Toward Zero-Carbon Urban Transitions with Health, Climate Resilience, and Equity Co-Benefits: Assessing Nexus Linkages

Abstract

Getting to net-zero-carbon cities while advancing well-being (W), health (H), social equity (E), and climate resilience (R) (referred to as the WHER outcomes) is critical for local and global sustainability. However, science is nascent on the linkages between zero-carbon pathways and WHER outcomes. This article presents a transboundary urban metabolism framework, rooted in seven key infrastructure and food provisioning systems, to connect urban decarbonization strategies with WHER outcomes. Applying the framework along with a literature review, we find the evidence for co-beneficial decarbonization to be strong for health; limited for well-being; uncertain for resilience; and requiring intentional design to advance equity, including distributional, procedural, and recognitional aspects. We describe the evidence base, identify key knowledge gaps, and delineate broad parameters of a new urban nexus science to enable zero-carbon urban transitions with WHER co-benefits. We highlight the need for fine-scale data encompassing all seven sectors across scales, along with multiple and multiscale climate risks, accompanied by next-generation multisector, multiscale, multioutcome nexus models.

Optimal use of urban rooftops can synergize food and energy production objectives

“…Cities are centers of consumption and pioneers in advancing sustainable food and energy systems. While groundbased agriculture and solar photovoltaics in and around cities can foster net-zero-carbon transition 3 , they require a transformation of urban open space or high-quality farmland 4,5 . Given the rising number of urban buildings across the world 6 , rooftop space could be used as a viable option for agricultural (RA) and photovoltaic power production (RPV) 7,8 to enhance landless and climate-neutral urban food-energy systems 9 .…”