ABSTRACT
Urban ecology has emerged as the new paradigm for understanding and managing our cities and regions. Nongovernmental organizations such as the Centre for City Ecology in Toronto, Canada, The Urban Ecology Centre in Brussels, Belgium, and the pioneering non profit organization Urban Ecology in Oakland, California, whose mission is dedicated to building ecologically and socially healthy cities are precursors to the global transformation of integrated planning processes. While urban planning still remains the dominant discipline under which people design and manage human settlements, the evolution of knowledge and consciousness about the complex ecologies that make up our social, environmental and economic systems is shifting. During a study abroad symposium in 2009, students from the University of Utah's Department of City & Metropolitan Planning travelled to Germany to observe ways that planners have implemented effective strategies to reduce energy use, improve mobility and enliven places for people.
