Tom Spector, Oklahoma State University, US
Not only is the evaluation of buildings' and cities' performance through time and across scales more possible than ever before, it is more necessary. The journal Buildings and Cities, with its experienced editorial team led by Richard Lorch, is poised to be a leader in this important role.
David Lorenz, Lorenz Property Advisors, Germany
The quality of editorial work and support to authors is unmatched within the landscape of property and construction journals. The editors are highly experienced and have a strong track record of working closely with each author.
Kathryn Janda, University College London, UK
By crossing the scale of buildings and cities, as well as bridging the gap between social and technical research, Buildings and Cities is of vital importance to academics and practitioners working to support sustainable and socially just improvements in the built environment. The editor-in-chief has an extraordinary and well-deserved reputation for fostering new ideas as well as thoughtful and constructive critique. This journal is poised to make significant contributions to the fields its topics integrate.
Minna Sunikka-Blank, University of Cambridge, UK
My experience of the review process has been extremely positive: it has always been rigorous, constructive and improved the papers considerably.
Lauri Koskla, University of Huddersfield, UK
The launch of Buildings and Cities has to be warmly welcomed. The members of the editorial team have an excellent track record in actively engaging with the scholarly community for ensuring that published papers are not only rigorous but also relevant.
Alison Kwok, University of Oregon, US
Featuring integrated, topical perspectives about the issues in built environment, authors will find guided support, an expert editorial team, and a superior, high quality publication with a visionary, not-for-profit journal, Buildings and Cities. Readers will see articles addressing key research and high-level discussion about accelerating and implementing strategies to address stringent climate goals.
Robert Lowe, University College London, UK
I wholeheartedly commend the new Buildings and Cities journal under its Editor in Chief, Richard Lorch, together with Niklaus Kohler, Ray Cole, Fionn Stevenson and others. It was a privilege to serve on the editorial board of its predecessor, Building Research and Information for 19 years. It is my opinion that it was consistently the most interesting and impactful journal in its field - which Lorch, together with other Board members and contributors essentially defined. I have every confidence that Buildings and Cities will continue this record.
Susse Georg, Aalborg University Copenhagen, DK
In light of the many challenges that cities face, we need a journal that cuts across disciplinary and professional boundaries to enhance our understanding and insights. This new transdisciplinary journal with a strong editorial team will be a great support to researchers and practitioners alike.
David J. Edwards, Birmingham City University, UK; KNUST, Ghana; and University of Johannesburg, ZA
Buildings and Cities is poised to be a leading scientific peer reviewed journals. Its Editor in Chief, Richard Lorch, has an unparalleled reputation of upholding academic fairness and complete integrity. Consequently, I have no hesitation in recommending 'Buildings and Cities' to my peers.
Heather Chappells, University of British Columbia, CA
Interdisciplinary insight is vital in addressing the sustainability of the built environment, which encompasses the complex intersection of resources, infrastructures, institutions, communities and citizens. In recognizing this Buildings and Cities is set to become one of the foremost journals supporting innovative research in sustainability across diverse urban settings and scales. With an experienced editorial team at the helm it offers a valuable resource for students, scholars and practitioners interested in inclusive and integrated approaches to sustainable development.
Sergio Altomonte, UC Louvain, Belgium
Does built environment research and practice need a new, international, independent, authoritative and openly accessible resource? Buildings & Cities offers a timely and exceptionally relevant response to this question because it is designed to inspire dialogue, engage debate and promote robust evidence, ideas and knowledge. It is founded on principles of rigorous peer-review, relevance, integrity, and inclusiveness, and driven by the recognised competence of it editorial team.
Gail Brager, University of California at Berkeley, US
I am excited about the prospects of this new journal, Buildings and Cities. Its highly respected and experienced editorial team will ensure that the journal's focus on interdisciplinary and multi-scale approaches will push our industry forward in addressing critical issues facing the built environment.
Ani Raiden, Nottingham Trent University, UK
We have found the journey with Buildings & Cities very professional - no doubt the smoothest publication process we have worked through in our careers. The editor's direction has been clear and easy to navigate and respond to.
Embodied carbon impacts of residential development siteworks: new assessment framework
P Comerford, O Kinnane, R O’Hegarty & P Crowe
Horizontal building extensions: potential in Finnish blocks of flats
J Tarpio & P Lehtovuori
Post-disaster reconstruction and ethics: the power of social capital
B Ubesingha, G Ofori, G Agyekum-Mensah & D Frings
Towards net zero: sectoral ambitions and global trends in building decarbonisation
C E Caballero-Güereca, J Vogel, N Alaux, C M Ouellet-Plamondon, J Silva Santana, G Foliente, T Lützkendorf & A Passer
Climate literacy and labour agency in vocational education and training
J Calvert, V Price, C Winch, L Clarke, M Sahin-Dikmen, P-L Bilodeau & E Dionne
Towards a new neighbourhood-scale climate risk-adaptation approach
C Rigoni, S Oliveira, O Romice, A Moreno-Rangel & A Chatzimichali
Sharing energy renovations know-how through citizen–professional knowledge networks
C Foulds, S Royston, A Aggeli, A Crowther & R Robison
Environmental impacts of reclaimed bricks: comparing different deconstruction methods
E Salmio & S Huuhka
eCOMBINE: framework for energy, comfort, behaviour and a multi-domain environment
V M Barthelmes, C Karmann, V Gonzalez Serrano, K Lyu, J Wienold, M Andersen, D Licina & D Khovalyg
Living labs as ‘agents for change’ [editorial]
N Antaki, D Petrescu & V Marin
Post-disaster reconstruction: infill housing prototypes for Kathmandu
J Bolchover & K Mundle
Urban verticalisation: typologies of high-rise development in Santiago
D Moreno-Alba, C Marmolejo-Duarte, M Vicuña del Río & C Aguirre-Núñez
A public theatre as a living lab to create resilience
A Apostu & M Drăghici
Reconstruction in post-war Rome: transnational flows and national identity
J Jiang
Reframing disaster recovery through spatial justice: an integrated framework
M A Gasseloğlu & J E Gonçalves
Tracking energy signatures of British homes from 2020 to 2025
C Hanmer, J Few, F Hollick, S Elam & T Oreszczyn
Spatial (in)justice shaping the home as a space of work
D Milián Bernal, J Laitinen, H Shevchenko, O Ivanova, S Pelsmakers & E Nisonen
Working at home: tactics to reappropriate the home
D Milián Bernal, S Pelsmakers, E Nisonen & J Vanhatalo
Living labs and building testing labs: enabling climate change adaptation
J Hugo & M Farhadian
Energy sufficiency, space temperature and public policy
J Morley
Living labs: a systematic review of success parameters and outcomes
J M Müller
Towards a universal framework for heat pump monitoring at scale
J Crawley, L Domoney, A O’Donovan, J Wingfield, C Dinu, O Kinnane, P O’Sullivan
Living knowledge labs: creating community and inclusive nature-based solutions
J L Fernández-Pacheco Sáez, I Rasskin-Gutman, N Martín-Bermúdez, A Pérez-Del-Campo
A living lab approach to co-designing climate adaptation strategies
M K Barati & S Bankaru-Swamy
Mediation roles and ecologies within resilience-focused urban living labs
N Antaki, D Petrescu, M Schalk, E Brandao, D Calciu & V Marin
Negotiating expertise in Nepal’s post-earthquake disaster reconstruction
K Rankin, M Suji, B Pandey, J Baniya, D V Hirslund, B Limbu, N Rawal & S Shneiderman
Designing for pro-environmental behaviour change: the aspiration–reality gap
J Simpson & J Uttley
Lifetimes of demolished buildings in US and European cities
J Berglund-Brown, I Dobie, J Hewitt, C De Wolf & J Ochsendorf
Expanding the framework of urban living labs using grassroots methods
T Ahmed, I Delsante & L Migliavacca
Youth engagement in urban living labs: tools, methods and pedagogies
N Charalambous, C Panayi, C Mady, T Augustinčić & D Berc
Co-creating urban transformation: a stakeholder analysis for Germany’s heat transition
P Heger, C Bieber, M Hendawy & A Shooshtari
Placemaking living lab: creating resilient social and spatial infrastructures
M Dodd, N Madabhushi & R Lees
Church pipe organs: historical tuning records as indoor environmental evidence
B Bingley, A Knight & Y Xing
A framework for 1.5°C-aligned GHG budgets in architecture
G Betti, I Spaar, D Bachmann, A Jerosch-Herold, E Kühner, R Yang, K Avhad & S Sinning
Net zero retrofit of the building stock [editorial]
D Godoy-Shimizu & P Steadman
Co-learning in living labs: nurturing civic agency and resilience
A Belfield

The most important part of any journal is our people – readers, authors, reviewers, editorial board members and editors. You are cordially invited to join our community by joining our mailing list. We send out occasional emails about the journal – calls for papers, special issues, events and more.
We will not share your email with third parties. Read more
Latest Commentaries
COP30 Report
Matti Kuittinen (Aalto University) reflects on his experience of attending the 2025 UN Conference of the Parties in Belém, Brazil. The roadmaps and commitments failed to deliver the objectives of the 2025 Paris Agreement. However, 2 countries - Japan and Senegal - announced they are creating roadmaps to decarbonise their buildings. An international group of government ministers put housing on the agenda - specifying the need for reduced carbon and energy use along with affordability, quality and climate resilience.
Building-Related Research: New Context, New Challenges
Raymond J. Cole (University of British Columbia) reflects on the key challenges raised in the 34 commissioned essays for Buildings & Cities 5th anniversary. Not only are key research issues identified, but the consequences of changing contexts for conducting research and tailoring its influence on society are highlighted as key areas of action.