Aims and Scope

Journal of Design Practice in the Built Environment (JDPBE) is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to advancing critical, theoretical, and practice-based research on the built environment. The journal addresses architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, environmental design, public space, spatial practice, and related cultural and technological dimensions shaping contemporary environments. JDPBE is founded on the premise that the built environment is not only a physical outcome but also a cultural, social, ecological, and political process. The journal therefore emphasizes design practice as a form of knowledge production, engaging with design-led research, critical reflection, case-based inquiry, and experimental methodologies alongside conventional academic scholarship. By crossing disciplinary boundaries, JDPBE integrates perspectives from design, planning, humanities, social sciences, environmental studies, and related fields. It aims to foster dialogue between theory and practice, research and making, local contexts and global discourses—particularly foregrounding Asian and non-Western spatial practices within international academic conversations. Through this integrative and critical approach, JDPBE seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of how design practices shape the built environment and how they can respond to contemporary challenges such as urban transformation, environmental change, social equity, and cultural identity.

Objectives of the Journal

Journal of Design Practice in the Built Environment aims to:

1. Advance Design-Based Knowledge

• Promote original research that expands theoretical, methodological, and critical understandings of design practice in the built environment.
• Recognize design, planning, and spatial practice as legitimate and rigorous forms of scholarly inquiry.

2. Bridge Theory and Practice

• Foster meaningful exchange between researchers, designers, practitioners, and educators.
• Encourage scholarship that connects academic discourse with real-world spatial, environmental, and urban challenges.

3. Support Practice-Oriented and Case-Based Research

• Publish case studies, project-based research, design experiments, and critical reflections grounded in professional and institutional practice.
• Highlight situated and context-specific design knowledge while enabling comparative and international perspectives.

4. Encourage Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Dialogue

• Create a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration across architecture, landscape, urbanism, environmental design, art, and spatial humanities.
• Amplify research rooted in Asian and Global South contexts within global scholarly debates.

5. Promote Critical Reflection on the Built Environment

• Examine the social, ecological, cultural, and political implications of design decisions and spatial production.
• Support critical inquiry into power, ethics, sustainability, and responsibility in built environment practices.

6. Cultivate a Sustainable and Inclusive Academic Platform

• Operate as an open-access journal committed to knowledge sharing, academic integrity, and international accessibility.
• Contribute to the long-term development of a resilient and reflective scholarly community in built environment studies.