23rd August 2019

Brompton biotopia

This LDF, Brompton Design District will explore the theme Nature/Nurture, investigating how design can respond to the threat of rapidly disappearing habitats and large-scale species extinction. Ahead of the festival, we chatted with ecology expert Dr Rob Francis of King’s College London about the huge wealth of wildlife living in our cities, and what designers can do to protect and encourage it.

Cities are not just home to humans. In London’s Brompton, for example, you’ll find more than 3,000 species of flora and fauna, from birds and insects, to fungi and frogs. Often these populations coexist with us bipeds but at others, development, noise and pollution can disrupt the balance, threatening vital habitats. Given that the UN predicts that two-thirds of the global population will live in cities by 2050, protecting urban nature more essential than ever.

Marlène Huissoud in the studio. Photography by Dunja Opalko

This September for LDF, Brompton Design District will explore how design and architecture can better serve urban wildlife, leading to benefits for animal and human populations alike. Responding to this year’s curatorial theme Nature/Nurture, Brompton Design District has commissioned Brompton Biotopia, which will see three designers create a series of animal habits throughout the area. Experimental designer Marlène Huissoud has created biodegradable animal houses inspired by biomimicry – the practice of mimicking natural structures and ways of building, while Material Architecture Lab’s hemp and lime mortar design aims to encourage the insects no longer plentiful in urban environments back into the city. Interaction Research Studio’s habitats integrate DIY wildlife cameras made from low-cost materials, keeping track of just who is using the shelter.

Ahead of LDF, we were curious to find out more about the kinds of creatures calling Brompton home. Luckily ecology expert Dr Rob Francis of King’s College London was on hand to discuss urban biodiversity, the threat it faces from climate change and how designers can safeguard the future of wildlife in cities.

There is a tendency for nature to be thought of as something that’s ‘over there’, far removed from the city. How did this begin and why is it problematic?

Urbanisation has essentially been a way of getting away from the ‘wilderness’ and all the hazards it has historically encompassed, so in many ways the city is (or was) thought of as the antithesis of ‘wilderness’, ‘nature’ and so on. This has unfortunately separated people from that wilder, unruly (non-gardened, non-domestic) version of nature, as most people now spend most of their lives in urban areas – and each succeeding urban generation has less familiarity and lower expectations of the environment they are raised within. This is sometimes termed ‘generational amnesia’ or the ‘extinction of experience’. But in reality cities are packed with nature – it’s just not the type that people might expect, and can be harder to find and to appreciate.

What benefits are there to biodiverse urban environments? How might they change with a warming climate or a more dense urban population?

Urban biodiversity provides a lot of ecosystem services: things that nature supplies that we cannot synthesis or make artificially (and nor would we want to). Organisms clean our air and water, pollinate our crops, supply food and other resources. Biodiversity also supports human health, both physical and mental, and has tremendous (often unrecognised) value to the thousands and millions of people living in towns and cities. As the climate warms the types of species that thrive might change. We have already observed this with the urban heat island effect, which can change the timing of life history events (insect emergence, flowering of plants), and as this becomes more severe we may find shifts in species within urban ecological communities, probably including more non-native species that have originated in warmer parts of the world. Denser urban populations can put pressure on species habitat and the space needed to support ecological communities, but this can be mitigated to an extent with greater biodiversity-friendly urban planning.

Material Architecture Lab's miniature ecosystem

Tell us about some of the unexpected animal populations in London (Brompton especially!), and how they interact with the urban environment…

There are almost certainly unexpected animal populations and communities that go largely unrecognised and unobserved in London, but some of the more celebrated urban successes include peregrine falcons nesting in tall buildings (‘urban cliffs’), the (invasive) ring-necked parakeets that have become a common sights in parks and gardens across the city, and things like foxes and hedgehogs that are doing well in cities; often much better than their rural counterparts. Brompton Cemetery is well worth a look, as it has good habitat for a range of insects, birds and small mammals. This is true of many long-standing informal green spaces such as cemeteries, though they are often overlooked for their ecological value.

What are the potential challenges (or issues) with renaturing urban areas?

The main problem is giving over space to biodiversity. Species need space for habitat, and remember that a given species (or individual’s) habitat may cover a wide range of environmental conditions. For example, a bird of prey might need tall buildings, trees or other structures for perching and nesting, but would do most of its hunting in more open, grassy areas. Space should also be connected. A garden might work fine as a habitat for insects, but small mammals would benefit from interconnected gardens that allow larger areas to be foraged. And the larger the animal populations (which is good, to prevent them dying out), the more space is needed. Providing more space either means creating more green spaces, or making the built environment more biodiversity-friendly (or both). The latter is sometimes termed ‘reconciliation ecology’ – reconciling human use of the environment with the needs of other species, think green roofs or wildlife gardening. Another challenge is that sometimes biodiversity brings with it some uncomfortable impacts (or disservices), such as noise, animal waste, messy or untidy habitats that may look unappealing, proximity to insects and so on. These are part and parcel of nature and people need to be more tolerant of exposure to biodiversity in all its forms. More environmental education is needed in this area, to better equip people with more knowledge of urban wildlife and encourage wildlife-friendly attitudes.

Photo using Interaction Research Studio's My Nature Watch technology

How could cities be better designed to encourage biodiversity? What role can designers and architects play in that?

If we could start again, cities could be effectively designed with large, connected areas of natural (or semi-natural) vegetation or green spaces, wetlands, forests and so on, to help maintain biodiversity. In reality, most cities are trying to retrofit mitigations to support and enhance biodiversity. This can include provision of more green space, but biophilic, ecologically-engineered design of the built environment is also important. All buildings would ideally incorporate biophilic design such as swift, bat or bee bricks, green roofs and walls, bird boxes, perching ledges, wildlife gardens and so on. Biophilic design is a big area of interest. One of the problems is that the benefits to biodiversity of these techniques are not yet proven. There needs to be more research to determine what works best and why. Some cities have been pioneers in enhancing biodiversity alongside people, such as Singapore.

What are some of the things that your average city dweller can do to encourage biodiversity in their area?

Create a wildlife gardening by allowing untidy patches in your garden, so that there are plants of different type and height, which will increase the amount of habitat. Install small ponds, where it is safe to do so. Aim to cultivate native species rather than exotics where possible. Consider installing bee hotels and other wildlife-friendly items, or (if you can) a green roof or wall. Plant nectar-rich flowers to encourage pollinators. Reduce use of herbicides and pesticides. Consider a wildflower (grass-free lawn). Don’t worry about what the neighbours might think!

Want to find out more how Brompton Design District is exploring urban biodiversity? Check out the programme here.

Interaction Research Studio habitats for Brompton Biotopia