Biophilic Cities: Putting the Vision into Practice

Dear Colleagues,

A new model of cities is emerging that puts nature at the center of urban planning and design. This vision of urban living is one that argues that nature must be nearby, in the urban neighborhoods where residents live and work. In this vision of future cities contact with nature is not something optional, but absolutely essential to leading a happy, healthy and meaningful life. It builds on the essential insight of Biophilia and a growing recognition of the many benefits (e.g., physical and mental health) provided by contact with nature, demonstrated by a compelling and growing body of research in environmental psychology, public health, and landscape and urban planning. The vision of a biophilic city is one where residents are immersed in nature, and enjoy and experience the natural work daily if not hourly. It is also increasingly true that cities will need to respond and adapt to the significant impacts of climate change, including urban heat, drought, flooding and extreme weather, among others, and that nature-based and biophilic solutions are often the most effective design and planning solutions.

While we have increasing clarity about what a biophilic city looks and feels like, putting this vision into practice remains a challenge. It will require creative work at multiple scales, including biophilic buildings and projects, landscape designs, and city-wide programs and initiatives that help to make a city more biophilic and natural. It will require interdisciplinary collaboration and new tools for managing growth and development in these green cities.

In this Special Issue, we invite scholars to contribute with articles, concept papers and reviews that help expand the existing research on biophilia and biophilic cities ant that touch uppon the following subjects:

• Evaluation of promising biophilic tools, strategies, design ideas;
• Review and critique of innovative approaches undertaken in specific cities around the world;
• An examination of the benefits and costs of specific biophilic tools, strategies and approaches and/or discussion of the special obstacles faced (political, economic, social) in implementing the Biophilic City vision;
• Case studies of innovative buildings, projects, city programs or initiatives;
• Research showing how Biophilic Cities and Biophilic Urbanism can be used to respond to climate change (and other pressing global challenges);
• Articles that examine the history and theory of biophilic design and planning.

Prof. Dr. Timothy Beatley
Guest Editor

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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.

• Biophilic Cities
• Biophilic Design
• Natural Cities/Nature-Rich Cities
• Nature-Based Solutions
• Ecological/ Green Infrastructure
• Urban Ecosystems
• Urban Biodiversity Conservation
• Environmental psychology
• Public health
• Re-Wilding Cities
• Urban Wildness
• Living Buildings and Architecture