Environmental Planning and Governance for Sustainable Cities

Dear Colleagues,

Accelerated urbanization and growing population pressure pose significant challenges to environmental sustainability in cities. In this context, environmental planning and governance become crucial elements to ensure the sustainable development of urban areas. Environmental planning and governance is also key to achieving Sustainable Development Goals. The concept of "Environmental Planning and Governance for Sustainable Cities" stands as an integrated approach that aims to manage human and natural resources, promote urban sustainability and resilience, and improve quality of life and work. Environmental planning is the process of designing and managing urban development in harmony with the surrounding environment and with natural resources. It involves assessing environmental risks, conserving natural resources, and promoting sustainable solutions. Sustainable cities must be designed with consideration of elements such as efficient public transportation, rational land use, waste management, energy supplies, carbon emissions, and the creation of green spaces and data-driven solutions. Environmental planning also helps to mitigate climate change by addressing challenges related to greenhouse gas emissions, evaluating climate risk and adaptation to climate change.

Governance, on the other hand, is crucial to ensuring the effective implementation of environmental planning policies. Actively involving the local community, businesses, health systems, energy supplies, carbon emissions, and institutions in decision making is essential to building consensus and collaboration that promotes sustainability. Participatory governance promotes transparency, accountability, and social responsibility, creating a framework in which citizens feel involved and responsible for their urban environment.

Modern technologies play a significant role in the environmental planning and sustainable governance of cities. Solutions such as Smart Cities, which use data, AI, and technologies to optimize the efficiency of urban services, can help monitor and manage energy consumption in real time, improve waste collection, and optimize traffic. Digital innovations also facilitate the active participation of citizens, for example, through online platforms that enable them to share feedback, make suggestions, and report environmental problems. Digital apps and other mobile technologies also have the potential to change the behaviors in the city and promote sustainability.

This Special Issue aims to explore the multidimensional aspects of environmental planning and governance for sustainable cities, aiming to contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in creating environmentally resilient urban environments. This Special Issue seeks to collate and showcase cutting-edge research, innovative practices, and insightful perspectives from scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders around the world.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The impact of urbanization on urban climate;
• Smart cities;
• Data and artificial intelligence for sustainable cities;
• Metaverse, citiverse, and sustainable cities;
• The assessment of health risk associated with urban climate;
• The interaction between urban, climate, and health;
• Climate change, global warming, heatwaves, and health;
• Climate risk monitoring and solutions;
• Urbanization, urban development, and health;
• Green cities and green-gray infrastructure;
• Climate adaption, mitigation strategies, and policy;
• Governance for sustainable cities.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. David Pastor-Escuredo
Dr. Do-Hyung Kim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

• smart sustainable cities
• circular cities
• 15-minute cities
• urban climate
• governance
• urbanization
• environmental planning