A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems

Mark A Goddard^{1

2}, Zoe G Davies³, Solène Guenat¹, Mark J Ferguson⁴, Jessica C Fisher³, Adeniran Akanni⁵, Teija Ahjokoski⁶, Pippin M L Anderson⁷, Fabio Angeoletto⁸, Constantinos Antoniou⁹, Adam J Bates¹⁰, Andrew Barkwith¹¹, Adam Berland¹², Christopher J Bouch¹³, Christine C Rega-Brodsky¹⁴, Loren B Byrne¹⁵, David Cameron¹⁶, Rory Canavan¹⁷, Tim Chapman¹⁸, Stuart Connop¹⁹, Steve Crossland²⁰, Marie C Dade²¹, David A Dawson²², Cynnamon Dobbs²³, Colleen T Downs²⁴, Erle C Ellis²⁵, Francisco J Escobedo²⁶, Paul Gobster²⁷, Natalie Marie Gulsrud²⁸, Burak Guneralp²⁹, Amy K Hahs³⁰, James D Hale³¹, Christopher Hassall³², Marcus Hedblom³³, Dieter F Hochuli³⁴, Tommi Inkinen³⁵, Ioan-Cristian Ioja³⁶, Dave Kendal³⁷, Tom Knowland³⁸, Ingo Kowarik³⁹, Simon J Langdale⁴⁰, Susannah B Lerman²⁷, Ian MacGregor-Fors⁴¹, Peter Manning⁴², Peter Massini⁴³, Stacey McLean⁴⁴, David D Mkwambisi⁴⁵, Alessandro Ossola⁴⁶, Gabriel Pérez Luque⁴⁷, Luis Pérez-Urrestarazu⁴⁸, Katia Perini⁴⁹, Gad Perry⁵⁰, Tristan J Pett³, Kate E Plummer⁵¹, Raoufou A Radji⁵², Uri Roll⁵³, Simon G Potts⁵⁴, Heather Rumble⁵⁵, Jon P Sadler⁵⁶, Stevienna de Saille⁵⁷, Sebastian Sautter⁵⁸, Catherine E Scott⁵⁹, Assaf Shwartz⁶⁰, Tracy Smith⁶¹, Robbert P H Snep⁶², Carl D Soulsbury⁶³, Margaret C Stanley⁶⁴, Tim Van de Voorde⁶⁵, Stephen J Venn⁶⁶, Philip H Warren⁶⁷, Carla-Leanne Washbourne⁶⁸, Mark Whitling⁶⁹, Nicholas S G Williams²⁹, Jun Yang⁷⁰, Kumelachew Yeshitela⁷¹, Ken P Yocom⁷², Martin Dallimer⁷³

Affiliations

¹ Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
² Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
³ Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
⁴ European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, UK.
⁵ Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁶ Bristol City Council, Bristol, UK.
⁷ Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁸ Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Rondonópolis, Brazil.
⁹ Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
¹⁰ School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK.
¹¹ British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK.
¹² Department of Geography, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.
¹³ School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
¹⁴ Biology Department, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Biology, Marine Biology and Environmental Science, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, USA.
¹⁶ Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
¹⁷ Arup, Leeds, UK.
¹⁸ Infrastructure Group, Arup, London, UK.
¹⁹ Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London, London, UK.
²⁰ Balfour Beatty, Thurnscoe, UK.
²¹ Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
²² School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
²³ Facultad de Ciencias, Centro de Modelación y Monitoreo de Ecosistemas, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile.
²⁴ Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
²⁵ Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD, USA.
²⁶ Biology Department, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota, Colombia.
²⁷ US Forest Service Northern Research Station, Madison, WI, USA.
²⁸ Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Section of Landscape Architecture and Planning, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
²⁹ Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
³⁰ School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³¹ Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
³² School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
³³ Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
³⁴ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³⁵ Brahea Centre, Centre for Maritime Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
³⁶ Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.
³⁷ School of Technology, Environments and Design, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
³⁸ Leeds City Council, Leeds, UK.
³⁹ Institute of Plant Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁴⁰ Synthotech, Harrogate, UK.
⁴¹ Red de Ambiente y Sustentabilidad, Instituto de Ecología, A.C. (INECOL), Veracruz, Mexico.
⁴² Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany.
⁴³ Greater London Authority, London, UK.
⁴⁴ The Wildlife Land Fund, Highgate Hill, Queensland, Australia.
⁴⁵ MUST Institute for Industrial Research and Innovation, Malawi University of Science and Technology, Blantyre, Malawi.
⁴⁶ Department of Plant Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
⁴⁷ Department of Computer Science and Industrial Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
⁴⁸ Urban Greening and Biosystems Engineering Research Group, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain.
⁴⁹ Architecture and Design Department, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
⁵⁰ Department of Natural Resource Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
⁵¹ British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, UK.
⁵² Laboratory of Forestry Research (LRF), University of Lomé, Lomé, Togo.
⁵³ Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
⁵⁴ Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
⁵⁵ School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
⁵⁶ School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES), University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁵⁷ Institute for the Study of the Human (iHuman), Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
⁵⁸ SAUTTER ZT - Advanced Energy Consulting, Graz, Austria.
⁵⁹ Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
⁶⁰ Human and Biodiversity Research Lab, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
⁶¹ Amey Consulting, Motherwell, UK.
⁶² Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁶³ School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.
⁶⁴ School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁶⁵ Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁶⁶ Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁶⁷ Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
⁶⁸ Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy, University College London, London, UK.
⁶⁹ Environment Agency, York, UK.
⁷⁰ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁷¹ Ecosystem Planning and Management, Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁷² Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁷³ Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. M.Dallimer@leeds.ac.uk.

PMID: 33398104
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01358-z

Free article

A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems

Mark A Goddard et al. Nat Ecol Evol. 2021 Feb.

Free article

. 2021 Feb;5(2):219-230.

doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-01358-z. Epub 2021 Jan 4.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
² Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
³ Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
⁴ European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, UK.
⁵ Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁶ Bristol City Council, Bristol, UK.
⁷ Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁸ Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Rondonópolis, Brazil.
⁹ Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
¹⁰ School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK.
¹¹ British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK.
¹² Department of Geography, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.
¹³ School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
¹⁴ Biology Department, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Biology, Marine Biology and Environmental Science, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, USA.
¹⁶ Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
¹⁷ Arup, Leeds, UK.
¹⁸ Infrastructure Group, Arup, London, UK.
¹⁹ Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London, London, UK.
²⁰ Balfour Beatty, Thurnscoe, UK.
²¹ Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
²² School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
²³ Facultad de Ciencias, Centro de Modelación y Monitoreo de Ecosistemas, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile.
²⁴ Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
²⁵ Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD, USA.
²⁶ Biology Department, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota, Colombia.
²⁷ US Forest Service Northern Research Station, Madison, WI, USA.
²⁸ Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Section of Landscape Architecture and Planning, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
²⁹ Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
³⁰ School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³¹ Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
³² School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
³³ Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
³⁴ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³⁵ Brahea Centre, Centre for Maritime Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
³⁶ Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.
³⁷ School of Technology, Environments and Design, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
³⁸ Leeds City Council, Leeds, UK.
³⁹ Institute of Plant Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁴⁰ Synthotech, Harrogate, UK.
⁴¹ Red de Ambiente y Sustentabilidad, Instituto de Ecología, A.C. (INECOL), Veracruz, Mexico.
⁴² Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany.
⁴³ Greater London Authority, London, UK.
⁴⁴ The Wildlife Land Fund, Highgate Hill, Queensland, Australia.
⁴⁵ MUST Institute for Industrial Research and Innovation, Malawi University of Science and Technology, Blantyre, Malawi.
⁴⁶ Department of Plant Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
⁴⁷ Department of Computer Science and Industrial Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
⁴⁸ Urban Greening and Biosystems Engineering Research Group, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain.
⁴⁹ Architecture and Design Department, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
⁵⁰ Department of Natural Resource Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
⁵¹ British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, UK.
⁵² Laboratory of Forestry Research (LRF), University of Lomé, Lomé, Togo.
⁵³ Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
⁵⁴ Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
⁵⁵ School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
⁵⁶ School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES), University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁵⁷ Institute for the Study of the Human (iHuman), Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
⁵⁸ SAUTTER ZT - Advanced Energy Consulting, Graz, Austria.
⁵⁹ Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
⁶⁰ Human and Biodiversity Research Lab, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
⁶¹ Amey Consulting, Motherwell, UK.
⁶² Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁶³ School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.
⁶⁴ School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁶⁵ Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁶⁶ Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁶⁷ Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
⁶⁸ Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy, University College London, London, UK.
⁶⁹ Environment Agency, York, UK.
⁷⁰ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁷¹ Ecosystem Planning and Management, Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁷² Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁷³ Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. M.Dallimer@leeds.ac.uk.

PMID: 33398104
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01358-z

Abstract

Technology is transforming societies worldwide. A major innovation is the emergence of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS), which have the potential to revolutionize cities for both people and nature. Nonetheless, the opportunities and challenges associated with RAS for urban ecosystems have yet to be considered systematically. Here, we report the findings of an online horizon scan involving 170 expert participants from 35 countries. We conclude that RAS are likely to transform land use, transport systems and human-nature interactions. The prioritized opportunities were primarily centred on the deployment of RAS for the monitoring and management of biodiversity and ecosystems. Fewer challenges were prioritized. Those that were emphasized concerns surrounding waste from unrecovered RAS, and the quality and interpretation of RAS-collected data. Although the future impacts of RAS for urban ecosystems are difficult to predict, examining potentially important developments early is essential if we are to avoid detrimental consequences but fully realize the benefits.

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References

1. Schwab, K. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Penguin, 2017).
1. Marvin, S., White, A., Kovacic, M., Lockhart, A. & Macrorie, R. Urban Robotics and Automation: Critical Challenges, International Experiments and Transferable Lessons for the UK UK-RAS White Paper (UK-RAS Network, 2018).
1. Salvini, P. Urban robotics: towards responsible innovations for our cities. Rob. Autom. Syst. 100, 278–286 (2018). - DOI
1. Vougioukas, S. G. Agricultural robotics. Annu. Rev. Control Robot. Auton. Syst. 2, 365–392 (2019). - DOI
1. Allan, B. M. et al. Futurecasting ecological research: the rise of technoecology. Ecosphere 9, e02163 (2018). - DOI

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A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems

Affiliations

A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources