Strategic Planning for Urban Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

Land for urbanization, analogously to water, exists in high abundance in certain locations and is extremely scarce in others. The water cycle comprises evaporation and condensation. However, contrary to water, land in general does not change stages by itself. Usually, land for urbanization is readily and affordably available in locations where one is not supposed to build and quite scarce and extremely expensive where it barely exists. Excessive urbanization in suburban locations can lead to the potential decline of more centrally located neighborhoods. Anticipatory and integrated strategic land use and transportation planning mechanisms are needed to obviate opportunistic and speculative land markets. In many cities of the Global North, the iatrogenic nature of uncoordinated policy–market imbalances has resulted in sprawl, leap-frog development, spoiled countrysides, vehicle-dependence, long commutes, unfeasible mass transit, unhealthy environments for vulnerable populations, environmental externalities, and overall poor urban quality of life for everybody. This Special Issue of Land seeks review papers and articles dealing with these challenges from economic, environmental, social, normative, technological, historic, and cultural perspectives. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies will be considered. Scholars examining formal and informal urbanization processes, developments, and implications for cities, regions, and countries of the Global North and Global South are encouraged to submit their studies for peer-review assessment and publication.

Major societal transformations, motivated by lifestyle preferences, technological possibilities, the COVID-19 pandemic, and post-growth scenarios, have transformed the ways we live, work, and play. While the level of social interaction has resumed, collective consciousness now requires more strategic approaches to the built and natural environments where were spend most of our time. Professional practice should benefit and ought to incorporate the latest scholarly findings. Therefore, novel approaches to land, land use planning, urbanization, land retrofit, regulatory systems, urban redevelopment, urban regeneration, and ecological approaches to improving and conserving land and natural resources are especially sought after.

Dr. Carlos José Lopes Balsas
Dr. Awais Piracha
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.