Routledge Research in Planning and Urban Design
About the Book Series
The Routledge Research in Planning and Urban Design series provides the reader with the latest scholarship in the field of planning and beyond. The series publishes international research covering spatial planning, regional planning, planning history, planning theory, communities, impact assessment, transport, sustainability and urban design. Building on Routledge’s history of academic rigor and cutting edge research, the series will contribute to the rapidly expanding literature in all areas of planning and urban design.
Improvised Urbanism
1st Edition
Edited
By Gihan Karunaratne
February 05, 2027
Improvised Urbanism examines how cities are shaped by adaptive, informal, and incremental spatial practices, moving beyond conventional binaries like formal/informal and planned/unplanned. The book highlights improvised urbanism as a critical framework for understanding how communities navigate ...
Governing Urban Densification Towards Social Sustainability
1st Edition
By Jean-David Gerber, Josje Bouwmeester, Vera Götze, Jessica Verheij, Deniz Ay, Mathias Jehling, Thomas Hartmann, Stéphane Nahrath
December 31, 2026
This book explores the relationship between densification and social sustainability, aiming to understand the complexities and contradictions inherent to contemporary urban development. Densification can exacerbate social tensions, as it contributes to creating denser, but gentrified neighbourhoods...
De-Siloing Urban Planning
1st Edition
Edited
By Mennatullah Hendawy
December 08, 2026
This book examines why urban planning continues to fall short of its aspirations for equity, sustainability, and resilience. It argues that contemporary challenges cannot be met without fundamentally reconfiguring how knowledge, power, and action are organized. The book present de-siloing as the ...
Contracting with Citizens: How Morals, Politics, and Laws Shape Cities
1st Edition
By E.W. (Michiel) Stapper
November 24, 2026
This book demonstrates that contracts, community intermediaries, and participatory processes are closely interlinked, and they can change urban politics. In participatory processes, residents negotiate with policymakers about the future of their neighborhood. In the last few decades, this happened ...
Planning Rural Landscapes: Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services Nexus
1st Edition
Edited
By Natália Cunha, Manuela Magalhães
November 24, 2026
Appealing to a broad audience, this book bridges different issues, from landscape to ecosystems, planning to implementation, and policies to local community willingness. This book outlines a methodology for defining green infrastructure (GI) in rural landscapes, showing how it underpins ecosystem ...
Planning for Resilient Small and Medium-Sized Cities in Ghana
1st Edition
Edited
By Stephen Kofi Diko, Seth Asare Okyere, Stephen Leonard Mensah, Louis Kusi Frimpong
November 24, 2026
Planning for Resilient Small and Medium-Sized Cities in Ghana explores the resilience and planning dynamics and complexities of rapid urban transitions in Ghana’s small and medium-sized cities (SMCs) and their implications for Africa and the Global South. The book argues that Ghana’s urban future ...
Urban Atmospheres between East and West: Exploring Affect, Identity, and Mobility
1st Edition
Edited
By Jiawen Han, Federico De Matteis
November 05, 2026
Urban atmospheres shape how we experience and understand the spaces we inhabit. Urban Atmospheres between East and West is the first collective work to explore this topic from an inter-cultural perspective, spanning diverse locations such as China, Malaysia, Japan, France, Italy, and Cyprus. This ...
Film and Urbanism
1st Edition
Edited
By Gihan Karunaratne
October 30, 2026
Film and Urbanism contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship by investigating the complex and multidimensional relationship between the city and film as a practice. Moving beyond the idea of a recording and representation method alone, film is approached here as a critical spatial practice that ...
The City as a Commodity: The Effects of Colonialism in the Cities of Today
1st Edition
By Camilo Espitia
October 27, 2026
The City as a Commodity: The Effects of Colonialism in the Cities of Today explores how urban planning, policy, and land use shaped by colonial foundations have transformed cities into commodities prioritizing extraction and production over thriving ecosystems. This thought-provoking book examines ...
Public Space, Peace, and Everyday Life
1st Edition
Edited
By Christine Mady, Stefania Ragozino, Karina Landman
October 22, 2026
Public Space, Peace, and Everyday Life delves into the intricate relationships between public spaces, peace, and the rhythms of daily life. The book explores how peace is actively constructed in public spaces through the dynamics of place, community, and environment. Framed by the entry points...
Health, Diversity, and Temporary Appropriation in Public Space
1st Edition
By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Barbora Melis
October 20, 2026
Cities are designed for order, but lived through improvisation. Contemporary cities are increasingly designed for control, efficiency, and safety, yet everyday urban life continues to exceed these intentions. This book explores how temporary appropriation—the spontaneous and informal use of public ...
Smart Universities in Smart Cities: Shaping the Future of Education and Urban Innovation
1st Edition
By Joanna Rosak-Szyrocka, Radosław Wolniak
October 16, 2026
Smart Universities in Smart Cities: Shaping the Future of Education and Urban Innovation focuses on how higher education institutions are adapting to the challenges of the digital age in a world increasingly influenced by technology and sustainability. Universities are becoming an indispensable ...