Urban Spatial Planning for Health and Well-Being

Dear Colleagues,

Achieving health and well-being for all, as underscored by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 3, 10, and 11), stands as a critical global priority. A substantial body of research unequivocally demonstrates the profound influence of the urban built environment—encompassing housing, transport networks, green spaces, and land use patterns—on population health outcomes and overall human well-being. Consequently, strategic urban spatial planning emerges as a fundamental lever for realizing these health objectives.

The advent of novel geospatial data sources—including high-resolution satellite imagery, pervasive street view data, dynamic GPS trajectories, and pervasive mobile sensing—coupled with transformative advances in Geographical Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI), is revolutionizing the field. This convergence enables a decisive shift from predominantly qualitative approaches towards sophisticated quantitative analysis. Researchers and planners can now measure environmental exposures, model human mobility patterns, assess access to health-promoting amenities, and predict health outcomes with unprecedented precision and scale. These capabilities are essential for generating robust, evidence-based insights to inform effective policy-making and targeted interventions by governments and urban authorities.

This Special Issue calls for interdisciplinary contributions that bridge health geography, urban planning, land system science, and sustainability science. We seek research that positions healthy city strategies at the forefront, critically examining the intersections between built environment design, Health Impact Assessment (HIA) methodologies, and the application of GeoAI. We welcome original research, reviews, and case studies that leverage these innovative data and analytical tools to explore how urban spatial planning can be optimized to foster environments that actively promote physical health, mental well-being, social equity, and overall quality of life for diverse urban populations.

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

• Urban built environment and human mobility;
• Urban regeneration and human health;
• Critical insights into 15-minute health city;
• Quantitative approach of health impact assessment;
• Urban resilience and nature-based solutions;
• Environmental justice and spatial equity;
• Urban food environment and health outcomes;
• Application of large language models in health geography;
• Dynamic environmental exposure, travel behavior, and well-being.

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

Dr. Shaoqing Dai
Dr. Zhiqiang Feng
Dr. Yuchen Li
Dr. Cai Wu
Dr. Wufan Zhao
Guest Editors

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