Urban Planning, Heritage, and Tourism: Pathways to Sustainable Cities
A special issue of Urban Science (ISSN 2413-8851). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Planning and Design".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 October 2026 | Viewed by 1469
Editors
Interests: heritage safeguard; heritage tourism; culture tourism; regional development through tourism; regenerative tourism
Interests: tourism and sustainability; the preservation of cultural heritage through tourism; management and planning of tourism destinations; regional development through tourism
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cities nowadays face the challenge of balancing rapid expansion with the need to protect their cultural identity and preserve the environment. In order to overcome these obstacles, it is crucial to adopt comprehensive strategies that connect city design, preservation of heritage, and thoughtful tourism planning. These interconnected elements are key to shaping cities that endure and grow sustainably.
City planning plays a key role in creating sustainable environments, and it should be closely connected to a city’s cultural legacy that gives each place its unique character. By protecting these traditions and landmarks, communities ensure the richness of their cultural tapestry, keeping diverse identities and shared history alive. Tourism can strengthen local livelihoods and foster cross-cultural understanding, all while keeping ecological footprints light and safeguarding the uniqueness of each place. When combined with thoughtful city design and the protection of cultural heritage, these three elements create powerful foundations for urban areas.
This Special Issue aims to enrich current research by connecting different academic disciplines and highlighting the vital roles of cultural identity and citizen involvement in building resilient cities. By blending theoretical insights with real-world applications, it will contribute to advancing scholarly discourse by critically examining strategies for the adaptive reuse of built heritage, incorporating the safeguarding of intangible cultural expressions, promoting inclusive and participatory frameworks for heritage governance, and addressing the ethical implications of tourism within dynamic urban transformation processes.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome, and research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Sustainable urban and regional planning;
- Sustainable and inclusive city design;
- Strategic infrastructure development;
- Climate resilience and eco-conscious spatial planning;
- Preservation of tangible and intangible heritage;
- Local identity and cultural values in urban transformation;
- Adaptive reuse of historical assets and historical places;
- Community engagement in heritage management;
- Responsible and sustainable tourism development;
- Cultural and heritage tourism and local identity promotion;
- Ethical tourism practices and heritage-sensitive planning;
- Integrated models for ecological, cultural, and economic sustainability;
- Governance and policy frameworks for long-term urban vitality;
- Socio-cultural dimensions of resilience and urban planning.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Isabel Vaz de Freitas
Dr. Makhabbat Ramazanova
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-anonymized 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 1800 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
- sustainability
- sustainable urban planning
- heritage preservation
- resilience
- sustainable governance
- responsible tourism
- community engagement
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
