{"id":173356,"date":"2026-05-15T18:41:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?post_type=sciencecommunication&p=173356"},"modified":"2026-05-18T18:50:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:50:59","slug":"sustainable-cities-whos-shaping-the-future-of-urban-living","status":"publish","type":"sciencecommunication","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/science-communication\/sustainable-cities-whos-shaping-the-future-of-urban-living\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable Cities: Who\u2019s Shaping the Future of Urban Living?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Francisco Javier Serrano<\/strong><\/a> and Daniel Mart\u00ednez<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, roughly 56% of the world\u2019s population lives in cities, and that figure is expected to rise to 68% by 2050. In an increasingly urban world, urban sustainability is no longer a choice \u2014 it has become a global imperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against this backdrop, the bibliometric analysis \u201cSustainable Cities: A Critical Review of Global Scientific Production and Its Epistemic Asymmetries\u201d<\/a><\/em> examined more than 5,000 academic articles and found that knowledge about sustainable cities is being shaped almost exclusively by the Global North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2019, research in this field has expanded rapidly, driven in large part by the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal 11<\/a>, which focuses on sustainable cities and communities. The push to generate evidence for public policy design and to measure progress sparked a significant increase in academic publications and research projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet this growth has been far from balanced. Scientific output is concentrated primarily in countries such as China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, which not only publish more research but also shape thematic and methodological priorities. By contrast, regions such as Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia remain underrepresented and have limited influence over the global agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study also found that funding plays a decisive role. Major agencies in China, the United States, and the European Union not only provide resources but also establish evaluation criteria and priority research areas that determine which topics are studied and how success is measured. As a result, the post-2019 surge in knowledge production reflects both a growing commitment to sustainability and the unequal structure of global scientific research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-Tech Visions, Low Social Inclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another key finding of the study was that mapping the body of accumulated knowledge revealed a pronounced \u201ctunnel vision\u201d in contemporary urban science \u2014 one heavily skewed toward technological solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other dominant themes revolve around the environment and climate change, with a strong emphasis on mitigation strategies and green infrastructure. Secondary attention is given to urban planning and development approaches, such as transportation and land use, as well as the Smart Cities agenda, driven by Big Data and sensor technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, crucial dimensions such as education, culture, mental health, and informal<\/a><\/span> economies<\/a> \u2014 all fundamental in regions like Latin America and Africa \u2014 are relegated to little more than footnotes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the relevance of the issues currently under study, urban sustainability cannot be reduced to technological efficiency or environmental governance alone. It requires integrating multiple forms of knowledge and including historically marginalized voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a city to be truly sustainable, it must also be inclusive. Our analysis of recent scientific literature identified critical blind spots that are frequently overlooked in research, despite being essential to understanding what it truly means to build sustainable urban environments for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n