ur-
ban context. The city’s suitability as a place for bird-
watching, first noted by renowned expert David Lindo
during his visit to the Colombia Birdfair in 2018, is sup-
ported by the more than 200 species of birds that can
be observed in the urban area of Cali. 2
Since its first version, the Colombia Bird-
fair has created a movement within civil society for
171
SANTIAGO DE CALI,
COLOMBIA
Pop. 3,474,695
21,195 km2
1,000 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
Birdwatching Tourism
the appreciation, knowledge, and valuation of birds.
At the same time, it has boosted an important bird-
watching tourism economy, especially for low-in-
come rural communities. The 19 ventures dedicated
to providing services and selling products related to
birds and their conservation in the city of Cali and
neighboring municipalities, the small plots of land
for birdwatching granted to rural communities, the
change in the way of life of people and families who
were displaced by violence and who were economi-
cally dependent on mining or illegal logging are some
examples of the scope and transformations that have
emerged from this sustainable tourism initiative that
includes not only Cali’s natural environments but
also its urban spaces.
 172 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 173

A SPACE OF FERVOR FOR BIRDS
The fair consists of three main areas: masterclasses
held every night of the event, a trade show in partner-
ship with the Ciudadela Comercial Unicentro, one of
the country’s most important shopping malls, and bird-
watching outings in urban and rural areas. However, the
fair has been so well received and the interest of the peo-
ple so great that every year new activities are added to
the city’s program.
As of 2020, the Colombia Birdfair Chic@s was
institutionalized, a space that includes children as
keynote speakers and birdwatching and environ-
mental education activities with children from the
KEY BIRDS AND city’s working-class neighborhoods. In addition, the tential tourist guides located in rural areas to prac-
BIRDWATCHING LOCATIONS fair has considerably promoted the areas set aside for tice birdwatching as an economic strategy, and on the
birdwatching. Thus, while its first edition had five other hand, national and international communities
zones, the last on-site edition had 15 and adapted to to understand the importance of bird conservation in
1 2 virtual dynamics within the context of the pandemic Colombia. Since its first edition, this event has a con-
caused by COVID-19. solidated group of guides growing every year, consist-
Since its conception, the fair has aimed to ing of people from urban and rural communities and
reach two different audiences: on the one hand, po- students from universities in the city, such as Univer-
sidad Del Valle, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and
Universidad ICESI. To reach the general public, the fair
How many jobs has it created?
In general terms, there are about
has allocated resources to raise awareness of the im-
twenty birdwatching tourism and portance of birds and the country’s biodiversity in the
Km 18 San Antonio media. To date, 98 interviews have been conducted on
economic activities related to
Chestnut Wood-quail Cloud Forest birdwatching in Cali. national and international television programs to pro-
1
(Odontophorus Multicolored Tanager mote the importance of birds in and around Cali.
hyperythrus) (Chlorochrysa
nitidissima) ANOTHER WAY TO BIRDWATCH: OTHER SENSES

3 4 5 6 Among the achievements of the Colombia Birdfair is

Cali River Bank (Cali)
Rufous-tailed
Hummingbird
(Amazilia tzacatl)
7 8
the Colombia Natural Wealth prize, awarded for produc-
N
2 tive transformation in nature tourism, for creating the
first birdwatching route for visually impaired people in
South America. This route is adapted so that, through
QR codes, visually impaired tourists can listen to infor-
3 mative texts and bird songs. It also has trained guides
4
to assist them.
Cali Zoo (Cali) Universidad del Valle Pontificia Universidad
Santiago This project was backed by Luz Adriana
Colombian Campus (Cali) Javeriana Campus
de Cali Márquez, a consultant in inclusive tourism, and Juan
Chachalaca Scrub Tanager (Cali)
Pablo Culasso, a Uruguayan sound engineer who cre-
(Ortalis columbiana) (Stilpnia vitriolina) Bar-crested Antshrike
ated a virtual sound tour for blind people and the first
(Thamnophilus sound guide of the San Antonio cloud forest. This
multistriatus) model is expected to be replicated in eco-parks and ur-
ban areas of the city in the future. Information about
this route and the aforementioned sound guide can be
5
found at: https://colombiabirdfair.com/ruta.

KEY LESSONS
6
Society must know about birds to empower itself
7 and promote their conservation. A motivated and
8
Lago de las Garzas (Heron Farallones Club CALI: THE CITY OF BIRDS informed society can significantly change its relation-
Lake) Ecopark (Cali) (Brisas del Pance) +560 bird species ship with biodiversity.
Spectacled Parrotlet Green Honeycreeper (close to 30% of Colombia’s birds) Conservation initiatives must transcend institu-
(Forpus conspicillatus) (Chlorophanes spiza) tions and be motivated by civil society. Diverse civ-
2 Introduced il society groups have effective interests in biodiversity
7 Endemic to Colombia conservation.
The private sector is willing to support clear, well-
22 Threatened at a national level
Source: Illustrated Green coverage planned initiatives and deliver results.
guide to the birds of 26 Threatened at a global level Forest coverage Well-planned and well-developed birdwatching
Santiago de Cali. 2019. tourism can impact the quality of life of peo-
72 Migratory Urban centers Hydrography
ple and their communities, especially local and rural
Source of all photos: Carlos Mario Wagner 487 Residents Public space within Cali Rural coverage
communities.
 174 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY experimentation 175

INDUSTRIAL
ENVIRONMENTAL YUMBO,
COLOMBIA

FABRIC
Pop. 118,642
Ana Vicente-Álvarez
Yumbo Futuro
Temporary Union (TU), 227.89 km²
Colombia.
1,021 m.a.s.l.

Yumbo, from the industry of the fifties

to the industry of the future

COMMITMENTS
2 3 6

Quote as: Vicente-Álvarez, A.M. Industrial

Environmental Fabric. P. 174-177. In:
Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.).
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.

KEY
CONCEPTS
CUTTING-EDGE INDUSTRIALIZATION
WETLAND COMPLEX
TERRITORIAL OCCUPATION MODEL
INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENTAL FABRIC
CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Faced with the industry vs. environment dichotomy,
the municipality of Yumbo is proposing an occupation
model that seeks to establish the conditions to build
a fabric that modernizes the industrial vision and,
at the same time, mitigates environmental risks.
The country’s industrial areas are incompletely devel-
oped and grew with a productive vision without con-
sidering other aspects such as urban planning or com-
munity. For this reason, industrialists can now manage
essential areas for risk mitigation and move from yes-
teryear to cutting-edge industrialization that is ben-
eficial for companies. Such is the case of the Yumbo
industrial zone, the third-largest in Colombia. Consoli-
dated more than forty years ago, high, medium, and low
impact industries coexist with an intricate wetland
complex associated with the Cauca and Arroyohondo
rivers and premontane, and tropical dry forests.
In order to update the territorial occupation mod-
el of the last twenty years, Yumbo has proposed an in-
dustrial environmental fabric for the POT 2022-2035. Its
purpose is to mitigate flooding and air pollution while al-
lowing industries to maintain their location and advance
their technologies and vision. This model, which has al-
ready been socialized to the industrialists, will be present-
ed to the environmental authority Regional Autonomous
Corporation of Valle del Cauca (CVC), adjust accordingly,
and then seek subsequent endorsement by the municipal
council in 2022.
The territorial occupation model that was pro-
posed seeks to manage an environmental structure
through public-private financial instruments. Industries
would cede areas of ecosystemic importance to the mu-
nicipality in exchange for buildability rights. It is expect-
ed to restore the area and integrate innovations into the
industrial plants, understanding the entire Cauca River
area as a single impact mitigation strip.
Yumbo’s effort involves reconciliation between
competitiveness and industrial production and the im-
provement and protection of local biodiversity. Once the
industrial environmental fabric is built, the next bet will
be the circular economy within the industrial complex.
Industries would estimate their carbon footprint, diversi-
fy their services and, if possible, complement each other.
 176 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY experimentation 177

RECOVERY OF THE WATER There is a need to reintroduce biodiversity as a OCCUPATIONAL MODEL

NETWORK AND PUBLIC USE
Part of the water demand of the industries is met with
groundwater. By unifying and recovering the strip en-
compassing the industrial environmental fabric, the Ar-
royohondo riverbank would be freed up to serve as a re-
charge area and thus make the water supply sustainable,
both in quality and quantity. In addition, this same area
would mitigate the risk of flooding and alleviate pollution
from particulate matter (PM10).
One of the targets this model seeks is the recovery
strategy for risk management, for example, through MUNICIPALITY OF YUMBO
nature-based solutions.
Conventionally, industrialists have been approached Municipal boundary
as the object of a command-and-control policy. In
Valley Commuter Train
contrast, this occupation model postulates industries as
Business sector
allies of biodiversity management and reveals the eco-
nomic benefits of such an environmental fabric. Enterprise expansion
The institutional vision now understands that the Services corridor
environmental and biodiverse matrix does not ex-
Urban centrality
clude the urban or the productive networks since a path
has been opened to biodiversity management in the ur- Hydrology Wetlands

of the El Higuerón wetland, which would strengthen the wa- ban and industrial environment. Cauca River protection strip
ter network through its restoration with biodiversity criteria. The conflict over water is central and permanent. Environmental connectivity corridors
The latter includes the recovery of the water footprint, rees- So apart from recovering the recharge areas and
Public space - Municipal scale
tablishment of the connection with the river system, carbon flood mitigation, the municipality has approached
sink, and public use of the space for recreational activities. more hermetic industries (such as mining) to build a National Protective
Forest Reserve
bridge between them, the inhabitants, and the benefits
A BRIDGE BETWEEN INDUSTRY of this fabric. Civil society nature
AND THE ENVIRONMENT This model proposes that any economic sector reserves
can interweave an industry-environment fabric Urban Hills
For this project’s construction, the multitemporal chang- to compensate and balance productivity and environ- Protection Area

es in ecosystems and the actions that have most affected mental protection. Municipal Parks and
Nature Reserves
them were diagnosed to include missing areas in the tra-
ditional models in terms of biodiversity, connectivity, and
water management. On the other hand, references —such
as Brownsville, Bridgeport Eco-Industrial Parks, and Em-
scher Park— aimed to empower industrialists by teaching
them that change within industrialization is possible.
Meanwhile, during the formulation stage of the
POT, the possibility of integrating new environmental fi-
nancing instruments, such as carbon bonds, payment for
ecological services, and forestry incentive certificates,
into the land-use management instruments will be eval- The Cauca River, the main water artery in southwestern
uated. Finally, new indicators will be integrated into the Colombia, marks the limit of the industrial zone. This river
industrial area to monitor the plan’s implementation, in- hosts a strategic wetland complex for this region: the
cluding the main industrial-ecological managed struc- Platanares, Pelongo, and Higuerón wetlands.
Yumbo
ture and the reforested areas in the Cauca River complex.
Also worth mentioning is the mediating role of the
municipality between the environmental authorities and
the industries so that both parties recognize each other as
cooperators and know their value, changing the logic of
punishing industries to one of ecological impact. This pro-
cess has taken into account that the conflict over water has
set the tone. So it is necessary to recover its supply and mod-
erate its demand; it can’t continue growing exponentially.

KEY LESSONS
Yumbo’s Industrial Zone hosts approximately 300
Coexistence between impact industries and criti- industries in five essential chains in export products such
cal ecosystems of national importance, such as the as chemicals and pharmaceuticals, food, paper pulp,
Cauca River, is possible. clothing and footwear, and mining Source:
Yumbo Futuro (TU), 2022.
 178 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 179

LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
A school as
an exponent
Juana Figueroa
Gimnasio Femenino (2013-2021), The
BOGOTÁ,
COLOMBIA

Pop. 7,181,000

1,775 KM²
Nature Conservancy
of biodiversity (2021-present), Colombia. 2,640 m.a.s.l.

conservation in Cristina Camacho

Valentina Tovar
Gimansio Femenino, Colombia.
Bogotá Diana Wiesner
Cerros de Bogotá Foundation and
Arquitectura y Paisaje SAS, Colombia.
COMMITMENTS
5 8

Quote as: Figueroa Vélez, J.C., Tovar

Sinisterra, V., Camacho Gandini, C.,
Wiesner, D. Learning Environment. P.
178-181. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.

Through participatory processes of restoration
and conservation of urban ecosystems, the
community of the Gimnasio Femenino school
in Bogotá has found new ways to perceive and
connect with the natural reserve adjacent to
its facilities and build a pedagogical project
to achieve sustainable communities.
Since 1967, the Gimnasio Femenino school has been lo-
cated on a 74-hectare lot (a little more than one-fifth of
New York’s Central Park), currently called Mano de Oso
(Bear Hand) Nature Reserve. Now, the school communi-
ty and its network of allies have participated in restor-
ing the reserve with native species, which has turned
this natural space into an educational, research, cultur-
al, sports, and recreational scenario.
The ecological restoration of the forest and
learning about the native biodiversity of the eastern hills
(plants, birds, mammals, and insects) was the starting
point for a cultural transformation of the education-
al community (students, parents, administrative staff)
that was manifested on two levels. First, the planting of
trees as a tangible experience of positive transformation
of the environment contributed to the empowerment of
students as leaders of sustainability in their immediate
environment (family, classmates, teachers), the develop-
ment of competencies for sustainable development (e.g.,
systemic, critical, interpersonal thinking) and the adop-
tion of sustainable living habits in their homes (Figueroa
et al., 2017).
Secondly, the interaction with the forest con-
tributed to the school’s leadership at the management
and administrative level to strengthen the trans-
versality of sustainability in the curriculum and the
CONCEPTOS
CLAVE
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT
(PRAE, FOR ITS SPANISH ACRONYM)
SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION SCHOOL NETWORK
HILLS OF BOGOTÁ SCHOOL NETWORK
campus operation processes (e.g., procedures for sus-
tainable events and purchases, carbon footprint). The
latter was also reflected in the Landscape Master Plan
proposal, part of the school’s infrastructure master
plan (2016). The physical barriers (walls) that separate
the classrooms from the forest were blurred thanks to
the design of native plant corridors that prevail in the
school’s halls and promote the permanent interaction
of students with butterflies, birds foxes and squirrels
in their school life.
 180 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 181

MANO DE OSO SPECIES IDENTIFIED 2015-2016 PLANTINGS

RESERVE MAP WITH CAMERA TRAPS
AREA: 74 HECTARES
Squirrel Approximately 4,000 plants of 30 species in an
area of 3 hectares.
Mature Intermediate between
Pioneer
Forest Pioneer and Mature Forest

ADAPTATION
AV Carrera Séptima

URBAN AND SPECIAL CONSERVATION

AREA MANAGEMENT AREA AREA Cuasa (Escallonia paniculata)

Ciro (Baccharis macrantha)

Small-leaved Bayberry (Morella parvifolia)

Raque ( Vallea stipularis)

Fox Flowering Branch (Myrcianthes leucoxyla)

Angelito (Monochaetum myrtoideum)

Source: Ideca - Spatial
Data Infrastructure Andean Cedar (Cedrela montana)
of Bogotá. 2017
Chilco (Baccharis latifolia)

Chuchua ( Viburnum triphyllum)

The school’s forest has become a symbol of institutional
identity that makes the educational community proud and
empowers it as an agent of change for sustainability. This is
reflected, for example, in the “Guardians of the forest” project
(2019), where a student, upon entering preschool, symboli-
cally receives the title deed to a school and city forest area to
investigate, care for and protect throughout her schooling. At
her graduation, she must eventually hand it over to another
student who enters the school. This practice is an innovative
way to strengthen the appropriation of urban nature at the
individual and collective levels.
On the other hand, “The Dream of the Acorn”
leadership program illustrates how symbolic links are
established between the forest and the curriculum.
Symbolizing the growth of an oak tree from the seed to
a mature tree, the school proposes a preschool to elev-
enth-grade curriculum focused on developing self-lead-
ership and co-leadership skills.
evolution, which initially focused on the forest and was
Corono (Xylosma spiculifera)
strengthened with a broader conceptual framework.
The school’s PRAE is based on research processes in the Cucharo espadero (Myrsine coriacea)
classroom and is based on critical reflection, analysis of Cucharo (Myrsine guianensis)
the environment, the construction of explanations for
Coati Duraznillo (Abatia parviflora)
understanding environmental problems, and an integra-
tive vision of projection to problem-solving (Ministry of Cruceto (Duranta mutisii)
National Education, n.d.). In addition, it adopts the con-
Encenillo ( Weinmania tomentosa)
cept of education on sustainability.
Gaque (Clusia multiflora)
HOW TO BUILD SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
Bear Paw (Oreopanax incisus)
AND CITIES FROM SCHOOL EDUCATION?
Mortiño (Hesperomeles goudotiana)
For the spontaneous development of an environmen-
Squamulose Maya (Miconia squamulosa)
tal ethic that transcends the school environment in the
lives of the students, impacting their relational environ- Ruache, uche (Prunus buxifolia)
ments, Gimnasio Femenino has fostered synergy be-
Cordoncillo (Piper bogotense)
tween different components:

URBAN NATURE FOR THE FORMATION
OF GLOBAL CITIZENS
The cultural transformation of the educational communi-
ty took place through ecological walks and planting, cam-
paigns to learn about the species of the ecosystem, and
several different projects. The latter included the bird or
plant of the month and the installation of camera traps to
record animals within the reserve. These activities, along
with the subsequent research on their educational impact,
contributed to the School Environmental Project (PRAE)
1 The development of critical competencies for sus-
tainable development.
2 The thematic relationship of the classes to the glob-
al issues addressed by the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
3 The creation of learning environments that involve
experiences of direct contact with nature and the
environment (forest, nursery, vegetable garden, ver-
micomposting, composting, and local territory).
4 Sustainability of campus operations as a process to
which students are linked from classes and individ-
ual research projects (e.g., carbon footprint, water
footprint, solid waste management).
KEY LESSONS
G iv i ng students a leadership role in the design of
pedagogical practices is crucial for their ownership
of the process and its impact on other educational com-
munity members.
Cooperation with other institutions can broaden the
scope of these educational initiatives. For example, a
TOTAL: APPROX. 3800 PLANTS
great ally in several of the school’s projects is the Hills of
Bogotá School Network, thanks to which other schools in
different areas of the city were able to approach the Mano
de Oso Nature Reserve, along with several others in the
hills of Bogotá (Andreoni and Vargas, 2020; Figueroa and
Camargo, 2022).
THE CITY’S
182 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 183

DNA
AMSTERDAM,
Based on an interview with: THE NETHERLANDS
Norbert Peeters
Menno Schilthuizen
Taxon Expeditions and Taxon Pop. 17,475,415
Foundation, Leiden, The Netherlands.

41,540 km²

0 m.a.s.l.
Taxonomic expeditions
in urban areas

COMMITMENTS
2 5 8

Quote as: Peeters, N.,

Schilthuizen, M. The City’s DNA.
P. 182-185. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya- KEY
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities CONCEPTS
by 2030: Transforming Cities
with Biodiversity. Bogotá. TAXONOMIC RESEARCH
Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONS
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
iNATURALIST

By organizing open, accessible taxonomic
expeditions in urban areas, the Taxon Foundation
is helping ordinary citizens become passionate
about scientific research and biodiversity in city
parks, their own backyards and balconies, and
even informal greenspaces. This proves to be
educational and helpful in finding new species
and empowers people to start dialogues with city
authorities regarding urban biodiversity hubs.
Taxon Expeditions promotes scientific discovery and
education through expeditions organized by interna-
tional experts to remote areas like the mountains of the
Balkans of the rainforests of Borneo. There, both experts
and travelers do scientific research together in the hope
of naming and publishing new species of wild animals.
In 2019, the company launched an expedition to the most
famous city park in the Netherlands (Vondelpark). From
this positive experience arose the Taxon Foundation, a
non-profit sister organization of Taxon expeditions. Its
mission is to encourage public involvement in ecologi-
cal and taxonomic research and create a better basis for
nature education, conservation, and awareness. Taxon
Foundation’s projects are funded by charities or crowd-
funding, free of charge, and focus more on urban nature
projects in the Netherlands.
Most expeditions take a couple of days or one week.
They typically include specialists talking about specif-
ic types of insects and other invertebrate animals and
their behavior or sharing quirky information. Traps are
also set up to sort the material collected in a make-shift
field lab. There can even be a mobile DNA lab set up, es-
pecially in the cases where new species are sought. Fur-
ther sessions are arranged to show and share the results,
and if a new species is found, the specialists discuss the
name it should be given and how it will be shared with
the scientific community. This process often leads to the
writing of scientific articles by a joint team of experts
and citizens. In other words, these expeditions work
very much like crash courses on scientific research and
species exploration.
The scientific framework the expeditioners receive
often starts by challenging the more standard version of the
concept of biodiversity. Instead of focusing on birds or mam-
mals, the Foundation emphasizes invertebrates. When peo-
ple think of biodiversity, they think of squirrels or butterflies,
not the other thousands of unseen species. So people are
amazed that they can spend half a day in ten square meters
of urban vegetation and come up with hundreds of different
species that nobody knew existed. Some are so poorly stud-
ied that they could even come from entirely new locations or
set a new biodiversity record for their country of origin.
 184 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 185

who are worried about the fate of, say, a nice bit of urban
GREEN IN AMSTERDAM
forest or a vacant urban lot. The organization helps them do
a scientific investigation on the biodiversity of these plac-
es, take note of that information and use it to persuade the
authorities to conserve those areas. For instance, the Tax-
WILMKEBREEKPOLDER Source: on Foundation’s first project was in Leiden. We worked on
Taxon Expeditions, a strip of the urban forest with people from the neighbor-
Aphaereta 2019 - 2021 hood. Initially, the municipality wanted to remove it to build
vondelparkensis a new bicycle path. Still, because of the exciting biodiversity
discovered by the expedition, they changed the plan and
diverted the route so that the forest strip could be preserved.

Aphaereta
vondelparkensis KEY LESSONS

SLATUINEN KEURBLOK XIII Pe ople think of biodiversity as a concept inherent-

Paranchus albipes,
Diaea dorsata
y Aphaereta
vondelparkensis
VONDELPARK
Aphaereta
vondelparkensis
METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
“It’s all about discovering new species, especially the
non-obvious species, not birds or mammals or amphibians
or trees, but the tiny, invertebrate animals or mosses or fun-
gi that nobody pays any attention to.”
The main aim of these taxon expeditions, then,
both those we launch locally and abroad, is to discover new
species, not just new to the country, but to science, so they
have to receive a new scientific name. Even in a country
like The Netherlands, which is biologically very well stud-
ied, there are still many invertebrate animals like small
flies, tiny parasitic wasps, and nematode worms with no
KEURBLOK XVI
Diaea dorsata
dedicated attention. In other words, there are thousands of
species and just one or two specialists to study them. This
makes it relatively easy to find new species for the country
and science in general. For instance, one of the few Dutch
specialists on parasitic wasps was brought in for the Von-
delpark expedition and discovered a new species. By the
end of the week, an announcement was made, and several
months later, the discovery was reported in a scientific pa-
per and named Aphaereta vondelparkensis, after the park.
Another project that the Foundation is implement-
ing is what we call Backyard expeditions. People from urban
neighborhoods approach us to help them do a biological in-
ventory of their balconies or private gardens, which can be
Aphaereta
vondelparkensis
Diaea dorsata Paranchus albipes
very rich in biodiversity. It is imperative for people to realize
that they have control over these little bits of nature which
prove to be like miniature nature reserves or, in the case of a
series of contiguous backyards, a kind of communal nature
reserve. By working together with the neighbors, people can
start appreciating the insects that live there and transform
the gardens to make them more attractive to these creatures.
The Foundation’s work is not only about the num-
bers of species that are found but also about the increased
awareness amongst the people living around the areas
studied. The shared appreciation resulting from these proj-
ects strikes a chord within neighborhoods and the munici-
pality. So much so that we are often approached by citizens
ly related to big mammals, birds, or giant trees. Pro-
viding ordinary citizens with basic training and tools,
like a microscope, will help them see specimens of pre-
viously unseen insects living in the places these excur-
sions are carried out and make them appreciate that bit
of forest much more. A better understanding of the basics
of biology gives a better understanding of biodiversity.
And this gives way to a collective appreciation of urban
green spaces.
People in a neighborhood that care a lot about a partic-
ular piece of land don’t want to see it change, and they
often lack the means to address this problem on a higher
level in the municipality. People who attend these expedi-
tions suddenly realize they have a new tool that they can
use to influence the authorities and the decisions these au-
thorities make about their natural environment.
Pe ople, especially people living in cities, must
learn to accept messiness in their environment (e.g.,
weeds, vacant lots), something precious for the kind of
biodiversity these expeditions are looking at. A great way
to tackle this is to use chalk on the sidewalk to highlight
the scientific names of plants that would typically be
dismissed as weeds (this practice is known as botanical
chalking). It helps people better understand the greenery
that spontaneously grows around urban areas and biodi-
verse terminology.
T he most challenging group to reach is the people
that have very little to do with science, don’t have
scientific training, don’t read a lot, or are not particularly
interested in nature (or even nature documentaries). This
is a challenge for the channels customarily used to reach
potential expeditioners.
H igh school students and young adults don’t often
attend these expeditions, so efforts should focus on
keeping individuals interested in nature once they be-
come teenagers. One way to do so is to help them see this
sort of project as a hobby or to spark engagement using
tech like the iNaturalist app.
THE
186 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 187

Angélica Hernández-Palma
Bibiana Gómez-Valencia
Yenifer Herrera-Varón
Juan Sebastián Ulloa
Alexander von Humboldt Biological
Resources Research Institute,
Colombia.

SOUNDS OF
48 MUNICIPALITIES,
COLOMBIA

Pop. 22,638,661

THE CITY
36,799 km²

An opportunity
for urban
biodiversity
monitoring

COMMITMENTS
2 5 8 KEY
CONCEPTS
CITIZEN SCIENCE

Quote as: Hernández-Palma, A., SOUNDSCAPES

Gómez-Valencia, B., Herrera-
Varón, Y., Ulloa, J.S. The Sounds PARTICIPATORY AUDITORY
of the City. P. 186-189. In: Mejía, MONITORING OF BIODIVERSITY
M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.).
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming eBIRD
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá.
Instituto de Investigación de iNATURALIST
Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.

The confinement caused by the COVID-19
pandemic was the ideal scenario to implement
an unprecedented strategy that assessed
the impact that urbanization and human
activities have on the soundscape of cities.
The spread of COVID-19 during the first months of 2020
forced more than half of the world’s population to remain
isolated in their homes for months. This pre-emptive iso-
lation significantly reduced human activities, mainly re-
lated to mobility and vehicular traffic. As a result, signi-
ficant decreases in air and noise pollution, as well as an
increase in the frequency of wildlife sightings became
evident in cities around the world (Bates et al., 2021). Thus,
this unique scenario created the ideal conditions for the
Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research
Institute to lead the initiative “How does my city sound?
Soundscapes from your window” on a national scale.
The purpose of the initiative was to collect sound data
in order to monitor the soundscapes of Colombia’s ur-
ban areas. To this end, teams of citizen scientists came
together to listen carefully to the fauna and sounds of
their cities during the isolation period. This strategy for
participatory auditory monitoring of biodiversity was
implemented nationwide and was an opportunity to
generate and promote connections between city dwell-
ers and the sounds of their environment. Thus, civil so-
ciety found a space to contribute valuable data to a cit-
izen science initiative, using everyday resources such
as their smartphones, from their windows. Among the
most significant values highlighted by the participants
were “contributing to science,” “appreciating urban na-
ture,” “citizen science,” and “providing data,” among oth-
ers (Ulloa et al., 2020). This highlights the importance of
implementing participatory practices of data collection
for the planning and management of cities.
 188
URBANIZATION
EFFECTS
Through the analysis of the recordings provided by the participants,
it was clear that the level of urbanization in the different cities of the
country had an effect on their soundscapes. In the first place, it was
apparent that in the most urbanized city (Bogotá), the diversity of
animal sounds was much lower than in cities with lower levels of
urbanization. In Bogotá, the sounds recorded were only from birds,
while insects, amphibians, and mammals were recorded in the other
cities. The same applies to anthropogenic sounds, which were more
predominant in Bogotá than in other cities, with the most significant
proportion of sounds coming from motorized transport (traffic).
MOBILE SCIENCE
To encourage broad citizen participation in this initiative,
a standardized smartphone-based data collection protocol
was developed. Acoustic sampling was conducted during
two confinement periods by COVID-19: total confinement
(TC: April) and partial confinement (PC: May-June). TC re-
fers to when mobility restrictions were tightest (average
mobility reduction of -72.1 %). PC represents the later period
when more substantial restrictions were lifted and mobili-
ty increased by 12.5 % compared to TC (Google, 2020).
Participants collected 90-second sound recordings
from their windows during the morning (5-7 a.m.) and af-
ternoon (5-7 p.m.), times that coincide with wildlife activity
peaks. For each sound recording, participants also com-
pleted a short survey in which they had to determine the
presence of 12 soundscape components associated with:
wildlife sounds (insects, amphibians, birds, and mammals),
anthropogenic sounds (motorized transport, construction,
loudspeakers, human voices, and domestic animals), and
abiotic sounds (rain, wind, and thunder) (Ulloa et al., 2021).
SOUND FINDINGS
A total of 202 citizen scientists joined the initiative, through
whom 5,717 sound recordings were collected from 48 mu-
nicipalities in Colombia1 . Based on the data, it was estimated
that between the TC and the PC, there was an overall in-
crease of 2.15 dB in sound pressure levels, equivalent to an
increase of 128%. As expected, these changes in sound pres-
sure levels and in the acoustic profile of the environment
were proportional to the level of urbanization of the cities.
For example, the capital city (Bogotá), with higher urbaniza-
tion intensity, showed a more significant change than that
recorded in the country’s smaller and less urbanized cities.
Similarly, it was found that the variations detected in the
acoustic profile were less than in the forested areas areas of
the cities, which indicates the importance that vegetation
can have in buffering the impacts of urban noise pollution.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
High urban density
40
30
20
10
10
10
20
30
40
On the other hand, the changes recorded between the
two periods in both sound pressure and the acoustic pro-
file of the environment were not proportional to those
perceived by citizens nor to the level of urbanization it-
self. This gap may be associated with the masking effect
that anthropogenic noise generates over the rest of the
soundscape or with the very disconnection between
urban citizens and nature in large cities, making it diffi-
cult for them to recognize sounds associated with other
components of biodiversity.
WITHIN EVERYONE’S REACH
In addition to being a unique opportunity for citizen par-
ticipation, the initiative was also distinguished by its open
nature. The data collection protocols, the information reg-
istration forms, the data analysis codes, and even the data
collected are openly and freely available in the Institutional
Data and Information Infrastructure (I2D) of the Humboldt
Institute (Alexander von Humboldt Institute, 2020).
Thus, while it is clear that urban biodiversity mon-
itoring is a task that requires financial resources, time, and
trained personnel, the experience of this initiative exposes
participatory and open data research as a viable option. The
information gathered through these mechanisms ultimate-
ly represents a valuable input to inform decision-making
regarding the management of natural resources in urban
environments while strengthening the connection between
nature and urban dwellers.
Experimentation 189
Medium urban density Low urban density
40
Total Confinement
30
20
10
10
10
Partial Confinement
20
30
40
KEY LESSONS Birds Mammals Domestic animals
Insects
Motorized
Loudspeakers
transportation
Citizen science initiatives in urban areas allow the
Amphibians Human voices Construction
development of cognitive skills in the public. In this
particular case, it allowed citizens to get involved in the de-
velopment of a research project, share their experiences and The results also showed the effect of human activities on the
soundscapes of Colombian cities. Anthropogenic sounds were
acquired knowledge, and strengthen their relationship with
present in a smaller proportion during total confinement, and
and awareness of nature.
wildlife sounds were more present. The opposite occurred when the
The fact that the monitoring strategy proposed in this isolation measures were relaxed (partial confinement) and more
case is entirely open facilitates transparent and per- people went out into the streets, increasing the sounds coming from
manent access to information by any citizen. This strategy human activities and decreasing the perception of animals.
can also be adapted to different contexts, making open mon-
itoring and management of information on soundscapes in human pressures and wildlife species in urban areas, con-
urban environments with citizen participation in any city tributing to methodologies such as the IUCN Urban Natural
in the world possible. Index (2022), specifically providing a participatory method.
Biodiversity monitoring is vital to quantify the chang- The results obtained through this initiative showed
es generated by different actions or implementations the importance of green spaces within cities, both for
developed in urban environments. The monitoring strategy human well-being and the wildlife inhabiting them. For
proposed in this case study can quantify changes in sound- this reason, a monitoring initiative such as the one de-
scapes, helping to manage or reduce the sources of sound scribed above can be useful for planning cities in a more
pressure that affect our well-being and that of the fauna liv- comprehensive manner. This is key to protecting and ex-
ing in green areas of cities. panding green spaces in cities and preserving the many
The monitoring strategy proposed in this case study benefits they provide to people, such as carbon capture and
can be easily adapted to different urban planning in- storage and noise and temperature reduction.
struments. For example, indicators can be created from Technology is a fundamental ally in developing this
sound data to follow up on various interventions in cities. In kind of monitoring strategies. Digital platforms such
this case, the strategy was used to quantify the effects of ur- as eBird and iNaturalist enable participatory biodiversity
banization independent of human activity. However, its use monitoring and inventory projects globally in urban and
can be explored in different contexts to assess the status of rural environments.
 190
SOCIAL
AND NATURAL
FABRIC
Collective action
stories from a
neighborhood in
transformation
COMMITMENTS
2 4 5
Quote as: Kreisel, A., Becker, M., Holguín,
C., Cardona, E. Social and Natural Fabric. P.
190-195. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D.
(eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
The transformation of Moravia, a
neighborhood in the city of Medellín,
demonstrates how biodiversity can drive
social and environmental changes, in this
case, regarding informal settlements on a
former garbage dump called El Morro.
“Moravia used to be a flat piece of land. Then it became
a hole created by the extraction of materials. Then that
hole became a mountain of garbage. Then it turned
into a neighborhood, and today it is a park surround-
ed by a neighborhood. Medellín is not known in the
world for renovation, for tearing down and starting
over. Medellín is known for innovation, and Moravia
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Based in interview with:
Albert Kreisel
Maximilian Becker
Cielo Holguín
Oasis Urbano Foundation,
Colombia.
Eliana Cardona
Moravia Cultural
Development Centre,
Colombia.
represents this: building on what has already been
built and building with the people”. This reflection
by Councilman Daniel Carvalho, in the 2019 public
debate on the city’s Urban Renewal Plan for Moravia,
illustrates the capacity of communities in vulnerable
settlementes to transform their territory and how bio-
diversity strengthens this collective work by reviving
the rural history of many of the communities.
The history of Moravia dates back to the early 1960s,
when it was consolidated, thanks to the efforts of many dis-
placed people who had lived in rural areas and sought hous-
ing alternatives to flee from violence and displacement. In
1977 the area was declared the municipal garbage dump,,
which brought negative consequences associated with its
experimentation
environmental degradation and livability conditions, espe-
cially around a mountain of waste known colloquially as
“El Morro” (a small, rounded hill) that reached 35 meters in
height. However, the inhabitants found in these elements an
opportunity to survive around the work of recycling.
Approaches with the municipal administration
began in the 1990s, achieving the neighborhood’s legal
recognition in 1993. Subsequently, in 2000, a new rela-
tionship with the administration was initiated through
the Moravia Neighborhood Integral Improvement Mac-
ro-project, which included its areas of influence and
was carried out jointly in 2005 by the community, the
Administrative Planning Department, and the National
University’s Schools of Urban Planning and Architec-
191
MORAVIA- MEDELLÍN,
COLOMBIA
Pop. 45,000
42 km2
1,400 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
SOCIAL URBANISM
DESIGN-BUILD
URBAN CODING
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
ture. This milestone contributed to the neighborhood’s
transformation through governmental backing framed
in social urbanism. This gave rise, in 2012, to Mora-
via Florece para la Vida – Moravia Blooms for Life, a
greening project based on measures such as creating
nurseries and community organizations (e.g., Jardiner-
os Unidos de Moravia – United Gardeners of Moravia,
Corserba, CoJardiCom) and implementing programs
such as Guardianes del Morro - Guardians of El Morro.
The initiative represented a milestone for the neighbor-
hood because it strengthened community empower-
ment and planting processes, providing its inhabitants
with new opportunities in tourism and other sources of
income. 
 192
MOSAIC MAP OF MORAVIA
The work was carried out with the community in the main square as a playful tool to strengthen knowledge and
identification with the territory. Each piece of tile represents a house.
Despite these important contributions, the neighbor-
hood’s social fabric and its occupancy model are at
risk. On the one hand, implementing the Urban Re-
newal Partial Plan decreed in 2018 has caused orga-
nizations such as Moravia Resiste or Colnvite, whose
purpose is to recognize the neighborhood and com-
munities as a Living Heritage, to mobilize. Secondly,
the appearance of new human settlements seeking to
establish themselves in El Morro has endangered the
functioning of the gardens and the employability of
the sector’s gardeners.
Moravia is a precise reflection of the social and
environmental challenges shared by Latin American
cities and the opportunities for transformation that the
recognition of biodiversity can support. The Urban Lab
Medellín Berlín and Palo de Lluvia initiatives exemplify
how synergies can be created among initiatives, local
communities, and other actors interested in strength-
ening their relationship with this territory.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
THE CO-PRODUCTION OF A NEIGHBORHOOD
Albert Kreisel and Maximilian Becker, two German ar-
chitects and urban planners, are convinced that a signifi-
cant part of the solution to the challenges of urbanization
sustainability in regions such as Latin America is found
in informal neighborhoods. This perspective led them
to work hand in hand in 2013 with Cielo Holguín, a local
community leader in Moravia, to build together ways in
which architecture could strengthen the neighborhood’s
social fabric. As a result, the Urban Lab Medellin Berlin
project was developed, which led to the emergence of the
non profit organization Fundación Oasis Urbano in 2021.
The initiative pursues two objectives: on the one
hand, to weave a bridge between the neighborhood and
the rest of the city, transforming the social segregation to
which the inhabitants of Moravia have been subjected; on
the other hand, to protect the social, economic and physi-
cal structures that have grown organically in this sector.
experimentation 193
TROPICAL WORKSHOP 2.0
Upon fulfilling the cycle of the temporary structure, the
time has come to evolve the prototype for the long term.
The new project is under development, with a cooking
school, a recycling laboratory, artistic residences, and a
multi-use classroom.
COMMUNITY CENTER TALLER TROPICAL MORAVIA
The space was designed and built in collective action,
and featured a bamboo classroom, a community
garden, and a mobile kitchen. Between 2018 and
2021, more than 10,000 people participated in the
activities of the self-organized community center for
experimental education and cultural exchange.
3
Thus, in 2017, a series of summer schools was launched
to promote mutual learning between students from the
Technical University of Berlin, several universities in Me-
dellin (Eafit, Tecnológico de Antioquia, and UPB, among
others), and local leaders of Moravia around applying
methodologies such as Design-build or Urban Coding.
One of the main fruits of these summer schools is
the community center Taller Tropical, created in 2018 for
the area’s cultural development and geographic recogni-
4
tion. Some of the workshop’s initiatives focus on the role
that biodiversity can play in aspects such as food securi-
ty or through the use of plants such as guadua bamboo.
Examples of this are the implementation of a community
urban vegetable garden and the construction of a mobile
kitchen called Cocina Popular, spaces where activities are
carried out to strengthen eating patterns that contribute
to improving the community’s well-being. These actions
take advantage of the mainly rural origin of the neighbor-
hood’s inhabitants and the diversity of traditional practic-
es associated with cultivating the land. Source of all photos: Oasis Urbano, 2018 - 2022
 194 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY experimentation 195

PALO DE LLUVIA: sary to include the perceptions of normally marginali-

A PACT OF LOVE FOR NATURE
As a result of the neighborhood agreements made with
the community, the Moravia Cultural Development Cen-
ter was consolidated in 2008 and currently operates under
an agreement between the Mayor’s Office of Medellin and
the family compensation fund, Comfenalco Antioquia.
The infrastructure is a work by the Colombian architect
Rogelio Salmona that reflects what is known in Medellin
as social urbanism. This space has several work areas and
projects that are committed to culture as a transforming
agent of society. Among them is the Palo de Lluvia Envi-
ronmental Management Program, which seeks to promote
an environmental culture through pedagogical and social
management processes for the dialogue of knowledge,
the exchange of experiences, the creation and weaving of
community and inter-institutional alliances and seeking
more harmonious ways of inhabiting the territory.
The program recognizes the social diversity of
Moravia’s inhabitants and seeks to strengthen practices
that they have brought from their territories of origin whi-
le encouraging new practices toward environmental cul-
ture. Since 2010, it has promoted a pact of love for nature
by focusing its actions on respecting all life forms, promo-
ting caring for plants and gardens, and reflecting on the
importance of the land and planting for food security. It
also encourages caring for animals in their natural habi-
tat, including vultures and opossums, promoting knowle-
dge about their ecosystemic functions. Additionally, it
supports proper waste management to take advantage of
recyclable and organic waste through biodigester bales
and encourages the care and protection of water.
In order to recognize the neighborhood’s biodiver-
sity, an inventory of species was carried out in 2019 with
the publishing company El Patio as part of the project El
Agua no es Azul – Water Isn’t Blue, recording natural (ani-
mals and plants) and artificial (objects) species that give
an idea of how the riverbed of La Bermejala creek is inha-
bited, understanding that people are just one of the many
species that make up this ecosystem.
zed actors in decision-making, such as young people or
street dwellers, since they also occupy the territory. To
the same extent, it is necessary to transcend any social
stigma surrounding a sector to address its concerns and
requirements. Together with the collective work, this re-
cognition allows the worldviews of those who come to
the place to be transformed and a sense of ownership of
the territory to be created.
KEY ALLIANCES
For Palo de Lluvia and the Cultural Center,
promoting an environmental culture through
pedagogical processes and dialogue of knowledge
has been vital. Thus, they have shared workspaces
with Urban Lab, such as the vegetable garden
that was located in the Tropical Workshop. Other
actors have been the University College of London
(UCL) and Moravia Resiste, with whom they have
co-researched in the neighborhood around the
Recycling Landscapes as a strategy to highlight
the work that takes place in Moravia. In addition,
they have worked on the recognition of the
neighborhood as a Living Heritage, highlighting
the specific stories of the area’s inhabitants and
promoting the recovery of memory.

KEY LESSONS

It is essential to protect community practices and

encourage collective work to create opportunities
for conversation among opposing positions within the
same community.
Working hand in hand with other actors allows us
to approach different ways of thinking about the city
and build a joint vision based on inclusion and well-being.
It is common in a community for some voices to
be heard more than others. However, it is neces-
DENSURBAM
196
Sustainability Óscar Mejía
scenarios of a EAFIT University,
Colombia.
territory
COMMITMENTS
1 6 8 GREEN AREAS
WATER SUPPLY
Quote as: Mejía, O. Densurbam. P. 196-201.
In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.).
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
Densurbam is an online model that responds
to one of the most significant challenges
facing cities and metropolitan areas: how
to define the urban carrying capacity
of a territory to ensure its ecological,
social, and economic sustainability.
The accelerated urbanization process on a global scale
has been possible thanks to cities overcoming their res-
trictions on access to natural resources that are funda-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
POPULATION
TIME
POPULATION DENSITY
URBAN TREES
mental to their development, such as water and food.
However, this phenomenon, explained by growing in-
dustrial production and global trade, has led urban life
to become disconnected from the true origin of these re-
sources and a supply that is not infinite.
This dilemma is faced by metropolitan areas
such as the Valle de Aburrá, a territory located in the
central zone of Colombia’s Andes Mountain range. This
region’s accelerated growth of Urban settlements has led
to the loss and fragmentation of the ecosystems that su-
Experimentation 197
VALLE DE ABURRÁ,
COLOMBIA
Pop. 4,055,296
1,165.5 km²
1,300 - 2,800 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
WILDLIFE HABITAT
URBAN CARRYING CAPACITY
LIEBIG BARREL
GEOBIODIVERSITY
pport them, with consequences such as the degradation territory’s carrying capacity? Based on these questions,
of soils suitable for food production and the urbanization he designed Densurbam 1 : a mathematical model of an-
of 56% of the water recharge zone. ticipation that allows to simulate multiple futures in an
Given this demographic expansion in the Va- agile way and to define sustainable growth scenarios 2
lle de Aburrá, the Center for Urban and Environmen- . The tool understands the territory based on units of
tal Studies (Urbam) of the Eafit University asked two analysis, such as regions, cities, neighborhoods, or vi-
questions: do the municipalities recognize this pheno- llages, and works through a flexible, open-data IT pla-
menon’s impact on their territory and the regional en- tform. Thus, planners, and citizens in general, have a
vironmental system that supports them? And can the mechanism to establish the limits of sustainable grow-
effect of joint and coordinated planning increase the th of a city or region (Universidad Eafit, n.d.).
 198 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 199

LIEBIG’S LAW OF THE MINIMUM VARIABLES OF THE

AND BARREL ANALOGY DENSURBAM MODEL Air Dilution of air pollutants Emissions MP 2.5
ARE GROUPED IN
Sustainable On the threshold
THREE CATEGORIES CO2 (fixed and mobile sources)
Unsustainable

Wastewater dilution Dissolved oxygen

BOD
Water
Coliforms
Minimum
Ecosystems’
health and Evacuation of flows Rain-runoff
resilience
Production of household liquid discharges

Land Recharging zones Underground aglas

CO2 fixing CO2 fixation rate

Forest
Erosion prevention SST
system
Wildlife shelter Conservation of rural and urban forest cover

Water Water offer Drinking water

Resource
Land for shelter
availability

Land Land offer Agricultural land

Supply of construction materials

Technology Mobility Spatial demand for mobility per inhabitant

Modal distribution

Public services Water consumption

Energy consumption

Infrastructure Gas consumption

Production of liquid discharges

Social skills for Public space and facilities Effective public space per inhabitant
Source: development
Proximity to effective public space
Urbam EAFIT (2018) based
on Liebig (1840). Facilities per inhabitant

Densities Inhabitants per hectare and dwellings per hectare

<1 the required capacity exists

SRI =
What is needed and to what extent? Excavation earth generation
1 on the threshold
i,t >1 urban carrying capacity Generation of construction and demolition waste
What is available and to what extent? Culture Use of solid waste
need to be improved
Recovered materials

Solid waste composting

Institutional Tax performance

SRI: Support Ratio Index i: variable of analysis t: evaluation time
 200 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 201

GROWTH LIMITS AND SUPPORT CAPABILITIES ANALYSIS OF EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SPACE 6.000.000 Population (inhab)
SUPPLY IN RELATION TO POPULATION
GROWTH IN THE VALLE DE ABURRÁ
Specifically, Densurbam defines 54 variables grouped 5.000.000
into the following three categories (or parameters): the
Variable of analysis: Effective Public Space (m2 / inhab) 4.000.000
supply of resources, the health and resilience of the Unit of analysis: Valle de Aburrá
ecosystems that provide them, and the cultural beha- Population: 3,893,684 3.000.000
viors of society that describe how it uses them. The mo- Population density in 2017 (number of
2.000.000
del was built from quantitative data and causally con- people / residential unit): 3.11
nected multidisciplinary indicators, which explain the Value of reference: 10.00
1.000.000
Uncertainty Coefficient: 0.005
implications of planning on the sustainability of the te-
Factor of Security for Sustainability: 0.025 0
rritory and its carrying capacity.
To recognize the factors limiting the bearing ca-

2017

2031
2018
2019

2027
2028
2029
2030

2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
2048
2049
2050
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
pacity, Densurbam uses the Liebig barrel concept. Thus,
the support ratio index (SRI), i.e., the ratio between re-
source supply and demand, is obtained by considering
10,00
all the variables that make up the barrel, i.e., the area
to be analyzed. After this evaluation, the model gets an In this case, the Densurbam analyzes the sup-
indicator that specifies whether the region has the ca- ply of Effective Public Space (EPE in Spanish) by

Effective public space (m2 / inhab)

pacities it requires for its operation, whether it is on the taking the 10 m2 per inhabitant recommended
8,00

6,9
6,9

7,4
7,4
7,4
7,4
7,4
7,4
7,4
7,4
threshold of sustainability or whether it needs to impro- by the United Nations and adopted in various

7,2
7,2

7,2
7,2
7,2
7,2
7,2
7,3
7,3
7,3
7,3
7,3
7,3
7,3
7,0
7,0

7,0
7,0
7,0
7,1
7,1
7,1
7,1

7,1
ve its capacities because its current or future situation is urban policy instruments in Colombia as a ref-
unsustainable. erence indicator. According to Colombian reg-
ulations, EPE includes permanent public space
6,00
BIODIVERSITY AS A CRITICAL FACTOR made up of green areas, parks, and squares.
Green public spaces play a key role in main-
The scenarios that Densurbam proposes for the terri- taining biodiversity, servicing ecosystems, and
tory’s carrying capacity in the face of phenomena such mitigating effects derived from climate change
4,00
as the loss of natural cover and climate change point to (Breuste et al., 2013).
the importance of geobiodiversity and biodiversity in
3,2 3,2
the current and future sustainability of the territory. For Here, Densurbam is modeling the relationship 3,1 3,1 3,1 3,1 3,1
3,0 3,0 3,0 2,9 2,9 2,9 2,9 2,9 2,9 2,9 2,8 2,8 2,8 2,8 2,8 2,8 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7
example, the model makes it possible to analyze the re- between population growth and the behavior of
2,00
lationship between aquifer recharge zone areas and the the EPE from 2017 to 2050, even taking into ac-
minimum recharge zone areas of green spaces where count the development of regional public space
rainwater infiltration occurs. This shows that the most projects such as Parques del Río and Parque de
significant urban center, Medellín, has significantly re- Los Meandros. Thanks to this analysis, it is pos-
0,00
duced the possibility of using groundwater as an essen- sible to identify a deficit in EPE of 69%. Likewise,

2041
2042

2049
2050
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040

tial resource and increasing its susceptibility to flooding
and other phenomena associated with the alteration of
its water dynamics. The model has also identified the
reduction of natural land cover throughout the Valle de
Aburrá and its effect on landscape fragmentation and
connectivity.
Other analyses in this model show the direct re-
lationship of urban growth with land use dynamics and
the application of specific planning instruments. This
shows, for example, that the vegetation cover of the te-
rritory was dramatically reduced with the approval of a
land-use plan, even though it recognized a main ecolo-
gical structure as a determinant of land-use planning.
An additional example is offered by Envigado, where
this tool was applied in 2017 to propose two scenarios: a
trend scenario and a desired scenario for 2030. Among
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
2048
according to population growth trends and on-
going regional projects, it is expected to reach
71% by 2030. Deficit of effective Reference Value of
public space level for reference Source: Densurbam, EAFIT University.
(m2 / inhab) sustainability
the main challenges to achieve the desired future, or in sion-makers on the implications of the various develop- ple can occupy the space according to their demand for
other words, to live better, are the replacement and plan- ment plans on the carrying capacity limits of the territory; human and natural resources and the territory’s capaci-
ting of trees, the improvement of infrastructure for was- and on the other, within citizens on the close links be- ty to provide them, as opposed to the standard calcula-
tewater discharge, and the increase of retirement spaces tween their demands for well-being and the capacity of the tion of the number of dwellings or buildings per hectare.
for the elderly, among others (Amaya, 2018). territory, ecosystems, and biodiversity to respond to them. Another critical aspect of the model is the explicit in-
T he model represents an important innovation that corporation of aspects directly linked to biodiversity.
KEY LESSONS can change how the planning of territories under In the case of the Valle de Aburrá, this is evident in the im-
urbanization processes is carried out. In this sense, it is portance of the main ecological structure and the coverage
Densurbam is a fundamental tool to orient and rai- a planning tool. For example, Densurbam addresses hu- of urban green areas in the support capacity of the territory
se awareness: on the one hand, within the deci- man land occupation densities based on how many peo- due to their role as aquifer recharge and infiltration soils.
 202
SUSTAINABLE
FAVELAS
Realizing Climate
Justice by Investing
in Favela Assets
COMMITMENTS
2 4 5
Quote as: Williamson, T. Sustainable
Favelas. P. 202-205. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.
Catalytic Communities1 (CatComm) is an NGO
that generates models of effective community-
led and people-centered development of informal
settlements through its work with the favelas
of Rio de Janeiro. Its innovative approach to
advocacy combines research, training, networking,
communications, technology, mapping, and
participatory planning to realize the potential
of favelas as part of a sustainable urban future.
Among its current programs is Rio’s Sustainable
Favela Network (SFN), comprised of hundreds of
community organizers from favelas developing
socio-environmental solutions on the ground.
Rio de Janeiro has a population 11 million: 6 million live in
the municipality and another 5 million in the metro area.
Close to 1.5 million people live in over 1000 favela commu-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Theresa
Williamson,
Catalytic
Communities,
Brazil
nities that range from newer, more precarious neighbor-
hoods to highly consolidated ones.
There is no problem with the term “informal settle-
ment” because informality is not a bad thing. However, there
is a problem with applying the term “slum” or “shantytown”
to describe communities that have now been around for ge-
nerations and have become consolidated, superseding the
initial conditions of precarity, or squatting that characterize
those terms. Informal settlements are simply the way cities
developed before the building codes of the industrial age.
What can you build with your own hands? What can you
build with locally available materials? Most UNESCO World
Heritage sites were built informally, so there’s a huge double
standard when we act like today’s informal settlements are
some sort of aberration. Favelas need to be seen for what they
are: a solution that unfolds in the absence of good policy by
people who are trying to address their basic need for shelter.
Experimentation
Catalytic Communities’ programs are all grounded in the
solutions favela organizers themselves develop. This in-
cludes recognizing local efforts around sustainability and
pointing out how, in many ways, favela communities are
already closer to achieving it than formal areas. Evidence
for this can be seen in the highly social and cooperative
environment they produce, in their pedestrian orientation,
in the creative ways in which people engage in the cons-
truction of space to meet real needs. This means that fave-
las sometimes embody a more efficient use of space and a
more sustainable way of life. But then, of course, there are
many ways in which they’re not sustainable at all—when
it comes to social justice—people not having regular ac-
cess to quality water or electricity and being targeted by
police can hardly be called sustainable.
Favelas are the present-day territorial manifestation
of Brazil’s history of racial inequality. This can be clearly seen
203
RIO DE JANEIRO,
BRAZIL
Pop. 6,748,000
1,200 km²
2.13 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
SUSTAINABILITY
INFORMALITY
ASSET-BASED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
in racial maps of the city. Projects like CatComm’s Sustainable
Favela Network address this inequality by producing an alter-
native path where favelas are fully integrated into the city on
their own terms and building on their existing qualities. This
is important for the quarter of Rio’s population living in favelas.
But it is also globally relevant: the United Nations predicts near-
ly a third of humanity will live in informal urban settlements
by 2050, just as climate change is speeding up. So, an alterna-
tive, optimistic, community-valuing, and sustainable approach
to work with informal settlements is urgently needed.
Based on this understanding, Catalytic Commu-
nities works to strengthen those initiatives. This capaci-
ty-building is done through information-exchange networ-
ks, training, and fostering strategic partnerships to help
those initiatives expand. CatComm seeks to help make
these communities’ qualities more visible, to expand and
reach their potential.
 204
Source:
Catalytic Communities
METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
The Sustainable Favela Network (SFN) was seeded in
2012 with the Rio+20 conference on the environment.
We reached out to community organizers and asked,
‘Who wants to be part of this?’ We had about fifty respon-
ses and selected a diverse group of eight. As we filmed
them, we discovered several had heard of one another,
but none had met. Different from other favela-based or-
ganizers, those working around sustainability tended to
be less networked across communities.
Five years later, in 2017, the SFN was mapped,
then exchanges began between network members, with
annual full-network meetups consistently gathering over
100 people. Working groups were set up, generating su-
pport networks to tackle the pandemic, influence policy
on solar energy and engage local candidates in debate. In
2022, the SFN is installing infrastructure, ranging from
ecological sewerage to green roofs, conducting research
on energy justice and launching an app. Each initiative
adapts solutions from one community to the next, trai-
ning and empowering dozens of leaders along the way.
Governments everywhere deal with low-income
communities in roughly the same way: offering technical
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
solutions to challenges deemed relevant by outsiders. At
best, they look at these communities as charitable projects
seeking favors.
CatComm applies a completely different approach,
known as asset-based community development, which:
› Identifies assets and qualities the community has de-
veloped, vows to preserve and strengthen them, and
finds in those assets opportunities for change and
solutions to address the many challenges that exist.
› Recognizes that communities have rights including
the right to investment. Funds allocated there are
not “charitable.”
› Privileges mutual exchanges between communi-
ty members and technical allies where resident
knowledge is recognized as key and residents are
the ones who make the decisions.
An asset-based approach, which values the unique nature
of each community and puts control in the community’s
hands, is critical for thriving, inclusive, vibrant and green
urban development. People having control over their envi-
Experimentation
MULTIFUNCTIONAL ADDED
GREEN STRUCTURE
Sustainable cities and communities
Socio-environmental education
Climate justice
DEFENSORES DO PLANETA
Having been around for 20 years, Defensores do Planeta aims
for social justice and ecologically balanced development
in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone. Projects address forest
conservation, climate change and education.1
PROVIDÊNCIA AGROECOLÓGICA
Women lead this project seeking food security, food
sovereignty and human health in Brazil´s first favela, Morro
da Providência. The initiative promotes agroforestry and
traditional knowledge linked to the medicinal and food use
of plants.2
VALE ENCANTADO COOPERATIVE
Vale Encantado has built its own ecological sewerage
bio-system to treat sewage from all of the 27 homes in the
community and keep sewage out of the surrounding Floresta
da Tijuca, the largest urban forest in the world. Cooperative
members organize sustainable tourism and natural
gastronomy, and the cooperative produces energy through
solar power.3
ronment, being able to remain on their land, and develop
a sense of belonging, are what lead them to take care of it.
It is in the favelas that feel most empowered that we see
community gardens, agroforestry, medicinal orchards,
green roofs, solar installations, and other projects that help
preserve the natural world—which is simply our world.
And if we want to build cities, if we want to actually get to
a world where the environment is protected and climate
change is held back, we have to invest in recognizing that
people need to have a source of meaning and purpose, and
that this stems in many ways from a strong relationship
to where they’re from. The more processes that engage
people, that aren’t top down, that aren’t pre-established and
that allow people to have agency, the better.
205
FAVELAS’ NETWORK
GROWTH
2017
55
2018 150
2019 493
2020 963
2021 1205
Source: Catalytic Communities
KEY LESSONS
Working with favelas demands very close relations-
hips with grassroots organizers. If you can stay at a
local level and add depth to those relationships, you realize
how different and complex communities are. If you don’t
have a good understanding of them, you can do more harm
than good.
Focus on the value of trust. Listen deeply, respond to
the needs they communicate and never promise what
you can’t deliver. This is how trust is built.
When you are working with any community it is cri-
tical to recognize their unique qualities and start buil-
ding from there.
When grassroots leaders feel isolated, they may tend
to give up. It´s very important to build a network where
they can learn from each other, share emotions and receive
other kinds of support.
Be wary of the concept of scaling. Scaling often wor-
ks against the need to recognize and build on unique
local qualities. If there is something informal settlements
have in common it is that due to a lack of outside-imposed
regulation, every community is different from the next. They
are even different from themselves with each passing week.
“Scaling by example”—by publicizing inspiring and informa-
tive stories, holding immersive knowledge exchanges, and
offering strategic support to partners elsewhere—is the best
way to make sure grassroots solutions spread.
 206
WOODED
TRAILS THAT
WEAVE THE
CITY
Planning for landscape and
functional connectivity in
the north of Bogotá
COMMITMENTS
2 7
Quote as: Mariño, J., Trujillo, N.
Wooded Trails That Weave the City.
P. 206-209. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities
by 2030: Transforming Cities
with Biodiversity. Bogotá.
Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
The Conejera Hills Green Corridor project
has proposed a system of wooded pedestrian
trails, with a total length of about 6 km,
which will provide an ecological and social
connection to the city’s north. The project
hopes to generate landscape-functional
connectivity at the ecosystemic level between
two peri-urban protected areas of Bogotá.
Lagos de Torca is a mega urban expansion project com-
prised of 34 urban projects that seek to solve, to a large
extent, the housing deficit that Bogotá faces today. To this
end, it has been proposed to offer a model capable of pro-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Juana Mariño
Independent consultant in
urban planning, Colombia.
Natalia Trujillo
Lagos de Torca Trust,
Colombia.
viding housing for different socioeconomic sectors of the
population while guaranteeing the ecological conditions
necessary to ensure their wellbeing and quality of life.
The project plans the reconfiguration and
functional recovery of various ecosystems considered
strategic for their importance in providing ecosystem
services in northern Bogotá. The Conejera Hills Green
Corridor (CHGC) a system of pedestrian paths connec-
ting the Cerros Orientales (Eastern Hills) Forest Reser-
ve and the Thomas van der Hammen Reserve. They
go from east to west through parks and other facili-
ties that are part of the green infrastructure present in
that sector.
Experimentation
The CHGC was born from the meeting between the pro-
jects Lagos de Torca and “Low Carbon Cities in Colom-
bia - An integrated urban modeling approach for policy
analysis.” The latter, developed by the Universidad de
Los Andes de Colombia, Colombia UKPact, and the Co-
lombian Sustainable Construction Council, started by
defining an integral methodological approach that rela-
tes the primary sectors that make up an urban develop-
ment to each other and to the territorial space in which
they are located. It also implemented indicators to model,
control, and monitor urban management processes and
their contribution to the planning of ecosystem-sensiti-
ve urban environments.
207
BOGOTA,
COLOMBIA
Pop. 7,181,000
1,775 km2
2,640 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALITY
URBAN ECOLOGY
PUBLIC SPACE
The concept of “sensitivity to ecosystems” was
analyzed and weighted in the UKPact-Uniandes pro-
ject for six main urban sectors or components: water,
urban ecology, energy, mobility and transportation,
constructions, and solid waste. In the specific case of
urban ecology, this sensitivity was estimated as the
result of the evaluation of the social and ecological
functionality of each of the urban spaces, both public
and private, on their susceptibility to generate contri-
butions to the socio-ecological wellbeing of the city.
The project thus included validating its methodologi-
cal approach and calibrating the indicators in actual
cases, one of which was Lagos de Torca.
 208 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 209

FEATURES OF THE Diverse vegetation (native and Daytime space to experience

PROPOSED TRAIL SYSTEM
Conejera Hills naturalized) that constitutes a a relationship with nature in the
Green Corridor wildlife corridor of different strata middle of the city and close to
Source: Lagos de
Location (plants, shrubs, trees) on both sides home or work.
Torca Trust and
of the trail.
Gestión Urbana y
Tecnológica S.A.S.
Transmilenio
Eco-friendly and filtering materials
Northern Station
that adapt to the soil and
contribute to water management.

Torca-Guaymaral
Wetland

The Torca-Guaymaral Wetland

CONNECTIVITY OF THE
FUTURA ECOSYSTEM
Source: Lagos
de Torca Trust
CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL
APPROACH
The project has been addressing biological, urban-architec-
tural, regulatory, and social aspects simultaneously and in
a complementary manner. This has involved pinpointing
identifying characteristics of the spaces that will make up
the corridor and its trails. To this end, criteria were estab-
lished that would govern the socio-ecological functionality
of the system. Such as that the paths will be a new type of
public pedestrian space that, without being avenues or eco-
logical corridors, share characteristics and functions that
complement the functionality of the urban green system.
Thus, the specific characteristics of these trails
seek a balance between ecological and social function,
including controlled public accessibility, moderate lev-
Main roads expands from 34 to 75 hectares
in rainy season.
Thomas van der
Hammen Reserve
Guaymaral Metropolitan Park is
1.3 times larger than Simon Bolivar
Water bodies
Metropolitan Park in Bogotá.
els of activity, medium to low direct social purpose, and
moderate to high levels of naturalness and ecological
functionality. In summary, the CHGC is proposed to be
an “urban forest” trail system around the corner every
day, an urban forest that will grow with and for the
city’s children.
Likewise, to meet the criteria of ecological functiona-
lity, various vegetation options were analyzed, taking
their biological characteristics into account. Creeping,
low, medium, and high species were selected to achie-
ve the diversity and spatiality of the forest, as well as
its spatial and temporal variability. In addition, in the
architectural design, specifications were selected to en-
sure construction efficiency, spatial quality, and acces-
sibility for people while respecting the ecological func-
tionality of the trails.
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
The designed trail system was fully approved by the Torca
Lakes Project and the city’s administrative authorities in
terms of planning. It has a detailed design for each section,
including construction details and urban furnishings of
the walkways and rest areas, as well as definition, quanti-
fication, and specific location of every one of the low, medi-
um, and high species that make up the respective section.
In this way, it is expected that this system of
wooded pedestrian trails:
1 Enhances the supply of biodiversity and ecosystem
services provided by green spaces and public and
private facilities.
2 Integrates these spaces through interventions that
facilitate their connection and landscape, environ-
mental and functional articulation.
3 Increases these spaces’ environmental, social, and
landscape offer, strengthening the resilience and
adaptability of the city’s north.
In the face of this implementation, it is worth highlight-
ing the joint work with the city administration, as this
was key to having a financial model conducive to pub-
lic infrastructure works executed with private resources
and supervised by the city government.
KEY LESSONS
Public-private management offers advantages when
implementing interventions seeking to recover an
urban ecological structure’s landscape and functional
connectivity. In this sense, the effectiveness derived from
shared information, concerted decisions, synchronized
schedules, and efficiency in the use of resources stand out.
There should be more profound transformations in
how urban environments have been managed in Bo-
gotá. Still, the project demonstrates that within the frame-
work of processes already underway, and without the need
to modify the rules of the game substantially, it is possible
to advance highly sensitive interventions in the face of cli-
mate change, the re-naturalization of cities and the physi-
cal, mental, and social wellbeing of the inhabitants.
The science-policy-society interface used as a meth-
odological approach is a valuable alternative to effec-
tively link a global concern such as climate change with
local management to solve challenges such as climate
variability and its effects.
 210 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 211

WEAVING
STORIES OF BOGOTÁ,
COLOMBIA

PEOPLE AND
Pop. 7,181,000

1,775 KM²

2,640 m.a.s.l.

PLANTS
Ana Garrido
University of Florida, USA.

Alejandra Osejo
Rice University, USA.

María Camila Méndez

Germán Torres-Morales
Carlos Cortés
Alexander von Humboldt
Discovering the Biological Resources
Research Institute,
bioeconomy Colombia.

potential at a plant’s
marketplace
COMMITMENTS
3 4
KEY
CONCEPTS

Quote as: Garrido, A.M., Osejo, A., Méndez,

LIFE STORIES
M.C., Torres-Morales, G., Cortés, C. Weaving
Stories of People and Plants. P. 210-215.
COLLECTIVE ACTION PRACTICES
In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.).
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming
BIOECONOMY
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS
Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
PROTOTYPE

A city of 8 million inhabitants in Colombia
hosts a hub of biodiversity accounting for 391
useful plants - la Plaza Samper Mendoza – the
Samper Mendoza Marketplace. This diversity is
undeniably supported by 300 vendors - and their
life stories - who grow, collect, buy and trade
plants at the plaza. In 2020, Bogotá’s Institute for
Social Economy (IPES) commissioned a study
to identify the sustainable uses of biodiversity
and local knowledge to support the economic
recovery of the Samper Mendoza Marketplace.
BIODIVERSITY AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
The Samper Mendoza Marketplace, located in Bogotá,
is a unique place that allows the countryside and the
city to interact around the trade of plants that different
people bring from their places of origin. Twice a week,
in the largest markets (Mondays and Thursdays), about
391 plant species are traded -201 native species (Tor-
res-Morales et al., 2021) - some from wild harvesting of
non-timber forest products and others from agrobiodi-
verse crops (Cortés, 2021).
The plaza is a meeting place for traders from different parts
of the country, laboratories dedicated to transforming raw
plant materials for producing medicines or cosmetic pro-
ducts, food producers, restaurateurs, retailers, and end con-
sumers (Cortés, 2021). In this way, a valuable socioecological
scenario has been configured to the extent that it contributes
to conserving native flora based on traditional knowledge
while simultaneously demonstrating the importance of the
peasant economy for the development of cities.
This place has ample potential for sustainable
use of biological and genetic resources and their derivati-
ves, promoting products based on biodiversity within the
framework of what has been called the bioeconomy. With
this motivation, the Institute for Social Economy (IPES) and
the Humboldt Institute developed the Sembrando Saberes
(Planting Knowledge) Project, which focused on identif-
ying the uses of biodiversity and the ancestral knowledge
associated with these uses. As a result of this work, a gas-
tronomic prototype was designed, anchored in a tourist
experience aimed at developing new business opportuni-
ties for merchants and, thus, supporting the plaza’s econo-
mic recovery after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 212 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 213

A MULTI-TIER APPROACH › At least one species had to be in the subgroup of the GASTRONOMY AND INNOVATION LABORATORY, 2021. Photos: Germán Torres-Morales.
23 species prioritized as generating the most value
One of the most significant aspects of the project was to among traders.
propose a comprehensive approach that included these › Consider the origins of the plants (see figure below).
main components: life stories, value chain analysis, › The bundles should be linked to recipes that a broad
and the proposal of a gastrobotanical prototype. audience can recreate in their home kitchens.
› Take into account characteristic elements of tradi-
The components of this approach were: tional Colombian cuisines and/or elements of gas-
tronomic innovation.
1 Biological analysis: aimed at studying species of in-
terest and prioritizing1 plants for the gastronomic
use prototype. The criteria for this exercise were: SAMPER MENDOZA MARKETPLACE
species native to Colombia, species with various re- - WHAT PLANTS DID WE FIND?
ported uses (general use), endemic species or species
abundant in the plaza, chemical compounds identi- According to the book “Plantas y Saberes de la Plaza Samper
fied for the species, and production capacity associa- Mendoza” published by Torres-Morales et al. (2021) the most
common registered plant uses at this plaza are medicinal, food
ted with their phenology. Some non-native (domes-
and esoteric uses.
ticated) species were also included because of their
good market projection for the value chain analysis,
their abundance in the Samper Mendoza Marketpla-
391 USEFUL
PLANT
ce, and their high cultural or associative value.2 SPECIES
2 Governance analysis: it sought to recover the life
stories of the community as evidence of the histo- 27 NO INFORMATION ON ORIGIN
rical relationship of the people of the plaza with the
plants (childhood, adulthood)3 as well as the collec-
tive action practices such as growing, collecting,
transporting, and exchanging, among others.4
3 Socioeconomic analysis: dedicated to analyzing va-
lue chains and associated practices (collection, culti-
vation, and marketing of plants).
4 Creation of a prototype: led by the graphic design
firm Rizoma, participatory design workshops and
gastronomic innovation laboratories were held with
merchants and a group of six chefs from the city. 163 EXOTIC
5 Creation of graphic and audiovisual pieces: co-crea-
tion of pieces such as fanzines, infographics, a mu-
SPECIES
ral, and videos about the knowledge of the plaza’s
merchants about the plants that are sold there. This
component was also led by Rizoma. 5 ENDEMIC SPECIES

PROTOTYPING. WHERE TO START?

As a result of the various participatory design workshops

held over four months, a creation and innovation process
began with a group of cooks selected by the Humboldt Ins-
titute and IPES. They supported the team in identifying the
potential of the plants sold in the Samper Mendoza Marke-
tplace. For the project, they decided to prepare bundles of
herbs for gastronomic use following these guidelines:
› Use plants on the list of the 80 species prioritized for
201 COLOMBIAN
being the most sold and the most important in ter- NATIVE SPECIES
ms of uses.6
 214 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 215
SOGAMOSO

BOGOTÁ 86. Totumo 27. Chisguas 67. Penicilina o sangre de Cristo LA DORADA CHIQUINQUIRÁ

Crescentia cujete Canna indica/ Canna jaegeriana Dianthera secunda 3 60

2
10. Árnica 87. Variety of plantain 29. Cidrón 68. Pronto alivio o prontoalivio VALLE DEL CAUCA 9 38
73
Senecio formosus Musa spp.yvars. Aloysia citrodora Lippia alba
TUNJA

11. Arrayán 32. Cola de caballo 71. Quina 1. Abrecaminos CALDAS 3

Myrcianthes leucoxyla CUNDINAMARCA Equisetum bogotense / Cinchona sp Dioclea serícea

17. Borrachero naranja o rojo Equisetum giganteum 72. Ruda 12. Azafrán de raíz
Brugmansia sanguinea 2. Achiote 34. Cordoncillo hoja pequeña Ruta graveolens Escobedia grandiflora UBATÉ
9

33. Coralito Bixa orellana Piper aduncum 3. Sanalotodo 30. Cilantrón o Cilantro cimarrón
73
38
BOYACÁ
Galium sp. 3. Agraz 37. Dividivi Baccharis tricuneat Eryngiumfoetidum
CUNDINAMARCA
HONDA CHOCONTÁ

35. Diente de león Vaccinium meridionale Caesalpinia coriaria 74. Santa María 36. Desvanecedora 2

Taraxacum officinalis 4. Ají chirca y chiquito, y zorro e 38. Frailejón Onoseris purpurea Piper hartwegianum 10

41. Guasgüin mote y chichí de perro Espeletia sp. 75. Sábila 48. Lítamo real BOYACÁ
Monticalia ledifolia Capsicum annuum 39. Guaba Aloe vera Euphorbia tithymaloides TABIO 13 CAJICÁ
81 GACHETÁ
45. Jarilla 5. Albahaca Phytolacca bogotensis 76. Salvia blanca 62. Pasionaria SAN JUAN
DE RIOSECO 7
82
13
SOPÓ 3. Agraz
Stevia lucida Ocimum campechianum 40. Guascas Austroeupatorium inulifolium Columnea consanguínea FACATATIVÁ
13 15 MADRID
TENJO
7
13
84
77
52 Vaccinium meridionale
16 13
82
59. Palitaria 7. Altamisa o artemisa Galinsoga sp. 11. Salvia chiquita 69. Quereme hembra 64
39
40
60
72 9. Apio de monte
37
ZIPACÓN 46 CHÍA
Parietaria micrantha Ambrosia peruviana 42. Hoja santa Lepechinia schiedeana Cavendishia tiyphera 1546
16 39
64
23 53 77 Niphogeton ternata
TOLIMA
CACHIPAY 23
32 81
61. Pasiflora-pasionaria 8. Anamú Piper auritum 78. Sauco o tiIo 70. Quereme macho 82
80 93
13
11
BOGOTÁ
38. Frailejón
FUNZA
LA MESA 25 893421 5 TENA
Passiflora mixta Petiveria alliacea 44. Insulina Sambucus peruviana Cavendishia quereme 24 14
8 68 26 92 39 68
47 2
CHOACHÍ Espeletia sp.
74 71 2 5 1485 17

76. Salvia blanca 10. Árnica Anredera cordifolia 79. Sangre de drago 63
29
29 7 68 3919 SAN ANTONIO
37 57 71 DEL TEQUENDAMA
10
10 3
27 67
FÓMEQUE
60. Papayuela
56 83 76 7 60 78
Austroeupatorium inulifolium Senecio formosus 46. Laurel de la cruz Croton lechleri ME S ITA S
DEL
33
44
11
Vasconcellea pubescens
COLEGIO
18 88
11. Arrayán Morelia pubescens 80. Sanguinaria o venturosa 2 CAJAMARCA
8
22
55
ANAPOIMA 15 54 79
SIBATÉ 4 20
51
57 73. Sanalotodo
42 SILVANIA 60 44 27 72 44 58 72
TOLIMA Myrcianthes leucoxyla 47. Lavanda de monte Lantana cámara 56 75
86
4 72 14 23
66
85
UBAQUE Baccharis tricuneata
55 91 78 CHIPAQUE
13. Berros Cantinoa mutabilis 81. Sauce 8 GIRARDOT 72
TOCAIMA
8 50 80 FUSAGASUGÁ
Nasturtium officinale Salix humboldtiana
35
2. Achiote 50. Martín Gálvez 2
AGUA DE DIOS

Bixa orellana 14. Bijao Senna reticulata 82. Siempre viva

EL ESPINAL VILLAVICENCIO
4. Ají chirca y chiquito, y zorro e Calathea sp 51. Mastuerzo Peperomia galioides 49
86
41
mote y chichí de perro 15. Bleo Lepidium costarricense 83. Suelda con suelda 8
50 90

Capsicum annuum Amaranthus hybridus 52. Mora Tradescantia zebrina ORTEGA GUAMO 59 37
5
86
8. Anamú 16. Borrachero blanco o tihiki Rubus urticifolius 84. Tabaco 45

Petiveria alliacea Brugmansia x Candida 53. Mazorca de agua Nicotiana tabacum

CHAPARRAL

8
14. Bijao 18. Bretónica Gunnera shultesii 85. Totes 8
61

Calathea sp Salvia rubescens 55. Moringa Rhynchospora nervosa SALDAÑA

15. Bleo 19. Cajeto o cafeto Moringa oleífera 86. Totumo 4 76

8
Amaranthus hybridus Trichanthera gigantea 56. Noni Crescentia cujete 8
14 43 COYAIMA

META
49 87
24. Chaparro 20. Canelón Morinda citrifolia 88. Verbena blanca YUMBO
56

Curatella americana Peperomia inaequalifolia 57. Orozús u orozul Verbena litoralis 30 87

31. Coca 21. Casco de buey o de vaca Phyla dulcis 9. Verbena morada 55 43

8
31
Eiythroxylum coca Bauhinia picta 58. Paico, payco o flor de paico o negra CALI
1
15 NATAGAIMA
THE JOURNEY
43. Icaco 22. Canafístula Dysphania ambrosioides Stachytarpheta 69
12 OF PLANTS
Chrysobalanus icaco Cassia grandis/Cassia fistula 60. Papayuela cayennensis 70

62 36
49. Marañón 23. Chachafruto o balú Vasconcellea pubescens 91. Yacón 48
META *common names of plants
Anacardium occidentale Eiythrina edulis 63. Pasto micay Smallanthus sonchifolius are given in Spanish. Scientific
50. Martin Galvez 24. Chaparro Axonopus scoparius 92. Zarzaparrilla de raíz 5. Albahaca
Senna reticulata Curatella americana 64. Pata de chula o pata de chulo Smilax officinalis VALLE Ocimum campechianum
names are addressed to every
55. Moringa 25. Chipaca Modiola caroliniana 93. Zarzaparrilla de pepa o DEL CAUCA 37. Dividivi
species.
Moringa oleífera Bidens alba 66. Poleo tubérculo Caesalpinia coriaria
Source: Adapted
56. Noni 26. Chisaca o chisacá Clinopodium brownei (Satureja Dioscorea coriácea 90. Vira vira blanca
Morinda citrifolia Acmella ciliata brownei) Achyrocline bogotensis from Rizoma, 2021.

BUNDLES OF HERBS WITH
MANY STORIES BEHIND
The product consists of bundles of mixed herbs accom-
panied by recipes, instructions for use, and their biologi-
cal description. In this way, an alternative product is of-
fered that, in addition to publicizing the great variety of
herbs found in the plaza, enhances a tourism experience
that allows for its economic recovery.
The prototype is, then, a product and an experi-
ence since it is accompanied by an ecosystem of narra-
tives and other accompanying products. The visitor can
go to the plaza and find an informative map about the
origin of the plants and herbs. QR codes also redirect
the visitor to information such as the plants’ catalog,
their place of origin, and the collector’s life story.
KEY LESSONS
T he constant visits to the plaza and the intention to
include the merchants in key decisions throughout
the process beyond the prototype allowed for trusting re-
lationships to be built among them.
All the human resources required to promote a
project, be it tourism or any other experience that
makes the place visible, reside there.
I n order to design a gastronomic prototype from ample, to analyze the uses and elements that can be extracted
plants, it is necessary to know the physicochemical from something that is commonly overlooked, such as plant
properties of the species and their products so that possi- residues). Creating business ventures based on this potential
ble toxic compounds can be identified. can bring more benefits to the producer and even give them
B ot a n ic a l knowledge of species is an essential in- access to more powerful and higher value-added markets.
put for the proper taxonomic identification of plants It is essential to consider the limitations that the
since many share the same common name, even in collection of wild plants may represent, such as im-
the same localities. Likewise, knowledge of the biology pediments from some authorities or conflicts with pri-
and ecology of the species makes it possible to generate vate landowners.
guidelines for their sustainable use a posteriori. T he trajectories of city dwellers who sell in the pla-
In order to take commercial advantage of biodiversity, it za reveal that the rural and urban environments are
is not enough to identify the current potential of species; mutually reinforcing and not separate spaces. In fact, the
it is also necessary to understand their future prospects (for ex- farmers’ markets are the basis for the city to continue.
 216 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 217

CIRCULAR
FOREST Carmen Antuña-Rozado
Laura Sokka
VTT Technical
Research Centre of Finland
Ltd., Finland.
FINLAND

BIOECONOMY
Pop. 5,550,066

338,455 km2

164 m.a.s.l.

Finnish cities and regions

mobilize to achieve a sustainable
bio-based circular economy.

COMMITMENTS
1 3 6

Quote as: Antuña, C., Sokka, L.

KEY
Circular Forest Bioeconomy. P.
CONCEPTS
216-219. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities
WOOD BIOMASS
by 2030: Transforming Cities
with Biodiversity. Bogotá.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Instituto de Investigación de
Recursos Biológicos Alexander
FOREST BIOECONOMY
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
R&D

A progressive alignment of the different general
and sectorial policies, together with an investment
in R&D, clean technologies, more efficient processes,
and innovative solutions in Finland, has led to
the development of a knowledge-based economy
moving towards a forest bioeconomy; and, more
recently, towards a ‘circular’ forest bioeconomy.
An outstanding example is the European
BIOREGIO project in the Päijät-Häme region.
A LONG-STANDING JOURNEY
Finland and Sweden are the most forested countries in the
European Union. Over three-fourths of the land area of Fin-
land, corresponding to 23.1 million hectares is covered by
forests (forested land and poorly productive forest). Finland’s
share of the global paper and cardboard exports is 8%, and the
pulp and sawn wood exports are 7 and 6%, respectively (Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2021).
The Finnish forestry sector has a long tradition.
Since the 19th century, forests have had an essential role in
the Finnish economy as a source of wood fuel, fur trade, tar
production, and slash-burning1 . The main uses of primary
wood in Finland are pulp and sawmill and wood product
industries, and over 80% of primary lumber is used for this
purpose (Figure 1). In 2018, about 27% of Finland’s total con-
sumption of energy was produced with wood fuels. Most
of these were by-products and residues of the forest indus-
try, i.e., black liquor, bark, sawdust, etc. In addition, logging
residues (branches and tops, 34%), stumps (15%) and small
diameter stems, and large-sized cull trees were used in
combined heating and power (CHP) plants.
The potential use of wood biomass in climate
change mitigation has gained much attention during the
past years. Wood biomass is, when sustainably grown, a re-
newable resource and largely recyclable and reusable mate-
rial (Figure 2). Furthermore, new technologies and solutions
required for deploying Nature-Based Solutions for different
purposes, such as biodiversity conservation, offer opportuni-
ties for R&D collaboration between other actors. For example,
at Hiedanranta —one of the main NBS demonstration sites in
Tampere, Finland— local universities are successfully work-
ing with local companies producing biochar to develop new
bio-filtration solutions. The mentioned solutions are used to
treat polluted water, which in turn can lead to the creation of
new local businesses around NBS. (Herzog & Rozado, 2019).
USING FORESTS TO PROTECT FORESTS
A progressive alignment of the different general and
sectorial policies, together with an investment in R&D,
clean technologies, more efficient processes, and inno-
vative solutions in Finland, has led to the development
of a knowledge-based economy moving towards a
forest bioeconomy; and, more recently, towards a ‘cir-
cular’ forest bioeconomy. In turn, this has also created
dynamic business ecosystems and competitive poles
in the cities in these regions, thus helping them attract
talent and consolidate their population. As an addition-
al aspect to be highlighted, the active participation of
these regions, as well as the universities, research cen-
ters, and companies located in their territory, in Euro-
pean R&D projects, and the scientific-technological col-
laboration with other Nordic or international partners,
decisively contributes to the continuous improvement
of the sector, the exchange of valuable experiences, the
creation of networks, and the formation of solid allianc-
es for future growth.
 218 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Experimentation 219

DISTRIBUTION OF THE MAIN USES Source: Adapted from Natural

OF PRIMARY WOOD IN FINLAND. Resources Institute Finland-Luke.
Use Production

Return of forest industry

5.8
LOGS AND 10.6
Sawmilling by-products, to be
PULPWOOD industry 0.7
used in the forest
29.6 0.2 industry and energy
1.2 Plywood and veneer industries 1.4 generation

0.4 0.1 Other wood products industries

4.6 Sawn goods
Mechanical pulp
0.7 3.1 0.6 Plywood
industry

Potential use of wood biomass by the Finnish forestry

2.7 Paper and
Chemical Paper and sector. Source: VTT
2.8 14.6 Chemical paperboard
pulp industry 4.0 paperboard
pulp (7.5)
Industries
0.4 6.9

FOREST INDUSTRY
BY-PRODUCTS AND
WOOD RESIDUES 10.7
9.4
Heating and
5.3 power plantes

ENERGYWOOD
6.2 3.3

RECOVER PAPER AND 0.2 Small-scale

PAPERBOARD housing
0.4 2.8 Dental crown made with nanocellulose-based
composite. Source: VTT

THE FIRST ROADMAP FOR AN URBAN-
REGIONAL CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Päijät-Häme is a region in southern Finland characteri-
zed by the presence of several urban areas that have been
overgrowing since the middle of the 20th century, main-
ly around cities such as Lahti and Heinola (Päijät-Häme
Regional Council, 2021). Although it positively impacted
its development and positioning as one of the country’s
most vital economic poles, this transformation also sig-
nificantly degraded its environmental conditions. Con-
sequently, the region began to promote transformation
processes, supported by greater social awareness, that
have made it a pioneer in the development of initiatives
related to water treatment 2 , aquatic ecosystems and soil
recovery, forest protection, development of green roofs,
and actions to implement new models based on knowle-
dge, innovation, and technology inspired by nature.
Furthermore, in 2017 the first circular economy
regional roadmap focused on the Päijät-Häme region was
launched, establishing objectives as well as measures to
address new production models around materials, ener-
gies, circular bioeconomy, consumption patterns, and in-
novative solutions (Vanhamäki 2020). Within the roadmap
framework, Päijät-Häme promoted the BIOREGIO project,
a commitment to developing regional circular economy
models through a five-year Interreg project (2017 to 2021).
The project was financed by the European Regional Deve-
lopment Fund (FEDER), in which Päijät-Häme was repre-
sented by the University of Applied Sciences (LAB) and the
Regional Council of Päijät-Häme (Vanhamaki 2019).
BIOREGIO: REGIONAL BIO-BASED
CIRCULAR ECONOMY MODELS
BIOREGIO is an example of how the objectives of sustai-
nable transformation contained in national policies first
give rise to new regional policies. These policies later
translate into concrete projects adapted to the specific
context in which regional stakeholders concur to co-de-
velop innovative solutions with business potential. To
that end, BIOREGIO sought to improve regional policies
by emphasizing the importance of implementing the
bio-based circular economy through technology trans-
fer, knowledge sharing, and cross-border cooperation.
Thus, BIOREGIO has made it easier for sectors
and companies to renew their processes through coope-
ration in R&D. As a result, in Päijät-Häme, the incorpo-
ration of bio-based circular economy models is growing.
This growth increases the competitiveness of cities
such as Lahti and reduces the environmental liabilities
left by poor waste management or residential and indus-
trial dumping.
Within the framework of BIOREGIO, new types
of collaborative economy services are also being deve-
loped as part of these bio-based circular economy initia-
tives. For example, innovations are being created by de-
veloping and researching wood-based materials (Figure
3). In Heinola, a complex of diverse bio-villages is being
developed, studying the use of straw as a product with
high added value. Also, new solutions are being inven-
ted to promote urban agriculture, which is increasingly
being established in parks and other green areas. In this
way, new types of collaborative bioeconomy services are
being developed as part of the circular economy models
that have allowed the transformation of this region.
KEY LESSONS
Transformative actions and initiatives guided by
bio-based circular economy models offer regions
and cities the possibility of developing new policies and
implementing new technologies and cooperation models
to improve knowledge-based production processes.
BIOREGIO is a benchmark for the value of a circular
economy based on biological materials and the in-
crease in their recycling rates. This project has helped
identify possibilities to close loops in using biological com-
ponents, seeking to increase their reuse and reduce their
disposal and social and environmental impacts.
 220
URBAN
NATURE
AMSTERDAM
From rooftops and polders,
this map invites people to
explore the city’s landscape
and beyond.
COMMITMENTS
2 5
Quote as: Bris, I., Peel, C. Urban Nature
Amsterdam. P. 220-225. In: Mejía, M.A.,
Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities
by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de
Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
After launching the first edition of the Green
and Blue Map of Amsterdam in 2019 and
selling its first 3000 printed copies, Nature
Desks launched a second edition in May 2022.
This map, which shows all the green and
blue spots in Amsterdam and, thus, urban
nature in the city and its surroundings, invites
people to experience the city in a different
manner and hopes to inspire them to make
Amsterdam greener, wilder, and healthier.
The city of Amsterdam is growing at a fast pace. Howev-
er, the data shows that green spaces are not following this
trend, even though all new housing developments are sup-
posed to include a small percentage of green areas. Am-
sterdam is expected to grow with at least 150.000 homes
- for a quarter-million more inhabitants - by 2050. At the
same time, the importance of nature in the city is widely
acknowledged: not long ago, the Municipality of Amster-
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Based on an interview with
Ioana Bris
Nature Desks, The Netherlands.
Collaborators
Charlie Peel.
dam presented its green vision for 2020 – 2050. In this im-
portant document, the Municipality depicts further steps
showing how the city plans to keep and make Amsterdam
green and healthy.
Data is showing a worrisome trend, however. The
sustainability platform De Gezonde Stad (The Healthy City)
annually monitors how the city is doing in terms of ener-
gy, waste, health, and greenery. Based on official data, the
platform concluded that Amsterdam had 29.75 square me-
ters of recreational green space per inhabitant (including
parks, gardens, and sports fields) in 2020. In 2015, however,
the amount of green area per inhabitant was higher: 31.5
square meters per inhabitant, indicating a decreasing trend
of green space per person. Moreover, this green space is
also unevenly distributed throughout the city.
How do you achieve a sense of balance among
the municipality and the people who own land and
build vs. the people who live in the city? How can you
make people aware of the importance of nature while
experimentation
recognizing the need for further urban developments?
This is why the Blue and Green Map of Amsterdam
was made.
In May 2018, Ioana Biris started a crowdfunding
campaign to develop a cartographic tool that displayed
the green and blue spots in the city of Amsterdam. In-
spired by the Green and Blue Map of London National
Park City, Ioana made a map of her city but with “more
green on it.” This meant joining forces with green initia-
tives to put the entire municipality, its bodies of water, its
forestry and recreation spaces, and even small initiatives,
like some small green rooftops, all on the same map. On
the back, the map also included information about biodi-
versity (flora and fauna) as a call to action, as an invitation
to get out and learn more about these exciting green and
blue spaces. Because it needed information from many
parties and organizations, it became a sort of tool to bring
people who love the city together who otherwise might
have never been in contact with each other.
221
AMSTERDAM,
THE NETHERLANDS
Pop. 17,475,415
41,540 km²
0 m.a.s.l.
KEY
CONCEPTS
RECREATIONAL GREEN SPACE
NATIONAL PARK CITY
MAP
The map contains much more than geographical data.
The Municipality of Amsterdam is very good at maintain-
ing and feeding databases, so the map uses information
from many sources. For example, it includes data on trees,
bodies of water, playgrounds, etc. In fact, data is so specif-
ic that it can differentiate between natural and artificial
playgrounds for children. On the back, more emphasis is
placed on information about flora and fauna. This is par-
ticularly relevant for an immensely biodiverse city like
Amsterdam, which is even more biodiverse than some
parts of the countryside, where monoculture is the norm.
Nowadays, cities are playgrounds for kids, work-
spaces, living spaces, and, obviously, tourist locations. Tour-
ists are also interested in the map because it shows them new
places to visit. But there are also spaces for learning, where
people can discover new initiatives that can help combat
climate change, such as green rooftops and home gardens.
When you consider all these spaces and variables, the map
becomes a complex and interesting puzzle to put together.
222 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY experimentation 223

OPEN SPACE Botanical garden, Zoo

THE GREEN AND BLUE
MAP OF AMSTERDAM Park
Grass meadow & scrub land
Polder (reclaimed land)
Agricultural land
Cemetery
Nature reserve
Green corridor
Forest & woodland area
Sports area
Golf course
Sports pitch

Allotment vineyard and orchard BLUE SPACE

Campsite & caravan park Surface water

Playground Wetland

PLACES
Town hall
Civic building (School, university,
library, health practice, hospital
and religious building)
Sports hall or stadium (yellow)
& watersports building (blue)
Buildings (grey) & private gardens
(light green)

TRANSPORT ACTIVITIES
Metro station ON LAND
Tram station Natural playground

Local playground
Rail station
School work garden
Ferry terminal
City farm
Cycle route node
Picnic bench

BBQ Site
WALKS
Beach
Amsterdam urban walk
Outdoor gym
North Holland trail
Garden centre
SNAIL TRAILS
Zoo - Botanical garden
Amstelveen Middelpordel
One important choice made in the Roof garden
Green and Blue Map of Amsterdam Amsterdam IJ
ON WATER
has to do with the color yellow. Amsterdam Osdorp
Many sports facilities in the city Stand-up-paddleboarding
Amsterdam West
offer sports fields, and some of Swimming
Halfweg
these areas are made of plastic.
Officially, the city considers Het Twiske INFORMATION
them to be green areas, but Ioana Ilpendam - Watergang Outdoor wi-fi
decided to keep them yellow. Storks nests
WEETINGS
This decision has triggered
some controversy among certain (Walking meetings)
activists and the Municipality.
Source:
However, it is a testament to Charlie
the project’s independence. Peel - Urban
Good. 2021.
 224 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY experimentation 225

Parks and public gardens

1/4
AMSTERDAM DO SOMETHING TOP FIVE BIRDS
BY LAND USE 6.7% FOR NATURE IN THE CITY
Sporting area
Traffic areas 3% YOU CAN CREATE 1M2 OF NEW GREEN SPACE
1
6.7% OF
Allotment AMSTERDAM
Residential areas
(ind. private 1.6% IS GREEN Make your home, garden, street, courtyard,
gardens) park and neighbourhood ‘rainproof’
Recreational area (day) GREAT TIT
20.9% 0,3%
Recreational

1
area Recreation area (night)
DO YOU HAVE A GARDEN?
11.7% 0,1%

Agricultural land
If you have tiles in the garden, take them out and use grass or gravel

Collect rainwater to water your garden 2

Get information about water-friendly gardens. HOUSE SPARROW
11.6%
Make a worm hotel for compost and an insect hotel for pollination
Forest and natural terrain
Built Developed Open Do your gardening wothout using pesticides
2.7%

3
terrain space space
Plant trees in the garden
35.8% 49% 51%

1/4 2
xxxxxxxxxx
DO YOU HAVE A GREY ROOF?
10.1% ROSE RINGED PARAKEET
Green it. Do you look out on a grey rook? Try to convince th
OF eowner to greeen their roof.

4
AMSTERDAM
IS BLUE
Industrial
park
Water 3 DO YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING
IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD
16.4% 24.9%
Remaining inland
Start yourself with a pocket park, a Tiny Forest or a Park BLACKBIRD
waters wider than 6m
around the corner, make sure you have a small front garden
Other 13.1% or a balcony full of flowers and herbs, green your children’s
4.5% schoolyard, be part of a neighbourhood allotment or make

5
Recreational inland compost from vegetable, fruit and garden waste.
Semibuilt terrain
water areas
5.6% And share your ideas and experiences with your friendsa and your
1.7% neighbours.
FINCH

URBAN NATURE AS A SOLE REFERENCE POINT
“When you open the map, you can’t say things like ‘Oh,
this is the street I live on’ or ‘Here’s a museum,’ because
it works differently: it demands you look at the city
through new eyes and in light of its parks and blue spac-
es. This, in turn, helps you appreciate it even more and
want to find ways to make it better, especially because
the map also displays information about flora, fauna,
species, and biodiversity.”
When people see the map and interact with it,
they start to have a better understanding of what the city
is and what it means to them. The key concept behind
the map is then, basically, to trigger change — to get peo-
ple to rethink their relationship with the spaces around
them and to view their city in a new way. Here are some
examples:
› When some students were given copies of the map,
they embraced it and created their own walking
routes to their school. Some students have used the
map for digital education hackathons, while oth-
ers have designed Pokemon Go-styled videogames
with educational implications - if you see something
on the street and correctly guess whether or not it is
plastic, you get points in an augmented reality-based
map based on the actual Green and Blue Map.
› Managers who have taken the map to their employ-
ees have seen them discovering nature close to their
offices and organizing group activities to go out and
enjoy nature. Or a daycare with ‘nature in their DNA’
that ordered their maps as gifts for all their ‘client’
parents and kids.
› Inspired by the Urban Nature Amsterdam map, the
city of Breda ordered the second green and blue map
and used it to inspire their ambition to become the
first National Park City in the Netherlands and ‘A
City is a Park’ by 2030. It is now an official tool used
by a municipality and has become a symbol of their
commitment to the project. A third map – another
city – is being discussed at this moment.
KEY LESSONS
People still need a tactile experience, and paper can
be an answer. While making use of existing data,
the urban nature map is telling a story. In this crazy dig-
ital era where everybody’s running around and clicking
through thousands of images, it is soothing to have some-
thing you can touch and show. It is extremely reward-
ing to see a child getting on their knees and discovering
things or even drawing on the map, or to hear about peo-
ple who take the map from their bookshelves to proudly
show friends their city. On the other hand, the making
and printing process poses the biggest challenge, as it has
a serious financial impact on the whole project.
Even if the Green and Blue Map is a small initiative
(Ioana works together with Charlie Peel from Urban
Good), it has had an impact on the city and some parts
of the world. Other maps are being ordered, and the top-
ics included on the map – urban nature as a workspace,
playground, or holiday location – are now more relevant
than ever. However, endeavors like this map can have
a greater impact when working together with more
people. Somebody can focus on research while others
work on developing educational projects with the kids.
A smaller neighborhood map can be made, or a festival
can be organized, among other ideas. This would all help
when scaling up.
226 227

Introduction
LEARNING
Learnings From
the BiodiverCities...................................................... 228

Transformation

Experimentation

Learning

Opinion articles
 228 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY learning 229

LESSONS FROM Quote as: Ramírez, M. Lessons from BiodiverCities.

P. 228-233. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.).

BIODIVERCITIES
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.

Matías Ramírez
University of Sussex, UK.

BiodiverCities offers a truly transfor-
mative vision of the city in which hu-
man beings can live, work and evolve
in harmony with their environment
based on principles of biodiversity
and sustainability.
Cities are centers of cre-
ativity and innovation, culture and
learning, and can therefore be driv-
ers of a new ecological infrastruc-
ture in which parks, gardens, open
spaces, and water catchment areas
thrive and support healthy ecosys-
tems and biodiversity. Moreover, a
common thread to the BiodiverCity
narrative is its commitment to in-
novation for transformations and
the building of alternative pathways
of development based on new sys-
tem rules that are tied to improving
the health and well-being of human
and non-human inhabitants. As
Luis Inostroza explains in his arti-
cle, the BiodiverCity challenges the
narrow vision of the pragmatic and
economic city. However, the merit of
this publication is that it also tack-
les “how” this transformation can
take place and, through an in-depth
analysis of case studies, the specif-
ic institutional changes required to
make this happen. In this conclu-
sion, we summarise some of the
common themes emerging, the out-
standing examples of contributions
towards systemic change, and also
perhaps those areas where more at-
tention is required.
VISIONS, IMAGINARIES,
AND EXPERIMENTS
BiodiverCities represents a new
imaginary around which new vi-
sions of cities can coalesce. Diana
Ruiz and Andrés Ibáñez’s discus-
sion of city metaphors —meta-hu-
man city, wild city, unfinished city,
overlapping city, bio-performative
city, biomimetic city— pick up some
of the rich debates concerning dif-
ferent imaginaries cities can em-
brace to become fairer, healthier
and more resilient. The concept of
policy experimentation is critical
here. Experimentation as a specif-
ic policy tool is built on the premise
that there may be more than one
correct answer for the same prob-
lem and we can learn from small-
scale experiments to see how these
vary in different context. This pub-
lication provides a rich tapestry of
experiments combining multi geo-
graphical scales (national, regional,
and local) and multi-system-level
changes (large-scale, small-scale)
in which BiodiverCity transfor-
mations are occurring. Indeed, the
case studies highlight at least two
types of experiments taking place.
The first type, which could include
the Synecoculture case authored
by Masatoshi Funabashi, involves a
control group where the investiga-
tions occur in controlled laboratory
conditions where other variables
are constant. The second type of
experiment, which the case of de
Ceuvel is an example, authored by
Eline Van Remortel, takes place in
real-life society through the inter-
action of many actors and often at
multi-scales. As Menno Schilthui-
zen underlines in his article, when
this happens, urban environments
can change very quickly, creating
a space for questioning established
rules (or what transformative in-
novation calls “second-order learn-
ing”). The task of academics and
others is to learn from these exper-
iments and draw conclusions about
how to replicate and circulate the
findings.
SYSTEM GOVERNANCE
AND SYSTEM CHANGE
Many of the case studies correct-
ly identified that the problems that
cities face today are systemic in
nature. As Carlos Eduardo Correa
explains, potential solutions need
integrative processes, for example,
rivers with urban water systems.
For Diana Ruiz and Andrés Ibánez,
the key where these can come to-
gether is ecosystem solutions (bio-
logical, social, technological-artifi-
cial elements).
However, as Inostroza
points out, the typical process of
urban expansion in Latin America
still often takes place with no com-
prehensive planning that respects
ecosystems and the informality of
urban growth that constantly tras-
hes highly biodiverse environ-
ments. Therefore, it is necessary to
double down on why existing un-
sustainable systems continue to re-
produce and are proving so difficult
to change? This means addressing
fundamental questions. How do we
pass from small-scale experiments
to large-scale changes? How do we
break lock-ins to unsustainable
systems, and what is necessary to
achieve “tipping points” in which
new systems begin to consolida-
te? Part of the answer may lie in
working with multi-scale coope-
rative international agreements
referred to by Tadashi Matsumoto
and others, such as the “New Urban
Agenda,” adopted by the United Na-
tions Conference on Housing and
Sustainable Development in Octo-
ber 2016. However, Brigitte Baptis-
te’s eloquent contribution is per-
haps more important. She argues
that achieving systemic change in
socially just and sustainable ways
means looking at what makes cities
unique —their histories, memories,
authors, aesthetics, conflict, and
scars— and in these special featu-
res lie the idiosyncratic solutions
to apparently intractable problems.
What is, therefore, necessary, as
Germán Andrade argues, is that the
concept of BiodiverCity is kept open,
flexible, and regarded as an evolving
category. What is required is that
these small experiments articulate
 230
the challenge, the new rules requi-
red, and the potential these offer for
new pathways of city development.
TRANSFORMATIVE POLICY
AND BUILDING A COMMONS
Perhaps the biggest challenge we
face in transforming cities relates
to the policy process to support
transformations. Without public
policy’s legitimacy (and funding),
urban transformations will remain
a distant dream. The discussion in
the publication emphasized three
crucial aspects of policy change;
the first concerns the need for
new forms of policy governance, of
which several excellent examples
were discussed. Eline Van Remor-
tel’s discussion on how policy part-
ners lead not through coercion or
imposition but through connecting
and providing vision is a perfect
example of a practical “light-touch”
policy approach. And the latter is
more likely to effectively address
complex problems such as that
identified in Leon Kapetas and Pie-
ro Pelizzaro's piece on the greening
housing program that led to gentri-
fication and displacement of poor
areas. A careful analysis of policy
mixes is required. As Van Remortel
puts it, “Project managers should
not solidify the desired outcome
but rather create a framework that
ensures safety, legal, social and en-
vironmental measures while pro-
viding a space for creativity and
innovation.”
Three additional policy is-
sues were touched upon that are
crucially important in cities. First-
ly, Felipe Suárez-Castro and col-
leagues’ excellent article on moni-
toring and measuring progress on
biodiversity through indicators.
The BiodiverCity project must pro-
mote the use of broad indicators and
metrics that allow it to identify its
progress in terms of sustainability
in all its dimensions and scales (e.g.,
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
local, regional, global). This includes
sustainability indicators such as the
“driver-pressure-state-impact-re-
sponse” (DPSIR) model and others
that consider natural capital stock
and flow. These are important be-
cause they go beyond linear cau-
sality and instead look at different
interaction levels and recognize the
heterogeneity of urban spaces (bio-
physical and socioeconomic).
Secondly, Rigoberto Lugo
and Pablo Lazo cover the vital is-
sue of investments for the Biodiver-
City project. The critical point here
is that while a diverse portfolio is
required from public and private
sources, investment in Biodiver-
Cities must undergo a fundamen-
tal change in directionality. And it
must do so by guiding investment
towards changing the underlying
principles that drive these systems
towards a circular, low carbon,
more decentralized, local, and re-
source-efficient economy. The work
of Penna et al. (2021) and others on
coupling short-term and long-term
finance with longer-term returns
could help drive new infrastructure
and ecosystem services.
Thirdly, Paola Morales and
Claudia Álvarez address the need to
transform the current mechanisms,
tools, and instruments guiding ur-
ban planning. The authors call for
the development of new planning
forms that explicitly incorporate
ecosystems and biodiversity, thus
enabling a comprehensive view of
the urban phenomenon at a land-
scape scale and the breaking of par-
adigms around managing cities ex-
clusively based on the urban grey.
This perspective highlights the im-
portance of incorporating natural
capital in urban planning to ensure
human well-being and quality of life
in cities.
Finally, a critical aspect em-
phasized by many of the case stud-
ies is that beyond democratic and
participatory spaces, the establish-
learning 231
ment of “commons” in urban areas crude quantifiable indicators leave the EXPERIMENTS AND The box below identifies categories
is necessary. Commons can come in margin for bottom-up transformative CASE STUDIES around which some of these shared
many forms. Belmonte’s article on innovation initiatives minimal. Un- resources can be understood. These
the Joys of Urban Farming showed derlying this discussion is how eva- In table 1. we undertake a cursory can include tangible commons, such
that behavior change could emerge luation techniques are used and above grounded analysis of 11 case studies as infrastructures and artifacts. They
through re-designing farming nar- all avoidance of rudimentary indica- that show the most significant poten- can also include intangibles such as
ratives. Commons can also arise tors as proxies of performance. It is ne- tial for systemic transformation. This skills, methods, and values. These ac-
through the construction of urban cessary to establish spaces in which indicates that all the projects involve tivities are essential, for constructing
ecosystem services. As Germán more formative forms of evaluation the construction or production of a a commons is a necessary feature for
Andrade underlines, it is impossible can evolve that promote learning and common non-excludable resource (in transformations to BiodiverCities and
to enjoy the benefits of the Biodiver- progress towards sustainability. other words can be openly shared). need to be scaled up.
City where there are weak public
services (for example, lack of urban
sanitation, insecurity, and the lack of
evidence for the natural benefits for BOX 1. SOME OF THE PRODUCTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
CREATION OF A COMMONS DEVELOPED BY SMITH (2020)
the people’s well-being). Strong com-
mons can come in the form of collab-
orative networks that are as diverse
as they are broad such as Jennifer
Lenhart and Mateo Hernandez’s dis-
cussion of citizen science. Likewise, ARTEFACTS KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
these commons can emerge from
the new capacities, values, and at-
titudes of citizenships that actively
shape their territory by reconciling
their relationship with nature, as Ju-
liana Montoya points out. This new
transformative citizenship ranges
from learning about natural history METHODS NARRATIVES COMUNITY RELATIONS
to weaving new narratives through
acts of contemplation and curiosity
and, more so, awareness of the link
between human well-being and bio-
diversity.
WHAT DO WE STILL NEED
TO TALK ABOUT? IDENTITIES AND
SOCIAL VALUES INFRASTRUCTURES
SUBJETIVITIES
We are left with the thorny issue of
how broader policy practice can su-
pport BiodiverCity experiments in
Latin American cities? The discussion
highlighted some key areas where
positive policy change is required, in-
cluding Nicolás Galarza and Edward Secondly, most of these projects more clearly in some than oth- improved nature with reduction of
Buitrago's discussion of regulated combine different specific fea- ers. Note should also be made of exclusion and poverty can occur
land use. However, broader issues are tures associated with transforma- some projects, such as the Green here. These projects are liable to
associated with the policy governance tive innovation methods. Some Rooftops study in Rio de Janeiro, impact the population’s well-being
system in Colombia and Latin Ame- are experimental, some more explicitly targeting vulnerable or significantly and will also benefit
rica. Conventional arrangements for policy-led, others more grass- economically poorer population from a broader network of actor
funding and evaluating funding built roots-based. All have some poten- sectors through BiodiverCity ini- participants. Therefore, they have
around highly technocentric approa- tial for transformation, although tiatives. These projects must be greater potential for transforma-
ches and short-term achievement of system change is articulated highlighted, for the merging of tion and changing social rules.
232 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY learning 233

Table 1. Transformative
features of Case Studies

RIVERS OF CHANGE PLANNING FROM WIN-WIN SCENARIOS VALUE OF URBAN GREEN ROOFTOPS
(MONTERIA) GROUND UP (GEF) (VILLAVICENCIO) FOREST (MEDELLIN) (RIO DE JANEIRO)

PRINCIPAL BUILDING OF PRINCIPAL ACTOR(S) PRINCIPAL BUILDING OF

EXPERIMENTAL PRINCIPAL POLICY SUPPORT Focus group in the pilot area with various ACTOR(S)
ACTOR(S) COMMONS COMMONS
FEATURE ACTOR(S) Identifying networks of interconnected territories stakeholders (public, institutional, community)
City officials Buildability rights for construction Researchers Most populated zones
Re-definition of spaces Engineers, city public of relevance to maintain critical ecosystem and regulation of ownership of have the highest potential
between city and river officials processes, manual of good practices environmental areas EXPERIMENTAL CHALLENGE (favelas).
POLICY SUPPORT FEATURE DRIVEN
POLICY SUPPORT PRINCIPAL BUILDING OF EXPERIMENTAL FEATURE
Land Management plan to recover six of the more Monitoring Contribution of streams
Financing instruments, first refusal and priority ACTOR(S) COMMONS Potential for Rooftop agriculture to address
than 270 wetlands and their associated biodiversity. methodologies, bio-diversity to human
development; and financing instruments such as Biodiversity food insecurity.
City officials, Regulatory framework allows landowners to see experimental plots well-being.
valuation and capital gains protection Test model in different ecosystems and types
academics, engineers protected land as a benefit. of inhabitants.

CHALLENGE DRIVEN CHALLENGE DRIVEN BUILDING OF

CHALLENGE BUILDING OF CHALLENGE
Loss of ecosystem services due to urbanization
DRIVEN COMMONS Extreme drought, urban expansion, COMMONS DRIVEN
and noncompliance. Land movements,
overexploitation of natural resources; destruction Benefits of green areas to inform urban planning
River degradation, Bank alongside river deforestation, landfilling, draining of swamps, Methodology to determine areas socially
and contamination of urban wetlands processes, a baseline for ecosystem supply
urban anti-social areas (as a public place) hunting of animals, and pesticides vulnerable and potential for rooftop agriculture.

THE SWEET CITY NEIGHBOURHOOD SCALED URBAN BIOTOPES A RIVER RUNS THROUGHOUT INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENTAL MORAVIA (MEDELLIN)
(COSTA RICA) BIODIVERCITIES (BOGOTA) (SHENZHEN) (MOMPOSINO) FABRIC (YUMBO)

EXPERIMENTAL PRINCIPAL PRINCIPAL ACTOR(S) PRINCIPAL POLICY PRINCIPAL ACTOR(S) POLICY

PRINCIPAL
PRINCIPAL POLICY FEATURE ACTOR(S) ACTOR(S) SUPPORT Community initiatives and SUPPORT
ACTOR(S) Inhabitants contributed to adjustments, rethinking,
ACTOR(S) SUPPORT Floristic Community science, Local officials Industry cedes areas of informal settings empower Close links and
Architecture firms and improving project components through
Naturalists, city Back casting as a inventories observation to fill ecosystemic importance inhabitants with new synergies with the
participatory work.
officials planning strategy information gaps to the municipality for opportunities mayor's office
buildability rights.
POLICY SUPPORT CHALLENGE EXPERIMENTAL BUILDING OF
DRIVEN EXPERIMENTAL CHALLENGE
BUILDING OF COMMONS NGO Grupo “Ecomunitario” to foster better FEATURE COMMONS CHALLENGE DRIVEN
management practices for urban green spaces, Public space to replicate FEATURE DRIVEN
Planning and management of public Participatory Mitigate flooding through
ecological complexity Create industrial environmental fabric on Architecture designed to Transformation of territory
spaces, roads, and buildings. Call to live in coordination of common objectives with policy actors design water cycles
principles of circular economy and mitigate strengthen neighborhood from a rubbish dump to a
a forest within the city.
flooding and air pollution (reduce segregation) neighborhood park
CHALLENGE BUILDING OF
DRIVEN COMMONS BUILDING OF COMMONS CHALLENGE
BUILDING OF COMMONS
DRIVEN BUILDING OF COMMONS
CHALLENGE DRIVEN High biodiversity area Multi-functional vision Public space intervention in Qianhai, Shenzhen’s Social urbanism promotes environmental culture through
degradation of Chapinero district and financial center, vision of landscaping, architecture Urban and architecture co-exist with water as a Recovery of El Higuron wetland by re-
Unplanned diversification pedagogy and exchange of experiences, the creation and
ecological corridor beyond an aesthetic and towards ecosystems consequence of common flooding establishing connection with the river.
weaving of community and inter-institutional alliances
 OPINION
ARTICLES
Introduction

The Transformative Power of Urban Rivers..... 236

The Privilege of Being Part of a Novel,

Evolving Urban Ecosystem................................... 237
Transformation Urban Biodiversity? Artists Have the Keys...... 238

We Need to Stop Treating Soil

Like Dirt – Even in Cities........................................ 239

How to Address Biodiversity in Cities –

No One Level of Government Can Do It Alone... 240

Urban Expansion: An Ally of Biodiversity

. ......... 241
Experimentation
The Cyborg Nature of Cities.................................. 242

Does Housing Insecurity Influence

Greenspace Civic Engagement?........................... 243

Eat Me. Drink Me......................................................244

Basic Ecological Knowledge Left Behind

in the Urban Greening Rush.................................. 245

Have You Ever Heard of Blue Health in Cities?.... 246

Learning Unexpected Benefits of a Planetary Health
Diet on Urban Biodiversity.................................... 247

Top-Down and Bottom-up for More BiodiverCities?

Transforming Our Cities Through Biodiversity... 248

Are Nature-Based Solutions Good for Everyone?

Promoting Social Equity in
Opinion articles Nature-Based Solutions.......................................... 249

Does Wild Flora Have a Place in Cities?............. 250

Designing Ecologically Smart, Just Cities.........251

Living in a Hotspot of City and

Biodiversity – The Case of Synecoculture........ 252

Five Lessons for Meaningful Local

Engagement in Urban Projects – De Ceuvel,
a Circular Green Hotspot in Amsterdam............ 254
 236
THE TRANSFORMATIVE
POWER OF
URBAN RIVERS
As the world’s population has
migrated to urban environments,
the land-use model of the last
few centuries has involved a
struggle against nature, seen as
an obstacle and an opponent.
This development model has
severe effects in countries
where the most diverse and
fragile ecosystems on the planet
are concentrated. Colombia, a
megadiverse country in terms
of species and ecosystems, has
an extensive network of cities,
many of them in places where
the biodiversity of one hectare
exceeds that of entire countries
in other regions of the world.
The impacts of this model have ge-
nerated several socio-environmental
conflicts and have given rise to con-
servation approaches based on the
artificial separation of what is urban
and what is natural. Therefore, it is
necessary to find a different model of
urban development, balanced and in
harmony with our biodiversity, where
the approach is not “the city versus na-
ture” but “the city with nature.”
In addition, we are a country
highly exposed to natural hazards
and the impact of climate change,
from hurricanes and floods to hea-
twaves and water shortages. Today
there is no doubt that climate chan-
ge is a reality: the latest IPCC report1
emphasizes the direct influence of
human activity on global warming.
Likewise, vulnerability to clima-
te change is concentrated in cities.
However, climate change is also an
opportunity to rethink our cities and
the well-being of their inhabitants,
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Carlos Correa
Minister of Environment
and Sustainable
Development of
Colombia, Colombia.
based on the understanding that a so-
lid natural base is the first priority in
building urban resilience.
Water is synonymous with
life for the entire world and those who
live in it. When we think about its avai-
lability and accessibility, we find some
figures2 that invite us to reflect and un-
derstand the fortune of cities that have
rivers in their spatial structure. They
have a treasure to take care of and va-
lue, not only preserving it but also tur-
ning it into a structuring, articulating,
and transforming element of the terri-
tory. This purpose can be achieved, for
example, through the respectful and
sustainable planning and intervention
of the water corridor, by transforming
it into green corridors that promote the
ecosystemic connection in its natural
environment, integrating actions that
not only have a positive impact on the
Quote as: Correa Escaf, C.E. The
Transformative Power of Urban Rivers.
P. 236. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
conservation of its ecosystem but also
on competitiveness, social integration,
and urban renewal.
Aware of the above, and re-
cognizing that Colombia is a world
water power, the national government
proposes developing urban environ-
ments that acknowledge, prioritize,
and integrate biodiversity and its be-
nefits toward sustainable urban-regio-
nal development. We have named this
concept BiodiverCities.
BiodiverCities precisely have
sustainability at the center of their de-
velopment, the relationship between
man and nature, natural resources,
and their water sources (especially
their rivers). From the BiodiverCity, we
can mark this path by building this
route towards carbon neutrality by
2050 and, in turn, return rivers to the
cities and cities to the people.
OPINION ARTICLES
THE PRIVILEGE OF
BEING PART OF A
NOVEL, EVOLVING
URBAN ECOSYSTEM
It’s a rare warm and sunny
early spring day in Leiden, the
Netherlands. I am sitting on my
balcony overlooking the old city
center. In front of me, there are
great tits (Parus major) and ring-
necked parakeets (Psittacula
krameri) vying for space in the
willow (Salix sp.) and the tree
of heaven (Ailanthus altissima).
To my right, a honeybee (Apis
mellifera) is busy pollinating the
bright yellow flowers of the potted
Mahonia japonica on my balcony.
And to my left, a yellowjacket
(Vespula germanica) is scraping
fibers off the decorative bamboo
stalks, which it will later chew
into a paper pulp to build its nest.
What I survey from my second-floor
vantage point may seem like the
impoverished urban biodiversi-
ty that we find in cities all over the
world. But to my mind, I witness a
unique event in the history of life on
Earth: the birth of a novel ecosys-
tem, driven and shaped by a single
animal species, namely Homo sapi-
ens. Those animals and plants I just
mentioned are both native and intro-
duced species, interacting with one
another and with the urban environ-
ment in new ways and evolving as a
result of this.1
We may think that evolution
is a slow process. However, the past
few decades have taught us that if
natural selection is strong, evolution
can be incredibly fast, 2 resulting in
perceptible changes in organisms’
appearance, behavior, and physiol-
Menno
Schilthuizen
Naturalis Biodiversity
Center and Taxon
Expeditions, Leiden,
The Netherlands
ogy in less than a human lifetime.
In cities where the living conditions
are drastically different from ‘wild’
environments, natural selection is
particularly strong. The city’s phys-
ics and chemistry, its fragmentary
nature, and its melting pot of native
and non-native species make the ur-
ban environment a place where spe-
cies evolve at break-neck speed.
What we witness if we ob-
serve urban nature is the birth of an
entirely new habitat driven by the ac-
tions of humans. Moreover, this habitat
is being shaped all over the world more
or less simultaneously and in similar
ways. Humans communicate tech-
nological advances over vast distanc-
es. For example, a new type of street
lighting or a newly popularised garden
plant will spring up across the globe
237
Quote as: Schilthuizen, M. The Privilege
of Being Part of a Novel, Evolving Urban
Ecosystem. P. 237. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
more or less simultaneously. Also, hu-
mans transport flora and fauna inten-
tionally and accidentally. This means
that the evolution of urban ecosystems
is a globally telecoupled process.3
What better way to appreciate
life in the city than to be aware of the
fact that we are part of the urban eco-
system and that we witness its birth
all around us as we speak? By observ-
ing the animals and plants that we see
from our homes or on our daily walks
through the city where we live, and by
imagining how each and every one
of these organisms is evolutionarily
adapting to the city, we begin to feel
like an integrated part of the urban
ecosystem ourselves. Such a sense of
belonging will, I think, help us to ap-
preciate, conserve, and enhance the
biodiversity of the urban landscape.
 238
URBAN BIODIVERSITY?
ARTISTS HAVE
THE KEYS
If we look at the ‘contemporary’
art world filled with acrylics,
solvents, chemical colors, and
adhesives, it might be difficult
to imagine how artists could
be champions for nature and
biodiversity. However, the work
in contemporary art museums
and galleries represents only a
minor slice of what constitutes
art around the world.
TO FIND MORE ECOLOGICAL
ART, WE MUST CAST A
SLIGHTLY WIDER NET.
For three years as co-curators of arts
programming at The Nature of Cities
Festival, (https://tnoc-festival.com/wp/)
we cast such a net. The result has been a
wealth of biodiversity and life-sustain-
ing art practices found in nearly every
corner of the world—in 57 countries, to
be exact.
Our premise is that, in its most
elemental form, art must be an ecolog-
ical practice. It can only be so, as art is
a means of conveying the truth of our
individual relationship with nature
and the universe. In nearly every world
culture, in nearly every time in histo-
ry, this has been a constant feature of
what we call ‘art’ in the broad sense.
These acts of art are inherently acts of
connection to the earth.
In curating art for The Nature
of Cities Festival, we found artists who
craft both subtle and direct bridges that
awaken our awareness of the land and
its diverse inhabitants. At the Festival,
artists perform poetic dances with ur-
ban nature (Nadia Vadori-Gauthier).
They open channels of communica-
tion with urban water (Robin Lasser &
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Carmen Bouyer
and Patrick Lydon.
Ecological artists and art curators at
The Nature of Cities (TNOC)
Marguerite Perret) and with ancestral
landscapes (Tanya Ruka). They cre-
ate beatbox performances that speak
for the trees (3’z), and they uncover our
forgotten botanical memories (Pantea
Karimi). At the end of each day, musi-
cians sing and play aloud songs of in-
terspecies kinship and resilience from
Dakar (Leuz Diwane G), Portland (Spark-
bird), and Busan (BomNunByeol).
Art, in this sense, is not so
much an act of self-expression as it
is an act of awareness of nature. In
various ways, artists are masters of
awareness, and this awareness is a
key to uncovering ecological ways of
seeing and doing.
Indeed, biodiversity conser-
vation and regeneration ask for this
acute awareness, this art of sensing,
which ultimately leads to the art of
being. The languages that art devel-
ops – the poetic, the symbolic, the
embodied, the emotional – can con-
nect humans and other lifeforms in
profound and long-lasting ways. But
one has to be open to the unexpect-
Quote as: Bouyer, C., Lydon, P. Urban
Biodiversity? Artists Have the Keys.
P. 238. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
ed. Here, too, art can help, for it wel-
comes the unknown with curiosity
and openness. This is how we start to
foster an equitable ecological culture,
to embody the leap toward a narrative
of respect for biodiversity at all levels.
We are all artists of some
sort, meaning we all experience the
world in a unique and creative way,
constantly perceiving and co-creat-
ing our reality in relation to other be-
ings. We can make our awareness of
these relationships more acute, and
in doing so, we can better attune to
the world. The art of relating with the
world is the very expression of our
humanity. This art asks us to cele-
brate. This art asks us to continuous-
ly explore its myriad facets, amaze-
ments, and miracles. This art asks us
to keep the ecologically-aware spirit
alive by infusing it into the fabric of
our everyday lives, together as a glob-
al, multi-species community.
When we each venture to
practice this art, we each hold a key
to urban biodiversity.
OPINION ARTICLES
WE NEED TO
STOP TREATING
SOIL LIKE DIRT
EVEN IN CITIES
When Anne and I bought a house
in Seattle, it came with a decades-
old lawn that looked ripe for
planting a garden. We weren’t
counting on the fact that beneath
the grassy monoculture lay
barren dirt, with little life and no
worms to be seen, and it wasn’t the
foundation for a dream garden. So
Anne embarked on a soil-building
crusade. She gathered organic
matter wherever possible, raking
up leaves from other yards, taking
coffee grounds from local coffee
shops and wood chips from local
arborists, and even entering a
lottery that gave away composted
herbivore manure from the zoo.
So as I was exploring the depressing
history linking soil degradation to
the decline of past societies.1, Anne
was reversing the process in our
new yard. Through intensive com-
posting and mulching, she drama-
tically increased the organic matter
content of our yard’s soil, turning it
from a pale khaki color to a rich dark
chocolate hue. It only took a couple
of years to notice our soil transform
and catalyze changes above ground.
Looking into the drama pla-
ying out right outside our backdoor
led us to delve into The Hidden Half
of Nature,2 the out-of-sight, out-of-
mind world of microbial ecology in
the soil beneath our feet. It also brou-
ght to light how restoring life below
ground leads to a blossoming of life
above ground. All too often, we lose
sight of the importance of how the
soil we usually take for granted sha-
David
Montgomery
Professor of
Geomorphology,
University of Washington,
USA, and, co-author of
What Your Food Ate: How
to Heal Our Land and
Reclaim Our Health.
pes the mix of species with which
we share our urban world.
Life will always share our
cities with us. Certain species have
learned to thrive amidst our sett-
lements. But much of the life sha-
ring our yards and neighborhoods
reflects how we care for our urban
spaces and soils. Do we want to
share our world with flowers, trees,
pollinators, and songbirds? Or will
we be satisfied with the likes of rats
and crows?
We can build healthy, fertile
soil on planting strips, yards, roof-
239
Quote as: Montgomery, D.R. We Need to Stop Treating Soil
Like Dirt Even in Cities. P. 239. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
tops, and pots on patios and balco-
nies, and it doesn’t take much space.
Restoring life to urban soils can help
address urban food deserts and en-
hance urban biodiversity with spe-
cies we like to share our lives with.
And in looking into the rela-
tionship between soil health and hu-
man health while writing our most
recent book, What Your Food Ate,3
we found solid connections between
soil health, plant health, livestock
health, and human health. It all goes
to show that —even in cities— what’s
good for the land is good for us too.
 240
HOW TO ADDRESS
BIODIVERSITY IN CITIES
NO ONE LEVEL
OF GOVERNMENT
CAN DO IT ALONE
The share of the world’s urban
population is projected to reach
55% by 2050.1 While urbanization
is a significant driver of economic
growth and wellbeing, it has also
put stress on our environment.
Biodiversity loss is now
considered among the top global
risks to society, along with climate
change.2 COVID-19 has reminded
us that human interference with
biodiversity, particularly land-use
change and wildlife exploitation,
helps create the conditions for
zoonotic diseases.3,4 Meanwhile,
citywide lockdowns have made
us remember the essential human
need to live with nature, which
opened a window of opportunity
to advance more biodiverse cities.
Cities play a crucial role in enhancing
biodiversity and delivering on nation-
al and international biodiversity com-
mitments. The 2020 Edinburgh Decla-
ration for Sub-national Governments,
Cities, and Local Authorities on the
post-2020 Global Biodiversity Frame-
work is a crucial milestone, recogniz-
ing and promoting the role of cities.
A recent OECD paper, draw-
ing on policy practices from Scotland
(UK) and France, identifies many new
local programs and initiatives, veri-
fying the momentum created by the
Edinburgh Declaration.5 Emerging
approaches are also integrating biodi-
versity and climate action. For exam-
ple, Glasgow’s Climate Emergency Ac-
tion Plan is creating new Local Nature
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Tadashi
Matsumoto
Head of Sustainable
Urban Development
Unit, Organisation
for Economic
Co-operation and
Development (OECD)
Reserves to help mitigate the urban
heat island effect while supporting
biodiversity. And the Paris Rain Plan
(Paris Pluie) encourages nature-based
solutions, including green roofs, to in-
crease water absorption and rainwa-
ter use, to name a few. Such measures
help avoid the overflow of saturated
drainage systems from heavy rains
while benefiting biodiversity.
Another promising action area
is the re-use of existing urban space for
enhancing biodiversity. The UK govern-
ment included additional brownfields
on its priority sites to protect the natural
environment. It recognized retaining
and enhancing biodiversity as an addi-
tional benefit of the Green Belts, desig-
nated to prevent urban sprawl around
large built-up areas. In Mulhouse,
France, abandoned allotment gardens,
once polluted by asbestos, are being re-
natured to benefit local biodiversity and
citizens’ access to nature.
Despite these advancements,
key challenges remain. These include
developing clear and measurable bio-
Quote as: Matsumoto, T. How to Address
Biodiversity in Cities. No One Level of Government
Can Do It Alone. P. 240. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá.
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
diversity targets at the city scale to ad-
vance nature-based solutions in cities
and ensure multi-level policy coher-
ence and coordination. The geograph-
ical scale will be critical to designing
policy frameworks since opportuni-
ties for mainstreaming biodiversity
vary across places (e.g., urban fring-
es, urban centers). It is also crucial to
recognize that biodiversity action is
a shared responsibility among multi-
ple actors and that each of them has
a specific role in achieving a common
target. Practices in Scotland highlight
multi-stakeholder partnerships as an
effective tool, especially when engag-
ing national and subnational govern-
ments with local communities.
To conclude, cities have a
crucial role in delivering nation-
al and international biodiversity
commitments. Still, we must bear
in mind that no one level of govern-
ment can do this alone; accelerat-
ing and mainstreaming biodiver-
sity action in cities will require a
whole-of-government approach.
OPINION ARTICLES 241
URBAN EXPANSION: Quote as: Galarza, N., Buitrago, E.
Urban Sprawl: An Ally of Biodervisity.
AN ALLY OF
P. 241. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
BIODIVERSITY
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
Many urban spaces in
developing countries that were
intended as protected areas
were not adequately protected.
Due to inadequate land and
housing management policies,
these high ecological value
land became a housing solution
for low-income populations,
especially in cities hosting rural
communities. These occupancy
patterns have reduced the
supply of areas where citizens
can connect with nature,
reinforcing the notion that
nature has no place in cities.
It is no secret that cities depend on
peri-urban and rural areas for water,
air quality and food security. Green
areas are spaces for us to meet and
interact with our natural heritage. Edward
The alternative, viewing it as a ba- Buitrago
rrier, will result in proven adverse Nicolás
effects on nature. A recent example Ministry of Environment
is the tropical rainforests, rainforests
Galarza and Sustainable Development of
or dry forests of Colombia. Ministry of Environment Colombia, Colombia.
Indeed, of the 32 capital ci- and Sustainable Development of
ties in Colombia, 27 are located on Colombia, Colombia.
rivers. Even though most of them
are terribly degraded, urban biodi- improve our quality of life in cities. le and restoration of urban ecosys-
versity in the area is still high. Given Other benefits include becoming be- tems. This must be accompanied
the projected growth of cities in the tter adapted to climate change and by adjusting the country’s land use
world’s most biodiverse areas, it is a structural solution to the chronic planning regulation, Decrees 1076
essential to position these ecosys- deficit of public space. and 1077 and Law 388.
tems as service providers to the Professor Partha Desgupta Dreams of cities surrounded
cities. This is not only a moral call argues that we must promote a posi- and integrated with natural paradise
but also an opportunity: the World tive biodiversity approach in the cu- is possible. Pollinators can become
Economic Forum indicates that in- rrent economic model. As a first step, part of our urban landscape again.
vesting in nature could lead to a we need valuation for ecosystem In fact, the pandemic has shown
potential investment of USD 583 bi- services, payment for metropolitan us that if we give nature a break, it
llion. By capitalizing on the value of environmental services, investment will return to life. In summary, it is
natural services and biodiversity in in nature-based solutions, exchange a question of biodiversity co-inhabi-
our cities’ peripheral areas, we can of building rights for transfer of tit- ting cities with us
 242
THE CYBORG
NATURE OF CITIES
It is not true that cities must
develop a new framework of
their relationship with nature,
as is often suggested since, as
emergent ecosystems, they are
expressions of nature itself.
What is true is that cities are
novel ecosystemic entities
on the planet, constituted
from a more or less complex
set of organic and inorganic
elements combined under
unique cybernetic parameters
derived from the cultural change
inherent to human nature.
Cities are anthropic experiments
in permanent adjustment, adaptive
systems established in a territory
under the premise of a particular
organization with different levels of
control, technological and institutio-
nal, in a context of changing comple-
xity. Cities have ages, authors, aes-
thetics in conflict, scars, memory,
and vital expressions associated
with their particular way of resol-
ving the conditions of relief, hydro-
logy, climate, and biodiversity. A port
city gradually built by merchants
amid a mangrove swamp is not the
same as a city of fishers, nor is a city
of moorland the same as a city of
mountain jungles. Part of every ci-
ty’s identity comes from the qualities
of the territory where it is born and
rooted. The ways of inhabiting cons-
titute the other part. We settle in and
share territories continuously inter-
preted with unique perspectives, and
with that, we seek, without even sa-
ying it, a better habitat for all.
It is evident that the chan-
nels through which the metabolism
of cities runs are by no means stable
either. Perhaps most of the human
population travels in vehicles along
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Brigitte
Baptiste
Rector, EAN University,
Colombia.
certain avenues. Still, the prolifer-
ation of roads and the labyrinth of
streets open up innumerable possi-
bilities for those who have discov-
ered that takeout can be brought
home by unexpected routes. Con-
nectivity provides plasticity to cities’
functioning and is evaluated accord-
ing to the rhythm or rate of transit
of matter, energy, and information
through its structures. It is both a
poetic and an operational property
of the territory: if trees are seen as
shadows that hide crimes and not
the kiss of lovers, the countenance
of the place will be very different.
In any case, there is no obligatory
perspective since the city will be as
dynamic, fluid, and creative as its in-
habitants allow it to be.
Between identity and connec-
tivity, the notion of integrity is then
Quote as: Baptiste, B. The Cyborg Nature
of Cities. P. 242. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
defined, a quality difficult to measure
and even more difficult to judge since
it depends on an evaluation of the sys-
tem’s coherence, which for some is
more aesthetic than functional, even
though both attributes are inseparable.
The beauty of the cyborg city is always
present as a collective work resisting
being governed by any central au-
thority, a fact that should change the
perspective of institutions and their
ways of understanding the notion of
authority.
Emerging human ecosys-
tems are changing rapidly, forcing
us to continually reflect on the ex-
perience of being urban and part of a
colonial organism that destroys and
reconstitutes itself every day. A cyber-
netic organism that, in turn, inhabits
the planet and may hold the key to its
sustainability.
OPINION ARTICLES
DOES HOUSING
INSECURITY INFLUENCE
GREENSPACE CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT?
Urban political ecologists argue
that built structure of cities is
linked inextricably to ecological
processes. Material objects like
fruit trees and public parks or
weed-laden alleyways can be
traced to global capital networks
that produce uneven and
discriminatory urban natures
(Heynen, Kaika, Swyngedouw,
2006). An overlooked yet persistent
factor constraining access to
urban nature and engagement
may be involuntary neighborhood
transiency, which can also be
linked to remote capital networks
involving U.S. housing markets.
Neoliberal policies and inputs have
produced nature in the form of dis-
creet, urban forest patches in the City
of Atlanta, Georgia USA. The patch-
es are what remains of four, former
public housing projects—Leila Valley,
Jonesboro North, Jonesboro South,
and Thomasville Heights—razed in
the early 2000s as a part of the city’s
public housing remake. Since then,
the sites have remained vacant.
However, there is no apparent com-
munity organizing for the benefit of
the patches and no indication that
nearby residents are aware of or in-
terested in the ecological benefits
of the properties undergoing forest
succession, now owned by the city’s
housing authority, Atlanta Housing.
These instances of urban
nature intersect with older, in-town
neighborhoods, where the proportion
of low-income renters is high and evic-
tion rates are also higher than average
Cassandra
Johnson
Research
Social Scientist,
USDA Forest
Service, USA.
(Johnson Gaither, Cross, Dobbs 2022).
These characteristics contribute to
higher rates of involuntary neighbor-
hood transiency, which occurs when
renters are forced or compelled to move
at rates higher than average (Desmond,
2012; DeLuca, Wood, Rosenblatt, 2019).
Such volatility is associated with a
number of social problems such as job
loss and poor school performance and
may also constrain residents’ ability to
engage meaningfully with or advocate
for neighborhood greenspaces because
they move so often.
High levels of transiency in
poor and predominantly Black Atlanta
neighborhoods can be linked to broad-
er market trends in the U.S. housing
market. The recent U.S. mortgage
foreclosure crisis resulted in a surplus
of foreclosed homes owned by banks
and other creditors, which were sub-
sequently purchased by hedge funds
and institutional investors. Histori-
cally, these actors had not been sig-
nificant players in rental markets
243
Quote as: Johnson Gaither, C. Does
Housing Insecutiry Influence
Greenspace Civic Engagement?
P. 243. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities
by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von
Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.
but after the mortgage crises, were
incentivized by government-backed
securities and subsidies to expand
into single-family rental markets
(Raymond et al., 2018). Analysts sus-
pect that there are high to very high
proportions of such post-foreclosure,
investor-owned properties in south-
east Atlanta communities, like those
surrounding the four forest patches.
These are areas of the city with “rela-
tively high poverty and vacancy rates
and low median home values [that]
tend to be African American” (Immer-
gluck, 2013, p.ii.). The preponderance
of investor-owned rentals in socially
marginal areas of the city increases
the likelihood that low-income renters
will leave their homes involuntarily,
via eviction, for instance (Raymond
et al., 2018). These compelled moves
represent another instance in which
outcomes for poor and working-class
people are determined by remote, cap-
ital networks far removed from their
everyday lives and challenges.
 244
EAT ME.
DRINK ME
When the book “Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland” was
written by Lewis Carroll in 1865,
he included the words “EAT ME.
DRINK ME.” The words were
labels on a cake and a bottle and
enabled the heroine to shrink
herself to enter a small door and
access a magical realm where
all manner of transformative
experiences was possible.
I am using this metaphor to enable
more people to transform their ex-
periences in urban environments
by eating and drinking wild foods,
sometimes called “weeds.” Everyone
can enter this Wild Food Wonder-
land and experience radical shifts
in their eating patterns by “nibbling
with nature.”
Alice in Wonderland was
narrated in Oxford on a boat trip on
the Thames with daughters of the
Liddell family through the ancient
common land called Port Meadow.
This grassland, grazed by commo-
ner’s cattle and geese for longer than
the establishment of Oxford Univer-
sity, is the oldest institution in the
city. It is a Site of Special Scientific
Interest and, at the river’s edge, has a
niche for the Cuckoo Flower (Carda-
mine pratensis). Port Meadow is not
far from where I live, and when my
book “EAT WILD” was published in
2010, the British Broadcasting Com-
pany sent a reporter to interview
me. We met in an urban car park. I
explained that there were 15 visible
species of edible wild plants as we
talked live on the radio about the be-
nefits of acquiring knowledge of wild
food and the joy of eating it; we pau-
sed when I spotted a Cuckoo Flower.
I picked a leaf and asked him to chew
it between his front teeth on the tip
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Duncan
Mackay
Elected member,
Council of the
National Trust, UK.
of his tongue. I held the microphone
and counted to 5. It takes about five
seconds for the peppery taste of Cuc-
koo Flower to reach your tastebuds,
but when it does, it explodes. “Bli-
mey!” he exclaimed live on the radio,
“that’s flipping hot!”. I felt that I had
made my point about wild food being
a transformative experience.
Cuckoo Flower is also called
“lady’s smock” and flowers when the
European Cuckoo bird (Cuculus ca-
norus) arrives in England to breed
and is associated with summer’s
coming. The oldest known song in
England, written a short distance
away in the town of Reading in the
thirteenth century, “Sumer Is Icu-
men In,” celebrates cuckoos as cultu-
ral timekeepers. The Cuckoo Flower
likewise has a vital role in the sur-
Quote as: Mackay, D. Eat Me. Drink Me.
P. 244. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
vival of the Orange Tip Butterfly
(Anthocharis cardamines), whose
caterpillars feed upon it. Folklore su-
ggests that it is unlucky to pick Cuc-
koo Flowers because it is the sacred
flower of the fairies.
What I am expressing here
with this example is the cultural
depth lying unspoken in many pla-
ces (including urban Columbia)
when it comes to using wild food
rather than cultivated varieties of
(once-wild) food. Refined foods be-
come brands and soon lose their
wonder. Combining Colombia’s coca
leaf (Erythroxylum coca) and Afri-
ca’s kola nut (Cola acuminata) might
once have been a transformative
wild drink but now is merely a fizzy
brown sweet liquid owned by the
world’s greatest plastic polluter.
OPINION ARTICLES
BASIC ECOLOGICAL
KNOWLEDGE LEFT
BEHIND IN THE URBAN
GREENING RUSH
There is no longer an “outside” of
cities - the importance of members
of the public in making urban
landscapes hospitable for life.
Our cities’ impact is now so widespread
that it is hard to find a place unaffected
by, or outside of, a city. Cities themselves
are hostile places to be, for humans that
don’t earn enough to access the com-
forts of city life and for plants and ani-
mals that were never part of the urban
design. In the next ten years, we need to
make our cities as resilient and hospita-
ble as possible by building networks of
public green spaces that improve access
to a healthy environment with clean
air, clean water, and open green spaces
to exercise. And, we need to enable a re-
turn of the plants and animals that our
cities have displaced. For many plants
and animals, if they do not find a home
inside existing urban developments or
as part of new urban design, they will
soon have no home at all.
Facing this challenge re-
quires many hands on deck, and it is
encouraging to see a wider diversity of
people and organizations improving
the health of their urban environment.
In particular, greening and gardening
groups shape a large area of the pub-
lic and private urban landscape. They
have enormous potential to restore the
urban landscape and make it more
comfortable and hospitable for hu-
mans and urban ecosystems.
I am, however, concerned that
the environmental field has become
too professional on the one hand and
remained too amateurish on the other.
So we are left with a significant gap in
Frances
Taylor
Fynbos Corridor
Collaboration,
Cape Town.
professional and amateur understand-
ing where basic ecological knowledge
and urban restoration principles should
be. From my point of view, there is enor-
mous potential in making basic - but
profound - ecological knowledge readi-
ly available and, in so doing, upgrading
all the busy gardeners and tree-planters
into ecosystem restorers. But to do this,
it is critical to take the efforts of ama-
teurs and professionals from outside
the ecological field seriously and give
people the knowledge to take their envi-
ronmental health into their own hands.
I have spent the last three
years working with colleagues in Cape
Town on the Fynbos Stepping-stone
Corridor Strategy, paired with a 6-step
framework and an open-source web-
site (www.fynboscorridors.org) that has
useful tools for would-be gardeners and
greeners. These are my favorite groups
of people to work with because they are
so passionate and joyful in their work.
However, they are often without access
to the ecological history of their areas
and how these unique, local ecosys-
tems function. And so, their methods
245
Quote as: Taylor, F. Basic Ecological
Knowledge Left Behind In the
Urban Greening Rush. P. 245.
In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by
2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von
Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
are often based on gardening aesthetics
or pieces of ecological knowledge bor-
rowed from elsewhere. It is, therefore,
common for these groups and organi-
zations to implement interventions that
reproduce ecologies from other parts of
the world rather than restore their local
and unique ecology.
The first step we took to ad-
dress this was to enfold the garden-
ing world into the restoration world
by organizing and sharing the sci-
entific knowledge of local ecologies
and restoration with the public. This
knowledge needs to be refined into
hands-on workshops, art, imagery,
and music to further the cause. This
next step is crucial for ecological jus-
tice and making a healthy and beauti-
ful urban life possible for all citizens.
Our work in Cape Town shows
that local gardeners, green activists,
and concerned citizens can contribute
to strategic and effective ecological
restoration within their city. Let’s capi-
talize on their enthusiasm and energy
and build solid ecological networks
within more cities worldwide together!
 246
HAVE YOU EVER
HEARD OF BLUE
HEALTH IN CITIES?
Nowadays, it is pretty typical
in urban planning to think
of green spaces and green
infrastructure. However, an
equally critical and often –
until now – neglected yet
complementary aspect is that of
blue spaces and infrastructure.
What are blue spaces? In the
BlueHealth project funded by
the European Union Horizon
2020 research program1, blue
spaces are defined as “outdoor
environments – either natural
or manmade – that prominently
feature water and are accessible
to humans.” If you searched
for “blue infrastructure,”
you would probably find
references to water supply
and urban drainage systems,
not the network of blue spaces
that may be intertwined
with but also separate from
green infrastructure.
Thus, it is high time that
blue spaces and blue infrastructu-
re were treated equally with their
green equivalents for several impor-
tant reasons. Firstly, can you think
of a major city not on the coast, a
river or a lake? It is tough to do so!
And how have we often treated the
water? We have ignored it, buried it,
canalized it, or industrialized it! Luc-
kily, this trend has been reversed.
Many great projects worldwide are
restoring rivers, creating wonderful
urban spaces where ports and doc-
klands used to be, and incorporating
water management within street
systems. We are all attracted to wa-
ter – to stroll along a riverbank, lie on
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Simon Bell
Chair Professor and
Chair of Landscape
Architecture, Estonian
University of Life
Sciences, Estonia.
the beach, swim in a lake, splash in
a fountain - and some of the earliest
nature-based health therapies invol-
ved sea bathing and spas. Of course,
water is not without its risks – drow-
ning is one of the leading causes of
death - while water is very volatile
with flooding, pollution events, algal
or bacterial blooms, and other risks
present, so we also need to take care.
In the BlueHealth project, we
wanted to strengthen the evidence
base for the mental, physical and so-
cial health and well-being benefits
of blue experiences. We developed a
simple model showing the pathways
and vital role of urban blue space
planning. Based on that, we built
the evidence base and BlueHealth
Toolbox – for urban planners and
Quote as: Bell, S. Have You Ever
Heard of Blue Health in Cities? P.
246. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
designers to use when working on
new blue space projects to maximi-
ze the health and well-being benefits
and assess the potential risks. These
tools have been validated and tested
and are freely available for anyone
to use. They are handy for conduc-
ting before-and-after assessments
of a blue space so that the success
of a particular project can be eva-
luated. We also produced an edited
book which is fully open access. It
tells a rich story, from presenting the
theories and basis of the evidence
through the tools mentioned above
to a series of critical reviews of great
blue space projects. These are su-
pplemented by a website eventually
containing 180 critically reviewed
projects - the BlueProfiles.
OPINION ARTICLES
UNEXPECTED
BENEFITS OF A
PLANETARY HEALTH
DIET ON URBAN
BIODIVERSITY
Rising globalization and
urbanization threaten biodiversity
and shift food consumption
patterns, often to the detriment
of human health. Cities, home to
over half of the global population,
consume 80 percent of all food
produced and are a significant
driver of greenhouse gas
emissions and environmental
degradation – with impacts
well beyond city boundaries.
Cities are already taking action to pro-
vide a “Planetary Health Diet1 for their
citizens. Two examples: Quezon City,
Philippines, has been implementing a
thriving urban farming program, and
Copenhagen, Denmark, has establi-
shed a science-based target for its food
system and tested interventions to im-
prove local food environments to help
achieve the target. Neither initiative
started with an explicit biodiversity
objective, but these are types of inter-
ventions that contribute to urban bio-
diversity while achieving other goals.
Urban farming in Quezon
City: To combat the triple burden of
malnutrition and persistent hunger
in the city, then-Vice Mayor Belmon-
te established the “Joy of Urban Far-
ming” program in 2010. With goals
of supporting low-income house-
holds to grow nutritious food, brin-
ging nature back into the city, and
integrating circularity principles,
the program demonstrates how city
dwellers can farm through various
space-efficient techniques. In part-
Emily
Norford
Manager, Urban
Food Systems
EAT, Norway.
nership with national agencies, Joy
of Urban Farming trains over 6,000
people annually and has been imple-
mented in multiple day-care centers,
communal areas, and public schools
across the city2.
Improving food environments
in Copenhagen: Reshaping local food
environments can facilitate healthier
and more sustainable food choices
while enhancing biodiversity outco-
mes. In Copenhagen, the municipality
and partners3 have worked to unders-
tand how public space affects people’s
food behavior. Urban design firm Gehl
tested prototype food environment
interventions in two Copenhagen nei-
ghborhoods.4 Co-designed with local
youth, each prototype had three com-
ponents: pop-up seating arrangements
with edible gardens; grocery stores
offering special deals on Planetary
Health Diet foods; and food trucks pro-
viding subsidized Planetary Health
Diet menus. The edible gardens were
designed to provide an inviting public
space and raise awareness about local
247
Quote as: Norford, E. Unexpected Benefits
of a Planetary Health Diet on Urban
Biodiversity. P. 247. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
and sustainable food – and had the
added benefit of supporting biodiversi-
ty in these urban spaces. Incremental
behavior change was observed in hun-
dreds of people during the prototypes;
this approach could be applied in other
locations with the potential to change
food behavior at scale.
Both cities – along with 13
others from across the globe – have
signed the C40 Good Food Cities De-
claration,5 committing to providing
their citizens with diets that are bene-
ficial for both human health and natu-
ral systems. Efforts to improve urban
food systems can result in benefits
to biodiversity, even if starting points
and explicit goals may be different.
Food is a crucial lever to bring
stakeholders together for a wide range
of beneficial outcomes. More actors
must get on board with this growing
push for the transformation of urban
food systems – a critical ingredient in
addressing health and environmental
challenges while improving biodiver-
sity within and beyond urban areas.
 248
TOP-DOWN AND
BOTTOM-UP FOR
MORE BIODIVERCITIES?
TRANSFORMING OUR CITIES
THROUGH BIODIVERSITY
Cities and urban citizens
have always had an intimate
relationship with nature, with
early human settlements founded
on near-critical resources
for farming, freshwater, and
forestry. Even now, urban
growth is highest in biodiversity
hotspots, according to a 2022
BiodiverCities report led by World
Economic Forum and partners.
Despite benefits, rapid urban growth
undermines nature’s ability to contri-
bute to our societies and economies:
urban consumption is responsible
for 75% of natural resource use, while
sprawling cities threaten periphery
areas. Cities and their citizens must
urgently rebalance their relationship
with the natural world. Doing so re-
quires ambitious local government
policy, planning, and actions to pro-
tect and invest in urban nature; it
also involves citizen and stakeholder
engagement to recognize its benefits
while supporting its expansion. Such
investments are paid by their taxes
and endorsed through local votes. Ci-
tizens must value existing parks and
green areas, especially in post-COVID
cities, where interest has exploded.
And although this is a positive sign, it
requires respect to ensure conserva-
tion and prevent damage or misuse.
Investing in urban nature
should prioritize native, climate-resi-
lient plant species, while being equally
distributed to the places we live, work
and play. Historically, urban green
areas have not always prioritized native
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Jennifer
Lenhart
WWF Sweden,
Sweden.
plants best adapted to local climates, nor
were they equally distributed. In Cape
Town, recent water crises forced local
leaders to re-evaluate their green cover,
with this South African city going so
far as to rip-out non-native vegetation
to preserve its water supply. Working
with local communities has been vital
– to encourage public buy-in and recruit
volunteers. Santiago de Chile also faces
severe drought and another common
challenge in cities: disproportionate ac-
cess to public and private green spaces.
In both cases, citizen engagement facili-
tated improved access, quality and resi-
lience of urban green areas.
Citizens and stakeholders
must be engaged alongside local go-
vernments – from the start – to ensure
support, although doing so is not always
easy. WWF offers tips for public enga-
gement in its new guide, Transforming
Cities Together; it includes the impor-
tance of collectively defining goals and
expectations and building community
trust. Moreover, any investment in ur-
ban nature should engage youth, wo-
men, and marginalized communities
to be inclusive and representative, with
Quote as: Lenhart, J. Top-
Down And Bottom-up for More
Biodivercities? Transforming
Our Cities Through Biodiversity.
P. 248. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities
by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von
Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.
benefits spanning the urban landscape.
Investing in urban nature should rely on
science and incorporate indigenous and
traditional knowledge to represent the
wider community, building co-desig-
ned and co-implemented initiatives.
Engaging citizen support for
urban nature fosters awareness of lo-
calized benefits. From improving air
quality to managing urban heat and
enhancing job access while encoura-
ging long-term maintenance through
community ownership – as in Malmö,
Sweden, and Medellín, Colombia, des-
cribed in WWF’s urban nature guide.
When evaluating urban nature invest-
ments, these same citizens and stake-
holders should be engaged to share
feedback, identify best practices, or
possible financial or human resources
for continued development.
Citizens are curious about
public investments, especially those
they interact with or can benefit from.
Building endorsement and engage-
ment can enable a faster and more
comprehensive rollout of efforts to
improve urban nature. As the saying
goes, “many hands make light work.”
OPINION ARTICLES
ARE NATURE-BASED
SOLUTIONS GOOD
FOR EVERYONE?
PROMOTING SOCIAL EQUITY IN
NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS
Cities are going through great
efforts to maintain or create new
nature-based solutions (NBS).
Not many will argue that this is
a winning strategy: Carefully
designed and implemented NBS
can help cities build climate
change resilience, sustain
urban biodiversity and become
more liveable by contributing
to wellbeing and improving
attractiveness. And yet it is.
A question that often arises is
whether the socio-environmental
benefits (and burdens) of NBS are
fairly distributed across the urban
population. Hasse et al. (2017) points
to the alleged paradox of society
and urban ecology: when green in-
terventions become a core ingre-
dient of urban renewal, upgrading
and revitalization as primarily mar-
ket-driven endeavors, then it can be
expected that they target the middle
class and higher-income groups.
This can unintentionally happen at
the expense of less privileged resi-
dents. Vulnerable segments of the
population can be displaced.
Urban greening can lead to
higher housing rent, particularly if
carried out together with real estate
upgrades. In studying the evolution
of socio-demographic gentrifica-
tion indicators for green interven-
tions in Barcelona, Anguelovski
et al. (2018) found that while some
interventions attracted and served
vulnerable groups (e.g. elderly and
migrants), others contributed to de-
Piero
Pelizzaro
Chief Resilience Officer, City of
Milan, Italy (outgoing).
mographic shifts towards the mid-
dle class.
Research such as the one
above from Barcelona offers valu-
able city peer-to-peer lessons. Milan
is trying to address similar concerns
over NBS. The city fears that apply-
ing the wrong governance model
will prioritize projects that serve
higher income groups, while simple
public oversight can diminish dem-
ocratic accountability. To cope with
this risk, the city is now designing
future NBS with three main recom-
mendations:
1. Market-driven hybrid governance
strategies, where private actors are
included in the governance struc-
249
Quote as: Pelizzaro, P., Kapetas, L.
Are Nature-Based Solutions Good
for Everyone? Promoting Social
Equity in Nature-Based Solutions. P.
249. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
Leon
Kapetas
Lead for Programs &
Climate Resilience,
Resilient Cities Network
ture, mainly for efficiency and
funding purposes;
2. Networked stakeholder gover-
nance, where stakeholders are in-
cluded in the governance structure
to address complex social problems
more effectively; and
3. Responsive (interactive) co-gover-
nance, where citizens are directly in-
volved in the governance structure.
By formulating these three policy
recommendations – slicing a bigger
pie, safeguarding democratic con-
trol and applying context-sensitive
science – the city aims to address
these tensions proactively.
 250
DOES WILD
FLORA HAVE A
PLACE IN CITIES?
When speaking of flora and
urban biodiversity, categories
include native, exotic, endemic,
cosmopolitan, threatened,
invasive, ornamental, etc. A
variety that has been much less
explored, at least in Colombia,
is that of spontaneous or wild
species, as opposed to those
species cultivated by humans.
Wild is not synonymous with native.
Although many wildlife species are
native, not all are. Introduced species
can also become established in the
wild (naturalized) and continue to
grow and reproduce after that with-
out human help.
Is wildlife important in cities?
When it comes to fauna, there is less
doubt because we recognize that in
addition to having “cultivated” fauna
such as cats, dogs, and other domes-
tic animals in a city, its counterpart
is also essential; having wild birds in
parks, wild butterflies visiting flowers,
and wild earthworms incorporating
organic matter into the soil.
With flora, on the other hand,
the subject seems new and seldom dis-
cussed. A large percentage of the flora
(both in the number of species and bio-
mass) found in cities is cultivated.
What is the wild flora of cit-
ies? It is composed of individual plants
that grow independently, without be-
ing planted, and often without being
cared for by people. They can be wild
grasses that grow between the cracks
in the ground; weeds that grow sponta-
neously in gardens where the soil has
been turned over. They can be trees
or shrubs that grew on their own in
empty lots. They can be spontaneous
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Mateo
Hernández
Urban Naturalist,
Colombia.
epiphytes on tree branches. And they
can be a wide variety of species present
in remnants of native ecosystems that
have survived or have been protected
within cities and on their outskirts.
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE
OF WILD FLORA IN CITIES?
One of the most straightforward an-
swers is that wild plantlife is differ-
ent from cultivated plantlife. Its very
presence adds a great variety of spe-
cies, niches, and possibilities that do
not exist in environments where only
cultivated plants dominate. Thus, the
presence of wild plantlife increases
the biodiversity of a place.
And this increase may be sur-
prising. The project “Flora Silvestre de
Bogotá” on the “Naturalista” platform
has collected more than 5000 observa-
tions made by almost 900 citizens in
the Bogotá-Soacha conurbation area in
the last four years. These records corre-
spond to about 300 species of vascular
plants that grow wild in the area and
are an essential part of its biodiversity.
Wild species can form criti-
cal associations with wild organisms.
Quote as: Hernández, M. Does
Wild Flore Have a Place in Cities?
P. 250. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-
Espinel, J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities
by 2030: Transforming Cities with
Biodiversity. Bogotá. Instituto
de Investigación de Recursos
Biológicos Alexander von
Humboldt.
2022. 288 pages.
In Bogotá, for example, wildflowers
such as cat´s ear (Taraxacum offici-
nale) and cat´s ear (Hypochaeris rad-
icata) are among the most important
nectar sources for native butterflies
in the city. The “chusque” (Chusquea
scandens), a wild plant of cold cli-
mate, present on the edges of Bogotá,
towards the eastern hills, is the only
plant on which dozens of native but-
terflies feed when they are caterpil-
lars. The presence of this wild plant
determines whether or not dozens of
other fauna species can exist in the
urban environment.
Here we encourage you to
see the wild as a complement to
what is cultivated, not an antago-
nist. Urban biodiversity needs both.
If the emphasis here is on the wild,
it is because, in cities, we usually
pay more attention to what is cul-
tivated. The wild is seen only as
“weeds”; where “there is nothing”
or “where there are bugs.” We give
full prominence to the planted tree,
to the garden flower. We must now
create a world where the “place with
the bugs” and the planted tree can
meet and intertwine.
OPINION ARTICLES
DESIGNING ECOLOGICALLY
SMART, JUST CITIES
The footprint of cities is writ
large on the earth’s surface,
with India containing many
of the world’s largest and
fastest-growing urban centers.
Is urbanization a challenge
for sustainability or an
opportunity? Drawing on
research in a range of Indian
cities for over fifteen years,
my answer is that it depends,
and it does so on three things.
The footprint of cities is writ large on
the earth’s surface, with India contai-
ning many of the world’s largest and
fastest-growing urban centers. Is ur-
banization a challenge for sustaina-
bility or an opportunity? Drawing on
research in a range of Indian cities for
over fifteen years, my answer is that it
depends, and it does so on three things.
First, the value (monetary
and non-monetary) that we place on
maintaining ecosystem structure and
function in cities determine how urban
land-use change balances priorities of
built vs. “green” infrastructure. While
urban planners and decision-makers
often prioritize economic valuations,
urban residents – especially in the
global South - often value aspects such
as shade, stress relief, and intrinsic
sacred value which cannot be easily
quantified in monetary terms.
Second, variations in so-
cio-economic backgrounds can also
profoundly influence the values at-
tached to urban ecosystems. Overall,
we find many users in Indian cities
who continue to forage for daily needs
such as medicinal plants for main-
taining health. However, provisioning
uses as foraging and fishing are in-
creasingly being banned as illegal in
public parks and lakes. Recreational
and regulatory ecosystem services
Harini
Nagendra
Director, Research
Centre; and Professor
and Lead, Centre for
Climate Change and
Sustainability, Azim
Premji University, India.
are however considered critical and
more likely to be built into city plans.
Third, collective action and
community use of urban ecosystems
can provide powerful antidotes to the
loss of community and sense of place
often associated with urbanization.
For instance, restored lakes in Banga-
lore act as nodes of community activ-
ity that initiate biodiversity-friendly
activities such as solid waste man-
agement and organic gardening and
disseminate values of urban nature
protection. Yet commons are often
ignored in cities, where the locus of
urban ecosystem governance tends
to shift to the private (such as home
gardens or allotment gardens) or
the public (with city municipalities
owning publicly accessible ecosys-
tems such as wooded streets, lakes,
and parks), excluding commons uses
such as foraging.
This leads to two main rec-
ommendations for planning
• First, although ecosystem ser-
vices provide a helpful frame-
work, the dis-privileging of
commons use of provisioning
services impacts the city’s poor-
est and most marginalized,
including practitioners of na-
ture-based livelihoods (such as
cattle grazers and fishers) and
251
Quote as: Nagendra, H. Designing
Ecologically Smart, Just Cities. P.
251. In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
migrant workers (who lack ac-
cess to fuelwood and medicines).
• Second, such disprivileging takes
place because of non-democratic de-
cision-making that reinforces exist-
ing hierarchies and inequities, con-
verting thriving urban commons to
private and public resources. Urban
commons offer a powerful way to
integrate migrants from other re-
gions into communities of practice
through forms of social-ecological
activity as simple as shared gar-
dening. Building social-ecological
learning and memory can signifi-
cantly help make cities more wel-
coming, biodiverse, and liveable.
Urban commons require explicit
recognition and protection in the ur-
ban planning process, especially in
cities of the global South.
In conclusion, the large-scale
urbanization we are witnessing in the
global South represents a significant
challenge for the planet. To turn the
challenge into an opportunity, we need
multi-level stewardship of urban ecosys-
tems that integrates communities at the
core and maintains provisioning ecosys-
tem services as central. Only then can
equity issues be sufficiently addressed
alongside ecology and biodiversity, crea-
ting ecologically smart, just cities.
 252
LIVING IN A
HOTSPOT OF CITY
AND BIODIVERSITY
THE CASE OF
SYNECOCULTURE
Living in a city’s hotspot is
exciting but tiring in the era of
pandemics. People start to scatter
in rural areas, but if you want
to keep your friends close, you
should maybe keep nature closer
or even augment the full benefit
of biodiversity by yourself. Here
is the case of Synecoculture in the
urban environment, the way to
construct amplified ecosystems
with high diversity and
functionality that sustain both
human and ecological health.
Tokyo city contains 33% of the green
area, and there are lots of things you
can do to further facilitate the quali-
ty of life. We have introduced more
than 200 edible plant species and
established bountiful ecosystems on
an urban ground and a rooftop gar-
den to experiment with food produc-
tion and the self-organizing process
of soil microbial life. Compared to
more than 7000 reference samples
from all over Japan, 69 spots from
our Synecoculture experimental si-
tes (36 samples after four years of
practice on a ground level and 33
samples after two and half years on
a rooftop) showed significantly en-
hanced diversity and activity of soil
microorganisms, which correlated
with the high variety of introduced
and coexisting plants (Fig.1).
Rich biodiversity harbors complex
biological interactions in ecosystems,
which is known to stimulate the ex-
pression of secondary metabolites
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Masatoshi
Funabashi
Researcher, Sony
Computer Science
Laboratories Inc.,
Japan.
of plants (abundant in wild foods)
that act as health-protective bioac-
tive compounds in humans. As we
collaborated with an elderly welfare
facility and introduced coarse green
tea produced in a Synecoculture envi-
ronment supported by high ecological
interactions, the rehabilitation perfor-
mance and associated quality of life
significantly increased in a 4-mon-
th light-load training. This has led to
greater physical and cognitive inde-
pendence in daily activity (Figure 2a.).
Recent studies have sug-
gested that modern urban lifestyles
cause an increase in immune-related
anomalies such as allergy, diabetes,
cancers, and neurodegenerative di-
seases, through reduced diversity of
the human gut microbiota. Rich soil
microorganisms are also known to
positively affect our epidermal and gut
microbiota, especially immune sys-
tem regulation. Such global increases
in chronic diseases impose medical
burdens and asset freezes, producing
OPINION ARTICLES 253
Quote as: Funabashi, M. Living in a
Hotspot of City and Biodiversity. The
Case of Synecoculture. P. 252-253. In:
0.10
Figure 1. Distribution of Soil
Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel, J.D. (eds.).
Microbial Diversity and Vitality
BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming 0.08
Cities with Biodiversity. Bogotá. Values (SMDVV) of the urban
Instituto de Investigación de Synecoculture plots (Mean
Recursos Biológicos Alexander
deviation value for urban ground
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages. 0.06
DENSITY
= 67.9, rooftop = 69.1)
0.04 Reference
0.02
Urban ground
Rooftop
0.00
20 40 60 80 100 Figure 2b. Significant decreases in in-blood
DEVIATION VALUE homocysteine after three months of a
rehabilitation program with augmented
ecosystem (n=7, p-value=0.00049, paired t-test)
Figure 2a. Rehabilitation performance of 117 elderly persons evaluated with 18-item
30
Functional Independence Measure (FIM). In a double-blind randomized controlled trial, **
group A (45 persons, red) consumed Synecoculture green tea, group B (42 persons, green)
Homocysteine (nmol / mL)
conventional green tea, and group C (30 persons, blue) drank hot water. Only group A 25
achieved a statistically significant increase of the total FIM scores (significance level less
than 1%), while the other groups remained insignificant. 20
The grey dashed and dotted lines represent the significance thresholds p=0.05 and 0.01,
respectively. 15
A
10
significant economic losses that rise 4 B
-sgn*log (p-value)
to half of the national expenditure in C 5
2
developed countries.
In another 3-month expe- 0
0
riment of rehabilitation in an aug-
0 Month 3 Month
mented ecological environment and -2
** for p-value less than 0.01
integrative suggestions for lifestyle
modification, significant improve- -4 30
*
ments were recorded. These included 0 1 2 3 4
positive data in inflammatory marker MONTH
25
values (in-blood homocysteine) and
MoCA socre
20
cognitive function scores (Montreal Quality of life measured by 17-point Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale (PGCMS)
during the rehabilitation. Colored dotted lines represent the mean p-values that
Cognitive Assessment, MoCA) in se- 15
showed significant improvement only in group A (significance level less than 5%)
ven elderly patients (Fig. 2b). These
facts strongly imply that augmenting 10
A
biological diversity in surrounding
4 B
ecosystems and interacting with it 5
-sgn*log (p-value)
C
through daily food habits and lifes-
2 0
tyles would improve our health.
A city can be hotter in biodi- 0 0 Month 3 Month
versity if only you get your hands dir-
* for p-value less than 0.05.
ty. And if you have to eat a peck of dirt -2
Bottom: Significant increases in Montreal
before you die anyway, why don’t you
-4 Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores after
swallow a bunch of beneficial soil mi- three months of a rehabilitation program with
crobiota and energize yourself with a 0 1 2 3 4 augmented ecosystem (n=7, p-value=0.027,
science-minded tea ceremony? MONTH paired t-test).
 254
FIVE LESSONS
FOR MEANINGFUL
ENGAGEMENT OF LOCAL
COMMUNITIES IN URBAN
REGENERATION PROJECTS
DE CEUVEL, A CIRCULAR
GREEN HOTSPOT
IN AMSTERDAM
For 80 years, the van
Hasselt Canal was part of
a commercial shipyard,
repairing and building ships.
The plot stayed deserted
for 20 years until a group
of volunteers decided to
transform the area into a
creative co-working space
called ‘de Ceuvel’. Besides
regenerating an abandoned
industrial site, what makes
de Ceuvel particularly special
is their approach to commons
governance and involvement
of communities. The following
five lessons showcase how de
Ceuvel can be an inspiration
for project developers and city
governments in meaningfully
engaging local citizens.
BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
LESSON 1: FOSTER VISIONS
AND IDEAS OF COMMUNITIES
Communities have local knowledge,
ideas and plans but not always a pla-
tform or chance to implement these
in practice. For de Ceuvel, a citizens
contest was set out by the munici-
pality. The ‘problem’ of polluted soil
was seen as an opportunity for inno-
vation and a new way of living.
“Let citizens think with you –
give local communities your problem
and empower them to find solutions for
places where they live, play and work.”
LESSON 2: CREATE AN
EQUAL PLAYING FIELD
Project managers should not soli-
dify the desired outcome but rather
create a framework that ensures sa-
fety, legal, social and environmental
measures while providing space for
creativity and innovation. To do so,
it is important to question the idea
of one-way participation: are you, as
the offering party, willing to partici-
pate as well?
“There is a need for space and
a bottom-up approach but also for lea-
dership to guide the project in a mea-
ningful direction.”
LESSON 3: ENGRAIN
LOCALS IN THE PROJECT
De Ceuvel’s community engagement
has become a long-lasting success in
the neighbourhood through the enga-
gement of locals. This is done by or-
ganising workshops, events, activities
OPINION ARTICLES
Eline Van
Remortel
Intern at the
Urban Alliance,
IUCN European
Regional Office.
for children and providing job oppor-
tunities solely for locals.
“Stay connected to your so-
cial responsibility and keep thinking
about small initiatives that share the
benefits of the space with all.”
LESSON 4: SEARCH
FOR PERMEABILITY
It is important to find common
ground in boundaries and search for
permeability. De Ceuvel has blurred
boundaries between nature and peo-
ple through nature-inclusive buil-
ding; between living and working
by bringing social values into the
design; between public and private
space by opening the site for visitors;
and between art and science by na-
vigating interfaces.
“Permeability and thinking
outside of boundaries can enable inno-
vation towards multi-benefit solutions.”
LESSON 5: CITIZENS OWNERSHIP
Communities need to feel a sen-
se of ownership over their space to
make them fully connected and in-
vested. Ownership does not stop at
envisioning but is strengthened by
building, planting trees and creating
with your own hands. De Ceuvel is
decentralised through commons
governance, which means that ow-
nership is not dedicated to a single
person but instead to the communi-
ty as a whole.
“A community is not just about
ideas and work, but also about eating,
255
Quote as: Van Remortel, E. Five Lessons
for Meaningful Engagement of Local
Communities in Urban Regeneration
Projects. De Ceuvel, a Circular Green
Hotspot in Amsterdam. P. 254-255.
In: Mejía, M.A., Amaya-Espinel,
J.D. (eds.). BiodiverCities by 2030:
Transforming Cities with Biodiversity.
Bogotá. Instituto de Investigación
de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
von Humboldt. 2022. 288 pages.
dancing and singing together for a
meaningful sense of belonging.”
There is a need for a pa-
radigm change in how we enga-
ge, empower and co-create with
local communities in cities. We
need to move away from a one-
way conversation style and see
citizens as our partners in buil-
ding greener and more liveable
cities. There should be space for
bottom-up democracy and leader-
ship, including values of nature
and people and using tools from
art and science. If we want loca-
lised effective solutions, we need
to engage citizens in an equal
partnership and empower them
to envision, develop and imple-
ment solutions.
 256
GLOSSARY
Air pollution: The alteration of the environment by substances or forms of energy placed
there by human activity or nature, in quantities, concentrations, or levels capable of in-
terfering with the well-being and health of people, harming flora and fauna, degrading
the quality of the environment, or affecting the resources of the Nation or of private
individuals” (Law 23 of 1973).
Areas that generate additional building rights: Declared protected regional areas with an
adopted management plan, which border urban land or urban expansion land. They
have been defined by the Land Management Plan and are susceptible to being com-
pensated by additional building rights (article 2 of decree 24/152 of 2021).
Assed-based community development: It is an approach to community-based develop-
ment based on the principles of A) Appreciating and mobilizing individual and com-
munity talents, skills, and assets (rather than focusing on problems and needs) and B)
Community-driven development rather than development driven by external agen-
cies (Mathie & Cunningham, 2007).
Assisted ecological restoration: regeneration of ecosystems through human intervention
(Crouzeilles et al., 2017).
Backcasting: A planning technique where desired future conditions are visualized and
steps are defined to reach them. In other methods, the actions taken are a continuation
of the present and extrapolated into the future (Holmberg & Robèrt, 2000).
Barrel of Liebig: The law of the minimum (LLM) states that the most limiting nutrient
constrains the growth of an organism at that moment (Liebig, 1840). More recently, to
address pressing social-environmental challenges, such as carbon-climate feedbacks
and food security, many ecosystem models have adopted LLM to simulate the growth
of plants and microorganisms that affect crop yield (under various levels of fertiliza-
tion), the global carbon cycle (Achat et al., 2016, Lawrence et al., 2019, Zhu et al., 2019),
aquatic and ocean biogeochemistry (Degroot, 1983, Yool et al., 2011), etc.
Bio-corridors: A biological corridor is a linear landscape element that provides for move-
ment between habitat patches but not necessarily reproduction. Thus, not all life his-
tory requirements of a species may be met in a corridor (Rosenberg et al., 1997).
Bioblitz: A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as
possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families,
students, teachers, and other community members work together to get a snapshot of
an area’s biodiversity. These events can happen in almost any geography - urban, ru-
ral, or suburban - in areas as small as a backyard or as large as a country. Smartphone
technologies and apps such as iNaturalist make collecting photographs and biological
information about living things easy as part of a BioBlitz. High-quality data uploaded to
iNaturalist become part of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, an open-source
database used by scientists and policymakers worldwide. (National Geographic Socie-
ty, n.d.).
BiodiverCities: The concept was first registered as a series of conferences promoting the
dialogue between academics and practitioners in Paris (2010), Rio de Janeiro (2012),
Cape Town (2014), and Marseille (2015). These exchanges focused on protected areas in
and around cities. The concept adopted new layers in the years to come. The Global Ne-
twork of Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), the voice of local governments
before the Convention on Biological Diversity, entitled an entire work agenda “Biodi-
verCities.” The publication “BiodiverCities: A Primer on Nature in Cities” was developed
by ICLEI Canada and Toronto and Region Conservation. Then, in 2019, the Colombian
Government implemented a nature-positive approach to urban development under
the name of BiodiverCities (BiodiverCiudades). The BiodiverCities strategy was initia-
ted in close dialogue with city Mayors to tap into different opportunities for mainstrea-
ming biodiversity in 14 cities nationwide. Building on this country’s leadership, in 2021,
the World Economic Forum and Colombia partnered to scale a global initiative with
a substantial ambition: BiodiverCities by 2030. Finally, there is the BiodiverCities pro-
ject in the context of the E.U. Biodiversity Strategy, aiming to enhance the use of green
BIODIVERCIUDADES
infrastructures in urban contexts (2020) (WEF & Alexander Von Humboldt Biological
Resources Research Institute, 2022).
BiodiverCity by 2030: a joint initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Alexander
von Humboldt Institute, championed by the Colombian Government. The initiative
aims to support city governments, businesses, and citizens, to enable cities to live in
harmony with nature by 2030. BiodiverCities by 2030 sets a vision of cities as living
systems where their economic, social, and ecological functions come together in
harmony. BiodiverCities have five characteristics; guiding nature-positive actions on
infrastructure, governance, economy, health, and well-being (WEF & Alexander Von
Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, 2022).
Biodiversity basin: An area of movement and habitat, larger than the urban area, where
certain species exist. A biodiversity basin is always specific and will vary in size, sha-
pe, and spatial extent depending on the species’ characteristics, size, mobility, repro-
ductive, and feeding habits (see theoretical chapter Understanding BiodiverCities from
a Transformative Change Approach).
Bioeconomy: There is no single narrative around the bioeconomy. It is often associated
with an economy that builds on natural resources, especially biomass, to sustaina-
bly produce goods and services, mediated by innovations resulting from gathering
knowledge. At the urban-regional level, the bioeconomy can contribute to creating
comprehensive, sustainable, and profitable value chains and networks, such as those
associated with the use of biological assets to obtain economic value (e.g., the use of
wild plants marketed in urban distribution centers), developing controlled environ-
ments (e.g., urban agriculture) or creating new products from biomass (e.g., biorefine-
ries) (Taylor & While, 2021). An added value of these initiatives is that they can support
the resilience of cities to change, for example, in periods of scarcity or restriction,
towards becoming self-sufficient with local consumption and production networks
(Murcia-López, 2022).
Bioindicators: Bioindicators include biological processes, species, or communities and are
used to assess the quality of the environment and how it changes over time (Holt &
Miller, 2010).
Biomass: any organic matter available on a renewable basis, including crops and agricultu-
ral wastes and residues, wood and wood wastes and residues, animal wastes, munici-
pal wastes, and aquatic plants (Bracmort, 2013).
Biomimicry: The construction of public space and territory can learn from and integrate
with natural systems. Biomimicry at the urban scale can radically change how we
conceive our environments (Kellert et al., 2011; Wahl, 2006).
Biotopes: An area of uniform environmental conditions that provides living space for an
assemblage of flora and fauna. It refers to biological communities (Olenin & Ducrotoy,
2006).
Birdwatching tourism: Avitourism is an emerging subsector of the nature-based tourism
industry, where the motivations of tourist travel are focused on the observation, ad-
miration, and monitoring of birds, which promotes their protection and conservation
(Steven et al., 2015).
Buildability rights: Square meters of additional construction over the essential urban de-
velopment uses, obtained as consideration for the delivery to the municipality of land
defined as protected regional areas (article 2 of Decree 24/152 of 2021).
Capital city: Cities that concentrate the most significant number of social, economic, popu-
lation, cultural, and political activities (Therborn, 2008).
Circular Economy: the term ‘circular economy’ denotes an industrial economy that is res-
torative by intention and design [...] products are designed for ease of reuse, disassem-
bly, and refurbishment, or recycling, with the understanding that it is the reuse of vast
amounts of material reclaimed From end-of-life products, rather than the extraction
of resources, that is the foundation of economic growth (Ellen MacArthur Foundation,
2013).
Annex
Citizen participation: Although it is always mentioned in wetland management policies,
citizen participation is rarely effective. The project has had 12 participation spaces,
four working groups, and five participatory diagnostic tours (see the case study Every-
body gives, everybody wins).
Citizen science: Public participation and collaboration in scientific research to increase
scientific knowledge. Through citizen science, people share and contribute to data mo-
nitoring and collection programs (Dickinson et al., 2010; National Geographic, 2020).
City: Government agencies and individual researchers have given different definitions of
this concept, most based on one or more factors: total population, population density,
and the impervious surface area or built structure. In most cases, high human popula-
tion density and extensive impervious surface area are the two prominent factors that
define what is urban (Wu, 2014). According to authors such as Alberti (2008), cities are
complex ecological systems dominated by humans, and human elements differen-
tiate them from natural ecosystems in many ways. From an ecological perspective,
urban ecosystems differ from natural ecosystems in terms of climate, soil, hydrology,
species composition, population dynamics, and flows of energy and matter.
Conservation landscapes: A large-scale management and conservation approach that
includes different conservation objectives. It seeks to include multiple species, ecosys-
tems, and anthropic matrices in management programs, the use of long-term mana-
gement objectives, and the consideration of ecological dynamics and complexities. Its
strategies and management are flexible and adaptive and correspond to the context
and strategic aim of the conservation project (Lindenmayer, 2008).
Cutting-edge industrialization: Industrialization that occurs with high technologies (cut-
ting-edge oradvanced). They take place in countries with a high level of development
and require significant capital investment; are exceptionally present in some develo-
ping countries (Flores, 2016).
Design-build: Generally, D.B. is an arrangement between an owner and a sole entity to
execute both design and construction phases under one agreement (Construction
Industry Institute, 1997; Friedlander, 1998; Beard et al., 2001). Part, or all, of the design
and construction, might be executed by the entity or subcontracted to other firms. The
contract is usually awarded on the lowest price or best value basis. Hence, the central
theme of the D.B. project delivery system is that the contractor is responsible for perfor-
ming both the design and construction stages, so the system has several advantages.
These advantages emanate from the contractor’s early participation in the design pro-
cess and include reduced project completion time and lower cost enhanced commu-
nication (Anumba & Evbuoman, 1996; Konchar & Sanvido, 1998). This delivery system
satisfies the client’s need to accomplish projects earlier, with fewer overall expenses
and additional costs (Dewi et al., 2011).
Directionality: Transformation is about establishing new directions: This is important
because historical studies have shown that most innovations are cumulative and,
therefore, can be said to have a direction seen as natural or inevitable; hence, only cer-
tain solutions are sought, and others are ignored. Transformative innovation proposes
that not all innovations are positive; some can be highly damaging and create social
inequality. Therefore, new directions need to be considered, and other development
trajectories opened up to fulfill societal and environmental goals (see theoretical chap-
ter Understanding BiodiverCities).
eBird: eBird began with a simple idea—that every birdwatcher has unique knowledge and ex-
perience. The goal is to gather this information in the form of checklists of birds, archive
it, and freely share it to power new data-driven approaches to science, conservation, and
education. At the same time, it develops tools that make birding more rewarding, from be-
ing able to manage lists, photos, and audio recordings, to seeing real-time maps of species
distribution, to alerts that let you know when species have been seen (eBird, n.d.).
Ecological connectivity: Ecological Connectivity is the unimpeded movement of species
and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth (CMS, 2020).
Ecosystem disservices: Disturbances produced by ecosystems, such as pests, garbage, in-
frastructure deterioration, diseases, animal attacks, allergens, and poisonous organis-
ms, as well as hazards such as floods and storms (Von Döhren & Haase, 2015).
257
Ecosystem services: Benefits (direct or indirect) derived from ecosystems that enhance
human well-being (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Based on the Millen-
nium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), these services can be classified into four catego-
ries: provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting. Provisioning services: products
obtained from ecosystems (e.g., water). Regulating services: benefits obtained from
ecosystems without undergoing transformation processes (e.g., pollination). Cultural
services: non-material benefits obtained from ecosystems (e.g., site identity). Suppor-
ting services: services necessary for producing other services (e.g., soil formation).
Effective Public Space: To guarantee the planning and management of public space in the
POTs and fundamentally monitor the quantitative and qualitative deficit of the same
in cities, Article 14 of Decree 1504 of 1998 established the category of Effective Public
Space, which corresponds to the public space of a permanent nature, made up of green
areas, parks, squares, and squares. For its measurement, an indicator of public space
per inhabitant and a minimum EPE index of 15 m2 was established (Conpes 3718, 2012).
Energy cycle: Describes the interactions among the earth’s energy sources (NASA, 2022).
In ecosystems, it describes the energy flow through living things within an ecosystem
(Christian, 2009).
Environmental education: Environmental education aims to produce a citizenry that is
knowledgeable concerning the biophysical environment and its associated problems,
aware of how to help solve these problems, and motivated to work toward their solution
(Stapp et al., 1969).
Experimentation: Early phases of transition are often characterized by experimentation
where it is unclear which different developmental paths are the best options for socie-
ty. Experiments can be a mechanism for building niches, which can be important for
socio-technical change by challenging existing approaches, setting up new collective
priorities, and guiding transformations (see theoretical chapter Understanding Biodi-
verCities).
Feedback loops: A key characteristic of the intertwined relation between social and eco-
logical domains is that they are governed by feedback loops (Knoot et al., 2010). Loops
can be positive or negative according to their potential to enhance change and support
the system’s natural dynamism. When ecological systems are disturbed (intervened
by humans), it creates an imbalance and forces the system to adapt and self-regulate
(see theoretical chapter Understanding BiodiverCities).
Financing instruments: Any contract giving rise to both a financial asset of one entity and
a financial liability or equity instrument of another entity. The Financial assets include
cash, a contractual right to receive cash or another financial asset from another entity
(i.e., trade receivables), a contractual right to exchange financial instruments with ano-
ther entity under potentially favorable conditions, or an equity instrument of another
entity. Financial instruments include both primary and derivative instruments (Kirk,
2008).
Food guilds: The term guild holds a central place in community ecology. A guild is defined
as a group of species that similarly exploit the same class of environmental resources.
This term groups together species without regard to the taxonomic position that over-
laps significantly in their niche requirements (Koran & Kropil, 2014; Simberloff & Dayan,
1991).
Food security: Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and econo-
mic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and
food preferences for active and healthy life (FAO, 1996).
Forest Bioeconomy: The bioeconomy is expected to be the guiding par paradigm within the
forest-based sector in the years to come. It has been defined in various ways. In a fo-
rest-based context, it can be understood to mean the utilization of forests to create pro-
ducts and services that help economies replace fossil-based raw materials, products,
and services. The forest-based bio-economy links the whole forest value chain from
managing and using natural resources to delivering products and services (Wolfsle-
hner et al., 2016).
Geotubes: High-strength woven polypropylene geotextile designed to receive and retain
pumped material. It allows water content to escape through fine pores until the requi-
 258
red density of the contained material is reached. Geotubes are commonly used for de-
hydrating in the paper, agriculture, and wastewater industries (Sheehan, 2012).
Grassroots movements: movements that aim to mediate adversity and respond to societal
needs (building resilience) (Ferreira & Pantidi, 2018).
Green corridors: Central to this vision of green infrastructure is the idea of linkages and
connectivity between patches of open spaces and woodlands, between diverse types
of wildlife habitats in urban and peri-urban areas. The words ‘green corridors charac-
terize the connections,’ a notion of strips of vegetated land running through a matrix of
urban and industrial development (Douglas & Sadler, 2011).
Green infrastructure: An interconnected network of green spaces that conserve the func-
tions and values of natural ecosystems and provide associated benefits to the human
population (Benedict & McMahon, 2006).
Happiness: Initially, it consisted of an exercise that sought to collect evidence of feelings
of gratitude produced by municipal attention to community problems. Years later,
this was adjusted to an idea that happiness is a feeling and not an emotion that emer-
ges and goes away, and as a feeling, it is lasting and has an objective basis in some-
thing that did happen. In the Sweet City vision, happiness arises from the attention
and empathy of the municipality and is a feeling that includes a dose of gratitude.
Once the vision of Ciudad Dulce began to be governed, the concept of Wellness and Ha-
ppiness of Curridabat was developed, aimed at improving the following experiences:
nutritious food, mental health, fun exercise, and quality relationships, connected by a
transverse axis: presence (García & Marín, 2020).
Heat island: Urban areas generate their own microclimate by altering wind and water cu-
rrents, a smog-generated greenhouse effect, and using building materials with high
insulative properties and albedo (Arnfield, 2003). Particularly well-known is the urban
“heat island” effect (Landsberg, 1981; Brazel et al., 2000; Kuttler, 2008). This effect is es-
pecially felt at night when the surrounding areas cool down while the city reluctantly
releases its built-up heat (McIntyre, 2011).
I-Tree Eco Software: i-Tree Eco is an open-access software tool developed by the United
States Forest Service (USFS). It analyzes the urban forest structure in terms of spe-
cies composition, leaf area, and tree health and uses these parameters to estimate
the ecosystem services those trees provide. I-Tree Eco can quantify the amount of air
pollution removed by a particular stand of trees or entire urban forest every year for
common air pollutants, including PM2.5 (Nowak & Crane, 2000).
iNaturalist: Joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geo-
graphic Society. It is a citizen science project and online social network of naturalists,
citizen scientists, and biologists based on the concept of mapping and sharing biodi-
versity observations around the world. The project can be accessed through its website
or mobile applications (Unger et al., 2021).
Indigenous community settlements: These are areas of an indigenous territorial domain,
whether reservations, reserves, partialities, or traditional territories that are recogni-
zed but not legalized. They express their own forms of endogenous social organization
(Secretary General of the Organization of American States, 1993; Sinchi, 2022).
Industrial environmental fabric: it is constituted by the natural or artificial elements that,
when intertwined in the territory where the industry is based, enable the exchange
of species, dynamic ecosystem processes, the strengthening of biodiversity, and the
mitigation of natural threats (Vicente, 2022).
Industrial symbiosis: The emerging field of industrial ecology demands unwavering at-
tention to the flow of materials and energy through local, regional, and global econo-
mies. The part of industrial ecology known as industrial symbiosis engages traditio-
nally separate entities in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving the
physical exchange of materials, energy, water, and by-products. The keys to industrial
symbiosis are collaboration and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic
proximity. Eco-industrial parks are examined as concrete realizations of the indus-
trial symbiosis concept (Chertow, 2000).
Informality: Urban informality is perceived as a container for the urban poor who are
vulnerable to the harsh effects of climate change (Alam & Golam Rabbani, 2007; Huq
BIODIVERCIUDADES
& Reid, 2007; Nchito, 2007), with limited economic output critical for inter and intra-ge-
nerational equity (Fekade, 2000; Ueta, 2003) as well as exercising practices, activities
and growth patterns which are seen as detrimental to the environment and agricul-
tural and industrial land use, thereby affecting sustainable development (Asere & Kita,
2015; De Risi et al., 2013; Napier, 2007; U.N. Habitat, 2003; United Nations 2006).
Land management instruments: Instruments that allow regulation of the dynamics of the
city’s territorial transformation to optimize the use of natural and human resources
to achieve decent living conditions for the current population and future generations”
(Law 388 of 1997). These include land and municipal planning, rights transfer, expro-
priation, compensation, transfer of titles, and urban development units, among others
(Law 388 of 1997).
Landscape approach: a strategy to recognize the importance of solid and strategic ecosys-
tems for adaptation and ecohydrological connectivity, promoting their conservation
and sustainable use fairly and equitably (Shepherd, 2006).
Landscape connectivity: Landscape connectivity is “the degree to which absolute isolation
is prevented by landscape elements which allow organisms to move among patches”
(Merriam, 1984).
Learning: Experimenting with different options should generate 2nd order learning, which
are processes that question existing routines, rethinking how problems are defined
and what solutions are considered appropriate. This involves reflexivity – the ability of
actors to reflect on their practices and assumptions and those of others. It should also
stimulate actors to engage with each other to allow 2nd order learning (see theoretical
chapter Understanding BiodiverCities).
Lidar-based map: Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology is a laser-based remote
sensing technology that calculates the distance to a target by illuminating it using la-
ser light (Lohani & Suddhasheel, 2017).
Life stories: These autobiographical accounts of the community of the Samper Mendoza
Marketplace allude to the decisions and practices put in place by different actors con-
cerning structural conditions that delimit, enable or hinder them. Understanding
someone’s life story implies understanding that it emerges as part of a broader social
set in which power relations are involved. In the case of the vendors of the Samper
Mendoza Marketplace in Bogotá, these life paths are also defined by class, gender,
and origin conditions. There, the actions they have taken to enter and remain in the
herbal trade have emerged in the continuous interaction between the development of
knowledge and practices related to the plants they sell and the abilities to navigate the
city’s herbal market (Méndez, 2021).
Living heritage: Protecting heritage not only as preservation of the built environment but
also as an ongoing history that combines ancestral heritage, local traditions, and ways
of relating to the landscape and adapting to present challenges (see case study Floods
allowed).
Local environmental management: A set of actions aimed at strengthening local govern-
ments’ capacities to protect their communities’ biodiversity and adapt to climate chan-
ge (Iclei, 2010).
National Park City: A National Park City is a place, a vision, and a city-wide community
acting together to improve life for people, places, and nature. A defining feature is the
widespread commitment to act so people, culture, and nature work together to provide
a better foundation for life and so we can enjoy ourselves too. It is long-term, large-sca-
le, hyperlocal, personal, and intergenerational. Everyone in a National Park City has
the potential to contribute and benefit every day (Sacramento Park City, n.d.)
Map: A drawing of the earth’s surface, or part of that surface, showing the shape and posi-
tion of different countries, political borders, natural features such as rivers and moun-
tains, and artificial features such as roads and buildings (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.).
Map of London: The map of London’s great outdoors includes the capital’s 3,000 parks plus
woodlands, playing fields, nature reserves, city farms, rivers, canals, and all the spaces
contributing to London’s landscape (National Park City, n.d.).
Momposina Depression: An abnormal sedimentation basin within the fluvial system of
the Magdalena River. It concentrates about 80% of the total number of marshes in the
Annex
region, has a concave shape, and is one of the largest floodable systems in the world,
with more than 1000 km2 (Angarita et al., 2016; Herrera et al., 2001). It is characterized
by periodic flooding due to its location in the middle of a fault system that originates
a continuous subsidence process, which gives way to a natural wetland ecosystem,
habitat of multiple species of fauna and flora (Rojas & Montejo, n.d.).
National forest city: In China, they emerge as a project to improve the urban environment,
promote forest growth, and integrate urban development by promoting and maintai-
ning adequate green spaces. The State Forestry Administration (SFA) and the National
Greening Committee launched a National Forest City (NFC) designation campaign in
2004 (Zhang et al., 2021).
National Park: Natural or near-natural areas whose main objective is to protect biodiversi-
ty, thereby maintaining ecological processes, decreasing loss of species, and conser-
ving the area’s distinct ecosystems. In addition, they provide a base for spiritual, scien-
tific, educational, recreational, and environmentally and culturally compatible visitor
opportunities (IUCN, 1994).
Natural cities: Despite being human-made artifacts, cities have biological functions. Cities
and people must belong to nature and co-evolve with it (Kellert, 2018).
Nature-based solutions: Contribution of well-managed and diverse ecosystems to enhan-
ce human resilience and to provide additional development opportunities for men and
women in poor communities” (Potschin et al., 2016).
Nature-positive: Nature-positive means halting and reversing nature loss by 2030, mea-
sured from a baseline of 2020. It focuses on species distribution, abundance, functio-
nal traits, genetic diversity, demographic trends, and the intactness and integrity of
ecosystems and biomes. The concept also comprises the functioning of ecological and
global processes like hydrology, rainfall patterns, and migration, which support biodi-
versity, maintain drinking water supplies, sustain agriculture, and ensure a stable cli-
mate. Together, these provide a resilient planet, able to cope with shocks and stresses
without crossing destabilizing tipping points. (Locke et al., 2020).
Participatory auditory monitoring of biodiversity: the process of continuous collection of
information on biodiversity, where local communities, institutions, researchers, and
other actors are actively involved, and which allows evaluating progress towards the
fulfillment of actions and objectives (Guariguata, 2016; Lindenmayer & Likens, 2018).
Participatory design: a design process that involves all stakeholders as protagonists so
that they are the ones who generate their own solutions (Bratteteig et al., 2012; Robert-
son & Simonsen, 2012; Sarkissian, 1986). Therefore, its main objective is to pool knowle-
dge between multidisciplinary stakeholders, such as system designers and users of
those systems (Mallanm et al., 2017).
Phenology calendar: Specialized calendar that records the sequence of phenological
events. It is a series of lists with dates and statistics of phenological phases, duration,
and intervals. Its primary use is to generate a graphically designed phenological spec-
trum and study the records’ average values. It is widely used in agricultural activities
and tourism management (Zheng et al., 2016).
Pollinators: Invertebrates, mammals, birds, and any other agency responsible for pollen
transport between individuals of the same species (Molles, 2015).
Population centers: Correspond to the so-called “caserios” (hamlets), the heads of the police
stations, and the heads of the small municipal towns. They are known as occupation
“foothills” and are small settlements that fulfill epicentral roles for certain geographic
areas. They offer little in the way of social, economic, and administrative services to
the population (Sinchi, n.d.).
Prototype: Apparent but concrete representation of part or all of a business idea or a product
or service. A prototype incorporates the basic elements so that it is functional, can be
tested, and answers a series of questions about the idea’s business viability and how
it can be implemented. The prototyping process validates the viability of the product/
service concept being planned (Méndez, 2021).
Public space: Like the notion of location, public space occurs at various scales and levels of
understanding, from the small physical scale of a street or park to a neighborhood, city,
or country. Depending on the type of approach, this can be described as a physical spa-
259
ce that relates to people, which is possible to distinguish in terms of ownership, control,
access, and use (Mehta, 2014).
R+D: Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic
work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of hu-
mankind, culture, and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge
(OECD, 2015).
Recreational green space: Due to its spatial proximity alone, urban green spaces, like parks
or forests, provide health benefits to people because they improve, for example, ther-
mal comfort and air quality (Jarvis et al., 2020). In addition, recreation, which can only
be achieved when urban green spaces are accessed and used (Brown, 2008; Wang et
al., 2015), contributes to physical and psychological health and well-being via, e.g., re-
laxation, physical activity, and social interactions (Byrne et al., 2009; Wolch et al., 2014;
Rigolon, 2016).
Regeneration: Recent urban agendas have introduced narratives of “regeneration,” an idea
that draws insights from socio-ecological relations to deliver real-world solutions for
urban planning (Raymond et al., 2004). Circular Economy practices oriented to reusing,
repairing, and recycling are common examples of new efforts to incorporate an en-
vironmentally friendly dimension to urban development (see theoretical chapter Un-
derstanding BiodiverCities).
Right to the city: The French philosopher Henri Lefebvre argued that the “Right to the City”
is the right to “urban life, to renewed centrality, to meeting and exchange places, to
the rhythms of life and uses of time, that allow the use of full and complete times and
places” (Lefebvre, H. 1996). David Harvey noted that Lefebvre’s concept is “not simply
a right to access what already exists, but a right to change it according to our heart’s
desire” (Harvey, 2003).
Rural settlements: Correspond to the areas between the perimeter of the municipal capital
and the municipality’s border. They are made up of farms and grouped into hamlets
belonging to the municipality (Sinchi, 2022).
School Environmental Project (PRAE, for its Spanish acronym): a pedagogical strategy re-
gulated in Colombia through Decree 1743 of 1994. It invites public and private schools to
identify environmental situations and to generate an educational proposal transver-
sal to the curriculum that involves students in its resolution through interdisciplinary
pedagogical practices and research.
Scientific expeditions: As an umbrella term, it broadly defines a culturally and historically
specific mission carried out by a group of people with specific work tasks to reduce the
unknown and systematically acquire, collect, and document knowledge. David Phi-
lip Miller already pointed out in 1996 that “basic descriptors of scientific activity - for
example, experiment or discovery or observation - become (...) complex processes of
interpretation based on particular cultural practices (Klemun & Spring, 2016).
Settlement ring: the population ring of the Colombian Amazon is the continuation of
the national peripheral urban system in the south of the country, a phenomenon
that is explained by the territory’s social construction and that means the consoli-
dation of urban-rural elements through the network of population centers and road
axes, anthropic cover (pastures and crops), intervened areas -transformed areas-
and the concentration of population in urban areas. It is based on continuous
construction for the production and circulation of goods. The population ring is a
common scenario, both for the Colombian Amazon and the rest of the Amazonian
countries (Sinchi, n.d.).
Settlements of peoples in isolation: Indigenous groups that have chosen not to have con-
tact with the white man. It is a free and voluntary decision to survive according to their
own uses and customs and thus create a cultural identity that differs from all other
human groups (Franco, 2012).
Sinú river: River that flows through the municipalities of Ituango, Tierralta, Valencia, Mon-
tería, Cereté, San Pelayo, Cotorra, Lorica and San Bernardo del Viento, departments of
Antioquia and Córdoba in Colombia. It rises in the Paramillo massif, at 3500 meters
above sea level, and its mouth is at the mouth of Tinajones, where it forms a delta at the
southern end of the Morrosquillo Gulf on the Caribbean Sea (IGAC, n.d.).
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Social urbanism: Social urbanism is used as a way to address socio-spatial inequa-
lity that plagues many cities. It is a developmental approach based on investing
in people, places, and jobs through creating public spaces and infrastructure.
In Colombia, social urbanism came out of bringing public services to informal sett-
lements as a way to reduce inequality and violence. This innovative concept is foun-
ded on the idea that public space has no socioeconomic divisions.
Social-ecological functionality: Processes emerging from the interactions between
components of the social and ecological systems (SES). A function, such as firewood
provision, depends on both the people harvesting wood and the trees producing it.
Changes in SES functions may be qualitative or quantitative depending on the natu-
re and number of actors and the nature and quantity of ecosystem components that
contribute to the functions (Rives et al., 2012).
Social-ecological systems: dynamic systems involving biophysical and social factors
that regularly interact in a resilient and sustained manner over time at hierarchical
scales. It constitutes an analytical tool that combines social and ecological factors
(Everard, 2020). They are based on the “human being in nature” perspective.
Socio-technical: These are systems that exist in areas that fulfill basic social needs such
as energy, mobility, food, education, and healthcare. Each system involves a wide
range of human and non-human actors, different levels of regulations and policies, a
mix of market dynamics, a collection of scientific and lay knowledge, and a series of
technologies and recurrent practices (F. Geels, 2002) (see theoretical chapter Unders-
tanding BiodiverCities).
Soundscapes: The soundscape is any acoustic field of study. We may speak of a musical
composition as a soundscape, a radio program as a soundscape, or an acoustic envi-
ronment as a soundscape. We can isolate an acoustic environment as a field of study
just as we can study the characteristics of a given landscape (Schafer, 1977).
Sponge cities: Cities with the capacity to incorporate urban water management into ur-
ban planning policies and designs. They have the appropriate legal frameworks and
planning tools to implement, maintain and adapt the infrastructure system to co-
llect, store and treat rainwater (Zevenbergen et al., 2018). Thus, sustainable urban de-
velopment includes flood control, water conservation, water quality improvement,
and natural ecosystem protection (Li et al., 2018).
Stepping Stones: Stepping stones are habitat patches in a landscape that are favorable to
different species, and that offer them refuge as they travel across, allowing them to
move between other larger patches of habitat (Saura et al., 2013).
Sustainability: Callicott and Mumford develop the meaning of the term “ecological sus-
tainability” as a valuable concept for conservation biologists. In “Ecological Sustai-
nability as a Conservation Concept,” these authors advance an ecological definition
of sustainability that connects human needs and ecosystem services: “meeting
human needs without compromising the health of ecosystems.” They propose this
concept as a guiding principle for areas where human activities occur (Morelli, 2011).
Sustainability education school network: The Hills of Bogotá Schools Network is a spa-
ce for integration and active collaboration between educational institutions for the
appropriation of the Cerros de Bogotá. To this end, it provides tools to schools, public
and private, for the articulation, strengthening, visibility, and execution of School En-
vironmental Projects, or other pedagogical projects, which aim at the conservation,
appropriation, and sustainable use of the Hills of the city of Bogotá and the ecosys-
tem services it provides. It also acts as a facilitator of collaborative work between
schools and institutions with interests related to the network’s objectives (Hills of
Bogotá Schools Network, n.d.).
System optimization: in system optimization, change originates mainly from reacting
to specific problems using the practices of existing systems. Policymakers often find
this approach more convenient as it is supported by rationales of efficiency, compe-
titiveness, and market-led dynamics (see theoretical chapter Understanding Biodi-
verCities).
System transformation: system transformation emphasizes the need to reconfigure
systems and requires a shared vision of change. Such a reconfiguration requires
BIODIVERCIUDADES
changes in the rules and practices of the existing system. This means working to
change features of the system, such as the nature of markets, infrastructures, and
technologies, as well as some of the values, expectations, and preferences that guide
the choices and actions of actors in the system (Geels & Schot, 2007) (see theoretical
chapter Understanding BiodiverCities).
Taxonomic research: A taxonomy is a system of categories and relationships. Taxono-
mies have also been called “typologies” and “mind maps.” Developing a taxonomy
represents the next level of organizing information. In this analytical process, the
investigator uncovers the threads or inclusionary criteria that distinguish and link
categories. For example, basic categories such as “whales” and “dogs” belong to the
larger category of “animals”; basic categories such as “blocks” and “dolls” belong to
the larger category of “toys.” In taxonomy, sets of categories are grouped based on si-
milarities. A taxonomic analysis is, therefore, an analytical procedure that results
in an organization of categories and that describes their relationships. A taxonomic
analysis focuses on identifying the relationship between wholes and parts (DePoy
et al., 2016).
Technomass: Indicator to measure the process of matter accumulation in urban ecosys-
tems (Inostroza, 2014).
Territorial occupation model: The Territorial Occupation Model - MOT, is the most
generic territorial image that allows for spatializing the objectives of greater
scope and the scenario projected to guide the policies of use and occupation of
the space that, according to the optimal potential of the environment, the poten-
tialities, and the biophysical, economic and cultural limitations, allows to ma-
nage the social construction and the ecological transformation of said space.
The construction of an MOT starts, in the first place, from the territory itself, from its
genesis and evolution, from its physical expression (natural and cultural), and from
the social, environmental, and economic indicators it represents. Likewise, it is built
from identifying problems and opportunities and constructing the future vision of
its development, which must be constituted as a collective agreement considering
its articulation and insertion in different areas and scales of the territory (Londoño
Gómez, 2014).
Transformation: Transformations involve radical changes in socio-technical and so-
cial-ecological systems and how these relate, where the term “radical” refers to
the scope of change rather than its speed (Grin et al., 2010). This is embodied in the
sustainable development goals that highlight the link between environmental and
social sustainability. Transformations also refer to multi-actor processes that entail
interactions between different social groups such as firms, user groups, scientific
communities, and social movements (see theoretical chapter Understanding Biodi-
verCities).
Transitory Zones for Normalization & Territorial Training and Reincorporation Areas
(ZVTN and ETCR, for their names in Spanish): Temporary and transitory areas, defi-
ned, delimited, and agreed upon between the National Government and the FARC-EP
to carry out the process of laying down arms and initiating the transition to legality
of the FARC-EP. For a period from 12/02/2016 to 05/31/2017 (Unit for Comprehensive
Care and Reparation for Victims, 2017).
Trophic chain: Set of chemical constituents of the tissues of organisms that vary accor-
ding to the diet of the organisms participating in the food chain. In this way, there
are transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from one organism to another
(Begossi et al., 2004).
Universal accessibility: The health and wellness benefits of contact with nature are well
known but are unevenly distributed in society. Unfortunately, this inequitable ac-
cess to nature means marginalized communities and people with disabilities have
significantly less access. This concept arises to enable the accessibility of all people
to nature in an equitable manner in urban and rural contexts (Groulx et al., 2022).
Urban: Pertaining or relating to the city (RAE, n.d.).
Urban acupuncture: As stated in the theory of urban acupuncture initiated by the archi-
tect and urbanist Manuel de Sola Morales, cities can be viewed and treated as living
Annex
organisms. This approach supposes that small surgical and selective interventions
in the built environment can have a strong and catalytic influence on the urban
ecosystem when these are planned in strategic positions (Kaye, 2011).
Urban centers, municipality capitals: Correspond to the perimeter of the municipal ca-
pital where the mayor’s Office is located. They are delimited on the perimeter of the
essential public services and include the urban expansion area declared by the mu-
nicipal council through an agreement. To define the urban role, the activity to which
most of the population is dedicated is identified (ECLAC, 2013; DANE, n.d.).
Urban coding: The term urban coding could be used in a general sense to mean the appli-
cation of any kind of code used in the urban context. In this way, any design, building,
layout, or zoning code can be described as an urban code. Therefore, the term ‘urban
coding’ embraces a diversity of practices, traditions, and formats, extending from
urban scale locational regulations to the prescription of architectural design details
and from abstract legalistic ordinances to illustrated examples in building manuals.
Urban Commons: This notion is guided by principles of solidarity, active citizen enga-
gement, inclusion, and social justice (Borch & Kornberger, 2015; Foster, 2011). Urban
Commons offer a wide range of city resources that can be made accessible and used
by all dwellers, especially those with difficulty accessing these services (see theore-
tical chapter Understanding BiodiverCities).
Urban ecology: Urban ecology is the study of ecosystems that includes humans living in
cities and urbanizing landscapes. It investigates ecosystem services closely linked
to urban development patterns (Alberti, 2005).
Urban hierarchy: Analysis through the supply of services and facilities available to each
urban center in the Amazon region, since this supply is directly related to the hierar-
chical role of each one of them (Riaño & Salazar, 2009).
Urban metabolism: refers to the processes of exchange by which cities trans-
form raw materials, energy, and water in the urban area (Broto et al., 2012).
It is a technical, political, and economic effort that allows the strengthening
of the supply networks of materials and energy, which seeks the efficiency
and effectiveness of the transformation processes, as well as the reduction
of environmental damage, allowing policy managers to anticipate unwanted
events (Díaz Álvarez, 2014).
Urban support capacity: the population that a city-territory can sustain, maintaining its
functionality and resilience (EAFIT, 2019).
Urban systems: Flows of energy, water, and chemical elements among the cities (Dou-
glas, 2010).
Value chain analysis: From a broad perspective, value chains make it possible to analyze
relationships and interdependencies between the most relevant actors and transac-
tions involving priority products. Therefore, identifying value chains makes it possi-
ble to observe how value is created in markets and understand their basis in several
aspects. The latter include the practices of the actors involved, the environment in
which their practices and transactions take place, the related knowledge, the gover-
nance systems that make them possible, and the support services that enable them
(Rojas et al., 2020).
Wetland complex: It is a set of ecosystems that share the same geographical area, with
similar characteristics and conditions, which are related to an ecological and envi-
ronmental level (Secretariat of Environment of Bogotá, n.d.).
Wetlands: Ecosystems that, due to geomorphological and hydrological conditions, allow
water to accumulate temporarily or permanently and give rise to a distinct type of
soil or organisms adapted to these conditions (Jaramillo Villa et al., 2016).
Zenú society: Indigenous people located in the reservation of San Andrés de Sotavento,
department of Córdoba, and in El Volao, in Colombia’s Urabá Antioquia. Numerous
settlements, partialities, and individual landowners exist in Córdoba, Sucre, Antio-
quia, and Chocó (Ministry of Interior, 2004). The Zenú culture stood out for its exce-
llent management of hydraulic engineering, as evidenced by an efficient system of
canals that, for almost two thousand years, covered 600,000 hectares (UNHCR, 2011;
Arango & Sánchez, 2004).
261
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Germán Andrade
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TRANSFORMATION
BIODIVERCITY AND REGION: A UNITARY
SYSTEM THE PARADIGM SHIFT IN 21ST
CENTURY URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Luis Inostroza
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Diana Ruiz
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Andrés Ibáñez
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SUSTAINABLE URBAN ECONOMIES TRANSITIONS
BASED ON BIODIVERSITY KNOWLEDGE
Mario A. Murcia López
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Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute
E-mail: mmurcia@humboldt.org.co
Nathalia M.V. Flórez Zapata
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Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute
E-mail: nflorez@humboldt.org.co
Brian Amaya
Position: Researcher, Nature’s Contributions to Well-Being Working Group.
Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute
E-mail: bamaya@humboldt.org.co
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PROPEL BIODIVERCITIES
Juliana Montoya
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E-mail: jmonto93@eafit.edu.co
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Recommended reading
› http://reporte.humboldt.org.co/biodiversidad/2017/cap3/303/
› http://reporte.humboldt.org.co/biodiversidad/2020/cap2/201/
› http://reporte.humboldt.org.co/biodiversidad/2020/cap3/306/
› https://encasa.parqueexplora.org/maravillosos-perseguidos/
BIODIVERCITY PLANNING: STRATEGIES
FOR INCORPORATING URBAN BIODIVERSITY
AND ITS ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Paola Morales
Position: Researcher, Territorial Management of Biodiversity
Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute
E-mail: pmorales@humboldt.org.co
 274
Claudia Álvarez
Position: Specialized professional, Environmental Management
Affiliation: Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development
E-mail: CMAlvarez@minambiente.gov.co
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TOWARDS THE FINANCING OF THE BIODIVERCITIES
Rigoberto Lugo
Position: Economic, administrative, and financial advisor
Affiliation: Consultant on urban planning and financing issues
E-mail: rigoberto.lugo@hotmail.com
Pablo Lazo
Position: Director of Urban Development, Accessibility, Water, and Green In-
frastructure
Affiliation: World Resource Institute
E-mail: Pablo.Lazo@wri.org
Notes:
1. There is no single concept that is unanimously accepted in the global institu-
tional environment. For this chapter, the following definition of green finance
is adopted: different public and private financing instruments (green bonds,
loans, specific fiscal resources, subsidies, grants, donations, etc.).
2. For this chapter, Natural Capital is defined as the stock of renewable and non-re-
newable resources (Ecosystems, subsoil resources). The stocks, in this case, are
the natural capital and the flows are the ecosystem and abiotic services. http://
www.thebiodiversityconsultancy.com/es/approaches/natural-capital/
3. https://www.un.org/development/desa/es/news/population/2018-world-ur-
banization-prospects.html
4. “The LAC region is hit by pandemic-driven recessions, severe economic and
social consequences of climate change, and inadequate and obsolete infras-
tructure” (Oliver, E. et al., 2021, p. 4).
Annex 275
5. Better known as green-gray. That is, infrastructure works that combine con- sources/sustainable-finance-publications/handbook-nature-related-finan-
ventional construction with natural and semi-natural systems. cial-risks
6. Mention can be made, among others: Bapna & Fuller, 2021; Griscom et al., 2017; Wade, K. & Jennings, M. (2016). The impact of climate change on the global
Wade & Jennings, 2016; WRI Brazil, 2020. economy. Shroders. https://www.schroders.com/en/us/institutional/
7. These seek to restrict the use of the environment (e.g., quotas, rights, and concessions insights/economic-v iews3/the-impact-of-climate-change-onthe-glo-
on resources or ecosystems, closures, emission limitations) and those seeking to con- bal-economy/
dition natural resources (e.g., zoning, resource use, or exploitation permits). WRI Brazi.l (2020). Financing low carbon infrastructure in urban areas in Brazil.
8. Term coined by BIOFIN - UNPD’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative. context, barriers and opportunities for green and climate finance in Brazilian
9. The “bankability” of the project consists of determining whether the project is cities. Financing Energy for Low-carbon Investment - Cities Advisory Facility
capable, within a certain period of time, of generating sufficient cash flows to (FELICITY). https://www.eib.org/attachments/fs-felicity-low-carbon-infras-
repay the financing granted. tructure-en.pdf
10. Scalability” refers to the size of the investment and financing of the projects.
11. For example, the IDB has granted ordinary capital loans exclusively for NBS
projects to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of El Salvador and Boli- INDICATORS FOR THE MEASUREMENT AND
via’s Ministry of Environment and Water. MONITORING OF BIODIVERCITIES
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277
EXPERIMENTATION
LONDON NATIONAL PARK CITY
IMPROVING LIFE IN THE CITY THROUGH
SMALL AND ACHIEVABLE ACTIONS
Daniel Raven-Ellison
Position: Founder
Affiliation: London National Park City
E-mail: dan.ravenellison@nationalparkcity.org
Notes
1. Ranging from grassroots campaigners to Mayors and Ministers, people from
lots of different cities have started the National Park City journey. Some are
just asking questions. Others have campaigned for years and are ready to apply
for the status. These people are from a range of cities including, but limited
to: Adelaide, Amsterdam, Auckland, Belfast, Berlin, Breda, Bristol, Calgary, Can-
berra, Cardiff, Chengdu, Chester, Christchurch, Concepción, Galway, Glasgow,
Johannesburg, Kazan, La Plata, London, Louisville, Manila, Melbourne, Milton
Keynes, Nairobi, Newcastle, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seoul, Southampton,
Swansea, Sydney, Tartu, Tokyo, Van Gogh, Waiariki Park Region, Albuquerque,
Chattanooga, San Pedro Garza García / Monterrey.
References
National Park City Foundation. (n.d.). The Journey Book: How to make your city a
National Park City? https://www.nationalparkcity.org/journey
Miles, E. (Ed.). (n.d.). Nature Is a Human Right, an anthology. The London National
Park City Proposal . https://www.nationalparkcity.london/proposal
RIVERS OF CHANGE
THE REVOLUTION OF THE PUBLIC
SPACE AROUND THE SINÚ RIVER
John Rodriguez
Position: Advisor of Desarrollo Urbano and Ordenamiento Territorial.
Affiliation: Monteria Planning Secretary’s Office
E-mail: jhonnelrodriguez@hotmail.com
Carlos Montoya
Position: Advisor, Office of the Minister of the Environment and Sustainable
Development
Affiliation: Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development
E-mail: CDMontoyaB@minambiente.gov.co
Collaborators
Adriana Vega Sánchez - Directora de Desarrollo Regional y Urbano Sostenible. MA-
PPA – Medio Ambiente Planeación Patrimonio Arquitectura.
Notes
1. In 1938, a wall was built to prevent flooding in the market area. The Montería
market, measuring approximately 5,000 m2, was built between 1942 and 1946.
2. In the beginning, the Sinú riverbank was financed by the private sector as
well as by the Corporación Autónoma Regional de Los Valles del Sinú y del San
Jorge (CVS), who understood the Sinú riverbank as an “environmental obser-
vatory.” As of the project’s fourth year, the license was maintained through a
 278 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Annex 279

fee charged for drinking water and essential sanitation services depending
on the socio-economic stratum (for 2002, the rates were as follows: stratum 1:
COP 1000; stratum 2: COP 2000; stratum 3: COP 3000; stratum 4: COP 5000; strata
5-6: COP 10,000; commercial: COP 6500, and industrial: COP 20,000). These rates
increased according to the CPI. Due to the successful operation of the license
model, instruments are currently being explored to return to this model.
3. In addition to the natural environment and its biodiversity, another vital design
criterion was its integration with the built environment, specifically the predo-
minant land use, which in some way also conditioned the zoning of the park’s
surroundings and accesses.
References
Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Cortés Larreamendy, F. & Vienna University
of Technology. (2014). Barrio mercado Montería: diseño de una estrategia ur-
bana y diseño conceptual inicial para la rehabilitación del Mercado Central de
Montería y su zona de influencia [presentation].
PLANNING ROOTED IN BIODIVERSITY
PARTICIPATORY TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT
IN HIGH MOUNTAIN CITIES
Marianne Katunaric
Position: National Coordinator of GEF Project 5135 “Biological Mountain Corridors”
Affiliation: Ministry of Environment of Chile tuto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI.  › https://www.minae.go.cr
E-mail: mkatunaric@mma.gob.cl
Jaime Rovira
Position: Responsible for Productive Sustainability GEF Project 5135 “Biological
Mountain Corridors” Zoido, F., Vega S., Morales, G., Mas, R. & Lois, R. (2000). Diccionario de geografía urbana,
Affiliation: Ministry of Environment of Chile
E-mail: jrovira@mma.gob.cl
Notes
1. Acronym for Global Environmental Fund
2. All the Biological Mountain Corridors GEF project resources are available at
https://gefmontana.mma.gob.cl/. org.co/publicaciones
URBAN AMAZON
EVOLUTION OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
IN THE COLOMBIAN AMAZON AND
THEIR LIVING CONDITIONS
Elizabeth Riaño Affiliation: Municipality of Curridabat Notes
Position: Researcher, Socio-environmental Dynamics Program
Affiliation: Amazonian Institute of Scientific Research SINCHI
E-mail: eli.elizabeth@gmail.com
Juan Felipe Guhl
Position: Socio-environmental Dynamics Program Coordinator
Affiliation: Amazonian Institute of Scientific Research SINCHI
E-mail: jguhl@sinchi.org.co
References
Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE). (2018). Censo Nacional
de Población y Vivienda 2018. DANE.
Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE). (2018). Proyecciones
de Población 2020. DANE.
Franco, R. (2012). Cariba malo: episodios de resistencia de un pueblo indígena aislado species with native and/or naturalized species, which better adapt to cli-
del Amazonas. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. mate change. The park commemorates citizens through their loved ones,
Gehl, J. (2014). Ciudades para la gente (1st ed.). Infinito. who planted a tree in their memory. Today it constitutes new and different
Gutiérrez, F., Acosta, L. E. & Salazar, C. A. (2003). Perfiles urbanos en la Amazonia co- attributes such as regeneration, contemplation, and remembrance.
lombiana. Un enfoque para el desarrollo sostenible. Instituto Amazónico de Inves- References
tigaciones Científicas SINCHI. European Commission. (2021). Addressing local and global nature-society cha-
Murcia, U., Medina, R., Rodríguez, J., Castellanos, H., Hernández, A. & Herrera, E. (2014). llenges. In: Co-producing Nature-Based Solutions and Restored Ecosystems:
Monitoreo de los bosques y otras coberturas de la Amazonia colombiana, a escala Transdisciplinary Nexus for Urban Sustainability. Conexus Project.
1:100.000. Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI. García, I. y Muñoz, A. (2020). Wellbeing in the Time of Cities: The Sweet City Vision.
Nobre, A. (2014). O Futuro Climático da Amazônia. Relatório de Avaliação Científica. Ar- https://www.urbanet.info/costa-rica-curridabat-the-sweet-city-vision/
ticulación Regional Amazónica (ARA). http://www.ccst.inpe.br/wp-content/up- Municipalidad de Curridabat. (n.d.). Plan Estratégico Municipal. 2018-2022.
loads/2014/10/Futuro-Climatico-da-Amazonia.pdf Municipalidad de Curridabat. (2019). Evaluación de la infraestructura verde y conecti-
Riaño, E. (2012). Jerarquía urbana en la región amazónica colombiana, 2010. [Documen- vidad ecológica en el cantón de Curridabat.
to de trabajo]. Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI. Municipalidad de Curridabat. (2019). Plan local de adaptación al cambio climático
Riaño, E. (2017). Jerarquía urbana en la región Amazónica colombiana, 2015. [Documen- (PLCC) del cantón de Curridabat.
to de trabajo]. Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI. Municipalidad de Curridabat. (2019). Sistema de monitoreo de la biodiversidad y los
Riaño, E. (2020). Jerarquía urbana en la región Amazónica colombiana, 2020. [Docu- servicios de los ecosistemas en el cantón de Curridabat.
mento de trabajo]. Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas. SINCHI. Salgado-Ramírez, I., García, I. & Méndez, H. (n.d.). Sweet City: Facing Climate
Riaño, E. & Salazar, C. A. (2009). Sistema urbano en la región amazónica colombi- Change and Biodiversity Loss in Urban Costa Rica . https://oppla.eu/cases-
ana. Análisis de la organización e integración funcional . Instituto Amazónico tudy/23353
de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI.
Riaño, E. & Salazar, C. A. (2018). Habitar la Amazonia. Ciudades y asentamientos Further reading
sostenibles. Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI. › https://www.curridabat.go.cr
Salazar, C. A. & Riaño, E. (2016). Perfiles urbanos en la Amazonia colombiana, 2015. Insti- › https://www.invu.go.cr/plan-gam-13-30
Trindade, S. C., Do Rosario, B. A., Gonçalves da Costa, G. K. & Melo de Lima, M. (2011). Espacialidades › https://www.biophiliccities.org/curridabat
e temporalidades urbanas na Amazônia ribeirinha: Mudanças e permanências a jusante do
rio Tocantins. Universidade Federal do Pará. https://revista.ufrr.br/actageo/article/view/544
NEIGHBORHOOD SCALED BIODIVERCITIES
urbanismo y ordenación del territorio. Editorial Ariel. AN INITIATIVE BY A GROUP OF GRAN CHICÓ
NEIGHBORS TO LEARN ABOUT ITS BIODIVERSITY
Further reading RESULTED IN RECOGNITION OF THE AREA AS A
Simposio Internacional Ciudades para la Vida en la Amazonia. https://www.you- PRIORITIZED ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR IN BOGOTÁ.
tube.com/watch?v=MPMKh-fs330&t=12019s.
Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi: https://www.sinchi. María Stella Sáchica BIODIVERSE WETLANDS IN VILLAVICENCIO.
Position: Environmental Lawyer
Affiliation: Grupo Ecomunitario
E-mail: grupoecomunitario@gmail.com
THE SWEET CITY Juan Caicedo
URBAN PLANNING AROUND POLLINATORS Position: Ecologist and scientific coordinator
Affiliation: Grupo Ecomunitario
Irene García E-mail: grupoecomunitario@gmail.com Position: Villavicencio Territorial Planning Director
Position: Advisor to the Mayor’s Office Affiliation: Villavicencio Mayor’s Office
E-mail: irene.garcia@curridabat.go.cr 1. Please visit: https://www.grupoecomunitario.org/_files/ugd/48aa0e_dc8a0f-
Édgar Mora 4b59f04251b6f397c10f0025a5.pdf.
Position: Director of the Transformative Action Center
Affiliation: University of Institutional Cooperation Further reading
E-mail: emora@uci.ac.cr Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE Space). (n.d.). A
guide to producing park and green space management plans. CABE Space. ht-
Collaborators tps://parkscommunity.org.uk/parkgreen-space-management/a-guide-to-pro-
Unidad de Modelado Ecosistémico, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investi- ducing-green-space-andpark-management-plans/
gación y Enseñanza; Lenin Corrales Frischie, S., Code, A., Shepherd, M., Black, S., Hoyle, S., Selvaggio, S., Laws, A., Dun-
ham, R. & Vaughan, M. (2021). Pollinator-friendly parks: Enhancing our com-
Notes munities by supporting native pollinators in our parks and other green spaces.
1. Parque del recuerdo (Memory Park). The Municipality Office together with The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. https://www.xerces.org/
the community of the Lomas de Ayarco neighborhood replaced exotic plant publications/guidelines/pollinator-friendly-parks
Spotswood, E., Grossinger, R., Hagerty, S., Bazo, M., Benjamin, M., Beller, E., Grenier,
L. & Askevold, R. A. (2019). Making Nature’s City: A science-based framework
for building urban biodiversity. San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). https://
www.sfei.org/projects/making-natures-city
Sheffield City Council. (n.d.). Sheffield’s Great Outdoors: Green and Open Space
Strategy 2010-2030. Sheffield City Council. https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/
home/parks-sport-recreation/open-space-strategy
URBAN BIOTOPES
PUBLIC SPACE INSPIRED BY BIODIVERSITY
Julian Restrepo
Position: Founding Partner
Affiliation: TALLER Architects
E-mail: julian@tallerarchitects.com
Collaborators
TALLER arquitectos, LAND AND CIVILIZATION COMPOSITIONS, LOLA landscape
References
Qian, Z. (2018). Shenzhen becomes national forest city. Eyeshenzhen. http://www.eyes-
henzhen.com/content/2018-10/16/content_21146139.htm.
Shenzhen Government Online. (2022). Ecological Civilization. http://www.sz.gov.cn/
en_szgov/aboutsz/profile/content/post_1357619.Html.
Wilk, B., Rebollo, V. & Hanania, S. (2019). A guide for pollinator-friendly cities: How can
spatial planners and land-use managers create favourable urban environments
for pollinators? ICLEI Europe, European Commission. https://www.iucn.org/sites/
dev/files/local_authorities_guidance_document_en_compressed.pdf.
WIN-WIN SCENARIOS
THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS OF TWO DECREES
THAT AIM TO RECOVER SIX VALUABLE AND
Lucía Rojas
Position: Villavicencio Protected Areas Municipal System Project Coordinator
Affiliation: Villavicencio Environmental Secretary’s Office (contractor)
E-mail: areas.protegidas6@gmail.com
Alejandro Serrano
E-mail: arquialejoserrano@gmail.com
Sara Cabrera
Position: Villavicencio Secretary of Environment
Affiliation: Villavicencio Mayor’s Office
E-mail: sara.cabrera@villavicencio.gov.co
Notes
1. Cormacarena is the environmental authority of the department of Meta, whose
capital is Villavicencio. Among its functions is coordinating the formulation of
environmental development plans, programs, and projects to be developed by
the various agencies and entities of the Sistema Nacional Ambiental [National
Environmental System] (SINA) in the area under its jurisdiction.
2. Partial plans are the instruments through which the provisions of the zo-
ning plans are developed and complemented for specific urban land areas
 280 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Annex 281

and for areas included as urban expansion land, in addition to those to be Collaborators Lindo, D. (2018). How to be an Urban Birder. Princeton University Press
developed through urban planning units, macro-projects, or other special Robinson Garcés, Universidad EIA; Carlos Daniel Ruiz, Universidad EIA; Andrea Guz- A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT MINCIT. (2017). Guide of good practices for the activity of avitourism in Colombia. Mi-
urban operations, per authorizations stemming from the general urban mán, CTA; Catalina Herrera, CTA; Marisol Delgado, CTA; Juan Pablo Londoño, CTA; THE REVITALIZATION OF MOMPOSINO nistry of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, Government of Colombia.
planning regulations, under the terms outlined in this Law. Law 388 of 1998, Connie López, CTA; Juan Fernando Figueroa, CTA; David Cortés, CTA; Rafael Aaron, PUBLIC SPACE THROUGH WATER Muñoz, M. C., Fierro-Calderón, K. & Rivera-Gutierrez, H. F. (2007). The birds of the cam-
Article 19. CTA; Yonatan Bermúdez, CTA; Sergio Esteban Herazo, CTA; Freddy Vahos, CTA. pus of Universidad del Valle, an urban green island in Cali, Colombia. Colombian
3. Administrative act of private and concrete content that authorizes an urban Carlos Betancur Ornithology, 5(5), 5-20.
development action. Law 388 of 1998, article 36. References Position: Director, Landscape Projects Palacio, R. D., Vidal-Astudillo, V., Cárdenas, G. & Luna-Solarte, J. (2017). Birds of the munici-
4. Property transfer process: Alcaldía de Medellín. (2013). Propuesta para la gestión integral de la biodiver- Affiliation: OPUS. Design, architecture, landscape pality of Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Colombian Biota, 18(2), 228-238.
1. The owner makes a request of intention to participate in the land transfer sidad y los servicios ecosistémicos en Medellín . Alcaldía de Medellín. E-mail: betan@opusestudio.com
process for additional buildability. Rincón-Ruiz, A., Echeverry-Duque, M., Piñeros, A. M., Tapia, C. H., David, A., Carlos David Montoya Notes
2. The Ministry of Planning and Territorial Development reviews the rela- Arias-Arévalo, P. & Zuluaga, P. A. (2014). Valoración integral de la biodi- Position: General Manager 1. https://colombiabirdfair.com/ruta/
ted documentation and studies the deeds. versidad y sus servicios ecosistémicos. Aspectos conceptuales y metodo- Affiliation: OPUS. Design, Architecture, Landscape
3. If the requirements are met, the topographic verification of the area is carried out. lógicos . Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von E-mail: carlosdavid@opusestudio.com
4. Once the above has been completed, the certificate of receipt and subs- Humboldt Manuel Jaen INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENTAL FABRIC
cription of the deed is made in the municipality’s name. Secretaría de Medio Ambiente de Medellín. Manual de Silvicultura urbana Position: Director, Architectural Projects YUMBO, FROM THE INDUSTRY OF THE FIFTIES
5. With the deed being registered, the resolution delivering the additional para Medellín: Gestión, Planeación y Manejo de la Infraestructura verde . Affiliation: OPUS. Design, architecture, landscape TO THE INDUSTRY OF THE FUTURE
buildability by land transfer is generated. Fondo Editorial Jardín Botánico de Medellín. E-mail: jaen@opusestudio.com
USDA Forest Service. (2017). I-Tree Eco Manual del usuario . https://www.itree- Ana Vicente-Álvarez
References tools.org/documents/196/EcoV6_UsersManual.es.pdf Position: Sustainable development and urbanism consultant
Ley 388 de 1997. (July, 18). Por la cual se modifica la Ley 9 de 1989, y la Ley 2 de URBAN BIO-CORRIDORS Affiliation: Yumbo Futuro Temporary Union
1991 y se dictan otras disposiciones. Diario Oficial n.º 43.091. https://www.fun- SMALL PRIVATE HABITATS THAT E-mail: clientesbio2@gmail.com
cionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=339 GREEN ROOFTOPS ADD NATURE TO THE CITY
GIS DATA, ROOFTOP AGRICULTURE, AND References
Further reading GREEN URBAN TRANSFORMATION Eduardo Haene Fernandez, D. I., Luna, J. To. & Ruiz Puente, M.C. (2017). Analysis of the current
› Decreto 152 de 2021. Position: Teacher state of development of sustainable industrial parks. Department of Transport
› https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK6Vwgo_pYU Maéva Dang Affiliation: University of Belgrano and Project and Process Technology. University of Cantabria.
Position: Postdoctoral researcher E-mail: eduardohaene@hotmail.com Regional Autonomous Corporation of Valle del Cauca (CVC). (2015). Inventory of
Affiliation: Delft University of Technology and AMS Institute. lentic wetlands of the Cauca River corridor.
THE VALUE OF THE URBAN FOREST E-mail: M.K.Dang@tudelft.nl References United Nations Industrial Development Organization. (UNIDO). (2017). Implemen-
A METHODOLOGY FOR A COMPREHENSIVE Haene, E. (2020) Bio-corridors of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, a demonstrative tation Manual for Eco-Industrial Parks.
ASSESSMENT OF ECOSYSTEM Notes model for Argentina. University of Belgrano. Buenos Aires. https://www.resear-
SERVICES IN URBAN AREAS. 1. For the topic of cooling via rooftop gardens, we looked at the district of chgate.net/publication/341822709_Biocorredores_de_la_Ciudad_Autonoma_de_ Further reading
Bangu in Rio. We used the Land Surface temperature and combined the Buenos_Aires_un_modelo_demostrativo_para_la_Argentina Foundation for the Circular Economy. (n.a.). Origin of the circular economy. https://
María del Pilar Arroyave GIS data with our flat roof landscape results. This process gave us insi- economiacircular.org/economia-circular/
Position: Associate Professor ghts into which roofs are located in these key “hot” areas and should be Mayor’s Office of Yumbo. (2022). Territorial Planning Plan municipality of Yumbo. ht-
Affiliation: EIA University prioritized. A BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF CITIES tps://www.yumbo.gov.co/PlanDeOrdenamientoTerritorial/Paginas/Que-Es.aspx
E-mail: pilar.arroyavem@gmail.com 2. Please visit https://pcrj.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index. BIRDWATCHING TOURISM AS AN ECONOMIC Loayza Pérez, J. & Silva Meza, V. (2013). Sustainable industrial processes and their con-
Carolina Rodríguez h t m l ? a p p i d = 9 2 4 2 4 7 6 f 2 d 7 9 4 d 8 0 b 2 b f 0 a f 2 6 e 8 0 c b c 9 & f b c l i d = I wA R - DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVE tribution to the prevention of environmental problems. Industrial Data, 16(1), 108-117.
Position: Business and Technology Developer 0t5iq jFz64RRncYV8XuSh-DBoTDoU6PZLPUYe_WtcpNACThEJhQ2T6_T0
Affiliation: Center for Science and Technology of Antioquia - CTA 3. Since they are not public spaces, they are not usually included in the mu- Carlos Wagner-Wagner Collaborators
E-mail: crodriguez@cta.org.co nicipality’s strategy. This means they become lost space that is already Position: Director PhD Arq. César Londoño, General Technical Direction POT Yumbo 2022.
Juan Camilo Múnera there in the city for green areas and should be integrated. Affiliation: Colombia Birdfair Note
Position: Comprehensive Water Resources Management Area Coordinator E-mail: carlos@colombiabirdfair.com 1. The Yumbo POT is developed within the framework of Consulting Contract No.
Affiliation: Center for Science and Technology of Antioquia - CTA References 104.10.07.168-2020 of December 2020, in force until 2022, signed between the Muni-
E-mail: jmunera@cta.org.co FAO World Food Summit. (1996). Declaration on World Food Security. References cipality of Yumbo and the Yumbo Futuro Temporary Union, integrated by the Foun-
Fernando Flórez Kaye, L. (2011). Could cities’ problems be solved by urban acupuncture? The SiB Colombia. (n.a.). Biodiversity in figures. https://cifras.biodiversidad.co/ dation for the Integral Development of Yumbo-FEDY and the firm Environmental
Position: Environmental economist Guardian Professional Network . https://the guardian.com/sustainable-bu- Analysis, under the general technical direction by the Ph.D. Arq. César Londoño.
Affiliation: Center for Science and Technology of Antioquia - CTA siness/ Further reading
E-mail: fflorez@cta.org.co Lohani, B. & Suddhasheel, G. (2017). Airborne LiDAR Technology: A Review of Cárdenas, G., Ramírez-Mosquera, D., Eusse-González, D., Fierro-Calderón, E., Vidal-As-
Sandra Castro Data Collection and Processing Systems . Proceedings of the National Aca- tudillo, V. & Estela, F. A. (2020). Birds of the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Position: Project Analyst demy of Sciences, Section A 87(4). A SCHOOL AS AN EXPONENT OF BIODIVERSITY
Affiliation: Center for Science and Technology of Antioquia - CTA Meade, B., Valdes, C. & Rosen, S. (2004). Brazil’s Food Security and Food Assis- Biota Colombiana, 21(2), 72-87. CONSERVATION IN BOGOTÁ
E-mail: scastro@cta.org.co tance Programs to Reduce Poverty. Food security assessment, GAF15, 24. Mayor’s Office of the municipality of Santiago de Cali, Administrative Depart-
Marcela Noreña Merriam, G. (1984). Connectivity: A fundamental ecological characteristic of ment of Environmental Management (DAGMA), Regional Autonomous Corpo- Juana Figueroa
Position: University Professional landscape pattern. Paper presented at the 1st International Seminar on Me- ration of Valle del Cauca (CVC) & Association for the Study and Conservation of Position: Conservation Proposal Writer
Affiliation: Secretary’s Office of the Environment thodology in Landscape Ecological Research and Planning, Roskilde, Den- Waterfowl in Colombia (Calidris). (2019). Illustrated guide to the birds of San- Affiliation: The Nature Conservancy
E-mail: marcela.norena@medellin.gov.co mark. tiago de Cali . E-mail: jfjuanafi@gmail.com
 282 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Annex 283

Valentina Tovar boldt Institute; Cristina Romero Ríos, EAFIT University; Adriana Montes, La Montezca
Position: PRAE Coordinator THE CITY’S DNA Podcast; Jorge Molina, Universidad de los Andes; Susana Rodríguez-Buriticá, Humbol- SOCIAL AND NATURAL FABRIC
Affiliation: Women’s Gymnasium TAXONOMIC EXPEDITIONS IN URBAN AREAS dt Institute; Jose Manuel Ochoa-Quintero, Humboldt Institute; All participants in the COLLECTIVE ACTION STORIES FROM A
E-mail: valentina.ts@gimnasiofemenino.edu.co initiative What does my city sound like? Soundscapes from your Ventanto? NEIGHBORHOOD IN TRANSFORMATION
Diana Wiesner Norbert Peeters
Position: Director Position: Research Notes Albert Kreisel
Affiliation: Architecture and Landscape SAS Affiliation: Taxon Expeditions 1. 1 48 municipalities: Position: Co-Founder
E-mail: dianawiesner@dianawiesner.com E-mail: norbert_peeters@hotmail.com Affiliation: Oasis Urbano Foundation
DEPARTMENT CITY POPULATION EXTENSION KM2
Cristina Camacho Menno Schilthuizen E-mail: albertkreisel@gmail.com
Antioquia Apartadó 131.754 607
Position: Attorney Position: Research Maximilian Becker
Antioquia Beautiful 569.488 151
Affiliation: Women’s Gymnasium Affiliation: Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Taxon Expeditions Position: Co-Founder
Antioquia Envigado 249.800 51
E-mail: cristina.cg@gimnasiofemenino.edu.co E-mail: info@taxonexpeditions.com Affiliation: Oasis Urbano Foundation
Antioquia Marinilla 70.024 116
E-mail: maximilianthomaskarlbecker@gmail.com
Antioquia Medellin 2.612.958 387
References Cielo Holguín
Antioquia Peñol 22.448 145
Andreoni, V. & Vargas, V. (2020). Tracking the Interlinkages across SDGs: The THE SOUNDS OF THE CITY Antioquia Rionegro 147.484 198
Position: Co-Founder and Director
Case of Hill Centered Education Network in Bogota, Colombia. Sustainabi- AN OPPORTUNITY FOR URBAN Antioquia Sabaneta 90.743 15
Affiliation: Oasis Urbano Foundation
lity, 12 (19). BIODIVERSITY MONITORING Atlantic Barranquilla 1.312.473 166
E-mail: cielomhr@gmail.com
Figueroa, J. & Camargo (2022). Cooperation networks for education and con- Bogota Bogota 7.901.653 1.605 Eliana Cardona
servation: children and young leaders of change in large cities. Protected Angélica Hernández-Palma Boyacá Oicatá 2.929 62 Position: Coordinator, Environmental Culture Palo de Lluvia
and conserved areas as nature-based solutions in regional urban contexts Position: Researcher, Territorial Management of Biodiversity Boyacá Villa of Leyva 17.205 121 Affiliation: Moravian Cultural Development Centre
in Latin America . Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute Caldas Palestine 15.956 119 E-mail: ambientalcdcm@gmail.com
Institute, GIZ Colombia, and Ministry of Environment and Sustainable De- E-mail: anhernandez@humboldt.org.co Caquetá Manizales 454.077 477
velopment of Colombia (in the process of publication). Bibiana Gómez-Valencia Caquetá Florence 176.706 2.292 Further reading
Figueroa, J., Vargas, V. R., Hoyos, L. & Prowse, A. (2017). Fostering Sustainable Position: Researcher, Assessment, and Monitoring of Biodiversity Casanare Hato Corozal 12.298 5.581 › https://www.oasisurbano.org/
Communities and Resilient Cities while Supporting ‘Life on Land’ Throu- Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute Cauca Miranda 32.602 212 Municipality of Medellín & Comfenalco Antioquia. (2011). Memory as a device for
gh a Colombian School’s Initiative . Handbook of Sustainability Science and E-mail: bgomezv@humboldt.org.co Cauca Padilla 10.152 68 social intervention in Moravia (1. a ed.).
Research. Yenifer Herrera-Male Cauca Popayan 330.750 464
Gimnasio Femenino. (2020). PRAE Women’s Gymnasium . https://gimnasiofe- Position: Researcher, Social Sciences and Knowledge of Biodiversity Córdoba Monteria 512.994 3.043 Collaborators
menino.edu.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/MCADG-019-PRAE_2020.pdf Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute Cundinamarca Cajicá 99.720 53 Moravian Cultural Development Center, an agreement between the Mayor’s Office
McLean, T. (2013). Education for sustainability: students lead the way. Inter- E-mail: yherrera@humboldt.org.co Cundinamarca Chipaque 10.786 130 of Medellín and Comfenalco Antioquia
national Baccalaureate Organization. http://blogs.ibo.org/positionpapers/ Juan Sebastian Ulloa Cundinamarca Fúquene 5.588 87
Cundinamarca La Calera 35.301 340
files/2014/01/TM- Position-Paper-Education-for-Sustainability-_s.pdf Position: Researcher, Assessment, and Monitoring of Biodiversity
Cundinamarca Madrid 136.374 120
Ministry of National Education. (2002). Environmental Education Policy. Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute DENSURBAM
Cundinamarca Tabio 25.964 74
Sterling, S. (2003). Whole systems thinking as a basis for a paradigm change in E-mail: julloa@humboldt.org.co SUSTAINABILITY SCENARIOS OF A TERRITORY
Huila Guadeloupe 18.602 242
education . University of Bath.
Cupcake Santa Marta 552.391 2.369
Further reading References Óscar Mejía
Goal Puerto Lopez 30.799 6239
Andreoni, V. & Vargas, V. (2020). Tracking the Interlinkages across SDGs: The Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute. (2020). Soundsca- Position: environmental coordinator of the Center for Urban and Environmen-
Goal Villavicencio 554.173 1.328
Case of Hill Centered Education Network in Bogota, Colombia. Sustainabi- pes from your window - Colombia. 4556 events. https://doi.org/10.15472/enzm9u tal Studies (Urbam)
North Santander Cucuta 791.986 1.098
lity, 12 (19). Bates, A. E., Primack, R. B., Biggar, B. S., Bird, T. J., Clinton, M. E., Command, R. J., Ri- Affiliation: EAFIT University
Quindio Salento 9.772 328
Gimnasio Femenino. [Women’s Gym]. YouTube. PRAE - YouTube; Josefina Ro- chards, C., Shellard, M., Geraldi, N. R., Vergara, V., et al. (2021). Global COVID-19 loc- E-mail: oaugusto.mejia@udea.edu.co
Risaralda Dosquebradas 227.696 80
driguez. [Network of Cerros de Bogotá Schools] MY STREET, READY... AC- kdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment.
Risaralda Pereira 485.373 702
TION! - Learning Outdoors (Colombia); Network of Cerros de Bogotá schools. Biological Conservation, 263, 109175. Notes
Santander Bucaramanga 618.967 154
[Cerros de Bogotá Foundation]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?- Google LLC. (2020). Google COVID-19 community mobility reports. https://www.google. Santander Floridablanca 313.745 101 1. https://www.densurbam.com.co/consultas-unidad
v=eDYJD4y0Zno com/covid19/mobility/. Santander Piedecuesta 186.435 481 2. It was first applied in the city of Envigado in 2017 and subsequently to the enti-
Lescure, K. & Yaman, C. (2014). Place-based education. Bringing schools and IUCN. (2022). The IUCN Urban Nature Index: A tool for measuring the ecological perfor- Santander San Gil 60.804 150 re metropolitan area of the Valle de Aburrá in 2018.
communities together. In C. White (Ed.), Community Education for Social mance of cities. IUCN. Sucre The Union 13.311 234
Justice . Sense Publishers. Ulloa Chacón, J. S., Acevedo-Charry, O., Herrera-Varón, Y., Cruz-Rodríguez, C., Roa Sucre San Marcos 62.044 1.012 References
Cubillos, M., Hernández-Palma, A., Sánchez-Clavijo, L. M., Gómez-Valencia, B., Tolima Ibagué 543.949 1.439 Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area. (2020). Management Plan 2020-2023. Sustai-
Collaborators Romero Ríos, C., Montes, A., Molina, J., Rodríguez-Buriticá, S. & Ochoa-Quinte- Tolima Rovira 21.600 733 nable future. management https://www.metropol.gov.co/Documentos_Sa-
Luis Eduardo Pineda and Lida Hernández, Ana Restrepo del Corral Edu- ro, J. M. (2020). Soundscapes in times of pandemic. In: L. A. Moreno, G. I. An- Valle del Cauca Jamundi 169.280 603 laPrensa/Plan 2020-2023 Sustainable future.pdf
cational Foundation; Red de Colegios Cerros de Bogotá, Lina María Hoyos drade, G. Didier & O. L. Hernandez-Manrique (Eds.) , Biodiversity 2020. Status Valle del Cauca The Summit 16.716 165 Amaya, A. (2018). Densurbam: a city reading. Eafit University Magazine-scien-
Rojas, Fundación Cerros de Bogotá; Luis Camargo, OpEPA; Team onCom- and trends of Colombia’s continental biodiversity. Alexander von Humboldt Valle del Cauca Palmira 358.806 1.044 ce journalism, 2018 , 108-111. https://repository.eafit.edu.co/bitstream/
munications and Participatory Science, Alexander von Humboldt Institute; Biological Resources Research Institute. Valle del Cauca Santiago de Cali 2.280.907 552 handle/10784/16930/document%20-%202020-06-24T155810.452.pdf?se-
Victor Saavedra, Science Museum of El Bosque University; Valeria Vargas Valle del Cauca Tuluá 221.604 818 quence=2
Valle del Cauca Yumbo 111.474 243
and Alicia Prowse, Manchester Metropolitan University; Jazmin Arias, Collaborators Conceptual Framework. (n.d.). https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/den-
José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden; District Secretariat of Environment Orlando Acevedo-Charry, Humboldt Institute; Cristian Cruz-Rodríguez, Humboldt Ins- surbam-6815c.appspot.com/o/pdfs%2Fmarco-conceptual.pdf?alt=media&-
Source: National Planning Department, TerriData, https://terridata.dnp.gov.
of Bogotá. titute; Margarita Roa Cubillos, Humboldt Institute; Lina María Sánchez-Clavijo, Hum- token=0c0d9a5e-a437-401c-a983-6668e1a85562.
co/index-app.html#/perfiles/47001
 284 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY
Eafit University. (n.a.). Methodology and Densurbam software. https://www.eafit. María Camila Méndez
edu.co/innovacion/transferencia/Paginas/metodolog%C3%ADa%20y%20sof- Position: Researcher, Social Sciences and Knowledge of Biodiversity.
tware%20densurbam.aspx Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute
Methodological Framework. (n.a.). https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/ E-mail: mmendez@humboldt.org.co
v0/ b/densurbam-6815c.appspot.com/o/pdfs%2Fmarco-metodologico.pd- Germán Torres-Morales
f?alt=media&token=ed52ce92-912a-4557-9a2e-3faa38ed5938. Position: Assistant Researcher, Basic Biodiversity Sciences.
Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute
Additional references E-mail: gtorres@humboldt.org.co
Eafit University. (n.a.). Eafit and the Metropolitan Area study the Aburrá Va- Carlos Cortés
lley of the future . https://www.eafit.edu.co/centros/urbam/agenda-noti- Position: Researcher, Social Sciences and Knowledge of Biodiversity.
cias/noticias/Paginas/ruedadeprensa-densurbam.aspx Affiliation: Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute
E-mail: ccortes@humboldt.org.co
SUSTAINABLE FAVELAS Notes
REALIZING CLIMATE JUSTICE BY 1. The following are the additional variables designed for this prioritization stage and
INVESTING IN FAVELA ASSETS a brief description for each: Production capacity: production capacity of the species
throughout the year (low, medium, or high). Derived compounds: identifying infor-
Theresa Williamson mation associated with knowledge of active chemical compounds for the species,
Position: city planner and founding executive director gathered from secondary sources. Known products: identifying products deve-
Affiliation: Catalytic Communities loped or under development using the identified species (as primary raw material
E-mail: theresa@catcomm.org or secondary ingredient) present in the market. This variable will be analyzed for
the marketplace’s case and with secondary information for other markets in the
Notes case of Colombia. Business projection: variable that represents the range of possi-
1. https://catcomm.org/ ble uses and demand associated with the species for various industries or sectors
at the local, national and international levels, mainly the pharmaceutical, cosme-
tic, and food industries, as well as the facilities for their commercialization. Related
WOODED TRAILS THAT WEAVE CITY companies and organizations: formal or informal organizations responsible for the
PLANNING FOR LANDSCAPE AND FUNCTIONAL production, transformation and/or commercialization of the species or products
CONNECTIVITY IN THE NORTH OF BOGOTÁ associated with the identified species. Traditional knowledge associated with the
species: identification of traditional uses and ethnic groups related to the species, in
Juana Mariño cases where information is available from primary or secondary sources.
Position: Consultancies 2. The focus of these life stories is that they are autobiographical accounts that tell the
Affiliation: life paths of the people who make Samper Mendoza Marketplace possible through
E-mail: juana@gutsas.com three moments: first, childhood and the early relationship with plants; secondly, adul-
Natalia Trujillo thood and vocation, which seeks to understand the circumstances that caused this
Position: General Manager varied group of people to converge in a place like the plaza around the trade of selling
Affiliation: Lagos de Torca Trust plants and, finally, a third moment whose objective is to understand the plaza as a
E-mail: natalia.trujillo@lagosdetorca.co place under construction that is possible, thanks to a set of diverse relationships be-
tween equally heterogeneous human and non-human actors (Méndez, 2021).
Notes 3. See page 19 of this document: http://repository.humboldt.org.co/bitstream/
1. Systemic perspectives on low-carbon cities in Colombia- An integrated ur- ha nd le/20. 5 0 0. 11761 /3 5 834 /9_publ ico_ Infor me%20T%c3%a9cn ico%20
ban modeling approach for policy and regulatory analysis” https://electri- Final%20Historias%20de%20vida.docx.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y  cuttings. Further legislation was given in the 1920s, which included state subsidies
cayelectronica.uniandes.edu.co/es/ciudades-con-bajas-emisiones-de-car- 4. This prioritization is included in the publication Plants and Knowledge of the
bon-in-colombia. Samper Mendoza Marketplace (Plantas y saberes de la Plaza Samper Mendoza)
( Torres-Morales et al., 2021).
WEAVING STORIES OF References
PEOPLE AND PLANTS Cortés, C. (2021). Report on the identification of value chains related to gastronomy,
DISCOVERING THE BIOECONOMY cocktails and other herbal beverages, cultural tourism associated with biodi-
POTENTIAL AT A PLANT’S MARKETPLACE versity in the plaza and uses associated with wellness and health care in the
Samper Mendoza Marketplace. (Informe de la identificación de las cadenas de
Ana María Garrido valor referente a gastronomía, coctelería y otras bebidas a base de hierbas, tu-
Affiliation: University of Florida, USA rismo cultural asociado a la biodiversidad en la plaza y usos asociados al bien-
E-mail: am.garrido15@gmail.com estar y cuidado de la salud en la Plaza Samper Mendoza). Alexander von Hum-
Alejandra Osejo boldt Biological Resources Research Institute and Institute for Social Economy.
Affiliation: Rice University, USA Méndez, M. C. (2021). Final technical report. Making a plaza, making a common space: life
E-mail: alejandraosejo@gmail.com stories of the Samper Mendoza Marketplace. (Informe técnico final. Hacer plaza, ha-
Annex 285
cer un espacio común: historias de vida de la Plaza Samper Mendoza). Alexander von Päijät-Häme Regional Council. (2021). http://www.paijat-hame.fi/wp-content/
Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and Institute for Social Economy. uploads/2018/01/Maakuntastrategia_ja_ohjelma_2018- 2021_nettiin.pdf.
Rojas, T., Cortés, C., Noguera, M., Ulian, T. & Diazgranados, M. (2020). Assessment of the Scopetani, C., Chelazzi, D., Cincinelli, A., & Esterhuizen-Londt, M. (2019). Assessment of
status of Colombian bioeconomic developments in plants and fungi. (Evaluación microplastic pollution: occurrence and characterization in Vesijärvi lake and Pikku
del estado de los desarrollos bioeconómicos colombianos en plantas y hongos). Vesijärvi pond, Finland. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191(11), 1-17.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Sitra. (2019). The Finnish Innovation Fund. The Critical Move: Finland’s Road Map to
Research Institute. the Circular Economy 2.0. https://www.sitra.fi/en/projects/critical-move-finni-
Torres-Morales, G., Méndez, M. C. & Caleño, B. (2021). Plants and knowledge of the Samper sh-road-map-circular-economy-2- 0/.
Mendoza Marketplace. (Plantas y saberes de la Plaza Samper Mendoza). Alexander von Vanhamäki, S., Virtanen, M., Luste, S. & Manskinen, K. (2020). The transition
Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and Institute for Social Economy. towards a circular economy at a regional level: A case study on closing biologi-
cal loops. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 156, 104716.
CIRCULAR FOREST BIOECONOMY
FINNISH CITIES AND REGIONS MOBILIZING URBAN NATURE AMSTERDAM
TO ACHIEVE A SUSTAINABLE BIO- THIS MAP INVITES PEOPLE TO EXPLORE
BASED CIRCULAR ECONOMY THE CITY’S LANDSCAPE AND BEYOND
FROM ROOFTOPS AND POLDERS.
Carmen Antuña
Position: Senior Scientists Ioana Biris
Affiliation: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd Position: Social psychologist and researcher
E-mail: carmen.antuna@vtt.fi Affiliation: Nature Desks
Laura Sokka E-mail: ioana@naturedesks.com
Position: Senior Scientists
Affiliation: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd Collaborators
E-mail: laura.sokka@vtt.fi Charlie Peel
Notes Notes
1. In the 19th century, deforestation increased due to the population increase from 1 1. https://amsterdamsmartcity.com/organisations/de-gezonde-stad
to 2.5 million, and the resulting demand for more wood for fuel and construction
and increased need for agricultural land (Palo, 2004). A strict Forest Act was put
in place in 1851 to ensure the availability of forest resources in the future, and a OPINION ARTICLES
temporary National Board of Land Surveying and Forest Management was establi-
shed to supervise and oversee the Act (Metsähallitus, 2021). Metsähallitus (freely
translated as Forest Administration) was started in 1859 by the Russian Empe- THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF URBAN RIVERS
ror Alexander II. Its task was to manage and protect forests and to sell timber to
give revenue to the empire. In 1921 Metsähallitus was placed under the Ministry Carlos Correa
of Agriculture and Forestry, and it was tasked to “manage, oversee and promote Position: Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development
Finnish forestry” (Metsähallitus, 2021). To further support and guide Finnish forest Affiliation: Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia
owners in following the forest laws and implementing different forest improve- E-mail: ccorrea@minambiente.gov.co
ment methods, the state-owned Finnish Forest Management Society Tapio was
established in 1907. In 1917 a law was established that placed restrictions on forest Notes
1. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 to pro-
for reforestation and the drainage of peatlands. (Palo, 2004). vide comprehensive assessments of the state of scientific, technical, and socio-economic
2. As stated in “The Finland We Want 2050—Society’s Commitment to Sustainable knowledge on climate change, its causes, potential impacts, and response strategies.
Development” (Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development, 2016) 2. The UN mentioned the following figures in commemoration of Water Day: “Although 70%
3. As an example, in the late 1970s, the wastewater that used to go directly to Lake of the planet Earth is water, only 2.5% is fresh water and, of this percentage, 69% is frozen
Vesijärvi began to be treated at the Kariniemi wastewater treatment plant. in the polar caps. In addition, 30% of this resource is underground, and 0.5% is in rivers and
This same area was subjected to intensive cleaning and restoration processes streams”.
that provided important lessons about the advantages that this brought to the
city’s quality of life (Malinen 2015).
THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING PART OF A
References NOVEL, EVOLVING URBAN ECOSYSTEM
Malinen, E. (2015). The water quality of lakes in the Lahti region: projects and re-
search from the 1970s to the present. Menno Schilthuizen
Martikka, O., Cura, K. & Kontro, M. H. (2020). Biomuoveja jätteistä: ¿Voisiko Position: Research
biopohjaisia muovimateriaalia tuottaa jätevesilietteestä? Tätä tutkii BIOSYKLI- Affiliation: Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Taxon Expeditions
hanke. Uusiouutiset, 6, 25. E-mail: info@taxonexpeditions.com
 286 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY Annex 287

Notes Notes Raymond, E., Duckworth, R., Miller, B., Lucas, M. & Pokharel, S. (2018). From Fo-
1. Schilthuizen, M. (2018). Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives 1. OECD/European Commission. (2020). Cities in the World: A New Perspective on reclosure to Eviction: Housing Insecurity in Corporate-Owned Single-Family Notes: 
Evolution . Quercus. Urbanisation . OECD Urban Studies, https://doi.org/10.1787/d0efcbda-en Rentals. Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research J. Policy 1. https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet-commission/the-planetary-health-diet-and-you/ 
2. Toomey, D. (2018). Urban Darwinism: How Species Are Evolving to Survive 2. WEF. (2021). Global Risks Report. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/ Dev., 20 (3), 159-188. 2. Case study: https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2020/12/Case-study_
in Cities. YaleEnvironment360. https://e360.yale.edu/features/urban-darwi- global-risks-report-2021 Quezon-City-Food-and-Nutrition-Resilience-EAT-UNICEF-QUEZON.pdf.
nism-how-species-are-evolving-to-survive-in-cities 3. OECD. (2021). OECD Regional Outlook 2021: Addressing COVID-19 and Moving 3. Shifting Urban Diets: https://eatforum.org/initiatives/cities/cities-collabora-
3. Life in the City: Evolution in an Urbanizing World. https://urbanevolu- to Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions. https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/17017efe-en EAT ME. DRINK ME tions/shifting-urban-diets/ 
tion-litc.com. 4. OECD. (2020). Biodiversity and the economic response to COVID-19: Ensu- 4. https://gehlpeople.com/projects/copenhagen-foodscapes/ 
ring a green and resilient recovery. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/po- Duncan Mackay 5. C40 Good Food City Declaration: https://www.c40.org/declarations/
licy-responses/biodiversity-and-the-economic-response-to-covid-19-ensu- Position: Elected member food-declaration/
URBAN BIODIVERSITY? ARTISTS HAVE THE KEYS ring-a-green-and-resilient-recovery-d98b5a09/ Affiliation: Council of the National Trust
5. OECD. (2021). Enhancing the effectiveness of sub-national biodiversity policy: E-mail: duncan.mackay1@btinternet.com
Carmen Bouyer Practices in France and Scotland, United Kingdom . OECD Regional Develop- TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP FOR MORE
Position: ecological artist & curator ment Papers, No. 22. https://doi.org/10.1787/1a8c77b7-en Further reading BIODIVERCITIES? TRANSFORMING OUR
Affiliation: The Nature of Cities › ‘Eat Wild,’ published by Two Rivers Press, Reading, 2010 CITIES THROUGH BIODIVERSITY
E-mail: carmen.bouyer@thenatureofcities.eu › ‘Whispers of Better Things,’ published by Two Rivers Press, Reading 2017
Patrick Lydon URBAN EXPANSION: AN ALLY OF BIODIVERSITY Jennifer Lenhart
Position: ecological artist & curator Position: Global Lead, WWF Cities
Affiliation: The Nature of Cities Nicolás Galarza BASIC ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE LEFT Affiliation: WWF Sweden
E-mail: patrick.lydon@thenatureofcities.com Position: Vice-Minister of Environmental Land Management BEHIND IN THE URBAN GREENING RUSH E-mail: Jennifer.Lenhart@wwf.se
Affiliation: Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia
Further reading E-mail: JGalarza@minambiente.gov.co Frances Taylor Further reading
› www.pmlydon.com Edward Buitrago Position: Former Director › https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/exe_wwf_a4_template_sbn_final2.
› www.carmenbouyer.com Position: Advisor, Vice-Ministry of Environmental Land Management Affiliation: Fynbos Corridor Collaboration pdf
› https://panteakarimi.com/2018/02/botany-silhouette-installations/ Affiliation: Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia E-mail: franplays@gmail.com › https://wwf.panda.org/projects/one_planet_cities/what_we_do/public_en-
› https://www.instagram.com/3z.beatbox/ E-mail: EABuitragoT@minambiente.gov.co gagement_guide_for_cities/
› https://www.fogandmoonstudio.com/video-art-channel Further reading › https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_BiodiverCities_by_2030_2022.pdf
› http://cityasnature.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Nautical_Flag_Book_WebVer-1.pdf › http://fra.ncestaylor.com/ › Maria Contesse, Bas J.M. van Vliet, Jennifer Lenhart. (2018). Is urban agricul-
› http://www.uneminutededanseparjour.com/en/the-project/ THE CYBORG NATURE OF CITIES ture urban green space? A comparison of policy arrangements for urban green
space and urban agriculture in Santiago de Chile, Land Use Policy, 71: 566-577.
Brigitte Baptiste HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.11.006.
WE NEED TO STOP TREATING SOIL Position: Rector BLUE HEALTH IN CITIES?
LIKE DIRT – EVEN IN CITIES Affiliation: EAN University
E-mail: bbaptiste@universidadean.edu.co Simon Bell ARE NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS GOOD
David Montgomery Position: Chair Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture FOR EVERYONE? PROMOTING SOCIAL
Position: Professor of Geomorphology Affliction: Estonian University of Life Sciences EQUITY IN NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS
Affiliation: University of Washington, and co-author of What Your Food Ate: How to DOES HOUSING INSECURITY INFLUENCE E-mail: simon.bell@emu.ee
Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health. GREENSPACE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT? Leon Kapetas
E-mail: bigdirt@uw.edu Further reading Position: Lead for Programs & Climate Resilience
Cassandra Johnson › https://bluehealth2020.eu/ Affiliation: Resilient Cities Network
Notes Position: Research Social Scientist › https://bluehealth.tools/ E-mail: lkapetas@resilientcitiesnetwork.org
1. Montgomery, D. R. (2007). Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations. University of Ca- Affiliation: USDA Forest Service › https://www.routledge.com/Urban-Blue-Spaces-Planning-and-Design-for- Piero Pelizzaro
lifornia Press. E-mail: cassandra.johnson@usda.gov Water-Health-and-Well-Being/Bell-Fleming-Grellier-Kuhlmann-Nieuwen- Position: Chief Resilience Officer
2. Montgomery, D. R. & Biklé, A. (2016). The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial huijsen-White/p/book/9780367173180 Affiliation: City of Milan (Outgoing)
Roots of Life and Health . W. W. Norton. References E-mail: piero.pelizzaro@gmail.com
3. Montgomery, D. R. & Biklé, A. (2022). What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our DeLuca, S., Wood, H. & Rosenblatt, P. (2019). Why Poor Families Move (And Where They Notes Notes:
Land and Reclaim Our Health . W. W. Norton. Go): Reactive Mobility and Residential Decisions. City Community, 18(2), 556-593. ht- 1. The Blue Health project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 1. Haase, Dagmar, Sigrun Kabisch, Annegret Haase, Erik Andersson, Ellen Banzhaf,
tps://doi.org/10.1111/cico.12386 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 666773. Francesc Baró, Miriam Brenck, et al. (2017). Greening Cities – To Be Socially Inclu-
Desmond, M. (2012). Eviction and the Reproduction of Urban Poverty. American sive? About the Alleged Paradox of Society and Ecology in Cities. Habitat Interna-
HOW TO ADDRESS BIODIVERSITY Journal of Sociology, 118(1), 88-133. https://doi.org/10.1086/666082 tional 64 (1 June 2017): 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2017.04.005.
IN CITIES – NO ONE LEVEL OF Gaither, C. J., Denzell A. C. & Dobbs, G. R. (2022). Exploring Transiency in Four Ur- UNEXPECTED BENEFITS OF A PLANETARY 2. Curran, Winifred, and Trina Hamilton. (2012). Just Green Enough: Contesting En-
GOVERNMENT CAN DO IT ALONE ban Forest Patch Neighborhoods: Atlanta, Georgia. Sustainability, 14(12), 7220. HEALTH DIET ON URBAN BIODIVERSITY vironmental Gentrification in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Local Environment 17, no. 9
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127220 (1 October 2012): 1027–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2012.729569.
Tadashi Matsumoto Immergluck, D. (n.d.). The Role of Investors in the Single-Family Market in Dis- Emily Norford 3. Millington, Nate. (2015). From Urban Scar to “Park in the Sky”: Terrain Vague,
Position: Head of Sustainable Urban Development Unit tressed Neighborhoods: The Case of Atlanta . Joint Center for Housing Studies. Position: Manager, Urban Food Systems Urban Design, and the Remaking of New York City’s High Line Park. Environ-
Affiliation: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research-areas/working-papers/role-inves- Affiliation: EAT ment and Planning A: Economy and Space 47, no. 11 (1 November 2015): 2324–
E-mail: Tadashi.MATSUMOTO@oecd.org tors-single-family- market-distressed-neighborhoods-case E-mail: emily@eatforum.org 38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X15599294.
 288 BIODIVERCITIES BY 2030 TRANSFORMING CITIES WITH BIODIVERSITY

4. Anguelovski, Isabelle, James J. T. Connolly, Laia Masip, and Hamil Pearsall. Further reading
(2018). Assessing Green Gentrification in Historically Disenfranchised Nei- › https://synecoculture.sonycsl.co.jp/public/20220121%20Opinion%20Piece%20
ghborhoods: A Longitudinal and Spatial Analysis of Barcelona. Urban Geo- Funabashi%20Synecoculture.pdf
graphy 39, no. 3 (16 March 2018): 458–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2 › https://www.sonycsl.co.jp/tag/synecoculture/
017.1349987. › https://synecoculture.org
› https://www.syneco.inc

DOES WILD FLORA HAVE A PLACE IN CITIES? Collaborators

Kousaku Ohta, Godai Suzuki, Tatsuya Kawaoka, Ryota Sakayama, Kei Fukuda and
Mateo Hernández Yoko Honjo contributed to the experiments. Masaru Iwadate, Hiroki Arayama, Sho
Position: Independent Consultant Otaki, Yu Yoshida, Kensuke Ujihara and Takumi Sato provided the rehabilitation
E-mail: mahernz@yahoo.com data. Sony Computer Science Laboratories, inc. supported this study, and iMARe,
inc. “Synecoculture” is a trademark of Sony Group Corporation.

DESIGNING ECOLOGICALLY SMART, JUST CITIES

FIVE LESSONS FOR MEANINGFUL LOCAL
Harini Nagendra ENGAGEMENT IN URBAN PROJECTS – DE CEUVEL,
Position: Director, Research Centre; and Professor and Lead, Centre for Cli- A CIRCULAR GREEN HOTSPOT IN AMSTERDAM
mate Change and Sustainability
Affiliation: Azim Premji University. Eline van Remortel
E-mail: harini.nagendra@apu.edu.in Position: Intern at the Urban Alliance
Affiliation: IUCN European Regional Office
References E-mail: eline.vanremortel@iucn.org
A. Sen and H. Nagendra. (2020). Local community engagement, environmen-
tal placemaking, and stewardship by migrants: a case study of lake con-
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LIVING IN A HOTSPOT OF CITY AND

BIODIVERSITY – THE CASE OF SYNECOCULTURE

Masatoshi Funabashi
Position: Researcher
Affiliation: Sony Computer Science Laboratories Inc
E-mail: masa_funabashi@csl.sony.co.jp

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In August 2021, over 80 scholars, practitioners, leaders, promoters, and visionary individuals from
44 cities were convened to reflect on how cities can restore their relationship with nature. This
book showcases conceptual approaches, case studies, and op-ed articles addressing why nature in
and around cities is crucial to ensuring planetary health.

Contributors analyzed urban natures ranging from Montería and Mompox (riverside cities) to real
estate practices in Milan and Villavicencio. Their analysis also included a circular green hotspot
in Amsterdam, planetary health diets in Quezon City and Copenhagen, a pan-European toolbox to
manage blue environments, a comprehensive methodology to value the benefits of urban trees in
Medellín, a food security approach based on green roofs in Rio de Janeiro, and practical applica-
tions to advance biodiversity in the public space in the Chinese “sponge-city” of Shenzhen.

We hope these actions speak to and inspire subnational governments, national authorities, the
international community, business, finance, and society in general to imagine the future cities we
want to live in -and make them happen.