Journal information

Nature Cities is a new monthly, online journal that launched in January 2024. Nature Cities publishes insightful research and opinion about cities and urban issues broadly. All editorial decisions are made by a team of full-time professional editors.

Aims & scope

Nature Cities aims to deepen and integrate basic and applied understanding of the nature of cities, including their roles, impacts and influences — past, present and future. The journal will feature cutting-edge research, synthetic reviews and timely news and opinions. By bringing together diverse content and voices, it aims to transcend divides among disciplines, among regions and among researchers, practitioners, policymakers and the public.

Nature Cities covers the full scope of research, opinion, and ideas relevant to understanding cities broadly. This includes coverage that is global, regional and local, and that features diverse voices and viewpoints, including those with practical and policy relevance. It will feature both quantitative and qualitative research from across relevant natural and social sciences, engineering, professional disciplines, and humanities.

Supporting the Sustainable Developmental Goals

We are proud to acknowledge that over 50% of the articles published in Nature Cities in 2024 were related to one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Springer Nature supports the SDGs through a dedicated SDG Programme and is a signatory of the SDG Publishers Compact.

Online publication

Nature Cities is an exclusively online publication. Articles are published using an Advanced Online Publication process, giving our authors an earlier publication date and allowing our readers to access papers several weeks before they appear in a specific issue. Note that papers published online are definitive and may be altered only through the publication of an Addendum or Correction, so authors should make every effort to ensure that the page proofs are correct.

Content types

We publish a range of content types, including Brief Communications (shorter-form primary research), Articles (longer-form primary research), Comments, Correspondences, Perspectives, Policy Briefs, and Reviews that elaborate on significant advances in the field and cover topical issues. 

We also commission News & Views on primary research as well as occasional Books & Arts, Features, News - Features, Q&As, and Viewpoints.

Editors and contact information

Like the other Nature titles, Nature Cities has no external editorial board. Instead, all editorial decisions are made by a dedicated team of full-time professional editors. For information on their research backgrounds and scientific interests, see About the Editors.

General editorial enquiries and correspondence should be addressed to the Editors at Cities@nature.com.

Enquiries about the status of a manuscript should be addressed to the Editorial Assistant at Cties@nature.com.

To enquire about institutional access, advertising or marketing please contact the appropriate department.

Abbreviation

The correct abbreviation for abstracting and indexing purposes is Nat. Cities.

EISSN

The electronic international standard serial number (EISSN) for Nature Cities is 2731-9997.

Disclaimer

Nature Portfolio journals occasionally use internal Springer Nature-developed artificial intelligence tools to support the generation of accessory content, such as summary points. These are always edited and fact-checked by the author and/or editor to meet Nature Portfolio publication standards. Any substantive use of artificial intelligence beyond accessory content will be declared on an individual article basis.