Special issue to be launched at 11th World Urban Forum in Katowice, 26-30 June 2022
CALL FOR PAPERS
This special issue on ‘Public Space and Placemaking in African Cities’ of The Journal of Public Space invites writings, reflections, research, case studies and photo essays related to the cities and public spaces of the African continent. We invite scholars, designers, planners, city practitioners, historians and writers to offer critical and innovative contributions to understanding meanings and practices in plural and diverse African spaces, contexts, climates, regional and local scales, and histories.
This special issue collects both full research articles (max 8.000 words), and shorter essays, case studies and photo essays (max 3.000 words).
This issue will contribute to the establishment of the Centre on African Public Spaces (CAPS) (read about the Centre in English, in French or in Portuguese), a project initiated by the City of Johannesburg (South Africa) in collaboration with other African cities, universities and community advocacy groups. As a Pan-African urban lab for public space, CAPS will be a home and resource to a community of urban practitioners and thinkers, students, scholars and civil society activists dedicated to connect, exchange experiences, advance knowledge, share resources, grow expertise and mobilize on a wide range of relevant local, regional and global issues.
REFERENCES
– Ayanda Roji (2020), Towards Pan-African Spaces of Publics, Urbanet
– Ivy Njambi Maina (2021), Safe and Beautiful Public Spaces? Necessity Not Luxury!, Urbanet
UN-Habitat’s public space projects in Africa:
– Public space and culture emphasised at Visionary Urban Africa (2014)
– Public space for children inaugurated in Mozambique (2020)
– Nairobi’s Green Spaces – CNN Inside Africa
UN-Habitat’s public space readings:
– Streets as Public Spaces and Drivers of Urban Prosperity (2013)
– Global Public Space Toolkit: From Global Principles to Local Policies and Practice (2015)
– City-Wide Public Space Strategies: A Guidebook for City Leaders (2020)
– City-Wide Public Space Strategies: A Compendium of Inspiring Practices (2020)
Academic reading:
– Palazzo, D. and Mehta, V. (2020), Companion to Public Space, Abingdon, New York, Routledge
IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES
Submission of full papers: 1 March 2022
Comments from peer reviewers sent to authors: 10 April 2022
Submission of the final paper ready for publication: 30 April 2022
Publication (expected): June 2022
AUTHOR’S GUIDELINES
- Research articles (academic): full papers between 5.000 and 8.000 words, the word limit includes notes and bibliographical references. The submission must include also an abstract of max 300 words, up to five keywords, and up to 20 copyright free images with captions.
- Case studies and essays (non-academic): full papers of max 3.000 words, the word limit includes notes and bibliographical references. The submission must include also an abstract of max 300 words, up to five keywords, and up to 20 copyright free images with captions.
Submissions are accepted only on the online platform, read the guidelines.
Authors need to register to make a submission.
For any information regarding the submission, please write to: submission@journalpublicspace.org
For any questions related to the peer review process, please write to:
Dr Luisa Bravo
Editor in Chief | The Journal of Public Space
luisa.bravo@journalpublicspace.org
For any additional questions on the contents of the issue, please write to:
Ayanda Roji
Convenor | The Centre on African Public Spaces
ayanda@africanpublicspaces.org
