Dialogue on Development - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 352

an area (e.g., stormwater runoff, shade from buildings, and vegetation), while improving
the function and sustainability of a site.
Chapter 22 by Margaret Livingston offers opportunities for enhancing natural interac-
tions that occur in urban environments, with a focus on the evaluation of habitat pres-
ervation and enhancement in urban situations. The chapter begins with a focus on the
larger scale of habitats, examining how cities often contribute to the fragmentation of
natural systems such as watercourses and large expanses of upland habitats that are criti-
cal resources for many species. This overview is intended to inform the reader about how
smaller habitats we create in cities can serve as rest stops, or in some cases, new patches
of habitat for species displaced by urban growth. The chapter also provides more specific
design guidelines for habitat creation of three groups that are relatively well adapted to
urban sites: songbirds, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Plant suggestions for attracting
each group are also discussed.
In Chapter 23, Dunstan and Livingston discuss practices for retaining some of an origi-
nal site's composition, but in perhaps a different configuration—the reuse of existing, sal-
vaged plants to new locations in urban environments. This practice stresses the ability
to maintain older specimens of arid species, particularly trees and cacti, through effec-
tive salvaging. Preserving these “living sculptures,” as Dunstan and Livingston refer to
them, has become an accepted and valued practice, and the chapter outlines the process
for tree salvaging, from site preparation to creating a container (“boxing”) around the
plant for safe transport and transplanting. This chapter also discusses the practices for
salvaging larger columnar cacti such as saguaro for effective transplanting to other loca-
tions. In urban areas, this practice has increased dramatically with the implementation of
the native plant protection ordinances.
The last two chapters emphasize the future ecological opportunities in urban settings.
Chapter 24 focuses on the presentation of an alternative model for sustainable urban living,
stressing that a new design “that recovers, recycles, and reuses nutrients lost in the human
and animal waste streams is needed.” Mark Edwards' discussions on declining fresh-
water, fossil fuel supplies, soils, and climate change highlight the need for a new model
for our food production in the future. Edwards examines green solar energy captured in
algae, representing “an agriculture of abundance based on cheap natural resources.” He
outlines the unique ability of algae to grow sustainable and affordable food and energy
(SAFE) production that can assure vitality to urban centers.
Nan Ellin's chapter (Chapter 25) bridges some of the ideas presented in the previous
chapters, with a discussion of the concept of integral urbanism. Her chapter emphasizes
the creation of linkages and connections in our urban spaces, responding to our rebellion
against past sprawl evident in many of our desert cities and the need to effectively connect
various land uses and inhabitants, human and animal, for example, in our metropolitan
areas. A discussion of some of the changes occurring in downtown Phoenix that reflect
concepts of integral urbanism is presented.
It is intended that these chapters represent just some of the concepts and actions that
can be used by urban dwellers, aiding in their attempts to support some of the ecological
processes that occur in our urban systems. For some readers, this part of the topic may also
be informative about a few key areas and strategies in ecological design that we have made
progress in under urban situations. In contrast, some of the ecological processes that are
in desperate need of closer attention and better preservation in our cities for coexistence to
occur with us are highlighted.