Special Issue "Rural-Urban Transformation of Asian Megacities from a Social-Ecological Systems Perspective"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Eva Schlecht
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Joint Section Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel and University of Göttingen, Germany
Interests: tropical livestock husbandry systems; ruminant nutrition; livestock- mediated nutrient cycling; dairy production and value chain; pastoral systems
Prof. Dr. Uwe Altrock
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture (ASL), University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
Interests: urban regeneration; planning theory; megacities; urban governance
Prof. Dr. Matthias Gassmann
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Water, Waste and Environment (IWAU), University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
Interests: catchment hydrology; sociohydrology; water quality; organic micropollutants
Prof. Dr. Andreas Thiel
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Agricultural Policy and Environmental Governance, University of Kassel, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, Kassel, Germany
Interests: institutional economics; social ecological systems analysis; governance; water

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human history is marked by several great transformations, such as the beginning of agriculture in the Neolithic or the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. In contemporary times, digitalization, climate change, and urbanization are often discussed as challenges of a similar dimension, leading to gradual but profound changes that drive the development of economies and societies and shape the environment. The rise of megacities has challenged traditional concepts of the “urban” and the “rural”, in terms of physical and service infrastructure, jobs, lifestyles, and consumption patterns. The flow of unprocessed and processed foods and raw materials as well as labor from rural to urban areas, and of remittances, information, and waste from urban to rural locations, are only some of the most obvious phenomena standing for the increasingly complex linkages and transformations with a profound economic, social, and environmental impact. Whereas in Western countries, growth rates of urban agglomerations are presently slowing down, West Africa and in particular Asia are the current hotspots of urbanization.

Against this background, we invite authors from different disciplines, such as life sciences, social sciences, economics, environmental geosciences, human geography, urban planning, and other related disciplines, to submit papers to this Special Issue on “Rural–Urban Transformation of Asian Megacities from a Social–Ecological Systems Perspective”. Multidisciplinary research that addresses multiple social–ecological facets in view of accelerating urbanization in Asia is particularly welcome.

Submissions could relate but are not limited to the following topics:

  • Environmental impacts of urbanization: land, water, and biodiversity;
  • Rural–urban food systems: quality, safety, and complexity;
  • Economic opportunities and challenges of megacity development: land and labor markets;
  • Impact of mega-urban development on lifestyles, consumption patterns, and (human) values;
  • Social consequences of urbanization for urban and rural societies;
  • Strategies to address sustainability challenges in metropolitan areas.

Prof. Dr. Eva Schlecht
Prof. Dr. Uwe Altrock
Prof. Dr. Matthias Gassmann
Prof. Dr.  Andreas Thiel
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • rural–urban transformation
  • social–ecological

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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