Urbanization is a global phenomenon and the book emphasizes that this is not just a social-technological process. It is also a social-ecological process where cities are places for nature, and where cities also are dependent on, and have impacts on, the biosphere at different scales from local to global. The book is a global assessment and delivers four main conclusions: Urban areas are expanding faster than urban populations. Half the increase in urban land across the world over the next 20 years will occur in Asia, with the most extensive change expected to take place in India and China Urban areas modify their local and regional climate through the urban heat island effect and by altering precipitation patterns, which together will have significant impacts on net primary production, ecosystem health, and biodiversity Urban expansion will heavily draw on natural resources, including water, on a global scale, and will often consume prime agricultural land, with knock-on effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services elsewhere Future urban expansion will often occur in areas where the capacity for formal governance is restricted, which will constrain the protection of biodiversity and management of ecosystem services

This bookintroduces a key issue in research on the climatic impact of land cover and land use changes via terrestrial biogeophysical processes. The parameterization of surface processes and a systematic approach to modeling the climatic impacts of land use change are discussed respectively, and can be used to improve parameterization schemes for climate numerical models and to provide a systematic method, thus offering more scientific and enhanced support for research on the climatic effects of land use/cover change. Further, based on predictions and scenario analyses of land use changes in typical zones, the climatic impact of various types of changes in different areas can be simulated through climatic numerical modeling, the simulation results are suitable for use in climate mitigation, land use planning, urban development planning, etc. Thus, the book is intended for researchers and professionals working in the area of meteorology systems, climatic numerical modeling, climate change, and land use/cover change, as well as decision makers in meteorology and land use planning.
Professor Xiangzheng Deng is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences."

Urbanization is a global phenomenon and the book emphasizes that this is not just a social-technological process. It is also a social-ecological process where cities are places for nature, and where cities also are dependent on, and have impacts on, the biosphere at different scales from local to global. The book is a global assessment and delivers four main conclusions: Urban areas are expanding faster than urban populations. Half the increase in urban land across the world over the next 20 years will occur in Asia, with the most extensive change expected to take place in India and China Urban areas modify their local and regional climate through the urban heat island effect and by altering precipitation patterns, which together will have significant impacts on net primary production, ecosystem health, and biodiversityUrban expansion will heavily draw on natural resources, including water, on a global scale, and will often consume prime agricultural land, with knock-on effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services elsewhereFuture urban expansion will often occur in areas where the capacity for formal governance is restricted, which will constrain the protection of biodiversity and management of ecosystem services