Calls for Papers: International Journal of E-Planning Research (IJEPR)


Thematic Article Collection: Centrality in the Age of Dispersion

Coordinating Ambassadors

Centrality in the Age of Dispersion Conference Conference serves as the liaison between the editorial team and research community. Authors responding to targeted outreach should include the following acknowledgement:

"The authors acknowledge the International Conference 'Centrality in the Age of Dispersion' for encouraging this submission as part of the journal’s thematic article collection.”

Introduction

Urban regions today are shaped by simultaneous forces of concentration and dispersion, challenging traditional ideas of centrality. Digital technologies further complicate these dynamics, influencing how people interact with urban space and how cities are governed. The International Conference “Centrality in the Age of Dispersion”, hosted by Wrocław University of Science and Technology, invites scholars and practitioners to rethink centrality through both spatial and digital perspectives.

This conference aligns closely with the mission of theInternational Journal of E‑Planning Research (IJEPR)), emphasizing how digital tools, data, and platforms transform planning practice and urban development. By connecting themes of dispersion, centrality, and e‑planning, the event aims to expand ongoing global conversations on the digital evolution of planning.



Objective

  • Reassess the concept of centrality in light of spatial dispersion, polycentric development, and digital urban environments.
  • Examine governance responses to dispersed and digitally mediated urban processes.
  • Advance methods and tools—including digital, data-driven, and spatial analyses—for measuring centrality and dispersion.
  • Strengthen links to e‑planning research, contributing to debates central to IJEPR and the broader digital planning community.
  • Promote interdisciplinary collaboration to address contemporary urban challenges across physical and digital domains.


Recommended Topics

MEASUREMENT

  • The concept of centrality in the urban planning discourse
  • Quantifying and simulating concentration and dispersion
  • Complex centre–periphery relations in various scales and temporalities
  • The role of the ICT in evaluating and managing central functions
  • The role of scale and time in centralisation and dispersion processes


MODELS AND PARADIGMS

  • The paradigm of polycentric development
  • Urban centres as an inherent component of the Compact City concept
  • Implementing Transit-Oriented principles in urban centres
  • Self-contained communities and Urban Villages


URBAN AND SUBURUBAN DESIGN

  • Design styles in urban and suburban centres
  • The role of public spaces in providing livability
  • Promoting historical and cultural heritage in urban centres
  • Transforming urban centres: between depopulation, renewal and gentrification


SPATIAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

  • Urban and suburban housing in relation to urban centres
  • Policy solutions for preventing dispersion
  • Neighbourhoods and districts – in the search for functional self-containment
  • Urban mobility on the way to urban centres


GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY OF URBAN CENTRES

  • Services distribution in urban areas
  • Divided centres and trans-border regions
  • Market versus planning: finding the balance in urban centres
  • Mitigating traffic congestion
  • The impact of economy, demography, climate, politics and history on centralisation and dispersion processes
  • Exclusion from home ownership and its impact on central urban areas


THE POWER OF COMMUNITIES

  • Urban planning stakeholders: conflicts and synergy effects
  • Distribution of power in urban centres: expertise, authority, democracy, lobbying
  • Community involvement in urban centres development
  • Quality of central spaces: functionality and perception


GLOBAL CHALLENGES

  • Continental, national, regional, district and local service centres
  • ‘Glocality’ as a driving factor for development of urban centres
  • Urban resilience: energy transition, adaptation to climate change, demographical crisis, war
  • The impact of centralisation and dispersion on public safety efforts in urban areas
  • Urban/rural division: expansion, annexation, dissolution, decision-making


CENTRALITY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

  • Local consequences of concentration and dispersion
  • Neighbourhood agency and its spatial effects
  • Community centres: activation, integration and networking
  • Placemaking initiatives in the perspective of large urban structures


Submission Procedure

Conference contributors are encouraged to submit original, unpublished manuscripts that present new approaches to spatial planning, examine the evolution of urban centres, and proposes solutions to contemporary development challenges. Before preparing submissions, authors may find it helpful to review the Journal Guidelines at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/journal-guidelines-for-submission/?titleid=44994. Additional guidance for prospective contributors is available at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/.

All submissions undergo double-anonymized peer review by at least three editorial board members, with final publication decisions made by the journal's Editor-in-Chief Dr. Carlos Nunes Silva based on reviewer feedback and alignment with the journal's thematic focus.

All inquiries should be directed to the attention of:

Carlos Nunes Silva
Editor-in-Chief
International Journal of E-Planning Research (IJEPR)
E-mail: cnsulisboa@gmail.com

Łukasz Damurski
Coordinating Ambassador
International Journal of E-Planning Research (IJEPR)
Thematic Article Collection: Centrality in the Age of Dispersion
E-mail: centrality-dispersion@pwr.edu.pl
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