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Chapter 3
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-4915-5.ch003
ABSTRACT
This chapter has the objective to analyze the urban ecology, the biological diversity or biodiversity, and
their adaptive cycle as the fundamentals of green economic growth. The analysis begins questioning the
implications that some assumptions of urban ecology and biodiversity, such as the socio-ecosystems,
resilience, ecosystem services, and adaptive cycle have on the creation of green economic growth. A series
of diferent dimensions of resilience are proposed as subsystems that contribute to the general resilience
of a system. The method used is the analytical based on a review of the conceptual and theoretical lit-
erature. This analysis concludes that the connectivity of processes and functions of urban ecology and
biodiversity are relevant to the creation of green economic growth in terms of green economic value.
INTRODUCTION
Cities are complex ecological systems dominated by humans (Alberti, 2006). Although human manipu-
lations of nature make cities foundamentally different from other types of natural ecosystems, the city
can be considered as an ecosystem open to entry of energy, for consumption and waste generation. For
this reason, we can speak about Urban Metabolism, similar to what we do for living organisms (Ken-
nedy, 2011).
Expanding the ecological knowledge of urban regions could facilitate greater integration of nature,
representing an investment opportunity and at the same time improving the quality of life of the popula-
tion. High urban biodiversity can be able to provide many services, including cooling the urban area,
reducing urban flood risk, filtering pollutants, supplying food, and providing accessible recreation. To
Green Economic Growth
Based on Urban Ecology
and Biodiversity
José G. Vargas-Hernández
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0938-4197
University Center for Economic and Managerial Sciences, University of Guadalajara, Mexico