Cities Are Concentrators of Complex, MultiSectoral Interactions Within the Human‐Earth System
Cities are concentrators of complex, multi-sectoral interactions. As keystones in the interconnected human-Earth system, cities have an outsized impact on the Earth system. We describe a multi-lens framework for organizing our understanding of the complexity of urban systems and scientific research on urban systems, which may be useful for natural system scientists exploring the ways their work can be made more actionable. We then describe four critical dimensions along which improvements are needed to advance the urban research that addresses urgent climate challenges: (a) solutions-oriented research, (b) equity-centered assessments which rely on fine-scale human and ecological data, (c) co-production of knowledge, and (d) better integration of human and natural systems occurring through theory, observation, and modeling.
Authors
- Sean C. Reid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6158-7026)
- Bhartendu Pandey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3712-5961)
- David M. Iwaniec (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0410-4152)
- Michelle Newcomer
- Pouya Vahmani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2519-6671)
- Deeksha Rastogi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0462-4027)
- Iryna Dronova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3339-3704)
- Zhonghua Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0642-650X)
- Andrew D. Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1913-7870)
- Melissa Sue Bukovsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6415-965X)
- K. Sparks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0340-8090)
- Tianzhen Hong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1886-9137)
- Christa Brelsford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3490-8020)
- Melissa Allen‐Dumas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3319-0846)
Institutions
- University of Wyoming (US)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- Aaron Marcus and Associates (US)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Georgia State University (US)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Earth s Future
- Published
- 2024-11-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ef004481
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.41
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- University of Texas at Austin
- Office of Science
- Biological and Environmental Research
- Laboratory Directed Research and Development
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory