Circular and Nature-Based Materials for Net-Zero Cities: Integrating Green Infrastructure and Urban Sustainability
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 77
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sustainable building; recycled building materials; circular construction; basic and application tests of buildings and innovative materials in terms of strength and applicability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: sustainability; sustainable construction; recycled material management; construction process management; application of machine learning in civil engineering
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue, “Circular and Nature-Based Materials for Net-Zero Cities: Integrating Green Infrastructure and Urban Sustainability”, is dedicated to integrating circular economy principles with green infrastructure as a strategy that can accelerate the transition toward zero-carbon cities. The focus is on innovative, low-carbon materials and design approaches that significantly reduce both embodied and operational emissions. The thematic scope includes bio-based resources (such as moon wood, hemp–lime composites, and mycelium-based materials), mineral and volcanic resources with low processing energy (e.g., expanded perlite or pumice), and waste-derived construction materials, including fly-ash concrete, recycled aggregate concrete, geopolymer binders, and industrial by-product composites. It also covers the reuse and repurposing of existing structures, as well as local and recycled resource flows, and design for longevity, modularity, and disassembly. The aim of this Special Issue is to present practical methods for creating resilient, regenerative, and circular urban environments through material innovation and low-carbon design.
This Special Issue advances the existing body of literature by bridging two rapidly evolving research areas—green infrastructure and the circular economy—within the context of sustainable urban development. It moves beyond conceptual definitions of circularity to showcase measurable, verifiable, and technology-supported approaches, such as digital material passports, reversible building design, and life-cycle optimization. By linking material efficiency with environmental metrics, it provides new insights into how cities can close resource loops, reduce carbon emissions, and decarbonize the built environment at scale.
Aligned with the journal’s sustainability objectives, this Special Issue emphasizes the use of scientific and technical tools for defining, measuring, and monitoring urban sustainability. It also welcomes research on spatial planning and land-use management, exploring how territorial, ecological, and landscape-based strategies can support circular economy principles, reduce emissions, and strengthen climate resilience. Contributions addressing socio-economic, legislative, or policy frameworks that enable the transition toward circular and nature-based construction systems are also strongly encouraged.
Dr. Olga Szlachetka
Dr. Justyna Dzięcioł
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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.
Keywords
- circular economy
- green infrastructure
- zero-carbon cities
- sustainable materials
- urban resilience
- low-carbon design
- biomaterials
- material reuse and recycling
- sustainable urban planning
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