We invite researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to contribute to this groundbreaking special issue exploring the science, technology, and innovation behind new city development.
View Official Call for PapersTransactions in Urban Data, Science, and Technology is an interdisciplinary, international, peer-reviewed journal. It seeks to publish innovative research in urban analytics on the new science of cities and the science of new cities with a focus on China. The journal is a space for the analysis of Chinese cities and the study of Chinese urbanization, in local and in comparative context.
It focuses on - but is not limited to - topics like: smart city/infrastructure, future cities driven by disruptive technologies, urban modelling, planning/design support systems, big data and related analytics using emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, wearable devices, and applications in urban studies and planning. Research from the building scale to the international scale is welcomed.
Cities are undergoing profound transformations driven by technological advancements, shifting socio-economic dynamics, and pressing global challenges. The convergence of digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital twins is fundamentally reshaping urban form, function, and lived experience. Concurrently, profound socio-technical shifts, such as the normalization of remote work, the dominance of platform economies, and the demand for hybrid physical-digital experiences, are compelling urban systems to evolve in unprecedented ways.
This special issue, The Science of New Cities, seeks to advance interdisciplinary research that examines how cities are being reimagined and reshaped by this interplay of technological innovation and societal demand. We invite contributions that explore the theoretical, methodological, and practical dimensions of emerging urban paradigms, with an emphasis on how digitalization, intelligence, and connectivity are redefining urban life, governance, and sustainability. By fostering dialogue across urban science, technology studies, and spatial design, this issue aims to crystallize key principles and frameworks for understanding the "new city" in the 21st century.
城市正在经历由技术进步、社会经济动态变化以及紧迫的全球性挑战所驱动的深刻变革。数字化、人工智能（AI）、物联网（IoT）和数字孪生技术的融合正在从根本上重塑城市的形态、功能和居民的生活体验。与此同时，诸如远程办公常态化、平台经济占据主导地位以及对混合实体与数字体验的需求等深刻的社技融合变化，正促使城市系统以前所未有的方式演进。
本期特刊《新城市的科学》旨在推动跨学科研究，探讨技术革新与社会需求的相互作用如何重塑城市面貌。我们诚邀各界投稿，探索新兴城市范式的理论、方法和实践层面，重点关注数字化、智能化和互联互通如何重新定义城市生活、治理和可持续性。通过促进城市科学、技术研究和空间设计领域的对话，本期特刊旨在提炼出理解21世纪"新城市"的关键原则和框架。
We welcome original research articles, critical reviews, and theoretical perspectives that address the following themes:
Submissions should be prepared according to the "Submission Guidelines" available on the journal homepage here. Please visit the Journal's submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tus to upload your manuscript.
Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor been currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. To ensure that all manuscripts are correctly identified for inclusion into the special issue, it is important to select "The Science of New Cities" when you reach the "Article Type" step in the submission process and indicate the special issue in your cover letter.
Note: Papers can be submitted any time before the deadline. For more details, please visit the official call for papers page.
June 30, 2026
On Acceptance
2026-2027
You are also encouraged to contact the guest editors to discuss the issues related to the submission:
Contact: qiumengli@hkust-gz.edu.cn
Questions? If you have any questions about the special issue, submission process, or topic suitability, please contact any of the guest editors listed above.