News & Comment

Given the pressures cities faced in 2025, safety and mobility are deeply relevant for 2026. They are also two key themes in this issue of Nature Cities.

The intensity of urban life can amplify that of urban work. Liming Yao reflects on his awakening to the quiet, easily missed comforts of bamboo during years of academic grind in Chengdu.

Many cities worldwide separate farms from urban life, yet Japanese cities interweave the two seamlessly. Ayyoob Sharifi argues that this challenges planning orthodoxy and shows how rethinking zoning, incentives and infrastructure can build climate-resilient cities that grow food and people together.

Not only are increasing numbers of people in cities suffering from climate change, hotter temperatures, and drought, but so is green infrastructure, which is inherently there for recreation and cooling. This Comment argues that the entire green patina of the city is needed to adapt effectively.

As facial recognition becomes widespread in urban spaces, it promises security but deepens social exclusion. Yonghua Zou argues that cities must redesign technology governance to safeguard trust, equity and inclusiveness, and offers insights to address what he calls the ‘safety–segregation paradox’.

After studying in and travelling through the metropolises of southern China, PhD student Zehua Pang observes the transformation of his hometown of Xuzhou, a medium-sized northern city that is redefining itself on its own terms.

Cities remain under pressure, given world events and global change. This issue of Nature Cities highlights ways in which they struggle to find balance, what balance might look like and how cities are wayfinding through this often-surreal terrain.

Implementing urban renewal initiatives in Makoko has historically been a complex and contentious issue. I suggest a bottom-up approach that prioritizes engaging the people of Makoko from the earliest stages of intervention design through to implementation to achieve mutually beneficial spatial and economic development.

A growing proportion of children are facing the challenges of growing up in slums. Drawing on her experience in cities with Save the Children and Cities4Children, Sarah Sabry argues that urban policy and planning must urgently prioritize the specific needs and rights of children in urban contexts, especially those living in slums.

Urbanization stands as a key megatrend that is shaping Africa’s future, while many cities across the continent continue to struggle with the challenges of informal settlements. At a time when COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, is rallying a global ‘mutirão’ — a collective effort — against climate change, this issue’s Focus spotlights the vital importance of elevating local voices and perspectives to drive a parallel mutirão against the unequal conditions of urban informality across African cities.

In this interview, Olumuyiwa Bayode Adegun — an associate professor in the Department of Architecture at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria — shares his experiences, expertise and insights into his dedicated efforts to address urban heat challenges faced by urban informal settlements across Africa.

Informal settlements in African cities are increasingly vulnerable to climate risks, which is worsened by colonial-era planning legacies and exclusionary policies. This Comment advocates a decolonial, participatory approach that prioritizes local knowledge, partnerships and inclusive planning for climate-resilient futures.

In dense informal settlements, green spaces disappear, which amplifies climate’s harsh impacts. Local resilience and counterefforts offer critical hope.

China’s progress in the improvement of air quality masks a widening gap: its heavily polluted, industrial border cities bear a disproportionate health and economic burden, which demands urgent policy shifts to avoid deepening environmental injustice.

By seeing cities through the lens of video games, we not only discover how charming virtual worlds are constructed from real urban elements but also glimpse how the virtual might reshape our understanding — and perhaps our design — of the real.

Cities are under growing pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequities. Yet new research highlights how biological, digital and social innovations can help urban systems to adapt and thrive. This issue of Nature Cities showcases advances from artificial intelligence applications to inclusive policy models to self-healing infrastructure, which offer pathways towards more-resilient urban futures.

The authors discuss the challenges of curbing land take and the complexity of achieving the net-zero limit. They call for a shift in perspective beyond the restrictive logic of traditional land-use planning and suggest that the regenerative potential of cities be unleashed.