Urban Forest Landscapes and Forest Therapy

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue delves into the relationships among urban forest landscapes, their ecosystem services, and the therapeutic effects of trees and woodlands on the well-being of citizens. As urbanization continues to reshape our environment, urban and peri-urban forests play a crucial role in mitigating negative impacts by improving air and soil quality, regulating temperatures and the hydrological cycle, promoting urban biodiversity, and providing recreational spaces for residents.

Furthermore, urban forests positively impact mental and physical well-being, as the presence of green spaces and activities such as "forest bathing" often represent, especially for disadvantaged citizens, the sole opportunity for contact with nature. The biophysical assessment, economic evaluation, and potential for environmental justice through the ecosystem services provided by urban forest landscapes, including the enhancement of psychophysical well-being through forest therapy and forest bathing, and the perception and awareness of the benefits offered by trees in cities, are the focal points of this Special Issue.

The goal is to offer a collection of interdisciplinary studies contributing to a deeper understanding of how urban forest landscapes contribute to urban populations’ well-being and quality of life, comparing this to remote forest environments. Fostering the integration of urban and peri-urban forests into heavily urbanized environments and ensuring their ecological connection with surrounding forests aims to ensure greater environmental justice and improve citizens' quality of life, promoting continuous contact with nature through direct exposure to green environments.

Dr. Rocco Pace
Dr. Francesco Meneguzzo
Dr. Alessandro Paletto
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Forests 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 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.