Welcome to Urban Ecology

Garfield Elementary Schoolyard Redesign read more

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...

The Living Classroom

San Francisco, California Urban Ecology is partnering with Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ) to provide a participatory design process involving four LEJ youth Community Geographers. Urban Ecology will introduce the youth to the concepts involved in site...

Manzanita Community / SEED Schoolyard Redesign

Manzanita Community / SEED Schoolyard Redesign read more

Green Business Certification

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...

16th Street BART Plazas

16th Street BART Plazas read more

Community Design Consulting Services

Some of our past projects.

Visitacion Valley Neighborhood Center Plan

Visitacion Valley Neighborhood Center Plan read more

Weeks Neighborhood Plan

Weeks Neighborhood Plan read more

Visitacion Valley Community Vision

Visitacion Valley Community Vision 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...

24 th Street BART Plazas Community Design Plan

24 th Street BART Plazas Community Design Plan read more

Telegraph-Northgate Neighborhood Plan

Just north of downtown Oakland, the Telegraph-Northgate neighborhood displays familiar signs of disinvestment: the major retail corridors are lined with vacant storefronts; the older houses are crumbling; and the parks are filled with graffiti and shards of glass. But...

Past Articles from Our Journal

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

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...

Wilderness in South Central Los Angeles?

Randy Hester Despite its well-deserved bashing for being utterly car-dependent, water-irresponsible and unsustainable, Los Angeles has borne some valuable precedents for keeping and recreating nature in the city. The No Oil fight to save the Santa Monica Bay, the Los...

Bangkok’s Motorcycle Taxis

Bangkok's Motorcycle Taxis 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

Divided We Stand: A Biography of New York’s World Trade Center

Divided We Stand: A Biography of New York's World Trade Center read more

Combating Supermarket Flight In Los Angeles

By Michelle Mascarenhas Over the past 30 years, supermarket chains in Los Angeles have closed older, less profitable urban stores to build bigger and more modern markets in the suburbs. This trend follows the out-migration of middle-class households from the city....

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....

Jobs and Environmental Stewardship in Taiwan

by Randy Hester The waters of Tsengwen River and Chi Ku Lagoon along Taiwan’s southwest coast are the scene of a controversy that is increasingly familiar around the world. Taiwan’s President Lee Tung Hui and many land speculators support a 7000-acre development...

Sustainable Development Around the World

Clean Fuel Vehicles in Cairo To combat its dangerously high air pollution, Cairo is looking to convert its taxis, buses, and minibuses to compressed natural gas, which produces 86 percent less carbon monoxide and 83 percent fewer hydrocarbons than gasoline. Five...

Regional Polarization and Tax Sharing

by Myron Orfield The forces of polarization — the push of concentrated poverty and the pull of concentrated resources — operate throughout metropolitan regions. Because the dynamics are regional, only a regional approach can change them. There is little that...

Fighting Urban Poverty Around the World

Fighting Urban Poverty Around the World read more

The Mysteries of Planning