From 2008, for the first time in human history, half of the world's population will live in cities. Yet despite a wealth of literature on green architecture and planning, there is to date no single book which draws together theory from the full range of disciplines - from architecture, planning and ecology - which we must come to grips with if we are to design future cities which are genuinely sustainable.

Paul F. Downton's Ecopolis takes a major step along this path. It highlights the urgent need to understand the role of cities as both agents of change and means of survival, at a time when climate change has finally grabbed world attention, and it provides a framework for designing cities that integrates knowledge - both academic and practical - from a range of relevant disciplines.

Identifying key theorists, practitioners, places and philosophies, the book provides a solid theoretical context, and goes on to present a series of design and planning tools for achieving Sustainable Huma Ecological Development (SHED). Combining knowledge from diverse fields to present a synthesis of urban ecology, the book will provide a valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners in architecture, construction, planning, geography and the traditional life sciences.

Content - Illustrations, Foreword, Introduction: The City Is My University, Part I Propositions, Theory and Practice, I. People, Places and Philosophies, 1 The Ground Plan, 2 An Epistemology for Urban Ecology, 3 Architecture, Urbanism and Ecological Perspectives, 4 Weavers of Theory, 5 The Aesthetics of Ecopolis, 6 Finding Fractals: Identifying Elements of the Ecocity, 7 Building Fractals: Ecopolis Projects in Australia, Colour Plates, Part II Towards a Theoretical Synthesis, II. Rebuilding the Foundations, 8 Synthesis I: City Ecology, 9 Synthesis II: EcoDevelopment, 10 Synthesis III: Education, Advocacy and Activism, 11 Synthesis IV: The SHED Sustainable Human Ecological Development, 12 Our Cities, Our Selves, APPENDIX 1: My Favourite Thought Experiment, APPENDIX 2: Density and Urban Villages, APPENDIX 3: City Size; the Case of Somerset and Adelaide, APPENDIX 4: Adelaide, Calcutta and the Western Comfort Zone, APPENDIX 5: Charter for a New Municipium, Acknowledgments, Bibliography, Index