Urban Overheating, UHI Adaptation, and Nexus with Energy Transition in the Context of the Urban Landscape and Environment

Dear Colleagues,

Urban overheating and the intensification of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect represent some of the most pressing environmental challenges of the 21st century. Accelerating urbanization, climate change, and the growing demand for cooling are converging to exacerbate thermal stress in cities worldwide. Overheating at different scales not only threatens outdoor thermal comfort and public health but also amplifies building energy consumption and electricity peak loads and complicates the transition toward low-carbon energy systems.

This Special Issue of Atmosphere aims to provide a comprehensive platform for innovative research and applied studies addressing the physical mechanisms, impacts, and mitigation strategies related to urban overheating and UHI, with a special focus on their interplay with the ongoing global energy transition and efforts in promoting the sustainability of the urban environment. Contributions exploring cross-scale links between urban climate, building performance, energy systems, urban biodiversity components, and ecosystem services are especially welcome.

Scope

We invite original research papers, reviews, and case studies that contribute to understanding and managing urban overheating and its connection to energy systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Urban form, materials, and vegetation—including study of different species and characteristics—effects on microclimates and local climate zones;
• Adaptation and mitigation strategies, including cool and green technologies;
• Impacts of urban heat on energy demand, building energy efficiency, cooling loads, grid stress, and energy flexibility;
• Synergies between urban climate adaptation and the energy transition;
• Synergies and tradeoffs between urban climate adaptation, urban biodiversity, and ecosystem services, including ecological connectivity;
• Policy frameworks, planning tools, and cross-sectoral strategies for heat-resilient, biodiverse, and low-carbon cities.

This Special Issue welcomes interdisciplinary perspectives bridging urban climatology, architecture, building physics, environmental science, environmental engineering, and energy policy, with the goal of advancing knowledge and solutions for sustainable and climate-resilient urban development.

Dr. Tiziana Susca
Dr. Fabio Zanghirella
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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere 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 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.