Food environments are the collective physical, economic, digital, policy, and socio-cultural conditions that influence food and beverage choices. They are directly linked to diets and health outcomes such as overweight, obesity, and noncommunicable diseases.

Food environments are complex and, in recent years, economic, welfare, and technological developments have increased this complexity. The Covid-19 pandemic led to record levels of food waste in wealthier countries, due to retail closures, supply chain shocks, stockpiling, and the logistical challenges of redistributing food. The economic aftermath of the pandemic has contributed to a cost-of-living crisis which has further accelerated the growth of the charity food sector, and food banks in particular, as they become an evermore established feature of food and welfare landscapes. Greater levels of inequality and falls in income have had a negative impact on diet, with households left reliant on cheap, filling, processed foods. Against this backdrop of crises and inequality, the digitalization of food environments is becoming a central issue in public health, yet little is known about this emerging field. A variety of landscape metaphors including food deserts, food swamps, and food brownfields have been deployed to provide a critical lens for moving beyond a sole focus on retail outlets and towards pathologizing food environment failures.

All these factors motivate us to draw upon collective expertise in these fields for a thematic issue and provide an overview of current debates and evidence.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

•             Digital food environments

•             Food insecurity and charitable food aid

•             Conceptualizing and measuring food environments

•             The impact of Covid-19 on food environments

•             Disruptions to food systems and environments

The contribution of urban settlements to global warming is estimated at 70% of global CO²-eq emissions (IPCC AR6 WGIII, 2023, p. 877). The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) considers that established cities “will achieve the largest GHG emissions savings by replacing, repurposing, or retrofitting the building stock, targeted infilling and densifying, as well as through modal shift and the electrification of the urban energy system” (IPCC AR6 WGIII, 2023, p. 864). In the absence of significant reuse of vacant buildings or accounting for whole life carbon in construction and retrofits, national projections in countries like Ireland will overshoot targets for the built environment sector (O’Hegarty et al., 2022).

In older, established, urban settlements in Europe and elsewhere, much of the existing building stock is recognised in conventions and legislation for its architectural quality and heritage value. Increasingly, the commonality of purpose between conservation and the circular economy has been recognized in relation to retaining heritage assets in use without losing what is understood as their integrity or character (Huuhka & Vestergaard, 2019; Wise et al., 2021). Less accounted for is the contribution of heritage buildings to climate mitigation through adaptive reuse (Baker et al., 2021), thereby retaining their embodied emissions and averting new construction where possible, at least in the medium term. The lowered global warming potential of adaptive reuse of older structures is understudied in relation to demonstrated retrofit programmes that are cost effective and sensitive to heritage structures and their fabrics.

In this call for papers for Urban Planning, we seek abstracts (300–400 words) that analyse the convergences between retrofitting heritage buildings, the circular economy, urban revitalisation, sustainable communities, and sense of place. Example topics include revitalisation of town and city centre buildings and their plots, cost comparison of retrofit options versus further abandonment or demolition, life cycle analysis, calculation of embodied emissions, community-led transformations, and redesign of urban cores that retain heritage assets.

References:

Baker, H., Moncaster, A., Remøy, H., & Wilkinson, S. (2021). Retention not demolition: How heritage thinking can inform carbon reduction. Journal of Architectural Conservation, 27(3), 176–194.

Huuhka, S., & Vestergaard, I. (2019). Building conservation and the circular economy: A theoretical consideration. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, 10(1), 29–40.

IPCC AR6 WGIII. (2023). Urban systems and other settlements. In IPCC (Ed.), Climate change 2022: Mitigation of climate change (pp. 861–952, 1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781009157926%23c8/type/book_part

O’Hegarty, R., Wall, S., & Kinnane, O. (2022). Whole life carbon in construction and in the built environment in Ireland: Today, 2030, 2050. IGBC. https://www.igbc.ie/resources/whole-life-carbon-in-construction-and-in-the-built-environment-in-ireland-v4

Wise, F., Moncaster, A., & Jones, D. (2021). Rethinking retrofit of residential heritage buildings. Buildings and Cities, 2(1), 495–517.

The impact of climate change is one of the key challenges cities are confronting around the world (Chantillon et al., 2021). Consequently, cities have been taking the lead in developing adaptation and resilience strategies (Mehryar et al., 2022). However, such adaptation requires innovative approaches and an understanding of the governance context where they take place (Casiano Flores et al., 2020, 2021). Within these circumstances, co-creation practices have gained significant attention as effective governance strategies for harnessing local expertise and insights to develop innovative solutions (Torfing et al., 2019). Co-creation refers to the collaborative process between public and private actors in solving a shared public problem or task. This involves exchanging various resources to co-initiate, co-design, and/or co-implement visions, strategies, policies, regulatory frameworks, or technological solutions (Hofstad et al., 2022).

This thematic issue aims to explore the intersection of co-creation practices and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, virtual reality/augmented reality, and the Internet of Things, in addressing climate change adaptation in urban planning and management. Despite the growing interest in co-creation research, its integration with emerging technologies remains underdeveloped (Rodriguez Müller et al., 2021; Tan & Rodriguez Müller, 2023), limiting our understanding of its challenges and benefits for climate change adaptation in cities. This thematic issue seeks to fill this gap by shedding light on the interplay between emerging technologies and co-creation processes and providing insights into effective approaches, good practices, and cautionary experiences that can facilitate effective climate change responses in cities.

To contribute to this thematic issue, we invite empirical studies that focus on co-creation with emerging technologies to develop and implement strategies, policies, services, and infrastructure aimed at addressing climate challenges in cities. Potential research topics for this thematic issue include, but are not limited to, the following questions:

• How can emerging technologies support co-creation to achieve climate neutrality of (smart) cities by 2050?
• What are the challenges that co-creation with digital technologies for climate change adaptation can face and how can they be overcome?
• What are the ethical considerations and implications of co-creation processes with emerging technologies in urban climate governance?
• How can emerging technologies enhance the monitoring, evaluation, and feedback mechanisms of co-creation initiatives for climate change adaptation in cities?
• What are the potential synergies and trade-offs between digital co-creation and existing governance structures for climate change adaptation in cities?
• What are the barriers and enablers for successful implementation of co-creation initiatives with emerging technologies in urban climate change adaptation?
• To what extent do co-creation processes with emerging technologies lead to the adoption and implementation of sustainable policies and practices for climate change adaptation in cities?
• How can hybrid co-creation approaches, combining online and offline tools and methodologies, effectively leverage emerging technologies to address climate challenges in cities?

References:

Casiano Flores, C., Tan, E., Buntinx, I., Crompvoets, J., Stöcker, C., & Zevenbergen, J. (2020). Governance assessment of the UAVs implementation in Rwanda under the fit-for-purpose land administration approach. Land Use Policy, 99, Article 104725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104725

Casiano Flores, C., Tan, E., & Crompvoets, J. (2021). Governance assessment of UAV implementation in Kenyan land administration system. Technology in Society, 66, Article 101664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101664

Chantillon, M., Casiano Flores, C., Crompvoets, J., Sallano, M., Eiras Antunes, M., Garcia Barron, M., Barroca, J., Vicente, P., Vaz Raposo, A., & Sidique, G. (2021). Proposal for a European Interoperability Framework for Smart Cities and Communities (EIF4SCC). Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2799/816559

Hofstad, H., Sørensen, E., Torfing, J., & Vedeld, T. (2022). Designing and leading collaborative urban climate governance: Comparative experiences of co‐creation from Copenhagen and Oslo. Environmental Policy and Governance, 32(3), 203–216. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1984

Mehryar, S., Sasson, I., & Surminski, S. (2022). Supporting urban adaptation to climate change: What role can resilience measurement tools play? Urban Climate, 41, Article 101047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2021.101047

Rodriguez Müller, A. P., Casiano Flores, C., Albrecht, V., Steen, T., & Crompvoets, J. (2021). A scoping review of empirical evidence on (digital) public services co-creation. Administrative Sciences, 11(4), Article 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11040130

Tan, E., & Rodriguez Müller, A. P. (2023). Paths to citizens-controlled coproduction: The use of blockchain technology in digital coproduction. Public Management Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2023.2218388

Torfing, J., Sørensen, E., & Røiseland, A. (2019). Transforming the public sector into an arena for co-creation: Barriers, drivers, benefits, and ways forward. Administration & Society, 51(5), 795–825. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399716680057

For well over a decade, everyday urban life has been shaped by neoliberal austerity policies that affect everyday caring practices in both private and institutional contexts (Gabauer et al., 2022; Lawson, 2007; Theodore, 2020). However, practices of care are not only part of individual survival; they are also key elements of urbanity and of lived social day-to-day experiences in public spaces. Particularly in times of multiple societal crises, individual and communal quality of life are under severe stress. Therefore, caring communities and the resulting urban cultures of care are becoming an increasingly important element of social justice and cohesion in diversified urban societies.

Caring communities respond to unequal access to resources on the basis of intersectional powergeometries by caring for one another in a self-organized manner. As a result, new and more resilient social relationships might develop, which also collectively empower and enable socio-political democratization. However, caring communities do not simply take place in various spaces; they also produce public spaces of mutual care, which then become part of the city's social infrastructure (Latham & Layton, 2019; Middleton & Samanani, 2021; Simone, 2004). Therefore, a growing number of caring communities results in formal and informal cultures of care (Greenhough et al., 2022), which have the potential to create urban cultures of care with high social and spatial visibility and thus opportunities for social interaction.

In this thematic issue, we aim to develop further the concept of “caring communities” and to establish “urban cultures of care” by connecting different strands of already existing discourses. We invite articles from various fields related to urban studies that contribute novel conceptual ideas, insightful case studies, and critical perspectives. We particularly encourage young researchers and authors with a practice-based perspective on urban cultures of care to join this issue.

Reference list:

Gabauer, A., Knierbein, S., Cohen, N., Lebuhn, H., Trogal, K., Viderman, T., & Haas, T. (Eds.). (2022). Care and the city. Routledge.

Greenhough, B., Davis, G., & Bowlby, S. (2022). Why ‘cultures of care’? Social & Cultural Geography, 24(1), 1–10.

Latham, A., & Layton, J. (2019). Social infrastructure and the public life of cities: Studying urban sociality and public spaces. Geography Compass, 13(7), Article e12444.

Lawson, V. (2007). Geographies of care and responsibility. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 97(1), 1–11.

Middleton, J., & Samanani, F. (2021). Accounting for care within human geography. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 46(1), 29–43.

Simone, A. (2004). People as infrastructure: Intersecting fragments in Johannesburg. Public Culture, 16(3), 407–429.

Theodore, N. (2020). Governing through austerity: (Il)logics of neoliberal urbanism after the global financial crisis. Journal of Urban Affairs, 42(1), 1–17.

The United Nations' 2030 Agenda, with its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), plays a key role in urban sustainability. Cities around the world are using the SDGs as a framework to implement a more sustainable form of urban development. However, SDGs have been criticised for their lack of transformative potential, the difficulty of measuring implementation, as well as their reliance on voluntary action and their alignment with economic growth. Based on existing experiences in cities, this thematic issue takes a critical stance on local implementations of the SDGs and seeks contributions on lessons learned, existing problems, as well as indications for the future design of global sustainability agendas from a city perspective. In this way, the thematic issue aims to contribute to the ongoing debates on the post-2030 agenda. Contributions to the thematic issue may address questions such as the usefulness of global policy agendas for promoting local sustainability in general, the limitations of sustainability indicators and monitoring systems, accountability in urban development and planning, and whether innovations such as new forms of governance can support the 2030 Agenda and its successor. For this thematic issue, we are looking for contributions from different geographical backgrounds and theoretical approaches, as well as case studies and comparative work.

Representative of the growing awareness of pressing social, political, planning, and environmental issues in the food context, such as sustainable and fair food system design, is the thematic boom around the research field of food geographies. They open a critical view on current food production, preparation, and consumption relations in urban contexts from a geographical perspective and integrate also decolonial, feminist, and intersectional approaches. The shift of food policy to the urban level forms one of many solutions to current debates on the negative impacts and social injustices of food production, consumption, and waste.

By signing the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact in 2015, hundreds of cities recognized the importance of food as a significant urban system and its necessary socio-ecological transition(s) for achieving urban sustainability goals. In this context, public catering (food provided in public municipal entities) can be seen as ‘leverage point’ for transitions toward sustainable food systems. Similarly, civil society initiatives, such as food policy councils, demand for democratic participation in the decision-making processes on local food systems. Also, they call for ‘food justice’ in the sense of overcoming postcolonial power relations in urban foodscapes that led to exclusions from access to fresh, healthy food for disadvantaged social groups due to interlinked factors, such as class, gender, race, and age.

The aim of this thematic issue is to discuss the importance of food geographies for the research of social-ecological transition processes of the food system for a sustainable city. Hereby, the field of food geographies with its methodological approaches at the interface of different disciplines is to be critically assessed and new interdisciplinary perspectives are to be opened up.

Walkability has emerged as a key focus of multi-disciplinary research, linked to the aims of reversing car-dependence and re-enabling walking as a healthy, environmentally sustainable and sociable mode of mobility. While often conflated with actual walking, etymologically walkability refers to the capacity for walking enabled by the built environment. It has been linked to the key neighbourhood-scale morphological properties of access, density, and mix, as well as micro-scalar elements of the street section, such as public/private interfaces, footpaths, and landscaping. Yet none of these attributes can be reduced to a simple measure, nor are these separable from the natural conditions of topography or climate. The multiplicity of interrelations between these various factors is what defines the overall urban design quality.

This thematic issue will present a collection of articles engaging with the conundrum posed by the imperative for urban codes leading to the formation of walkable environments, and the intrinsic limitations of reducing such a complex spatio-temporal concept to a single index or metric. How can walkability be operationalised in a non-reductionist way? What research methods can capture spatial properties linked to walkability? Which urban codes can be effective in enhancing walkability and what are their limitations? How do walkable environments emerge informally? What are the unintended outcomes of formal codes for walkability? The issue will include articles contributing to urban theory, research methods, and planning practice, advancing understandings of walkability.

Current guidelines of urban development (e.g., EU Urban Agenda, The New Leipzig Charter) in western economies (e.g., the US, EU, Australia) have shifted their focus from functionally separated areas within cities towards integrated, sustainable, and mixed-used urban areas. One significant component of these efforts in the economic realm is the resurgence of “the productive city,” where urban production/manufacturing within local economies at the district level (e.g., neighborhood, quarter) have returned to these spatial settings and accordingly gained importance in planning, as is reflected, for example, in the guiding principle of the city of short distances or the compact city. These trends have recently been accelerated by the pandemic, the polarization of global trade, and the associated vulnerability of global production networks.

Various economic activities (urban agriculture, industries, services) are conceivable in the “productive city.” However, this thematic issue attempts to highlight urban production/manufacturing as tangible manifestations embedded in their local settings because they are conflict-ridden, emanate distinctive spatial characteristics, and require complex planning processes. Therefore, we call for empirical case studies of such local embedded economies with urban production/manufacturing activities that are predominantly situated at the district level. These activities can relate to high-tech (e.g., Industry 4.0) but also to low-tech and high-touch industries (e.g., crafts, furniture). Our principal interest rests on programs, projects, networks, or initiatives of communal, family, and/or small and medium urban production/manufacturing (collectives); moreover, studies that deal with novel municipal and/or non-state governance, planning, and promotion measures are welcome. All initiatives could emphasize—but are not limited to—constellations of resident actors relying on mix of uses, a neighborhood character, curation, low-emission and sustainability, specific settings and utilization of the built environment, or local value chains.

Suggested literature:

Blakely, E. J., & Leigh, N. G. (2013). Planning local economic development. SAGE.

BMI. (2020). The New Leipzig charter. https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/downloads/EN/eu-presidency/gemeinsame-erklaerungen/new-leipzig-charta-2020.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=8

Ferm, J., Panayotopoulos-Tsiros, D., & Griffiths, S. (2021). Planning urban manufacturing, industrial building typologies, and built environments: Lessons from inner London. Urban Planning, 6(3), 350–367.

Gärtner, S., & Meyer, K. (2023). Die Produktive Stadt. (Re-) Integration der Urbanen Produktion [The productive city. (Re-) Integration of urban production]. Springer.

Grodach, C., & Gibson, C. (2019). Advancing manufacturing?: Blinkered visions in US and Australian urban policy. Urban Policy and Research, 37(3), 279–293.

Harrison, J. (2014). The rise of the non-state ‘place-based’ economic development strategy. Local Economy, 29(4/5), 453–468.

Henn, S., Behling, M., & Schäfer, S. (Eds.). (2020). Lokale Ökonomie-Konzepte, Quartierskontexte und Interventionen [Local economy concepts, neighbourhood contexts and interventions]. Springer.

Lane, R. N., & Rappaport, N. (Eds.). (2020). The design of urban manufacturing. Routledge.

Mistry, N., & Byron, J. (2011). The federal role in supporting urban manufacturing. Brookings Institution.

Pike, A., Marlow, D., McCarthy, A., O’Brien, P., & Tomaney, J. (2015). Local institutions and local economic development: The Local Enterprise Partnerships in England, 2010–. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 8(2), 185–204.

Climate change and its far-reaching consequences have emerged as a paramount concern demanding our attention for the development of robust and resilient infrastructures (IPCC, 2014). Across the globe, urban centres grapple with escalating temperatures, surging sea levels, flooding and urban inundations, and severe weather extremes—all unequivocally attributed to climate change (C40 Cities, 2020; Montanya & Valera, 2016). Consequently, the very sustainability, resilience, longevity, functionality, and efficiency of urban infrastructures are jeopardized (Artur & Hilhorst, 2012; OECD, 2018).

Urban regions are progressively bearing the brunt of climate change, manifesting perilous consequences for the functionality and durability of existing infrastructure systems. Thus, a compelling argument emerges: the imperative to craft sustainable, resilient infrastructure employing innovative methods facilitated by smart technologies, fortifying urban environments to confront and adapt to the exigencies imposed by climate change (OECD, 2018).

Resilient infrastructure entails a dedicated focus on endowing infrastructure systems with the capability to withstand and rebound from the stresses and shocks ensuing from assorted challenges, all while remaining sustainable and functional (Holling, 1973, 1986). Smart technologies, including information communication technology, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence, represent potent tools to forge and create intelligent, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure. These technologies can simultaneously serve to monitor, control, manage, and optimize the performance of urban infrastructure. This symbiosis proffers frameworks and methodologies for the planning, development, construction, and management of urban infrastructure in the wake of climate change, thereby safeguarding the long-term existence and viability of urban habitats.

The thematic issue extends an invitation to explore the multifaceted dimensions of smart, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure. It beckons an examination of the dynamic interplay between urban planning, infrastructure development, smart technology, and climate change with the overarching goal of fostering the sustainability and resilience of infrastructure. In this context, the issue welcomes contributions in the form of original research, reviews, and case studies, encompassing various facets of the theme, including but not limited to:

• Climate change-responsive urban infrastructure planning and design.
• Integration of smart technology in the development, construction, management, and optimization of urban infrastructure functions, augmenting resilience.
• Resilience in urban mobility, water, energy systems, and communication in the face of climate-induced disruptions.
• Retrofitting of existing, vulnerable, and unsustainable infrastructure.
• Utilization of smart/advanced materials, including nanomaterials, for the construction and development of diverse urban infrastructures.
• Frameworks for policy, governance, and adaptation, including citizen participation and responsiveness, to meet the challenges posed by climate change.
• Showcase of case studies and best practices illustrating successes in smart and resilient urban infrastructure planning and development projects aimed at countering the challenges of climate change.
• Advanced and innovative methodological approaches.

References:

Artur, L., & Hilhorst, D. (2012). Everyday realities of climate change adaptation in Mozambique. Global Environmental Change, 22(2), 529–536.

C40 Cities. (2020). The future we don't want: How climate change could impact the world's greatest cities.

Holling, C. S. (1973). Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 4, 1–23.

Holling, C. S. (1996). Engineering resilience versus ecological resilience. In P. Schulze (Ed.), Engineering within ecological constraints (pp. 31–44). National Academy of Engineering.

IPCC. (2014). Climate change 2014: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.

Montanya, C. N., & Valera, P. (2016). Climate change and its impact on the incarcerated population: A descriptive review. Social Work in Public Health, 31, 348–357.

OECD. (2018). Climate-resilient infrastructure: Policy perspectives (OECD Environment Policy Paper No. 14).

Planning has always been an ambivalent practice. On the one hand, for the ruling powers planning can be a tool to exercise control and establish hierarchies of power. On the other hand, it can be a tool to distribute resources and lay ground for welfare structures. However, the benefits of planning have never included everyone and there is always a need for a critical eye on planning as a governing practice. This critical eye is today urgent as attacks on democratic institutions are now spreading so fast that, according to Freedom House (2021), there is reason to talk about an “antidemocratic turn” in history. Over a few decades, in Europe and elsewhere, there has been an increasing support of far-right and ethno-nationalist parties. Many of these draw on ideologies of white supremacy and disregard fundamental principles of democracy, such as respect for all people’s rights regardless of race, gender, religious beliefs, etc. In a recent report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), it is stated that in as much as half of the world’s democracies, democracy is currently in retreat. A similar negative tendency is visible among the world’s non-democracies; half of them are becoming significantly more repressive (International IDEA, 2022).

This thematic issue for Urban Planning focuses on the consequences of anti-democratic tendencies for planning practices in different geographical and political contexts and how they risk reinforcing existing un-equal power structures based on e.g., gender, sexuality, class, race and colonial relations. We especially welcome contributions which critically reflect on the effects of current anti-democratic development, what the implications are for different social groups, and what new roles planning must take on in order for it to contribute to new and democratic futures for all.

References:

Freedom House. (2021). Nations in transit 2021: The antidemocratic turn. https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/NIT_2021_final_042321.pdf

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. (2022). The global state of democracy 2022: Forging social contracts in a time of discontent. https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/sites/default/files/2022-11/the-global-state-of-democracy-2022.pdf

As urbanization accelerates, traditional planning approaches often fall short in addressing diverse citizen needs, particularly regarding inclusivity and well-being (Resch et al., 2016). To create healthier and more inclusive urban spaces, integrating digital technologies, enhanced by artificial intelligence and machine learning, into urban planning is increasingly essential (Batty & Yang, 2022). Such digital technologies, when implemented with mixed methods in urban practice, offer opportunities for data-informed and participatory design and planning by facilitating (i) participatory digital tools and (ii) participatory sensing data that adopt the humans-as-sensors concept (Wilson & Tewdwr-Jones, 2021). For instance, digital tools such as city digital twins and eXtended Realities (XR) encompassing Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality enable interactive simulations that enhance citizen engagement and collaboration, empowering citizens to contribute their perspectives for decisions on urban interventions (Dane et al., 2024). Moreover, analysis of participatory sensing data collected through mobile devices, experience sampling apps, and wearable technology enables real-time insights into citizens’ behavior, opinions, and experiences (Resch & Szell, 2019), allowing understanding of citizens’ interactions with urban interventions and environments. Overall, these approaches provide a deeper understanding of human-environment interactions, democratizing urban planning processes through the empowerment of citizens for shaping spaces that better reflect citizens’ needs and enhance their well-being (Weijs-Perrée et al., 2021).

This thematic issue aims to inspire new strategies that integrate citizen experiences and active citizen participation into the core of urban design and planning, ensuring that future cities are inclusive and healthy. We invite original contributions such as:

-         Theoretical frameworks, empirical studies, and case study analyses on the design, development, and implementation of digital tools for citizen engagement and empowerment;

-         Empirical findings highlighting novel human-as-sensors methods to measure and analyze citizens’ experiences in the city and integrate these insights into decision-making processes.

References:

Batty, M., & Yang, W. (2022). A digital future for planning: Spatial planning reimagined. Digital Task Force for Planning.

Dane, G., Evers, S., van den Berg, P., Klippel, A., Verduijn, T., Wallgrün, J. O., & Arentze, T. (2024). Experiencing the future: Evaluating a new framework for the participatory co-design of healthy public spaces using immersive virtual reality. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 114, Article 102194.

Resch, B., Summa, A., Zeile, P., & Strube, M. (2016). Citizen-centric urban planning through extracting emotion information from Twitter in an interdisciplinary space-time-linguistics algorithm. Urban Planning, 1(2), 114–127.

Resch, B., & Szell, M. (2019). Human-centric data science for urban studies. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 8(12), Article 584.

Weijs-Perrée, M., Dane, G., & van den Berg, P. (2021). Editorial for the special issue on “Experiencing the City: The Relation between Urban Design and People’s Well-Being.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), Article 2485.

Wilson, A., & Tewdwr-Jones, M. (2021). Digital participatory planning: Citizen engagement, democracy, and design (1st ed.). Routledge.

The rise of the dynamic field known as Geogames has been due to the response of the urban planning domain, supported by digital technologies advances and participatory demands, to pressing contemporary urban issues. Nonetheless, since the 1970s, serious games have been applied as a multiple dialogue communication and training platform, as well as a consensus reaching simulation tool over urban (re)development impacts (Abt, 1970; Duke, 1974; Sanoff, 1979; Summers, 1979). Geogames are a fusion of geospatial technologies, serious gaming mechanics, and playful public participation, providing architects and urban planners with powerful tools to engage a range of stakeholders, simulate scenarios, and up-scale decision-making environments (Ahlqvist & Schlieder, 2018; Andrade et al., 2020; Poplin et al., 2017, 2020). This thematic issue seeks to delve into transgressing the boundaries of the urban and regional planning discipline, integrating concepts, epistemologies, and methodologies from game studies, urban and cultural geography, cognitive and environmental psychology, and others.

The factors affecting urban and regional planning today may have multifaceted causes in historic, social, economic, political, and environmental (Levy, 2017) realms, including overlooked decision-making factors such as power and interest relations, and conflicts and coalitions related to stakeholders’ attitudes and behaviours (Mayer et al., 2005). This thematic issue aims at assembling cutting-edge research, teaching, and practice insights into the ways geogames are being employed to tackle some of the most pressing issues in urban (re)development including, but not limited to, urban degradation and (re)urbanization; built heritage conservation and sustainability; affordable housing and diverse particular housing needs; public transportation, active mobility, and nature-based solutions for healthy and happy cities; circularity and energy efficiency; and the critical issues of adaptation planning towards climate change impacts.

Original contributions such as theoretical frameworks, empirical studies, and case study analyses are invited, especially the ones navigating the design, development, and implementation of geogames, as well as the impact and effectiveness of geogames facing the challenges of digitalization and complex decision environments. Topics should include the integration of geospatial data in gaming environments, such as participatory urban design simulations; multi-stakeholder values and role-playing engagement; virtual, augmented, and mixed reality applications for urban exploration and visualization; ground-breaking artificial intelligence (AI) in games; and the metaverse in smart cities management. Non-digital games applications, such as board, tabletop, and card games, which reflect upon twinning to a digital format, are also welcomed.

References:

Abt, C. C. (1970). Serious games. Viking Press.

Ahlqvist, O., & Schlieder, C. (2018). Introducing geogames and geoplay: Characterizing an emerging research field. In O. Ahlqvist & C. Schlieder (Eds.), Geogames and geoplay: Game-based approaches to the analysis of geo-information (pp. 1–18). Springer.

Andrade, B., Poplin, A., & de Sena, Í. S. (2020). Minecraft as a tool for engaging children in urban planning: A case study in Tirol Town, Brazil. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 9(3), Article 170.

Duke, R. D. (1974). Gaming: The future's language. Sage Publications.

Levy, J. M. (2017). Contemporary urban planning. Taylor & Francis.

Mayer, I. S., van Bueren, E. M., Bots, P. W. G., van der Voort, H., & Seijdel, R. (2005). Collaborative decision-making for sustainable urban renewal projects: A simulation – Gaming approach. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 32(3), 403–423.

Poplin, A., Andrade, B., & de Sena, Í. S. (2020). Geogames for change: Cocreating the future of cities with games. In D. Leorke & M. Owens (Eds.), Games and play in the creative, smart and ecological city (pp. 64–93). Routledge.

Poplin, A., Kerkhove, T., Reasoner, M., Roy, A., & Brown, N. (2017). Serious geogames for civic engagement in urban planning: Discussion based on four game prototypes. In C. Yamu, A. Poplin, O. Devisch, & G. De Roo (Eds.), The virtual and the real in planning and urban design (pp. 189–213). Routledge.

Sanoff, H. (1979). Design games. William Kaufmann.

Summers, L. H. (1979). Operational games in architecture and design. JAE, 33(1), 2–7.

This thematic issue aims to provide insight on the current and future role of spatial computing technologies in representing urban data, and to understand the opportunities and barriers of bridging physical and digital environments.

Contributions will cover practical and envisioned uses of spatial computing technologies to:

-         Improve city stakeholders' understanding and participation in urban design projects and data visualization in urban settings.

-         Explore scenarios and visions of utopian and dystopian futures of the cityscape.

-         Support climate adaptations practices in response to climate disruptions.

-         Access the palimpsest of multisensory memories in urban places.

Urban studies have predominantly relied on visual representation to plan, design, and communicate features of the built environment. Maps, renderings, interactive digital models, and synthetic immersive experiences have been explored using different techniques to test scenarios, monitor the performance of urban forms, and enable conversation among city stakeholders.

The advances and democratization in spatial computing technologies are set to further transform how planners model, visualize, and engage with cities. Like the gaming approaches explored in urban planning (Hudson-Smith & Shakeri, 2022), where gaming frameworks allowed planners and citizens to “play” with urban scenarios, spatial computing technologies enhance this capability by offering multi-sensory, layered, and contextualised interactive environments, promoting citizen participation and enriching the urban design processes.

Spatial computing emphasizes the role of space-as-a-medium. Through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) approaches, it enables the blending of digital and physical features, leading to innovative forms of designing, analysing, and representing the cityscape. Solutions introduced by companies like Meta, Apple, Niantic, and OpenAI, along with reality capture methods, demonstrate the ability to enable novel data-driven urban visualizations and simulations. They offer deeper understanding of scale, context, and the potential impact of urban interventions, allowing walkthroughs of cityscapes before they are constructed, promoting accessibility, playful experimentation, and co-creation activities (Batty & Hudson-Smith, 2001; Lovett et al., 2024).

Spatial computing not only enhances the level of immersion through enhanced visual fidelity and real-time data visualization, but extends further by providing layers of accessible urban knowledge using digital twins, portals and situated visualisations where urban spaces turn into canvases for digital habitation, blending with the physical experience of the city.

References:

Batty, M., & Hudson-Smith, A. (2001). Virtuality and cities: Definitions, geographies, designs. In P. F. Fisher & D. Unwin (Eds.), Virtual reality in geography (pp. 270–291). Taylor & Francis.

Hudson-Smith, A., & Shakeri, M. (2022). The future’s not what it used to be: Urban wormholes, simulation, participation, and planning in the metaverse. Urban Planning, 7(2), 214–217. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v7i2.5893

Lovett, L., Signorelli, V., & Hudson-Smith, A. (2024). Exploring the materiality of augmented reality markers through arts-led cocreation: Drawing, weaving, and tiling. Leonardo, 57(4), 379–386. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02542

Commercial inner-city areas in many Japanese cities and towns have experienced urban decline due to suburbanization processes. Initial attempts at regenerating those areas have included the creation of arcades covering relatively central segments of main streets and alleyways. Those core areas tend to be relatively dense, compact, and walkable. This enables almost everybody to fulfil their daily shopping needs there as well as to have access to many urban services critical to their wellbeing. The preservation of those commercial areas is particularly relevant in contexts dominated by super-aging trends of the Japanese society. Walkable urban areas have advantages not only for individuals with urban lifestyles but also for the elderly and those with reduced mobility options. Various levels of government and administrative jurisdictions in Japan have developed urban revitalization models to encourage the preservation of such districts. This has been done to facilitate easy access to healthy and nutritious food and to guarantee the autonomy and independence of aging populations. From a public health perspective, these districts are perceived to offer advantages over alternative models based on peripheral car-based shopping mall developments. The goal of this thematic issue is to publish research on how urban regeneration interventions in Japanese cities are helping to improve quality of life opportunities for everyone, and especially for disenfranchised individuals. We welcome manuscripts that analyse one or more of these themes, among others:

- Retail-based, health-based, or education-based urban regeneration programs;

- The motivations, programmatic elements, and effectiveness of downtown revitalization initiatives;

- Benefits, shortcomings, and lessons learned from collaborative efforts;

- Implications of regeneration programs to ameliorate (or reverse) urban shrinkage tendencies;

- DIY and tactical urbanism in contexts of neighbourhood upgrade;

- The value of arts and culture programs and initiatives at enhancing city centre liveability;

- Socio-ecological practice and scholarship;

- Creative placemaking and sustainable urban regeneration.

Illustrative references:

Balaban, O., & Puppim de Oliveira, J. A. (2022). Finding sustainable mobility solutions for shrinking cities: The case of Toyama and Kanazawa. Journal of Place Management and Development, 15(1), 20–39.

Balsas, C. (2016). Japanese shopping arcades, pinpointing vivacity amidst obsolescence. Town Planning Review, 87(2), 205–232.

Forsyth, A., & Lyu, Y. (2024). Making communities age-friendly: Lessons from implemented programs. Journal of Planning Literature, 39(1), 3–24.

Ji, Y., & Imai, H. (2022). Creative revitalization in rural Japan: Lessons from Ishinomaki. Asian Studies, 10(1), 211–240.

Maxfield, M., Beagley, L., Peckham, A., Guest, M. A., Giasson, H. L., Byrd, D. R., Mun, C. J., Yu, F., Ng, T. K. S., Pohl, J. S., Koffer, R. E., Andel, R., & Coon, D. W. (2023). Mirabella at Arizona State University: A case example in innovation at a university-based retirement community. Journal of Aging and Environment. Advance online publication.

Miura, R. (2021). Rethinking gentrification and the right to the city: The process and effect of the urban social movement against redevelopment in Tokyo. International Journal of Japanese Sociology, 30(1), 64–79.

Njeru, A. M. (2022). Carfree streets as negotiated play spaces in Tokyo. Journal of Urban History, 48(4), 896–912.

Quigley, M., Blair, N., & Davison, K. (2018). Articulating a social-ecological resilience agenda for urban design. Journal of Urban Design, 23(4), 581–602.

Reggiani, M., & Ortiz-Moya, F. (2022). The impact of high-speed rail on the trajectories of shrinking cities: The case of the extension of the Shinkansen network in northern Japan. International Planning Studies, 27(1), 91–106.

Santos, J. R. (2022). Tokyo, Japan: Urbanistic hybridity in a networked metropolis. Journal of Place Management and Development, 15(1), 70–89.

To, K., & Chong, K. H. (2017). The traditional shopping street in Tokyo as a culturally sustainable and ageing-friendly community. Journal of Urban Design, 22(5), 637–657.

Under the pressure of a housing shortage experienced in a number of countries, greenfield development is debated and already underway in many major cities in Western industrialized countries despite a strong commitment to reurbanization. Compared to city expansion projects in the 19th and 20th centuries, the complexities of these developments have increased. As new urban quarters are developed on city fringes, municipalities are often confronted with conflicts and civic protests as they balance growth needs with competing public–public and public–private interests and ecological constraints.

This thematic issue seeks to explore how these dynamics manifest in the international context today. Our focus is on the multiple contradictions of urban development that become obvious through the lens of suburbanization: between a growing GDP and a pressing need for affordable housing as well as between the existence of powerful (state and corporate) stakeholders promoting development and the increasing environmental and other constraints that impede development. How are suburbanization and city extension promoted and managed in this context of demographic changes, housing market pressures, and environmental concerns? What roles do private developers and a growing desire for new suburban living forms play in this process? The question of how cities are expanding in response to these pressures raises fundamental concerns about sustainability, equity, and governance, which this issue seeks to address.

We invite contributions that examine topics such as:

• The role of policy and planning in reconciling housing demands with environmental and spatial constraints.
• Public participation, civic engagement, and the conflict between urban expansion and local resistance.
• Innovations in suburban infrastructure and mobility that reflect the changing needs of suburban populations.
• Planners’ imagined target groups of suburban living and their self-perception in the planning processes;
• Comparative case studies of suburbanization processes in diverse political and cultural settings.
• The intersection of economic development and social mobility in shaping new suburban geographies.
• The revaluation and regeneration of suburban areas amidst urban densification limits.
• How different spatial and planning concepts, such as hybrid urban–suburban typologies, influence contemporary city extensions.

This issue is open to theoretical, empirical, and practice-oriented contributions from across the disciplines of urban and regional planning, landscape architecture, social geography, and urban studies looking at formal suburban development and planned city extensions. We encourage submissions that critically reflect on the emerging trends in suburbanization, the negotiation of urban planning ideals, and the role of stakeholders in shaping the future of suburbia and the edges of the cities.

Streets are emerging as vibrant platforms of public life. While mobility continues to be the dominant function of these spaces, streets are being reconfigured by various stakeholders to promote multifunctional benefits: socialisation and inclusion, play and rest, political action, economic opportunities, biodiversity, and cultural expression. This thematic issue calls for a wide range of contributions to address how streets are being (re)configured as public spaces. The contributions will build upon the existing scholarship on the role of public space in cities, including notions of the “right to the city,” democracy and publics, social movements, everyday life, and eco-social infrastructures. There are rising concerns about privatisation and securitization of public space in cities globally, and about the diminishing emancipatory potential of streets for urban residents. At the same time, there are increasing calls to design more “people-centred” cities that enhance the safety and well-being of urban residents by transforming vehicle-centric streets into multifunctional spaces.

This thematic issue focuses on how streets are being (re)configured as public spaces, and what the implications are for residents, practitioners, and scholars. We invite a wide range of contributions that may include, but are not limited to:

-        Temporary or permanent restrictions of private automobility, e.g., “low traffic neighbourhoods,” “school streets,” and “pedestrianisation” projects;

-        Greening of streets through nature-based solutions and other ecological interventions;

-        Urban informality, such as street vending and other subversive practices;

-        New ownership, maintenance, and governance models of streets;

-        Changes in collective services (e.g., energy, solid waste, water, wastewater, and communications) and their impact on street functionality;

-        Everyday mobilities, social connections, and meanings attached to experiencing and moving through streetscapes;

-        Demonstrations, political agency, and representation in street environments;

-        Creations of publics through street-focused policies and interventions;

-        Gendered aspects of streets as public spaces, including issues of safety and violence;

-        Cultural events and festivals that are located on streets.

Time has become as valuable as space in contemporary cities. The temporary availability of vacant properties has become a precious urban resource, allowing a variety of potential uses. Real estate being a fundamental urban resource, the reuse of vacant real estate is not only a circular practise, but also an open field for experimentation. In fact, several examples of temporary use projects show experiments in vacant space, combining different economic models for the (co-)governance of the space, and generating multiple impacts on the community, real estate, and neighbourhood.

In the gaps between different real estate use cycles, unused spaces constitute an opportunity for urban actors to give room to ideas for various uses based on public/private needs or subjective visions. Research has provided evidence that short-term projects allow to make tests, reactivate unattractive areas, and experiment with adaptations both in buildings and in public space. Short-term uses experiment with innovative approaches, diverse forms of dwelling, creative management, and collaborative initiatives. In this way, diverse forms of placemaking provide a wide range of benefits, but also face drawbacks and risks for the actors involved.

Temporary uses are increasingly included in real estate management and in planning. However, we still lack in-depth research on assessment methods to understand, measure, and evaluate the multiple impacts and values that they generate at different levels and scales.

Thus, this thematic issue seeks to address the following questions:

• How does temporality influence real estate, urban development, and local communities? What values emerge from temporary use practises?
• Why do diverse urban actors engage in temporary re-uses, and who benefits from them?
• What methods can assess temporary use values for real estate management and urban studies?

Starting from these questions, we invite researchers to submit theoretical or case-study-based contributions using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed approaches. We encourage the submission of articles that push the boundaries of how we understand, assess, and manage temporary re-uses and value creation at different scales. The aim is to collect critical perspectives to provide further knowledge for scholars and decision-makers in fields of real estate management, urban planning, and multi-actors’ collaboration, ensuring equity in urban development.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping the trajectories of cities worldwide. In Africa, rapid urbanization presents both challenges and opportunities for the adoption of AI to address current issues and needs. AI has the potential to make African cities more sustainable and to support urban development with applications spanning across all types of urban infrastructure and public services delivery. This includes, for instance, transportation, water supply and distribution, sanitation and waste management, energy and telecommunications, security and housing, healthcare, food systems, education, cultural activities, and community engagement. However, the global adoption of AI is also impacting African cities by creating significant pressure on local economies, political systems, and natural and cultural landscapes, namely through the increasing demand for resources and data. Therefore, cities are facing critical challenges when it comes to balancing the dual goals of leveraging AI for sustainability and ensuring that AI systems themselves are sustainable, equitable, and culturally appropriate.

We welcome submissions that adopt interdisciplinary approaches and refer to at least one of the following subtopics:

1. AI supporting a sustainable path for African cities

How is AI enabling new opportunities for sustainable transportation and improved infrastructures, equitable healthcare, food security, accessibility to services, and empowerment of communities and vulnerable groups?

How can AI systems be designed, implemented, and governed in ways that are ethically sound, energy-efficient, and aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

2. The environmental and social challenges of AI for African cities

How is the global adoption of AI impacting African territories and communities?

How is AI forcing changes in policy and local economies?

How is AI governance and regulation impacting innovation and widespread adoption of AI by local governments in African cities?

What are the challenges and opportunities in making AI more sustainable from an economic, technical, and social perspective?

3. Responsible AI and urban resilience

What systems of values and principles are guiding AI alignment?

How can AI contribute to building resilient cities that are capable of adapting to environmental, economic, and social changes?

How can AI be used to address the specific challenges of informal settlements such as infrastructure gaps, lack of resources, and social inequalities?

Recent developments in AI technologies have exacerbated existing concerns about the (un)sustainability of digitalisation and datafication. These concerns are related to the limitations of resources both natural and infrastructure-wise (Dekeyser & Lynch, 2025), to the exhaustion of the latter provoked by the excessive AI-use (Wang & Yorke-Smith, 2025), digital archiving, and mundane data consumption (Vale et al., 2024). This is related to the glut of digital footprints and waste in cities, which has been a problem for both cities and the media for centuries, albeit supercharged in the contemporary moment. What is new is the excessive use and normalisation of an (un)sustainable relationship with digital technology, including the everyday use of tools such as Chat GPT (Hogan, 2024). These tools have severe carbon footprint impacts, using as much water as an average family uses in almost two years for server cooling and electricity generation. For every hundred words generated by the service, an average of three bottles of water are consumed (DeGeurin, 2023).

The smart city and the new digital twins’ tropes—along with prescriptive and acritical perspectives that technologies will be the panacea for any complex issue—are part of the problem (Chiappini, 2020). Discourses around the effectiveness of these types of initiatives and projects often create, semantically and semiotically (Babushkina & Votsis, 2022), a distorted view of digital solutions for fictitious issues, including distortions of key human traits such as knowledge, meaning, and embeddedness into reality. On a smaller scale, the everyday life consumption on search engines, direct messaging, social media addiction, multimedia file exchange, and purchases on big tech logistic platforms pollute not only the environment but the collective consciousness, producing confusion, exhaustion, and fatigue. This constant generation of an amount of information that pollutes the brain becomes what Lovink (2019) defined as “brain-junk.” The number of apps keeps increasing, and so does the data they collect, but users are not always aware and digitally literate about these risks. Hence, both co-dependency on media technologies and a lack of a high degree of digital literacy can be considered societal and spatial issues that might create unevenness. It is unfortunately not possible to control-click emptying the trash from digital waste and material pollution: much of it goes beyond the current understanding and technical capability to take care of. Therefore, there is an urge to overcome the rapid accelerationism of techno-determinism and solutionism and identify tactics and strategies aimed at reducing digital waste.

This thematic issue is concerned with the timely and vital problem of digitalisation and its (un)sustainability, fostering a discussion on the waste and pollution, digital and material, caused by massive datafication and urban platformisation (Cristofari, 2023). The relationship between the geographical scale, socio-political goals, and the technological design of digital infrastructures is of crucial importance to the understanding of the issue of digital waste and its possible reduction (Chiappini & Ferrari, 2024). For instance, data centres account for about two percent of all global energy use, and the raw amount of energy consumed by data centres doubles roughly every four to eight years (International Energy Agency, 2022). Hence, in terms of urban planning, the localisation of data centres has key implications, with direct consequences over the surrounding environment with regard to air pollution and climate change. The thematic issue encompasses inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives from urban studies and planning, including digital geography, sociology, semiotics, environmental studies, and legal approaches. It aims to engage critically with the normative and prescriptive discourses which favour a techno-determinist view where smart city projects are celebrated. We invite papers that deal with concepts such as waste, noise, and excess in terms of data, materials, time, labour, cultural surplus, chatbots, and AI-powered services, also, but not exclusively, in relation to the uselessness and ineffectiveness of smart city projects and digital twins’ experiments.

References:

-         Babushkina, D., & Votsis, A. (2022). Epistemo-ethical constraints on AI-human decision making for diagnostic purposes. Ethics and Information Technology, 24(2), Article 22.

-         Chiappini, L. (2020). The urban digital platform. Instance from Milan and Amsterdam. Urban Planning, 5(4), 277–288. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v5i4.3417

-         Chiappini, L., & Ferrari, V. (2024). Digital geographies of power: The scale of digital money infrastructures. First Monday, 29(10). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v29i10.13786

-         Cristofari, G. (2023). The politics of platformization: Amsterdam dialogues on platform theory. Institute of Network Cultures. https://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/the-politics-of-platformization-amsterdam-dialogues-on-platform-thoery

-         DeGeurin, M. (2023). 'Thirsty' AI: Training ChatGPT required enough water to fill a nuclear reactor's cooling tower, study finds. Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/chatgpt-ai-water-185000-gallons-training-nuclear-1850324249

-         Dekeyser, T., & Lynch, C. R. (2025). Control and resistance in automated shops: Retail transparency, deep learning, and digital refusal. Antipode, 57, 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.13093

-         Hogan, M. (2024). AI is a hot mess. Training the Archive, 33–54.

-         International Energy Agency. (2022). World Energy Outlook 2022. https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2022

-         Lovink, G. (2019). Sad by design. Pluto Press.

-         Vale, M., Ferreira, D., & Rodrigues, N. (Eds.). (2024). Geographies of the platform economy. Springer.

-         Wang, T., & Yorke-Smith, N. (Eds.). (2025). AI for and in Urban Planning [Thematic issue]. Urban Planning, 10. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.i388

When pandemics, military conflicts, democratic backsliding, and the climate crisis compromise social, political, and material life, individual and collective futures become acute and need reconsideration. While some of these threats are not new, their intersection creates unprecedented challenges for cities and their inhabitants. This ubiquity of disruptions, referred to as polycrisis, has not only worldly effects but also challenges epistemic and ontological assumptions (Hilbrandt & Ren, 2025).

Given this context, urban future-making requires a realignment of knowledge production, including the role of scholars, methodologies, and vocabularies used to grasp urban futures. Proposing a thematic issue on urban future(s)-making, we assume that the future is neither linear nor single (Adam & Groves, 2007; Datta, 2019; Urry, 2016). Its various trajectories are produced in different "presents'' and rooted in different "pasts." The ubiquitous disruptions raise the question: Are urban futures inevitably fragmented due to uncertainty and inability to achieve consensus, or are common and collective futures still possible?

The thematic issue focuses on the agency and specificity of future-making in times of disruption. Contributions will illuminate which agents are involved/excluded from developing and implementing urban futures across various cities and political systems, what struggles unfold over urban futures, and on what scale these struggles take place. By emphasizing the agency of individuals, families, and communities as future-makers (Kemmer & Simone, 2021; Zhelnina, 2023), the thematic issue questions the dominance of the states, corporations, and urban experts in determining urban futures. Additionally, by centering the temporalities of disruption, we unpack the implications of the polycrisis for classical theories of urban future-making that assume continuity, peace, and progress rather than disruption or regression.

Hence, through a diverse set of contributions, this thematic issue seeks to explicate the complexities and controversies of urban future-making. We encourage scholars with a risk background (including but not limited to experiences of forced migration, war, natural disasters, or political crises) to share their perspectives.

References:

Adam, B., & Groves, C. (2007). Future matters: Action, knowledge, ethics. Brill.

Datta, A. (2019). Postcolonial urban futures: Imagining and governing India’s smart urban age. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 37(3), 393–410. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775818800721

Hilbrandt, H., & Ren, J. (2025). Doing urban geography in times of crisis: Introduction to the forum “Urban geography in times of crisis.” Geographica Helvetica, 80(1), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-80-23-2025

Kemmer, L., & Simone, A. (2021). Standing by the promise: Acts of anticipation in Rio and Jakarta. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 39(4), 573–589. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775820982997

Urry, J. (2016). What is the future? John Wiley & Sons.

Zhelnina, A. (2023). Making urban futures at your kitchen table: Temporalities of an urban renewal controversy in Moscow. City & Community, 22(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/15356841221135171

Population decline continues to affect many cities across Europe, particularly small and medium-sized ones (Escudero-Gómez et al., 2023; Haase, 2018; Le Borgne, 2024; Szymczyk & Bukowski, 2023). On a global scale, urban shrinkage is of growing relevance in Asia, particularly in China (Lee et al., 2023). When addressed in the scientific literature, these shrinking cities are commonly portrayed as left-behind, lagging, or peripheralized places, somewhat disconnected from major economic, socio-cultural, and political centers (Gajewski & Knippschild, 2024; Kühn, 2015; Pike et al., 2023).

This thematic issue invites for a paradigm shift: Acknowledging that a stigmatization of shrinking cities can result in the reproduction of negative development dynamics, the issue encourages contributions that view shrinking cities as spaces of possibilities, with particular capacities for socio-spatial innovations (Görmar & Lang, 2019) and for urban sustainability transitions. It is important to note that preconditions for urban transitions in shrinking cities differ from those in growing ones. The particular nexus between society and space that emerges under the conditions of decreased population size and density is one example. While vacancies and urban voids are typically regarded as burdens for the cities’ development, they also bear potentials as spaces of possibilities for local action and for strategic development (de Solà-Morales, 1995; Groth & Corjin, 2005). The recognition of such particular potentials by both local actors and superordinate institutions is vital for the development of shrinking cities.

Against this background, contributions to this issue should explore both potentials for and limitations of urban transitions in shrinking cities. We are especially interested in the interplay between the social realm and the spatial materialities. Possible themes include but are not limited to the following:

• Which local structures and/or superordinate institutional conditions foster or hinder urban transition processes in shrinking cities?
• What scope of action do local actors and authorities have in this context?
• What role does the physical urban space play within the transformative potential of shrinking cities?

We welcome submissions that explore these themes through both theoretical analysis and empirical research.

Literature:

de Solà-Morales, I. (1995). Terrain vague. In C. C. Davidson (Eds.), Anyplace (pp. 118–123). MIT Press.

Escudero-Gómez, L. A., García-González, J. A., & Martínez-Navarro, J. M. (2023). What is happening in shrinking medium-sized cities? A correlational analysis and a multiple linear regression model on the case of Spain. Cities, 134, Article 104205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104205

Gajewski, R., & Knippschild, R. (2024). Local policy-making within the multilevel system: A study of governance in peripheral (ised) medium-sized cities undergoing socio-economic transformation in Saxony, Germany and Lower Silesia, Poland. Urban Studies, 61(10), 1891–1914. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980231221085

Görmar, F., & Lang, T. (2019). Acting peripheries: An introduction. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 18(2), 486–495. https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v18i2.1869

Groth, J., & Corijn, E. (2005). Reclaiming urbanity: Indeterminate spaces, informal actors and urban agenda setting. Urban Studies, 42(3), 503–526. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980500035436

Haase, A. (2018). Schrumpfende Stadt. In D. Rink & A. Haase (Eds.), Handbuch Stadtkonzepte. Analysen, Diagnosen, Kritiken und Visionen (pp. 405–428). Budrich.

Kühn, M. (2015). Peripheralization: Theoretical concepts explaining socio-spatial inequalities. European Planning Studies, 23(2), 367–378. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2013.862518

Le Borgne, S. (2024). Coping with urban shrinkage: The role of informal social capital in French medium-sized shrinking cities. European Planning Studies, 32(3), 569–585. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2023.2221293

Lee, J. E., Park, Y., & Newman, G. D. (2023). Twenty years of research on shrinking cities: A focus on keywords and authors. Landscape Research, 48(7), 884–899. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2023.2201492

Pike, A., Béal, V., Cauchi-Duval, N., Franklin, R., Kinossian, N., Lang, T., Leibert, T., MacKinnon, D., Rousseau, M., Royer, J., Servillo, L., Tomaney, J., & Velthuis, S. (2023). “Left behind places”: A geographical etymology. Regional Studies, 58(6), 1167–1179. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2023.2167972

Szymczyk, E., & Bukowski, M. (2023). Identification of shrinking cities in Poland using a multi-criterion indicator. Przegląd Geograficzny, 95(4), 447–473. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2023.4.5