Journal profile
Urban Transformations
ISSN 2524-8162 · BMC · United Kingdom
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Urban Transformations: fully open access; APC about USD 1,190; median 307 days to acceptance (49 articles, last 24 months); 20 articles in 2025.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Urban Transformations is published by BMC. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Sustainability and Climate Change Governance, Urban Planning and Governance and Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development, together about 52.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Urban transformations are of vital importance for the future of humanity and ecosystem Earth. They demand deep and accelerated changes in urban patterns and processes across all spheres of life, and from local to global. New knowledge on the subject, dynamics and directions of urban change is dearly needed to shift current development trajectories in the global North and South towards sustainability. We invite contributions from any disciplines addressing these issues. The journal seeks to deepen and broaden current understandings theoretically, empirically and methodologically. There is a need for novel perspectives, drawing on ontological and epistemological multiplicity, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. We welcome comparative research designs, as well as innovative methods and techniques. Special attention will be given to outcomes from science-practice co-production and co-design. We strive to bring together the broad range of scientific and practice fields working on the causes, patterns, pathways and impacts of urban transformations. The journal aims to unpack and critically examine the complex social, ecological, economic, political and technological processes of transformative urban change. This implies relating different spatial scales, time horizons, action domains and agency forms with a view to develop suitable options for intervention and stewardship. The journal addresses, but is not limited to, the following key topics and their interlinkages: Urban relations between people, nature and technology Imaginaries, paradigms and discourses of urban transformations Interactions between urban change, ecosystems and biodiversity; nature-based solutions Transformative agency, governance, policies, planning and capacity Urban experimentation, innovation and social learning Social, cultural, political, power and justice implications of urban transformations Place, space and scale in urban transformations Urban (multi-)sectoral and nexus transformations (energy, food, water, mobility, building, waste, etc.) Transformation and circularity of built environs and infrastructures (grey, green and blue) Digitalisation of urban cultures, economics, politics and infrastructures Urban safety, security, risks and resilience New urban science, complex urban change dynamics, urbanisation and land transitions Relations between urban change dynamics and wider societal transformations Global North and South interdependencies, differences and similarities Author
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief Niki FrantzeskakiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 8%); most named Australia 7, Germany 6, Mainland China 4, Netherlands 4, Sweden 4 (50 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Sustainability and Climate Change GovernanceEnvironmental Science22.9%
- Urban Planning and GovernanceSocial Sciences16.4%
- Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social DevelopmentBusiness, Management and Accounting13%
- Smart Cities and TechnologiesEngineering7.3%
- Local Governance and PlanningSocial Sciences4.2%
- Sustainable Design and DevelopmentEngineering3.4%
- Disaster Management and ResilienceSocial Sciences3.1%
- Urban Agriculture and SustainabilityAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
DOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic ScholarPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
- h-index
- 22OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 48OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.13OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 121,600Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 119 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 30 | 30 | 471 |
| 2025 | 20 | 20 | 443 |
| 2024 | 11 | 11 | 388 |
| 2023 | 12 | 12 | 269 |
| 2022 | 16 | 16 | 193 |
| 2021 | 12 | 12 | 88 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
307 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 227 days – 384 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (49 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 321 days
- Sample
- 49 articles with submission and acceptance dates (43 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 38 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 38 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 1,090 / USD 1,190 / GBP 990 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,140 / EUR 1,040 / GBP 940 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 890 / USD 1,090 / EUR 990 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 990 / USD 1,190 / EUR 1,090 | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted5
- analysisResearch Review Analysis Perspective Case StudiesLength not stated
- case studiesResearch Review Analysis Perspective Case StudiesLength not stated
- perspectiveResearch Review Analysis Perspective Case StudiesLength not stated
- researchResearch Review Analysis Perspective Case StudiesLength not stated
- reviewResearch Review Analysis Perspective Case StudiesLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY licence; authors retain copyright. Model summary
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. Urban Transformations articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution N…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Before you submit
Five checks before submitting to Urban Transformations
- 1ScopeRecent output centres on Sustainability and Climate Change Governance, Urban Planning and Governance.Check scope
- 2Article type and formatSuggested reviewers: Optional.Author guidelines ↗
- 3English languagePolish grammar and academic style before you submit: it lowers the risk of rejection for language and improves your chances of acceptance.
- 4FeesEUR 1,090 (DOAJ), waivers availableFee details
- 5Expected review time307 days · Median, submission to acceptance · 49 articles, last 24 months · CrossrefReview data
The checks are built from this page's data.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- BMC
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2524-8162
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Urban Transformations
How long does peer review take at Urban Transformations?
Based on the dates recorded on 49 articles published between November 2024 and November 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 307 days (interquartile range 227–384 days); authors report an average review time of about 38 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Where are the editorial board members of Urban Transformations based?
Of the 50 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 8%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Australia (7), Germany (6) and Mainland China (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Urban Transformations?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Urban Transformations is indexed in DOAJ.
Is Urban Transformations open access, and what is the APC?
Urban Transformations is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,190.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .