‘Neutral’ environmental outcomes in terms of energy use, carbon emissions, waste generation or water use are worthy but difficult targets in architectural and urban design. However, the built environment may need to go beyond efforts simply to limit negative environmental outcomes and instead aim for net positive environmental benefits. This implies that the built environment would need to contribute more than it consumes while simultaneously remediating past and current environmental damage. Such development could be termed ‘regenerative’. The potential for understanding and then mimicking ecosystem services is explored for setting goals for regenerative developments, designing them and measuring their successes or failures as they evolve over time. Key leverage points are identified where the systems of the built environment may be changed in order to move towards a regenerative urban environment. Analysing the urban built environment from the perspective of how ecosystems function could be a significant step towards the creation of a built environment where positive integration with, and restoration of, local ecosystems may be realized. Des résultats environnementaux « neutres » en termes de consommation d'énergie, d'émissions de carbone, de production de déchets ou d'utilisation de l'eau, constituent des objectifs qui méritent d'être poursuivis, mais qui sont difficiles à atteindre dans le domaine de la conception architecturale et de l'aménagement urbain. Cependant, il peut être nécessaire que le cadre bâti aille au-delà des efforts cherchant simplement à limiter les résultats environnementaux négatifs et vise plutôt à obtenir des avantages environnementaux nets positifs. Ceci implique que le cadre bâti devrait contribuer plus qu'il ne consomme tout en corrigeant simultanément les dommages environnementaux passés et actuels. Un tel développement pourrait être qualifié de « régénérateur ». Les possibilités de compréhension, puis d'imitation des services écosystémiques, sont étudiées de façon à fixer des objectifs en matière de développements régénérateurs, à concevoir ceux-ci et à en mesurer la réussite ou l'échec au fur et à mesure de leur évolution au fil du temps. Les principaux points de levier sont identifiés là où les systèmes du cadre bâti peuvent être modifiés de manière à progresser vers un milieu urbain régénérateur. Analyser le cadre bâti urbain du point de vue de la manière dont les écosystèmes fonctionnent pourrait constituer un pas important dans le sens de la création d'un cadre bâti dans lequel il serait possible de réaliser une intégration positive avec les écosystèmes locaux, ainsi qu'une réhabilitation de ceux-ci. Mots clés: cadre bâti écologie services écosystémiques avantages environnementaux lieu conception régénératrice aménagement urbain

This article examines biomimicry, where organisms or ecosystems are mimicked in human design, as a means to either mitigate the causes of climate change that the built environment is responsible for, or adapt to the impacts of climate change. Different biomimetic approaches to design are discussed and categorized, and a series of examples illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. Biomimicry's potential role in addressing climate change in the built environment over the short, medium and long term is examined. Specific principles of ecosystem biomimicry for architecture have been deduced through a comparative cross-disciplinary review and are presented. It is posited that the incorporation of a thorough understanding of biology and ecology into architectural design will be significant in the creation of a built environment that contributes to the health of human communities, while increasing positive integration with natural carbon cycles.

By 2050, 68% of the world’s population will likely live in cities. Human settlements depend on resources, benefits, and services from ecosystems, but they also tend to deplete ecosystem health. To address this situation, a new urban design and planning approach is emerging. Based on regenerative design, ecosystem-level biomimicry, and ecosystem services theories, it proposes designing projects that reconnect urban space to natural ecosystems and regenerate whole socio-ecosystems, contributing to ecosystem health and ecosystem services production. In this paper, we review ecosystems as models for urban design and review recent research on ecosystem services production. We also examine two illustrative case studies using this approach: Lavasa Hill in India and Lloyd Crossing in the U.S.A. With increasing conceptualisation and application, we argue that the approach contributes positive impacts to socio-ecosystems and enables scale jumping of regenerative practices at the urban scale. However, ecosystem-level biomimicry practices in urban design to create regenerative impact still lack crucial integrated knowledge on ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services productions, making it less effective than potentially it could be. We identify crucial gaps in knowledge where further research is needed and pose further relevant research questions to make ecosystem-level biomimicry approaches aiming for regenerative impact more effective.

Built environment professionals must solve urgent and complex problems related to mitigating and adapting to climate change and biodiversity loss. Cities require redesign and retrofit so they can become complex systems that create rather than diminish ecological and societal health. One way to do this is to strategically design buildings and cities to generate and provide ecosystem services. This is an aspect of biomimicry, where whole ecosystems and their functions are emulated, in order to positively shift the ecological performance of buildings and urban settings. A small number of methodologies and frameworks for ecosystem services design have been proposed, but their use is not wide spread. A key barrier is the lack of translational work between ecology concepts and practical examples of ecosystem services design for a built environment context. In response, this paper presents research underpinning the creation of a qualitative relational diagram in an online interactive format that relates ecosystem services concepts to design strategies, concepts, technologies, and case studies in a format for use by built environment professionals. The paper concludes that buildings and whole cities should be expected to become active contributors to socio-ecological systems because, as the diagram shows, many strategies and technologies to enable this already exist.

This paper proposes using an understanding of ecosystem services to determine measurable goals for urban regenerative design that are based on site specific ecological reality. This is termed ecosystem services analysis. The usability of the ecosystem services analysis concept is tested through a case study of an existing city. The case study demonstrates how the concept could be used as a tool to evaluate the performance of an existing built environment, and how it could reveal places to intervene in the built environment to create a more robust, adaptable and cohesive system. This is important because more than half of all people live in urban environments, cities have a large negative impact on ecosystems, humans are dependent on ecosystems for survival, and issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss are already impacting on the built environment and people, and continue to become more urgent