Exploring the more-than-human city: A philosophical and spatial approach using Halifax, Nova Scotia as a case study

Abstract

While cities are often framed as the domain of humans, they are not, and have never been, human-only spaces. Rather, nonhuman animals have always been a part of the urban environment – cities are more-than-human. Increasingly, scholars are working to disrupt hierarchical thinking whereby the interests of humans are situated as separate from and above the relatively similar interest of nonhuman animals. In relation to cities, this has allowed for new questions to be asked around who and what cities are for and, as a result, cities have been increasingly reconceptualized as more-than-human places.

This dissertation explores the current state and the potential of the more-than-human city using the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia as an example, but with potential utility for application in similar cities elsewhere. It begins with a discussion of how to break down the default privileging of the (elite) human interests in the city through an extension of the right to the city to urban wildlife to think about what the city could be. The dissertation then shifts towards an exploration of the current more-than-human city by examining spatial patterns in three different but complementary ways. Spatial overlap and divergence are mapped and assessed for (1) more-than-human interactions collected through a nature-based app , (2) multiscale human access to urban greenery, and (3) more-than-human connectivity, based on landscape structure opportunities for the movements of humans and nonhumans in the city.

A common thread throughout this work is that cities are fundamentally shared, more-than-human spaces produced through multispecies entanglements, the legacies of which can be seen etched throughout the city. The spatial patterns within urban areas deeply affect life in the city, for both nonhuman animals and humans. These patterns are the result of policies and actions taken in urban planning and design, which can influence the city and its residents for years and even decades after their implementation.

The overarching goal of this work is to advance the more-than-human turn in urban geography, paving the way for future research examining more-than-human relationships in urban areas and working towards more equitable and just cities for all, regardless of species.