Global environmental challenges are increasing, such as climate change and rapid urbanisation, and human influence on the environment continues to grow. Many of the resulting risks lead to diseases and negative impacts on health and quality of life. It is now essential to develop more sustainable and healthy environments, with a greater focus on prevention through actions targeting the root causes of disease. Urban communities play a critical role in achieving sustainability overall. They are where most of the world’s population lives, and they comprise high concentrations of services, consumption, and waste. By focusing on reducing environmental and social risk factors, almost a quarter of the global burden of disease can be avoided through better health promotion strategies, improved prevention and hygiene measures, and safer management of toxic substances in homes and workplaces.

Recently, technological advancements in the sustainable design field have allowed us to reduce the ecological impact of the built environment, to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, to create healthy environments, and in some cases may even rehabilitate the ecosystem. Nevertheless, several studies have been carried out showing that sustainable technology does not automatically lead to environmentally friendly behavior in its users. Various environmental problems threaten environmental sustainability and many of these problems are rooted in human behavior. Unfortunately, there is a lack of studies which take into consideration the human behavior influences within a sustainable built environment. We believe that the built environment should be used to support human goals and requirements, but at the same time we should consider it as a context in which human values and behaviors are cultivated.

The main objective of this Special Issue is to promote environmentally friendly behavior by taking advantage of the social, psychological, and physical influences of the built environment. We hope to highlight the interdisciplinary connections between the environment and human health, focusing mainly on new ideas and suggestions for promoting both sustainable development and human health and well-being. The overall aim is to create a new approach to the analysis of human impacts on the natural environment and, conversely, to determine how the environment can modulate human lifestyles and behaviors and thus human health. This Special Issue welcomes original research and review articles exploring the opportunities and challenges urban communities face, as they seek to become sustainable systems embedded in their diverse and complex social and environmental contexts.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Urban human activity
• Outdoor facilities for mental and physical well-being
• Bio-healthy architecture
• Healthy facilities
• Environmentally friendly
• Indoor environment quality
• Building innovation systems
• Health outcomes
• Environmental buildings