Observed on Monday, October 6, 2026, World Habitat Day focuses global attention on the state of towns and cities and

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In this episode of the "World We Want" podcast, Márcia Balisciano interviews Mandi McReynolds, Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of External Affairs and Customer Advocacy at Workiva. They discuss corporate responsibility, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, and the alignment of these strategies with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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In this episode of the "World We Want" podcast, Márcia Balisciano interviews Simona Bianchi, Assistant Professor at the ReStruct Group in the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft. They talk about advancing climate-resilient building technologies, sustainable urban development, and the critical role of interdisciplinary collaboration in aligning research with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This study develops a capacity expansion model with grid operational detail and high spatial resolution to examine decadal pathways to carbon neutrality by 2060 considering localized and temporal impacts.

Elsevier,

Meeting SDGs in Smart City Infrastructures, Federation, Interoperability, and Discoverability, Smart Cities, 2026, Pages 151-189

This chapter supports UN SDGs 11, 7, and 3 by discussing how AI can improve various aspects of urban planning, transportation, public safety, and environmental management to create more livable and sustainable cities; highlighting AI as a key enabler for optimizing energy distribution, identifying areas for conservation, and integrating renewable energy sources to help cities achieve climate-neutrality goals; and explaining how AI can enhance healthcare services through personalized monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as improve access to basic healthcare for citizens.

This chapter supports UN SDGs 7, 11, and 13 by offering a structure for urban policy-makers to create sustainable and energy-efficient cities by means of combined urban design, creative policy development, and environmentally friendly transportation options.
The article proposes a predictive control strategy for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) that utilizes route information from digital map providers to enable electric driving within zero-emission zones. The study develops a supervisory control with Dynamic Programming in the cloud to calculate an optimal State of Charge (SOC) trajectory, which is then used to guide the rule-based controller in the vehicle.
Incorporating human behavioral factors into travel demand analysis is increasingly critical in transportation planning.
Elsevier,

Net-Zero Transit, The Future of Eco-Friendly Transportation, 2025, Pages 1-28

This chapter supports SDG 7, 9, and 11 by exploring innovations in renewable energy sources and their potential to facilitate clean transportation alternatives; highlighting the importance of developing sustainable transportation infrastructure and leveraging technological advancements to achieve net-zero emissions; and emphasizing the role of urban planning and design in creating more environmentally friendly and equitable transportation systems.

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