Special issue: Beyond Resilience

Introduction:

The concept of sustainability has come under increasing scrutiny in architectural and urban discourse. While its underlying principles remain widely accepted, its applications have often failed to meaningfully address systemic issues and environmental challenges. The term itself has become so diffuse and diluted that it now seldom produces substantive impact in either theory or practice. In response, some have called for a redefinition of sustainability—or, more radically, for a shift toward an entirely new framework: post-sustainability.

This call proposes that a similar reassessment is needed for another concept that has shaped recent architectural and urban agendas: resilience. Since the Paris Agreement, resilience has gained prominence as a strategic principle, informing global initiatives such as C40 and 100 Resilient Cities. Yet despite its rhetorical and programmatic visibility, it has too often remained an experimental trend or aspirational label.

With this call, Perspectives in Architecture and Urbanism aims to take stock of two decades of resilience discourse and practice, critically examining its successes, limitations, and unfulfilled potential. The objective is to trace the evolution of resilience-driven interventions and explore their broader implications—moving beyond the concept’s initial definitions by drawing on lessons learned through experimentation and implementation.

We welcome theoretical, empirical, and practice-based contributions that engage with the expanded framework of post-resilience. Submissions may include case study research and comparative analyses across different contexts, as well as both quantitative and qualitative assessments of resilience-driven projects. Conceptual explorations, critical analyses of the resilience paradigm, and interdisciplinary reflections are also encouraged.  In addition, contributions may examine post-resilience design methodologies, integrated planning strategies, and the development of policy-oriented recommendations and critical projections for the future.

We particularly invite contributions that address one or more of the following themes:

• The socio-economic impacts of resilience interventions on urban form and spatial equity;
• Community practices and forms of social organization emerging from resilience frameworks;
• Citation cultures and the circulation of “best practices” in resilience discourse;
• Institutional transformation and the integration of resilience into standard urban operations;
• Metrics and evaluation tools for assessing the long-term impacts of resilience-based strategies.

Important deadlines:

Selected authors will be invited to present a draft of their paper (approximately 2,000 words) at an online research symposium hosted by the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP) of Tongji University.

• Phase 1 - Abstract submission: 3 November 2025

Authors are invited to submit an abstract indicating their preference for either “symposium participation only” or the “full paper track.”

• Phase 2 - Online symposium: March 2026

The online symposium will be structured around thematic tables. A dedicated junior academics session, chaired by early-career scholars, is also being planned. A Book of Abstracts with dedicated ISBN will be published in advance of the event.

• Phase 3 – Full paper submission: 15 May 2026

Selected manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review and receive additional feedback from the Guest Editors. Accepted papers will be published online in regular issues of Perspectives in Architecture and Urbanism upon completion of the review and editing process. All contributions resulting from this call will subsequently be compiled into a virtual special issue, available through the journal’s website. 

Submission instructions:

Submissions should be sent via email to the Editorial Office at paujournal@outlook.com, with the subject line formatted as follows:

CFP Resilience [AUTHOR’S SURNAME] abstract

(e.g., CFP Resilience HARDY abstract)

Each submission should include:

• Title
• Author(s)
• Affiliation of the author(s)
• Contact E-mail(s)
• Short bio(s) of the author(s) (max. 100 words each)
• Six keywords
• Indication of “symposium participation” or “full paper track”
• Abstract (max. 500 words)
• Essential reference list (optional)
• Key images (max. 2, optional)

The Editorial Office of Perspectives in Architecture and Urbanism will notify authors of the selection outcome by 17 November 2025.

Authors who opt for the full paper track and are selected will be required to submit their manuscripts following the journal’s editorial guidelines, available at:

https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/perspectives-in-architecture-and-urbanism/guide-for-authors/.

Formatting requirements for abstracts:

Text:

• must follow APA Manual of Style (7th edition)
• use American English spelling
• submit as Microsoft Word or RTF file

Images:

• captions and credits must be included with the submission.

Guest editors:

• Carlo Federico dall’Omo, IUAV, Italy. Email: carlo.dallomo@iuav.it
• Matthew Hardy, The King’s Foundation, UK. Email: matthew.hardy@kings-foundation.org