Though creating socially integrative and sustainable cities is of great interest to many policy makers, urban authorities, public service providers and researchers, how to harness the city population in order to foster such social... more
Though creating socially integrative and sustainable cities is of great interest to many policy makers, urban authorities, public service providers and researchers, how to harness the city population in order to foster such social cohesion, an indispensable part of the process, is a challenge that has yet to be solved. In this chapter, the authors offer a possible solution from the field of natural sciences, viewing cities as living organisms, and demonstrating the use of this principle in a case study of building an online platform, Community of Communities, and how the latter can contribute to the transition towards digital, sustainable, and socially integrative cities in China and Europe. Socially integrative cities are defined as:
