Abstract
Urban Studies is launching Policy Reviews as a new article format.
Research articles in Urban Studies are judged on whether they contribute to international literature. They are generally strongly rooted in mainstream academic disciplines and seek in some way to advance those disciplines or debates and theories derived from them. These attributes are more explicit than was the case in the past. Whilst this approach encourages authors to think more carefully about the wider implications of their papers, it has come at the cost of squeezing out articles with direct and explicit policy relevance. Such articles may have no ambition to make a theoretical contribution, yet often represent high standards of scholarship.
Policy Reviews aim to provide a platform for such articles. Policy Reviews may present the findings of new empirical research, such as a policy evaluation, or be based on a critical analysis of secondary sources in order to critique a policy. They should focus on policies that are of interest to an international audience and will be especially powerful when they are able to place a policy within an international context. Alertness to specific national or other contexts is essential, as are the roles of path dependency and the issues relating to transferability. Although Policy Reviews might reflect on long-standing policies, articles that address cutting-edge initiatives and current debates are likely to be of greatest interest to our readership.
The first paper in this series is by Philip Leather and Brendan Nevin (2013) and examines the Housing Market Renewal Programme, which operated in England between 2002 and 2010. The initiative aimed to tackle the problem of high vacancy rates in residential housing in declining industrial areas of the Midlands and North. The policy involved a combination of selective demolition and new build and was in some ways pioneering.
Policy Reviews may be up to 8500 words, although the preferred length is 4000–5000 words. If you would like to offer a Policy Review, please contact Professor Mark Stephens at: