During the 20^th century urban population increased from 15% to 50% of  humanity. Most of the projected population growth will be in urban areas, specially those in the developing nations. As a result, some of the most pressing needs for sustainable design and management of the natural and built environments are in the cities and megacities of the world. They are crossroads of vast resources and human needs and present an array of challenges: aging or inadequate infrastructure and housing; congested transportation corridors; contaminated land and water bodies, solid wastes and wastewater management, and so forth. The accelerating pace of urban densification and its attendant social problems require new ways of dealing with old problems, oriented toward sustainable urban environments.

The Urban Ecology Studio of Columbia University was initiated by the Academic Quality Fund in 2004 and is conducted through specially designed courses of the Graduate Schools of Architecture (GSAPP) and Engineering (SEAS). Particular challenges of urban density are defined by the research and professional interests of the participating faculty. Each year, collaborating GSAPP and SEAS faculty develop a number of research projects which they investigate with students in an intensive studio environment. The coursework is complemented by lectures from visiting scholars and professionals in science, public health, planning, engineering, as well as community representatives.