Study on Urban Environmental Change, Resilience, and Adaptation: Integrative Approaches to Sustainable and Climate-Responsive Cities

Dear Colleagues,

Rapid and often non-linear processes of urban environmental change are reshaping cities worldwide. Escalating pressures from climate variability, increasing pollution and resource scarcity challenge the resilience and adaptive capacity of urban systems. Understanding how cities evolve and respond to these environmental and climate stressors is essential for guiding evidence-based urban sustainability transitions.

This Special Issue of Urban Science invites original research, conceptual analyses, reviews and case studies that advance scientific and policy understanding of urban resilience and adaptation. The focus is on exploring integrative, multi-scale, and interdisciplinary approaches linking environmental science, urban planning, socio-technical innovation, smart cities and adaptive governance.

We welcome contributions that investigate the drivers, mechanisms, and outcomes of resilience and adaptation processes across diverse urban contexts. Submissions may address methodological advances, comparative assessments, or practice-oriented frameworks that enhance cities’ ability to anticipate, absorb, and transform in the face of environmental change. Key themes include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Urban environmental change and resilience assessment frameworks;
• Climate adaptation strategies, disaster risk reduction, and early-warning systems;
• Integration of nature-based and ecosystem-based solutions into urban planning;
• Adaptive and polycentric governance for sustainable urban transformation;
• Urban metabolism, circular economy, and resource efficiency;
• Quantitative and qualitative approaches to modeling urban vulnerability;
• Social and spatial dimensions of equity, justice, and participation in adaptation;
• Policy coherence across the Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus in cities;
• Utilisation of system standards and standardisation benefits.

In complementing the existing body of literature on urban sustainability and resilience, this Special Issue will bridge key research and policy gaps by emphasizing the systemic and interconnected nature of urban adaptation processes. While prior studies have often examined resilience or environmental change in isolation, this Special Issue advances the discourse by integrating ecological, technological, and governance dimensions into a unified analytical framework. Through comparative and cross-sectoral perspectives, the contributions will offer novel insights into multi-level urban adaptation, highlight emerging methodologies for resilience assessment, and provide empirical evidence to inform forward-looking planning and policy innovation.

By fostering cross-sectoral dialogue and comparative insights, this Special Issue will strengthen the scientific and practical foundations for more resilient, inclusive, and climate-responsive urban development. Contributions are expected to inform both theory and practice, supporting decision-makers and communities in building adaptive, future-proof cities.

Dr. Dejan Vasović
Prof. Dr. Milan Gocić
Dr. Serena Caucci
Dr. Žarko Vranjanac
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.

• urban resilience
• environmental adaptation
• climate change
• sustainability transitions
• adaptive governance
• nature-based solutions
• WEFE nexus
• performance benchmarking
• resilience indicators
• cascading effects
• cross-cutting concerns