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Despite considerable expansion in the scope and function of the state with respect to environmental protection, the world's biological diversity and ecosystem services continue to deteriorate. Finding ways to better govern human-nature relations in cities is an important part of addressing this decline. The aim of this thesis is to explore the potential of social-ecological resilience to inform urban governance in theory and practice, through a focus on strategic spatial planning. Resilience has become an increasingly important urban policy discourse and much hope is placed in its potential to improve urban governance. However, there is an acknowledged gap between social-ecological resilience as an ideal and the ability to govern towards it in practice. At the time this doctoral research commenced there had been no engagement with social-ecological resilience in the planning theory literature and minimal engagement by empirical planning research. It is to this gap the thesis contributes. Social-ecological resilience scholarship is found to offer planning theory a partly new way of understanding complex human-nature relations. This is relevant to calls by planning theorists for more attention to matters of substance, including ecological processes. With respect to practice, planners see potential for social-ecological resilience to critically inform strategic spatial planning, including through the framing of problems, tools for analysis/synthesis and governance options. There are also however, lessons for social-ecological resilience scholarship that emerge from the detailed empirical research which suggests that attention to the politics of the everyday activities of administrators, elected officials, planning officials, conservationists and citizens operating within the so-called 'mangle of practice' is critical to explaining the gap between the ideal of governing for urban resilience, and what happens in practice. ; At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript.

With its origins in systems ecology and emerging interest in the inter-disciplinary examination of the governance of linked social-ecological systems, social-ecological resilience offers a field of scholarship of particular relevance for planning at a time when global ecological challenges require urgent attention. This article explores what new conceptual ground social-ecological resilience offers planning theory. I argue that at a time when planning theorists are calling for more attention to matters of substance alongside matters of process, social-ecological resilience provides a timely contribution, particularly given the minimal attention in planning theory scholarship to environmental and ecological considerations as a driving concern.

'Heads up for the brilliance and warmth of Kitchen Table Sustainability! Because the book is rooted in the human scale it exudes the aroma of possibility.' Chellis Glendinning award-winning author of My Name Is Chellis and I'm in Recovery from Western Civilization 'Wendy Sarkissian and colleagues come through again giving us fresh ideas and perspectives.' John Forester Cornell University 'Offers accessible insightful thinking about the most daunting challenge facing 21st century cities.' Leonie Sandercock University of British Columbia 'Drawn from a lifetime of experience ... and a wide readin

To understand how the world's ecosystems are changing we need to understand cities, and to create better cities we need to understand the ecosystems they depend on. The failure of most markets, government policies and even urban studies to take these relations into account has put cities, and increasingly the whole world, in a difficult position. Studies like Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services can help us to extricate ourselves, provided we act on the knowledge they provide. Gordon McGranahan International Institute for Environment and Development The challenges of urbanization are profound, but so too are the opportunities. Cities can reconcile human society and biodiversity by creating environments that are ecologically sustainable, economically productive, socially just, politically participatory and culturally vibrant. I commend this study to all who have a stake in creating ecologically sustainable urbanization for the benefit of humanity and the planet. Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General, United Nations

Urbanization is a global phenomenon and the book emphasizes that this is not just a social-technological process. It is also a social-ecological process where cities are places for nature, and where cities also are dependent on, and have impacts on, the biosphere at different scales from local to global. The book is a global assessment and delivers four main conclusions: Urban areas are expanding faster than urban populations. Half the increase in urban land across the world over the next 20 years will occur in Asia, with the most extensive change expected to take place in India and China Urban areas modify their local and regional climate through the urban heat island effect and by altering precipitation patterns, which together will have significant impacts on net primary production, ecosystem health, and biodiversity Urban expansion will heavily draw on natural resources, including water, on a global scale, and will often consume prime agricultural land, with knock-on effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services elsewhere Future urban expansion will often occur in areas where the capacity for formal governance is restricted, which will constrain the protection of biodiversity and management of ecosystem services

To understand how the world's ecosystems are changing we need to understand cities, and to create better cities we need to understand the ecosystems they depend on. The failure of most markets, government policies and even urban studies to take these relations into account has put cities, and increasingly the whole world, in a difficult position. Studies like Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services can help us to extricate ourselves, provided we act on the knowledge they provide (Gordon McGranahan, International Institute for Environment and Development). The challenges of urbanization are profound, but so too are the opportunities. Cities can reconcile human society and biodiversity by creating environments that are ecologically sustainable, economically productive, socially just, politically participatory and culturally vibrant. I commend this study to all who have a stake in creating ecologically sustainable urbanization for the benefit of humanity and the planet (Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General, United Nations).