The General Assembly 2017 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) is held at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) in Vienna, Austria, from 23–28 April 2017. The assembly is open to the scientists of all nations. Find out more on the event's website: http://egu2017.eu/home.html

A special session at the event will look at threats and potentialities of urban and peri-urban ecosystems.

Urban and peri-urban areas roost most of the world population. The high human pressure is amplifying the impacts of the natural hazards in these areas, including human lives and ecosystems sustainability. Urbanization changes the water cycle due soil imperviousness, and normally, increase the runoff and flood hazards. These events have to be managed and mitigated due to the destruction caused and due to problems related to water demand and pollution. Other important problem in urban areas is the increase of land degradation as a consequence of activities that constitute a threat to soil (e.g. construction works, residues deposition). Land degradation do not affect only the sustainability of the ecosystems but also the production capacity of the soil. 

This session aims to give an overview of the problems within urban and peri-urban areas, namely related with soil, water, vegetation and hazards, and to discuss the current and future management issues to the challenge of global changes. Contributions regarding to sustainable ways to improve water, nutrients and energy cycles within these areas and how to use the ecosystem services to mitigate impacts of future extreme events and hazards are also welcome.