IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section B

Abstract

In recent decades, nature-based solutions have been recognised as key strategies to solve the effects of climate change. These solutions manifest in the use of green infrastructure to control floods, mitigate air pollution, and moderate indoor temperatures in buildings. Additionally, initiatives such as urban gardens and orchards underscore their role in enhancing food security and contributing to the mental health and overall well-being of individuals. Despite these multifaceted benefits, these strategies seem to capitalise on the benefits of nature to advance expansive development agendas. While these agendas often incorporate sustainability discourses, they tend to emphasise a totalitarian and utilitarian vision of the plant world, potentially diminishing the agency of environmental managers and non-human organisms. This study analyses the role played by non-human agents within buildings and public spaces built in recent decades. The contention posited is that the non-human realm forms an integral component of a life network that must be recognised within nature-based solutions. Such recognition is essential in distinguishing between a reductionist and mechanised vision of the natural world and one that acknowledges the universal and ecological symbiosis necessary for the survival and proliferation of both human and non-human domains. The study is carried out in Singapore, an internationally acclaimed garden city characterised by architectural and urban developments seamlessly integrating green urban infrastructure. Ethnographic observation in the central green spaces has been conducted since 2018, with the results of these observations and quantitative measurements forming the basis of the presented analysis. This paper presents a conceptual spatial ecology framework that endeavours to unravel and analyse the diverse living agents involved in the spatial ecology process and duly recognises the social-political agency inherent in all spatial actors.