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Caravel hosts and runs scholarly journals for societies, institutions, and editorial teams. The platform, the workflow, the production, the reach. Everything a journal needs, taken care of.
Talk to us about your journalJournal of Sustainable Systems
About the Journal
Journal of Sustainable Systems (JSS) is a peer-reviewed, open access journal publishing high-quality research on resilient infrastructure, climate, and the systems that connect them. The journal's mission is to advance data-driven approaches to sustainable urban development, supporting the transition towards low-carbon, equitable cities.
Most recent
Distributed energy networks and the slow rewiring of urban infrastructure
Carbon accounting at the city scale: lessons from a decade of data
Journal of Sustainable Systems
Vol 4
No 14
2026
Articles
Distributed energy networks and the slow rewiring of urban infrastructure
pp. 1-24
Carbon accounting at the city scale: lessons from a decade of data
pp. 25-48
Battery chemistries for community-scale storage: a systematic review
pp. 49-72
Heat networks in cold climates: a comparative case study across four Nordic cities
pp. 73-94
Editorial: On open infrastructure and the future of sustainability research
p. i
Journal of Sustainable Systems
Home / Vol 4, No 14 / Articles
Original Article
Distributed energy networks and the slow rewiring of urban infrastructure
Department of Urban Systems, Imperial College London
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cape Town
Abstract
We present findings from a multi-year study across twelve European cities, examining how decentralised energy systems reshape grid resilience, planning processes, and infrastructure policy. The research draws on field measurements from 240 sites, planning records spanning 2014 to 2025, and 88 stakeholder interviews. We find that the transition is structural rather than incremental, with implications for how cities procure, regulate, and integrate energy infrastructure.
Keywords: distributed energy, urban infrastructure, grid resilience, sustainability transitions
References
- Bertaud, A. (2018). Order without design: How markets shape cities. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10671.001.0001
- Glaeser, E. L., & Kahn, M. E. (2021). The greenness of cities. Journal of Urban Economics, 117, 103-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2020.103275
- IEA. (2024). Energy efficiency 2024. International Energy Agency. https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-efficiency-2024
- Newman, P., & Kenworthy, J. (2015). The end of automobile dependence. Island Press. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-613-4
- ...and 58 more.
DOI
10.61980/jss.2026.04.14.001
Published
12 May 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0Metrics
How to cite
Journal of Sustainable Systems
Home / About / About the Journal
About the Journal
Journal of Sustainable Systems (JSS) publishes original research and review articles on resilient infrastructure, urban climate adaptation, distributed energy, and the systems that connect them. The journal is committed to advancing data-driven, interdisciplinary approaches to the design of sustainable cities.
Aims & scope
JSS welcomes contributions from civil engineering, environmental science, urban planning, energy systems, and data science. We publish empirical studies, methodological papers, systematic reviews, and editorials.
Editorial board
ISSN
2755-0042 (Online)
Frequency
Continuous, indexed quarterly
Open access
All articles published under CC BY 4.0, free to read, free to share, free to build upon.
Peer review
Double-anonymous, average time to first decision: 28 days.
Established
2023
A Caravel-hosted journal, rendered.
Built on Open Journal Systems, fully branded for your journal.
Workflow
Yours to lead. Ours to run.
From manuscript to indexed article. Guiding you through each step.
Stage one
Submission.
Authors submit through your branded portal. We configure submission requirements, metadata fields, and author guidelines to your specification, then keep them updated as your policies evolve.
New submission
Stage two
Editorial and peer review.
Your editors triage submissions, assign reviewers, and weigh the reports. We run the platform that tracks every step, sends reminders, and keeps the audit trail. Double-anonymous, single-anonymous, or open. You set the policy. We handle the operations.
Reviewer assignments
Stage three
Decisions and revisions.
Accept, revise, reject. The platform manages versioning, author communication, and the complete decision history. Every reviewer report, every editorial note, every revised file, retained and retrievable.
Decision history
Stage four
Production.
Accepted manuscripts move to production. We coordinate copyediting and proofing with authors, then prepare final PDFs to your house style with embedded metadata, accessibility tags, and proper typography.
Production checks
- Copyedit complete
- Author proof signed off
- Typeset to house style
- Accessibility tags embedded
- Metadata validation
Stage five
Publication and DOI deposit.
Articles are published to your journal site the day they are ready. DOIs are minted and full metadata deposited to Crossref the same day, so citations resolve immediately and your authors can share their work straight away.
DOI minted
Stage six
Indexing and preservation.
We submit your journal to the indexes and discovery services it qualifies for, then keep that coverage maintained. Articles are also deposited to CLOCKSS for permanent preservation, so the record survives whatever the future holds.
Indexed & preserved
Support and training
Editors, supported.
From the first onboarding call to whenever a question comes up, your team has ours.
How it works
We don't hand your editors a manual and walk away.
When a journal joins Caravel, we schedule live video calls with your editorial team. We walk through the platform together, stage by stage, until everyone is comfortable.
Scheduled session
Google MeetOnboarding: editorial workflow walkthrough
Attendees
Live training sessions
Scheduled video calls with your team. Editorial workflow, reviewer assignment, production, everything you need to run the journal day to day.
Follow-up materials
Written notes and short walkthrough recordings after each session, kept on hand for whenever your team needs them.
Ongoing access
Direct email and call access to the Caravel team. No tickets. No queues.
Get in touch
Tell us about your journal.
A short call to walk through what hosting with Caravel would look like for your journal, your editors, and your community.
Books
Scholarly books, open access.
Monographs, edited volumes, and textbooks. Published to the same standards as our journals: peer reviewed, CC BY licensed, permanently preserved.
- ISBN registration and DOI per chapter, deposited to Crossref.
- Indexed in DOAJ Books, Google Books, and the major library discovery layers.
- Typeset to a clean house style. Print-on-demand available on request.
- Open access from day one, free to read worldwide.
Conference proceedings
Conference proceedings, properly published.
For societies and research networks running annual or biennial conferences. Each volume published as an open access collection, with the rigour of a journal issue.
- DOI per paper, ISBN per volume, deposited to Crossref.
- Peer review managed through the same workflow as our journals.
- Fast turnaround timed around your conference schedule.
- Permanent record, fully indexed, free to read.
Proceedings volume
Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Sustainable Urban Systems
Selected papers
A framework for integrating distributed energy assets at the district scale
doi.org/10.61980/icsus.2026.01
Heat networks and the social geography of fuel poverty
doi.org/10.61980/icsus.2026.02
Open data infrastructure for urban climate adaptation
doi.org/10.61980/icsus.2026.03