ABSTRACT

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the interactions and feedbacks between urbanization and global environmental change. A key focus is the examination of how urbanization influences global environmental change, and how global environmental change in turn influences urbanization processes.  It has four thematic foci: Theme 1 addresses the pathways through which urbanization drives global environmental change. Theme 2 addresses the pathways through which global environmental change affects the urban system. Theme 3 addresses the interactions and responses within the urban system in response to global environmental change. Theme 4 centers on critical emerging research.

part I|194 pages

Pathways by which urbanization impacts environmental systems and become drivers of global environmental change

chapter 7|13 pages

Harnessing urban water demand

Lessons from North America

chapter 10|13 pages

Urbanization, habitat loss and biodiversity decline

Solution pathways to break the cycle

chapter 11|17 pages

Urban precipitation

A global perspective

chapter 13|13 pages

Urban nutrient cycling

part II|124 pages

Impacts of global environmental change on urban systems and urbanization processes

chapter 14|10 pages

A broader framing of ecosystem services in cities

Benefits and challenges of built, natural or hybrid system function

chapter 18|14 pages

Urban water quality

chapter 21|15 pages

Urbanization and global environmental change

From a gender and equity perspective

part III|199 pages

Urban responses to global environmental change

chapter 23|14 pages

Global patterns of adaptation planning

Results from a global survey

chapter 25|13 pages

Spatial planning

An integrative approach to climate change response

chapter 28|20 pages

Urban and peri-urban agriculture

Cultivating urban climate resilience

chapter 31|18 pages

Positive externalities in the urban boundary

The case of industrial symbiosis

chapter 33|11 pages

Soft and hard infrastructure co-production and lock-in

The challenges for a post-carbon city

part IV|51 pages

Urbanization, global change and sustainability

chapter 34|7 pages

Adaptation, transformation and transition

Approaches to the sustainability challenge

chapter 35|15 pages

City action for global environmental change

Assessment and case study of Durban, South Africa

chapter |15 pages

Conclusion

The road ahead for urbanization and sustainability research