Urban Studies papers

Pofolia’s corpus holds 108 papers from Urban Studies (2012–2026), each with a short summary. Below, the 20 most-cited, then the most recently added.

At a glance

• Most cited: The Death and Life of Great American Cities (2015, 8,076 citations).
• The 20 papers listed have 33,439 citations between them.
• 6 of the 7 with a known journal quartile appeared in a Q1 journal.
• 2 have a free full text (open access).
• Most frequent journals: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Annals of Leisure Research, Choice Reviews Online.
• Published between 2012 and 2020.

Most cited

Ranked by citation count. Because citations accumulate over time, this list naturally leans towards work published a few years ago; for where the field is now, see “recently added”. How to read the signals

• The Death and Life of Great American Cities

  2015 · FWCI 2899.19 · 8,076 citations

  This abstract outlines a book that analyzes the complex dynamics of urban life, focusing on how cities function, the conditions that foster diversity, and the forces that lead to their decline or regeneration.

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• World health statistics 2016 : monitoring health for the SDGs, sustainable development goals

  Virtual Defense Library (Ministerio de Defensa) · 2016 · FWCI 143.49 · 3,359 citations

  This report provides a comprehensive overview of global health statistics, focusing on monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to health.

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• The theory of the leisure class: an economic study of institutions

  Annals of Leisure Research · 2019 · Q1 · FWCI 782.26 · 2,364 citations

  This abstract describes Thorstein Veblen's 1899 book, "The Theory of the Leisure Class," as a thorough and holistic approach to economic theory that was unlike contemporary works.

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• Rebel cities: from the right to the city to the urban revolution

  Choice Reviews Online · 2013 · 1,906 citations

  This book argues that cities are central battlegrounds for class struggle, where social justice and ecological sustainability can be pursued through anti-capitalist resistance.

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• Cities: Reimagining the Urban

  Progress in Human Geography · 2020 · Q1 · SJR 3.00 · 1,855 citations

  This book challenges contemporary urban theory by arguing that the city is no longer a bounded entity but is instead a dispersed phenomenon intertwined with the wider world.

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• On the Double Object Construction

  2014 · FWCI 819.93 · 1,610 citations

  This paper analyzes the double object construction in English within the framework of binding and government theory.

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• The Creative City

  2012 · FWCI 157.59 · 1,508 citations

  This book argues for imaginative approaches to urban development and management, offering global examples of innovation and regeneration.

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• Towards a new epistemology of the urban?

  City · 2015 · Q1 · FWCI 581.21 · 1,475 citations

  This paper proposes a radical rethinking of how we understand urban life, arguing for a new epistemology of the urban based on seven theses. It aims to clarify the stakes in contemporary urban debates and provide an analytical basis for understanding rapidly changing urban geographies.

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• The Cultural Industries

  2019 · FWCI 46.50 · 1,130 citations

  This abstract outlines a book exploring the evolution of cultural industries from the 20th century to 2012, focusing on changes in policy, ownership, and the impact of digitalization.

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• The Triumph of the City: How our Greatest Invention Makes us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier

  The Social Science Journal · 2012 · Q2 · FWCI 402.58 · 1,096 citations

  Contrary to predictions of urban decline, cities are presented as humanity's most successful invention, driving economic prosperity, innovation, and improved well-being.

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• De la division du travail social

  Presses Universitaires de France eBooks · 2013 · FWCI 55.47 · 1,067 citations

  This work posits that the division of labor is a fundamental natural law driving societal evolution, profoundly impacting human morality and development.

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• Resilience as embedded neoliberalism: a governmentality approach

  Resilience · 2013 · FWCI 221.28 · 1,022 citations · Open access

  This article argues that resilience, despite its systemic claims, functions as a form of governmentality emphasizing individual responsibility and adaptability, particularly within Anglo-Saxon contexts.

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• The Mediatization of Culture and Society

  2013 · FWCI 72.49 · 1,016 citations

  This book offers a theoretical framework for understanding 'mediatization,' a concept that analyzes how media become deeply integrated into and influence social institutions and cultural phenomena.

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• Global Networks, Linked Cities

  2016 · FWCI 36.85 · 869 citations

  This collection expands on Saskia Sassen's 'The Global City' concept by examining how information flows create networks binding global cities together and exploring emerging global cities in the developing world.

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• The Routledge Handbook on Cities of the Global South

  2014 · FWCI 59.47 · 869 citations

  Discussions on health within urban studies of the Global South are notably absent, despite significant theoretical advancements in understanding these cities beyond developmental frameworks.

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• The Nature of Cities: The Scope and Limits of Urban Theory

  International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · 2014 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 323.81 · 859 citations · Open access

  This article proposes a unified theoretical framework for understanding all cities, combining agglomeration/polarization dynamics with the nexus of locations, land uses, and human interactions.

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• Shrinking Cities: Urban Challenges of Globalization

  International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · 2012 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 135.70 · 858 citations

  Urban shrinkage, a long-documented phenomenon of population flight and housing abandonment, is now recognized as a global and multidimensional issue requiring redefinition of orthodox views on urban decline.

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• The Dynamics of Social Practice

  2012 · FWCI 344.12 · 843 citations

  This paper proposes a framework for understanding social practices and their change, positing that practices rely on materials, meanings, and competences, and are sustained by willing participants.

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• (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love

  Yale University Press eBooks · 2017 · FWCI 77.14 · 837 citations

  Many women use social media platforms for fulfilling careers, but a significant gap exists between the few who achieve lucrative success and the majority whose "passion projects" become unpaid labor for brands.

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• African urban fantasies: dreams or nightmares?

  Environment and Urbanization · 2013 · Q1 · FWCI 119.14 · 820 citations

  Large African cities are being planned as 'world-class' Dubai/Shanghai-style hubs, but this risks worsening existing inequalities and marginalization for the majority of residents living in poverty with minimal services.

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Recently added

• Power without Capacity? Despotic Centralism, Local Government, and the Contradictions of the English Council Tax Regime

  Geoforum · 2026 · Q1 · SJR 1.00

  The English Council Tax system allows the central state to control local authorities, but the state lacks the capacity to fully coordinate tax collection and debt recovery, or prevent coercive actions toward vulnerable households by local government.

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• Artivism across borders: conceptualising transnational sexuality education through a 2SLGBTQ+ history mural

  Sex Education · 2026 · Q1

  A 2SLGBTQ+ history mural used as 'artivism' in a Canadian university fostered transnational sexuality education, prompting international students to compare queer rights and progress between Canada and their home countries.

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• Urban regeneration through a genealogy of infrastructural deprivation in Tel Aviv: insights from the daily press

  Israel Affairs · 2026 · Q1

  Newspaper archives reveal close to eight decades of infrastructural neglect in Tel Aviv's Givat Amal neighborhood, driven by urban renewal plans.

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• Slow Infrastructural Violence: The Lived Experiences of Urban Essential Workers

  Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie · 2026 · Q2

  Urban essential workers in Switzerland face 'slow infrastructural violence' due to invisibility, embodied strain, economic precarity, and exclusion from urban care infrastructures, perpetuating cycles of marginalization.

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• Grounding the cloud: Urbanism in the shadow of data , by Ali Fard

  Journal of Urban Affairs · 2026 · Q1

  This paper argues that the pervasive influence of cloud computing creates a cognitive impasse, obscuring the complex, partial realities of urban environments and promoting a false sense of seamlessness.

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• A scoping review with a conceptual framework for the taxonomy, mapping and circular regeneration of urban wastescapes

  Discover Sustainability · 2026 · Q1

  This scoping review consolidates the concept of urban 'wastescapes'—neglected or degraded land parcels—and proposes a conceptual framework for their circular regeneration, identifying them as critical for circular city development.

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• Equity in the Urban Built Environment

  Urban Policy and Research · 2026 · Q1

  Urban equity research risks losing analytical power due to its broad application, despite persistent injustices.

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• Media constructions of gendered helplessness and the decentring of women in Lagos slums during the COVID 19 pandemic

  Discover Global Society · 2026 · Q2

  Nigerian media coverage of Lagos slums during COVID-19 disproportionately focused on official/male voices, relegating women to passive victimhood and diminishing their roles as community leaders and economic actors.

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Journals in this field

The journals that publish most of this field’s papers. Quartile (Q1–Q4), SJR and h-index are from SCImago Journal Rank; “in this field” is how many of the journal’s pooled papers belong here. What is a Q1 journal? · What is the h-index?

Every journal in Urban Studies (Q1–Q4) →

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