Green urban living
Green urban living is a thematic area of research in Environmental Science. Here you can read more about ongoing projects and find the researchers and PhD students who are working in this area.
Green urban living is a thematic area of research in Environmental Science. Here you can read more about ongoing projects and find the researchers and PhD students who are working in this area.
More than 50 % of the world’s population live in urban areas and this proportion is expected to rise to 70 % by 2050. Growing cities contribute to economic growth, but they also contribute to increasing social inequalities and pressures on ecosystems. The large-scale, rapid urban migration creates new demands that need to be addressed in an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable way. Sustainable urban development includes sustainable construction and sustainable planning of housing, infrastructure, public spaces, transport, recycling and safer chemicals handling, which in turn require new technology and multi-sector cooperation. Inclusive and innovative urban planning is needed to make cities safer and sustainable for the future.
Research and innovation in this area can primarily be regarded from two currently dominant perspectives. One is the socio-technological, where sustainability is often addressed through increased efficiency in energy, transport and waste management, as well as densely urban environments that increase access to urban services. The other is the socio-ecological, which places greater emphasis on natural urban environments and their positive effects in the form of ecosystem services, improved health (mental, physical and social), as well as learning about nature and the environment and the impact on sustainable behaviour.
In the BIG project, Gävle is used as a test bed for understanding how healthy, sustainable and vibrant cities can be built in the future.
For current PhD students’ projects, see the respective PhD students’ presentations.
Stephan Barthel
Professor
Johan Colding
Professor
Marita Wallhagen
Associate Professor
Matteo Giusti
Forskare
Karl Samuelsson
Forskare
Noah Linder
Researcher
How can urban environments be designed to promote well-being in everyday life and in times of crisis? Karl Samuelsson, researcher in Environmental Science and doctoral student in geospatial information science, talks about how new methods based on resident participation and spatial analysis can provide urban planners with guidelines. The lecture is in Swedish.
Professor
E-mail: stephan.barthel@hig.se
Associate Professor
E-mail: marita.wallhagen@hig.se