Application of Regenerative Approaches, Sustainable Technologies and Multiscale Climate Strategies in Improving the Urban Built Environment

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue invites scientific contributions that showcase novel developments and new knowledge on the application of design strategies, technologies, and general approaches to improve the local urban environment.

More than 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this number is expected to rise sharply to nearly 70% by 2050. Although urbanization processes are meant to improve the quality of life for the inhabitants of a certain area, unplanned, rapid urban growth has generated well-documented environmental problems for local ecosystems, both in terms of the microclimate impacts resulting from human interventions and the health hazards faced by local species that inhabit these areas.

The impact of planning and urban form on microclimates has been extensively reported in the scientific literature, addressing solar exposure, air flows, and even changes in rainfall patterns in cities. Likewise, the accelerated growth of unplanned urban areas has been identified as one of the greatest threats to the biodiversity of local ecosystems, a situation that will only become more pressing in the face of the current climate crisis. Furthermore, the quality of the urban environment has been correlated to health issues, with reports of reduced life expectancy and increased respiratory diseases due to exposure to polluted air, increased cardiovascular mortality during heat waves, and anxiety and mental health changes due to urban noise.

These issues have been addressed in scientific and policy forums, calling for a sustainable built environment and the design of healthy cities under a regenerative paradigm for the understanding of the urban ecosystem. Hence, this Special Issue aims to shed some light on novel developments striving towards this goal, showcasing innovative and comprehensive original research articles and systematic reviews that explore the following themes:

• Multiscale regenerative design in urban areas;
• Closed resource and material cycles at the building or district level (graywater, rainwater, waste, energy);
• Architectural and urban application of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, considering disaster risk reduction plans;
• Multi-domain outdoor comfort and urban health;
• Architectural integration of novel technologies to improve the urban built environment;
• Positive impact or net positive building or neighborhood designs;
• Impact of urban design on the local microclimate.

The Special Issue aims to primarily serve as a compilation of state-of-the-art experiences, laying down a foundation and providing inspiration for further application based on empirical and theoretical research conducted in the field.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Alejandro Prieto
Dr. Elizabeth Wagemann
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.

• urban environment
• climate adaptation and mitigation designs
• regenerative design
• sustainable technologies