The Journal, Nature, Highlights Cities.

The journal Nature has featured the need for research in urban areas in its October 20th issue. The editors introduce the issue in an editorial that says, in part: “Scientists are city people. More than one-tenth of the workforce in the Washington DC metropolitan area are scientists and engineers. Beijing has more than 160,000 professionals in research and development. Worldwide, resources such as universities and researchers are concentrated in urban areas. So why do so many scientists ignore the needs of our cities? It is time to encourage scientists and universities to pay more attention to urban areas, and Nature this week includes a package of articles about researchers and cities” (Editorial, “Save our Cities,” Nature 467: 883-884 doi 10.1038/46788b).

For the details, follow this link from your school or local library: www.nature.com The articles appear in volume 467, issue number 7318. In addition to the editorial quoted above, the special feature includes an overview of “The Urban Equation,” a geographic description with excellent maps of urban population and growth entitled “The Century of the City,” an article by Cynthia Rosenzweig et al. on “Cities Lead the Way in Climate-Change Action,” and a synthesis of urbanization by Bettencourt and West entitled “A Unified Theory of Urban Living.”

Members of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and those interested in urban ecology should find this collection of articles of value.