Proposing a New Vision for Understanding Cities through Co-Evolutionary Processes

ABSTRACT This study is an essay focused on a reflective proposal framed within the context of a growing ecological crisis and biodiversity loss. Firstly, it proposes an approach to how cities are structured to achieve an epistemic change in building knowledge of urban ecosystems, drawing from the field of co-evolution. The main objective of this study is to explore how the design process provides a vision from a co-evolutionary perspective and contributes to the Transitional Design framework. A reflective review is conducted to achieve this objective. It addresses the broader context of the human-environment relationship and the civilizational impact on the complex system in which they are embedded. Additionally, the study analyzes the dichotomy between resilience and re-existence. It explains strategic interventions from biophilic and regenerative approaches and their contribution to constructing knowledge about urban ecosystems, thereby facilitating a change in the epistemic framework within which cities develop.