International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development

Green Infrastructure and Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience, Urban Greening, and Social Sustainability

Global cities—particularly across rapidly expanding urban centers in developing nations—face severe systemic stressors. These include severe ambient air pollution (PM_2.5, NO_x, SO₂), extensive hydro-meteorological vulnerabilities, acute urban heat island (UHI) effects, and the systemic degradation of natural resources. This Article Collection establishes a platform for advanced, interdisciplinary research dedicated to the scientific monitoring and predictive modelling of GI and NbS. We focus specifically on how high-resolution data collection, spatial modelling, and systems analysis can quantify the dual capacity of green systems to buffer climate volatility and mitigate severe pollution. Crucially, this Collection positions scientific data as the foundational baseline required to align ecological interventions with social equity, steering urban planning toward climate-resilient and socio-environmentally sustainable pathways.

This Article Collection fills a pronounced knowledge gap regarding how urban greening impacts socioeconomic strata in the Global South, where environmental burdens and health disparities are unevenly distributed. Moreover, this Collection also draws the attention of scientific community towards key sustainable solutions [multi-functional Green Infrastructure (GI) and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS)] for ongoing environmental challenges and brings real-world performance.

We seek original research articles on the following subtopics:

1. Socioeconomic Impacts, Public Health, and Policy in Developing Nations -- environmental justice and health disparities; the “green paradox” and equity; and governance and economic frameworks
2. Novel Methodological Approaches -- integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) for predictive urban environmental analytics; agent-based modelling (ABM) and system dynamics simulating socio-ecological responses to greening; and novel multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) models evaluating the cost-effectiveness and ecological return on investment (ROI) of NbS
3. Advanced Scientific Monitoring & Environmental Pollution Mitigation -- air quality and particulate interception; street canyon dynamics; hydro-chemical runoff and phytoremediation; and sensor networks and remote sensing
4. Climate Resilience & Microclimate Modelling -- thermodynamic regulation; land-atmosphere interactions; and carbon and climate dynamics

Keywords:

1. Ambient Pollution Mitigation
2. Climate Resilience
3. Green Infrastructure
4. Environmental Sustainability
5. Global Climate Change

­­All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 12 March 2027.

Please contact Kara Roberts at [email protected] with any queries on waivers or discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.

Dr. Pallavi Saxena is an Sr. Assistant Professor in Department of Environmental Science, Hindu College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India and serving as SSC member in iLEAPS and GEIA. Her area of interest is air pollution nature based solutions, sustainability indicators and published 85 publications in reputed peer reviewed journals, authored and edited books, book chapters, technical and policy reports. Dr. Saxena is recently elected as Sustainability Expert from Low Middle Income Countries of Future Earth General Assembly. Dr. Saxena has been selected as Lead Author in GEO-7, UNEP Report and authored an Independent Expert Report on “Climate change and biodiversity” for European Commission in 2024. Dr. Saxena has been selected as an Expert Member in various international meetings and forums like Stockholm +50, COP28, COP29, COP30, IPBES 9,10,11 and 12 and KCI 2022. She is also editorial board members of some reputed journals like Scientific Reports, Discover Applied Sciences, Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, Frontiers in Forests and Global Climate Change and Advisory Board Member in Ecological Indicators.

Dr. Saurabh Sonwani is currently working as Assistant Professor at Department of Environmental Studies, Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi, India and has about 10 years of research experience in the field of atmospheric sciences and environmental health, and 7 year of teaching experience in Environmental Sciences. Till now, he has published about 35 publications in peer-reviewed journals (~25), books (3 edited & 1 authored); and book chapters (10) with reputed publishers like Wiley, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Elsevier, CABI International. Dr. Sonwani is also associated with iLEAPS, UK (a Future Earth Global Research project) as a chair of the early career scientist network from South Asia and the Middle East region, He is also an active member of several other nternational communities like Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR-II) i.e. an IGAC project, Associate member of APSI, EnviroComp. He also received several awards such as “Young Scientist Award” for his outstanding contribution to Environment and Sustainable Development by the Society for Science of Climate Change Sustainable Environment (SSCE) during The Neem Summit Global Neem Trade Fair, organized in collaboration with ICAR-Central Agro-forestry Research Institute in 2024.

Dr. Gabriel Filippelli is a Chancellor’s Professor of Earth Sciences and Executive Director of the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute. Filippelli is a biogeochemist with broad training in climate change, exposure science, and environmental health. Author of over 200 publications, in 2022 Filippelli also published the book Climate Change and Life with Elsevier and edited Climate Resilience in Indiana and Beyond with Indiana University Press. He was Editor-in-Chief for the journal GeoHealth, a Fellow of the International Association of Geochemistry, a 2022 Fulbright Distinguished Chair, and former National Academy of Sciences Jefferson Science Fellow, where he served as a Senior Science Advisor for the U.S. Department of State.

Guest Advisors do not declare any potential conflicts of interests in line with our Editorial Policies.