Reframing Urban Morphology: Heritage, Sustainability, and Contemporary Urban Transformation
A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Planning and Landscape Architecture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 576
Editors
Interests: urban planning; urban morphology; centre and urban centrality; heritage preservation; sustainable development
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue of Land explores new directions in urban morphology through the combined lenses of heritage, sustainability, and contemporary urban transformation by inviting contributions that move beyond descriptive readings of urban form to examine how morphology can engage with present-day urban challenges such as conservation, climate change, resilient urban development, mobility transitions, public space restructuring, and socio-spatial change. By bringing together theoretical reflection, methodological innovation, and case study-based research, this Special Issue aims to highlight the continued relevance of urban morphology for urban research and practice.
The overarching goal of this Special Issue is to advance urban morphology as both a theoretical and applied field by examining how urban form is shaped, inherited, transformed, and reinterpreted in response to contemporary urban challenges. It seeks to connect classical morphological scholarship with current concerns related to heritage conservation, sustainability, climate adaptation, socio-spatial change, mobility, public space, and digital transformation. We welcome theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions, including comparative and case study-based research, that demonstrate how morphological analysis can inform planning, design, regeneration, and heritage-sensitive urban development.
This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:
- Theories and methods in urban morphology;
- Heritage-sensitive urban morphology;
- Historic urban landscapes and traditional urban fabrics;
- Adaptive reuse and heritage-led urban regeneration;
- Urban morphology and sustainability;
- Climate-responsive urban form and resilience;
- Public space and socio-spatial transformation;
- Mobility, accessibility, and land-use change;
- Urban morphology and smart cities;
- GIS, big data, AI, and digital tools in morphological analysis;
- Gentrification, migration, and changing urban fabrics;
- Comparative case studies in urban transformation;
- Urban morphology, planning, and design practice;
- Informal settlements and peripheral urban growth;
- Morphology-informed conservation and regeneration strategies.
We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.
Dr. Emad Noaime
Dr. Mohammed Alnaim
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
- urban morphology
- heritage
- sustainability
- urban transformation
- urban form
- climate adaptation
- resilience
- historic urban landscape
- adaptive reuse
- public space
- mobility
- socio-spatial change
- smart cities
- digital urbanism
- conservation
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.
