Sustainable and Resilient Affordable Housing in Architecture Design and Urban Plans

A special issue of Urban Science (ISSN 2413-8851).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2026 | Viewed by 26

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
ArCoD Department, Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy
Interests: housing policies; student housing; urban regeneration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue aims to explore innovative and sustainable approaches to affordable housing projects and plans. It seeks to highlight the current debates surrounding affordable housing within the context of the environmental, social, and economic challenges posed by urbanization, climate change, and recent global crises. These issues, now more than ever, must be studied and addressed in an integrated and multidisciplinary way, adopting affordable, resilient, and inclusive strategies that respond to the evolving needs of communities. Topics include (but are not limited to) affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, public housing re-typing, regeneration, inclusion and integration strategies, heritage reuse and land use policy, and energy efficiency, with a particular focus on reducing the carbon footprint and adapting to climate change.

The special issue aims to explore the connections between housing policy and project and urban, financial, energy, environmental, and transportation policies and strategies through interdisciplinary approaches.

We welcome manuscripts examining these topics in any national context, as well as comparative case studies across different contexts.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

  • Integrated housing policies with a focus on environmental and social sustainability
  • Innovative and inclusive housing projects that promote resilience and reduce environmental impact
  • Publicness in social housing projects and plans with a focus on equity and environmental justice
  • Housing and urban regeneration with a focus on reducing the ecological footprint and promoting urban biodiversity
  • Sustainable approaches in housing re-typology with a focus on the circular economy and waste reduction
  • Participatory processes in social and public housing that promote environmental awareness and social responsibility
  • Public and private heritage reuse with a focus on resource conservation and reducing environmental impact
  • Implementation of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in social housing for climate change mitigation and adaptation
  • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of materials and construction techniques in sustainable social housing
  • Strategies for reducing energy poverty through the efficiency improvement of social housing buildings

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Buildings.

Dr. Giovanna Mangialardi
Prof. Dr. Umberto Berardi
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. Urban Science 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 1600 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

  • housing policies
  • housing projects
  • publicness
  • regenerate
  • housing sustainability
  • social and public housing
  • affordability
  • inclusion
  • circular economy
  • reuse

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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