GeoAI and Remote Sensing for Urban Planning and Human Comfort Analysis
A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Remote Sensing".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 3
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Urban areas are increasingly affected by climate change and densification, leading to growing challenges related to thermal stress, visual discomfort, reduced mobility, and overall liveability. Recent advances in remote sensing and GeoAI provide unprecedented opportunities to monitor, model, and improve urban human comfort in a comprehensive and scalable manner. This Special Issue focuses on integrative approaches that combine earth observation data—such as thermal imagery, LiDAR, multispectral and crowdsourced data—with geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) methods to assess and enhance urban comfort. Special attention will be given to research exploring the role of urban form, façade greening, microclimate modelling, and human-centered indicators in shaping climate-responsive urban planning. We also invite submissions that support digital urban twins and climate-sensitive design using data-driven tools. The goal is to foster cross-disciplinary insights bridging urban climatology, AI, and geospatial planning for the development of healthier and more resilient cities.
Prof. Dr. Hossein Arefi
Guest Editor
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. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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 microclimate
- thermal comfort
- human comfort
- climate-sensitive urban planning
- urban heat island (UHI)
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.
