Urban soils co-evolved with the urban infrastructure under permanent anthropogenic influence. Urban soils are of growing scientific and practical interest as the urbanisation of the world accelerates. They differ from non-urban soils in the origin of parent materials, in the dynamic of pedogenetic processes, and the balance between input and output of constituents, water and nutrients.
Urban soils provide ecosystem services in watersheds that provide drinking water, in areas which are used for food production, industrial production, waste treatment, cultural life and recreation. In urban open spaces, soils offer specific urban habitats for vegetation and fauna leading to a comparable high biodiversity inside human settlements.
The management of urban soils, their use, their conservation and their remediation demand for systematic scientific investigation of urban soils, their functions and development.
We invite contributions on the: chemistry and physical properties of urban soils and technogenic substrates; genesis; new mapping approaches; soil – vegetation relations; soil contaminations; interactions between urban geochemistry, urban water cycle and urban atmosphere all affecting the urban soils.


The EGU 2015 and the United Nations Year of the Soils offer the opportunity to join all the Soil Science Societies and show their contribution to the
science, the society and the Education. This EGU session invites short presentations on the latest soil research of a particular country. It invites presenters to give an overview of their countries soil research,innovations and outreach, including valuable information on: soil research history, climate, geology, geomorphology, major soil types, soil maps, soil properties, soil classification, soil fertility, land use and vegetation,soil management, soils and humans, soils and industry, and future soil
issues. The session will facilitate a discussion forum to enhance the understanding of world soils from national perspectives.