Programme of research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. URGENT aims to stimulate the regeneration of the urban environment through understanding and managing the interaction of natural and man-made processes. Projects throughout the UK first set up in 1997 and completed in 2005. It was supported by partners from British industry, local authorities and Government agencies. A total of 40 URGENT projects in four key areas - air, water, soil and ecology. The projects aim was to determine the magnitude of urban environmental problems and risks, to understand the underlying patterns and processes that affect them, and to produce effective strategies for control and managment which will be accessible to users both in the UK and abroad.