Nature in Cities, Nurturing Cities

Prof. Ali Cheshmehzangi is the head of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning and a professor at The University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane, Australia. He is among the top 25 global scholars in the urban sustainability research area. He is the editor-in-chief of the Urban Sustainability Book Series with Springer Nature. With a career spanning over two decades, he has made significant contributions to the academic and professional communities, with a focus on sustainable and environmentally conscious design. So far, Ali has published over 500 journal papers, articles, conference papers, book chapters, and reports. He also has 40 academic books, three of which have received awards at the international, national, provincial, and municipal levels. He also has received international awards and recognition for his research on urban resilience studies and sustainability research, as well as a vice-chancellor’s award for his impactful contribution to higher education. 

Dr. Sara Alidoust is a senior lecturer in Planning at the School of Architecture, Design, and Planning at The University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane, Australia.  Her research centres on the intersections of urban planning and public health, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and practical application. She delivers transdisciplinary solutions to some of the most compelling challenges of our time, 'housing vulnerability' and 'the health outcomes of citymaking'. Her work stands out through the application of systems thinking to complex planning issues and she explores the connections between planning and the physical, mental, and social health of individuals and communities. Her primary focus is on developing resilient cities, capable of maintaining their liveability over time, especially amidst disruptive events and shocks.

Prof. Wendy Chen received her Ph.D. degree in Physical Geography (in the field of urban forestry) from the University of Hong Kong, 2006; M.Sc. in Natural Resource and Sustainable Development from Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, 2001; and B.Sc. in Physical Geography from Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, 1992. Her research agenda has focused on key knowledge gaps in evaluating and modelling urban green-blue spaces (GBS) that are reserved, modified, and deployed in urban/peri-urban areas. She is amongst a small group of scholars who have begun to experiment and validate the utilisation of classical non-market approaches in China’s transitional context and facilitate the quantitative assessment of GBS’ contribution to the quality of life. An additional strand of her research is dedicated to investigating GBS dynamics, pertaining to how and why GBS as public environmental goods are physically transformed, economically incorporated, and socially mobilized.

Prof. Richard Fuller is a leading expert in urban ecology research. He is a professor at School of the Environment at the University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane, Australia. He works on pure and applied topics in biodiversity and conservation. Much of his work is interdisciplinary, focusing on the interactions between people and nature, how these can be enhanced, and how these relationships can be shaped to converge on coherent solutions to the biodiversity crisis. His current research topics include the ecology and conservation of migratory species, understanding what drives some people to show stronger environmental concern than others, and strategies for designing efficient conservation plans. He enjoys working closely with all his wonderful colleagues in the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science.