Mining “urban ore” may provide an alternative to the continued extraction of virgin metals.

A half-century ago, the visionary urbanist Jane Jacobs (1961) proclaimed that “cities are the mines of the future.” This prediction was based on some hard facts that are ...

We urgently need a comprehensive, systematic analysis based on a large number of in-depth case studies.

More than half of the world population lives in cities—centers of economic growth, resource use, environmental impacts, and innovation. Thus, cities are the centers of technological ...

Planning on the “megaregion” level can ensure the connectivity of major metropolitan areas.

Globalization, the accumulation of production, commodity trading, and finance capital on a global scale, is being accelerated by advances in communication and mobility (Douglass, 2000). In ...

Multipurpose constructions aligned with natural systems, integrated into social context, and designed for a changing climate offer a new paradigm for public works.

Today’s global complex of networked infrastructure is indispensable to economic and social development. It is not clear, ...

The challenge of effective water management can also be an opportunity for enhancing the urban environment.

The National Academy of Engineering included urban water supply in the top five engineering achievements of the 20th century (Constable and Somerville, 2003), and in a survey by the British ...

The Human Genome Project may provide a model for mapping the “urban genome.”

We live in an urbanizing age, an age when people seeking economic opportunity, better health care and education, and cultural engagement are migrating from the countryside to cities. Despite the popular ...

Editor's Note

Cities are home to half the world population—about 80 percent in the United States. These vibrant centers of activity impact global sustainability with their large footprints; concentrations of pollution and consumption; financial, technological, and knowledge networks; ...