Safe and Sustainable Water in Cities: PLOS Water’s first Call for Papers

More than 55% of the world’s population live in cities and this number is expected to grow further over the coming decades. The compounded stressors of climate change and urban population growth have therefore renewed the focus of research on the world’s urban areas, and the role they play toward mitigating the worst effects of both while ensuring the health and wellbeing of city dwellers. (related: PLOS Climate announced their call for papers focusing on urban climate change mitigation and adaptation a little while ago)

However, a crucial part of ensuring socio-economic prosperity in urban areas demands additional and comprehensive attention, as it is vital to all aspects of the ecosystems we inhabit: quality and availability of fresh water.

PLOS Water is therefore excited to announce our first call for papers on “Safe and Sustainable Water in Cities”. A team with a broad range of expertise, drawn from our editorial board and the wider community, has come together to encourage submissions from all relevant sectors and disciplines to contribute new insights to this topic, with an emphasis on pollution and water quality, and how this determines and shapes access to water and sanitation services.  

This call for papers will result in a curated collection that will draw together research on all aspects of sustainable and equitable management of urban watersheds, including but not limited to water policy and regulation, economics, infrastructure, sanitation services, water justice, and digital technology for urban water management. We particularly welcome voices representing vulnerable and historically under-represented communities.

“As the world continues to rapidly urbanize, cities face the challenge of water insecurity at an unprecedented scale. We urgently need research that comprehensively looks at both the hardware (infrastructure and technological aspects) and the software (service and social aspects) of urban water management.” says Abishek Narayan, researcher at Eawag, who will help curate the collection. “This first Call for Papers at PLOS Water is a step in the direction in making this knowledge available and accessible to all.”

You can find all details about our “Safe and Sustainable Water in Cities” call for papers here, including submission guidelines. The deadline for submission is 31^st October 2022. We look forward to your submissions for peer review.