Reimagining Public Spaces in Europe: Towards Inclusive, Livable, and Resilient Human-Scale Urban Environments

Dear Colleagues,

Public spaces are pivotal to urban environments, serving as venues for social interaction, cultural expression, and civic engagement. In Europe, where urban planning is deeply rooted in history but is constantly evolving, public spaces reflect a complex interplay between tradition, innovation, and policy-making. New methods involving geospatial analysis, crowdsourced data, and user-generated data—combined with more traditional participatory processes—are proving to be critical to overcoming the limitations of single-source bias. These approaches allow for a more comprehensive and dynamic understanding of how public spaces are utilized, perceived, and adapted to the evolving needs of diverse populations. Moreover, recent global crises—whether health related, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or climate driven—have underscored the urgent need for public spaces to be resilient and adaptable, especially at the human scale. By combining innovative methodologies with participatory processes, urban designers and researchers can better capture the complexity of public spaces as platforms for healthier, safer, and climate-responsive environments while addressing inequalities and fostering social inclusion. This Special Issue, ‘Reimagining Public Spaces in Europe: Towards Inclusive, Livable, and Resilient Human-Scale Urban Environments’, aims to explore the multifaceted dimensions of public spaces in a European context, focusing on empirical research and methods that contribute to improve their role in fostering equity and spatial justice, urban sustainability, and resilience.

This Special Issue invites researchers to explore the reciprocal relationship between public spaces and contemporary urban planning practices, with a particular focus on their role in fostering inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience. Contributions are encouraged to address the transformative potential of public spaces in tackling pressing urban challenges, such as urban inequality and climate adaptation, while emphasizing approaches that prioritize human-scale design to improve everyday experiences in public spaces

At the same time, this Special Issue seeks to advance the methods and sources of information used to assess and improve public spaces. By integrating digital and smart technologies—including geospatial analysis, crowdsourced data, and user-generated content—alongside traditional participatory processes, researchers can provide innovative tools and approaches for diagnosing, monitoring, and planning public spaces. These methodological advancements not only shed light on the current status of public spaces, but also offer actionable insights for their potential improvement as more resilient, equitable, and adaptive human-centered environments capable of responding to the evolving needs of contemporary society.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that explore, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Human-scale analysis and design: Approaches that enhance public spaces’ ability to respond to human needs, promoting accessibility, inclusivity, and quality of life.
• Relationships between public spaces, urban identity, and socio-spatial dynamics: How public spaces contribute to social cohesion, community building, and the expression of urban identity.
• Historical evolution and transformation of public spaces in European cities: Insights into how public spaces have adapted to changing urban needs and priorities over time.
• The role of public spaces in climate adaptation and mitigation strategies: Designing public spaces as key components for climate resilience and sustainability.
• Public spaces as enablers of urban resilience: Strategies for ensuring adaptability to health, environmental, and socio-economic crises.
• Addressing urban inequality through human-centered public space design and policy: Inclusive planning practices that reduce spatial and social disparities.
• Mobility and accessibility: Exploring perceived and physical accessibility to encourage human-scale motivation for active mobility (e.g., walking, cycling), thereby enhancing livability and fostering sustainable urban environments.
• Data-driven and multi-source approaches for public space assessment and design: The use of geospatial analysis, crowdsourced data, user-generated content, and participatory processes to understand and monitor public spaces while overcoming single-source bias.
• Impacts of smart technologies and digital tools: While technological advancements challenge social interaction in public spaces, digital tools offer opportunities for analyzing, designing, and managing these spaces to improve accessibility and adaptability.
• Smart cities' actions, performance and reporting practices at public space level: Exploring behavioral patterns, digital models (digital twins, simulation and prediction methods, etc.), data mining, or network analytics at human scale.
• Event-driven transformations and temporary uses: The role of flexible and adaptable public spaces in meeting temporary and emergent urban needs.
• Public spaces as platforms for cultural exchange: Preserving the cultural and historical significance of public spaces while fostering social and cultural dialog.
• Public spaces and sustainable mobility: Strategies that promote walkability, active mobility, and proximity-based models to improve physical and mental well-being
• Resilience at the human scale: Exploring how public spaces integrate human-scale design to enhance daily experiences of health, safety, and equity, while ensuring adaptability to challenges and crises.

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

Dr. Álvaro Bernabeu-Bautista
Dr. Leticia Serrano-Estrada
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. 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.

• human-scale urban design
• resilient public spaces
• european cities
• urban equity
• active mobility
• mixed methods