The Global Urbanist

News and analysis of cities around the world

Frequently Asked Questions

We receive tonnes of messages and meet new contacts at conferences and workshops every week, and believe in looking for ways to say 'yes' to every request. But sometimes it becomes difficult to do so very promptly, depending on how a request meshes with our core responsibilities and objectives. Below are our typical responses to many of the propositions and queries that we receive.

What are you? A blog? A newspaper? A magazine?

The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world. Like a print magazine, we feature articles that address contemporary issues or that weigh in on public policy debates, but unlike a newspaper we do not report on events as they happen from week to week.

We are not a blog, in that we are not an outlet for personal interests, but provide a platform for professional urbanists and concerned community members to present informed opinions to an audience of their peers. We are also not an aggregator, in that we do not collate links and other content from other websites, but focus on developing original content in close collaboration with our network of authors.

There is currently no printed edition of the magazine.

Who reads your articles?

Our readers, like our writers, are professionals working in urban development, or concerned community members affected by it. The sectors and organisations they work for include the following: international agencies (e.g. UN-HABITAT, UNDP, the Clinton Foundation), development banks (e.g. World Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank), governments, (e.g. Australia's Department for Infrastructure and Transport, Canadian International Development Agency, India's National Institute of Urban Affairs), business leaders (e.g. Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, McKinsey, Arup, Colliers International), universities (e.g. Harvard, Oxford, Columbia) and NGOs (e.g. Rockefeller Foundation, Homeless International).

What is urban development? Is it like urban planning?

Yes, but it's a broader concept. Urban development includes traditional planning and urban design, but it also encompasses how cities are governed, their economic development, the social development of their communities, the management of their environment, and the organisations that oversee them at the international level, such as UN-HABITAT.

Who writes your articles? Do you have a team of staff writers?

We have a small core of regular authors, all of whom work in urban development, but the majority of articles are written externally by professionals in the field or concerned community members and submitted to our editors for review and publication.

I would like to write an article. Shall I send you my resume?

That won't be necessary. Register yourself in our database of potential writers via our subscribe page. If you have an idea or a draft already, email it to us along with a brief description of who you are and what you do, and we will be in touch with feedback and further guidance. Read our advice about what types of contributions we are looking for.

We have an article/blog/video on our own/a third-party website. Would The Global Urbanist like to link to/reprint/write about it?

Our mission is to develop original articles and present original perspectives on urban issues, rather than aggregate or report on content available elsewhere on the web. However we are happy to publish original articles derived from the same body of work that informed previous articles, as long as they embody a substantive evolution or shift in perspective beyond the content of previous articles. Articles on The Global Urbanist can link back to other content elsewhere once this is done.

Can we send you our latest press release?

Yes, as we like to know what organisations are up to. However we do not produce articles based on press releases we receive and do not engage in other forms of advertorial. If you would like to generate awareness for a recent initiative, the best way is to write an article that addresses the same issues, bearing in mind that the article should be an informed opinion oriented around the issues themselves, rather than focused on your own initiative. The article can link back to content elsewhere to offer readers further information about the initiative itself.

The other best way is to advertise on The Global Urbanist, ensuring that your initiative will be seen by thousands of urban development professionals around the world.

We are hosting an event. Would The Global Urbanist like to post our announcement for its readers?

Yes, for a small fee. Go to our events section to see how to post an event announcement on The Global Urbanist. Free listings may be offered in some circumstances.

Would you like to cover our conference?

Our authors regularly attend conferences in their interest areas and report on them for The Global Urbanist. Authors are free to report on any angle they choose, and are expected to focus their reportage on the issues raised, rather than simply provide an account of conference proceedings.

Do you do media partnerships?

Occasionally. Please get in touch with us via editors@globurb.com with your proposal or query.