News

Opportunity for ISCCL Members

ISCCL  is pleased to share a Call for Papers for an upcoming special issue of the International Journal of Urban Sciences, titled “Reconciling Heritage Conservation and Urban Development through Planning and Design.”

This special issue presents a valuable opportunity for our members to contribute conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and empirical research to advance integrated, landscape-based approaches to urban heritage management.

About the Special Issue

Rapid urbanization, infrastructure expansion, climate change, and evolving socio-economic demands present mounting pressures on historic urban environments. At the same time, heritage conservation has expanded from protecting individual monuments and sites toward managing broader historic urban settings in their social, cultural, spatial, and environmental contexts.

This issue explores a critical question central to our collective work: How can heritage conservation be reconciled with the continuing need for urban development and change?

Rather than treating conservation and development as opposing forces, proactive planning and design offer essential frameworks to identify, negotiate, and integrate heritage values into urban transformation. This special issue seeks interdisciplinary contributions that bridge heritage conservation and contemporary urban studies, highlighting planning and design as key tools to manage change while sustaining cultural significance.

Key Themes & Topics

We encourage submissions of conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and empirical studies, as well as comparative international research. Suggested topics include:

• Concepts and theories for reconciling heritage conservation and urban development

• Integration of heritage conservation into urban and regional planning systems

• Planning and urban design approaches for managing change in historic cities and heritage areas

• Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), integrated conservation, and landscape-based approaches

• Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), EIA, SEA, and impact management methodologies

• Heritage-led regeneration, adaptive reuse, and sustainable urban development

• Governance, institutional frameworks, and collaborative models for community participation

• Innovative spatial, digital, participatory, and scenario-based planning methods

• Climate adaptation, environmental resilience, and nature-based solutions in historic urban contexts

• Contested heritage, social equity, and inclusive governance in urban regeneration

Submission Guidelines & Information

• Journal: International Journal of Urban Sciences

• Submission Instruction: When submitting your manuscript online, select the special issue title “Reconciling Heritage Conservation and Urban Development through Planning and Design”

• Author Guidelines: Please review the Instructions for Authors on the International Journal of Urban Sciences website prior to submitting.

• Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 March 2027

• Expected Publication Date: December 2027

We encourage all interested ISCCL members, scholars, and practitioners across planning, landscape architecture, urban design, and heritage management to submit their work and contribute to this vital dialogue. For more information, please read the full call here.