Expanded Urban Innovation for the Twenty-Second Century: From Cutting Emissions to Enabling Flourishing Lives on a Thriving Planet

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Cities are central to the climate challenge, but much research on urban climate action still focuses on emissions reductions within existing systems. This literature review assesses existing research and literature, including work on human-need-driven innovation for global sustainability and the export of globally sustainable solutions. Rather than limiting urban climate action to measures aimed at reaching zero emissions, the review examines an expanded urban innovation agenda in which cities are studied as incubators and exporters of innovations that support flourishing lives for all on a flourishing planet. The review synthesizes insights from sustainability transitions, sociotechnical systems, well-being economics, artificial intelligence, and brain science. Case studies from different cities illustrate how some urban innovation agendas are already shifting. The comparison highlights how a focus on flourishing lives can mobilize start-ups, youth, and public institutions, while addressing equity and positioning cities as actors in the next generation of urban climate action.