Special Issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154).

Rapid urbanization is one of the most relevant but also threatening trends for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. One prominent aim, SDG 13 Climate Action, is directly related to sustainable urban development. Increases in impervious areas from soil sealing and land consumption by unplanned or informal urban development is weakening the resilience and adaptive capacities not only of the urban systems, but of their environments on which they pose huge pressures in terms of pollution, local climate changes and biodiversity losses. One of the key requirements for sustainable urban systems is therefore to include Climate Action in policies and planning for livelihood and human well-being.

Vice versa, urban areas are suffering particularly from climate change impacts, considering, for instance, urban heat effects in hot summers, increasing flood risks or long smog periods. Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) are expected to contribute largely to a bundle of UN SDGs, such as SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The achievement of many of them can be endangered through adverse climate change impacts which provoke water scarcity, critical situations related to portable water, sewage disposal and problems related to waterborne diseases. Additionally, climate change-driven migration can contribute to informal settlements at urban fringes that put undue pressure on relevant services such as the circulation of cool air, water percolation and flood mitigation.

We are pleased to invite scientists working at the nexus of climate change–urban development–sustainability to this Special Issue which intends to present case studies in different global regions about the interactions of climate change and the achievement of the UN SDGs, particularly in fast growing metropolitan areas, but also with regard to future risks for urban development. This Special Issue also intends to showcase how smart urban planning, improved information and communication policies and governance mixes can help us to mitigate and overcome the negative back-coupling effects of climate change for sustainable urban development.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome, but also perspective and discussion papers. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Climate change impacts on urban sustainable development goals;
• Climate change risks, threats and chances for sustainable urban development;
• Climate change and rural–urban migration patterns;
• Climate trends and urban green, blue and grey infrastructure;
• Nature-based solutions for coping with climate change in urban contexts;
• Participatory urban planning instruments to respond to climate change;
• Sustainable urban governance under future climate conditions;
• Urban planning and development of resilient cities;
• Urban dwellers viewpoints on climate change—vulnerable groups.

Read more on the website of the journal.