CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Centre for Conscious Design (CCD) invites contributions for Issue No. 10 of the Conscious Cities Journal, on the theme Safety, Security, and Brain Health in the Built Environment.

This issue explores how spatial design, environmental conditions, and community systems shape brain health through the everyday experience of safety, security, and protection. 

Key Topics for This Issue:

Psychological Safety and Social Brain Health

How spatial environments influence stress, emotional regulation, perceived safety, and social connection, including trauma informed and calming design approaches.

Neuro-Inclusion, Diversity and Brain Health
How design supports cognitive, physical, and social safety for diverse populations including neurodiverse individuals, women and gender diverse people, across different cultural, social, regional contexts, and lived experience.

Cultural and Ecological Brain Health and Security:
How built environments support collective wellbeing, cultural continuity, and environmental resilience, including climate responsive design, community led safety practices, and ecological protection as part of brain health and security.

Scope of Contributions

We welcome original, unpublished work across four categories of contribution. Each engages the theme from a different angle, and we ask authors to indicate which category their submission is intended for.

Essays. Reflective or argument-led pieces, including critical reflections and practice-led essays, that develop an idea or perspective on how safety, security, and brain health meet in the built environment. Essays prioritise insight and clarity of thought over formal methodology.

Research. Scholarly or empirical investigations, including original studies, literature syntheses, and methodologically grounded case analyses that advance understanding of how the built environment shapes brain health through experiences of safety and security.

Science Translation. Pieces that take findings or concepts from neuroscience, psychology, or allied sciences and translate them into accessible, actionable insight for designers, planners, and practitioners.

Case Studies. Documented projects, interventions, or built works, including short case studies, that illustrate the theme in practice, with reflection on outcomes, methods, and lessons for the field.

Contributions from diverse disciplinary and geographic contexts are encouraged, including but not limited to architecture, urbanism, planning, human sciences, design research, and community-based practice.

For an idea of pieces we have published in the past, read past journal issues.

Submission Guidelines

Length: 500-3500 words

Format: Google Doc or Word document, including photo essays. If you have photos or images, please send them as a Dropbox/Google Drive link. You must have full image permissions. 

Citations: AMA format (see also)

All submissions must adhere to the provided guidelines to ensure a smooth review process. Submissions that do not meet these requirements will not be considered for publication until they comply. 

How to Submit

Submit through the form below. Your submission must be original, previously unpublished, and adhere to the thematic principles discussed.

Deadline – Friday, 1st September 2026

Editor – This issue’s editor is Mahan Aslam who is currently a Greenhouse Fellow at The Centre for Conscious Design.