PEOPLE’S DECISIONS SHAPE URBAN HABITATS

Millions of decisions that influence urban habitats are made every day by people all over the world. Types of decisions include formal policies, plans and designs, or informal management decisions affecting public parks and streetscapes or residential gardens. Sometimes these decisions have deliberate ecological consequences, but there are many unintended consequences, both positive and negative, on urban ecosystems. Decisions can have a range of spatial and temporal effects, and the effects of small decisions can be cumulative over space and time, leading to large ecological effects. Decisions are often thought of as rational based on evidence and people’s economic wherewithal, values, and preferences. Yet decisions are also often the outcome of political processes that favour advantaged sections of the community. Individual decisions may be influenced by cognitive factors such as values, beliefs, and preferences. Decisions may also be affected by local environmental factors. Decision-making is increasingly being supported by new data, tools, and technologies, and citizen-science is being used by public decision-makers to engage and educate the public and increase monitoring capabilities. We still have much to learn about the broad range of actors with different motivations, preferences, and behaviours that make decisions that influence urban habitats in different social, cultural, ecological, and environmental contexts around the world.