Nature Cities最新文献_第4页

Energy system savings largely offset the costs of urban building energy efficiency improvements in China 在中国，能源系统的节约在很大程度上抵消了城市建筑能效提高的成本

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-24 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00475-3

Shangwei Liu, Xiangwen Fu, Liqun Peng, Siyue Guo, Denise L. Mauzerall

{"title":"Energy system savings largely offset the costs of urban building energy efficiency improvements in China","authors":"Shangwei Liu, Xiangwen Fu, Liqun Peng, Siyue Guo, Denise L. Mauzerall","doi":"10.1038/s44284-026-00475-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-026-00475-3","url":null,"abstract":"Improving building energy efficiency is critical for urban decarbonization, yet its system-level costs and benefits remain insufficiently quantified. Here we conduct a cost–benefit analysis of demand-side energy efficiency upgrades in China’s urban buildings from 2020 to 2050 by integrating building stock dynamics, energy simulation and power system planning models. Results indicate that energy system savings (for example, reduced capital and operating costs for the power grid as well as reduced fuel costs) largely offset the associated investment costs (for example, heating and cooling equipment and building envelope energy efficiency), even without accounting for additional social and environmental co-benefits. However, a key barrier to implementation lies in the misalignment between cost bearers and beneficiaries. Although system-wide savings reduce overall electricity supply costs and benefit ratepayers and society, the investment costs are borne primarily by developers and homeowners. This imbalance highlights the need for policy interventions, including financial incentives and reforms to district heating pricing, to enable large-scale adoption and accelerate urban building decarbonization. This study analyzes the costs and benefits of urban building energy efficiency improvements in China from 2020 to 2050. The results reveal strong cost-effectiveness as well as a mismatch between who pays and who benefits, highlighting the need for policy intervention.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 8","pages":"708-717"},"PeriodicalIF":15.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148754306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Effects of Uber and Lyft on jobs, wages and GDP 优步和Lyft对就业、工资和GDP的影响

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-24 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00478-0

Adam Koling, Jeremy Michalek, Daniel Armanios, Connor Forsythe, Akshaya Jha

{"title":"Effects of Uber and Lyft on jobs, wages and GDP","authors":"Adam Koling, Jeremy Michalek, Daniel Armanios, Connor Forsythe, Akshaya Jha","doi":"10.1038/s44284-026-00478-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-026-00478-0","url":null,"abstract":"Between 2010 and 2019, Uber and Lyft launched in hundreds of cities across the USA. Economic theory and prior literature, coupled with company claims, posit that ride-hailing increases job flexibility for drivers and mobility for passengers, thereby stimulating local economic activity. Here we test these claims by leveraging the staggered entry of Uber and Lyft across 167 service regions nationwide to estimate the aggregate effects on jobs, wages and regional GDP using difference-in-differences approaches that generate consistent estimates in the presence of heterogeneous treatment effects. We find that Uber and Lyft entry led to an increase in both regional GDP per capita and in seasonal, temporary or otherwise intermittent employment per working age population. We do not detect statistically significant effects on overall employment or earnings. Ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Lyft are theorized to stimulate local economies. An analysis of 167 US cities reveals that their entry increased regional GDP and intermittent employment, but not overall jobs or earnings.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 8","pages":"700-707"},"PeriodicalIF":15.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-026-00478-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148752576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Divergent humidity-driven growth in urban air-conditioning energy demand under climate change 气候变化下不同湿度驱动的城市空调能源需求增长

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-24 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00474-4

Xinchang ‘Cathy’ Li, Lei Zhao, Zhiwen Luo, Keith Oleson, Yifan Cheng, Xiaoxiong Xie, Alvin C. G. Varquez, Mitsuna Sekiya

{"title":"Divergent humidity-driven growth in urban air-conditioning energy demand under climate change","authors":"Xinchang ‘Cathy’ Li, Lei Zhao, Zhiwen Luo, Keith Oleson, Yifan Cheng, Xiaoxiong Xie, Alvin C. G. Varquez, Mitsuna Sekiya","doi":"10.1038/s44284-026-00474-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-026-00474-4","url":null,"abstract":"Rapid urbanization and climate change are intensifying humid heat in cities, making air conditioning (AC) increasingly essential for both cooling and dehumidification. However, the evolving and spatially varied contribution of humidity to urban AC energy demand remains poorly understood, posing risks to climate-sensitive urban energy planning and building thermal design. Here, by coupling an updated urban building energy model with a global Earth system model, we project that urban dehumidification energy demand will rise by 47% globally under a high-emission scenario. Its contribution to total urban AC demand diverges markedly across regions owing to interacting changes in temperature and humidity that reshape city-specific building thermal design conditions. We further show that humidity amplifies the temperature sensitivity of urban AC demand across climate zones, leading to AC energy demand two to three times higher on humid days. These findings highlight the critical need to incorporate humidity dynamics into urban energy and infrastructure planning, particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions of the global south. This study identifies rising urban air-conditioning energy demand for dehumidification under climate change, alongside spatially divergent contributions to total urban air-conditioning demand.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 8","pages":"718-730"},"PeriodicalIF":15.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-026-00474-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148752577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Sacred sites as refuges for native plant diversity in an urbanized tropical landscape 在城市化的热带景观中，作为本土植物多样性避难所的圣地

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-24 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00489-x

Luc Schmid, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey, Hoby Nambinintsoa Nomenjanahary, Aro Vonjy Ramarosandratana, Harison Rabarison, Sariaka Ramamonjisoa, Tokiniaina Ramaroson, Johnson Gabriel Andrianantenaina, Michiel van Breugel

{"title":"Sacred sites as refuges for native plant diversity in an urbanized tropical landscape","authors":"Luc Schmid, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey, Hoby Nambinintsoa Nomenjanahary, Aro Vonjy Ramarosandratana, Harison Rabarison, Sariaka Ramamonjisoa, Tokiniaina Ramaroson, Johnson Gabriel Andrianantenaina, Michiel van Breugel","doi":"10.1038/s44284-026-00489-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-026-00489-x","url":null,"abstract":"In fragmented and intensively managed remnant urban green spaces, enabling natural regeneration is crucial to sustain ecosystem functioning and associated services. Natural regeneration therefore offers an important lens into ecological resilience in human-modified landscapes. Here we present one of the most comprehensive field-based assessments of urban plant diversity in the Afrotropics, comprising over 25,000 naturally regenerating woody plant individuals of 206 species (39% native) across 329 vegetation patches in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Landscape-level native species diversity declined with greater building complexity, density and socio-economic development, whereas exotic species showed no consistent associations with determinants of urban characteristics. Native species richness was highest in ‘sacred’ forest fragments, many of which contain historic remains dating back to pre-colonial times. Notably, seven of the ten most species-rich patches were located in such sites. Our findings highlight the potentially important role of these sites in sustaining native species diversity and indicate how socio-cultural factors can present both opportunities and barriers for tropical urban conservation and restoration. Urbanization challenges plant communities. This study in Antananarivo, Madagascar, finds declines in the diversity of native, but not exotic, plants with greater urban intensity and that ‘sacred’ forest fragments supported the highest native plant diversity.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 8","pages":"731-744"},"PeriodicalIF":15.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-026-00489-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148754300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Self-deploying concrete systems for low‑carbon urban construction 低碳城市建设的自部署混凝土系统

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-23 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00499-9

Wei Chen

引用次数: 0

Inequities in geographic access to emergency obstetric and newborn care in Greater Accra 大阿克拉地区获得产科急诊和新生儿护理的地域不平等

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-22 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00479-z

Kerry L. M. Wong, Winfred Dotse-Gborgbortsi, Duah Dwomoh, Cephas Avoka, Shravya Shetty, Pratibha Sriram, Gautam Prasad, Malcolm Kane, Mark Young, Charlotte Stanton, Aduragbemi Banke-Thomas

{"title":"Inequities in geographic access to emergency obstetric and newborn care in Greater Accra","authors":"Kerry L. M. Wong, Winfred Dotse-Gborgbortsi, Duah Dwomoh, Cephas Avoka, Shravya Shetty, Pratibha Sriram, Gautam Prasad, Malcolm Kane, Mark Young, Charlotte Stanton, Aduragbemi Banke-Thomas","doi":"10.1038/s44284-026-00479-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-026-00479-z","url":null,"abstract":"This study assessed the levels and inequities of geographic accessibility to comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) facilities across all 29 districts of Greater Accra Region using peak and non-peak travel time estimates derived from the Google Maps Directions Application Programming Interface. We calculated median travel times (MTT), the proportion of women aged 15–49 years and reachable facilities within 15-, 30- and 60-min thresholds, stratified by wealth. MTT to the nearest public comprehensive EmONC facility was 29.7 min during peak traffic. Nearly 90% of women were within 30 min of public comprehensive EmONC, and 93% were within 30 min of public or private care. In peri-urban areas, public facilities reachable within 30 min dropped from at least one during non-peak to none during peak traffic. Geographic accessibility was notably better among the wealthiest 40%. Our findings highlight geographic and socioeconomic inequities, calling for targeted investments especially in peri-urban areas. Using travel data, this study reveals that while most women in Greater Accra, Ghana, can reach emergency obstetric care within 30 minutes, peri-urban and poorer areas face considerable geographic and socioeconomic access inequities.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 8","pages":"768-778"},"PeriodicalIF":15.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-026-00479-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148754301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Governing the algorithmic reallocation of urban space in the digital age 管理数字时代城市空间的算法再分配

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-22 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00496-y

Tianheng Shu, Xia Liao, Shuo Yang

引用次数: 0

Hidden patterns of urban mixing across five global cities 五个全球城市混合的隐藏模式

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-22 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00477-1

Zhuangyuan Fan, Becky P. Y. Loo, Fabio Duarte, Carlo Ratti, Esteban Moro

{"title":"Hidden patterns of urban mixing across five global cities","authors":"Zhuangyuan Fan, Becky P. Y. Loo, Fabio Duarte, Carlo Ratti, Esteban Moro","doi":"10.1038/s44284-026-00477-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44284-026-00477-1","url":null,"abstract":"Here we leverage large-scale travel surveys covering over 200,000 residents across Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London and São Paulo. With rich individual-level data, we reveal patterns in social mixing, which cannot be identified from high-resolution mobility data alone. Inferring socioeconomic status from residential neighborhoods yields social mixing levels 16% lower than using survey data. Individuals over the age of 66 experience greater social mixing than those in late working life (aged 55–65), lending data-driven support to the ‘second youth’ hypothesis. Teenagers and women with caregiving responsibilities exhibit lower social mixing levels. Living near major transit stations reduces the influence of socioeconomic status on social mixing. Finally, inputs of home-space, activity-space and demographic attributes are embedded and fed into a supervised autoencoder, revealing that mobility shapes experienced social mixing more than sociodemographic characteristics, home environment and transit proximity. Yet, activity spaces remain stratified by income, resulting in structurally different social mixing experiences. Using travel surveys from five global cities, this study explores how daily mobility shapes social mixing. Results show that activity spaces explain most place exposure variations, outweighing demographics and transit proximity.","PeriodicalId":501700,"journal":{"name":"Nature Cities","volume":"3 8","pages":"745-755"},"PeriodicalIF":15.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-026-00477-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148754307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Measurements and distinctions, from urban to rural 测量和区别，从城市到农村

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-17 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00485-1

引用次数: 0

Integrating construction and solar expansion can reduce disposal and dependency 整合建设和太阳能扩张可以减少处置和依赖

IF 15.3

Nature Cities Pub Date : 2026-07-17 DOI: 10.1038/s44284-026-00483-3

Xu Lu

引用次数: 0