485
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. Saundry, B. L. Ruddell (eds.), The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, AESS
Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29914-9_18
Chapter 18
Cities at the Nexus
Craig Harris, Natalie Lyon, Carol Miller, Kami Pothukuchi,
Lara Treemore- Spears, and Yongli Zhang
18.1 Introduction
The definition of what constitutes a city differs substantially worldwide, with some
countries defining an urban area as a locality with at least 200 inhabitants and others, such as the United Nations, defining a city as a locality with more than 50,000
inhabitants. These and other differences between places designated as cities—such
as in the level of service and quality of urban infrastructures such as roads, electricity, sanitation, drinking water, communication, health, security, and education—
make global generalizations about the food–energy–water Nexus in cities nearly
C. Harris
Department of Sociology, School of Social Science, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI, USA
e-mail: harrisc@msu.edu
N. Lyon · K. Pothukuchi
Department of Urban Studies & Planning, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Wayne State
University, Detroit, MI, USA
e-mail: natalie.lyon@wayne.edu; k.pothukuchi@wayne.edu
C. Miller
Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Wayne State University,
Detroit, MI, USA
e-mail: ab1421@wayne.edu
L. Treemore-Spears (*)
Health Urban Waters, College of Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
e-mail: treemorespears@wayne.edu
Y. Zhang
Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Wayne State University,
Detroit, MI, USA
e-mail: zhangyl@wayne.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. Saundry, B. L. Ruddell (eds.), The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, AESS
Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29914-9_18
Chapter 18
Cities at the Nexus
Craig Harris, Natalie Lyon, Carol Miller, Kami Pothukuchi,
Lara Treemore- Spears, and Yongli Zhang
18.1 Introduction
The definition of what constitutes a city differs substantially worldwide, with some
countries defining an urban area as a locality with at least 200 inhabitants and others, such as the United Nations, defining a city as a locality with more than 50,000
inhabitants. These and other differences between places designated as cities—such
as in the level of service and quality of urban infrastructures such as roads, electricity, sanitation, drinking water, communication, health, security, and education—
make global generalizations about the food–energy–water Nexus in cities nearly
C. Harris
Department of Sociology, School of Social Science, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI, USA
e-mail: harrisc@msu.edu
N. Lyon · K. Pothukuchi
Department of Urban Studies & Planning, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Wayne State
University, Detroit, MI, USA
e-mail: natalie.lyon@wayne.edu; k.pothukuchi@wayne.edu
C. Miller
Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Wayne State University,
Detroit, MI, USA
e-mail: ab1421@wayne.edu
L. Treemore-Spears (*)
Health Urban Waters, College of Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
e-mail: treemorespears@wayne.edu
Y. Zhang
Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Wayne State University,
Detroit, MI, USA
e-mail: zhangyl@wayne.edu