Focusing on the carbon storage potential of urban vegetation, soils and buildings, this Article assesses the literature on carbon dioxide removal at the urban scale. With the prospect of making cities into carbon sinks, the authors identify research gaps and recommendations related to governance, economic barriers and implementation.

This study compares the links between nature and health and well-being experienced by individuals living in different contexts in three cities in the metropolitan area of Asunción, Paraguay. It found that, for people living in informal settlements, proximate nature can have negative impacts on life satisfaction. However, a strong connection to nature may lead to better mental health and higher life satisfaction, as experienced by people living in formal settlements and the evidence from the Global North.

This study looks at Jiang Han Road in Wuhan, one of the most influential shopping streets in the city center, and examines the impacts of digitalization in the post-COVID era. It found a shift in the economic activity towards socialization in the digital space, and revealed key socioeconomic-spatial patterns fostering the adaptive capacity of the street.

Using data from cities in China between 2000 and 2019, this study examined the influence of strategic interactions between mayors on carbon intensity. It found a relationship between carbon reduction in neighboring cities and the level of reduction in the reference city, in addition to an ‘imitation competition’ between cities to either reduce or increase emissions.

This study designs a new model based on medium-resolution satellite imagery to assess building damage from war, using the cases of Syria and Ukraine. It found that building damage has broader consequences for the population affected, especially when accounting for hospitals and schools.

This study assesses the effects of working-from-home on vehicle miles traveled and transit ridership during the pandemic and finds a direct and negative relationship between them: a 1% decrease in onsite workers corresponds to a 0.99% decrease in vehicle miles traveled and a 2.26% decrease in transit ridership.

Co-opting our cities for short-term ends can leave them brutalized and breathless. Theatre practitioner and performance-studies scholar Gargi Bharadwaj considers New Delhi’s key events from 2023 and the redemptive power of live performance to revive us.

A ‘Sister Cities for the Anthropocene’ network could address the challenges experienced by urban communities in the wake of Anthropocene-driven change.

The idea that ‘context matters’ has become a cliché in many scenarios, but it doesn’t make it less true in urban settings: the neighborhood you live in, the way you move through the city, the places you visit, all of these change the way we experience urban life. But context is not only about spaces; it also means people and how we interact with each other. A long commute could be just as lonely whether you are in an empty bus or surrounded by others in rush hour with everyone wearing earphones. This month’s issue puts the spotlight on both parts of the urban experience to paint a more complex picture.