The explosion of human population and the growing pressure on the global environment has created worldwide concern over the future sustainability of human communities and the ecosystems upon which they depend. The unprecedented concentration of this rising population in the world's cities has yielded both a renewed interest and exciting advancements in urban ecology and green city planning. Examining how innovations in archeology, urban history, urban and landscape ecology, and environmental city planning and design present a new narrative about the relationship between human communities and their ecosystems, this revealing book brings together a unique, interdisciplinary approach to the origins and trajectory of the fields. Following the science and perspectives pioneered by early ecologists and urban environmental planners, this key book looks into the reinvigoration and expansion in the work of contemporary urban ecologists and 'green city' planners and designers. Examples of this are reflected in case studies of current day efforts such as the Long Term Ecological Research project and the European Commission's Urban Agenda in the European Union. "Urban Ecology" illuminates the parallel genesis and development of these fields toward the context of a common set of goals and language. Such integration has been called for repeatedly in the urban environmental literature yet till now, no text has provided such a context.