Special issue – Call for Contributions
Urban renewal and health equity through resilience and regeneration

Call now open on the journal site: Please click here

Guest editor: Oliver Jones, HCD programme committee
Co-editor: Marcus Grant, Editor-in-chief Cities & Health
See Cities & Health for journal details.

Special issue partner: SALUS.Global
SALUS is partnering with the international Routledge journal Cities & Health to publish this Healthy City Design Congress special issue of Cities & Health, providing opportunities for both academic exposure, practitioner impact, and policy insight: See Healthy City Design Congress 2023 for full congress details. 

Evidence shows us that, in towns and cities all over the world, local living environments frequently detract from population health and planetary health; whilst also exacerbating health inequities. However, many communities, practitioners, policy-makers and researchers are charting a more healthy and sustainable path for urban lives. One opportunity is through focusing on measures that improve local resilience. However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach either locally or globally.

Urban policymakers, planners and practitioners are keen to activate measures that improve the lives of citizens and reduce health inequalities while, at the same time, addressing the wider considerations of planetary health. As such, health equity calls to social, economic and environmental justice.

In this special issue we want to showcase the wide range of approaches in the field of urban resilience and regeneration; these may be ‘on the ground’ practices, polices or research. In particular, we want to focus on the evidence-base for value and for impact; giving voice to people from a variety of environmental, cultural and political contexts. 

We are looking for critical analysis, case studies, policy development, research outcomes and commentaries that demonstrate the value and impact of solutions that contribute to public health, social, economic and environmental resilience and regeneration. We welcome a wide range of article types, including image-based essays (see below for link to the full list). We especially welcome papers that include a role for nature as an essential asset.

Submissions can relate to any of the conference sub-themes, which are: Homes and neighbourhoods; Urban design, placemaking and the public realm; Transport and mobility; Smart cities and urban tech; Planetary health; Work and workplace and Population health. 

As we strive toward making robust and lasting change, we also pose the following questions for consideration:

  • Is collaboration the way forward for urban renewal and resilience?

  • How can we chart our path towards more resilient cities using city planning and design as our tool?

  • Do we have models charting both a healthy and a sustainable path? If so, what are the implications for health equity?

  • Can we discern emergent soft, or hard, technologies that might provide the robust solutions we require?

We would especially like authors working in this area to use this special issue to share their personal experiences and their challenges. 

Key dates for the special issue

Call for Contributions to Cities & Health and HCD Congress now open
Note: the selection process for presenting at Healthy City Design and for being accepted for the Special Issue will be separate evaluation processes.
Full list of types of contribution available.
Journal submission site and details for authors. 

Closing date Papers to HCD Congress: 18 May 2023.
Closing date Contributions to Cities & Health special issue: 30 June 2023.
Healthy City Design Congress 2023 16-17 October 2023, Liverpool.