Pub Date : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00333-8
Mirna Fahmy
In dense informal settlements, green spaces disappear, which amplifies climate’s harsh impacts. Local resilience and counterefforts offer critical hope.
{"title":"The struggle for green life in Africa’s growing informal settlements","authors":"Mirna Fahmy","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00333-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00333-8","url":null,"abstract":"In dense informal settlements, green spaces disappear, which amplifies climate’s harsh impacts. Local resilience and counterefforts offer critical hope.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 11","pages":"1003-1006"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145533791","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 : 2025-11-10DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00357-0
Xianmang Xu (, ), Peiyu Zhao (, ), Jin Wang (, )
China’s progress in the improvement of air quality masks a widening gap: its heavily polluted, industrial border cities bear a disproportionate health and economic burden, which demands urgent policy shifts to avoid deepening environmental injustice.
{"title":"Unequal air-quality improvement in China","authors":"Xianmang Xu \u0000 (, ), Peiyu Zhao \u0000 (, ), Jin Wang \u0000 (, )","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00357-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00357-0","url":null,"abstract":"China’s progress in the improvement of air quality masks a widening gap: its heavily polluted, industrial border cities bear a disproportionate health and economic burden, which demands urgent policy shifts to avoid deepening environmental injustice.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 12","pages":"1117-1118"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145761511","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 : 2025-11-07DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00342-7
Rafael Prieto-Curiel
Despite the evident drawbacks, car ownership and usage continue to rise globally, leading to increased pollution and urban sprawl. As alternatives, active mobility and public transport are promoted for their health, economic and environmental benefits. However, the efficiency of public transport varies widely. Metro systems, in particular, offer a high-capacity, long-distance solution, but they are expensive and only found in a limited number of cities. Trams, on the other hand, may serve as a substitute. This study compares the modal share in European cities, analyzing the differences between those that have a metro, a tram or neither. The analysis draws on a comprehensive dataset from CitiesMoving.com, which compiles and harmonizes mobility surveys from around the world according to the ABC framework (A for active mobility, B for bus and other forms of public transport and C for cars). Findings reveal that cities with a metro have a significantly lower share of car journeys than those with only a tram or no rail system. Car usage and attendant impacts continue to grow as cities expand worldwide. This study finds that European cities, especially medium and large ones, with metros have substantially lower car dependency.
{"title":"Metros reduce car use in European cities but trams do not","authors":"Rafael Prieto-Curiel","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00342-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00342-7","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the evident drawbacks, car ownership and usage continue to rise globally, leading to increased pollution and urban sprawl. As alternatives, active mobility and public transport are promoted for their health, economic and environmental benefits. However, the efficiency of public transport varies widely. Metro systems, in particular, offer a high-capacity, long-distance solution, but they are expensive and only found in a limited number of cities. Trams, on the other hand, may serve as a substitute. This study compares the modal share in European cities, analyzing the differences between those that have a metro, a tram or neither. The analysis draws on a comprehensive dataset from CitiesMoving.com, which compiles and harmonizes mobility surveys from around the world according to the ABC framework (A for active mobility, B for bus and other forms of public transport and C for cars). Findings reveal that cities with a metro have a significantly lower share of car journeys than those with only a tram or no rail system. Car usage and attendant impacts continue to grow as cities expand worldwide. This study finds that European cities, especially medium and large ones, with metros have substantially lower car dependency.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 12","pages":"1140-1147"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145761515","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}
Cities often treat solid waste and wastewater separately, missing the opportunity for resource integration. Diverting food waste into sewage streams offers a holistic solution but lacks city-scale evaluation. Here we developed the urban biowaste flux model integrating mechanistic bioprocesses with life-cycle assessment for quantifying material flows, energy use, costs and greenhouse gas emissions based on city-specific waste composition, treatment parameters and tariffs. We validated urban biowaste flux against detailed data from Hong Kong and applied it to 28 large cities worldwide. Our results revealed a linear rise in net costs with food waste moisture and identify a moisture threshold of about 50 kg per capita per year at which sewer integration becomes cost-effective. Optimized treatment strategies could cut overall emissions for targeted cities by up to 69% versus current separate treatment systems. Overall, the urban biowaste flux model offers policymakers a practical tool for designing sustainable and locale-specific waste management strategies. Cities often manage food waste and wastewater separately, missing recovery synergies. Across 29 cities, urban biowaste flux identifies an ~50 kg of moisture per person per year threshold above which sewer integration lowers the net costs. Optimized city-specific strategies, including integration where beneficial, can cut emissions by up to 69% versus current separate systems.
{"title":"Redefining separate or integrated food waste and wastewater streams for 29 large cities","authors":"Xu Zou, Zi Zhang, Chengyu Xiao, Liezhong Fan, Yifeng Feng, Hongxuan Wang, Jiayan Deng, Chukuan Jiang, Feixiang Zan, Hongxiao Guo, Guanghao Chen","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00341-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00341-8","url":null,"abstract":"Cities often treat solid waste and wastewater separately, missing the opportunity for resource integration. Diverting food waste into sewage streams offers a holistic solution but lacks city-scale evaluation. Here we developed the urban biowaste flux model integrating mechanistic bioprocesses with life-cycle assessment for quantifying material flows, energy use, costs and greenhouse gas emissions based on city-specific waste composition, treatment parameters and tariffs. We validated urban biowaste flux against detailed data from Hong Kong and applied it to 28 large cities worldwide. Our results revealed a linear rise in net costs with food waste moisture and identify a moisture threshold of about 50 kg per capita per year at which sewer integration becomes cost-effective. Optimized treatment strategies could cut overall emissions for targeted cities by up to 69% versus current separate treatment systems. Overall, the urban biowaste flux model offers policymakers a practical tool for designing sustainable and locale-specific waste management strategies. Cities often manage food waste and wastewater separately, missing recovery synergies. Across 29 cities, urban biowaste flux identifies an ~50 kg of moisture per person per year threshold above which sewer integration lowers the net costs. Optimized city-specific strategies, including integration where beneficial, can cut emissions by up to 69% versus current separate systems.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 12","pages":"1160-1171"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145761508","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 : 2025-11-05DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00346-3
Haochen Shi
By seeing cities through the lens of video games, we not only discover how charming virtual worlds are constructed from real urban elements but also glimpse how the virtual might reshape our understanding — and perhaps our design — of the real.
{"title":"Seeing cities through video games","authors":"Haochen Shi","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00346-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00346-3","url":null,"abstract":"By seeing cities through the lens of video games, we not only discover how charming virtual worlds are constructed from real urban elements but also glimpse how the virtual might reshape our understanding — and perhaps our design — of the real.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 12","pages":"1112-1113"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145761512","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 : 2025-10-27DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00347-2
Garth Andrew Myers
{"title":"Knowing the city","authors":"Garth Andrew Myers","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00347-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00347-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 11","pages":"1018-1019"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145533783","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}
Understanding people’s preferences is crucial for urban planning, yet current approaches often combine responses from multi-cultural populations, obscuring demographic differences and risking amplifying biases. We conducted a large-scale urban visual perception survey of streetscapes worldwide using street view imagery, examining how demographics—including gender, age, income, education, race and ethnicity, and personality traits—shape perceptions among 1,000 participants with balanced demographics from five countries and 45 nationalities. This dataset, Street Perception Evaluation Considering Socioeconomics, reveals demographic- and personality-based differences across six traditional indicators—safe, lively, wealthy, beautiful, boring, depressing—and four new ones: live nearby, walk, cycle, green. Location-based sentiments further shape these preferences. Machine-learning models trained on existing global datasets tend to overestimate positive indicators and underestimate negative ones compared to human responses, underscoring the need for local context. Our study aspires to rectify the myopic treatment of street perception, which rarely considers demographics or personality traits. Urban visual perceptions differ across demographic and personality groups, yet most methods overlook these influences. This study reveals notable location and profile-based differences, highlighting the need for localized, human-centered urban planning.
{"title":"Global urban visual perception varies across demographics and personalities","authors":"Matias Quintana, Youlong Gu, Xiucheng Liang, Yujun Hou, Koichi Ito, Yihan Zhu, Mahmoud Abdelrahman, Filip Biljecki","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00330-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00330-x","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding people’s preferences is crucial for urban planning, yet current approaches often combine responses from multi-cultural populations, obscuring demographic differences and risking amplifying biases. We conducted a large-scale urban visual perception survey of streetscapes worldwide using street view imagery, examining how demographics—including gender, age, income, education, race and ethnicity, and personality traits—shape perceptions among 1,000 participants with balanced demographics from five countries and 45 nationalities. This dataset, Street Perception Evaluation Considering Socioeconomics, reveals demographic- and personality-based differences across six traditional indicators—safe, lively, wealthy, beautiful, boring, depressing—and four new ones: live nearby, walk, cycle, green. Location-based sentiments further shape these preferences. Machine-learning models trained on existing global datasets tend to overestimate positive indicators and underestimate negative ones compared to human responses, underscoring the need for local context. Our study aspires to rectify the myopic treatment of street perception, which rarely considers demographics or personality traits. Urban visual perceptions differ across demographic and personality groups, yet most methods overlook these influences. This study reveals notable location and profile-based differences, highlighting the need for localized, human-centered urban planning.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 11","pages":"1092-1106"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145533784","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 : 2025-10-17DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00334-7
Cities are under growing pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequities. Yet new research highlights how biological, digital and social innovations can help urban systems to adapt and thrive. This issue of Nature Cities showcases advances from artificial intelligence applications to inclusive policy models to self-healing infrastructure, which offer pathways towards more-resilient urban futures.
{"title":"Beyond bouncing back","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00334-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00334-7","url":null,"abstract":"Cities are under growing pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequities. Yet new research highlights how biological, digital and social innovations can help urban systems to adapt and thrive. This issue of Nature Cities showcases advances from artificial intelligence applications to inclusive policy models to self-healing infrastructure, which offer pathways towards more-resilient urban futures.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 10","pages":"909-909"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-025-00334-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145317845","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 : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00335-6
Mathias Jehling, Tobias Krüger, Martin Behnisch, Diego Rybski
The authors discuss the challenges of curbing land take and the complexity of achieving the net-zero limit. They call for a shift in perspective beyond the restrictive logic of traditional land-use planning and suggest that the regenerative potential of cities be unleashed.
{"title":"Tackling the net-zero land-take question","authors":"Mathias Jehling, Tobias Krüger, Martin Behnisch, Diego Rybski","doi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00335-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-025-00335-6","url":null,"abstract":"The authors discuss the challenges of curbing land take and the complexity of achieving the net-zero limit. They call for a shift in perspective beyond the restrictive logic of traditional land-use planning and suggest that the regenerative potential of cities be unleashed.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"2 12","pages":"1114-1116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145761497","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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