Sustainable Urban and Rural Development

Sustainable urban and rural development is about improving the quality of life in a locality, including ecological, cultural, political, institutional, social and economic components without leaving any burden—e.g., the result of a reduced natural capital and an excessive local debt—on future generations. In other words, prosperity and environmental sustainability of cities and towns are inextricably linked; therefore, human settlements can only maintain their prosperity when environmental and social objectives are fully integrated with economic goals.

Thematically, sustainable urban and rural development includes:

• Sustainable development in the urban context;
• Sustainable development in the regional and rural context;
• Planning for sustainable urban and rural futures;
• Impacts of human activities on natural systems;
• Ecological and urban and regional planning;
• Sustainable urban and rural infrastructure;
• Sustainable transportation systems;
• Sustainable communities;
• Climate change adaptation and mitigation;
• Ecosystem sustainability assessment;
• Ecological and urban indicators;
• Sustainable urban and rural technologies;
• Smart cities and communities.

Accordingly, this section is open for the following types of manuscripts covering the whole breadth of sustainable urban and rural development issues and concerns:

• research articles;
• conceptual articles;
• review articles;
• case studies;
• commentaries

In particular, contributions from early career researchers are welcome and propositions for Special Issues on a single, particular theme in the field of social ecology and sustainability.