Shaping future sustainable cities with AI-powered urban informatics: Toward human-AI symbiosis

Yang Yue; Guanyu Yan; Tian Lan; Rui Cao; Qili Gao; Wenxiu Gao; Bo Huang; Guan Huang; Zhengdong Huang; Zihan Kan; Xiang Li; Dong Liu; Xintao Liu; Ding Ma; Lili Wang; Jizhe Xia; Xiaochun Yang; Meng Zhou; Anthony Gar On Yeh; Renzhong Guo; Christophe Claramunt

doi:10.1007/s43762-025-00190-0

Shaping future sustainable cities with AI-powered urban informatics: Toward human-AI symbiosis

Yang Yue
, Guanyu Yan
, Tian Lan
, Rui Cao
, Qili Gao
, Wenxiu Gao
, Bo Huang
, Guan Huang
, Zhengdong Huang
, Zihan Kan
, Xiang Li
, Dong Liu
, Xintao Liu
, Ding Ma
, Lili Wang
, Jizhe Xia
, Xiaochun Yang
, Meng Zhou
, Anthony Gar On Yeh
, Renzhong Guo

Christophe Claramunt

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Research output: Journal article publication › Journal article › Academic research › peer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has ushered in a transformative era for urban studies, moving beyond traditional analytical methods to advanced Deep Learning architectures, with Transformers model in the spotlight. Yet, unlike bioinformatics, which has successfully utilised AI to decode static biological systems, or cheminformatics, which optimises chemical synthesis, urban informatics grappled with human-centric complexity that encompass subjective perceptions, socio-political dynamics, and multifaceted challenges that defy deterministic solutions. To avoid techno-solutionist pitfalls, we convened an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore AI-powered urban informatics and proposed a Human-AI Symbiosis framework to foster sustainable cities and advance urban research. This Opinion paper synthesises insights into four key research directions, focusing on the evolving landscape of urban informatics and its potential to drive innovation in sustainable cities, policy-making, and societal development.

Original language	English
Article number	31
Journal	Computational Urban Science
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-025-00190-0
Publication status	Published - 3 Jun 2025

Keywords

Urban informatics; GIScience; Artificial intelligence; Sustainable cities

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Urban Studies
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Science Applications
Environmental Science (miscellaneous)

More information

10.1007/s43762-025-00190-0

http://hdl.handle.net/10397/115084

Cite this

Yue, Y., Yan, G., Lan, T., Cao, R., Gao, Q., Gao, W., Huang, B., Huang, G., Huang, Z., Kan, Z., Li, X., Liu, D., Liu, X., Ma, D., Wang, L., Xia, J., Yang, X., Zhou, M., Yeh, A. G. O., ... Claramunt, C. (2025). Shaping future sustainable cities with AI-powered urban informatics: Toward human-AI symbiosis. Computational Urban Science, 5(1), Article 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-025-00190-0

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abstract = "The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has ushered in a transformative era for urban studies, moving beyond traditional analytical methods to advanced Deep Learning architectures, with Transformers model in the spotlight. Yet, unlike bioinformatics, which has successfully utilised AI to decode static biological systems, or cheminformatics, which optimises chemical synthesis, urban informatics grappled with human-centric complexity that encompass subjective perceptions, socio-political dynamics, and multifaceted challenges that defy deterministic solutions. To avoid techno-solutionist pitfalls, we convened an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore AI-powered urban informatics and proposed a Human-AI Symbiosis framework to foster sustainable cities and advance urban research. This Opinion paper synthesises insights into four key research directions, focusing on the evolving landscape of urban informatics and its potential to drive innovation in sustainable cities, policy-making, and societal development.",

keywords = "Urban informatics; GIScience; Artificial intelligence; Sustainable cities",

author = "Yang Yue and Guanyu Yan and Tian Lan and Rui Cao and Qili Gao and Wenxiu Gao and Bo Huang and Guan Huang and Zhengdong Huang and Zihan Kan and Xiang Li and Dong Liu and Xintao Liu and Ding Ma and Lili Wang and Jizhe Xia and Xiaochun Yang and Meng Zhou and Yeh, \{Anthony Gar On\} and Renzhong Guo and Christophe Claramunt",

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year = "2025",

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doi = "10.1007/s43762-025-00190-0",

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Yue, Y, Yan, G, Lan, T, Cao, R, Gao, Q, Gao, W, Huang, B, Huang, G, Huang, Z, Kan, Z, Li, X, Liu, D, Liu, X, Ma, D, Wang, L, Xia, J, Yang, X, Zhou, M, Yeh, AGO, Guo, R & Claramunt, C 2025, 'Shaping future sustainable cities with AI-powered urban informatics: Toward human-AI symbiosis', Computational Urban Science, vol. 5, no. 1, 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-025-00190-0

TY - JOUR

T1 - Shaping future sustainable cities with AI-powered urban informatics

T2 - Toward human-AI symbiosis

AU - Yue, Yang

AU - Yan, Guanyu

AU - Lan, Tian

AU - Cao, Rui

AU - Gao, Qili

AU - Gao, Wenxiu

AU - Huang, Bo

AU - Huang, Guan

AU - Huang, Zhengdong

AU - Kan, Zihan

AU - Li, Xiang

AU - Liu, Dong

AU - Liu, Xintao

AU - Ma, Ding

AU - Wang, Lili

AU - Xia, Jizhe

AU - Yang, Xiaochun

AU - Zhou, Meng

AU - Yeh, Anthony Gar On

AU - Guo, Renzhong

AU - Claramunt, Christophe

PY - 2025/6/3

Y1 - 2025/6/3

N2 - The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has ushered in a transformative era for urban studies, moving beyond traditional analytical methods to advanced Deep Learning architectures, with Transformers model in the spotlight. Yet, unlike bioinformatics, which has successfully utilised AI to decode static biological systems, or cheminformatics, which optimises chemical synthesis, urban informatics grappled with human-centric complexity that encompass subjective perceptions, socio-political dynamics, and multifaceted challenges that defy deterministic solutions. To avoid techno-solutionist pitfalls, we convened an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore AI-powered urban informatics and proposed a Human-AI Symbiosis framework to foster sustainable cities and advance urban research. This Opinion paper synthesises insights into four key research directions, focusing on the evolving landscape of urban informatics and its potential to drive innovation in sustainable cities, policy-making, and societal development.

AB - The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has ushered in a transformative era for urban studies, moving beyond traditional analytical methods to advanced Deep Learning architectures, with Transformers model in the spotlight. Yet, unlike bioinformatics, which has successfully utilised AI to decode static biological systems, or cheminformatics, which optimises chemical synthesis, urban informatics grappled with human-centric complexity that encompass subjective perceptions, socio-political dynamics, and multifaceted challenges that defy deterministic solutions. To avoid techno-solutionist pitfalls, we convened an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore AI-powered urban informatics and proposed a Human-AI Symbiosis framework to foster sustainable cities and advance urban research. This Opinion paper synthesises insights into four key research directions, focusing on the evolving landscape of urban informatics and its potential to drive innovation in sustainable cities, policy-making, and societal development.

KW - Urban informatics; GIScience; Artificial intelligence; Sustainable cities

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DO - 10.1007/s43762-025-00190-0

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AN - SCOPUS:105007725209

SN - 2730-6852

VL - 5

JO - Computational Urban Science

JF - Computational Urban Science

IS - 1

M1 - 31

ER -

Shaping future sustainable cities with AI-powered urban informatics: Toward human-AI symbiosis

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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