Abstracts Submission

The rapid proliferation of misinformation and disinformation through mass and social media has fueled increasing social and political polarization and distrust, increasing conflict across scales of plan and policy-making that hamper collective decision-making processes. When traditional forms of evidence (e.g., data, science, public testimony) are dismissed as fake news and there is little sense of a shared lived experience and knowledge, dispute resolution practices at the core of planning practice become inadequate to handle such situations. As society questions what is real within the growing isolation of echo chambers, trust in the institutions in which planning practice and policy making are embedded are increasingly eroded. In this thematic issue, we seek to cover a broad range of perspectives and analyses on this matter. Examples could include studies explaining how misinformation and disinformation have interfered with planning processes and outcomes, how misinformation and/or disinformation were addressed in these processes, and/or how effective these strategies were. Techniques supporting the scholarship range from literature review and case studies, to research on participatory practices, to data analytics, visualization, and/or computational approaches.

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 Urban Planning 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.

This thematic issue invites scholars and practitioners to share their perspectives on urban planning responses to disaster reconstruction. Disasters often prompt innovation in urban planning. For instance, the rebuilding plans after the Second World War involved both pragmatic responses and aspirations for social, economic, and technological change, as evidenced by certain reconstruction plans. Such situations require not only the rebuilding of infrastructure and physical structures but also the reconsideration of civic identity. This leads to discussions about the individuals involved in plan-making and the potential for new forms of governance that deliver social, economic, and environmental benefits beyond the influence of a central "master planner."

Many plans captured the essence of collective priorities and reconstruction challenges while influencing urban planning discourse for decades. Academic interest in reconstructed buildings is growing, as is public engagement with post-catastrophe rebuilding, driven by commemorative events and physical mementoes. Re-evaluation of reconstructed buildings has led to some being protected and others redeveloped to meet changing needs. This prompts important questions: What lessons can be learned from past replanning and rebuilding efforts, including after the Second World War, that could inform responses to current and future urban crises?

Researchers are invited to submit contributions with qualitative, quantitative, or mixed approaches to explore these and related questions. Articles should explore post-catastrophe replanning and rebuilding in a range of different contexts and scales. The ambition is to provide critical perspectives for scholars and decision-makers in urban planning, geography, and other built environment disciplines, building multi-actor collaboration, thereby promoting sustainable approaches to rebuilding.

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 Urban Planning 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.

Congestion pricing, whilst a potent tool for curbing vehicle demand in dense urban cores, faces political, practical, and equity barriers. Its implementation often exacerbates concerns around affordability, traffic displacement, and regressive impacts on lower-income groups. Critically, pricing alone fails to inherently create walkable environments; it prioritises vehicular flow over people. This thematic issue advances the discourse by examining integrated, technology-enhanced strategies that reduce car dependency whilst elevating pedestrian accessibility, safety, and equity.

We invite contributions exploring innovative traffic demand management (TDM) strategies beyond—or complementary to—congestion pricing, with emphasis on AI-driven solutions and their societal implications. Key areas include:

• AI-optimised traffic systems: Predictive analytics for dynamic kerbside management, parking pricing, and low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) modelling.
• Equity-centred AI: Harnessing machine learning to identify mobility disparities, optimise public transit for underserved communities, and simulate equity impacts of TDM policies.
• Behavioural interventions: AI-powered personalised mobility nudges (e.g., journey planning, incentivising walking/transit) and data-driven policy design.
• Physical interventions: Scalable traffic-calming designs, LTNs, and parking reforms reclaiming street space for pedestrians.
• Systemic enablers: Flexible work policies, shared mobility integration, and transit-oriented development.

A core focus is the synergy between reduced traffic volumes/speeds and enhanced walkability. How can AI and TDM strategies collectively mitigate pedestrian-vehicle conflicts, improve air quality along walking corridors, and foster inclusive, healthy streetscapes? Crucially, we demand critical scrutiny of algorithmic bias, surveillance risks, and digital divides in tech-led solutions.

This thematic issue seeks empirical studies, theoretical critiques, and policy analyses examining how cities can leverage technology—ethically and equitably—to achieve dual goals: sustainable traffic reduction and universal pedestrian accessibility. Submissions must foreground justice, ensuring strategies benefit disabled, elderly, low-income, and marginalised communities whilst centring the human experience of urban mobility.

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 Urban Planning 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.

Ethnographic methods are widely used in many social sciences, as they represent a unique way for researchers to immerse themselves into the lived reality of their objects of study. By studying phenomena in their real life context, ethnographies reveal relationships, practices, and behaviours that other research methods might overlook and thus might more accurately capture the complexities encountered in the organization of society.

In the field of urban and regional planning, ethnographic methods can provide crucial insights into issues such as the interplay of agency and structure in the creation of planning policies, the daily routines of politicians, planners, and citizens, or the effects of changes in the built environment on the lives of specific groups. Despite their significant potential to provide unique insights into the complicated, emotional, cultural, social, and human dimensions of planning, ethnographic methods have to date only been sporadically used in planning research.

This thematic issue aims to provide insights into different ethnographic approaches used in planning research and other fields shaping the built environment. Contributions to the thematic issue might present specific cases but each article should include an in-depth methodological reflection. These methodological reflections are intended to discuss the scientific and practical reasoning behind the chosen method(s), the practical steps of data collection and analysis, the potentials for novel insights originating from the chosen method(s), the practical, ethical, and conceptual challenges faced during implementation and analysis, as well as the skills required and acquired by researchers when conducting the research. By discussing these aspects, the thematic issue strives to be a useful resource for planning researchers and to support the inclusion of ethnography-based methods in their methodological toolkits.

In the selection of contributions to the thematic issue, specific attention will be paid to the inclusion of a diverse set of methods (e.g. observation, shadowing, narrative interviews, diaries, digital ethnography, and visual and sensory methods) and objects of study (e.g., elite and marginalized actors). The thematic issue will also highlight the field-specific challenges associated with ethnographic research, for example the highly political and sometimes sensitive nature of negotiations and planning decisions, and the needed strategies for trust building between researchers and study participants. Here, attention will be paid to the activist potential for ethnography to empower and transform the lives of those studied, e.g., through participant-led approaches. Not least, the thematic issue aims to discuss the potential challenges of ethnography-based research to fit into standardized publishing formats like journal articles. Contributions with unconventional, radical, and artistic styles of writing and narrating are therefore especially welcome when these stylistic choices support the value and reach of the ethnography.

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 Urban Planning 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.