Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.4
3.1
Journals
Buildings
Special Issues
Low-Carbon Urban Planning: Sustainable Strategies and Smart Cities
share announcement

Low-Carbon Urban Planning: Sustainable Strategies and Smart Cities

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Architectural Design, Urban Science, and Real Estate".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 2466

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. He Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Interests: low-carbon spatial planning; low-carbon behavior and facilities
Dr. Rui Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Interests: low-carbon spatial planning; low-carbon behavior and facilities
Dr. Lie You

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Interests: coupling and coordination of regional population; land; economy; carbon emissions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cities are major contributors to carbon emissions, accounting for over 75% of global emissions. Digital technologies can assist in urban planning decisions. The establishment of a systematic low-carbon urban planning framework that integrates sustainable strategies with data-driven technologies is urgently needed. Achieving carbon neutrality goals requires transformative approaches in urban design, infrastructure, and governance models.

This Special Issue focuses on the key intersection between low-carbon development goals and data-driven intelligent solutions, exploring how smart low-carbon urban planning can optimize resource efficiency, enhance resilience, and accelerate the process of urban decarbonization. It aims to present cutting-edge research results on multi-scale low-carbon planning methods, digital low-carbon urban management, and sustainable transformation policy mechanisms, covering theoretical modeling, empirical cases, technical demonstrations, and interdisciplinary analysis.

We welcome papers on, but not limited to, the following and related topics:

  1. Calculation systems for smart carbon emissions for cities, urban areas, neighborhoods, and other scales;
  2. Data-driven intelligent planning for low-carbon cities;
  3. Planning for low-carbon public service facilities and infrastructure;
  4. Low-carbon transportation planning;
  5. Low-carbon planning technology;
  6. Smart city planning platforms;
  7. Resilient urban planning;
  8. CCUS and smart cities;
  9. Low-carbon management policy.

Prof. Dr. He Zhang
Dr. Rui Wang
Dr. Lie You
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.

Keywords

  • low-carbon city
  • data-driven
  • carbon neutrality
  • carbon emission
  • low-carbon technology
  • policy management

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 1752 KB  
Article
Renewal Strategies for Community Micro Public Spaces Based on the Valuation of Carbon Sequestration and Reduction
by Chang Liu, Yihan Pan, Sanqing He, Yangyuan Chen and Ying Lin
Buildings 2026, 16(5), 945; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16050945 - 27 Feb 2026
Viewed by 420
Abstract
Urban public spaces are an essential component of everyday life in urban communities, and micro public spaces have become an important vehicle for improving living environment quality and enhancing ecological benefits in community renewal within built-up areas. From an economic perspective, this study [...] Read more.
Urban public spaces are an essential component of everyday life in urban communities, and micro public spaces have become an important vehicle for improving living environment quality and enhancing ecological benefits in community renewal within built-up areas. From an economic perspective, this study focuses on the quantification of carbon value generated through the renewal of micro public spaces. Four micro public spaces of comparable size but differing locational and functional characteristics, completed in Wuhan in 2023, were selected as case studies. Plant carbon sequestration was estimated using the biomass expansion factor method combined with field-based forestry surveys, while indirect emission reduction associated with residents’ outdoor activities was assessed through spatiotemporal observations of user behavior. These results were further translated into carbon value based on China’s carbon trading standards to support comparative analysis and design-oriented recommendations. The results indicate that direct sequestration significantly outweighs indirect reduction: the carbon storage density of trees ranges from 0.40 to 1.97 kg/m2, with the total storage of HRP reaching 11,587.36 kg; in contrast, annual indirect reduction from resident activities is only 1.34–141.19 kg. Carbon sequestration performance is strongly influenced by the presence of large trees, while micro public spaces located in newly developed and commercial areas exhibit substantially lower emission reduction efficiency than those in older and densely populated residential neighborhoods. In addition, the functional attributes of micro public spaces shape age-specific use patterns, thereby significantly affecting emission reduction outcomes. Based on these findings, targeted optimization strategies for micro public space renewal are proposed to support people-oriented, sustainable, and systematic low-carbon urban regeneration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Urban Planning: Sustainable Strategies and Smart Cities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 2660 KB  
Article
The Game Between Quality Induction and Traffic Constraint: A Non-Linear Threshold Study of Park Travel Carbon Emissions from an Urban–Rural Differentiation Perspective
by He Zhang, Chao Wang, Hongjie Dong, Xiya Zhao, Yuxue Zhang and Mengge Du
Buildings 2026, 16(4), 867; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16040867 - 21 Feb 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 473
Abstract
As global decarbonization strategies pivot towards the burgeoning sector of recreational mobility, the tension between the attractive force of high-quality amenities and the constraining capacity of transport infrastructure in urban parks has emerged as a critical planning dilemma for high-density metropolises. To disentangle [...] Read more.
As global decarbonization strategies pivot towards the burgeoning sector of recreational mobility, the tension between the attractive force of high-quality amenities and the constraining capacity of transport infrastructure in urban parks has emerged as a critical planning dilemma for high-density metropolises. To disentangle this game mechanism, this study proposes a integrated Dual-Diagnostic Framework that synthesizes a modified gravity model, Grouped OLS regression, and an explainable XGBoost-SHAP algorithm to identify non-linear thresholds under spatial heterogeneity. Leveraging empirical data from Tianjin, a representative high-density metropolis, the analysis reveals a distinct bimodal distribution of carbon emissions from travel to comprehensive parks, confirming a fundamental structural divergence between urban and suburban mobility patterns. Crucially, the non-linear diagnosis uncovers a dominant Facility Configuration Induction mechanism within the suburban interface; here, park scale acts as the primary driver of excess travel, with its induction effect often overriding the mitigation potential of public transit until a specific critical mass is achieved. Consequently, the results identify a rigid threshold for bus station density alongside optimal intervals for park scale, providing quantitative benchmarks and differentiated governance strategies to resolve the paradox between park quality and carbon intensity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Urban Planning: Sustainable Strategies and Smart Cities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 2923 KB  
Article
Data-Driven Multiscale Analysis of Household Electricity Carbon Emissions in High-Density Residential Area for Low-Carbon Urban Planning
by Yuqi Zhou, Shanwen Zheng and Jianqiang Wang
Buildings 2026, 16(3), 617; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16030617 - 2 Feb 2026
Viewed by 324
Abstract
Household electricity consumption is a major and growing source of urban carbon emissions in high-density residential area. However, its influencing mechanisms operate across multiple nested spatial scales and are not fully captured by single-scale analyses. Using electricity consumption data and a household survey [...] Read more.
Household electricity consumption is a major and growing source of urban carbon emissions in high-density residential area. However, its influencing mechanisms operate across multiple nested spatial scales and are not fully captured by single-scale analyses. Using electricity consumption data and a household survey from 42 high-density communities in Beijing, this study applies a hierarchical linear model (HLM) to examine how spatial form, socioeconomic attributes, and behavioral factors affect household electricity carbon emissions across urban districts, Ten-Minute Living Circles, residential areas, and Individual dwellings. The results indicate that dwelling-level characteristics exert the most direct influence, while residential-area-level spatial morphology provides an important contextual effect. In contrast, Ten-Minute Living Circles indicators show limited direct associations after accounting for hierarchical structure. Several spatial factors influence emissions through cross-level moderating mechanisms rather than isolated effects. These findings provide a data-driven multiscale analytical framework to support low-carbon planning and retrofit strategies in high-density residential area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Urban Planning: Sustainable Strategies and Smart Cities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 7852 KB  
Article
From Pixels to Carbon Emissions: Decoding the Relationship Between Street View Images and Neighborhood Carbon Emissions
by Pengyu Liang, Jianxun Zhang, Haifa Jia, Runhao Zhang, Yican Zhang, Chunyi Xiong and Chenglin Tan
Buildings 2026, 16(3), 481; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16030481 - 23 Jan 2026
Viewed by 458
Abstract
Under the pressing imperative of achieving “dual carbon” goals and advancing urban low-carbon transitions, understanding how neighborhood spatial environments influence carbon emissions has become a critical challenge for enabling refined governance and precise planning in urban carbon reduction. Taking the central urban area [...] Read more.
Under the pressing imperative of achieving “dual carbon” goals and advancing urban low-carbon transitions, understanding how neighborhood spatial environments influence carbon emissions has become a critical challenge for enabling refined governance and precise planning in urban carbon reduction. Taking the central urban area of Xining as a case study, this research establishes a high-precision estimation framework by integrating Semantic Segmentation of Street View Images and Point of Interest data. This study employs a Geographically Weighted XGBoost model to capture the spatial non-stationarity of emission drivers, achieving a median R2 of 0.819. The results indicate the following: (1) Socioeconomic functional attributes, specifically POI Density and POI Mixture, exert a more dominant influence on carbon emissions than purely visual features. (2) Lane Marking General shows a strong positive correlation by reflecting traffic pressure, Sidewalks exhibit a clear negative correlation by promoting active travel, and Building features display a distinct asymmetric impact, where the driving effect of high density is notably less pronounced than the negative association observed in low-density areas. (3) The development of low-carbon neighborhoods should prioritize optimizing functional mixing and enhancing pedestrian systems to construct resilient and low-carbon urban spaces. This study reveals the non-linear relationship between street visual features and neighborhood carbon emissions, providing an empirical basis and strategic references for neighborhood planning and design oriented toward low-carbon goals, with valuable guidance for practices in urban planning, design, and management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Urban Planning: Sustainable Strategies and Smart Cities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop