Oceania as a continent has been somewhat absent in the discussion regarding issues of relevance for urban development. Apart from the case of Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), which is more linked with the engagement from the ‘West’ or the ‘North’ as developed nations, most other locations in Oceania do not have sufficient coverage. Even if the population of some of these locations is low, and urban development is not as high as other places, there are stories from the built environment coming from there that the international discussion is not observing. 

At Oxford Urbanists we are interested in fixing this lack of knowledge coming from other nations and territories of the pacific. Issues like climate change, the application of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and more recently the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in tourism for example, spark new questions that we want to discuss. In this new Oxford Urbanist series -entitled ‘Voices from the Pacific: Urban issues of Oceania’ – we want to hear from academics, practitioners and everyone involved in cities about urban issues emerging from locations in Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. 

Generally, the guidelines will follow these key themes:

• Climate Change and island living. What are the impacts of the climate emergency for human settlements and cities in the pacific? 

• Resource management. What are the challenges for management of resources in Urban contexts of the pacific?

• Environment. Which are the main challenges regarding the environment in the contexts of cities in the pacific? 

• COVID-19 futures:  How have informal settlements in the Pacific islands experienced the ongoing public health and economic crises? How will this shape urbanisation trends?

• The SDGs. How are the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) being applied in contexts of the pacific?

*Note to contributors: Submissions to Oxford Urbanists are unpaid. We encourage contributors to submit pre-existing or ongoing research. For this call, we limit the scope of articles to those engaging with the following locations: Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna, Tonga, Samoa, Tokelau, American Samoa, Niue, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Easter Island. 

ABOUT OXFORD URBANISTS

Based at the University of Oxford, Oxford Urbanists tackles contemporary urban challenges with innovative solutions developed through interdisciplinary, global collaboration. (See previous Urbanists publications here.) We co-publish and act as a platform for articles on issues relating to urban and infrastructure development issues around the world. These typically take the form of op-eds, research briefs, or analyses ranging from 750-2,500 words. We also publish Q&As of specialist researchers, activists, or community organizers/practitioners on relevant topics (1,000 words minimum).

PROJECT CONTACTS

OU Oceania Regional Team (oceania.ou@gmail.com)

John Surico (jsurico15@gmail.com) is the Regional Focus Editor at Oxford Urbanists.