Karen C Seto
Biographic Data
| ID | 3425636 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Karen C Seto |
| GIVEN NAMES | Karen C |
| FAMILY NAME | Seto |
| SIGNATURE | SETO K C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Yale University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4928-2446 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 68 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 407 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 67 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Are urban form and function related to urban discourse? Insights from remote sensing and social media data for 15 major cities across the globe
Urban form and function are closely related to people's everyday lives. Understanding this relationship is essential for urban land-use planning. However, the variation of this relationship across cities has not yet been examined comprehensively at a global scale. This study investigates how urban form and function are associated with urban discourse across 15 major cities worldwide. We applied topic modeling to identify topics discussed in these…
Multiple hazards and exposure in California
Natural hazards sharing climatic precursors of temperature and precipitation– heat, drought, and wildfires–amplify their individual effects when they occur in the same time and space. Their combined effects pose numerous challenges to urban areas by decreasing resilience of infrastructure, affecting people's health and safety, and undermining economic stability. This study quantifies the temporal and spatial interactions between heat, drought, an…
Thermal changes along the urban-rural continuums in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia’s (SEA) rapid urbanization has intensified urban heat effects. While previous studies address urban warming at specific time points, the dynamic relationship between land cover and land use (LCLU) changes and land surface temperature (LST) along urban-rural continuums remains understudied. This study examines LST, LCLU, and NDVI changes across 19 SEA cities of varying urbanization levels from 2000 to 2022 using Landsat images. Resu…
Warming effects on spring phenology in New York City parks
Global climate change and the urban heat island (UHI) interact to create unique urban microclimates. However, how these interactions affect trees in urban parks is poorly understood. Using multi-source satellite fusion, we observe that New York City parks are experiencing delays in the start of the growing season, especially in medium-sized parks. Notably, warming effects are more pronounced in park trees near the edges, where urban heat is stron…
Indicators from The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
Strategies to improve the impact of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities
Global differences in urbanization dynamics from 1985 to 2015 and outlook considering IPCC climate scenarios
Cities are expanding all over the world. In this study we aim to understand how the pace and scale of urban growth dynamics vary across geographies. This study contributes to the literature in four key ways: First, the study is comprehensive including all 1567 cities worldwide that had >300,000 inhabitants in 2015. Second, comparison of settlement dynamics of cities is performed in relation to continents, to geographic regions, to national levels…
Response diversity as a sustainability strategy
Urban land expansion
Global urban populations are projected to increase by 2.5 billion over the next 30 years. Yet, there is limited understanding of how this growth will affect urban land expansion (ULE). Here, we develop a large-scale study to test explicitly the relative importance of urban population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in affecting ULE for different regions, economic development levels and governance types for 300+ cities. Our results show th…
Ten facts about land systems for sustainability
Land use is central to addressing sustainability issues, including biodiversity conservation, climate change, food security, poverty alleviation, and sustainable energy. In this paper, we synthesize knowledge accumulated in land system science, the integrated study of terrestrial social-ecological systems, into 10 hard truths that have strong, general, empirical support. These facts help to explain the challenges of achieving sustainability in la…
Biodiversity impacts and conservation implications of urban land expansion projected to 2050
As the global urban population is poised to grow by 2.5 billion over the next 30 y, urban land conversions are expected to be an increasingly prominent driver of habitat and biodiversity loss. Mitigating these impacts urgently requires an improved understanding of where and how these biodiversity losses might occur. Here, we use a recently developed suite of land-use projections to provide an assessment of projected habitat that will be lost to u…
A new urban narrative for sustainable development
Greenhouse gas emissions from global cities under SSP/RCP scenarios, 1990 to 2100
Urbanization and agrobiodiversity
Expanding urbanization affects food biodiversity and broader agrobiodiversity, which are essential nutrition and ecosystem resources for sustainable development but are threatened globally. The increasingly influential nexus of urbanization-agrobiodiversity interactions has not been systematically researched. Here we design an interdisciplinary perspective to identify and understand the bidirectional interactions of agrobiodiversity in four major…
Focus on sustainable cities
Who Is Vulnerable and Where Do They Live? Case Study of Three Districts in the Uttarakhand Region of India Himalaya
Uttarakhand, India, is a dynamic region. It is frequently exposed to natural hazards and is experiencing rapid urbanization. However, the interaction of the increase in people, the built environment, and vulnerability to natural hazards is poorly understood. We model the relationship between urbanization and hazards for 3 cities (Almora, Nainital, and Champawat) and their surrounding subdistricts in the region using a social vulnerability framewo…
Carbon analytics for net-zero emissions sustainable cities
Our future in the Anthropocene biosphere
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed an interconnected and tightly coupled globalized world in rapid change. This article sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such change for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation where people and nature are dynamically intertwined and embedded in the biosphere, placing shocks and extreme events as part of this dynamic; humanity…
Urbanization, Migration, and Adaptation to Climate Change
Trends in urban land expansion, density, and land transitions from 1970 to 2010
The physical expansion of urban areas lead to lasting impacts on landscapes and livelihoods. Here, we conduct a global synthesis of trends in urban land expansion, in urban population densities, and lands converted into urban from 1970 to 2010. We find that small-medium urban areas lead their larger counterparts in both rates of urban land expansion and decreases in urban population densities. Urban population densities have consistently declined…
Global spread of local cyclone damages through urban trade networks
Understanding an urbanizing planet
Urban Land Use
Building up or spreading out? Typologies of urban growth across 478 cities of 1 million
Urban form in both two- (2D) and three-dimensions (3D) has significant impacts on local and global environments. Here we developed the largest global dataset characterizing 2D and 3D urban growth for 478 cities with populations of one million or larger. Using remote sensing data from the SeaWinds scatterometer for 2001 and 2009, and the Global Human Settlement Layer for 2000 and 2014, we applied a cluster analysis and found five urban growth typo…
Projecting global urban land expansion and heat island intensification through 2050
Urban populations are expected to increase by 2–3 billion by 2050, but we have limited understanding of how future global urban expansion will affect urban heat island (UHI) and hence change the geographic distributions of extreme heat risks. Here we develop spatially explicit probabilistic global projections of UHI intensification due to urban land expansion through 2050. Our projections show that urban land areas are expected to expand by 0.6–1…
Our future in the Anthropocene biosphere
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed an interconnected and tightly coupled globalized world in rapid change. This article sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such change for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation where people and nature are dynamically intertwined and embedded in the biosphere, placing shocks and extreme events as part of this dynamic; humanity…
Down to Earth
The ‘Anthropocene’ is now being used as a conceptual frame by different communities and in a variety of contexts to understand the evolving human–environment relationship. However, as we argue in this paper, the notion of an Anthropos, or ‘humanity’, as global, unified ‘geological force’ threatens to mask the diversity and differences in the actual conditions and impacts of humankind, and does not do justice to the diversity of local and regional…
The impact of urban expansion on agricultural land use intensity in China
Building a global urban science
Research gaps in knowledge of the impact of urban growth on biodiversity
Exploring the dynamics of migration to mega-delta cities in Asia and Africa
Environmental impacts of urban growth from an integrated dynamic perspective
Evidence of urban land teleconnections and impacts on hinterlands
The impact of urbanization on water vulnerability
Meta-studies in land use science
Land use science has traditionally used case-study approaches for in-depth investigation of land use change processes and impacts. Meta-studies synthesize findings across case-study evidence to identify general patterns. In this paper, we provide a review of meta-studies in land use science. Various meta-studies have been conducted, which synthesize deforestation and agricultural land use change processes, while other important changes, such as u…
Planetary Stewardship in an Urbanizing World
Cities are rapidly increasing in importance as a major factor shaping the Earth system, and therefore, must take corresponding responsibility. With currently over half the world's population, cities are supported by resources originating from primarily rural regions often located around the world far distant from the urban loci of use. The sustainability of a city can no longer be considered in isolation from the sustainability of human and natur…
Central versus local states
Global urban land-use trends and climate impacts
Greenhouse gas emissions from global cities under SSP/RCP scenarios, 1990 to 2100
Response diversity as a sustainability strategy
Carbon analytics for net-zero emissions sustainable cities
Balancing urban growth and ecological conservation
Mangrove conversion and aquaculture development in Vietnam
Interactions between urbanization and global environmental change
Global differences in urbanization dynamics from 1985 to 2015 and outlook considering IPCC climate scenarios
Cities are expanding all over the world. In this study we aim to understand how the pace and scale of urban growth dynamics vary across geographies. This study contributes to the literature in four key ways: First, the study is comprehensive including all 1567 cities worldwide that had >300,000 inhabitants in 2015. Second, comparison of settlement dynamics of cities is performed in relation to continents, to geographic regions, to national levels…
Indicators from The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
A new urban narrative for sustainable development
Global spread of local cyclone damages through urban trade networks
Classification and Change Detection Using Landsat TM Data
Modeling the Drivers of Urban Land Use Change in the Pearl River Delta, China
This paper estimates econometric models of the socioeconomic drivers of urban land use change in the Pearl River Delta, China. The panel data used to estimate the models are generated by combining high-resolution remote sensing data with economic and demographic data from annual compendium. The relations between variables are estimated using a random coefficient model. Results indicate that urban expansion is associated with foreign direct invest…
Quantifying Spatiotemporal Patterns of Urban Land-use Change in Four Cities of China with Time Series Landscape Metrics
Mangrove conversion and aquaculture development in Vietnam
Environmental impacts of urban growth from an integrated dynamic perspective
Global urban land-use trends and climate impacts
The New Geography of Contemporary Urbanization and the Environment
Contemporary urbanization differs from historical patterns of urban growth in terms of scale, rate, location, form, and function. This review discusses the characteristics of contemporary urbanization and the roles of urban planning, governance, agglomeration, and globalization forces in driving and shaping the relationship between urbanization and the environment. We highlight recent research on urbanization and global change in the context of s…
Interactions between urbanization and global environmental change
A Meta-Analysis of Global Urban Land Expansion
Mapping urbanization dynamics at regional and global scales using multi-temporal DMSP/OLS nighttime light data
Co-occurrence Patterns of the Dengue Vector Aedes aegypti and Aedes mediovitattus, a Dengue Competent Mosquito in Puerto Rico
Exploring the dynamics of migration to mega-delta cities in Asia and Africa
Urban land teleconnections and sustainability
This paper introduces urban land teleconnections as a conceptual framework that explicitly links land changes to underlying urbanization dynamics. We illustrate how three key themes that are currently addressed separately in the urban sustainability and land change literatures can lead to incorrect conclusions and misleading results when they are not examined jointly: the traditional system of land classification that is based on discrete categor…
Multi-level modeling of urban expansion and cultivated land conversion for urban hotspot counties in China
Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools
Urban land-cover change threatens biodiversity and affects ecosystem productivity through loss of habitat, biomass, and carbon storage. However, despite projections that world urban populations will increase to nearly 5 billion by 2030, little is known about future locations, magnitudes, and rates of urban expansion. Here we develop spatially explicit probabilistic forecasts of global urban land-cover change and explore the direct impacts on biod…
The impact of urbanization on water vulnerability
Planetary Stewardship in an Urbanizing World
Cities are rapidly increasing in importance as a major factor shaping the Earth system, and therefore, must take corresponding responsibility. With currently over half the world's population, cities are supported by resources originating from primarily rural regions often located around the world far distant from the urban loci of use. The sustainability of a city can no longer be considered in isolation from the sustainability of human and natur…
Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities
Does Size Matter? Scaling of CO2 Emissions and U.S. Urban Areas
Urban areas consume more than 66% of the world's energy and generate more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the world's population expected to reach 10 billion by 2100, nearly 90% of whom will live in urban areas, a critical question for planetary sustainability is how the size of cities affects energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Are larger cities more energy and emissions efficient than smaller ones? Do larger cities …
A global fingerprint of macro-scale changes in urban structure from 1999 to 2009
Urban population now exceeds rural population globally, and 60–80% of global energy consumption by households, businesses, transportation, and industry occurs in urban areas. There is growing evidence that built-up infrastructure contributes to carbon emissions inertia, and that investments in infrastructure today have delayed climate cost in the future. Although the United Nations statistics include data on urban population by country and select…
Futures of global urban expansion
Urbanization will place significant pressures on biodiversity across the world. However, there are large uncertainties in the amount and location of future urbanization, particularly urban land expansion. Here, we present a global analysis of urban extent circa 2000 and probabilistic forecasts of urban expansion for 2030 near protected areas and in biodiversity hotspots. We estimate that the amount of urban land within 50 km of all protected area…
Evidence of urban land teleconnections and impacts on hinterlands
The impact of urban expansion on agricultural land use intensity in China
Global Environmental Change
Central versus local states
Geography (56 works) · Economics (39 works) · Environmental Science (38 works) · Land Use and Ecosystem Services (34 works) · Environmental resource management (32 works) · Urbanization (30 works) · Environmental planning (27 works) · Economic growth (23 works) · Business (22 works) · Ecology (21 works)