Digital Transition and New Forms of Spatial Inequality

The overarching goal of this thematic issue is to enhance our understanding of the evolving spatial structures of inequality within digitally transforming societies. To achieve this objective, we are seeking contributions that specifically address the changes occurring in housing and labor markets as a result of digital transformation. We invite submissions that explore how housing, residential segregation, mobility, and activity spaces are evolving among social and ethnic groups differentially impacted by digital transition, such as the varied effects of the ability to work remotely. These studies should capture residential and mobility-related decision-making processes at the national or urban scales, under different institutional and welfare contexts, as well as within the families.

We are particularly interested in contributions that focus, from the perspective of digital transition, on:

• segregation and housing outcome of specific population groups, such as IT workers or ethnic minorities;
• particular aspects of digital transition affecting labor and housing markets, and processes in physical spaces, such as remote working and multilocal living arrangements;
• changes in mobility, social interaction, and consumption behavior shaped by the shift of some of the activities from physical to digital space.

We are particularly interested in understanding how these changes manifest across different social and ethnic groups, allowing us to uncover the nuanced ways in which digital transition shapes and reshapes spatial opportunities and inequalities in cities and regions. Additionally, we welcome submissions that employ a variety of quantitative and qualitative data sources. Diverse data sources are crucial for providing new insights into the mechanisms through which digital transformation and the consequent shift of numerous activities to the digital space interact with opportunities and inequalities in physical space. By focusing on these themes, the thematic issue helps to deepen our empirical as well conceptual understanding of how digital technologies are reshaping social and spatial structures of opportunity and inequality in contemporary societies.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Social Inclusion is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.