Introduction: Anthropocene or Urbanocene?

Abstract

We live in times of great changes. Global warming is altering the planetary thermal equilibrium, causing deep changes in our lifestyles. Economic transformations are also pushing the society toward new organisational structures, able to respond to the characters of a deeply globalised world. The human activity has an impact on the ecological system that had never been seen before. As a result, we are exposed to new risks, including extreme climatological events, pandemic diseases and massive migrations. For this reason, many specialists in different fields, geologists in particular, are proposing the term "Anthropocene" for the geological epoch in which we are living (Crutzen and Stoemer 2000;Zalasiewics et al. 2018). This epoch could have started with the great acceleration in economic growth of the 1950s, or with the industrial revolution or with the trip of Columbus to America and its ecological consequences; it could even coincide with the entire Holocene. One of the fundamental characteristics of the "Anthropocene", especially starting from the industrial revolution, is the urban living. Cities have expanded into large metropolitan areas and megacities and are still expanding at a very fast pace, especially in Asia and Africa. The urban population passed from 33.6% to 55.7% of the total population between 1960 and 2019 (United Nations Population Division 2018) and it is expected to be 70% by the middle of the century. The London School of Economics and the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft have extensively analysed the deep economical, societal and environmental consequences of these urban transformations, defining this epoch as the "Urban Age" (Burdett and Rode 2018; Burdett

Application of DIY Electrodermal Activity Wristband in Detecting Stress and Affective Responses of Students

“…Microclimate exerts an influence on electrodermal activity, which in turn correlates with our physiological and mental well-being. An illustration of this association concerning human health is evident in the impact of urban microclimate on our thermal comfort [ 5 ]. However, the connections between microclimate and biological processes are intricate and frequently nonlinear.…”

“…For instance, heat waves have been shown to seriously impair students’ health and productivity [ 4 ]. Palme and Salvati (2021) highlighted that there is relatively inadequate research focusing on the connections between microclimates and human health and emotions [ 5 ]. Therefore, it is crucial to delve into how microclimates influence health and productivity to tackle this overlooked issue.…”

Investigating the Effects of Microclimate on Physiological Stress and Brain Function with Data Science and Wearables

“…As an example related to human health, microclimate in urban areas affects our thermal comfort [12]. However, the relationships between microclimate and biological processes are complex and often nonlinear.…”

“…Among other studies, our work was inspired by the earlier work of Palme and Salvati [12], in which they concluded that modified urban microclimates had a deep impact on the comfort of the inhabitants. Palme and Salvati lamented that while there have been various studies conducted on the effects of urbanization on the microclimate and on how the microclimate has changed human health in the efforts to redesign and restructure urban areas, there have been relatively few studies on the relationships between the microclimate and human health and emotions [12].…”

The Anthropocene and a Small Place in China

“… 5. Massimo Palme and Agnese Salvati, “Introduction: Anthropocene or Urbanocene?” in Urban Microclimate Modelling for Comfort and Energy Studies , ed. Massimo Palme and Agnese Salvati (Cham: Springer, 2021), 1-9. …”