Rethinking Horticulture to Meet Sustainable Development Goals in Urban Areas

Dear Colleagues,

Horticulture provides a diverse array of food resources for humanity, beautifies our living environment, and plays a significant role in cultural heritage and social development. However, horticulture in urban areas faces new challenges such as rapid population growth; increasing demands for food, space, and resources; and limited water and land resources. Additionally, urban areas are confronted with escalating ecological problems like air pollution and land degradation. These challenges necessitate a re-evaluation and adjustment of traditional horticultural practices to better meet the sustainable development needs of urban areas.

This Special Issue serves as a platform to gather and share the latest research and innovations in urban horticulture, aiming to explore new concepts, technologies, and models in urban horticulture for providing more sustainable solutions to urban areas. We welcome research, reviews, and case studies related to the following areas:

New technologies and methods for urban horticulture under limited resource conditions: Innovative technologies and methods in urban horticulture practices, including vertical farming, urban landscape design, urban agriculture, and ecological horticulture, considering limited space, land, and water resources in urban area.

Pest and disease control techniques for urban horticulture: Innovative methods for pest and disease prevention and management, considering unique requirements for safety and comfort in urban horticultural settings (such as urban parks, courtyards, gardens, and households).

Urban horticulture and sustainable urban development: Investigating the role of horticulture in promoting the health of urban ecosystems, improving urban environmental quality, and enhancing residents' quality of life, as well as its relationship with urban planning, land use, and social development.

Biodiversity conservation and protection in urban horticulture: Researching the conservation and restoration of plant diversity in urban areas, addressing issues such as sustainable utilization of plant resources, adaptability of introduced species, and variety selection.

Prof. Dr. Wanlai Zhou
Dr. Rui Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Horticulturae 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 2200 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.

• urban
• horticulture
• efficient resource utilization
• plant protection