AI, People & Planet is a research initiative hosted by the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Princeton Institute for International Regional and Studies at Princeton University, The Urban Systems Lab at The New School and, the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.

The USL is exploring advances in urban data science, availability of real-time data, advanced spatial modeling, machine learning, cloud-based GPU processing, and cutting-edge visualization of urban social and infrastructure systems to ask new questions to be asked about key climate change risks and opportunities to advance adaptation in cities. Our interdisciplinary team includes scientists, planners, NGOs, industry, and other stakeholders working around the world to plan and envision positive urban futures, assessing heat and flood risk, and analyzing nature-based solutions and other strategies for building SETS resilience in cities.

Project Team: Timon McPhearson, Emily Maxwell, Michael Treglia, Cecilia de Corral

We are collaborating with The Nature Conservancy and Columbia University to produce the most comprehensive assessment of New York City’s green roofs to date. Projects such as Aucher Serr’s Envisioning a New Urban Jungle explore the future of New York’s green roofs through data analysis and visualization.

Our research on green roofs is closely linked with teaching and outreach. The New School’s Green Roof Ecology course — a collaboration with local partners at Brooklyn Grange — gives students a chance to study actual sites and develop related design projects. As part of the Green Roof Researchers Alliance since its inception, USL cosponsored the organization’s State of Green Roofs in NYC Conference with the Audubon Society.

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Project theme

Urban Ecology · Community Engagement · Urban Policy & Planning · Big Data & Artificial Intelligence

Social-ecological and technological factors moderate the value of urban nature

By Bonnie L. Keeler, Perrine Hamel, Timon McPhearson, Maike H. Hamann, Marie L. Donahue, Kelly A. Meza Prado, Katie K. Arkema, Gregory N. Bratman, Kate A. Brauman, Jacques C. Finlay, Anne D. Guerry, Sarah E. Hobbie, Justin A. Johnson, Graham K. MacDonald, Robert I. McDonald, Nick Neverisky & Spencer A. Wood

Project Team: Timon McPhearson

Urban ecosystems and biodiversity are forms of natural capital with profound influence on human wellbeing. As part of the Natural Capital Project, USL is developing the Urban InVEST valuation model with colleagues from Stanford University, University of Minnesota, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics. Urban InVEST integrates spatially explicit biophysical and socio-economic data to allow users to quantify and map the impacts of alternative urban designs on ecosystem services — showing their associated benefits and costs for different communities.

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Project themes

Big Data & Artificial Intelligence · Nature-Based Solutions · Urban Ecology