Abstract
The Urban Studies Best Article is awarded by the editors to the author(s) of what they consider to be the most innovative and agenda-setting article published in a given year. Twelve articles were shortlisted by the editors from those published in print copy in 2025:
Agwor A, Melo Zurita ML and Munro PG (2025) Underground urbanism in Africa: Splintered subterranean space in Lagos, Nigeria. Urban Studies 62(3): 452–468.
Bathla N (2025) Authoritarian urbanism beyond the city: Infrastructure-led extended urbanisation and India’s more-than-neoliberal configurations. Urban Studies 62(15): 2993–3012.
Freemark YS (2025) Politics in affordable housing provision: How partisan control of local councils influences planning choices. Urban Studies 62(5): 891–908.
Greenaway-McGrevy R and Jones JA (2025) Can zoning reform change urban development patterns? Evidence from Auckland. Urban Studies 62(12): 2415–2435.
Gupta A, Das P, Coulson NE, et al. (2025) Salience of social identities in explaining homeownership patterns in India. Urban Studies 62(7): 1435–1463.
Hackworth J and Dantzler P (2025) Racial capitalism in urban studies: From spaces of victimisation to spaces of benefit. Urban Studies 62(4): 772–785.
Larsen M (2025) ‘Peace-kept’ urbanism: Ephemerality and endurance in eastern DRC. Urban Studies 62(11): 2293–2308.
McNeill D and Connor A (2025) The logistical governance of vertical commuting in the central business district. Urban Studies 62(4): 700–716.
Monstadt J, Rutherford J and Coutard O (2025) Infrastructures as urban solutions? Critical perspectives on transformative socio-technical change. Urban Studies 62(9): 1709–1730.
Stuart F, Collins CR, Wade B, et al. (2025) Where do neighbourhood reputations come from? Analysing Chicago community areas using a systematic neighbourhood reputation score, 1985–2020. Urban Studies 62(8): 1669–1690.
Wu F, Deng H, Feng Y, et al. (2025) From entrepreneurial to managerial statecraft: New trends of urban governance transformation in post-pandemic China. Urban Studies 62(15): 3092–3109.
Zandonai SS (2025) Of broken promises cities are made. Gambling, urbanisation, and belonging in Macau. Urban Studies 62(7): 1464–1479.
The editors are pleased to announce that Nitin Bathla is the winner of the Urban Studies Best Article 2025, for his paper, Authoritarian urbanism beyond the city: Infrastructure-led extended urbanisation and India’s more-than-neoliberal configurations.
The runners-up for the 2025 award were Maren Larsen for, ‘peace-kept’ urbanism: Ephemerality and endurance in eastern DRC, and Donald McNeill and Andrea Connor for, The logistical governance of vertical commuting in the central business district.
These articles along with the other shortlisted papers are free to view on the Journal’s website.