Spatial Analysis and Spatial Planning for Sustainability in Urban Areas
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability in Geographic Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 552
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sustainable land planning; land uptake; land use changes; spatial analysis; GIS; remote sensing; ecological networks
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: sustainable land planning; land take; land use changes; spatial analysis; GIS; ecological network; land planning
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The environmental sustainability of urban transformations is now one of the main topics on the political agendas of countries around the world. In addition, today, urban areas are also faced with emergencies for which they have little or no preparedness (e.g., climate change) that lead to huge damages in economic terms and the loss of human life. Increasing the resilience of urban areas means radically rethinking urban systems, using innovative analysis and planning techniques that include greenways and ecosystem services. From this point of view, spatial analysis, but especially spatial planning, has a crucial role. They can determine the modalities, extent, and location of territorial transformations in order to improve the quality of life in urban environments, which are increasingly densely populated. This Special Issue aims to present recent advances in spatial analysis and spatial planning for sustainability in urban areas. It collates papers that explore new theories, innovative methodologies, and interesting case studies. Particular importance is given to spatial analysis techniques for the planning, modeling, and optimization of urban areas, improving the delivery of ecosystem services and increasing urban areas resilience. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, geodesign for understanding urban systems, innovative algorithms for spatial analysis, big data in spatial planning, urban ecological networks, green infrastructures in urban areas, new approaches for increasing urban resilience, urban growth models and urban morphology, and new approaches to identifying patterns of urban landscape changes and monitoring soil sealing.
Dr. Francesco Zullo
Dr. Cristina Montaldi
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sustainable spatial and urban planning
- urban resilience
- land use and land cover changes
- greenways and urban ecosystem services
- urban growth models
- urban sprawl and urban sprinkling
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