Smart Urban Planning and Governance: Rethinking Cities to Tackle Natural and Climate Risks
A special issue of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Practice in Social Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 915
Special Issue Editors
Interests: smart cities; urban resilience; disaster management; local governments financial distress; sustainability reporting
Interests: public management and accounting; anti-corruption policy; public utilities management; smart city
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cities face unprecedented threats from unsustainable consumption and production patterns, pollution, natural and man-made disasters, and climate change and its related risks. Given cities’ central role in the global economy, the mitigation and adaptation efforts related to climate change, and the use of resources and ecosystems, the way that they are planned, financed, developed, built, governed, and managed has a direct impact on sustainability and resilience well beyond urban boundaries (from art. 63 of the New Urban Agenda).
The global shift toward a more urban population has profound implications for a wide range of issues including food security, water scarcity, energy consumption, healthcare systems, waste management, infrastructure needs, etc. In addition to the threats posed by rapid urbanization, cities are also facing the increasing occurrence and devastating effects of natural and man-made disasters around the globe.
Planning for future cities demands greater attention in coping with natural disaster- and climate-related risks and facing the changing socio-economic landscape of the urban reality.
Considering these challenges, this Special Issue will stimulate multidisciplinary debate about planning and governance mechanisms that support cities facing natural and climate related risks. We welcome academic papers that address – among others – the following themes:
- Effective governance solutions emerging from the interplay among the public sector, the private sector, and civil society;
- Building community and organizational capacities to tackle natural and climate-related risks;
- “Smart urban thinking” for sustainable development;
- Social innovation for smart and sustainable cities;
- The role of emerging technologies supporting smart urban planning and governance;
- Planning and management for smart and inclusive cities;
- Financing for disaster risk reduction and climate crisis mitigation in cities;
- Digital technologies and smart systems for tackling natural and climate risks.
We invite both theoretical, review and empirical papers that deal with the issues outlined in this Special Issue. Paper/abstracts should include a brief description of the topic, the research question(s) and method, and an indication of the research findings.
We believe that this Special Issue reflects the aim and scope of the Journal, especially for the cross-boundary and systemic view of the proposed research themes.
Prof. Dr. Carlo Vermiglio
Dr. Vincenzo Zarone
Dr. Héctor Saldaña Márquez
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. Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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
- smart urban planning
- smart urban governance
- smart city
- natural disaster
- climate crisis
- inclusive cities
- disaster risk financing
- hybrid governance
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