President's Page: Urban geophysics: Where geophysics meets society head-on

Abstract

Today, 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas, consumes between 67% and 76% of global energy, and generates about 70% of global carbon emissions. In less than 300 years since the beginning of the British Industrial Revolution, many urban centers in the developed world have evolved from simple congregations of human labor with overcrowded tenements, frequent epidemics, inequitable resources, and insufferable sanitary or safety conditions to become “smart cities” that utilize cutting-edge technologies to enhance the advantages and minimize the inconveniences of urbanization for residents. Cities such as Tokyo, Japan; Zurich, Switzerland; and Auckland, New Zealand; have been consistently ranked among the smartest cities worldwide based on their technological smartness in the areas of health and safety, mobility, activities, opportunities, and governance. Residents in these cities enjoy advanced health care, affordable housing, superior mobility, excellent education, and abundant employment opportunities. On the other hand, urban slums such as Neza-Chalco-Itza in Mexico, Dharavi in Mumbai, India, and the favelas in San Paulo, Brazil, do not look much different from the early 19th century London streets.