Cities are engines of economic progress. But they also shape conditions for social capital and human well-being. The role of cities in modern times has become more prominent as a result of the world-wide rise in urbanisation, which has induced the rise of more and bigger cities (the so-called ‘New Urban World’). Clearly, cities are also under stress, seen from the perspective of poverty, environmental quality or crime.

Cities in the ‘urban century’ (UN) are a melting pot of conflicting interests. In recent years, we have witnessed a rising interest in ‘happy cities’. These are cities which have created favourable conditions (e.g., good quality of life, attractive neighbourhoods, accessible public space, community feeling) that are a stimulus for residents’ happiness. Interesting examples can be found in the ‘geography of happiness’, the ‘economics of happiness’, the ‘social psychology of happiness’, and so forth. The quantitative study of ‘happy cities’ is becoming a rich source of new ideas and conceptualisations on modern city life and deserves more prominent attention in the international literature.

In addition to ‘happy cities’, we also see an increasing popularity of ‘healthy cities’. These are cities which offer sound environmental conditions (e.g., liveability, air and water quality, green spaces, safe neighbourhoods, climate neutral production and consumption, virus-resistant cities) that favour individual and group well-being (mentally and physically). The recent literature shows a rising interest in the conditions for – and impacts of – healthy cities, often in relation to the emerging need for urban climate adaptation strategies. Now in this pandemic situation need of healthy cities are more essential.

Issue Theme : Critical learning from sustainable practices: Opportunities for planning and design studio pedagogy Last date of Paper submission: 31-08-2021 Faced with contemporary challenges of environmental degradation, economic instability, and social integration, it is imperative that architects and planners are adequately equipped to meet these issues. As the primary means of educating architects and planners, the planning and design studio, and its associated pedagogy, should enable meaningful learning for sustainable solutions. The planning and design studio can increase critical engagement and awareness, encouraging acceptance that sustainability is a contestable and value-led concept (Gürel, 2010). Despite its potential for trans-disciplinary learning (Khan, Vandevyvere, & Allacker, 2013), these opportunities for critical learning in the planning and design studio are rarely exploited by the faculties. This issue of IJPAS aims to examine opportunities for integrating sustainable concepts into the architecture and planning studio through an instrumental studio problem, 1. To describe the current state of sustainable concepts integration into architectural and planning studio exercises. 2. To reveal opportunities to enhance deep and critical learning for sustainable concepts in an architectural and planning studio.