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How Should Urbanisation be Managed in the Anthropocene? Thomas Elmqvist

Festival of the Future City
Thomas Elmqvist

Online  |  Free

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Thomas Elmqvist examines the key issues that need to be assessed when deciding how urbanisation in the Anthropocene should be managed.

We live in turbulent times where rapid changes are occurring in biophysical conditions such as altered precipitation patterns, drought, flood, wildfire, and pandemics. In the Anthropocene, global urbanisation is both a driver of these processes and extremely vulnerable to the risks generated.

Managing urbanisation in the Anthropocene would need the following questions to be addressed:

  • Does global urbanization result in diversification or simplification of the intertwined system of people and planet?
  • Is the increasing connectivity of cities becoming a force on its own in governing human affairs and in shaping the biosphere?
  • What is the role of connectivity in urban resilience, is over-connectivity causing new types of vulnerabilities?

Chaired by Sean Fox, Associate Professor from the School of Geographical Sciences and Cabot Institute for the Environment, University of Bristol.

In association with the Cabot Institute for the Environment.

Thomas Elmqvist

Thomas Elmqvist is a professor at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. His research is focused on urbanisation, urban ecosystem services, land use change, natural disturbances and components of resilience including the role of social institutions. He has led and coordinated several major international interdisciplinary research projects, such as the UN-initiated global project Cities and Biodiversity Outlook and the Future Earth Project Urban Planet. He currently serves as Editor in chief for the Nature Research journal npj Urban Sustainability and as associated editor for the journals Sustainability Science and Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. He has published over 100 papers, 30 books and book chapters and received the Biodiversa prize 2018 for ‘Excellence in science and impact’ and the Ecological Society of America 2019 prize for best paper in ‘Sustainability Science’.

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Festival of the Future City takes place every two years in Bristol. This year – due to the pandemic – the festival brings together live on-stage, live online and pre-recorded events. Check the project page for details and follow #FutureCity21 on Twitter.

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