Resilient Futures of Urban Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Cities are complex, adaptive socio-ecological–technical systems of interdependent parts, including infrastructure (e.g., transport, energy, water, housing, and digital), economy, ecosystem, social structures, and governance. Urban systems worldwide are facing unprecedented challenges from climate change and resource scarcity to social inequality and technological disruption. As cities strive to adapt and thrive in the face of uncertainty, resilience has emerged as a critical lens for reimagining urban futures.

This Special Issue invites original research, theoretical contributions, methodological innovations (e.g., agent-based, participatory, or hybrid models), and comparative cases (including Global South perspectives) that demonstrate actionable pathways for exploring how resilience can be embedded into built environment processes, urban planning and design, property development, governance, infrastructure, construction, and community practices. Contributions may address resilience in response to acute shocks (e.g., disasters or pandemics) or chronic stresses (e.g., housing affordability or climate migration).

We welcome interdisciplinary perspectives that examine resilience across spatial scales and temporal horizons, including but not limited to circular economy, adaptive urban design, resilient infrastructure systems, socio-ecological networks, Indigenous and local knowledge, place-based approaches, digital and smart city innovations, safe cities, sustainable development, participatory governance, and policy frameworks for urban transformation.

Dr. Pernille H. Christensen
Dr. Gabriela Quintana Vigiola
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. 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.