Towards an urban ecosystem model through a cross-cultural Chinese and greek knowledge analysis

Purpose In the post-pandemic era urban ecosystem planning has become critically important. Given the emphasis on relevant issues concerning the complex interactions between human civilizations and natural systems within urban environments in the new normal, this article aims to enrich the field of knowledge management developing a cross-cultural analysis for clarifying the role of knowledge in planning and urban ecosystems. Design/methodology/approach This paper is conceptual in nature. Based on a theoretical foundation built by a critical literature review and data from the China Statistical Yearbook and China’s National Bureau of Statistics, this paper introduces some emerging real-impact topics regarding the connections between humanistic knowledge and urban planning. A comparative analysis between the capital city of Chang’an in the Tang dynasty of China and the capital city of Athens in Ancient Greek was used for explaining the influence of knowledge on successful urban planning. Findings The understanding the role of cross-cultural differences in knowledge management and practices for urban ecosystems offer the opportunities for rethinking consolidated approach to the interaction among social, economic, and environmental dimensions in urban settings. Originality/value This paper implies a new inter-disciplinary research field of great interest for the real impact KM community by illuminating how knowledge management is central in urban planning and across cultures.