What makes urban green spaces green is that they are 'living' - and it is this 'more-than-human' interactivity that is key to understanding what makes cities habitable, argues the study led by Professor Sarah Whatmore of the University of Oxford and Dr Steve Hinchliffe at the Open University.

Over the past decade, the ecology of the UK's urban areas has gained the kind of conservation significance once reserved for rural and sparsely populated regions. Scientists now recognise that cities sustain important 'communities' of plants and animals drawn together from many different routes and places. Urban wildlife groups, amateur naturalists and voluntary organisations have been key players in bringing about this change of emphasis.

For the study, researchers investigated cultivation, conservation and restoration activities in the allotments, woods and brownfield sites of Birmingham and Bristol, including producing 60 hours of video footage recording social and ecological changes through the year.

Their report describes in detail, among other things, the benefits of interaction between people, creatures and plants in activities such as allotment gardening, hedge-laying and landscaping.

Professor Whatmore said: "Our research has highlighted the ecological and social diversity of urban landscapes, tracking some of the flora and fauna of cities. These plants and animals are not only valuable in conservation terms - some of Britain's rarest species, like water vole and Black Redstarts, live in cities - they are also key components of urban life. Whether rare or
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Contact: Becky Gammon
becky.gammon@esrc.ac.uk
017-9341-3122
Economic & Social Research Council
25-Nov-2004