Scaling laws of CO2 emissions during global urban expansion
Abstract Continuous urbanisation, rising energy usage, and CO2 emissions challenge global sustainability. Current understanding is fragmented due to regional research differences and conflicting data sources. We used RS and GIS technologies to create a comprehensive dataset on global urban CO2 emiss...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-02-01
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| Series: | npj Urban Sustainability |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-024-00172-x |
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| author | Zhenshan Yang Junkang Wu Xu Shang Runde Fu Liou Xie Quansheng Ge |
| author_facet | Zhenshan Yang Junkang Wu Xu Shang Runde Fu Liou Xie Quansheng Ge |
| author_sort | Zhenshan Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Continuous urbanisation, rising energy usage, and CO2 emissions challenge global sustainability. Current understanding is fragmented due to regional research differences and conflicting data sources. We used RS and GIS technologies to create a comprehensive dataset on global urban CO2 emissions (2000−2020). Besides population and density, we included land area size and physical compactness. Our findings indicate that higher population density may reduce emissions, physical compactness can increase them, and land area size influences emissions more than population size. Thus, strategic planning is essential for emission reduction. We found varied relationships between per capita emissions and population density and between emission intensity and compactness. Different cities face unique challenges based on location and development stage. Developing economies, especially in Africa, face significant challenges as emission scaling shifts from sublinear to superlinear with urbanisation. Large cities should reduce fossil fuel use and adopt eco-friendly technologies, while smaller cities should enhance emission efficiency. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3dc6a34bb9314076942ee5683ba4bafc |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2661-8001 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Urban Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj-art-3dc6a34bb9314076942ee5683ba4bafc2025-08-20T02:48:12ZengNature Portfolionpj Urban Sustainability2661-80012025-02-015111010.1038/s42949-024-00172-xScaling laws of CO2 emissions during global urban expansionZhenshan Yang0Junkang Wu1Xu Shang2Runde Fu3Liou Xie4Quansheng Ge5Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesShaanxi Normal UniversityInstitute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesCenter for Earth and Environmental Science, State University of New York at PlattsburghInstitute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Continuous urbanisation, rising energy usage, and CO2 emissions challenge global sustainability. Current understanding is fragmented due to regional research differences and conflicting data sources. We used RS and GIS technologies to create a comprehensive dataset on global urban CO2 emissions (2000−2020). Besides population and density, we included land area size and physical compactness. Our findings indicate that higher population density may reduce emissions, physical compactness can increase them, and land area size influences emissions more than population size. Thus, strategic planning is essential for emission reduction. We found varied relationships between per capita emissions and population density and between emission intensity and compactness. Different cities face unique challenges based on location and development stage. Developing economies, especially in Africa, face significant challenges as emission scaling shifts from sublinear to superlinear with urbanisation. Large cities should reduce fossil fuel use and adopt eco-friendly technologies, while smaller cities should enhance emission efficiency.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-024-00172-x |
| spellingShingle | Zhenshan Yang Junkang Wu Xu Shang Runde Fu Liou Xie Quansheng Ge Scaling laws of CO2 emissions during global urban expansion npj Urban Sustainability |
| title | Scaling laws of CO2 emissions during global urban expansion |
| title_full | Scaling laws of CO2 emissions during global urban expansion |
| title_fullStr | Scaling laws of CO2 emissions during global urban expansion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Scaling laws of CO2 emissions during global urban expansion |
| title_short | Scaling laws of CO2 emissions during global urban expansion |
| title_sort | scaling laws of co2 emissions during global urban expansion |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-024-00172-x |
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