Urban heat island is among the most evident aspects of human impacts on the earth system. Here we assess the diurnal and seasonal variation of surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) defined as the surface temperature difference between urban area and suburban area measured from the MODIS. Differences in SUHII are analyzed across 419 global big cities, and we assess several potential biophy...

Over the past year or so, I have expanded my work in both areas of my current research. I have explored deeper the interaction between information technology and society, some outcomes of which have recently been published on the internet (Castells 2001). I have also continued my analysis of spatial transformation through an interdisciplinary approach to the problems of cities and regions. This...

Urban areas are expected to continue their rapid growth in the twenty-first century. Globally, cities are major sources of greenhouse gases emissions and their high population densities make them potential focal points of vulnerability to global environmental change. Moreover, their reach, in terms of flows of materials and resources, extends far outside their borders. Evidently, it is no longe...

Over half of the world's population lives in cities and United Nations (UN) demographers project an increase of 2.5 billion more urban dwellers by 2050. Yet there is too little systematic comparative research on the practice of urban health policy and management (HPAM), particularly in the megacities of middle-income and developing nations. We make a case for creating a global database on citie...

the contemporary globalization which is based on post-fordist economy, was formed on the basis of informational capitalism, and has been differentiated from other concepts due to some characteristics like information economy, global economy, and network economic activities.     the characteristics of post-fordist economy create a situation where capitals and productions are changed from place-...

Since the beginning of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network in 1987, the global and regional contexts for the promotion of health and well-being have changed in many ways. First, in 2000, the United Nations Millennium Goals explicitly and implicitly addressed health promotion and prevention at the global and regional levels. Second, the concern for sustainable development at the Rio Conferen...