Landscape Virtual Modeling, Visual Simulation and Collaborative Knowledge Management for Urban and Regional Sustainability

Editorial PrEfacE i One role of the International Journal of E-Planning Research is to promote the debate of pioneering approaches in the field of urban and regional planning. In this issue, the International Journal of E-Planning Research continues the exploration of cutting edge planning themes and addresses key problems faced by urban and regional planners, policy makers, citizens and other stakeholders. The issue contains a mix of refereed research articles and book-reviews covering some of the latest developments in the field of urban and regional e-planning. The research articles address landscape virtual modeling, visual simulation for urban sustainability and the implementation of a model for collaborative environmental knowledge management in the planning field. The first article, " Coupling Real-Time 3D Landscape Models with Microclimate Simulations " , explores and discusses a new method for the visualisation of spatial changes and for the quan-tification of its effects on urban microclimate. While the visualization of spatial changes is particularly important for citizen participation in urban design processes, the quantification of its effects on the microclimate is a key condition for the development of landscapes resilient to warmer weather. In the case study reported in this article, the authors show how the model was initially calibrated and how different changes in the initial design were tested along with the variation in weather conditions up to 2080. in the next article – " Real-Time Visual Simulation of Urban Sustainability " – present and discuss the Sustainable City Visualization Tool (S-CITY VT), an instrument that aims to facilitate sustainability modeling and 3D visualizations and which has the potential to enhance citizen's engagement in urban and rural planning processes. S-CITY VT models the various aspects of sustainability, on a spatial and temporal basis, and provides an innovative form of data presentation through the