Sustainable Built Environment in Smart Cities
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 May 2026 | Viewed by 147
Special Issue Editors
2. Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Interests: built environment quality management; well-being and comfort in the built environment; architectural heritage enhancement; optimization of the retrofit process; adaptive reuse in smart cities
Interests: urban digital twins; public space optimization
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, the built environment has been increasingly recognised as a crucial driver of development and progress in advancing sustainability within smart cities, fostering a lively scientific debate. The significant environmental impact of the construction sector has directed research towards methods, applications and solutions that can ensure both the sustainability and the efficient management of buildings and related processes (production, transport, end of life, etc.) throughout its lifecycle.
The integration of digitalisation, data-driven strategies and urban digital twins is opening new perspectives for monitoring, simulating and optimising the performance of the built environment, thus supporting decision-making processes that enhance resilience, sustainability and quality of life in urban contexts. Technological and design approaches are moving beyond a narrow focus on energy efficiency to embrace the broader multidisciplinary optimisation of the “human–building–city–environment” ecosystem. Today, the design and management of cities and buildings increasingly aim at a more human-centric sustainability, which safeguards natural resources while prioritising the well-being of citizens.
This Special Issue seeks to showcase the latest and most innovative trends concerning the sustainability and digital transformation of the built environment in smart cities. We welcome original research articles and reviews.
Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Urban health and well-being;
- The regeneration of nature and ecosystem services;
- Better places for people;
- Sustainable anthropisation;
- Water, land, energy, and waste sustainable management;
- Networks for sustainable strategies;
- Resilience and adaptation to climate change;
- Connection between physical space and the well-being of people;
- Environmental assessment;
- Reuse/repair/remanufacturing;
- Technological innovation toward sustainability;
- “Design for” approaches (design for deconstruction, design for disassembly, DfMA, etc.);
- Environmental well-being in the built environment;
- Digital twins;
- Net zero carbon buildings;
- Fair and inclusive communities for all;
- Low-carbon materials;
- Enabling users to consume less energy.
Dr. Mariangela De Vita
Dr. Giordana Castelli
Prof. Dr. Stefania De Gregorio
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.
Keywords
- adaptive design
- built environment management
- citizen well-being
- urban comfort
- building environmental quality
- built heritage enhancement
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