Description: Global urbanization promises better services, stronger economies, and more connections; it also carries risks and unforeseeable consequences. To deepen our understanding of this complex process and its importance for global sustainability, we need to build interdisciplinary knowledge around a systems approach. Urban Planet takes an integrative look at our urban environment, bringing together scholars from a diverse range of disciplines: from sociology and political science to evolutionary biology, geography, economics and engineering. It includes the perspectives of often neglected voices: architects, journalists, artists and activists. The book provides a much needed cross-scale perspective, connecting challenges and solutions on a local scale with drivers and policy frameworks on a regional and global scale. The authors argue that to overcome the major challenges we are facing, we must embark on a large-scale reinvention of how we live together, grounded in inclusiveness and sustainability. This title is also available Open Access.
Brief description: Thomas Elmqvist is a Professor in Natural Resource Management at Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Review Quotes: 'The fast-paced urbanization of the world significantly alters our attitudes towards space, particularly the ways we comprehend and organize them. This development is unprecedented in our recent history and calls for global reflections aiming at enlightening and supporting the implementation of local policies. Such is the ambition of Urban Planet book. To overcome the major challenges we are facing - particularly the ones dealing with climate and resilience - cities, such as Paris and many other cities around the globe, must understand and embrace their own complexity, so as to harness complexity to better serve the well-being of their citizens. It is by empowering the collective intelligence and sharing knowledge, that our cities will reinvent ways of living together, grounded in inclusiveness and the daily practice of democracy.' Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris