Buildings & Cities is pleased to announce that we've just completed our latest Special Issue Urban systems for sustainability and health and the full collection is now available to read in full.
This special issue provides new evidence on how to achieve the transformation of cities to address vital environmental imperatives for population and planetary health in the 21st century.
It is also necessary to understand how best to use this research evidence to inform decision-makers and the public about the pathways of development that provide the greatest opportunities for health and sustainability, and to track progress towards the fulfilment of agreed goals.
Additionally, identifying methods and factors crucial to successful implementation of development strategies must take full account of the complex interactions between different urban systems.
Posted on 03 Nov 2021
Buildings & Cities is pleased to announce that our latest Special Issue Retrofitting at Scale is now complete and available to read in full here.
This special issue explores the accelerated delivery of domestic energy retrofitting at different scales – national, municipal, neighbourhood and individual sites.
Insights are drawn across different scales and geographical contexts as well as top-down vs bottom-up models. Recommendations are provided for policies and delivery strategies for different scales, stakeholders, inhabitants and disciplines.
Posted on 01 Oct 2021
Buildings and Cities invites you to submit to one of the following two Special Issues.
Download the PDF with the full details by clicking on the title of the Call for Papers or by visiting the Buildings and Cities Community Website via the links below.
Guest Editor: Shlomo Angel (Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University)
Deadline for abstract submission: 03 DECEMBER 2021
How can urban expansion be undertaken more sustainably, how can expansion be contained and appropriate strategies created for rapid and modest urban growth?
This special issue explores the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of urban expansion; when, where and how expansion can and should be contained; and when, where, and how it can and should be managed in an orderly, inclusive, and sustainable manner. When cities grow in population, economic output and cultural amenities, they need more physical space. Such space can be created through densification (the focus of a recent B&C special issue) and/or by expanding their footprints into the rural periphery. Urban expansion in geographic space is often ill-defined and its measurement and projection into the future are controversial. ‘Sprawl’ is detrimental to the surrounding countryside, costly in terms of infrastructure, excessive waste in energy and resources, and increased GHG emissions. But the regulatory containment of urban expansion is problematic as it can result in land and house price inflation, making cities less affordable. The speed of urban expansion has consistently been underestimated especially in the Global South where expansions occur in a disorderly and unplanned manner with negative consequences for inhabitants.
For the full submission details and further information, visit the B&C Community Website:
https://www.buildingsandcities.org/calls-for-papers/urban-expansion.html
Guest Editors: John Robinson and Kim Slater (Univeristy of Toronto)
Deadline for absract submission: 15 DECEMBER 2021
Are cities’ implementation efforts achieving the transformation to realise low-carbon, climate resilient cities? What is the extent and effectiveness of these actions? How can implementation be accelerated?
Cities are highly vulnerable, as well as major contributors, to climate change. Fortunately, cities are also promising sources of solutions. Taken together, these factors demand a closer examination of the progress and solutions that cities are making to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts.
Carbon reduction pledges and plans are important first steps. However, there is a need for implementation measures (e.g., policies, practices, programs etc.) that demonstrably advance climate mitigation and adaptation goals. This special issue seeks research on the extent and effectiveness of cities’ implementation efforts. In particular, there is a need to better understand if and how cities are rolling out effective implementation measures, what effects (intended and unintended) such measures are having, and ultimately whether their implementation efforts are achieving the transformational changes needed to realize a low-carbon, climate resilient future.
For the full submission details and further information, visit the B&C Community Website:
https://www.buildingsandcities.org/calls-for-papers/cfp-climate-cities.html
Posted on 21 Sep 2021
Buildings and Cities in partnership with UCL, have launched a press release on their recent publication "Systemic inequalities in indoor air pollution exposure in London, UK" by Ferguson et al.
Exposure to air pollution is one of the greatest health risks in many countries, for example causing an estimated 28,000 – 36,000 premature deaths a year in the UK. Low-income households are exposed to higher levels of outdoor and indoor air pollution. What leads to these indoor exposure inequalities and what can be done to reduce them?
Read the full report on the Buildings and Cities website.
Posted on 10 May 2021
We are pleased to announce that B&C has been formally approved for inclusion in The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The journal has been awarded DOAJ's 'SEAL OF APPROVAL' that is given to only 10% of eligible publications.
DOAJ is a long-standing mark of journal quality. Inclusion is only open to journals with high quality editorial process and transparency, complexity of peer review, easy and freely available articles in open access publishing mode.
All peer-reviewed content in Buildings & Cities will be indexed in the DOAJ. This means B&C is Plan S compliant.
Buildings & Cities was awarded the DOAJ Seal of Approval for demonstrating best practice in open access publishing.
Posted on 09 May 2021
***The following three special issues are now closed for submissions.***
Guest Editors: Kirsten Gram-Hanssen (Aalborg U) & Yolande Strengers (Monash U)
Deadline for abstract submission: 7 SEPTEMBER 2021
How are visions, relationships and practices with emerging technologies and energy interacting with gender relations and dynamics in homes?
From aspirations for leisure-enhancing electronic and digital gadgets through to self-cleaning buildings, imaginaries (visions) of technology in the home reflect long-held gendered associations. This special issue investigates how emerging technologies are informed by gender and generate gendered effects in ways that support or undermine energy policies and initiatives. The issue will explore the relationship between gender, emerging technologies and energy from many perspectives, to help realise more gender-inclusive technologies, buildings, policies, programs and outcomes, and to ensure that gender insights can assist in making energy policy more effective by building on everyday life understandings.
For the full submission details and further information, visit the B&C Community Website:
https://www.buildingsandcities.org/calls-for-papers/energy-gender-homes.html
Guest Editors: Ed Arens, Hui Zhang, Rajan Rawal & Yongchao Zhai
Deadline for abstract submission: 06 SEPTEMBER 2021
How can the innovation process be assisted and accelerated for implementing this technology? What leadership can these different actors provide for promoting this transition?
This special issue explores the further development and adoption of decentralized building thermal environmental control, in which occupants can create and control their local thermal environments with personal devices while the central space conditioning (HVAC) is scaled back. This approach to personal control promises to make a greater proportion of a building’s occupants comfortable, while at the same time reducing the energy- and system costs of a central HVAC system. The adoption of this technology involves a diverse array of actors (manufacturers, standards organisations, design professionals, client groups, real estate and facilities operators) and its adoption challenges their existing practices.
For the full submission details and further information, visit the B&C Community Website:
https://www.buildingsandcities.org/calls-for-papers/mainstreaming-pcs.html
Guest Editor: Stuart D. Green (University of Reading)
Deadline for abstract submission: 13 SEPTEMBER 2021
What are the potential unintended consequences of modern methods of construction which are not currently considered?
This special issue investigates the externalities of modern methods of construction (MMC). It examines the dominant narrative used to promote MMC. Although an increased proportion of pre-manufactured value (PMV) may improve narrowly-defined site-based ‘productivity’, evidence is needed on the associated externalities and potential long-term adverse systemic consequences. What can be learned from previous attempts to modernise the construction process with industrialised methods. The aim is to examine the assumptions underpinning the prevailing ‘presumption in favour’ of MMC. Contributions will provide evidence about the externalities which lie beyond the narrowly-defined construct of productivity. Priority will be given to empirical papers aimed at exploring the systemic consequences of an ever-increasing proportion of PMV in construction. The special issue is open to a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods using primary and/or secondary data. Contextualised case studies are especially welcome.
For the full submission details and further information, visit the B&C Community Website:
https://www.buildingsandcities.org/calls-for-papers/cfp-mmc.html
Posted on 08 May 2021
Guest Editors: Sofie Pelsmakers (Tampere U) and Elanor Warwick (Clarion Housing Association)
This special issue is now closed to submissions.
Over the past 40+ years, the size of urban dwellings has diminished in many Western and Asian countries, resulting in negative impacts on residents’ needs and activities. At the same time, an increasing range of activities is expected to be performed at home. One set of possible solutions involves increasing the adaptability of spaces within the dwelling. Other solutions may reconsider the relation between domestic privacy and public cohabitation / shared facilities.
Timeline
Deadline for abstract submission: 07 June 2021
Full papers due: 04 October 2021
Referees' comments: 24 January 2022
Final version due: 28 February 2022
Publication: April 2022
Note: papers are published as soon as they are accepted and therefore some papers will progress faster and appear in advance of the whole issue.
MORE INFORMATION
Submission details and further information:
https://www.buildingsandcities.org/calls-for-papers/housing-adaptability.html
Posted on 04 May 2021
Guest Editors:
Brian Ford (Nottingham U), Dean Mumovic (UCL), Rajan Rawal (CEPT University)
This special issue is now closed to submissions.
This special issue explores alternative approaches to providing thermal comfort and ventilation in different climatic zones across the world at the scales of building, neighbourhood and city. It considers the implications of these alternatives across a range of issues: health, wellbeing, air quality and heat stress; technical / design solutions; social expectations and practices; climate change; policy and regulation; supply chain and procurement; education and training. It includes a range of disciplines: geography, sociology, anthropology, behavioural sciences, architecture, engineering, public health, economics, energy and environmental assessment.
In urbanised areas, there is an opportunity to break the current dependency on air conditioning. The design of cities, neighbourhoods and buildings can ensure ventilation and thermal comfort by climate friendly means. Retrofit opportunities for the existing building stock can make existing buildings comfortable without increasing energy demand. The design of new buildings and their environs can reduce or eliminate the need for air conditioning.
Timeline
Deadline for abstract submission: 12 April 2021
Full papers due: 01 September 2021
Referees' comments: 01 December 2021
Final version due: 01 February 2022
Publication: April 2022
Note: papers are published as soon as they are accepted and therefore some papers will progress faster and appear in advance of the whole issue.
MORE INFORMATION
Submission details and further information:
https://www.buildingsandcities.org/calls-for-papers/alternatives-air-conditioning.html
Posted on 11 Feb 2021
Guest Editors: Faye Wade (U of Edinburgh) and Henk Visscher (TU Delft)
This special issue is now closed to submissions. Click here to read the published papers.
What are the capabilities and capacities for delivering retrofit at scale?
This special issue explores the accelerated delivery of domestic energy retrofitting at different scales – national, municipal, neighbourhood and individual sites. It will interrogate governance, economic / business, organisational, social and technical aspects and their interactions: existing planning capabilities; available building stock data and what more is needed; rural and urban retrofit strategies; the roles, capabilities and capacities of existing and new actors / enterprises in delivering retrofit (e.g. local authorities, urban planners, construction professionals, contractors and subcontractors); how can renovation elements be produced in an industrialised way to increase capacity and reduce costs; the economic, social, political, legislative, regulatory aspects of delivery models; what owners or inhabitants require; forms of user engagement; what future proofing is appropriate; what requirements and guarantees will ensure performance in use. There will be insights across different scales and geographical contexts as well as top-down vs bottom-up models. Distinctions & complementarities will be drawn for policies and delivery strategies for different scales, stakeholders, inhabitants and disciplines.
Posted on 26 Apr 2020
Guest editor: Jacques Teller (University of Liège, Belgium)
This special issue is now closed to submissions. Click here to read the published papers.
The expansion of built-up urban areas progressively often leads to a loss of agricultural land and green spaces. It tends to increase distance travelled by car and contributes to habitat fragmentation.Accordingly, a number of cities and regions have adopted planning policies dedicated to fostering urban densification, through in-fill development and urban consolidation, in order to prevent a further expansion/sprawl of urban areas and the concomitant artificialization of open/green spaces. Other cities have an ad hoc or laissez faire approach to planning, respond to specific proposed projects on an individual basis or lack enforcement.
This special issue investigates the specific challenges, impacts and fragilities that urban densification creates in many cities and the different scales where these can be found.
The process of densification can typically be observed through two variables, i.e. through the increase of population and jobs or through the increase of built floor area within a defined area. There is a need for a better understanding of the complex relations between densification and expansion processes across different spatio- temporal scales. Densification may indeed be measured across a very wide spectrum of temporal units,from the hourly concentration of pedestrians in given public spaces to the long-term consolidation of low-density areas.
Posted on 14 Nov 2019
Guest Editor: Thomas Lützkendorf (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany)
This special issue is now closed to submissions. Click here to read the published papers.
The built environment’s types and ranges of contributions to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and thus to climate change are well known. There is acceptance of the need to drastically reduce GHG emissions and that the built environment must have a significant role. The focus of this special issue is to go substantially beyond the calculation of embodied and lifetime energy / CO2, to explore the appropriate units of assessment and their scalability for each country’s or region’s built environment in relation to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the more recent commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 C or less.
Posted on 31 May 2019
Guest editors: Anna Mavrogianni (University College London) & Sonja Klinsky (Arizona State University)
This special issue is now closed to submissions. Click here to read the published papers.
Ongoing and future anthropogenic climate change, and our responses to it, could potentially magnify inequities worldwide and much of this will occur within the built environment. For instance, it is expected that low-income communities, individuals that suffer from chronic diseases or social isolation, and other vulnerable populations will be disproportionately affected by climate impacts due to their limited ability to adapt to a warming climate. Communities, and the people in them, are also likely to face differential implications of climate actions – such as building adaptation or mitigation infrastructure – due to their locations, livelihoods, or socio-economic resources. Some communities may need to abandon their homes and settlements if they become uninhabitable, while others may experience changes due to shifting ideas of desirable neighbourhoods, new rules for building codes or insurance policies, increased stress / hardship, or unintended consequences of other climate actions. How will different people and communities experience these shifts? How could efforts be designed to avoid deepening or actively reduce pre-existing inequalities in wellbeing? What policies and strategies are needed for the evaluating specific interventions at different scales (building, neighbourhood, city, building stock) and how these interact collectively?
Posted on 29 Apr 2019