Planetary Stewardship in an Urbanizing World: Beyond City Limits

Abstract Cities are rapidly increasing in importance asa major factor shaping the Earth system, and therefore,must take corresponding responsibility. With currentlyover half the world’s population, cities are supported byresources originating from primarily rural regions oftenlocated around the world far distant from the urban loci ofuse. The sustainability of a city can no longer be consideredin isolation from the sustainability of human andnatural resources it uses from proximal or distant regions,or the combined resource use and impacts of citiesglobally. The world’s multiple and complex environmentaland social challenges require interconnectedsolutions and coordinated governance approaches toplanetary stewardship. We suggest that a key componentof planetary stewardship is a global system of cities thatdevelop sustainable processes and policies in concert withits non-urban areas. The potential for cities to cooperateas a system and with rural connectivity could increasetheir capacity to effect change and foster stewardship atthe planetary scale and also increase their resourcesecurity.