Resilient Urban Regeneration in European Cities

A Special Issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X) belonging to the section "Land Planning and Landscape Architecture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 1191

Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
E&C Department, ACE School, University of East London, London E16 2RD, UK
Interests: urban regeneration; spatial planning; spatial innovation; sustainability; construction management; MSMEs; women's studies

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

European cities are currently facing multiple, interlinked challenges driven by climate change, demographic transitions, economic restructuring, and social inequality. These pressures have intensified the need for urban regeneration approaches that foster resilience—that is, the capacity of cities to anticipate, adapt, and transform in response to shocks and long-term stresses. Resilient urban regeneration offers a holistic framework for rethinking how urban land is planned, used, and managed to achieve sustainability, inclusivity, and well-being. It calls for integrating ecological design, adaptive governance, and community participation into the processes of spatial renewal and land transformation.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to give insights into how resilience principles can guide the regeneration of European cities toward more sustainable, equitable, and adaptive futures. This topic aligns closely with the scope of Land, which focuses on sustainable land use, governance, and territorial transformation. Contributions are encouraged to bridge conceptual, methodological, and empirical perspectives, providing a deeper understanding of how urban regeneration can enhance the resilience and functionality of urban land systems.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  • Integrating resilience thinking into urban regeneration strategies and policies;
  • Circular economy and low-carbon pathways in urban redevelopment;
  • Nature-based and climate-adaptive approaches to land use and design;
  • Governance models, participation, and co-creation in resilient cities;
  • Digitalization, data-driven planning, and smart infrastructures for regeneration;
  • Cultural heritage, identity, and social innovation in urban transformation.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Luana Parisi
Dr. Thomas Panagopoulos
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land 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.

Keywords

  • resilient urban regeneration
  • sustainable land use
  • circular urbanism
  • adaptive planning
  • urban governance
  • climate adaptation

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 (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

23 pages, 863 KB  
Article
Urban Marketplaces as Multifunctional Public Spaces: A Stakeholder-Based Assessment from Zagreb
by Sanja Tišma, Ivana Keser, Dina Tomšić, Dubravka Prelec, Maja Janković, Anamarija Farkaš, Ivana Biondić Jazbec and Dinko Peračić
Land 2026, 15(7), 1284; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15071284 - 17 Jul 2026
Viewed by 395
Abstract
Urban marketplaces are increasingly recognised in European policy debates as multifunctional public spaces that extend beyond their traditional economic role. Across the European Union, emerging trends point to a shift towards market models that integrate social interaction, cultural activities, tourism, sustainable food production [...] Read more.
Urban marketplaces are increasingly recognised in European policy debates as multifunctional public spaces that extend beyond their traditional economic role. Across the European Union, emerging trends point to a shift towards market models that integrate social interaction, cultural activities, tourism, sustainable food production and place-based urban development, thereby contributing to more inclusive and liveable cities. However, the extent to which such transformations align with local actors’ perspectives and existing governance arrangements remains underexplored, particularly in Central European contexts. This paper evaluates the transformative potential of urban marketplaces as multifunctional public spaces from the perspective of key stakeholders in the City of Zagreb. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining a desk analysis of European policy and practice trends with empirical research conducted at the local level. Data were collected through surveys of marketplace users (citizens) and vendors (tenants), complemented by focus groups with other relevant local actors. This approach provides insights into everyday practices, perceived barriers, governance challenges, and future expectations related to marketplace development. The findings reveal a strong alignment between stakeholder perspectives and European policy trends promoting people-centred and multifunctional marketplaces, while also identifying tensions with existing management and governance frameworks. Citizens emphasise the cultural, social, and tourism value of marketplace interactions, whereas vendors and governance actors highlight infrastructure needs and the importance of more participatory governance arrangements. The paper argues that stakeholder-based evaluation of transformative potential is essential for advancing inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban regeneration through urban marketplaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Urban Regeneration in European Cities)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop