Research articles

It is unclear how early-life urbanicity influences adult neurobehavioral traits. This study reveals that earlier menarche mediates the relationship between early-life urbanicity and adult neurobehavioral traits associated with mental disorders.

Cities are engines of innovation and economic growth, but they also struggle with segregation, which works against both. This study finds rings of isolation around US cities and pockets of segregation within them, a pattern persistent over time and intensified since the pandemic.

Heatwaves pose a growing threat to cities, and vegetation is often touted as a mitigation option. This study finds that while lawns provide a burst of intense cooling, trees access deeper water and provide moderate but more prolonged relief.

Railway infrastructure and urban population evolved together in England and Wales from 1831–2021, with scaling relationships gradually converging toward proportionality. Expansion periods supported smaller cities whereas contractions concentrated growth in larger centers.

Urban climate adaptation is inherently context dependent, shaped by local experiences and realities. Through an art–science collaboration, this study explores how local climate adaptation actors around the world imagine their cities adapting to climate change.

Urban blue spaces, such as lakes and rivers, play growing roles in cities but are historically vital for providing food. Focusing on four Indian cities, this study finds diverse blue foraging practices most practiced by elderly women, especially among the most disadvantaged groups.

Urban sprawl reduces water access and increases costs by distancing populations from infrastructure. An analysis of over 100 cities shows that, by 2050, compact growth could provide piped water to 220 million more people than horizontal expansion.

City parks clearly promote health, but understanding the distribution of healthful park elements and spaces is challenging. This study scored thousands of parks across 35 major cities worldwide and found that North American parks emphasize physical activity, European parks more often promote nature appreciation and centrally located parks tend to better support health-promoting activities.

Urban heat islands and rising cooling demands highlight the need for sustainable nature-based solutions. A meta-analysis of 373 studies shows nature-based solutions cut daytime temperatures by 2.04 °C and cooling loads by 1.32%, with green infrastructure being the most effective across most climates.

Car usage and attendant impacts continue to grow as cities expand worldwide. This study finds that European cities, especially medium and large ones, with metros have substantially lower car dependency.

Cities often manage food waste and wastewater separately, missing recovery synergies. Across 29 cities, urban biowaste flux identifies an ~50 kg of moisture per person per year threshold above which sewer integration lowers the net costs. Optimized city-specific strategies, including integration where beneficial, can cut emissions by up to 69% versus current separate systems.

Urban visual perceptions differ across demographic and personality groups, yet most methods overlook these influences. This study reveals notable location and profile-based differences, highlighting the need for localized, human-centered urban planning.

Soils underlie cities and are foundational to parks and other green infrastructure, but urban soils are often polluted or otherwise unsuitable. This study tests the potential for combining sediment construction wastes with high-carbon organic amendments, identifying mixtures that provide essential urban soil functions.

Green roofs enhance urban ecosystem services, but the long-term vegetation health and design’s impact is underexplored. This study shows a temporal increase in vegetation health and identifies key factors and thresholds that support sustained vegetation health, offering guidance for effective green roof planning and design.

Urbanization disrupts oak tree microbiomes by reducing beneficial fungi and increasing plant and human pathogens across leaves, roots and soils, with consequences for tree health, urban climate mitigation and potential human exposure to pathogens.

Media informs how we see our cities and ourselves. Using news headlines, this study reveals how the press coverage of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital City project reinforced a vision of urban growth that echoed commercial aspirations.

State planning goals in South Africa often misalign with the lived realities of communities despite shared quality-of-life visions. Analysis across low-income communities reveals temporal, spatial and responsibility disconnects between government directives and urgent local needs.

At the nexus of machine learning and urban climate change mitigation, this systematic map identifies a fast growth of research, highlights under-researched impact areas and reveals geographic biases. It also offers recommendations to promote the impactful deployment of machine learning solutions in this urban domain.

Context counts, and not just for social and economic aspects of urban life. This study finds that, for 16 cities in the United Kingdom, the landcover of the rural surroundings is a better predictor of ticks and environmental Lyme disease hazard than the landcover within the cities themselves.

Healthcare access varies dramatically across urban areas, yet most research focuses on primary care in rural versus urban settings. Analysis of medical specialties across US cities reveals a surprising paradox: larger cities offer more diverse healthcare but fewer specialists per capita.