Journal profile · Engineering-Computational Mechanics
npj Urban Sustainability
ISSN 2661-8001 · Nature Portfolio · United Kingdom
npj Urban Sustainability: CAS Zone 1 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 10.9 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 2,590; median 203 days to acceptance (102 articles, last 24 months); 134 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
npj Urban Sustainability is published by Nature Portfolio and is in Zone 1 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Land Use and Ecosystem Services, Urban Green Space and Health and Urban Heat Island Mitigation, together about 42.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Find out about the journal's aims and scope. Supporting the Sustainable Developmental Goals We are proud to acknowledge that over 50% of the articles published in npj Urban Sustainability in 2025 were related to one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Springer Nature supports the SDGs through a dedicated SDG Programme and is a signatory of the SDG Publishers Compact.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Engineering-Computational Mechanics
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 20%); most named South Africa 2, Mainland China 1, Hong Kong, China 1, Sweden 1 (5 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science16.5%
- Urban Green Space and HealthEnvironmental Science16.2%
- Urban Heat Island MitigationEnvironmental Science10%
- Urban Transport and AccessibilitySocial Sciences7.6%
- Sustainability and Climate Change GovernanceEnvironmental Science5.7%
- Climate Change and Health ImpactsEnvironmental Science4.2%
- Urban Agriculture and SustainabilityAgricultural and Biological Sciences4%
- Smart Cities and TechnologiesEngineering3.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Environmental Studies | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Urban Studies | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Environmental Studies | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Urban Studies | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEWeb of SciencePublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 10.9Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 12.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 11.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.76LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.78LetPub ·
- h-index
- 49OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 182OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 7.66OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 130LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,101,235Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 470 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 150 | 150 | 148 |
| 2025 | 134 | 134 | 1,101 |
| 2024 | 52 | 52 | 1,326 |
| 2023 | 57 | 57 | 1,866 |
| 2022 | 35 | 35 | 1,526 |
| 2021 | 41 | 41 | 3,144 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
203 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 152 days – 291 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (102 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 232 days
- Sample
- 102 articles with submission and acceptance dates (292 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 33 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 33 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open peer review, Double anonymous peer review, Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 2,190 / USD 2,590 / GBP 1,790 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,490 / EUR 2,090 / GBP 1,690 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,590 / USD 2,390 / EUR 1,990 | Yes | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open Access
npj Urban Sustainability is a fully open access journal. More on Creative Commons Attribution licenses and the benefits of publishing open access can be found in this section.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Nature Portfolio
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2661-8001
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about npj Urban Sustainability
What CAS zone is npj Urban Sustainability in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, npj Urban Sustainability is in Zone 1 of Engineering, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Environmental Studies / Urban Studies; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of npj Urban Sustainability?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 10.9 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 11.9, h-index 49.
How long does peer review take at npj Urban Sustainability?
Based on the dates recorded on 102 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 203 days (interquartile range 152–291 days); authors report an average review time of about 33 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Where are the editorial board members of npj Urban Sustainability based?
Of the 5 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 20%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are South Africa (2), Mainland China (1) and Hong Kong, China (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index npj Urban Sustainability?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, npj Urban Sustainability is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists SCIE and Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is npj Urban Sustainability open access, and what is the APC?
npj Urban Sustainability is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,590.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .