Pub Date : 2026-01-09DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00386-9
Ayyoob Sharifi
Many cities worldwide separate farms from urban life, yet Japanese cities interweave the two seamlessly. Ayyoob Sharifi argues that this challenges planning orthodoxy and shows how rethinking zoning, incentives and infrastructure can build climate-resilient cities that grow food and people together.
{"title":"Cities growing food and people","authors":"Ayyoob Sharifi","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00386-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00386-9","url":null,"abstract":"Many cities worldwide separate farms from urban life, yet Japanese cities interweave the two seamlessly. Ayyoob Sharifi argues that this challenges planning orthodoxy and shows how rethinking zoning, incentives and infrastructure can build climate-resilient cities that grow food and people together.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 2","pages":"110-111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146224597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-07DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00362-3
Air connectivity is an important aspect of global business, but what makes a city ‘well connected’ is unclear. We found that, more important than the number of flights between cities, companies choose to locate their subsidiaries in locations that are well integrated within the global air traffic network.
{"title":"Global firms choose to invest in well-connected airport cities","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00362-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00362-3","url":null,"abstract":"Air connectivity is an important aspect of global business, but what makes a city ‘well connected’ is unclear. We found that, more important than the number of flights between cities, companies choose to locate their subsidiaries in locations that are well integrated within the global air traffic network.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"9-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this study, we investigated how global air connectivity shapes the geography of multinational corporations (MNCs). Using a unique dataset merging 7.5 million firms with 400,000 international flight routes (1993–2023), we analyze how air network topology influences where MNCs establish foreign subsidiaries. First, we show that reductions in layovers are associated with a greater presence of subsidiaries in destination cities. Second, we show that MNCs in face-to-face-reliant sectors—such as knowledge-based services—are more responsive to air connectivity than firms in less interaction-intensive sectors. Third, we demonstrate that eigenvector centrality, capturing a city’s embeddedness within the global air network, is the most robust predictor of subsidiary locations. These results underscore the enduring role of physical connectivity in facilitating global firm coordination and suggest that a city’s position in air networks is crucial for attracting foreign investment. Global air connectivity shapes where multinational firms locate subsidiaries, especially in knowledge-intensive sectors, by reducing coordination frictions. Eigenvector centrality emerges as the strongest predictor of a city’s attractiveness for foreign investment.
{"title":"Air connectivity boosts urban attractiveness for global firms","authors":"Ambra Amico, Fabio Duarte, Wen-Chi Liao, Siqi Zheng","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00361-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00361-4","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we investigated how global air connectivity shapes the geography of multinational corporations (MNCs). Using a unique dataset merging 7.5 million firms with 400,000 international flight routes (1993–2023), we analyze how air network topology influences where MNCs establish foreign subsidiaries. First, we show that reductions in layovers are associated with a greater presence of subsidiaries in destination cities. Second, we show that MNCs in face-to-face-reliant sectors—such as knowledge-based services—are more responsive to air connectivity than firms in less interaction-intensive sectors. Third, we demonstrate that eigenvector centrality, capturing a city’s embeddedness within the global air network, is the most robust predictor of subsidiary locations. These results underscore the enduring role of physical connectivity in facilitating global firm coordination and suggest that a city’s position in air networks is crucial for attracting foreign investment. Global air connectivity shapes where multinational firms locate subsidiaries, especially in knowledge-intensive sectors, by reducing coordination frictions. Eigenvector centrality emerges as the strongest predictor of a city’s attractiveness for foreign investment.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"78-88"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-07DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00370-3
Yu Qian Ang, Sparsh, Tao Wang, Lup Wai Chew
Urban informal settlements face severe heat stress yet lack affordable cooling solutions. We engage two communities in Bihar, India, to test two low-cost, rapidly deployable interventions. Using over 2 million minute-level temperature observations, we find both interventions improve thermal comfort in informal dwellings: radiant foils lower indoor temperatures by 1.24 °C, whereas Mylar blankets achieve a reduction of 0.97 °C. These findings demonstrate a scalable strategy for climate adaptation in vulnerable urban communities. Participatory trials in India’s informal settlements show that low-cost interventions can lower indoor temperature by up to 1.24 °C, offering a rapid, scalable solution for heat resilience in vulnerable urban communities.
{"title":"Low-cost interventions for heat stress mitigation in urban informal settlements","authors":"Yu Qian Ang, Sparsh, Tao Wang, Lup Wai Chew","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00370-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00370-3","url":null,"abstract":"Urban informal settlements face severe heat stress yet lack affordable cooling solutions. We engage two communities in Bihar, India, to test two low-cost, rapidly deployable interventions. Using over 2 million minute-level temperature observations, we find both interventions improve thermal comfort in informal dwellings: radiant foils lower indoor temperatures by 1.24 °C, whereas Mylar blankets achieve a reduction of 0.97 °C. These findings demonstrate a scalable strategy for climate adaptation in vulnerable urban communities. Participatory trials in India’s informal settlements show that low-cost interventions can lower indoor temperature by up to 1.24 °C, offering a rapid, scalable solution for heat resilience in vulnerable urban communities.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"22-27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-06DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00364-1
Devin O’Donnell, Benjamin K. Sovacool
Despite critical intersections between exposure to the impacts of climate change and public health, barriers to implementing health adaptation remain. A strong commitment from city governments could be a solution. We reviewed 55 city climate adaptation plans from 2016 to 2024 for health comprehensiveness, dimensions of health (physical, mental and social), equity and vulnerability, and implementation readiness. Here we found that 20% of cities did not meaningfully include health, 29% acknowledged the health impacts of climate change but did not have health-related adaptation strategies, 40% considered some level of health-related adaptation strategy and 11% had health-specific adaptation strategies, but no plans matched our definition for having a prioritized and holistic integration of health. Only six cities—Chennai, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Salvador, Singapore and Tshwane—had comprehensive health interventions outside of heat and air pollution. Plans most commonly do not focus on mental health or social capital, and plans also tend to neglect compelling areas of equity, justice and implementation. As such, our analysis shows that the awareness of health impacts is prevalent at the city level, but the integration of holistic health strategies in adaptation plans still lags. Most cities lack comprehensive health adaptation strategies in climate planning, with no global plans achieving fully integrated holistic approaches. City climate adaptation plans show the awareness of health impacts, but only 11% have strong health strategies.
{"title":"Cities need an integrated and holistic approach to health adaptation in climate planning","authors":"Devin O’Donnell, Benjamin K. Sovacool","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00364-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00364-1","url":null,"abstract":"Despite critical intersections between exposure to the impacts of climate change and public health, barriers to implementing health adaptation remain. A strong commitment from city governments could be a solution. We reviewed 55 city climate adaptation plans from 2016 to 2024 for health comprehensiveness, dimensions of health (physical, mental and social), equity and vulnerability, and implementation readiness. Here we found that 20% of cities did not meaningfully include health, 29% acknowledged the health impacts of climate change but did not have health-related adaptation strategies, 40% considered some level of health-related adaptation strategy and 11% had health-specific adaptation strategies, but no plans matched our definition for having a prioritized and holistic integration of health. Only six cities—Chennai, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Salvador, Singapore and Tshwane—had comprehensive health interventions outside of heat and air pollution. Plans most commonly do not focus on mental health or social capital, and plans also tend to neglect compelling areas of equity, justice and implementation. As such, our analysis shows that the awareness of health impacts is prevalent at the city level, but the integration of holistic health strategies in adaptation plans still lags. Most cities lack comprehensive health adaptation strategies in climate planning, with no global plans achieving fully integrated holistic approaches. City climate adaptation plans show the awareness of health impacts, but only 11% have strong health strategies.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"38-47"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-025-00364-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-05DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00376-x
Luis F. Amato-Lourenco
{"title":"Urban community gardens level the playing field","authors":"Luis F. Amato-Lourenco","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00376-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00376-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"8-8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-05DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00365-0
Aayushi Mishra, Advait Arun, Evan Kodra, Erika Smull, Owen Woolcock, Tom Doe, Justin Marlowe, Auroop R. Ganguly
The US $4.2 trillion US municipal debt market finances over 70% of essential infrastructure, but escalating physical climate risks, such as flooding and wildfires, are exposing the market’s emerging vulnerabilities. Rising disaster costs and insurance retreat threaten property values, and hence municipal tax bases that secure debt repayment. Despite these signals, municipal bond prices have been slow to reflect climate risk adequately. Well-resourced municipalities may use bonds for adaptation, but those facing constrained credit access may struggle to access capital. This US-focused Review identifies three challenges: (1) climate risk is underpriced in municipal bonds; (2) abrupt repricing could affect high-risk and under-resourced cities most by increasing borrowing costs and limiting capital access; (3) misalignment between adaptation planning and municipal finance weakens long-term resilience and affects creditworthiness. Together, these challenges contribute to a climate-debt doom loop that can be triggered by climate shocks. This synthesis offers actionable strategies for cities’ adaptation plans and governance frameworks to disrupt this loop and strengthen municipalities’ financial resilience. Climate risk is underpriced in US municipal bonds, creating vulnerabilities as insurers retreat and adaptation planning remains disconnected from finance. This Review reveals a climate-debt doom loop and proposes governance reforms and disclosure standards to strengthen municipal resilience.
{"title":"Physical climate risk creates challenges and opportunities in US municipal finance","authors":"Aayushi Mishra, Advait Arun, Evan Kodra, Erika Smull, Owen Woolcock, Tom Doe, Justin Marlowe, Auroop R. Ganguly","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00365-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00365-0","url":null,"abstract":"The US $4.2 trillion US municipal debt market finances over 70% of essential infrastructure, but escalating physical climate risks, such as flooding and wildfires, are exposing the market’s emerging vulnerabilities. Rising disaster costs and insurance retreat threaten property values, and hence municipal tax bases that secure debt repayment. Despite these signals, municipal bond prices have been slow to reflect climate risk adequately. Well-resourced municipalities may use bonds for adaptation, but those facing constrained credit access may struggle to access capital. This US-focused Review identifies three challenges: (1) climate risk is underpriced in municipal bonds; (2) abrupt repricing could affect high-risk and under-resourced cities most by increasing borrowing costs and limiting capital access; (3) misalignment between adaptation planning and municipal finance weakens long-term resilience and affects creditworthiness. Together, these challenges contribute to a climate-debt doom loop that can be triggered by climate shocks. This synthesis offers actionable strategies for cities’ adaptation plans and governance frameworks to disrupt this loop and strengthen municipalities’ financial resilience. Climate risk is underpriced in US municipal bonds, creating vulnerabilities as insurers retreat and adaptation planning remains disconnected from finance. This Review reveals a climate-debt doom loop and proposes governance reforms and disclosure standards to strengthen municipal resilience.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"11-21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-05DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00360-5
Yu Deng, Kexin Cao, Mingxing Chen, Ran Liu, Tao Pei, Ci Song, Kaiyong Wang, Tim Schwanen, Cecilia Wong, Pengjun Zhao, Ya Ping Wang, Bojie Fu
Urban redevelopment has been widely implemented to address social, economic and environmental challenges. However, the geography of urban redevelopment, its underlying mechanisms and driving forces remain insufficiently understood, both theoretically and across different metropolitan scales. Here, to fill this gap, we analyze state-owned land transactions between 2012 and 2022 across 326 Chinese cities. We find that China’s city hierarchy exerts a regulatory effect on urban redevelopment. Higher-ranked cities tend to prioritize government regulation over market forces, whereas lower-ranked cities rely more on market-oriented approaches, and this divergence explains varying redevelopment patterns across city hierarchies. Our findings also reflect a shift toward top–down urban governance aligned with central-government policy, with higher-tier cities leading in implementing diverse redevelopment practices to achieve economic and non-economic goals. This study advances our understanding of administrative power in urban governance and offers insights for developing tailored strategies across different city hierarchies. Urban redevelopment is a key government policy and planning strategy to address various urban challenges. This study investigates where, how and to what extent China’s city hierarchy influences redevelopment activities within China’s rapidly evolving urban landscape.
{"title":"Regulatory effect of China’s city hierarchy on urban redevelopment","authors":"Yu Deng, Kexin Cao, Mingxing Chen, Ran Liu, Tao Pei, Ci Song, Kaiyong Wang, Tim Schwanen, Cecilia Wong, Pengjun Zhao, Ya Ping Wang, Bojie Fu","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00360-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00360-5","url":null,"abstract":"Urban redevelopment has been widely implemented to address social, economic and environmental challenges. However, the geography of urban redevelopment, its underlying mechanisms and driving forces remain insufficiently understood, both theoretically and across different metropolitan scales. Here, to fill this gap, we analyze state-owned land transactions between 2012 and 2022 across 326 Chinese cities. We find that China’s city hierarchy exerts a regulatory effect on urban redevelopment. Higher-ranked cities tend to prioritize government regulation over market forces, whereas lower-ranked cities rely more on market-oriented approaches, and this divergence explains varying redevelopment patterns across city hierarchies. Our findings also reflect a shift toward top–down urban governance aligned with central-government policy, with higher-tier cities leading in implementing diverse redevelopment practices to achieve economic and non-economic goals. This study advances our understanding of administrative power in urban governance and offers insights for developing tailored strategies across different city hierarchies. Urban redevelopment is a key government policy and planning strategy to address various urban challenges. This study investigates where, how and to what extent China’s city hierarchy influences redevelopment activities within China’s rapidly evolving urban landscape.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"48-57"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-02DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00363-2
Yonghua Zou
As facial recognition becomes widespread in urban spaces, it promises security but deepens social exclusion. Yonghua Zou argues that cities must redesign technology governance to safeguard trust, equity and inclusiveness, and offers insights to address what he calls the ‘safety–segregation paradox’.
{"title":"Urban safety–segregation paradox in facial recognition","authors":"Yonghua Zou","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00363-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00363-2","url":null,"abstract":"As facial recognition becomes widespread in urban spaces, it promises security but deepens social exclusion. Yonghua Zou argues that cities must redesign technology governance to safeguard trust, equity and inclusiveness, and offers insights to address what he calls the ‘safety–segregation paradox’.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"4-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-02DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00358-z
Dagmar Haase
Not only are increasing numbers of people in cities suffering from climate change, hotter temperatures, and drought, but so is green infrastructure, which is inherently there for recreation and cooling. This Comment argues that the entire green patina of the city is needed to adapt effectively.
{"title":"A green patina unlocking cities’ potential to adapt to climate change","authors":"Dagmar Haase","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00358-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00358-z","url":null,"abstract":"Not only are increasing numbers of people in cities suffering from climate change, hotter temperatures, and drought, but so is green infrastructure, which is inherently there for recreation and cooling. This Comment argues that the entire green patina of the city is needed to adapt effectively.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 1","pages":"6-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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