This book discusses several topics regarding different vocabularies, such as sacred architecture, heritage buildings, open spaces, landmarks, and street escapes, all of which have a direct influence on the city form. The city form is also affected by the indirect impact of the citizens themselves, for example their culture, which in turn depends on the arts, as can be seen and embodied in morals, paintings, media, digital art, and sculpture. The book also examines the fundamental elements that are responsible for the identity of the city. Presenting case studies that demonstrate the how implementing the concept of the responsibility of architecture and arts affects the development of our cities, the book offers a new approach that is based on the available features of a city and explores how planners and decision-makers can use these features to address the myriad problems that our cities are facing.

This book discusses several topics regarding different vocabularies, such as sacred architecture, heritage buildings, open spaces, landmarks, and street escapes, all of which have a direct influence on the city form. The city form is also affected by the indirect impact of the citizens themselves, for example their culture, which in turn depends on the arts, as can be seen and embodied in morals, paintings, media, digital art, and sculpture. The book also examines the fundamental elements that are responsible for the identity of the city. Presenting case studies that demonstrate the how implementing the concept of the responsibility of architecture and arts affects the development of our cities, the book offers a new approach that is based on the available features of a city and explores how planners and decision-makers can use these features to address the myriad problems that our cities are facing.

Informality through Sustainability explores the phenomenon of informality within urban settlements and aims to unravel the subtle links between informal settlements and sustainability. Penetrating its global profile and considering urban informality through an understanding of local implications, the authors collectively reveal specific correlations between sites and their local inhabitants. The book opposes simplistic calls to legalise informal settlements or to view them as ‘problems’ to be solved. It comes at a time when common notions of ‘informality’ are being increasingly challenged. In 25 chapters, the book presents contributions from well-known scholars and practitioners whose theoretical or practical work addresses informality and sustainability at various levels, from city planning and urban design to public space and architectural education. Whilst previous studies on informal settlements have mainly focused on cases in developing countries, approaching the topic through social, cultural and material dimensions, the book explores the concept across a range of contexts, including former Communist countries and those in the so-called Global North. Contributions also explore understandings of informality at various scalar levels – region, precinct, neighbourhood and individual building. Thus, this work helps reposition informality as a relational concept at various scales of urbanisation. This book will be of great benefit to planners, architects, researchers and policymakers interested in the interplay between informality and sustainability.

The promotion of sustainable urban development and livable cities in the past three decades has effectively merged the themes of urban health, urban sustainability, and urban livability into an integrated research field. As more people are predicted to live in a relatively confined space, the balance between the physical/built environment, social environment, and urban dwellers becomes more delicate. Urban systems have evolved to be more complex than ever during this process. While complex systems often offer relative stability, delicate balance requires carefully designed plans and management to avoid collapse. It is, hence, of great interest and importance to know what future sustainable and livable cities look like. Intersecting Health, Livability, and Human Behavior in Urban Environments considers how to improve the quality of the environment and healthy living in contemporary and future urban environments. Covering key topics such as environmental health, smart cities, and urban health, this premier reference source is ideal for policymakers, government officials, scholars, researchers, academicians, instructors, and students.

This book discusses how cities’ identities are formed and developed over time and portrays architecture and the arts as the embodiment of the historical, cultural, and economic characteristics of cities. Furthermore, it explores strategies and solutions to preserve the cultural heritage along the Silk Road, representing a compilation of research addressing the economic and social opportunities and challenges related to the development of a more sustainable and responsible approach to tourism development and the preservation of heritage. As such, it covers a wide range of audiences including economists, architects, planners, tourism experts, and decision-makers interested in making use of cities' available resources and features, offering strategies to explore development opportunities through sustainable and responsible tourism along the Silk Road. This book is a culmination of selected research papers from the first version of the International Conference on "Silk Road Sustainable Tourism Development and Cultural Heritage (SRSTDCH)" which was held in 2021 in collaboration with Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the European Interdisciplinary Silk Road Tourism Centre, Greece and the 5th Edition of the International Conference on “Cities’ Identity Through Architecture and Arts (CITAA)” which was held in 2021 in collaboration with University of Pisa, Italy.