Work

Losing the carbon game? Changing face of a tropical smart metro city and its repercussions on carbon sequestration, heat and flood mitigation capacity

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In the view of rampant urbanization and intensification in tropical metro cities, we conducted a decadal change detection analysis of Pune city’s landscape from 2013 to 2022. We report a rapid rise in built-up area by 12%. We report that the city has lost its carbon sequestration capacity by 34% and flood mitigation by 13% within a decade. Hills of Pune, under severe threat of degradation, exhibit a higher heat mitigation compared to the rest of the city. Our research implies that sustainable development in tropical metro cities can be achieved by leveraging native features rather than undermining them.

Source: Sustainable Futures

DOI: 10.1016/j.sftr.2025.100634

Authors: Pratiksha Chalke, Pankaj Koparde

Institutions: Gujarat Vidyapith, MIT World Peace University, Gujarat Institute of Development Research

Language: English

Topic: Land Use and Ecosystem Services

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Climate action, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,340