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Sustainability
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Building a Healthy Future: Public Health and Sustainable Solutions
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Building a Healthy Future: Public Health and Sustainable Solutions

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Health, Well-Being and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2025 | Viewed by 3962

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Inkyu Han

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
Interests: healthy indoor environment; environmental health; sustainability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Building a healthy future is inevitable for the health and well-being of current and future generations. Sustainable living environments that enhance public health are a foundation to maintain and improve health and well-being and play a role in the development of economic growth. We are excited to announce a call for submissions to a Special Issue focusing on accountability, sustainability, environmental and public health, and equity. This Special Issue explores innovative research, policy perspectives, and practical implementations that contribute to building a healthy future for current and future generations. We invite manuscripts that examine a wide range of topics including, but not limited to (1) sustainable urban/rural development and planning; (2) social determinants of health and equity; (3) healthy indoor home environments; (4) environmental and occupational health; and (5) energy poverty/equity. Energy poverty, a condition where households cannot afford basic energy services, can lead to inadequate heating or cooling, impacting health through increased vulnerability to extreme temperatures, respiratory conditions, and stress-related illnesses. This Special Issue seeks submissions for energy equity, alleviating energy poverty, and reducing adverse health risks.

We seek submissions for an upcoming Special Issue focused on "Building a Healthy Future: Public Health and Sustainable Solutions". This Special Issue aims to compile a diverse collection of manuscripts that explore innovative strategies, scientific research, and policy analyses addressing critical areas within urban/rural development and planning, social determinants of health, equity, and built environments such as indoor home environments. 

We invite contributions investigating energy equity, promoting sustainable development in urban and rural settings, and ensuring healthy indoor home environments. We aim to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue highlighting the interconnectedness of environmental sustainability, public health, and social justice, paving the way for equitable health outcomes across all communities. 

Submissions may include but are not limited to, empirical research, comprehensive reviews, case studies, and policy briefs that provide insights into how we can protect and enhance the health of populations while ensuring sustainable environmental practices. We are particularly interested in works addressing the challenges and opportunities in creating resilient health systems that can withstand environmental pressures, promote equity, and support the well-being of individuals and communities. 

This call allows researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and community organizations to share their work, innovations, and perspectives on creating a sustainable and healthy future for all. We look forward to your contributions illuminating current challenges and inspiring actionable solutions to improve environmental and public health globally. 

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: (1) sustainable urban/rural development and planning; (2) social determinants of health and equity; (3) healthy indoor home environments; (4) environmental and occupational health; and (5) energy poverty/equity. 

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. Inkyu Han
Guest Editor

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

Keywords

  • sustainability
  • urban/rural development and planning
  • social determinants
  • health
  • energy
  • built environment
  • indoor home
  • occupational health
  • equity

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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39 pages, 9269 KiB  
Article
Urban Furniture Design Strategies to Build Healthy and Inclusive Neighborhoods
by Alessandra Rinaldi, Sara Viviani and Daniele Busciantella-Ricci
Sustainability 2025, 17(3), 859; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17030859 - 22 Jan 2025
Viewed by 479
Abstract
Several guidelines provided by the World Health Organization as well as frameworks in the scientific literature suggest focusing on the built environment, i.e., indoor and outdoor spaces, including urban furniture, for promoting public health as it acts as a promoter of healthy lifestyles. [...] Read more.
Several guidelines provided by the World Health Organization as well as frameworks in the scientific literature suggest focusing on the built environment, i.e., indoor and outdoor spaces, including urban furniture, for promoting public health as it acts as a promoter of healthy lifestyles. The paper presents part of the results emerged from the HNH research project, which addresses the topic of neighborhood health at a systemic transdisciplinary and trans-scalar level of the project (macro-, meso-, up to micro-level). In particular, the results at the micro-scale of the urban furniture design are presented, which are related to the following research questions: (i) what are the strategic design requirements of street furniture for a healthy neighborhood and (ii) what are the micro-scale design scenarios for orienting the choices of the public administration in the creation of a healthy neighborhood. Through the use of a conceptual framework developed in the research, as a tool both to measure the quality of the built environment and to develop participatory design activities and co-design workshops, the research arrives at the categorization of urban furniture into domains, sub-domains, and related products categories, for each of which design strategies and scenarios are defined. The results highlight the potential and importance of urban furniture design in promoting a healthy built environment, underlining the strategic role of tangible products as healthy touchpoints to promote healthy lifestyles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building a Healthy Future: Public Health and Sustainable Solutions)
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25 pages, 2497 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Relationships among Factors Influencing Healthcare Chatbot Adoption
by James J. H. Liou and Tuong Thanh Vo
Sustainability 2024, 16(12), 5050; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16125050 - 13 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1848
Abstract
Technology has revolutionized various industries; notably, chatbots impact healthcare through the efficient streamlining of medical procedures, cost reductions, and improved accessibility to healthcare services. Consequently, understanding how to promote the adoption of healthcare chatbots has become crucial for enhancing the healthcare industry and [...] Read more.
Technology has revolutionized various industries; notably, chatbots impact healthcare through the efficient streamlining of medical procedures, cost reductions, and improved accessibility to healthcare services. Consequently, understanding how to promote the adoption of healthcare chatbots has become crucial for enhancing the healthcare industry and medical service quality. Despite numerous studies identifying factors influencing healthcare chatbot adoption, there is a notable lack of empirical verification regarding their interrelationships, leading to a significant knowledge gap. Therefore, this study aims to address this gap by developing a decision-making model to analyze the relationships among key factors regarding three dimensions: technology, user, and society. The model begins by filtering out insignificant factors based on experts’ opinions. Subsequently, it employs DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) to construct a causal relationships graph and the ISM (interpretive structural modeling) method to categorize these factors into a hierarchical order. To mitigate uncertainties stemming from the topic’s complexity, this study utilizes fuzzy sets and Z-number theory in the assessment process. The findings reveal a predominance of causal factors within the technological dimension. Notably, the quality of information provided by chatbots stands out as the most influential causal factor. The insights from this study suggest implications for both enterprises and governments to boost chatbot adoption in society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building a Healthy Future: Public Health and Sustainable Solutions)
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Review

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19 pages, 2656 KiB  
Review
Digital Health Technologies in Patient Experience Literature: A Scoping Review and Future Outlook for Sustainable Digital Health Interventions
by Arif Aytekin, Hale Alan, Hüsne Demirel, Neslihan Onur, Ayşen Yalman, Tuba Livberber and Fatma Yiğit-Açıkgöz
Sustainability 2025, 17(2), 456; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020456 - 9 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1014
Abstract
The aim of this study is to address the issues identified in previous reviews and meta-analyses regarding the progress of patient experience literature and to highlight the most important concepts specifically related to digital health technologies. To do so, we have carried out [...] Read more.
The aim of this study is to address the issues identified in previous reviews and meta-analyses regarding the progress of patient experience literature and to highlight the most important concepts specifically related to digital health technologies. To do so, we have carried out a comprehensive analysis of the literature on patient experience in the category of health science services databases over the past decade and identified the tools related to digital health technologies within these studies. This is a bibliometric study based on data obtained from the Web of Science and Scopus between the years 2014 to and 2024 by using 11 search terms. In this review, a total of 21,392 publications from patient experience literature over the last decade were analyzed. Keywords were grouped by showing their co-occurrence using bibliometric and scientific mapping analyzing methods. The development of digitalization and digital tools has contributed to the advancement of theory in the field of digital health, eHealth, electronic health records, health information technology, the internet, mhealth, mobile applications, mobile health, patient portals, smartphones, social media, telemonitoring, web, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality, telehealth, telemedicine, telerehabilitation, and virtual care. These developments have provided sustainable digital health benefits in the development of patient experience theories. The findings of this study emphasize that digital health tools cover a wide area of research, and the application of information and communication technologies goes beyond the field of medicine and covers the broad field of healthcare. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building a Healthy Future: Public Health and Sustainable Solutions)
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