Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project
The Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) Project [1] is a research coordination programme initiated by the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The UGEC project begun operations in 2006 through its International Project Office at Arizona State University. It will be phased out after the end of its 10 year time horizon in 2016. The project is funded through its 10 year duration by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
According to its Science Plan [1], the project aims to provide a better understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between global environmental change and urbanization at the local, regional, and global scales. The projects offers a conceptual framework that starts with processes within the urban system that contribute to global environmental change (Theme 1). Theme 2 focuses on the pathways through which specific global environmental changes affect urban systems. Once these pathways and points of interaction are identified, the framework addresses the resulting interactions and responses within the urban system (Theme 3). Theme 4 centers on the consequences of the interactions within the urban system on global environmental change, or feedback processes.
Aims
The purpose of the framework is to:
- develop an understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between urbanization and global environmental change at local and regional scales;
- create multidimensional integrative perspectives;
- promote parallel and comparative analysis across regions and themes;
- promote cross-temporal and cross-spatial scale approaches; and
- communicate information to policy makers and the public.
Selected Publications
The project has generated several global reports and publishes bi-annual newsletters on the science-policy interface [1].
In 2010, members of the UGEC scientific network published a comprehensive review of the scientific literature of the interconnections of global urbanization and the environment [2] in the scientific journal Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources.
In 2011, project members published a study on the global patterns of urban expansion [3] in the scientific journal PLoS ONE suggesting that by 2030, global urban land cover will most likely increase by 1,527,000 km2, an area nearly equal to that of the country of Mongolia. The study attracted significant media attention (e.g. NYTimes Green Blog, MSNBC)
In 2012, project members introduced "urban land teleconnections" as a conceptual framework that explicitly links land changes to underlying urbanization dynamics [4] . This research appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) [of the United States].
References
- ^ Sanchez-Rodriguez, Roberto (2005). Science Plan: Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (PDF). Bonn, Germany: International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change. p. 62. ISBN 1814-7925.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: length (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Seto, Karen C. (21 November 2010). "The New Geography of Contemporary Urbanization and the Environment". Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 35 (1): 167–194. doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-100809-125336.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Seto, Karen C. (18 August 2011). "A Meta-Analysis of Global Urban Land Expansion". PLoS ONE. 6 (8): e23777. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023777.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Seto, K. C. (1 May 2012). "Urban land teleconnections and sustainability". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (20): 7687–7692. doi:10.1073/pnas.1117622109.
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