This book is the result of aseries of lectures organised by the Connnonwealth Human Ecology Council as aprelude to the Uni ted Nations Conference on Human Settlements, the HABITAT conference, which will take place in Vancouver, Canada, in May and June 1976. The lectures were given in London, England, during 1974 and 1975, most of them sponsored jointly with the Royal Connnonwealth Society. Four years ago, the Uni ted Nations Organisation was preparing for a major international conference concerned with problems of the human environment. This was the UN Conference on the Human Environment that took place in Stockholm, Sweden, in June 1972. It was the culmination of a rising interest in the study of these problems in many countries of the world. The study of environmental problems relating to human settlements was on the agenda at Stockholm, but because of the great breadth of the sub ject of the conference they could not be considered in any depth. This will be rectified in Vancouver; and already the study of human settlements and their problems is the focus of an intensive progrannne of activities throughout the world in preparation for the HABITAT meeting. The HABITAT conference is taking place at a time when it is recognised that human settlement problems are likely to increase greatly in severity in the remaining years of the twentieth century. We have entered aperiod of great uncertainty in matters of world development.

In many areas of the world, environmental degradation in and around human settlements is undermining prospects for both socioeconomic justice and ecological sustainability. To explore the issues involved in this worldwide problem, Keith Pezzoli focuses on a dramatic instance of conflict that grew out of the unauthorized penetration of human settlements into the Ajusco greenbelt zone, a vital part of Mexico City's ecological reserve. The heart of the book is the story of what happened when residents of the Ajusco settlements fought relocation by proposing that the areas be transformed into productive ecology settlements. Pezzoli draws upon urban and regional planning theory and practice to examine biophysical as well as ethical and social sides of the story, and he uses the Mexican experience to identify planning strategies to link economy, ecology, and community in sustainable development. -- Publisher description.

Humans have always been influenced by natural landscapes, and always will be—even as we create ever-larger cities and our developments fundamentally change the nature of the earth around us. In Human Ecology, noted city planner and landscape architect Frederick Steiner encourages us to consider how human cultures have been shaped by natural forces, and how we might use this understanding to contribute to a future where both nature and people thrive. Human ecology is the study of the interrelationships between humans and their environment, drawing on diverse fields from biology and geography to sociology, engineering, and architecture. Steiner admirably synthesizes these perspectives through the lens of landscape architecture, a discipline that requires its practitioners to consciously connect humans and their environments. After laying out eight principles for understanding human ecology, the book’s chapters build from the smallest scale of connection—our homes—and expand to community scales, regions, nations, and, ultimately, examine global relationships between people and nature. In this age of climate change, a new approach to planning and design is required to envision a livable future. Human Ecology provides architects, landscape architects, urban designers, and planners—and students in those fields— with timeless principles for new, creative thinking about how their work can shape a vibrant, resilient future for ourselves and our planet.

Archaeology as Human Ecology is a new introduction to concepts and methods in archaeology. It deals not with artifacts, but with sites, settlements, and subsistence. It is essential reading for students, research workers, and all concerned with archaeological method and theory.

In this exciting new volume several leading researchers use settlement ecology, an emerging approach to the study of archaeological settlements, to examine the spatial arrangement of prehistoric settlement patterns across the Americas. Positioned at the intersection of geography, human ecology, anthropology, economics and archaeology, this diverse collection showcases successful applications of the settlement ecology approach in archaeological studies and also discusses associated techniques such as GIS, remote sensing and statistical and modeling applications. Using these methodological advancements the contributors investigate the specific social, cultural and environmental factors which mediated the placement and arrangement of different sites. Of particular relevance to scholars of landscape and settlement archaeology, Settlement Ecology of the Ancient Americas provides fresh insights not only into past societies, but also present and future populations in a rapidly changing world.