Green Smart Cities: Synergies Between Technology and Nature-Based Solutions

Dear Colleagues,

In response to escalating urban, climate, and environmental challenges, cities of the future must adopt holistic and sustainability-driven approaches. Beyond the mere adoption of innovation, urban transformation today requires strategic, long-term planning rooted in the principles of sustainable development, including resilience, ecological regeneration, social equity, and responsible resource use.

This Special Issue, “Green Smart Cities: Synergies Between Technology and Nature-Based Solutions”, addresses a pressing gap in current scholarly discourse: the need for integrated thinking that connects nature-based approaches, participatory governance, and sustainability-oriented urban policies. It highlights the pivotal role of nature-based solutions (NBS), not only in restoring ecosystems but also in contributing to urban health, climate neutrality, and inclusive community development.

While technological tools, such as environmental monitoring systems, data analytics, or digital twins, can support and enhance the planning, implementation, and evaluation of such solutions, the focus of this Special Issue is not on technology itself. Rather, we are interested in how digital innovation can serve broader sustainability goals and enable cities to become more adaptive, green, and equitable.

Unlike previous collections that tend to examine smart technologies or NBS in isolation, this Special Issue centers on their combined potential to support systemic urban change—within the broader framework of global and regional sustainability agendas, such as the European Green Deal, the New Urban Agenda, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (particularly SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 13: Climate Action, and SDG 15: Life on Land).

We encourage submissions that examine how sustainability strategies—including green infrastructure, circular economy, climate adaptation, and community-based planning—can be co-developed, scaled, or enhanced with the responsible and purposeful use of digital tools. This Special Issue also promotes inclusive approaches that consider the needs of diverse urban populations and foster social engagement in the co-creation of resilient and livable cities.

Scope of the Special Issue

We welcome theoretical, empirical, and practice-oriented contributions on topics such as the following:

• Nature-based solutions for climate adaptation, biodiversity, and health.
• Urban planning strategies for sustainability, resilience, and equity.
• Ecosystem restoration and the role of green–blue infrastructure.
• Circular economy and resource efficiency in urban systems.
• Governance models for sustainable and participatory city transformation.
• Digital tools supporting sustainability monitoring and decision-making.
• Integration of environmental data in urban management and design.
• Case studies showcasing synergies between NBS and innovation in practice.

This Special Issue seeks to showcase inspiring, evidence-based pathways for creating green smart cities—where technology supports, rather than drives, the transformation toward sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient urban futures.

Dr. Jarosław Brodny
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. 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.

• green smart cities
• nature-based solutions
• urban resilience
• iot
• sustainable urban development
• climate adaptation
• digital twins
• urban ecosystems
• smart planning
• blue-green infrastructure