The increasing complexity of urban environments has exposed the limitations of prescriptive approaches in urban design and planning, highlighting the need for more adaptive, data-informed, and methodologically rigorous processes. Evidence-Based Design and Planning (EBDP) offers a promising response by embedding evidence as a continuous and iterative element throughout design and decision-making. Yet, its adoption in practice remains uneven, constrained by project limitations, data availability, and the challenge of operationalising analytical workflows. This paper addresses these challenges by proposing a transferable framework for EBDP, developed through the review of six realised projects, ranging from public space enhancements to metropolitan masterplans and policy studies, undertaken in both professional practice and academic research. Examined alongside existing theoretical models, these cases revealed recurring patterns that informed the framework. The resulting model consists of four interlinked phases: clarification and evidence-based project definition; integration of an evidence base through analysis and modelling; generation of options synthesising diverse evidence; and evaluations to guide adaptation and decision-making. Rather than a linear or prescriptive sequence of stages, the framework uses iteration and flexible feedback processes anchored by a unifying Hybrid Spatial Model to synthesise evidence, support the generation of design options, and underpin engagement and feedback processes considering project objectives. This paper offers a systematic yet flexible framework for EBDP that can be adapted across scales, project types, and contexts.

The rationale behind this article is an identified need for enhancing research on the relationship between the physical and the social aspects of the city of Nicosia through the lens of spatial history. Building on Baker’s categorizations of approaches to space in historical research and a syntactical, morphological approach to historical subjects, this article proposes an integrated methodology for researching historical space that may prove important to inform forms of urban segregation patterns. The article maintains that the analysis of the relationship between the physical, material form of a city and social processes at distinct historical periods may be key to understanding patterns of socio-spatial phenomena as well as for interpreting historical data of how people were distributed in cities and what they actually did in urban spaces at particular points in time.

This research provides an abstract representation of neighborhoods, accounting for the actors involved in the process of their formation and transformation as local entities embedded in a complex yet specific configuration of historical, social, structural, and political contexts. The analysis uses a conceptual framework combining Assemblage Theory and Actor–Network Theory to examine how both human and non-human actors or agents interact and consequently exert an impact on three different neighborhoods in Limassol, Cyprus. The methodology combines both qualitative as well as quantitative approaches. The tools used include space syntax, land use, and building typology, descriptive statistics of social factors, a photographic survey, observation of the built environment’s expressive features, and archival research of press articles. The findings reveal the extent to which global factors, such as colonialism and the mobility of wealthy populations from former Soviet countries, have an impact on the social makeup and expressive features of the environment, while local factors, such as block size and housing typology, have a strong impact on the use of public space. Furthermore, more complex networks may exhibit structural resilience or adaptability but may be, at the same time, more sensitive to varying and conflicting interests.

Purpose: The role of architectural design in shaping educational environments has received increasing attention in recent years, shifting the focus from purely functional spaces to the relational dynamics between spatial configuration, pedagogical practice, users' perspectives and user experience. While research on school architecture has widely emphasized the interplay between spatial form and student learning, empirical studies that connect spatial layout with teachers' perceptions remain limited. This study contributes to this growing discourse by examining how school layouts influence teachers' perceived sense of school control, namely teachers' belief about their ability to supervise, support and engage with students in school spaces. Design/methodology/approach: Using a mixed-methods approach, this study integrates space syntax and morphological analysis with teacher surveys from five lower secondary schools in Cyprus. Findings: The developed statistical models explain between 42 and 58% of the variance in teachers' responses. The most robust model accounts for 58%, highlighting the combined influence of a school's axial control and plot coverage ratio in supporting teacher's perceived control. The findings underscore the role of spatial design in facilitating teachers' perceived sense of control. Specifically, school layouts that offer greater visibility and movement contribute to a stronger sense of control, while excessive school exposure to the street network correlates with increased challenges in maintaining order. Originality/value: The results reinforce the critical role of architectural design in shaping safe, functional and effective educational environments, providing a research-based framework to guide school planning and policy decisions.

Over the past few decades, several analytical approaches have been developed to understand urban form and to address the complexity of human settlements as well as various socio-economic and environmental challenges. Each approach is characterized by specific disciplinary and geographical trends, often emerging from distinct schools of thought within urban morphology. Typically, these approaches are associated with specific research centers or individual researchers and have frequently been applied in isolation, with some exceptions. The teaching of urban morphology in higher education institutions across Europe faces the challenge of training future graduates to effectively address contemporary urban issues from often isolated perspectives rooted in the aforementioned schools of thought, either reflecting specific national educational trends or adopting a globalized approach that overlooks local specificities. Furthermore, the relationship between professional practice in urban and planning fields and higher education institutions is a notable concern. While the importance of broad knowledge and multidisciplinary skills for urban professionals is recognized, the connection between academia, research and practice is minimal. The increasing demand for evidence-based approaches in urban design highlights the need for solutions grounded in sound knowledge. To address the relationship between academic research and its integration into professional practice, innovation in teaching practices is crucial, aligning academia with the evolving needs of planning, architecture, and urban design professions. This involves focusing on developing learners’ fundamental and transversal skills and providing tools, methods, and research findings applicable in professional settings. This paper is based on two research projects that sought to bridge the gaps between different morphological approaches in teaching and between academic research and practical application. The projects, Emerging Perspectives on Urban Morphology (EPUM) and the Knowledge Alliance for Evidence-Based Urban Practices (KAEBUP), brought together partners from various South and Central European countries to address these gaps. EPUM focused on integrating different morphological approaches within the context of teaching, while KAEBUP aimed to connect theoretical knowledge with practical actions concerning the built environment. The situative pedagogical perspective, rooted in communities of practice and supported by a blended learning approach, is central to this endeavor. This perspective provides a collaborative framework for educators, students, and professionals in urban morphology to co-create knowledge through integrated learning, teaching, and research activities.

Over the past few decades, cities around the world radically and rapidly changed as regards scale, scope and complexity. This is mainly due to the increasing mobility of people, goods and information as a result of technological developments, liberalization of economic systems, economic fluctuations, wars, and climate change. These changes challenge the processes of production of built environment and create conflicts and contestations between different urban groups, who have contradicted claims on the decisions and processes influencing urban transformation.Such situation brought the discussions on just/unjust urban transformation processes in urban research, policy and public debates. It raised questions on privileging the interests of affluent urban groups, while disadvantaging vulnerable communities. We see public space as central in these debates, as possible facilitator of a more just process of urban transformation. Public space is able to embrace different political, economic and cultural manifestations of urban groups, which allow them to voice their rights on the city. Public space can also submit encounters and interactions between different urban actors and perform as a place of negotiation between them. Public space is potentially able to promote fair allocations of wealth, resources, benefits and opportunities. Also, public space pedagogy helps us to reframe methods of understanding (un)just urban morphologies in urban research, planning and architectural theory as well as praxis. This special issue will thus focus on the question how urban (in)justices can be mapped, and which challenges and opportunities may arise from different approaches to mapping. Intercontextuality as well as intersectional research which combines an analysis of different forms of injustices (such as racial, social, religious, national, ethnic, etc.) will be discussed, alongside more practical and case-study based mapping experiences.Different views on public space can provide us with ways of thinking to develop planning and design strategies, policy measures, civil initiatives, and social movements to oppose processes of unjust urban transformation. Yet, in the context of a rapid-shifting economic, political and social reality, it is more and more urgent for critical re-thinking of public space as facilitator of urban justice.