Pathways to Sustainable Cities: Urban Thermal Environments Under Climate Change

Dear Colleagues,

Rapid urbanization and global climate change are profoundly reshaping the thermal dynamics of cities. Among the most pressing challenges is the intensification of urban thermal environments, which affects thermal comfort, energy demand, ecosystem services, and public health. While the urban heat island (UHI) effect represents a well-known manifestation of urban thermal environments, they encompass a much broader spectrum of issues, including microclimate variability; extreme heat events; and interactions between urban form, land cover, and climate drivers. In the context of climate change, rising background temperatures and more frequent heat extremes further exacerbate these challenges, threatening the sustainability and resilience of cities worldwide.

This Special Issue, Pathways to Sustainable Cities: Urban Thermal Environments Under Climate Change, seeks to advance knowledge on the mechanisms and impacts of urban thermal conditions, as well as innovative solutions for improving them. We welcome multidisciplinary original research articles and comprehensive reviews that deepen our understanding of urban climate processes; propose mitigation and adaptation strategies; and explore integrated approaches to achieving sustainable, livable, and climate-change-resilient cities.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Mechanisms and processes shaping the urban thermal environment and its variability;
• Urban heat island (UHI) dynamics as part of broader urban climate processes;
• Observation techniques, remote sensing, and monitoring of urban thermal environments;
• Numerical modeling, simulation, and integrated assessment tools;
• Green infrastructure, blue–green spaces, and nature-based solutions for cooling cities;
• Urban design, building energy interactions, and planning strategies for heat mitigation;
• Health impacts of urban heat exposure and thermal discomfort, with a focus on vulnerable populations;
• Cross-disciplinary studies linking thermal environments, sustainability, energy use, and climate adaptation pathways.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Chunguang Hu
Dr. Maomao Zhang
Guest Editors

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