The Dynamics of Sustainable, Inclusive and Equitable Human Settlements (Volume 2): Pan African City Symposium 2025

The 2025 Pan African City Symposium and Exposition (PACSE), convened under the theme “Driving Innovation, Advancing Sustainability, and Empowering Equity,” brings together global practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and thought leaders from across Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the African diaspora. This multidisciplinary gathering explores bold, locally grounded, and globally informed approaches to building sustainable cities and resilient human settlements.

PACSE 2025 servs as a platform to interrogate and reimagine how urban systems—particularly in communities historically marginalized or underserved—can harness innovation to solve contemporary challenges around housing, infrastructure, energy, water, waste, food systems, and climate resilience. Presenters showcased pioneering strategies for circular economies, indigenous knowledge integration, inclusive planning, smart village models, and climate-adaptive infrastructure, offering a unique window into emerging practices from both the Global South and North.

Central to PACSE 2025 is a commitment to equity. Contributions examine how race, gender, class, and geography intersect in shaping access to resources and opportunities within urban and rural systems. From women-led development in Africa and Latin America to youth-driven climate action and diaspora finance models, the symposium amplifies underrepresented voices and solutions.

This Research Topic published across Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management and Frontiers in Sustainable Cities welcomes contributions that reflect PACSE’s pillars:

1. Innovation: Exploring cutting-edge technologies, social innovation, and design thinking that catalyze change.

2. Sustainability: Highlighting resource-efficient, low-carbon, and ecologically regenerative practices adaptable across contexts.

3. Equity: Advancing inclusive frameworks that center justice, dignity, and co-creation for historically excluded populations.

4. Building resilient communities and cities

Through this partnership with Frontiers, PACSE aims to disseminate the transformative insights generated during the symposium and contribute meaningfully to the global dialogue on sustainable urban and resource systems—positioning African, Caribbean, and diaspora contributions not at the margins, but at the forefront of this urgent work.

This special collection is framed around these interlocking pillars, with submissions encouraged from academic researchers, practitioners, community leaders, and policy innovators whose work reflects the spirit and substance of PACSE 2025.

Please note this Research Topic accepts the following article types only:
Community Case Study
Conceptual Analysis
Data Report
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Original Research
Policy and Practice Reviews
Policy Brief
Review
Systematic Review
Technology and Code

Keywords: building technology, participation, sustainable human settlements, development innovation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.