Cities & Health

Sustainable Resilient Built Environments : Biophilia for Healthy Cities

Cities & Health journal invites submissions for a special issue linked to the 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Resilient Built Environments (SRBE-3), to be hosted by the Manipal School of Architecture and Planning (MSAP), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), India, in December 2026. This special issue is developed in collaboration with Cities & Health, published by Taylor & Francis, indexed in Scopus, and ranked in the top 25% (Q1) in the Urban Studies category.

All accepted conference contributions will be presented at SRBE-3 and considered for publication in this special issue, following the journal’s standard peer-review procedures. This collaboration provides a platform for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss and disseminate innovative work on sustainability, resilience, and biophilic design in the built environment.

The SRBE concept emphasizes that future cities must be environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive, culturally grounded, and health-promoting. The theme for SRBE-3 — “Biophilia for Healthy Cities” — highlights the transformative role of biophilic design in reconnecting people with nature. Grounded in the principle that humans possess an innate affinity for the natural world, biophilia supports physical and mental well-being while enhancing climate resilience, ecological balance, and social cohesion.

Over the past two decades, the value of ecosystem services—biophysical, economic, and socio-cultural—has been increasingly recognized by policymakers, scholars, and practitioners. Nature-based solutions have become essential in addressing climate change, resource depletion, rapid urbanization, and public health challenges. Within this context, biophilic design is emerging as a powerful framework capable of aligning urban environments with the deep human need for connection with nature.

Biophilic cities integrate natural elements at multiple scales — from green and blue infrastructure in urban systems to natural light, ventilation, and materials in building interiors. This creates healthier environments, enhances adaptiveness and resilience, and strengthens planetary health.

This special issue calls for submissions of original studies that explore a range of topics related to addressing various aspects of the built environment, including but not limited to:

• Design for Health and Wellbeing – Linking spatial and built design with physical and mental health outcomes. 
• Climate Resilience and Planetary Health – Using biophilic and nature-based solutions to strengthen urban resilience.
• Governance, Policy, and Healthy Cities – Embedding ecological ethics into planning, governance, and cross-sectoral partnerships.
• Biophilic Urbanism – Advancing design strategies where natural systems and urban life reinforce one another.
• Smart Tools for Healthy Cities – Applying GIS, AI, and digital methods to measure and guide biophilic, health-supportive design.