CALL FOR PAPERS

for a special issue of “Open Cultural Studies”

DESIGNING THE FEMINIST CITY: PROJECTS, PRACTICES, AND PROCESSES FOR URBAN PUBLIC SPACES

“Open Cultural Studies” (www.degruyter.com/CULTURE) invites submissions for a special issue entitled “Designing the Feminist City: Projects, Practices, Processes for Urban Public Spaces”, edited by Cecilia De Marinis (BAU College of Arts and Design of Barcelona, Spain) and Dorotea Ottaviani (University of Sapienza, Italy).

DESCRIPTION

In her book “Feminist City. Claiming Space in a Man-Made World” (2020), Leslie Kern states that feminist urbanism acknowledges the influence of intersecting identities, such as race, class, sexuality, and ability, on individuals' experiences within the city. This underscores the inadequacy of a one-size-fits-all approach to urban planning. Instead, we must prioritise considering the diverse needs and perspectives of all city dwellers. Kern advocates for prioritising a feminist reimagining of public spaces as inclusive, caring, comfortable, sociable, and playful.

This evidences the urge for critical dialogue concerning the nature and significance of feminist practices in the design of urban public spaces. Situated within the broader framework of a feminist approach to the city, this dialogue establishes connections with extensive studies on feminist urbanism and the role of feminist practices in architecture.

The journal issue we propose aims to explore feminist perspectives on the transformation of the contemporary city, particularly concerning the design of urban public space. It seeks to examine how these perspectives shape the urban environment and the way people inhabit it.

By delving into feminist practices in the design and implementation of urban public space projects, we encourage contributors to focus on the design experience. This includes exploring design strategies, processes, and actions that embody a feminist approach to the design of urban public spaces, considering how feminist spatial practices often transcend disciplinary boundaries to enable more equitable social and spatial environments.

Scholarly essays that explore such critical issues are welcome. Considering that questions of feminist cities can be analysed from a great variety of perspectives, topics may include, but are not limited to:

How are feminist theories and practices embodied in the design and professional dimensions of urban public space?
What processes and practices emerge from a feminist approach to the design of urban public space?
What defines a feminist urban public space?
What defines a feminist approach to the design of urban public space?
Is feminist design a process or a product?

We invite contributors to offer reflections and insights on the following suggested themes (and beyond) concerning the design of urban public spaces:

Feminist design strategies
Feminist projects/artefacts
Feminist design processes and methodologies (participations, collaborations etc)
Feminist professional practices
…


HOW TO SUBMIT

Submissions will be collected until May 15, 2025 via the online submission system at https://www.editorialmanager.com/culture/

Choose “Research Article: Designing the Feminist City" as the article type.

Before submission, authors should carefully read the Instructions for Authors, available at https://www.degruyter.com/publication/journal_key/CULTURE/downloadAsset/CULTURE_Instruction%20for%20Authors.pdf

All contributions will undergo critical peer review before being accepted for publication.

As a general rule, publication costs should be covered by Article Publishing Charges (APC); that is, be defrayed by the authors, their affiliated institutions, funders or sponsors. Authors without access to publishing funds are encouraged to discuss potential discounts or fee-waivers with the journal’s Managing Editor, Katarzyna Tempczyk (katarzyna.tempczyk@degruyter.com), before submitting their manuscript.

Further questions about this thematic issue can be sent to Cecilia De Marinis (cecilia.demarinis@bau.cat) or Dorotea Ottaviani (dorotea.ottaviani@uniroma1.it). In case of technical problems with submission, please write to AssistantManagingEditor@degruyter.com

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