Call for contributions: Rethinking urban population density and sustainable cities

ACC director Edgar Pieterse along with Victoria A. Beard are guest editing a Special Issue of Sustainability, an international, cross-disciplinary, scholarly, peer-reviewed and open access journal of environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability of human beings.

It has long been accepted that patterns of urban sprawl that characterise cities in the global North are unsustainable and to be avoided. It is equally well understood in the global South that urban population densities do not necessarily equate to healthy and livable cities. These different perspectives are further complicated when officials mandate “social distancing” to protect public health. Simply put, contextual (landscape, environment, and spatial economies) and qualitative (historical, cultural, social) dimensions of cities, urban living, and urban form matter. This Special Issue comprises papers that drill down, problematise, and rethink compactness and urban density as incontrovertible planning and design principles of sustainable cities.

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 21 February 2021