Smart Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Development: Integrating Green Design, Digital Innovation, and Resilient Policy

Dear Colleagues,

Due to the accelerating challenges of climate change and global urbanisation, this Special Issue examines the intersection between digital technologies, sustainable infrastructure, and urban resilience. A number of economic, social, and environmental pressures are being exerted in today’s cities at an unprecedented rate. A smart infrastructure system that integrates green design principles, digital monitoring tools (such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence), renewable energy sources, and adaptive policy frameworks is becoming increasingly important in order to achieve sustainable development.

Throughout this Special Issue, we hope to provide a platform for interdisciplinary research and case studies that demonstrate how digital innovations and green technologies can work synergistically to build urban environments that are not only efficient and resource-efficient but also equitable and resilient. We aim to contribute to the discussion of smart buildings, circular construction practices, AI-driven urban planning, energy-efficient retrofits, climate-resilient infrastructure, and governance models that encourage stakeholder collaboration and long-term sustainability through the use of smart buildings.

The Sustainability journal seeks to promote knowledge that promotes environmental stewardship, economic viability, and social equity. As part of this Special Issue, scholars, engineers, planners, and policymakers will be able to contribute to the global discussion of Sustainable Development Goals 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) by bridging the gap between knowledge and practice in sustainable urban infrastructure.

Outline

1. Focus: Specifically, the Special Issue will address smart and sustainable urban infrastructure, including the integration of digital technologies (e.g., IoT, AI, BIM), green construction practices, and climate-resilient urban design. This paper explores how these elements work together to enhance sustainability, livability, and resilience in rapidly urbanising areas.
2. Scope: In this Special Issue, we invite contributions from the fields of urban planning, civil engineering, architecture, public policy, and data science, including empirical research, technical innovations, case studies, policy analyses, and theoretical frameworks. Topics of interest may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Retrofitting and designing energy-efficient buildings;
• Predictive maintenance and digital twins;
• The role of smart city technologies in sustainable development;
• Infrastructure resilience strategies in the face of climate change;
• Innovation in governance and regulation for sustainable urban development;
• Infrastructure integration of renewable energy;
• Construction practices that are environmentally friendly and circular.

In addition to demonstrating relevance to real-world implementation, submissions should clearly link their findings to global sustainability goals (particularly SDG 9 and SDG 11).

1. Purpose: We aim to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and provide a platform for innovative solutions to address the technical, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable infrastructure. Through integrated models and scalable best practices for sustainable urban development, it aims to influence both academic discourse and practical decision-making.

Relationship to Existing Reseach

The purpose of this Special Issue is to bridge gaps in the literature in the following ways:

Prof. Dr. Peter Farrell
Prof. Dr. Abdul Salam Darwish
Dr. Khaled M. Alhosani
Dr. Yaser Omar Kaied
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. Sustainability 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 2400 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.

• smart cities
• green building
• digital transformation
• climate adaptation
• AI in urban planning
• urban resilience
• energy efficiency
• sustainable infrastructure
• smart governance