Intelligent City and Sustainable Development of Urban Environment

Dear Colleagues,

By the mid of the 21st century, most cities will face the challenge of a growing population, a changing climate, and depleted natural resources. Constructing sustainable and resilient cities is a critical step to ensure the prosperity of future generations. With challenges increasing, the advancement of technologies enables more solutions and opportunities. In the past decade, we have witnessed how smart cities developed from conceptual ideas to sophisticated tools and processes. The way cities are currently planned, designed, and managed has been reformed significantly by smart technologies. They provide efficiency and accuracy that previously could only be imagined.

Sustainability can be interpreted as the balancing between economic development and the conservation of the environment. With so many aspects to consider and so many tradeoffs to calculate, those who are working on sustainable development can benefit from the computing and communication powers emerging in smart systems. Technologies such as big data, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence have all exhibited great potential in promoting sustainable development. Meanwhile, how these technologies can be better integrated into the urban and landscape design process remains a challenging question. In this Special Issue, we are calling for state-of-the-art breakthroughs that are related (but not limited) to the following topics:

• Smart landscapes;
• The implication of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in urban planning and urban design;
• Planning/design support system (PSS/DSS);
• Data collection and sharing in urban settings;
• Ecological models for smart sustainable development;
• Promoting public participation with internet and mobile devices;
• Smart management systems in water and energy;
• UAVs, drones, robotics, and artificial intelligence in landscape and urban design.

Prof. Brian Deal
Guest Editor

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