How to build Urbanome, the genome of the city?

Lidia Morawska; Wendy Miller; Matt Riley; Sotiris Vardoulakis; Yong-Guan Zhu; Guy B Marks; Prachi Garnawat; Prashant Kumar; Marie Thynell

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152310

How to build Urbanome, the genome of the city?

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Mar 1:810:152310. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152310. Epub 2021 Dec 13.

Authors

Lidia Morawska¹, Wendy Miller², Matt Riley³, Sotiris Vardoulakis⁴, Yong-Guan Zhu⁵, Guy B Marks⁶, Prachi Garnawat⁷, Prashant Kumar⁸, Marie Thynell⁹

Affiliations

¹ Queensland University of Technology, International Laboratory for Air Quality & Health (ILAQH), Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Queensland University of Technology, Faculty of Science, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Queensland University of Technology, Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom. Electronic address: l.morawska@qut.edu.au.
² Queensland University of Technology, Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
³ NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Climate and Atmospheric Science, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ Australian National University, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁵ Chinese Academy of Science, Institute of Urban Environment, Xiamen, China.
⁶ South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Woolcock Institute for Medical Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁷ RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁸ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom.
⁹ University of Gothenburg, School of Global Studies, Göteborg, Sweden.

PMID: 34914999
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152310

Abstract

The world's population is shifting to the cities, and consequently, cities worldwide are growing in number and in size. Cities are complex systems, making it extremely difficult to build and run cities in a way that all the elements of the system operate in harmony. Recently a concept of urbanome, the genome of the city was proposed to address this complexity. Here we first explore this concept and analogy, taking advantage of the potential of other 'omics, modern data collection techniques, Big Data analysis methods and a transdisciplinary approach. Then, we propose a theoretical approach to build the urbanome as a means of quantifying and qualifying population outcomes, being a function of the form of an urban area including the built environment, the physical and social services it provides, and the population density.

Keywords: Characterization of the city; City performance framework; City performance indicators; Future cities; Ranking of the cities; Urban system.

MeSH terms

Cities
City Planning*
Population Density