Sustainable Investments in Urban, Peri-Urban and Industrial Areas: Novel Approaches and Methods

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Approximately half of the world’s GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature and healthy ecosystems. However, it is estimated that one million plant and animal species are facing extinction; natural capital stocks per capita declined by nearly 40% between 1992 and 2014. There are calls to leave behind a finite resource deployment-based economy and move towards a regenerative and circular economy that is more respectful of nature. Cross-scale policies and actions are in place worldwide to drive the effects of human activity on the ecosystem service supply.

As mostly populated areas, the focus on cities and industrial areas is now gaining momentum in the pursuit of building strategic measures that are capable of ensuring fair and equitable long-term social and economic development. Particularly, during the regeneration process of degraded lands and the refurbishment of existing property assets, urban metabolism and circular economy principles should be combined with energy efficiency, waste management, and environmental impact assessments. The public and private sectors must effectively co-operate to transform cities from being carbon and pollution sources to sinks. In this context, the European Union is setting ambitious goals, such as transforming their building stock into zero-emission buildings by 2050. Furthermore, the EU Horizon 2020 program classified nature-based solutions (NBSs) as a priority area of investment to enhance the resilience of urban areas in the face of global changes, and to establish Europe as a world leader of NBSs. NBSs are an umbrella concept including, e.g., green and blue infrastructure, urban forestry, ecological engineering, disaster risk reduction, and ecosystem-based adaptation. These concepts were introduced to address the challenges from distinct perspectives; one strength of NBSs is their integrated perspective for providing co-benefits and generating win–win solutions (i.e., multifunctionality). NBSs can be at the center of the economic paradigm shift, as they are increasingly internationally recognized as a fundamental aspect of the action for climate and biodiversity and are highly financed by both the public and private sectors. Indeed, many businesses support NBSs already, especially via tree planting or improving energy efficiency through green roofs. Still, no established methodology to finance NBSs or other urban sustainability actions and maintain them across time is presented in the literature. Notably, there is a need to support decision-making processes with accessible frameworks, integrating economic–environmental aspects to encourage nature-positive investments. Therefore, new frontiers of co-operation between science and policy are required to enhance urban integration, liveability, and digitalization, reaching economic, environmental, and social sustainability in the urban and industrial environment.

It is essential to establish suitable assessment mechanisms to confirm the validity of urban initiatives in building sustainable cities. Urban planning projects should be selected and calibrated according to populations' demands, employing effective evaluation techniques and decision support systems.

This topic will focus on innovative frameworks for financing and maintaining sustainability actions in cities, industrial areas, the urban–rural interface, commercial sites, degraded lands, and brownfields. Particularly, this topic seeks to integrate research, techniques, and tools to investigate the impact of investments on ecosystems and the related return for businesses and society. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Multiple aspects of the environmental–economic accounting of the ecosystem services provided by nature-based solutions or mixed solutions (combination of nature and engineering);
• Public–private partnerships for financing and maintaining nature-based solutions or mixed solutions;
• State-of-the-art NBS inclusion in regenerative economy processes and approaches;
• State-of-the-art financing instruments for NBS implementation and maintenance;
• Environmental impact assessments and related compensation measures;
• Engagement practices in planning, design, and financing mechanisms to support new accessible and inclusive spaces;
• Financial techniques and economic mechanisms for slow mobility, low-impact buildings, and real estate.

Dr. Francesco Sica
Dr. Elena Di Pirro
Dr. Maria Rosaria Sessa
Dr. Francesco Tajani
Dr. Maria Rosaria Guarini
Prof. Dr. Alessio Russo
Dr. Debora Anelli
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Economies economies	2.6	3.2	2013	21.4 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Forests forests	2.9	4.5	2010	16.9 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Land land	3.9	3.7	2012	14.8 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Smart Cities smartcities	6.4	8.5	2018	20.2 Days	CHF 2000	Submit
Urban Science urbansci	2.0	4.5	2017	23.7 Days	CHF 1600	Submit

MDPI Topics is cooperating with Preprints.org and has built a direct connection between MDPI journals and Preprints.org. Authors are encouraged to enjoy the benefits by posting a preprint at Preprints.org prior to publication:

1. Immediately share your ideas ahead of publication and establish your research priority;
2. Protect your idea from being stolen with this time-stamped preprint article;
3. Enhance the exposure and impact of your research;
4. Receive feedback from your peers in advance;
5. Have it indexed in Web of Science (Preprint Citation Index), Google Scholar, Crossref, SHARE, PrePubMed, Scilit and Europe PMC.

Published Papers