Jen Shin

This primer is a result of research, analysis, and design conducted in the summer of 2018. It synthesizes field observations, community meetings, and interviews into simplified processes and actions. It also documents the process of analysis and design thinking utilized in observing and understanding urban ecology and social ecology in Baltimore.

The primer is organized into four case studies. Taken together, these case studies illustrate how urban ecosystems encounter an array of challenges, anthropogenic stressors, and social complexity. Each case study is analyzed, documented, and framed as a design problem; descriptive spatial diagrams and drawings are the primary communication tool.

We hope that this primer can help to consolidate knowledge across ecology, engineering, community organizing, and design fields and serve as a learning resource that makes urban ecology accessible and meaningful to designers, ecologists, and educators alike.