*Public version of internship report*
Urban wildlife plays an invaluable role in cities, including the promotion of overall biodiversity and greenery, pollination and human connection to nature. This internship project involved the development of a prototype that quantifies the potential for local ambassador species to visit a building site based on the amount and connectivity of habitat in the neighbourhood. The workflow integrates vector layers from open datasets and Arup ecologists’ expertise on animal behaviour in order to quantify the cost of moving through an urban environment. Initial results show that the prototype enables the numerical and visual comparison of connectivity for 7 out of the 10 ambassador species, with the Bee demonstrating the highest connectivity, and Toad having the lowest connectivity. This prototype has the potential to support Arup’s work on facilitating more connected urban environments for local wildlife, all the while improving urban ecology overall.