Advances in Urban Mobility Analysis, Air Quality Modelling and Spatiotemporal Data Science for Urban Pollution, Health and Social Disparities
A special issue of Urban Science (ISSN 2413-8851). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Environment and Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 321
Special Issue Editors
Interests: air quality modeling; health co-benefits; air pollution forecasting; climate mitigation
Interests: remote sensing; aerosols; air pollutions; public health
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Urbanisation, industrial activity, and rising energy demand have intensified the complex interactions that shape urban environments, with urban mobility emerging as a central driver of both economic activity and environmental change. The flows of people and goods influence patterns of energy consumption, vehicle emissions, and, ultimately, urban air quality. Mobility-driven emissions contribute to elevated concentrations of particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3), and other pollutants, posing risks to respiratory and cardiovascular health, contributing to premature mortality, and diminishing quality of life. The impacts of mobility-related air pollution are often disproportionately borne by vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, exacerbating social and health inequities.
Addressing these challenges requires innovative, data-driven, and multidisciplinary approaches. Advances in mobility analysis, spatiotemporal data science, satellite remote sensing, and machine learning allow us to better simulate, monitor, and forecast how changes in urban movement patterns affect air quality. New forms of digital trace data (e.g., mobility phone, GPS, and transport smart card data) can capture mobility dynamics at fine spatial and temporal scales, enabling the integration of transport behavior into urban air quality models.
This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and reviews that advance the understanding of how urban mobility interacts with air quality, health impacts, and social disparities. We encourage studies that integrate multiple data sources, explore scenario-based modelling of mobility interventions, and link their findings to urban planning, environmental policy, and public health strategies.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Modelling the effects of urban mobility patterns on air quality;
- Health exposure assessment and social disparity analysis related to mobility-driven pollution;
- Integration of mobile phone, GPS, and other digital trace data and satellite data into air quality modelling;
- Machine learning for improved spatiotemporal air pollution mapping of mobility and pollutant exposure;
- Big data analytics and multi-source data fusion in urban computing;
- Air quality modeling refinement and emission projection in the context of sustainable mobility and carbon neutrality;
- Satellite remote sensing and emission inversion modelling for transport-related studies.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Xuguo Zhang
Dr. Changqing Lin
Dr. Carmen Cabrera
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. 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
- urban mobility
- air quality
- sustainably cities
- urban health
- vehicle emissions
- particulate matter (PM)
- ozone (O3)
- remote sensing
- spatiotemporal analysis
- machine learning
- social/health disparities
- big data analysis
- climate mitigation
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.
