Cities are characterised by a high concentration of different people, cultures and urban nature, buildings, movement, interactions and activities. Accordingly, cities are characterised by a high degree of social, political, cultural, technological and economic complexity, and they constitute a basis for knowledge creation, technological development, widespread social interaction and economic activity.
Through the way in which cities are designed today, they contain all the challenges of modern society in terms of air pollution, noise, emissions of greenhouse gasses, production of waste, congestion and vulnerability to climate change, which is aggravated by a socially unequal distribution of environmental nuisances. At the same time, cities also represent great potential for solving the wide range of environmental challenges through shorter distances, lower per unit energy consumption levels, more efficient use of land and creation of green infrastructures. Furthermore, the high concentration of different population groups and economic activities in cities create a platform for changing behaviour and implementing new technologies at a larger scale.
Urban areas are growing both in Europe and globally. Europe is currently the most urbanized continent with 75 % of the population residing in cities and this share is expected to increase to 80 % by 2020. Taking a local example, the municipality of Copenhagen experiences a net population increase of approximately 1.000 people per month and this development is expected to continue for the next 10 years. Worldwide, 2008 marked the year where more than half of the world population resided in cities, and it is expected that cities by 2030 will accommodate close to 5 billion people. This urbanization trend implies that the dual role of cities to both create and handle environmental problems increases in the short term and in the long run.
The purpose of this research area is to analyse and to improve our understanding of the interactions between cities and urban populations, systems, policies and environment in order to promote a development towards sustainable cities of high liveability.
Seen from an environmental social science perspective, cities can be understood as a combined socio-technical and ecological system. That is, the many physical, social and biological infrastructures of cities – roads, pipelines and railroads, parks and green areas, workplaces, schools, businesses and cultural activities – are intertwined, and awareness of these interrelations is a prerequisite for the development of sustainable cities. Hence, the development of sustainable cities relies on the interplay between economic, social and cultural values, people, material resources and organisms residing in or passing through the city.
Some of the questions we work with comprise: How is climate adaptation integrated in planning at the municipal level? What are the costs and benefits of different urban climate adaptation measures? What are the preferences of the population for greening of urban areas? How is the interplay between well-being and nature quality of urban green urban structures? How can a circular resource economy be created between urban and rural areas? How are different modes of transport included in efforts and policies aimed at creating a sustainable urban-mobility, which reflects the diversity of everyday life in cities?
Completed and on-going research projects dealing with sustainable cities and infrastructures include:
