Urban Environments

I. The variety of urban environments

1. Characteristics of urban places, including site, function, land use, hierarchy of settlement (including megacities) and growth process (planned or spontaneous)

2. Factors affecting the pattern of urban economic activities (retail, commercial, industrial), including physical factors, land values, proximity to a central business district (CBD) and planning

3. Factors affecting the pattern of residential areas within urban areas, including physical factors, land values, ethnicity and planning

4. The incidence of poverty, deprivation and informal activity (housing and industry) in urban areas at varying stages of development

II. Changing urban systems

1. Urbanization, natural increase and centripetal population movements, including rural–urban migration in industrializing cities, and inner city gentrification in post-industrial cities

2. Centrifugal population movements, including suburbanization and counter-urbanization

3. Urban system growth including infrastructure improvements over time, such as transport, sanitation, water, waste disposal and telecommunications

4. The causes of urban de-industrialization and its economic, social and demographic consequences

III. Urban environmental and social stresses

1. Urban microclimate modification and management, including the urban heat island effect, and air pollution patterns and its management

2. Traffic congestion patterns, trends and impacts

3. Contested land use changes, including slum clearances, urban redevelopment and the depletion of green space

4. Managing the impacts of urban social deprivation, including the cycle of deprivation and geographic patterns of crime

IV. Building sustainable urban systems for the future

1. Urban growth projections for 2050, including regional/continental patterns and trends of rural–urban migration and changing urban population sizes and structures

2. Resilient city design, including strategies to manage escalating climatic and geopolitical risks to urban areas

3. Eco city design, including strategies to manage the urban ecological footprint

4. Smart city design and the use of new technology to run city services and systems, including purpose-built settlements and retrofitting technology to older settlements