The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into urban systems presents both transformative opportunities and significant governance challenges for sustainable development. Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Cities (AIFSC) is launched as a peer-reviewed, open access journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research and reviews on the application of AI, data-driven technologies, and engineering innovations in sustainable urban environments. The journal’s mission is to advance resilient, efficient, low-carbon, and inclusive cities, in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This editorial outlines the journal’s rationale, scope, and vision, and situates AIFSC within the growing global discourse on intelligent and sustainable urban systems.
Cities are at the centre of the global sustainability transition. They are simultaneously major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, resource consumption, and environmental degradation, and critical sites for innovation, governance, and social change. In recent years, artificial intelligence has emerged as a powerful enabling technology in urban contexts, supporting advances in energy management, intelligent buildings, smart mobility, environmental monitoring, infrastructure management, and urban decision-making.
As AI-driven systems become increasingly embedded in urban environments, questions of sustainability, resilience, equity, and governance have become more urgent. While technical capabilities continue to advance rapidly, the effective and responsible integration of AI into cities requires interdisciplinary collaboration that bridges engineering, data science, urban planning, environmental science, and public policy.
Despite growing research activity, work at the intersection of AI and sustainable cities remains dispersed across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries. Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Cities is established to provide a dedicated scholarly platform that brings these perspectives together and supports the development of robust, evidence-based solutions to complex urban challenges.
Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Cities publishes original research articles, review papers, perspectives, and methodological contributions that examine the design, implementation, and governance of AI-enabled solutions for sustainable urban development. The journal emphasises both technical innovation and its broader environmental, social, and policy implications.
The scope of AIFSC includes, but is not limited to:
AI-driven energy management and low-carbon urban systems
Intelligent building systems and sustainable infrastructure
Smart mobility, transport optimisation, and logistics
Environmental monitoring, climate adaptation, and mitigation using AI
Digital twins, simulation, and urban decision-support systems
Robotics and automation in urban and infrastructure contexts
AI governance, ethics, and regulation in cities
Data-driven urban planning and resource-efficient city design
By providing an interdisciplinary forum, the journal seeks to connect researchers, engineers, urban planners, and policymakers, and to facilitate knowledge exchange between academia and practice.
AIFSC is committed to high standards of academic quality, transparency, and research integrity. All research articles are subject to peer review appropriate to their disciplinary and methodological context. The journal encourages methodological clarity, reproducibility where applicable, and responsible reporting of AI-based research and applications.
As an open access journal, AIFSC aims to maximise the visibility and accessibility of published work, supporting global engagement with research on sustainable urban development. The journal recognises that cities differ widely in their institutional, social, and environmental contexts, and actively encourages submissions that reflect geographic diversity and varied development pathways.
AIFSC is committed to high standards of academic quality, transparency, and research integrity. All research articles are subject to peer review appropriate to their disciplinary and methodological context. The journal encourages methodological clarity, reproducibility where applicable, and responsible reporting of AI-based research and applications.
As an open access journal, AIFSC aims to maximise the visibility and accessibility of published work, supporting global engagement with research on sustainable urban development. The journal recognises that cities differ widely in their institutional, social, and environmental contexts, and actively encourages submissions that reflect geographic diversity and varied development pathways.