Climate Adaptation and Resilience of Buildings and Communities

Dear Colleagues,

Climate-induced and natural hazards—including extreme weather events such as heatwaves, hurricanes and floods, as well as slower-onset impacts like drought, sea-level rise and ecosystem degradation—affect billions of people worldwide. These challenges place unprecedented demands on the architectural design and construction industries to deliver innovative solutions that make buildings and urban spaces resilient to changing climates. On the one hand, the resilience of indoor and outdoor spaces can be assessed by their physical performances to respond and recover from hazards over time. On the other hand, resilience also depends on the adaptive capacity of inhabitants—humans, flora and fauna—to cope with such events. Ecological integrity, cultural continuity and aesthetic quality are important factors that can strengthen this capacity.

Scientific challenges in climate-resilient buildings and neighbourhoods often lie in complex transdisciplinarity (e.g., integrating building performance with health and wellbeing), barriers to combining diverse methodologies (quantitative and qualitative), limitations in cross-scale applicability (façade/roof components, buildings, districts, cities) and a shortage of conceptual and methodological innovations. This Special Issue invites contributions from multiple disciplines to address these challenges at both the building and neighbourhood scales—or their integration—through technical, ecological, social and cultural perspectives.

We particularly welcome contributions in, but not limited to, the following areas:

1. Thermal vulnerability mapping
Which building archetype and/or neighbourhood typologies are most vulnerable to heatwaves and cold snaps? This could be based on in situ data or numerical simulation, thermal vulnerability mapping may focus on single case studies that examine façade and roof materials, energy systems, urban morphology and microclimates, or on comparative analyses across multiple climate scales, supported by measurements from weather stations, thermal imaging at ground/roof level and from UAVs or satellites. Qualitative insights, such as occupant perceptions of thermal stress, energy poverty and environmental injustice, are also welcome.

2. Multi-climate hazard interventions
How does a single building or group of buildings perform under single extreme events or compound and sequential hazards such as heatwaves, droughts, hurricanes and floods? Contributions may explore short- and long-term mitigation measures, including solutions for component damage, power failure, water shortages, environmental noise events and other critical service disruptions, using simulation methods, probabilistic analysis or field studies. Interventions may address both the physical performance of building systems and the operational strategies that maintain occupant wellbeing during crises.

3. Coping strategies for inhabitants
What architectural and/or urban design enhance the adaptive capacity of building occupants and pedestrians to withstand climate hazards, and broader physical environmental stressors? Studies may explore long-term adaptation and coping strategies (e.g., biophilic and soundscape design) that support survival, health, comfort and social cohesion in indoor and/or outdoor spaces under increasingly frequent extreme events. Both first-hand data collection—through questionnaires, interviews or behavioural mapping—and the analysis of existing epidemiological or social datasets are encouraged.

4. Nature-based solutions
How can nature-based solutions increase urban resilience during climate hazards, and provide broader health and liveability benefits – and other ecosystem services? We encourage studies on green roofs, green walls, pocket parks and other urban greening measures in dense city centres, examining their ecological performance and climate resilience, as well as broader ecosystem services provisioning such as noise and air pollution Research may combine environmental monitoring with qualitative or participatory methods to assess biophilic benefits, as well as the social and cultural value of these interventions.

5. Aesthetics in resilience design
Architectural excellence traditionally balances safety, practicality and beauty, following the Vitruvian principles of firmitas (strength), utilitas (utility) and venustas (beauty). While this Special Issue focuses on climate resilience (firmitas and utilitas), can resilient architectural and/or urban design also maintain or enhance aesthetic value in ways that support wellbeing and community identity? And to what extent could visual aesthetics evoke multi-sensory interaction effects, adopting, e.g., broader senses of soundscape perspectives? Such studies may require ethnographic or transdisciplinary methods that draw on creative disciplines such as visual art, photography, film, performance and soundscape design, alongside other qualitative approaches, to decode how architectural wisdom and cultural meaning endure extreme climates across different contexts and time periods.

Dr. Zhikai Peng
Dr. Simona Bianchi
Dr. Martijn Lugten
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• climate resilience
• extreme weather adaptation
• multi-hazard performance
• thermal vulnerability mapping
• adaptive design strategies
• nature-based solutions
• ecosystem services provisioning
• biophilia and soundscapes
• urban morphology
• health and wellbeing
• aesthetics in resilient design
• transdisciplinary methods