5th International Conference
Smart and Sustainable Cities

Large cities, with ample opportunities, often become areas of increased emotional stress. According to the World Health Organization, more than 60% of residents of megacities regularly experience stress caused by the rhythm and peculiarities of urban life. Urban psychology has become a full-fledged scientific field that studies how architecture, infrastructure, and life in densely populated, often stressful cities affect mental health, behavior, and social interactions. Urban psychology considers the city not only as an infrastructure, but also as a living space that forms energy, social activity and the inner state of a person.

Urban psychology is becoming a driver of the development of modern cities and enables addressing a range of practical issues:

• to meet the challenges of the new age (from burnout and loneliness to individualization and the accelerating rhythm of life) by assessing the emotional state of residents;
• understand how the city can compensate for the resulting emotional burden and stress and maintain the psychological health of citizens.;
• create a comfortable urban environment that helps to cope with negative factors, restore human strength and internal resources through architectural changes, infrastructure development, integration of green spaces and recreational areas.

At the master class, you will learn how architecture, infrastructure and social policies affect the behavior and well-being of residents; about the methods of urban psychology and examples of implemented projects that took into account the principles of urban psychology.

Invertebrate animals – inhabitants of the soil layer (earthworms, mollusks, centipedes, arachnids, insects) in the process of their vital activity maintain the "health" of urban soils. They contribute to loosening and aeration of the soil, its enrichment with chemicals, participate in the decomposition of plant litter, and regulate microbiological activity.
The abundance and taxonomic composition of invertebrates reflect the state of urban soils and the ecosystem of the city as a whole, and the diversity of life forms and the ratio of adult and larval stages in specific habitats are good indicators of the influence of various anthropogenic factors.

The study of the soil population allows:

• to diagnose the condition of the soil cover as the main component of ecosystems and identify negative changes at an early stage, since invertebrates are sensitive both to the direct effects of various factors of the urban environment and to indirect changes in soil properties under the influence of these factors.;
• to assess the sustainability of urban soils and "green zones" and identify potential threats that may be caused by both high anthropogenic stress and isolation of these zones from natural communities.;
• to recommend urban soil sanitation measures to preserve the diversity and abundance of soil animals involved in self-purification and improvement of the soil and the urban environment as a whole.

At the master class, you will get acquainted with the main taxonomic and ecological groups of invertebrates living in urban soils and the principles of soil and zoological diagnostics; practice methods of accounting and recording invertebrates, analyzing zoological material from soil traps installed in urban "green zones"; you will be able to independently diagnose the state of the soil environment and the influence of negative factors.

In urban conditions, anthropogenic activity forms urban landscapes, which differ in their belonging to the functional zone, the level of anthropogenic impact and the transformation of biological systems. Assessment of the ecological state of the environmental components in the city (water, soil, biota), taking into account the features of the landscape, allows us to take into account a complex of interactions and internal connections, to record and predict changes and consequences occurring in urban ecosystems.

The results of a comprehensive environmental assessment of urban ecosystems are crucial for:

• development of environmental programs and urban planning documentation for sustainable urban development and improvement of the quality of life of the population;
• identification of zones of abnormal geochemical pollution and migration routes of harmful substances and elements, which allows making decisions on the location of facilities in an urbanized area and selecting methods of soil remediation and sanitation.;
• regulation of traffic flows, urban areas and recreational areas.

During the master class, you will learn about the main stages and methods of conducting a comprehensive environmental assessment of urban ecosystems, the qualitative, quantitative (the content of pollutants in water, sediments and soil, characteristics of biological components of ecosystems and urban landscapes) and integral (pollution indices) indicators used to assess the environmental situation both at the city level and at the city level. and at the level of a specific site.

SSC-2026 conference will be held September 9-11, 2026 in a face-to-face format.

SSC-2026 conference will include the plenary session, key-note lectures, 5 thematic sessions, 2 round tables, 3 masterclasses. Both oral presentations and posters are welcome for the sessions, whereas only invited lectures are accepted for the round tables. Russian and English are the official languages ​​of the conference.

SSC-2026 Proceedings will contain conference papers. The submitted papers will be reviewed by the editorial board and accepted papers will be published by Springer Geography and indexed in Web of Science. The information on the author requirements and publication fees will be available soon.