Abstract
In this perspective, we present how three initial landmark papers on urban sustainability research contributed to the larger sustainability science scholarship and paved the way for the continued development of urban sustainability research. Based on this, we propose three conceptual innovation pathways to trace the progression of urban sustainability science: First, urban sustainability from a system’s perspective, meaning that urban sustainability requires integrative solutions to work in the tripled social-ecological-technological system setting. Second, urban sustainability from a (people and place) relational perspective, meaning urban sustainability is a contested and dynamic social-ecological contract of cities. As a governance mission, urban sustainability requires evidence from research that can inform coordinated action to bridge people, places, meanings, visions and ecosystems. Third, urban sustainability from a transformative science perspective, meaning that for urban sustainability to be achieved and progressed, deep transformations are required in systems, relations, policies and governance approaches. Our proposal for the future of urban sustainability science centres on emphasizing the relevance and policy applicability of systems’ thinking, value and place thinking and transitions/transformations thinking as fundamental to how knowledge is co-produced by research science, policy and society and becomes actionable.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abson, D.J., J. Fischer, J. Leventon, J. Newig, T. Schomerus, U. Vilsmaier, H. von Wehrden, P. Abernethy, et al. Leverage points for sustainability transformation. Ambio 46: 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0800-y.
Acuto, M. 2016. Give cities a seat at the top table. Nature 537: 611–613.
Albert, C., B. Schoter, D. Haase, M. Brillinger, J. Henze, S. Herrmann, S. Gottwald, P. Guerrero, et al. 2019. Addressing societal challenges through nature-based solutions: How cn landscape planning and governanace research contribute? Landscape and Urban Planning 182: 12–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.10.003.
Andersson, E., S. Barthel, S. Borgström, J. Colding, T. Elmqvist, C. Folke, and Å. Gren. 2014. Reconnecting cities to the biosphere: Stewardship of green infrastructure and urban ecosystem services. Ambio 43: 445–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0506-y.
Angelstam, P., K. Andersson, M. Annerstedt, R. Axelsson, M. Elbakidze, P. Garrido, P. Grahn, K.I. Jonsson, et al. 2013. Solving problems in social-ecological systems: Definition, practice and barriers of transdisciplinary research. Ambio 42: 254–265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0372-4.
Bai, X. 2016. Eight energy and material flow characteristics of urban ecosystems. Ambio 45: 819–830. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0785-6.
Bai, X., R.J. Dawson, D. Urge-Vorsatz, G.C. Delgado, A.S. Barau, S. Dhakal, D. Dodman, L. Leonardsen, et al. 2018. Six research priorities for cities and climate change. Nature 555: 23–25.
Bai, X., M. Colbert, T. McPhearson, D. Roberts, J. Siri, B. Walsh, and B. Webb. 2019. Networking urban science, policy and practice for sustainability”. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 39: 114–122.
Baró, F., L. Chaparro, E. Gómez-Baggethun, J. Langemeyer, D.J. Nowak, and J. Terradas. 2014. Contribution of ecosystem services to air quality and climate change mitigation policies, Spain. Ambio 43: 466–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0507-x.
Beery, T.H., C.M. Raymond, M. Kyttä, A.S. Olafsson, T. Plieninger, M. Sandberg, M. Stenseke, M. Tengo, et al. 2017. Fostering incidental experiences of nature through green infrastructure planning. Ambio 46: 717–730. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0920-z.
Berkes, F., and C. Folke. 1998. Linking social and ecological systems, management practices and social mechanisms for building resilience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Borgström, S. 2019. Balancing diversity and connectivity in multi-level governance settings for urban transformative capacity. Ambio 48: 463–477. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-01142-1.
Bristow, D.N., and C.A. Kennedy. 2013. The energy for growing and maintaining cities. Ambio 42: 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0350-x.
Callaghan, T.V., O. Kulikova, L. Rakhmanova, E. Topp-Jorgensen, N. Labba, L.A. Kuhmanen, S. Kirpotin, O. Shaduyko, et al. 2020. Improving dialogue among researchers, local and indigenous peoples and decision-makers to address issues of climate change in the North. Ambio 49: 1161–1178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01277-9.
Castán Broto, V., G. Trencher, E. Iwaszuk, and L. Westman. 2019. Transformative capacity and local action for urban sustainability. Ambio 48: 449–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1086-z.
Childers, D.L., M.L. Cadenasso, J.M. Grove, V. Marshall, B. McGrath, and S.T.A. Pickett. 2015. An ecology for cities: A transformational nexus of design and ecology to advance climate change resilience and urban sustainability. Sustainability 7: 3774–3791.
Cohen, P.J., S. Lawless, M. Dyer, M. Morgan, E. Saeni, H. Teioli, and P. Kantor. 2016. Understanding adaptive capacity and capacity to innovate in social–ecological systems: Applying a gender lens. Ambio 45: 309–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0831-4.
Colding, J., and S. Barthel. 2019. Exploring the social-ecological systems discourse 20 years later. Ecology and Society 24: 2. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10598-240102.
Crouzat, E., I. Arpin, L. Brunet, M.J. Colloff, F. Turkelboom, and S. Lavorel. 2018. Researchers must be aware of their roles at the interface of ecosystem services science and policy. Ambio 47: 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0939-1.
Crowe, P.R., K. Foley, and M.J. Collier. 2016. Operationalizing urban resilience through a framework for adaptive co-management and design: Five experiments in urban planning practice and policy. Environmental Science and Policy 62: 112–119.
Dade, M.C., M.G. Mitchell, C.A. McAlpine, and J.R. Rhodes. 2019. Assessing ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies: The need for a more mechanistic approach. Ambio 48: 1116–1128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1127-7.
Djoudi, H., B. Locatelli, C. Vaast, K. Asher, M. Brockhaus, and B.B. Sijapati. 2016. Beyond dichotomies: Gender and intersecting inequalities in climate change studies. Ambio 45: 248–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0825-2.
Donihue, C.M., and M.R. Lambert. 2015. Adaptive evolution in urban ecosystems. Ambio 44: 194–203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0547-2.
Elliott, R.M., A.E. Motzny, S. Majd, F.J.V. Chavez, D. Laimer, B.S. Orlove, and P.J. Culligan. 2020. Identifying linkages between urban green infrastructure and ecosystem services using an expert opinion methodology. Ambio 49: 569–583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01223-9.
Elmqvist, T., X. Bai, N. Frantzeskaki, C. Griffith, D. Maddox, T. McPhearson, S. Parnell, P. Romero-Lankao, et al. eds. 2017. Urban planet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316647554.
Elmqvist, T., E. Andersson, N. Frantzeskaki, T. McPhearson, C. Folke, P. Olsson, O. Gaffney, and K. Takeuchi. 2019. Sustainability, resilience and transformation in the urban century. Nature Sustainability, 2, 267–273. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0250-1, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0250-1
Enqvist, J.P., L.K. Campbell, R.C. Stedman, and E.S. Svendsen. 2019. Place meanings on the urban waterfront: a typology of stewardships. Sustainability Science 14: 589–605. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-019-00660-5.
Enqvist, J.P., M. Tango, and O. Bodin. 2020. Are bottom-up approaches good for promoting socio-ecological fit in urban landscapes? Ambio 49: 49–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01163-4.
Ernstson, H., S.E. van der Leeuw, C.L. Redman, D.J. Meffert, G. Davis, C. Alfsen and T. Elmqvist. 2010. Urban transitions: On urban resilience and human-dominated ecosystems. Ambio 39: 531–545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0081-9.
Felipe-Lucia, M.R., F.A. Comín, and J. Escalera-Reyes. 2015. A framework for the social valuation of ecosystem services. Ambio 44: 308–318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0555-2.
Feola, G. 2015. Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts. Ambio 44: 376–390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0582-z.
Folke, C., A. Jansson, J. Larsson, and R. Costanza. 1997. Ecosystem appropriation by cities. Ambio 26: 167–172.
Fois, M., G. Fenu, and G. Bacchetta. 2019. Estimating land market values from real estate offers: A replicable method in support of biodiversity conservation strategies. Ambio 48: 313–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1074-3.
França, J.S., R. Solar, R.M. Hughes, and M. Callisto. 2019. Student monitoring of the ecological quality of neotropical urban streams. Ambio 48: 867–878. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1122-z.
Frantzeskaki, N., and N. Tilie. 2014. The dynamics of urban ecosystem governance in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Ambio 43: 542–555. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0512-0.
Frantzeskaki, N., and N. Kabisch. 2016. Designing a knowledge co-production operating space for urban environmental governance - Lessons from Rotterdam. The Netherlands and Berlin, Germany, Environmental Science and Policy 62: 90–98.
Frantzeskaki, N., V. Castan-Broto, L. Coenen, and D. Loorbach, eds. 2017. Urban sustainability transitions. New York: Routledge.
Frantzeskaki, N. 2019. Seven lessons for planning nature-based solutions in cities. Environmental Science and Policy 93: 101–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.12.033.
Gren, Å., J. Colding, M. Berghauser-Pont, and L. Marcus. 2019. How smart is smart growth? Examining the environmental validation behind city compaction. Ambio 48: 580–589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1087-y.
Grimm, N., P. Groffman, M. Staudinger, and H. Tallis. 2015. Climate change impacts on ecosystems and ecosystem services in the United States. Climatic Change.
Glaas, E., M. Hjerpe, S. Storbjörk, T.S. Neset, A. Bohman, P. Muthumanickam, and J. Johansson. 2019. Developing transformative capacity through systematic assessments and visualization of urban climate transitions. Ambio 48: 515–528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1109-9.
Güneralp, B., A.S. Perlstein, and K.C. Seto. 2015. Balancing urban growth and ecological conservation: A challenge for planning and governance in China. Ambio 44: 532–543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0625-0.
Haase, D., N. Larondelle, E. Andersson, M. Artmann, S. Borgstrom, J. Breuste, E. Gomez-Baggethun, A. Gren, et al. 2014. A quantitative review of urban ecosystem service assessments: Concepts, models, and implementation. Ambio 43: 413–433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0504-0.
Haase, D., S. Kabisch, A. Haase, E. Andersson, E. Banzhaf, F. Baro, M. Brenck, L.K. Fischer, et al. 2017. Greening cities—To be socially inclusive? About the alleged paradox of society and ecology in cities. Habitat International 64: 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2017.04.005.
Hansen, T., and L. Coenen. 2015. The geography of sustainability transitions: Review, synthesis and reflections on an emergent research field. Environmental Innovations and Societal Transitions 17: 92–109.
Hewitt, C.N., K. Ashworth, and A.R. MacKenzie. 2020. Using green infrastructure to improve urban air quality (GI4AQ. Ambio 49: 62–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01164-3.
Hoang, L.P., R. Biesbroek, V.P.D. Tri, M. Kummu, M.T.H. van Vliet, R. Leemans, P. Kabat, and F. Ludwig. 2018. Managing flood risks in the Mekong Delta: How to address emerging challenges under climate change and socioeconomic developments. Ambio 47: 635–649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-1009-4.
Hoornweg, D., M. Hosseini, C. Kennedy, and A. Behdadi. 2016. An urban approach to planetary boundaries. Ambio 45: 567–580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0764-y.
Hopkins, D. 2017. Destabilising automobility? The emergent mobilities of generation Y. Ambio 46: 371–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0841-2.
Imam, A.U.K., and U.K. Banerjee. 2016. Urbanisation and greening of Indian cities: Problems, practices, and policies. Ambio 45: 442–457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0763-4.
Ives, C.D., R. Freeth, and J. Fischer. 2020. Inside-out sustainability: The neglect of inner worlds. Ambio 49: 208–217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01187-w.
Kabisch, N., N. Frantzeskaki, M. Artmann, M. Davis, D. Haase, S. Knapp, H. Korn, S. Naumann, et al. 2016. Nature-based solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban areas—perspectives on indicators, knowledge gaps, opportunities and barriers for action. Ecology and Society 21: 39. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss2/art39/
Kabisch, N., H. Korn, J. Stadler, & A. Bonn. 2017. Nature-based Solutions to Climate change in Urban Areas - Linkages of science, policy and practice. Theory and Practice of Urban Sustainability Transitions. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-56091-5
Kaeser, A., and A. Willcox. 2018. Identifying women’s attitudes and barriers to participating in a proposed community-based conservation group in western Belize. Ambio 47: 622–633. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0986-7.
Kawarazuka, N., C. Locke, C. McDougall, P. Kantor, and M. Morgan. 2017. Bringing analysis of gender and social–ecological resilience together in small-scale fisheries research: Challenges and opportunities. Ambio 46: 201–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0814-5.
Keeler, B.L., P. Hamel, T. McPhearson, M.H. Hamann, M.L. Donahue, K.A. Meza Prado, K.K. Arkema, G.N. Bratman, et al. 2019. Social-ecological and technological factors moderate the value of urban nature. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0202-1.
Kelling, S., D. Fink, F.A. La Sorte, A. Johnston, N.E. Bruns, and W.M. Hochacka. 2015. Taking a ‘Big Data’ approach to data quality in a citizen science project. Ambio 44: 601–611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0710-4.
Keskitalo, E.C.H., T. Horstkotte, S. Kivinen, B. Forbes, and J. Kayhko. 2016. “Generality of mis-fit”? The real-life difficulty of matching scales in an interconnected world. Ambio 45: 742–752. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0757-2.
Kremer, P., D. Hamstead, D. Haase, T. McPhearson, N. Frantzeskaki, E. Andersson, N. Kabisch, N. Larondelle, et al. 2016. Key insights for the future of urban ecosystem services research. Ecology and Society 21: 29.
Masterson, V.A., J.P. Enqvist, R.C. Stedman, and M. Tengo. 2019. Sense of place in social-ecological systems: From theory to empirics. Sustainability Science 14: 555–564. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-019-00695-8.
Mattsson, E., M. Ostwald, S.P. Nissanka, and B. Marambe. 2013. Homegardens as a multi-functional land-use strategy in Sri Lanka with focus on carbon sequestration. Ambio 42: 892–902. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0390-x.
McPhearson, T., Z.A. Hamstead, and P. Kremer. 2014. Urban ecosystem services for resilience planning and management in New York city. Ambio 43: 502–515. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0509-8.
McPhearson, T., E. Andersson, T. Elmqvist, and N. Frantzeskaki. 2015. Resilience of and through ecosystem services. Ecosystem Services 12: 152–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.07.012.
McPhearson, T., S. Parnell, D. Simon, O. Gaffney, T. Elmqvist, X. Bai, D. Roberts, and A. Revi. 2016a. Scientists must have a say in the future of cities. Nature 538: 165–166.
McPhearson, T., S.T.A. Pickett, N. Grimm, J. Niemelä, M. Alberti, T. Elmqvist, C. Weber, D. Haase, et al. 2016b. Advancing urban ecology toward a science of cities. BioScience 66: 198–212. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biw002.
McPhearson, T., D. Haase, N. Kabisch, and Å. Gren. 2016c. Advancing understanding of the complex nature of urban systems. Ecological Indicators 70: 566–573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.03.054.
McPhearson, T., C. Raymond, N. Gulsrud, C. Albert, A. Stahl Olafsson, N. Coles, N. Soininen, N. Fagerholm, et al. Radical changes are needed for transformations toward a good anthropocene. Nature Urban Sustainability.
Messerli, P., E.M. Kim, W. Lutz, J.P. Moatti, K. Richardson, M. Saidam, D. Smith, P. Eloundou-Enyegue, et al. 2019. Expansion of sustainability science needed for the SDGs. Nature Sustainability 2: 892–894. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0394-z.
Meerow, S., and J.P. Newell. 2016. Urban resilience for whom, what, when, where, and why? Urban Geography. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1206395.
Müller, J.G., R. Boubacar, and I.D. Guimbo. 2015. The “How” and “Why” of including gender and age in ethnobotanical research and community-based resource management. Ambio 44: 67–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0517-8.
Nagendra, H., and Ostrom, E. 2014. Applying the social-ecological system framework to the diagnosis of urban lake commons in Bangalore, India. Ecology and Society 19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26269569
Nordström, M., and M. Wales. 2019. Enhancing urban transformative capacity through children’s participation in planning. Ambio 48: 507–514. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01146-5.
Odum, E.P. 1975. Ecology: The link between the natural and social sciences. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pan, H., J. Page, L. Zhang, S. Chen, C. Cong, G. Destouni, Z. Kalantari, and B. Deal. 2019. Using comparative socio-ecological modeling to support Climate Action Planning (CAP). Journal of Cleaner Production 232: 30–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.274.
Queiroz, C., M. Meacham, K. Richter, A.V. Norstrom, E. Andersson, J. Norberg, and G. Peterson. 2015. Mapping bundles of ecosystem services reveals distinct types of multifunctionality within a Swedish landscape. Ambio 44: 89–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0601-0.
Rigolon, A., M. Fernandez, B. Harris, W. Stewart, A. Rigolon, M. Fernandez, B. Harris, and W. Stewart. 2019. An ecological model of environmental justice for recreation an ecological model of environmental justice for recreation. Leis. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2019.1655686.
Satz, D., R.K. Gould, K.M.A. Chan, A. Guerry, B. Norton, T. Satterfield, B.S. Halpern, J. Levine, et al. 2013. The challenges of incorporating cultural ecosystem services into environmental assessment. Ambio 42: 675–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0386-6.
Seto, K.C., A. Reenberg, C.G. Boone, M. Fragkias, D. Haase, T. Langanke, P. Marcotullio, D.K. Munroe, et al. 2012. Urban land teleconnections and sustainability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109: 7687–7692.
Shrestha, K.K., H. Ojha, and P. McManus. 2015. Urbanisation, social inclusion and climate change. In Inclusive urbanization, rethinking policy, practice and research in the age of climate change, ed. K.K. Shrestha, H.R. Ojha, P. McManus, A. Rubbo, and K.K. Dhote, 1–12. New York: Routledge.
Söderström, B. 2018. More, better, faster. Ambio 47: 385–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1051-x.
Seidl, R., F.S. Brand, M. Stauffacher, P. Krutli, Q.B. Le, A. Sporri, G. Meylan, C. Moser, et al. 2013. Science with society in the anthropocene. Ambio 42: 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0363-5.
Seitzinger, S.P., U. Svedin, C.L. Crumley, W. Steffen, S.A. Abdullah, C. Alfsen, W.J. Broadgate, F. Biermann, et al. 2012. Planetary stewardship in an urbanizing world: Beyond city limits. Ambio 41: 787–794. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0353-7.
Sténs, A., T. Bjärstig, E. Nordström, C. Sandstrom, C. Fries, and J. Johansson. 2016. In the eye of the stakeholder: The challenges of governing social forest values. Ambio 45: 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0745-6.
Summers, J.K., L.M. Smith, J.L. Case, and R.A. Linthurst. 2012. A review of the elements of human well-being with an emphasis on the contribution of ecosystem services. Ambio 41: 327–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0256-7.
Tengö, M., E.S. Brondizio, T. Elmqvist, P. Malmer, and M. Spierenburg. 2014. Connecting diverse knowledge systems for enhanced ecosystem governance: The multiple evidence base approach. Ambio 43: 579–591. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0501-3.
Thiagarajah, J., S.K.M. Wong, D.R. Richards, and D.A. Friess. 2015. Historical and contemporary cultural ecosystem service values in the rapidly urbanizing city state of Singapore. Ambio 44: 666–677. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0647-7.
Van der Hel, S. 2018. Science for change: A survey on the normative and political dimensions of global sustainability research. Global Environmental Change 52: 248–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.07.005.
Voytenko, Y., K. McCormick, J. Evans, and G. Schliwa. 2016. Urban Living labs for sustainability and low carbon cities in Europe: Towards a research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production 123: 45–54.
Webb, R., X. Bai, M.S. Smith, R. Costanza, D. Griggs, M. Moglia, M. Neuman, P. Newman, et al. 2018. Sustainable urban systems: Co-design and framing for transformation. Ambio 47: 57–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0934-6.
Wellstead, A., M. Howlett, S. Nair, and J. Rayner. 2016. “Push” dynamics in policy experimentation: Downscaling climate change adaptation programs in Canada. Climate Services 4: 52–60.
Westley, F., P. Olsson, C. Folke, T. Homer-Dixon, H. Vredenburg, D. Loorbach, J. Thomson, M. Nilsson, et al. 2011. Tipping toward sustainability: Emerging pathways of transformation. Ambio 40: 762. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-011-0186-9.
Williams, J. 2016. Can low carbon city experiments transform the development regime? Futures 77: 80–96.
Wolfram, M., and N. Frantzeskaki. 2016. Cities and systemic change for sustainability: Prevailing epistemologies and an emerging research agenda. Sustainability 8: 144.
Wolfram, M. 2018. Cities shaping grassroots niches for sustainability transitions: Conceptual reflections and an exploratory case study. Journal of Cleaner Production 173: 11–23.
Wolfram, M. 2019. Assessing transformative capacity for sustainable urban regeneration: A comparative study of three South Korean cities. Ambio 48: 478–493. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1111-2.
Wu, T., C. Perrings, A. Kinzig, J.P. Collins, B.A. Minteer, and P. Daszak. 2017. Economic growth, urbanization, globalization, and the risks of emerging infectious diseases in China: A review. Ambio 46: 18–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0809-2.
Ziervogel, G. 2019. Building transformative capacity for adaptation planning and implementation that works for the urban poor: Insights from South Africa. Ambio 48: 494–506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1141-9.
Acknowledgements
Nadja's work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; research project GreenEquityHEALTH, no. 01LN1705A). TM’s participation was supported by the US National Science Foundation (#1444755, #1927167, and #1934933) and the SMARTer Greener Cities project through the Nordforsk Sustainable Urban Development and Smart Cities program.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Frantzeskaki, N., McPhearson, T. & Kabisch, N. Urban sustainability science: prospects for innovations through a system’s perspective, relational and transformations’ approaches. Ambio 50, 1650–1658 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01521-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01521-1