The Future of Accessibility: Integrating Digital Connectivity with (Physical) Proximity

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Future of Accessibility: Integrating Digital Connectivity with (Physical) Proximity

Journal: Journal of Urban Mobility

Publisher: Elsevier

Submission Deadline: 31 July 2026

Introduction

In recent decades, planning approaches such as Smart Growth, Transit-Oriented Development, and the 15-minute city have sought to counter car-centric urban growth by promoting dense, mixed land uses, proximity to amenities, and sustainable travel. Digital connectivity, however, has received far less attention as a means to enhance accessibility — yet virtual accessibility can complement proximity-based strategies in contexts that would otherwise struggle to sustain them, extending their reach and relevance.

The rapid expansion of high-speed internet, digital platforms, and cloud-based services has reshaped how people access opportunities across work, shopping, education, and healthcare. Yet despite their growing importance, the digital dimension of accessibility continues to receive comparatively limited attention in mainstream mobility and planning research.

Scope & Significance

Virtual accessibility — the capacity to access activities in digital rather than physical space — is increasingly entangled with physical accessibility, because teleactivities can directly affect when and where people travel:

• Telework can reduce commute trips to central workplaces while increasing activity around the home location

• E-shopping may reshape commercial locations and delivery patterns — substituting for some shopping trips while generating new delivery and pickup tours

• Online services in education, health, and banking enable remote participation — reconfiguring travel patterns as online contacts are combined with selective face-to-face appointments

This Special Issue seeks to consolidate and advance research at the intersection of physical and virtual accessibility — inviting theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that clarify how virtual accessibility interacts with travel behaviour, activity participation, land-use patterns, and metropolitan structures.

List of Topic Areas

Manuscripts are invited on themes including, but not limited to:

1. Telework — impacts on commuting, residential location, and firm location choices

2. E-shopping, delivery platforms, and digital marketplaces — shaping consumer travel and urban logistics

3. Online education, telemedicine, and e-banking — enabling remote participation and blending online and offline activity

4. Virtual accessibility as a complement to proximity-based planning — the 15-minute city and beyond

5. Policy and planning strategies integrating digital and physical accessibility to reduce car dependence

6. Digital platforms for urban logistics and last-mile delivery

7. Hybrid activity participation — combining online and in-person engagement

8. Travel behavior changes induced by digital substitution and complementarity

9. Land-use and metropolitan structure implications of growing virtual accessibility

10. Sustainable mobility transitions — the role of digital connectivity

11. Equity and digital accessibility — who benefits and who is left behind

12. Smart Growth, Transit-Oriented Development, and the digital dimension of accessibility

13. Methodological innovations for studying virtual and physical accessibility interactions

14. Theoretical frameworks for understanding the physical-digital accessibility nexus

15. Resilient and sustainable city planning in the context of digital transformation

Guest Editors

Prof. João de Abreu e Silva Higher Technical Institute, University of Lisbon, Portugal Email: jabreu@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Dr. Rui Colaço Higher Technical Institute, University of Lisbon, Portugal Email: r.colaco@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Prof. Maria Attard University of Malta, Malta Email: maria.attard@um.edu.mt

Prof. Karst T. Geurs University of Twente, Netherlands Email: k.t.geurs@utwente.nl

Key Deadlines

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 July 2026 (Authors may submit at any time before the deadline)

Submission Guidelines

Submit your manuscript via Editorial Manager, the official online submission system for the Journal of Urban Mobility. When submitting, select Article Type:

"VSI: NECTAR - Integrating Digital"

All submissions deemed suitable will be reviewed by at least two independent reviewers. Upon editorial acceptance, articles will be published in the latest regular issue and simultaneously presented on the Special Issue webpage.

Both the Guide for Authors and the submission portal can be found at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-urban-mobility

All submissions must be original and must not be under review elsewhere at the time of submission.

Why Publish in This Special Issue?

• Special Issue articles are downloaded twice as often within the first 24 months compared to regular issue articles

• Special Issue articles attract 20% more citations in the first 24 months

• Articles are published together on ScienceDirect — easy for researchers to discover your work

• All articles reviewed by no fewer than two independent experts

About the Journal

The Journal of Urban Mobility, published by Elsevier, is a fully open access peer-reviewed journal with a CiteScore of 7.2 and Impact Factor of 6.1. It is dedicated to advancing research on urban mobility systems — providing an international platform for interdisciplinary scholarship exploring transport planning, mobility futures, sustainable urban movement, and the social, cultural, and spatial dimensions of how people move within and between cities.

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