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Sustainable and Resilient Cities: The 11th World Sustainability Forum (WSF 2025)

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1912

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Irene Petrosillo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
Interests: landscape ecology; biodiversity conservation; multiscale assessment; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: emerging technologies; smart cities; smart governance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will comprise a selection of submissions to the 11th World Sustainability Forum, which is to be held in Barcelona the following October. The submissions selected will undergo the standard review process of the journal and will adhere to the journal's guidelines. The aim of the Special Issue is to strengthen different topics related to urban resilience in terms of current environmental pressures (climate change, land degradation, urbanization, landscape fragmentation), socio-ecological sensitivity (demographic trends, economic fragility, etc.), and solutions in terms of circular economy, renewable energies, and the implementation of emerging technologies for sustainable and resilient cities and communities.

This Special Issue welcomes research and review contributions, demonstrative case studies, management solutions, and policy perspectives.

Prof. Dr. Irene Petrosillo
Prof. Dr. Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar
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

  • emerging technology implementation for sustainable and resilient cities and communities
  • sustainable reporting and communication in the private and public sector
  • climate change and socio-ecological systems
  • sustainable urban landscape
  • circular economy
  • renewable energy

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 712 KB  
Article
Decoding the Paradoxical Drivers of Renewable Energy Transition in Arab Countries
by Xuming Qian and Ji Zhu
Sustainability 2026, 18(4), 2035; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18042035 - 16 Feb 2026
Viewed by 561
Abstract
This study explores the reasons why, despite ambitious national strategies, the deployment of renewable energy in Arab countries has persistently lagged behind global trends. It investigates the drivers of this disparity by analyzing the impact of fiscal capacity, energy market size, and energy [...] Read more.
This study explores the reasons why, despite ambitious national strategies, the deployment of renewable energy in Arab countries has persistently lagged behind global trends. It investigates the drivers of this disparity by analyzing the impact of fiscal capacity, energy market size, and energy dependence on renewable energy development. To control for country heterogeneity, this paper divides Arab countries into three groups based on their degree of energy dependence: energy-importing countries, energy-exporting countries, and energy trade reversal countries. Using a panel dataset of 17 Arab countries from 1990 to 2022, this study employs a dynamic common correlated effects (DCCE) estimator, which uniquely accounts for cross-sectional dependence and distinguishes between short-run dynamics and long-run equilibrium. The results reveal three key findings. First, in energy-importing and energy trade reversal countries, improvements in government fiscal balance significantly promote renewable energy development. Second, higher energy consumption exerts a persistent negative effect on renewable energy development, suggesting that demand expansion reinforces carbon lock-in rather than facilitating transition. Third, energy dependence exhibits a temporal asymmetry: it hinders renewable deployment in the short run, but becomes a strong positive driver in the long run, reflecting a shift from immediate supply security to strategic energy security. However, for energy-exporting countries, those drivers are statistically insignificant, highlighting strong path dependence. These findings partly validate the “developmental state”, “carbon lock-in”, and “energy security” theories within the Arab context. The study concludes that fiscal buffers and the pursuit of energy security facilitate the deployment of renewable energy in specific country contexts, while growth in energy consumption reinforces carbon lock-in. These findings contribute to SDG 7 and SDG 13, with particular relevance to Arab countries grappling with the dual challenges of economic diversification and the climate commitments outlined in the Paris Agreement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Resilient Cities: The 11th World Sustainability Forum (WSF 2025))
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24 pages, 737 KB  
Article
A Decision Framework for Early-Stage Circularity Assessment in Sustainable Manufacturing Systems
by Ottavia Aleo, Sascha Nagel, Anika Stephan and Johannes Fottner
Sustainability 2026, 18(2), 1143; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18021143 - 22 Jan 2026
Viewed by 734
Abstract
The transition toward a Circular Economy (CE) has received significant attention from academia, industry, and policymakers; however, manufacturing practices remain predominantly linear, generating waste and inefficiencies. This study addresses the lack of accessible sustainability assessment methods by introducing the Circularity Calculator (CC), a [...] Read more.
The transition toward a Circular Economy (CE) has received significant attention from academia, industry, and policymakers; however, manufacturing practices remain predominantly linear, generating waste and inefficiencies. This study addresses the lack of accessible sustainability assessment methods by introducing the Circularity Calculator (CC), a novel tool for evaluating circular strategies during the early phases of process development. Unlike existing assessment frameworks, which often require extensive data and customization, the CC can be integrated directly to existing processes to combine environmental and economic impact into a streamlined evaluation process for early decision-making. The research involves collaboration with a leading German automotive manufacturer. Site visits and interviews enabled the identification of material flows and primary waste streams, which informed the definition of relevant indicators. The CC generates a dimensionless index, enabling comparison and prioritization of proposed scenarios without relying on supply-chain-wide data, which is often unavailable at early stages. Implications demonstrate the adaptability of the CC across industrial contexts, supporting conceptual planning and operational phases. Its intuitive design facilitates adoption by practitioners without extensive expertise in sustainability. The tool represents an advance in CE assessment, contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9, 12, and 17 by promoting sustainable industrial practices, resource circularity, and collaborative evaluation frameworks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Resilient Cities: The 11th World Sustainability Forum (WSF 2025))
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