Age-Friendly Built Environment and Sustainable Architectural Design

Dear Colleagues,

The burden of aging populations is becoming increasingly pressing worldwide. Aging brings deteriorating health, including chronic diseases, frailty, reduced mobility, an increased fall risk, and a dependency on others.

The societal challenge lies not merely in extending lifespan, but in enhancing quality of life. This special issue addresses both, problems arising from aging and strategies to strengthen health for ensuring added years are lived in robust health.

Our living, working, and movement environments must address aging-specific challenges, actively promote health improvement, balance two key dimensions (supportive design for frail/dependent individuals and health-promoting challenges to maintain capability. Essential considerations include comprehensive safety measures, mental well-being and social integration.

Strategic investments in health-oriented environments yield multiplicative benefits. By designing spaces that prioritize wellbeing, we create sustainable conditions for current and future generations. This intersection of urban planning and population health is where health equity gaps can be addressed, access to green spaces enhances physical activity, safety infrastructure reduces preventable harms. For vulnerable populations, universal design principles and inclusive accessibility are critical to support independent living, enable active aging and reduce environmental barriers.

For this Special Issue, we invite contributions focused exclusively on interconnected challenges related to aging, the environment, and health optimization.

The Topics of Interest are as follows:

• Age-friendly landcape design;
• Age-friendly rural housing;
• Safety issues of elderly populations in rural areas;
• Age-friendly housing solutions;
• Smart cities for aging support;
• Housing and rural design that connects different generations.

Prof. Dr. Branko Gabrovec
Dr. Francesca Pagliaro
Dr. Domen Zupančič 
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. Buildings 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 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.