Urban Lifeline - An interview with the Editor-in-Chief
An Interview with the Editor-in-Chief, Gang Wu:
As journal EIC, could you please introduce your original intention and your vision for the journal?
First, thank you and Springer Nature for the opportunity to speak about our journal! The original intention behind launching this journal stems from a pressing observation. As highlighted by the United Nations’ “World Urbanization Prospects” report [1], an estimated 55% of the world’s population lived in urban areas in 2018, and the figure is projected to increase to 60% by 2030. This projected surge of urban population will place unprecedented challenges on the already overstressed infrastructure and lifeline systems that support urban centers, affecting areas of all sizes, from small townships to megacities. The global COVID-19 pandemic, which has unfolded over the past four years, in addition to causing stark socioeconomic ramifications, has also exposed the inadequacy of urban lifelines in many nations or regions globally. Furthermore, the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events due to climate change, combined with other natural and technological hazards, have not only placed urban lifelines at substantial physical risk (when manifested, it presents as acerbated material aging or system failures), but have also impacted the urban environment as a whole. In the latter case, the compounded risk, if not secondary in nature, includes concerns such as pollution, carbon footprints, and noise throughout the predicted lifetimes of urban lifelines.
Mitigating and managing such risks in these physical, social, economic, and environmental dimensions requires novel theories, methods, and solutions for sustainable and resilient urban lifeline infrastructure systems. Despite growing awareness among professional groups and governmental agencies, significant research challenges and knowledge gaps remain.
Therefore, we propose to launch an international journal, Urban Lifeline, to publish cutting-edge research and innovative technologies on urban lifelines. Our vision from the outset is to foster the growth of a professional community of scholars and practitioners committed to advancing the science and engineering of urban lifelines. Finally, in the long run, through our journal and other initiatives, we envision an academic ecosystem where researchers, engineers, urban planners, and lifeline stakeholders can share their research, insights, and solutions to multifaceted challenges.
Compared with other journals in the field, what are the differences in positioning of the Urban Lifeline?
This Journal serves as a pioneering platform that focuses on the critical field of urban lifeline engineering. At the core of its comprehensive scope, it covers the full spectrum of technical domains related to the entire life cycle of urban lifelines, spanning from infrastructure design, construction, and maintenance to hazard characterization, risk assessment, real-time monitoring and socio-economic resilience.
Among many, we highlight two key aspects that truly distinguish this Journal. First, it addresses the diversity of urban lifeline systems and disruption scenarios. Different lifeline systems exhibit distinct characteristics and responses when subjected to various types of disruptions. It is critical to adopt a comprehensive perspective on lifeline infrastructure, recognizing the interdependencies among various lifeline components or systems, as well as their interactions. Second, the Journal particularly emphasizes the synergetic integration of muti- and interdisciplinary approaches and advocates transdisciplinary exploration. We will actively seek to publish works that apply novel digital technologies aiming to enhance the safety and resilience of urban lifelines. We aim to advance the conventional approaches to the study of lifeline infrastructure by harnessing these emerging technologies. We will attract authors who may not be from the engineering fields but from the communities of urban planning, geosciences, social and economic sciences, to publish their frontier research and reviews, which are also significant for addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by urban lifelines.
What kind of research does the journal consider and what kind of articles is more welcomed?
The Journal has a broad scope that encompasses multi-disciplinary knowledge relevant to urban lifelines. In general, we invite research, opinion, case study, and review articles that offer novel insights and actionable solutions to enhance the safety, intelligence, resilience, and sustainability of urban lifelines. We are keenly interested in advances in theoretical foundations, experimental validation, and numerical methodologies that tackle critical issues at all stages of urban lifeline infrastructure systems.
We are currently experiencing the 4th industrial revolution, a golden age marked by unprecedented connectivity and automation that blurs the boundaries between the physical, digital, and social realms. One distinctive focus of the Journal is to champion research endeavors that integrate digital intelligence, namely, connectivity and automation, with urban lifeline networks. This integration encompasses emerging and futuristic technologies such as robotics and autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G or 6G communications, Internet of Things (IoT), sensing, digital twins, and cyber-physical systems. Navigating this landscape requires novel methodologies, protocols, algorithms, and human-machine interface designs that go beyond conventional computing or sensor-based monitoring. Global researchers can define and holistically address a wide range of research questions throughout the entire lifecycle of urban lifeline networks by effectively integrating digital technologies and engaging different stakeholders and decision-makers.
Which field do you pay more attention to and how is the recent development? What kind of research articles would you like to see?
My primary focus lies within the realm of urban lifeline safety, with a particular emphasis on the assessment of risks and implementation of early warning systems for urban lifelines, such as subways, gas and water supply networks, bridges, and roads. In recent years, a growing number of scholars have begun to examine the safety and risk of these lifeline infrastructure systems from an inter-disciplinary perspective. For example, there has been significant interest in leveraging high-resolution satellite data to observe urban land subsidence and its impact on lifelines, as well as in the implementation of early warning systems for risk mitigation in urban lifelines. We also witness that researchers have combined risk assessment methods with optical fiber sensing techniques to validate the accuracy of risk evaluations. At the same time, the deployment of intelligent sensors within urban lifelines to monitor potential hazards in gas, water supply, and drainage networks is also emerging. These advancements have generated considerable interest within the research community. Our Journal warmly welcomes diverse theoretical approaches and practical case studies centered around safety risk assessment and technology-enabled risk validation studies for urban lifelines.
What suggestions do you have for young researchers and authors who would like to submit their papers to the Urban Lifeline?
As an emerging international Journal, our foremost objective is to inspire young minds, encouraging them to transcend disciplinary confines to forge new knowledge and develop innovative technologies for urban lifelines. Hence, we warmly invite all young scholars to share their groundbreaking research endeavors and will provide assistance at many levels to enhance their experience with our Journal. Moreover, they are cordially invited to participate in the paper review process and even explore opportunities on the Journal’s editorial board. Together, Urban Lifeline will venture and grow with young researchers, cultivating a collaborative and prosperous future.
About the EiC:
Dr. Gang Wu, Professor at Southeast University, winner of the National Science Foundation of China for Distinguished Young Scholars, Distinguished Changjiang Chair Professor of the Ministry of Education of China, winner of Tencent Science Exploration Award, winner of China Science and Technology for Young Scientists Award, President of China Young Science and Technology Professionals Association, Director of National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Smart Construction, Operation and Maintenance, etc.
His research interests include intelligent construction, operation and maintenance of major infrastructure, new materials and new structural systems, and performance improvement of existing engineering structures. He has been ranked as world top 2% scientist and among Elsevier highly cited scholars in China. He has published 193 SCI papers, authored 74 patents (5 international patents), published 6 monographs, and edited 8 standards. Additionally, he has led 2 national key R&D projects, and more than 20 key National Natural Science Foundation projects and major instrument projects (free application). He has also won 2 second prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Awards (ranked 1, 2), 2 first prizes of the Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards and 2 second prizes of the National Teaching Achievement Awards.
Note: [1] Department of Economics and Social Affairs, United Nations, “World Urbanization Prospects 2018”, https://population.un.org/wup/ (this opens in a new tab).