Johan van Zoest & Martin Melchers, Leven in de Stad: Betekenis en toepassing van natuur in de stedelijke omgeving [Life in the city: senses of nature in the urban environment], Utrecht: KNNV uitgeverij, 2006
More and more people live in cities, especially in densely populated countries such as the Netherlands. The city-ecologist-authors of this book, Johan van Zoest and Martin Melchers, consider how nature plays a role in determining the quality of the urban physical and social context. The book looks at city ecologies in (mostly) northern European cities and the coexistence of humans and animals and the values of a greener town. The book is a delightful delve into some of the wonderous facts and mysteries about our and other animals and plant behaviours; the interchange between city inhabitants from the stoney mountain-like biotope of the inner city to the less kempt greener outer edges. It’s in Dutch, but even if you don’t speak Dutch, it’s worth a look if only for the pictures and the enormous refernce listing that covers very specific scientific studies such as “Differences in the Timing of the Reproduction between Urban and Forest European Blackbirds”, and “House Spiders of Kansas”.