Welcome to Urban Ecology

Summary The San Francisco Green Business Team includes Urban Ecology, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SF.DPH), San Francisco Department of the Environment (SFE), and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SF.PUC). This team provides free...

EastSide Community Cultural Center

Oakland, California Challenge A thriving population of homegrown neighborhood artists has emerged in Oakland’s San Antonio, encouraging community participation in the arts through after-school training programs, events for young adults, street banners and murals,...

Clinton Park

Oakland, California Challenge The Eastlake neighborhood in Oakland, California, is one of the most diverse communities in that city. It is home to African Americans, Latinos, Southeast Asian immigrants, and Native Americans. Yet Eastlake’s main open space—Clinton...

Urban Promise Academy Campus Improvement Plan

Urban Promise Academy Campus Improvement Plan read more

Commercial Center Revitalization

Oakland, California Challenge Once home to two movie theaters and a trolley line, Oakland’s 23rd Avenue today has boarded-up storefronts, traffic that speeds by too quickly, and vacant lots that invite criminal activity. Though community members are sometimes divided...

Garfield Elementary Schoolyard Redesign

Garfield Elementary Schoolyard Redesign read more

Community Design Consulting Services

Some of our past projects.

Visitacion Valley Community Vision

Visitacion Valley Community Vision read more

Visitacion Valley Neighborhood Center Plan

Visitacion Valley Neighborhood Center Plan read more

Mission Corridor Plan Commercial Revitalization

Mission Corridor Plan Commercial Revitalization read more

Weeks Neighborhood Plan

Weeks Neighborhood Plan read more

16th Street BART Community Design Plan

The 16th Street BART Community Design Plan is the result of a nine-month community planning process organized to address neighborhood concerns about the 16th Street BART station area in San Francisco. The Community Design Plan provides both general guidelines and...

The Clinton Park Plan

The Clinton Park Plan read more

Past Articles from Our Journal

You can visit our contact page to submit your own article! Find all our past journal articles here.

Green Building Materials

by Darrel Deboer Through the 1980’s, if one claimed to be an "environmentally-oriented" designer, people’s first reaction was to look up on the roof for the solar panels. The environmental impacts, toxicity, and origin of building materials were rarely questioned....

Communities Making Themselves Heard: Environmental Justice as a Means to Equity

by Enrique Gallardo Since the 1970s, groups of concerned citizens have mobilized in response to environmental degradation in their neighborhoods. The concept of environmental justice originally denoted a negative freedom: the right to live free of environmental harm....

Tunnels for Munich?

by Ron Widenhoeft In Munich, one of Germany’s most attractive cities, political controversy rages over whether the Middle Ring Road needs three new tunnels. By putting heavily burdened segments of the highway underground, advocates promise to enhance safety on the...

Cooling Our Cities

Lisa Gartland Scientific data show temperatures in cities all over the world, from Baltimore and Phoenix to Shanghai and Tokyo, are steadily increasing by one half to one degree Fahrenheit every ten years, and the primary cause isn't global warming. Cities -- urban...

The Urban Ecology Journal Back Issues

Note: With this issue, we return to a seasonal designation. The first issue of each year will be called Spring, followed by Summer, Fall, and Winter. Visit our contact form to submit articles! Back Issues 2000 Spring -- Designing for Transit and Community Tales from...

Remember the Alamo and the World’s Tallest Man, Too

Remember the Alamo and the World's Tallest Man, Too read more

City Front Shorts

City Front Shorts read more

Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade

Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade read more

Habitat II Conference Tidbits

Participants at the Habitat II City Summit were snowed under by an avalanche of information describing urban development around the world. Following are a few tidbits and gleanings from the conference: The world's urban population will rise from 1.54 billion in 1975...

Texas’ Colonias: Squatter Settlements Become Affordable Housing

by Rachel Peterson Texas has witnessed an unusual pattern of development along its 2,000 mile border with Mexico. Colonias are unincorporated, "informal" rural subdivisions that usually lack water, wastewater service, and paved roads. There are an estimated 1,436 such...

Venice Confronts Population Loss, Environmental Problems

Venice Confronts Population Loss, Environmental Problems read more

Common Place: Toward Neighborhood and Regional Design