Submit a Manuscript to the Journal
Planning Practice & Research
For a Special Issue on
Planning for Housing: The role of planning instruments and public policy
Abstract deadline
Manuscript deadline
Special Issue Editor(s)
Sara Silva Lopes,
DINÂMIA'CET, Iscte-IUL
sasls@iscte-iul.pt
João Cunha Borges,
DINÂMIA'CET, Iscte-IUL
Joao_Cunha_Borges@iscte-iul.pt
Rui del Pino Fernandes,
DINÂMIA'CET, Iscte-IUL
rmpdp@iscte-iul.pt
Planning for Housing: The role of planning instruments and public policy
Housing has become a key challenge facing planners, policymakers and local governments worldwide. Especially in cities with high-pressure real estate markets, the tendency for housing to be beyond the means of local communities has been rampant. One such example is Portugal, whose cities, pressured by the luxury housing sector and the steep increase in touristic accommodations, have seen a rise in urban activism demanding solutions to an unsustainable housing market. As elsewhere, affordability, access and supply are at the basis of contestation, through a generic demand for more supply of affordable homes.
But how does the housing stock impact social cohesion and territorial balance? These broader questions represent a specific challenge to planning systems insofar as they interplay with housing shortages and the management of the housing market.
Despite the growing expectation that planning should contribute to housing solutions, the effectiveness of current planning instruments, governance arrangements and public interventions in shaping housing outcomes remains to be studied in depth.
Planning systems operate through a diverse set of regulatory, strategic and implementation tools whose impacts are often contested, context-dependent and difficult to evaluate. Furthermore, mere housing supply cannot ensure that the housing and urban conditions will be adequate, which represents a further responsibility for planning vis-à-vis the housing stock.
This special issue aims these critical relations between planning systems and housing. It invites contributions researching how planning instruments and planning-led public interventions influence housing supply, affordability, accessibility and territorial equity.
Particular attention is given to the implementation of planning policies, the interaction between planning and housing governance, and the lessons these experiences offer for planning practice.
The Portuguese context provides an especially relevant laboratory for such analysis. Recent initiatives — including reforms to planning legislation, municipal housing strategies and investments under the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) —offer opportunities to assess how planning systems mediate the translation of public investment and policy ambitions into housing outcomes. This special issue seeks to provide a comprehensive reflection of the Portuguese case. However, contributions incorporating international comparisons or comparative perspectives are strongly encouraged, as they enrich understanding of how different planning systems and policy frameworks influence housing outcomes.
Key- Themes
1. Planning Instruments and Housing Delivery
2. Planning Practice and Housing Governance
3. Evaluating Planning-Led Housing Interventions
4. Planning and the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR)
5. Planning for Housing Justice
6. Planning Practice in Comparative Perspective
7. Specific case-studies encapsulating one or more of the key themes above.
The special issue seeks to strengthen the evidence base on the relationship between planning practice and housing. By focusing on implementation, governance and policy effectiveness, it aims to contribute to ongoing debates on the role of planning in addressing contemporary housing challenges and provide practical insights for planners, policymakers and public authorities.
Submission Instructions
Article Types
Planning Practice & Research (PPR) welcomes several types of submissions. Selecting the appropriate article category is important, as reviewers are asked to evaluate manuscripts according to criteria specific to each type. Authors should indicate the intended category when submitting an abstract or draft paper to the Guest Editors. A drop-down menu for selecting the article type is also available on the PPR submission website.
- Original Research Articles present findings from empirical research and should include a clear problem statement, research question, critical review of the relevant literature, theoretical framework, methodology, methods, and results. Any research design is welcome.
- Review Articles provide a critical synthesis of published research on a specific topic and, where appropriate, relevant practice-based material. They should outline the current state of knowledge, examine differing perspectives, and typically identify directions for future research.
- Practice Reviews are concise reports addressing topics of broad relevance to the planning community. These may focus on a development project (or a group of projects), a planning process (such as citizen participation), an exploratory research initiative, an innovative research method, or an educational programme. There are no restrictions on subject matter. Submissions should offer a critical and informative account of the case, including an explanation of how it was investigated, although an extensive literature review is not required.
- Comments provide an opportunity to raise awareness of emerging issues and stimulate discussion outside the conventional structure of a research article. They should present a well-informed viewpoint or opinion supported by relevant evidence and knowledge, while allowing room for reflection and informed speculation.
Word Limits
- Original Research Articles and Review Articles: up to 7,000 words, excluding figures, tables, and references.
- Practice Reviews: generally under 5,000 words, excluding figures, tables, and references.
- Comments: 2,000–4,000 words.
References and Formatting
References should follow the Harvard referencing style. Authors may use any recognised Harvard variant, provided that each reference includes complete bibliographic information, including the publisher and place of publication where applicable. All in-text citations must correspond to entries in the reference list, and vice versa.
When submitting through the PPR online submission system, authors should select "Special Issue Paper" and choose the appropriate special issue title from the drop-down menu.
All manuscripts must be submitted in English and should be carefully proofread to ensure clarity, accuracy, and grammatical correctness.
Submission Process
- 31 October 2026 – Submit an abstract (maximum 500 words) to the Guest Editors, including the authors' names, affiliations, and email addresses, at sasls@iscte-iul.pt.
- 30 November 2026 – The Guest Editors will notify authors whose abstracts have been selected and invite them to prepare a draft paper. To ensure the coherence of the special issue, not all submitted abstracts may be invited to the draft stage.
- 30 March 2027 – Invited authors should submit their draft papers to the Guest Editors at sasls@iscte-iul.pt. Papers should not be submitted to Planning Practice and Research until they have been agreed by the Guest Editors. Authors who are not invited are welcome to submit their work to Planning Practice & Research through the journal's regular submission process.
- Following the review of draft papers, the Guest Editors may request revisions before inviting authors to proceed to the next stage.
- 31 May 2027 – Authors of selected draft papers will be invited to submit their full manuscripts through the PPR online submission system, available at https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/cppr20. Before submitting, authors are encouraged to consult the Instructions for Authors for Planning Practice & Research and submit their manuscript through the journal's online submission system.
We look forward to receiving your submissions and sharing innovative research with the wider community. For questions about the Special Issue, please contact the Guest Editors at sasls@iscte-iul.pt. For submission enquiries, contact the PPR editorial team at editor@readppr.com.
Open Access: PPR is a hybrid journal, publishing both subscription-based and Open Access articles. Open Access publication is subject to an Article Processing Charge (APC), although many authors are eligible for fee waivers through institutional or national agreements with Taylor & Francis. For more information, please visit: https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/choose-open/publishing-open-access/.