About this journal
Aims and scope
Planning Theory & Practice provides an international focus for the development of theory and practice in spatial planning and a forum to promote the policy dimensions of space and place. Planning Theory & Practice aims to challenge theory and change practice and is distinctive in its commitment to publishing content which combines intellectual rigour with practical impact.
The Editors invite theoretically informed and robustly researched papers which raise issues at the leading edge of planning theory and practice. Papers on controversial subjects are welcomed and supported. Authors are requested to draw out the wider significance of their particular contribution and to write for a broad disciplinary and international audience.
The journal’s innovative Interface section adopts an original approach to stimulating critical and challenging debate through academic publishing. This includes promoting dialogue between the academic and practitioner communities, encouraging analytical reflection on practice and practical engagement with theory. Each issue of Interface offers a multifaceted investigation of a topical theme, in the form of a series of contributions reflecting on an issue from different perspectives.
The journal’s Comments and Reviews section comprises Policy & Planning Briefs, which provide critical insights into key policy developments and analysis of spatial plans, Book Reviews, and Comments on a current issue and rejoinders to articles previously published.
The range of Planning Theory & Practice includes:
• Developing the theoretical and methodological foundations of planning theory and practice, as well as urban studies more generally;
• Developing the contributions of the planning field to social science, both analytically and normatively;
• Exploring the relationship between theory and practice, including reviews which examine emergent practices and interpret them in the light of current intellectual debates;
• Challenging the impact of intellectual ideas through critical reflection and review;
• Examining policy development in particular fields such as housing, regeneration, transport, urban design, participatory practice, diversity and climate change.
The journal is co-owned by the Royal Town Planning Institute and Taylor & Francis
Peer Review Statement
All research articles submitted to the journal undergo a rigorous peer review process, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least three referees. Interface articles are subject to rigorous peer and editorial review and revision prior to a decision about publication. Comments and Policy & Planning Briefs are commissioned by the Editors, and all commissions are subject to rigorous editorial review and revision before publication.
Authors can choose to publish gold open access in this journal.
Recent AESOP Prize Success for PTP
Papers published in the journal have either won or been short-listed for the highly prestigious Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Best Paper Prize for 7 out of the last 8 years. Planning Theory and Practice has been the most successful journal amongst the prestigious entrants in this well-regarded competition.
AESOP Prize Success for PTP
In 2015 Mee Kam Ng won the AESOP Best Published Paper Award for her article Intellectuals and the production of space in the urban renewal process in Hong Kong and Taipei.
In 2014 Petter Naess et al were shortlisted for the AESOP prize, for their article ‘ Knowledge-based land use and transport planning? Consistency and gap between ‘state-of-the-art’ knowledge and knowledge claims in planning documents in three Scandinavian city regions’
In 2013 Paul Lawless and Sarah Pearson were shortlisted for their article: ‘ Outcomes from Community Engagement in Urban Regeneration: Evidence from England's New Deal for Communities Programme’
In 2011 Paula Meth was shortlisted. Her article 'Unsettling Insurgency: Reflections on Women's Insurgent Practice in South Africa' was praised by the judges for its unflinching and nuanced account of the repressive, as well as the positive, aspects of insurgency.
Similarly 2010 saw Kevin Krizek and Carissa Schively Slotterback's article 'Is There a Role for Evidence-Based Practice in Urban Planning and Policy?' shortlisted for outstanding contribution to the debate on the integration of planning theory into everyday practice.
In 2009, Mee Kam Ng's paper, 'From Government to Governance? Planning in the First Decade of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region' was shortlisted for its incisive discussion of the controversies surrounding the development of the Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
2008 likewise saw recognition for an article by Enrico Gualini and S Majoor, 'Innovative Practices in Large Urban Development Projects: Conflicting Frames in the Quest for New Urbanity'.
In 2006, the prize was won outright by Dr Kate Shaw, with an original interpretation of the role of city cultures as a form of heritage. 'The Place of Alternative Culture and the Politics of its Protection in Berlin, Amsterdam and Melbourne' was praised by the judges for tackling 'important paradoxes for planners in multicultural cities'.
Endorsements
" Planning Theory & Practice (PTP) has quickly become a major force in the field of urban and regional planning scholarship...the speed with which PTP has become a magnet for the best scholarly authors in planning is astounding. I believe it now ranks as one of the top five English language planning journals in the world, in terms of the quality of the work published."
Professor Bruce Stiftel
2004 President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (USA)
“To submit my manuscript to Planning Theory and Practice was a very fruitful learning experience. The commentary offered by the journal was very accurate and provided a constructive critique using a very motivating tone. I recommend the journal to all those authors who have great ideas and still few experience in publishing in high impact journals on planning. The positive feeling, which all the editors transmit, really helps to motivate the work needed to advance the quality of your manuscripts.”
Enza Lissandrello
“If you are concerned about the quality of life in either your neighborhood, city or region; feel enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a planning effort to improve the situation; and want to share your insights about the planning process or its outcome, please, consider writing an article for Planning Theory and Practice (PTP).
PTP bridges the conventional divide between theory and practice of planning: it provides a forum for individuals who want to transcend such conceptual dichotomies and are inspired by complex but hopeful analyses of planning processes and outcomes.
PTP 's intellectual scope and institutional reach are both local and global: whether you care to write about planning of your neighborhood or that of cites and regions in other nations, PTP offers you a deliberative forum of the highest quality with a large number of contributors.
I urge you to join this international and exceptional forum on the theoretical underpinnings of effective planning practice.”
Bish Sanyal
Journal metrics
Usage
- 269K annual downloads/views
Citation metrics
- 3.4 (2023) Impact Factor
- Q1 Impact Factor Best Quartile
- 4.1 (2023) 5 year IF
- 5.4 (2023) CiteScore (Scopus)
- Q1 CiteScore Best Quartile
- 1.402 (2023) SNIP
- 0.953 (2023) SJR
Speed/acceptance
- 72 days avg. from submission to first decision
- 167 days avg. from submission to first post-review decision
- 22 days avg. from acceptance to online publication
- 16% acceptance rate
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication. However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
For more details, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
Journal metrics in brief
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of the following metrics (find out why).
- Usage: the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
- Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles published in the journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
- Impact Factor Best Quartile*: the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
- 5 Year Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal within a five-year window.
- CiteScore (Scopus)†: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over a four-year period.
- CiteScore Best Quartile†: the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
- SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper): the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation potential in the field.
- SJR (Scimago Journal Rank): Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
- From submission to first decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a first decision in the last six months.
- From submission to first post-review decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review. Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last six months.
- From acceptance to online publication: the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published in the last six months.
- Acceptance rate: articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
For more details on the data above, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
*Copyright: Journal Citation Reports®, Clarivate Analytics
†Copyright: CiteScore™, Scopus
Editorial board
Senior Editor:
Heather Campbell - Director, School of Regional Planning, University of British Columbia, Canada
Editor:
John Forester - Professor, Cornell University, USA
Advisory Editor:
Robert Upton
Associate Editors:
Jill Grant - Professor Emeritus, School of Planning, Dalhousie University, Canada
Mee Kam Ng - Professor, Department of Geography and Resource Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Mark Scott - Professor, School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland
Interface Editors:
Lisa Bates - Associate Professor, Director, Centre for Urban Studies, Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University, USA
Katie McClymont - Senior Lecturer, FET - Geography and Environmental Management, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Libby Porter - Professor, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Reviews Editors:
Andy Inch - Doctor, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield, UK
Crystal Legacy - Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture, Building and Planning , University of Melbourne, Australia
Social Media Editor:
Theodore Lim - Assistant Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech, USA
Planning Theory & Practice Artist:
Klaus Kunzmann - Potsdam, Germany
Journal Manager:
Ellie Phillips
Email: [email protected]
Editorial Board:
Charisma S. Acey - UC Berkeley, USA
Jessie Alderhill - Alderhill Planning, Canada
Nurit Alfasi - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Tomokazu Arita - University of Tsukuba, Japan
Victoria A. Beard - Cornell University, USA
Kang Cao - Zhejiang University, China
Gabriella Yolanda Carolini - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Richard Cowell - Cardiff University, UK
Benjamin Davy - Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany
Susan Fainstein - Harvard University, USA
Edward Ferari - Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Pierre Filion - University of Waterloo, Canada
Eric Heikkila - University of Southern California, USA
Richard Hu - Canberra University, Australia
Yosef Jabareen - Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
Amin Kamete - Glasgow University, UK
Meike Levin-Keitel - TD Dortmund University, Germany
Hannah Mattila - Aalborg University, Denmark
Jonathan Metzger - KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Mark Purcell - University of Washington, USA
Mäntysalo Raine - Aalto University, Finland
Redento Recio - University of Melbourne, Australia
Laura Saija - University of Catania, Italy
Bish Sanyal - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Federico Savini - University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Kate Shaw - University of Melbourne, Australia
Matti Siemiatycki - University of Toronto, Canada
Elisabete Silva - University of Cambridge, UK
Andre Sorensen - University of Toronto, Canada
Susan Thompson - University of New South Wales, Australia
Michelle Thompson-Fawcett - University of Otago, New Zealand
Karen Trapenburg Frick - UC Berkeley, USA
Rachel Weber - University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Tanja Winkler - University of Cape Town, South Africa
Cecilia Wong - University of Manchester, UK
Andrew Zitcer - Drexel University, USA
updated 16 May 2024
Abstracting and indexing
Open access
Planning Theory & Practice is a hybrid open access journal that is part of our Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.
Why choose open access?
- Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
- Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
- Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
- Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
- Rigorous peer review for every open access article
Article Publishing Charges (APC)
If you choose to publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis.
Use our APC finder to calculate your article publishing charge
News, offers and calls for papers
News and offers
- See the Journal's own website for advice from the Editors for first-time authors and referees
- Bridging the Gap: New Planning Theory and Practice Video
- PTP has been accepted into the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
- 2017 Scopus Citescore: 1.29
- Special subscription rate of US$53 for members of APA & BNSP. Contact +44 (0)20 7017 5543 or [email protected] to subscribe. (Quote YE01901W)
- Follow us on LinkedIn!
Society information
The Royal Town Planning Institute is the UK’s leading planning body for spatial, sustainable, integrative and inclusive planning. The RTPI exists to advance the science and art of planning (including town and country and spatial planning) for the benefit of the public. The RTPI’s work involves promoting good planning; developing and shaping policy affecting the built environment; consistently raising the standards of the planning profession; supporting our members through continued professional development; and education and training for future planners. The RTPI is a charity registered in England 262865 and Scotland SC 037841.
Members of the following groups can receive an individual print subscription to Planning Theory & Practice at a special society member rate. Please see the pricing or subscribe page for details.
- American Planning Association (APA)
- Beroepsvereniging Van Nederlandse Stedebouwkundigen and Planologen/ Dutch Planning Institute (BNSP)
5 issues per year
Advertising information
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