CPCL Vol 7 no 1 Call for Papers. Mapping beyond the monodisciplinary approach: Exploring the potential of mapping in comparative research methods
Call for papers. Download this call in PDF.
The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol 7, no 1 (2024).
https://cpcl.unibo.it | cpcl@unibo.it
Humanity is facing a wide range of transitions (e.g. climate crisis, energy transition, migration, digitalisation) that are playing out at different scales. Urban landscapes, as well as rural and uninhabited environments, are affected by similar or mutually reinforcing challenges in relation to sustainability. In some spatial areas, these global challenges are cumulative: think of mining regions or other areas where the global demand for rare metals originates, capital cities or urban regions where policy and decision makers congregate, cross-border regions on the fringes of national states, or port city territories or other areas on the intersection between land and water. The scale and urgency of these challenges require innovative and interdisciplinary approaches that take into account the social, economic, environmental and political dimensions of cities and landscapes. Critical mapping approaches can help by providing a means to visualise, analyse and communicate complex information about (urban) landscapes in transformation.
The academic literature recognises the role of mapping approaches in facilitating the communication and visualisation of complex information and in clarifying inter-spatial flows and relationships (e.g. Clarke & Stillwell, 2004; Wood, 2010; Bodenhamer, Corrigan & Harris, 2010; Monmonier, 2010; Gregory & Geddes, 2014; Edney, 2019). Increasingly, academics, planners and policy makers are integrating maps and mapping into their research and design, using different sources and techniques (Hein & Van Mil, 2019). However, the work of, especially scholars, is often focused on select temporal, spatial and disciplinary perspectives, or specific case studies, confined to national contexts, selected languages or disciplinary approaches (Hein & Van Mil, 2019). To address today’s challenges and the complex socio-ecological systems in which they operate and interact, we need mapping methods that can move between different scales, across different geographies, and combine multiple disciplines - methods that respond to the fluid nature of territories rather than methods based on fixed, local scales and singular disciplines. To meet the urgency of the times in our state of crisis, such mapping approaches/methods need to go beyond the monodisciplinary case study approach.
The aim of this issue is to collect original research articles that provide theoretical as well as practical insights into how we can use mapping methods to better understand and address complex spatial challenges, produce more generalisable findings and establish causal relationships between spatial, socio-cultural and environmental data.
Contributions should link and illustrate mapping approaches with case studies (e.g. port city territories, mining regions, etc.) and clarify how the methodology/approach can be used for comparative research and how it can be applied across scales, disciplines or time periods. With this call, we encourage transdisciplinary contributions involving mapping- based research methods that can contribute to a better understanding of contemporary sustainability challenges and their spatial implications.
In particular, we invite contributions on:
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Mapping methods that reveal complex spatial patterns through research at multiple scales, across multiple disciplines or even over time.
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Multidisciplinary, large-scale, comparable mapping approaches that contribute to the way we understand and address complex urban and landscape challenges.
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Data-driven research approaches related to open-access interactive geospatial applications/platforms.
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Difficulties with or limitations of existing complex transdisciplinary methods of comparative mapping, as well as critical observations.
Vol 7, no 1 timeline
- Jun 2023. Launch of Call
- 30 Dec 2023. Deadline for paper submission
- Jan-Mar 2024. Peer-review process
- Apr-May 2024. Copy editing and proofreading
- Jun 2024. Publication
CPCL accepts full papers, written in English, 6,000 words maximum, including footnotes and bibliography. Manuscripts should be submitted online at cpcl.unibo.it. CPCL does not accept e-mail submissions.
For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.
