Special Section on Health, Urban Climate and Complexity in Urban Design and Planning

Abstract

This journal section welcomes contributions addressing new knowledge through research, practice examples and experimentation related to public spaces for all. The section calls for contributions to a discourse within and across the nexus of:- Urban health to enable holistic and equitable communities- Urban climate analysis and environmental performance concerning, for example, city form, green infrastructure and human thermal comfort- Exploring urban complexities, particularly regarding the consideration of the system-wide interdependencies of sociotechnical and socioecological relationships.To date, there is very little discourse and research on public space undertaken from these perspectives and paradigms and their intersection. Hence, we seek contributions that embrace complexity, examine ambiguities and in-betweens, and contradictions in policies. We also welcome experimental methodologies that can have a practical impact and achieve an ontological shift towards transformative change in communities transcending the conceptual Global North and South, East and West dualism. We appreciate theoretical and practical investigations that demonstrate entanglement with multifaceted aspects ranging from visualisation, communication, or arts-based expressions. We seek to explore the environmental, social, and technical conditions that contribute to an urban climate conducive to health and well-being in the broadest sense. Selected contributions and case studies will need to demonstrate the successful application of at least two of the three focus themes. These manuscripts will allow space for discussion regarding scale-ability and practice application to achieve equitable public spaces.