Water scarcity is a huge challenge for industrial and urban developments. As such developments are based on a secure water supply, strategies to ensure the required water quantities must be put into effect. In this context, sustainability is becoming an increasingly important factor due to the worsening of pollution and climate change. The integrated industrial–urban water‐reuse concept (IU‐WA‐RE) links gray and green infrastructures by providing reuse water for different infrastructural purposes. Municipal and industrial wastewater is treated separately in different water resource recovery facilities. As a baseline the SEMIZENTRAL approach with the Resource and Recovery Center (RRC) and the Industrial Wastewater Management Concept with a focus on Reuse (IW²MC→R) for the industrial wastewater treatment are taken into account. These approaches are new concepts for wastewater treatment “fit for purpose.” IU‐WA‐RE combines the water‐reuse concepts by linking reuse water flows between the urban area and the adjacent industrial park, but focuses not on a production internal water reuse. The concept is designed to offer a holistic strategy to increase the water‐reuse potential and thus the water resources. It offers a solution to cover the lack of water requirements in urban areas. It is therefore possible to drive sustainable urban developments.Practitioner points: The water‐reuse potential increases enormously by combining industrial and municipal wastewater flows. Industrial wastewater should be treated “fit for purpose” and applied in the urban area since the municipal wastewater is not sufficient to cover its own water requirements for infrastructural purposes. Water‐reuse for infrastructural purposes increases water resources. The application of reuse water drives sustainable urban developments.

The German buildings sector is currently facing a double challenge: meeting emission reduction targets and providing affordable housing in rapidly growing cities. Living space per person has a major impact on household energy consumption and it has increased significantly in recent decades. New construction increases the demand for often energy-intensive building materials, and energy demand during the use phase of buildings is positively related to the size of the space. Optimising the allocation of living space therefore offers great potential for addressing both challenges. Sufficiency policies such as flat exchanges, a financial bonus for moving and the provision of moving advice aim to reduce the total floor area in the housing sector by using existing space more efficiently. However, the effectiveness of such measures is not yet fully understood. As the sufficiency approach relies heavily on individual choices, residents’ involvement, perception and acceptance are crucial for the success of such measures. An investigation in selected German housing companies shows that the potential of these measures is not fully exploited under the current political and social framework in Germany. Social acceptance, new norms and business models for landlords are needed for the effective use of these measures. Policy relevance How effective is the implementation of sufficiency measures for space utilisation in the German rental housing sector? The success factors and limiting barriers of the measures along with the acceptability and effectiveness of these measures are investigated by interviewing housing companies (some of them social housing providers) that have the potential to implement such policies in their housing stock. Improvements are needed in the social and technical infrastructure to increase the effectiveness of the measures. Raising awareness, rethinking communications and designing effective financial incentives are recommended to make the measures attractive to the public. Involving all stakeholders, keeping the issue on the political agenda and engaging in dialogue with policymakers are considered effective steps in the process of achieving space sufficiency in the housing sector.

Land readjustment is a property formation process which rearranges the geometries of cadastral parcels and immovable property rights thereof in accordance with land use plans. The literature presents several studies which analyze the effectiveness of land readjustment in various countries. This article aims to contribute to the existing work by presenting an analysis for the Turkish case study based on the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework developed by Elinor Ostrom. For this purpose, the organizational procedures and institutional arrangements that frame land readjustment in Turkey are examined. This analysis reveals the areas of possible reform that may facilitate a transparent and accountable, participatory and inclusive, fair and cost-effective development of land.

Local climate policy depends on a transformation of the built environment. In urban areas, the built environment is largely an integrated product of land management and real estate management. This paper examines the effects of sense-making on urban climate policies in the built environment. Three major German cities are analysed in a comparative case study. The structuring element for both qualitative and quantitative data analyses is the concept of knowledge orders (Heinelt and Lamping in this issue). This study demonstrates the important role that the selection of beliefs, ideas and knowledge play in the development of local strategies against climate change by identifying a strong relationship between local knowledge orders and climate policy. The paper contributes to the urban policy literature by improving the understanding of local differences, including how knowledge orders affect land management and real estate management.

The article examines mechanisms for reorganizing leased agricultural land in Ukraine and Germany to foster sustainable agricultural structures. Both countries face distinct challenges: Ukraine confronts the dual challenge of war-related land rehabilitation and farm structural modernization, while Germany aims to integrate ecological considerations into voluntary lease reorganization. The study analyzes the legal and practical frameworks governing agricultural leases, identifies unresolved challenges, and develops approaches for implementing sovereign land consolidation tools. By addressing issues such as land use fragmentation and “patchwork” of leased parcels within the same field, this research proposes solutions for achieving long-term stability in agricultural structures through land lease reorganization. It also explores integrating ecological practices into lease agreements to balance economic productivity with environmental sustainability. The findings emphasize the need for tailored legal, institutional, and procedural frameworks to ensure agricultural land use’s long-term viability and resilience in both countries.