Table 2.

Ecosystem versus traditional approaches to studying urban systems (Reprinted with permission from UNU-IAS Urban Ecosystems Management Group 2004)

Ecosystems approach	Traditional approaches
Multiple scales (spatial and temporal)	Remain within municipal boundaries, seek solutions at the scale and level of the problem
Flows/feedbacks	Linear “input–output” approach
Multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral	Dominated by economic planning of sectoral interests (e.g., transportation, solid waste, water supply)
Trade-offs between economic, social and environmental concerns and increasingly between environmental services	Optimization between social, economic and environmental cycles
Plan for less vulnerability, more resilience or urban system	Plan for infrastructure, housing and other system developments to meet consumer demands
Focuses on different roles of and approaches to governance for different types of problems (specifically calls for multi-tiered governance structures)	Focuses on the local level and role of local and citywide decision-makers/stakeholders or prioritizes allocating tasks to as low a government level as possible