Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic served as the catalyst for transformations in the concepts of urban design and mobility. Cities with high population densities, poor accessibility to open and green spaces and over-reliance on motorized transport faced important challenges while implementing social distancing measures and concurrently maintaining decent levels of physical activity, mental health and well-being for their citizens. Therefore, many cities worldwide made bold decisions on reallocating and revitalizing their public space in favor of the modes of active mobility and public transport. The expansion of bicycle and pedestrian lanes, increased space for public transport stops and exclusive lanes, full closure of roads to motor vehicles, and sidewalk extensions are some of the mobility management measures which were observed amid the COVID-19 pandemic period. These measures highlighted necessary adjustments in the traditional urban form models. New urban design concepts emerged, such as the 15-minute city, while others, such as car-free cities, low-emission zones, and superblocks, were recognized as ideal land use planning examples in the post-pandemic era because they were more capable of realizing sustainable urban mobility needs.  

This Special Issue examines the parallel evolution and interactions of sustainable transport systems and land use planning in post-pandemic cities. How should land use planning be adjusted to facilitate greater access to active mobility and public transport? What is the impact of the new urban and transport design concepts on citizens’ lifestyles?

We are inviting original research or review papers that investigate the land use design, planning and management aspects of sustainable transport systems in modern urban environments.

Suggested themes include, but are not limited to:

• Accessibility-based transport planning;
• Sophisticated methodologies for land use and transport planning in urban contexts;
• New urban design paradigms (15-minute cities, superblocks, car-free cities etc.);
• Post-pandemic adjustments of active mobility, public transport, flexible and on-demand transport services;
• Local mobility needs and expectations.
  

Dr. Georgios Georgiadis
Dr. Elena Cocuzza
Dr. Tiziana Campisi
Guest Editors

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. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.

• land use and transport planning
• urban space design
• 15-minute city
• accessibility
• public transport
• public space