Urban activities greatly impact natural systems. Water, air, nutrient cycling, climate, land-use, and flora and fauna are all affected -- and, in turn, urban systems are affected by nature. ASU's urbanization research examines the complex patterns and dynamics created by interactions between urban and natural systems and the responses at scales ranging from local to global.
Bob Ramsey Executive Education Program
The Bob Ramsey Executive Education Program provides innovative professional development programs and customized services that build the capacity of people and organizations that serve the public. The Certificate in Public Administration for International Leaders includes topics such as leadership, collaboration, public-private partnerships, community conflict resolutions, pollution, urban challenges and opportunities, information technology, and electronic government practices.
Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research
Through interdisciplinary projects integrating natural sciences, social science, and engineering, the Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research project examines the effects of urbanization on a desert ecosystem and vice versa.
Decision Center for a Desert City
The Decision Center for a Desert City conducts climate, water, and decision research and develops innovative tools to bridge the boundary between scientists and decision makers and put their work into the hands of those whose concern is for the sustainable future of Greater Phoenix.
Decision Theater
The Decision Theater Network actively engages researchers and leaders to visualize solutions to complex problems. The Network provides the latest expertise in collaborative, computing and display technologies for data visualization, modeling, and simulation. The Network addresses cross-disciplinary local, national and international issues by drawing on Arizona State University’s diverse academic and research capabilities.
EASM-3: Collaborative Research: Physics-based Predictive Modeling for Integrated Agricultural and Urban Applications
A collaborative and interdisciplinary team from Arizona State University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research jointly develops integrated agricultural and urban models necessary to examine hydroclimatic impacts and economic and social benefits/tradeoffs associated with agricultural and urban land use/cover changes accompanying localization of food production within cities.
Ecosystem Response to N and Organic C Deposition from the Urban Atmosphere
The "Urban Air" project studies the exchange of chemical elements between land and atmosphere in urban systems.
Energy Sustainability of Green Commercial Buildings: An Empirical Assessment
This project will conduct holistic energy sustainability analysis using a comprehensive building energy data set in a city (Phoenix) that is typical of energy use patterns in many of the world's rapidly growing hot and dry urban areas.
Engineering Research Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG)
The Engineering Research Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics conducts basic research to understand biological processes that act in the ground, including the action of bacteria, plants and animals. The Center will develop ways to directly use naturally occurring bacteria to strengthen the soil, to mitigate against earthquake-induced liquefaction, and clean up polluted sites. It will also use methods inspired by biological processes to design more efficient tunneling processes, foundations and sensors that can penetrate the ground and travel to desired locations.
Herberger Institute Research Center
The Center supports collaborative and creative research in design and the arts. Some of the Center's work includes creating consumer-driven product concepts that improve society and the environment, understanding the interconnections between urban design and energy demand and on emerging models for the post-petroleum city, and supporting organizations, neighborhoods, and professionals in their efforts to improve the growth of quality affordable homes and sustainable communities.
Partnership for Research in Spatial Modeling
PRISM is the focal point at Arizona State University for interdisciplinary research in modeling and visualization to permit intelligent analysis and create spatial and dynamic knowledge. Some of PRISM's work includes geospatial modeling, modeling of urban environments, cloud development modeling, and 3D modeling such as that exhibited in ASU's Decision Theater.
Phoenix Area Social Survey
This survey studies the relationships between people and the natural environment in the Phoenix metro area.
Population Dynamics, Center for
CePoD is a transdisciplinary research center drawing scholars who are interested in broad aspects of population research. The center is located in the Phoenix metropolitan area, a vibrant, rapidly growing urban center of the American Southwest. We pursue novel avenues of population research in local, regional, national and international settings.
Sino-US Center of Conservation, Energy and Sustainability Science
SUCCESS provides a platform for international collaborations, particularly on use-inspired, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research relevant to sustainability issues that occur during the socioeconomic development in Inner Mongolia and its neighboring regions.
Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family
Through research, educational outreach, advocacy and design innovation, the ASU Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family supports organizations, neighborhoods, and professionals in their efforts to improve the growth of quality affordable homes and sustainable communities.
Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance
The Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance is North America’s central forum for convening industry, government, civil society, and academia to advocate for the sustainable use, recovery, and recycling of phosphorus in the food system.
Sustainable Tourism, Center for
The Center for Sustainable Tourism, formerly the Megapolitan Tourism Research Center, is devoted to studying the role of tourism in community development in order to strengthen its contribution to viable economic, social, and environmental systems, especially in megapolitan regions around the world.
Urban Innovation, Center for
The mission of the Center is to improve the quality of urban life in neighborhoods, cities, and urban regions by promoting innovation in governance, policy, and management. The Center contributes to the goal of "advancing urban governance in a global context" in the School of Public Affairs. Its research and outreach are both local and global.
Urban Resilience to Extreme Weather Related Events
Urban areas are vulnerable to extreme weather related events given their location, high concentration of people, and increasingly complex and interdependent infrastructure. Impacts of Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, and other disasters demonstrate not just failures in built infrastructure, they highlight the inadequacy of institutions, resources, and information systems to prepare for and respond to events of this magnitude. The Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network (UREx SRN) will develop a novel theoretical framework for integrating social, ecological, and technological system (SETS) dimensions for conceptualizing, analyzing, and supporting urban infrastructure decisions in the face of climatic uncertainty in a more holistic way.
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