City-Level Decoupling-Full Report

Bio-utilisation involves the use of parts of ecosystems as raw materials, a house made of wood, or a 'living roof', that provide insulation and other green building benefits are both examples of bio-utilisation. Bio- assistance refers to the domestication of organisms - anything from herding sheep to using nature-based renewable resources such as earthworms for composting or algae for biofuels. These strategies can also be applied to green design, and are sometimes used in combination. For example, 'living machine' sewage treatment systems use live plants and microbes which are selected and arranged to imitate a natural ecosystem. Living machines are not only more environmentally friendly than standard methods of sewage treatment, they turn what is normally a hidden eyesore into a vibrant greenhouse, and in some installations they have become architectural features. 89 For most cities, each hectare of developed land equates to the loss of almost a hectare’s worth of ecosystem services. Roofs and pavements reflect sunlight rather than capturing it for energy; CO 2 is released into the atmosphere rather than sequestered in vegetation or soils; buildings and streets shed rainwater into storm sewers that rush it away rather than letting it filter through wetlands or seep through soils to replenish ground water and support life. Instead of relying on urban green spaces to provide all beneficial ecosystem services, attention is now being paid to the role that buildings and infrastructure can play in giving back to the surrounding area, over-and-above meeting the needs of their users. Although cities may look very different from the native ecosystem, they could mimic natural systems, making use of locally available resources and emitting zero wastes. 90 Biomimicry is the practice of learning from and then emulating nature’s genius to solve design challenges and create more sustainable designs. The vision is to create products, processes, systems, organisations, and policies that are well adapted to life on earth over the long haul, and it is a useful lens through which to envisage cities that are decoupled from finite resource use. 91

4. Supporting services: soil formation, nutrient cycling and primary production.

In the long term, maintaining functioning ecosystems can be a cost-effective way to meet human needs over the long term, and in some cases it is the only way of meeting human needs for irreplaceable ecosystem services such as water supplies from rivers or aquifers essential to cities. By identifying, understanding and incorporating the benefits that nature provides into future visions of the city, planners, educators and managers can increase the number of alternatives to finite resource use that can facilitate decoupling. 86 While it may not be possible to increase earth’s absolute carrying capacity, nature’s ability to improve the provision of ecosystem services can be supported so that the quality of everyday living can improve, resilience can be enhanced and future options expanded and reinforced. 87 The well-known case of New York’s investment in its regional river system is in some ways the iconic case that demonstrates this argument, with lesser known examples in other cities, such as Rio’s investment in reforestation to re-establish its aquifers or Johannesburg’s investment in its urban forest. Factoring the planet’s multi-trillion dollar ecosystem assets into policy-making can help cities and regional authorities save money while boosting the local economy, enhancing quality of life, securing livelihoods and generating employment. For example, when considering options for reducing pollution, many waste streams such as human and organic household waste can be rendered harmless (and in some cases useful) by natural systems powered by solar-based photosynthesis and the nutrients and moisture contained in the waste itself. While, most conventional pollution control equipment is capital-intensive and expensive to operate, natural systems tend to be much cheaper to maintain as they make use of abundant ecosystem services. 88

Using nature to provide ecosystem services is known as 'bio-utilisation' or 'bio-assistance'.

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