Blue-Green Infrastructure and Territorial Planning
A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 March 2026 | Viewed by 3277
Special Issue Editors
2. Environmental Engineering Program, Polytechnic School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
3. Professional Master Program in Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
Interests: flood risk management; nature-based solutions; blue-green infrastructure and water sensisitive urban design; urban drainage and flood modeling; climate change adaptation; territorial planning and environmental sustainability
Interests: urban flooding; sustainable urban drainage; flood modeling; integration between urban drainage and urban open spaces; blue-green infrastructure; water sensitive urban design; land use planning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Urban Waters Group (Espacio Interdisciplinario–Udelar), Montevideo, Uruguay
3. Sustainability Center (FADU’Udelar), Montevideo, Uruguay
4. Division of Floods and Urban Drainage, National Water Directorate, Montevideo, Uruguay
Interests: research and management related to urban water; integrated water management; flood risk management; urban planning and water resources management; climate change adaptation
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Blue-green infrastructures (BGIs) offer a sustainable approach to urban and territorial planning by integrating natural ecosystems with built environments to address environmental, social, and economic challenges. BGIs, including rivers, wetlands, parks, green roofs, and urban forests, provide ecosystem services such as stormwater management, climate regulation, biodiversity conservation, and recreational spaces. They emerged as a response to the limitations of traditional "gray" infrastructure in coping with climate change, urbanization, and resource depletion.
Scientific research highlights BGIs' role in enhancing resilience to climate-related risks like flooding, heatwaves, and droughts, while promoting ecological connectivity and human well-being. Green spaces reduce urban heat island effects, improve air quality, and support mental health, while blue elements like restored waterways mitigate flood risks and enhance water quality. Integrating BGIs into territory planning fosters environmental sustainability and creates healthier, more livable communities.
BGIs align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly sustainable cities (SDG 11) and climate action (SDG 13). As urbanization and climate change intensify, BGIs are essential for building resilient and adaptive landscapes, making this research area critical for policymakers, planners, and scientists.
This Special Issue aims to explore the multifaceted role of BGIs in territory planning, focusing on their potential to enhance resilience, mitigate climate change impacts, and improve socioeconomic outcomes. We seek papers addressing themes such as design, implementation, and evaluation of BGIs, innovative approaches, case studies, and methodologies that tackle urbanization, biodiversity loss, and resource management while promoting sustainable development.
We welcome original research and review papers that advance scientific understanding and provide practical insights for integrating BGIs into planning frameworks.
Themes include the following:
- Design and planning strategies for BGIs;
- Ecosystem services and multifunctionality;
- Climate change adaptation and mitigation;
- Social and economic dimensions;
- Biodiversity and ecological connectivity;
- Technological and data-driven approaches;
- Policy, governance, and institutional frameworks;
- Case studies and best practices;
- Integration with gray infrastructure;
- Education, awareness, and community engagement.
We look forward to your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Osvaldo Moura Rezende
Prof. Dr. Marcelo Miguez
Prof. Adriana Piperno
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. 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
- blue-green infrastructure
- hybrid infrastructure
- nature-based solutions
- sustainable territory planning
- climate change adaptation
- sponge watersheds
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