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Mila Burns, an Associate Professor of Latin American Studies and History at the City University of New York, illustrates the effects that Lisbon has over time itself.
Urbanization processes reshape space — and the human and non-human relationships that play out in and through space — over time. The intensification of urbanization poses a range of threats to the natural environment and correspondingly to the socioeconomic welfare of urban residents. The articles in this issue highlight how, from the soil upon which cities are built to the trees, water and air that give life to urban spaces, inequality has become embedded as a structuring feature of urban natural environments.
Violence against women is a widespread and growing issue in cities worldwide, but it is rarely considered in urban planning. To meet this challenge, Elizabeth L. Sweet encourages renewed considerations of time, space and relationships in urban scholarship and planning.
Our global survey and high-resolution local survey revealed that socio-economic development substantially influences the diversity of soil-borne animal pathogens, among which Trichosporon is a key indicator species. Our findings highlight the importance of human activities in shaping the pathogenic microbiome of cities and the potential implications for human health.
The escalating intensity of heatwaves due to climate change is making the cool respite provided by urban green spaces crucial. Yet, a recent comprehensive study underscores a stark disparity: the most vulnerable urban populations in Europe are the least served by these essential green cooling services.
This study estimates the green cooling distribution and the population most exposed to heat in 14 major European areas. It found that lower-income residents, immigrants and unemployed residents are more vulnerable compared with upper-income residents, nationals and homeowners.
This study examines long-term impacts of ‘redlining’, the historical practice of assigning values to residential areas in US cities based on race and class, on the vulnerability of communities to climate risks. Findings reveal that areas marked by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation as being less desirable for investment in the 1930s–1940s face disproportionately higher current and projected risks of flooding and extreme heat, in part due to their lessened environmental capital.
This study looks at nighttime land surface temperature in Indian cities to see how much they have warmed. It finds that urbanization has driven 60% additional warming in cities, with medium-sized cities influencing the most.
Deploying carbon dioxide removal options at the urban scale could not only make a substantial contribution to the global mitigation of climate change but could also have large potential mitigation and adaptation co-benefits. However, upscaling at the global scale is constrained by numerous uncertainties, economic barriers and governance issues.
Pathogenic fungi, such as Candida, cause millions of human deaths each year. This study found that the soil in urban greenspaces is one source and that socioeconomic factors, such as wealth and medical infrastructure, can predict the diversity and composition of these pathogens in city park soil.
Co-opting our cities for short-term ends can leave them brutalized and breathless. Theatre practitioner and performance-studies scholar Gargi Bharadwaj considers New Delhi’s key events from 2023 and the redemptive power of live performance to revive us.
A ‘Sister Cities for the Anthropocene’ network could address the challenges experienced by urban communities in the wake of Anthropocene-driven change.
The idea that ‘context matters’ has become a cliché in many scenarios, but it doesn’t make it less true in urban settings: the neighborhood you live in, the way you move through the city, the places you visit, all of these change the way we experience urban life. But context is not only about spaces; it also means people and how we interact with each other. A long commute could be just as lonely whether you are in an empty bus or surrounded by others in rush hour with everyone wearing earphones. This month’s issue puts the spotlight on both parts of the urban experience to paint a more complex picture.
Focusing on the carbon storage potential of urban vegetation, soils and buildings, this Article assesses the literature on carbon dioxide removal at the urban scale. With the prospect of making cities into carbon sinks, the authors identify research gaps and recommendations related to governance, economic barriers and implementation.
This study compares the links between nature and health and well-being experienced by individuals living in different contexts in three cities in the metropolitan area of Asunción, Paraguay. It found that, for people living in informal settlements, proximate nature can have negative impacts on life satisfaction. However, a strong connection to nature may lead to better mental health and higher life satisfaction, as experienced by people living in formal settlements and the evidence from the Global North.
This study looks at Jiang Han Road in Wuhan, one of the most influential shopping streets in the city center, and examines the impacts of digitalization in the post-COVID era. It found a shift in the economic activity towards socialization in the digital space, and revealed key socioeconomic-spatial patterns fostering the adaptive capacity of the street.
