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Sustainability
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Urban Resilience and Sustainable Construction Under Disaster Risk
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Urban Resilience and Sustainable Construction Under Disaster Risk

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Hazards and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 12466

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mónica Amaral Ferreira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto Superior Técnico, CERIS, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: cascading earthquake impacts and implications; seismic protection of non-structural elements; urban resilience; land-use planning for natural hazards; disaster risk assessment and reduction; disaster risk communication
Prof. Dr. Carlos Sousa Oliveira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto Superior Técnico, CERIS, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: structural dynamics; earthquake engineering hazard and earthquake risk

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Disasters triggered by natural hazards pose a significant risk to sustainable development and can erode the resilience of households and communities. It is paramount, for countries and communities, to intensify global initiatives to tackle vulnerability and exposure to climate-geological threats. Cities and human settlements need to place at the center of policies and strategies resource efficiency, mitigation, and adaptation to climate change, and disaster risk reduction; and to develop and implement holistic disaster risk management at all levels. There is also a critical need to improve public education and awareness of risks, stimulate insurance measures, and strengthen the capacity to integrate early warning systems (detection, analysis, prediction, and then warning dissemination) in order to reduce economic and social damage. Involving the community in the planning and decision-making processes is also crucial to enhance social resilience.

An earthquake or a large-scale outage affecting the key network assets supporting critical infrastructure (electricity, information and communication technologies (ICTs), gas, health, transport, and other essential sectors) can have cascading effects and affect large part of the population or vital functions of society. Recognizing the degree of contribution an infrastructure makes to other critical sectors, in terms of dependence and/or interdependence, is imperative for essential networks in society. Additionally, understanding the potential consequences of disruption or destruction is crucial. Furthermore, dependencies can be found at national and international levels (cross-border), adding complexity to the overall process.

By combining innovative engineering techniques and reforming policies, it becomes feasible to create buildings and infrastructures capable to withstand diverse hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, or other natural hazards. This not only save lives and safeguards property and assets, but also ensures business continuity, minimizes the environmental impact, and reduces recovery costs and reconstruction, contributing to the overall sustainability and safety of communities.

This Sustainability Special Issue aims to gather contributions focused on innovative approaches and methods to mitigate the risk of repetitive damage from earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, or other natural hazards to buildings and critical infrastructures in the face of future disasters. This aligns with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which seeks to endorse resilient and sustainable strategies for prevention, mitigation, and adaptation to disaster risks.

Dr. Mónica Amaral Ferreira
Prof. Dr. Carlos Sousa Oliveira
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

  • resilience
  • sustainability
  • mitigation
  • prevention
  • awareness
  • green building
  • nature-based solutions
  • resilient infrastructure
  • strategic disaster planning
  • disaster risk insurance
  • new technologies
  • cascading effects

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

35 pages, 12347 KiB  
Article
Adapting Housing Design Tools for Indoor Thermal Comfort to Changing Climates
by Eefje Hendriks, Noorullah Kuchai, Carolina Pereira Marghidan and Anna Conzatti
Sustainability 2025, 17(6), 2511; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17062511 - 13 Mar 2025
Viewed by 908
Abstract
Heat-related fatalities are rising globally, driven by poorly designed housing and the limited use of climate adaptation strategies, particularly in low-income countries. Current housing design guidelines often rely on outdated climate classifications, reducing their effectiveness in future climate conditions. This study evaluates four [...] Read more.
Heat-related fatalities are rising globally, driven by poorly designed housing and the limited use of climate adaptation strategies, particularly in low-income countries. Current housing design guidelines often rely on outdated climate classifications, reducing their effectiveness in future climate conditions. This study evaluates four carefully selected housing design tools in terms of their ability to improve thermal comfort in low-cost housing under future climate scenarios. The evaluation is based on a weighted multi-criteria assessment incorporating five key factors: future climate adaptability, guideline accuracy, user-friendliness, accessibility, and adaptability to user needs. Normalised relevance scores were obtained via quantitative ratings of the criteria by 32 international shelter, settlement, and construction professionals. The assessment results confirm the limited future climate sensitivity of the tools and variation in the other criteria. Tools to support indoor thermal comfort are suggested to integrate identified strengths with interactive reliable climate projections. Further tool development should support neighbourhood-wide resilience, incorporating passive design and energy efficiency principles, as well as local sustainable building practices, and improve accessibility for diverse stakeholders. Tool improvements are essential to facilitate climate-adaptive housing design in low-resource areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Resilience and Sustainable Construction Under Disaster Risk)
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27 pages, 3604 KiB  
Article
Does the Innovative City Pilot Policy Improve Urban Resilience? Evidence from China
by Mandi Tian and Zuoren Sun
Sustainability 2024, 16(22), 9985; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16229985 - 15 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1239
Abstract
The assessment of the relationship between the innovative city pilot policy (ICPP) and urban resilience is crucial for enhancing cities’ ability to foresee, endure, and recover from various disruptive events. Despite the widespread implementation of the ICPP in China, it remains uncertain if [...] Read more.
The assessment of the relationship between the innovative city pilot policy (ICPP) and urban resilience is crucial for enhancing cities’ ability to foresee, endure, and recover from various disruptive events. Despite the widespread implementation of the ICPP in China, it remains uncertain if this strategy will contribute to the development of urban resilience. Starting with data collected from 245 prefecture-level cities in China from 2004 to 2020, this paper initially evaluates the causal effect of the policy intervention using the difference-in-differences (DID) model and the propensity score matching-difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) method. A multi-dimensional urban resilience measurement index and a mediating effect model were constructed. The empirical results show that (1) the ICPP has a significant effect on urban resilience, which remains in force after a series of robustness tests, such as a placebo test and difference-in-differences machine learning (DML) approach; (2) regional R&D investment, technological talent attraction, green innovation capability enhancement, and information infrastructure development are identified as the mediating variable for the ICPP’s impact on urban resilience dimensions; and (3) heterogeneity study results show that the ICPP has a significantly greater impact on medium-sized cities, attributed to their capacity to enhance the resilience of cities with more growing space. Furthermore, cities with lower economic agglomeration saw a greater increase in urban resilience due to the ICPP. Accordingly, it is recommended to prioritize the allocation of innovative resources to non-coastal regions, cities with low economic agglomeration, and medium-sized cities. This study provides crucial recommendations for the enlargement of the ICPP’s scale and coordinated progress of China’s urban resilience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Resilience and Sustainable Construction Under Disaster Risk)
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21 pages, 15080 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Cascading Post-Earthquake Fire-Risk Scenario in Urban Centres
by Glenda Mascheri, Nicola Chieffo, Nicola Tondini, Cláudia Pinto and Paulo B. Lourenço
Sustainability 2024, 16(20), 9075; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16209075 - 19 Oct 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1679
Abstract
The frequency of urban fires has grown in recent years everywhere, especially in historic districts, including in Portugal, due to the existence of sensitive igniting materials, the proximity of buildings, the complex urban layout, and the presence of many people. The current study [...] Read more.
The frequency of urban fires has grown in recent years everywhere, especially in historic districts, including in Portugal, due to the existence of sensitive igniting materials, the proximity of buildings, the complex urban layout, and the presence of many people. The current study proposes a technique, applied in the Baixa Pombalina (downtown) area in Lisbon, to undertake an appropriate evaluation of the post-earthquake fire cascading effect, which may cause major damage. The earthquake vulnerability and damage scenario were carried out using the Risk-UE method. An empirical fire ignition model was then applied to determine the quantity and location of fire ignitions for different return periods. Furthermore, the simple fire spread Hamada’s model was applied to both the equally spaced grid buildings, as in the original Hamada procedure, and the current study area layout for different time thresholds. Finally, the risk assessment for both models was carried out, allowing for the estimation of earthquake and fire losses, respectively. The results demonstrated that the models are comparable, showing that the Hamada model might be a useful tool for large-scale evaluations aimed at disaster-risk reduction and management since it gives useful information for managing and reducing natural and anthropogenic hazards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Resilience and Sustainable Construction Under Disaster Risk)
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26 pages, 7085 KiB  
Article
Cross-Sectoral and Multilevel Dimensions of Risk and Resilience Management in Urban Areas Enabled by Geospatial Data Processing
by Scira Menoni, Adriana Galderisi, Daniela Carrion and Chiara Gerosa
Sustainability 2024, 16(19), 8712; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16198712 - 9 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1680
Abstract
The growing complexity of cities and the unprecedented pace of urbanisation create exposure and vulnerabilities to extreme events and crises that are difficult to manage and plan for as widely acknowledged by the existing literature. In this paper, three main challenges to be [...] Read more.
The growing complexity of cities and the unprecedented pace of urbanisation create exposure and vulnerabilities to extreme events and crises that are difficult to manage and plan for as widely acknowledged by the existing literature. In this paper, three main challenges to be tackled are identified based on the selected literature according to the interpretation of the authors based on extended research in the field. Those challenges relate to the multi-risk environment characterising many contemporary cities, the need to overcome sectoral approaches towards increased alignment of emergency and spatial planning at different scales, and the opportunities that derive from integrated risk and resilience management. Such challenges are evidenced in the Pozzuoli case study, a densely inhabited municipality of the metropolitan city of Naples, placed into a volcanic caldera, that has been analysed in the light of the above challenges for an extended period of time of about fifty years. The in-depth assessment of the quality of urban development has been enabled by geospatial data management. Advanced geospatial information systems are not only instrumental in depicting the history of urban development in the period of consideration but also as an enabler to tackle the above-mentioned challenges. In fact, such systems permit a much more dynamic and updatable assessment of multirisk conditions and provide the basis for shared knowledge among the large number of stakeholders that are responsible for different sectoral and comprehensive urban and risk-related plans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Resilience and Sustainable Construction Under Disaster Risk)
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21 pages, 1520 KiB  
Article
Building a Resilient City through Sustainable Flood Risk Management: The Flood-Prone Area of Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya, Thailand
by Phichet Munpa, Atima Dubsok, Athit Phetrak, Wandee Sirichokchatchawan, Nutta Taneepanichskul, Jenyuk Lohwacharin, Suthirat Kittipongvises and Chongrak Polprasert
Sustainability 2024, 16(15), 6450; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156450 - 28 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3186
Abstract
Resilience has gained significant prominence in the management of climate-related shocks and the minimization of disaster risks. Assessing flood resilience is, therefore, crucial in identifying areas lacking support and opportunities for development. Comprehensive risk assessments are urgently required, especially in areas prone to [...] Read more.
Resilience has gained significant prominence in the management of climate-related shocks and the minimization of disaster risks. Assessing flood resilience is, therefore, crucial in identifying areas lacking support and opportunities for development. Comprehensive risk assessments are urgently required, especially in areas prone to floods. By applying the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), stakeholder meetings, and keyword analysis, this study aims to assess the flood resilience of Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya Province (PNSAP) in Thailand, an area at high risk of flooding and home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the Arup and Rockefeller Foundation’s City Resilience indicators, the key elements for building resilience in PNSAP include effective emergency response services, comprehensive hazard monitoring and risk assessment, and emergency medical care. In addition, the focus group discussions and keyword analysis identified the following critical components for strengthening flood resilience: “financial aspects”, “community awareness and preparedness”, “multi-stakeholder collaboration”, “citizen engagement”, and “urban flood monitoring and data management.” Moreover, to gain insight into the perceptions of people in local communities, the results of a household survey (n = 552) indicated that approximately one-third of the respondents had never engaged in flood preparedness activities. Neither the gender nor the education level of the respondents significantly influenced their engagement in flood preparedness. The respondents also perceived that infrastructure flexibility, affordable transport networks, flood monitoring and data management, the adequate provision of critical services, and reliable communication systems in building resilience were important during a flood disaster. These results provide valuable insight into the community’s perception of the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction mechanisms for building flood resilience in PNSAP and can serve as a useful guide for future resilience-building initiatives. By addressing these factors, PNSAP could enhance its resilience to the impacts of flooding and contribute to the global field of flood management and resilience building. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Resilience and Sustainable Construction Under Disaster Risk)
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Review

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37 pages, 11623 KiB  
Review
The Role of Video Cameras and Emerging Technologies in Disaster Response to Increase Sustainability of Societies: Insights on the 2023 Türkiye–Syria Earthquake
by Carlos Sousa Oliveira, Mónica Amaral Ferreira and Hugo O’Neill
Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7618; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177618 - 2 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2744
Abstract
New technologies are being used to facilitate the recognition process during and after earthquakes. These advanced tools are essential to keep track of what is left from of the destruction suffered by the built stock. Among the new technologies are video recordings captured [...] Read more.
New technologies are being used to facilitate the recognition process during and after earthquakes. These advanced tools are essential to keep track of what is left from of the destruction suffered by the built stock. Among the new technologies are video recordings captured during seismic events, footage from drones, and satellite imagery acquired before and after the event. This review paper presents a series of examples collected from the 2023 Türkiye–Syria earthquakes to illustrate how these new technologies offer a unique and efficient way to capture, document, and transfer information among experts in seismology, earthquake engineering, and disaster management. Whenever possible, these examples are accompanied by simple qualitative explanations to enhance understanding. To demonstrate the potential of video cameras and drone imagery for quantitative analysis, in addition to the various simple examples provided, two case studies are provided—one on road blockages, and another on intensity assessment and wave attenuation as observed in video cameras. These technologies are critical and merit considerable focus, particularly video cameras, which have not received much attention recently, on helping to understand seismic wave passage and their impact on the built environment. Enhancing our use of video cameras in this context can significantly contribute to the sustainability and resilience of our society. With the rapid advancement of image analysis, we advocate for a collaborative platform for accessing and utilizing imagery materials, aiding current and future generations in analysing the causes of such tragedies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Resilience and Sustainable Construction Under Disaster Risk)
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