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Open research questions in Urbanization and City Planning

921 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 4,552 Urbanization and City Planning papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • The success of Reconstruct and Divide projects is often impeded by disputes among stakeholders, particularly concerning the assignment of new apartments. There is a need for algorithms that can assign new apartments in a fair and efficient manner.

    Fair Allocation of Improvements: When Old Endowments Shape New Assignments · 2026 · DOI

  • We studied fairness in Reconstruct and Divide projects by considering two com- mon fairness notions: envy-freeness and proportionality. We characterized when envy-free and proportional assignments exist. Since such assignments are not al- ways guaranteed, we focused on minimizing envy and disproportionality through 30 assignment and payment vectors. We showed that the maximum attainable envy equals the maximum average mean cycle cost in the difference envy-graph. However, we could not find a polynomial- time algorithm that guarantees an optimal solution. Whether such an algorithm exists remains an open question. On the positive side, we proposed a mechanism that minimizes maximum dispro- portionality. We also introduced a characteristic-based elicitation method to reduce manipulation. We also identified conditions under which the mechanism is resistant to safe manipulations. Extending these results to broader settings and identifying additional manipulation-resistant conditions remains an open direction. We assumed that improvements are measured by differences; the model where improvements are measured by ratios is also conceptually appealing, but our current results for it are limited. Developing deeper theoretical insights in this model is a key area for future research. In future work, we plan to expand our survey to include a larger and more di- verse group of participants Our findings also highlight the importance of developing improved allocation methods that further reduce envy. In addition, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of the behavioral endowment effect through follow-up ex- periments designed to more accurately quantify its influence on perceived fairness and allocation outcomes.

    Fair Allocation of Improvements: When Old Endowments Shape New Assignments · 2026 · DOI

  • The gap between stated living preferences of young adults and observable demographic and spatial outcomes. The lack of understanding of demographic shifts among young adults in post-socialist countries.

    Demographic Shifts and the Residential Preferences of Young Adults in a Post-Socialist Context: The Case of Slovakia · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should explore the implications of the study's findings for urban development and regional planning. The study's results suggest the need for further research on the development trajectories of small towns in Serbia.

    A Longitudinal Analysis of Functional Transformation and Demographic Change in Small Towns in Serbia · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the interrelation between functional transformation and demographic change in small towns. The research highlights the need for a longitudinal analysis of the development trajectories of small towns.

    A Longitudinal Analysis of Functional Transformation and Demographic Change in Small Towns in Serbia · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the literature on economic suburbanisation in Central and Eastern Europe. The study highlights the need for empirical analysis of business entity migration in the region.

    Economic suburbanisation in the Wrocław agglomeration · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature on urban policy effectiveness. The study highlights the need for a complex methodological foundation for examining urban policy effectiveness in later periods. The analysis focuses on the principle of path dependency in infrastructures and institutional structures across different eras.

    Bécs és Budapest dualizmus kori várospolitikai hatékonyságának komplex vizsgálata fővárosi és kerületi szinten (1880-1910) · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could analyze the causes of urbanization in historical Hungary. Future research could apply the functional approach to understanding urbanization in other historical contexts.

    A városodás területi differenciálódásának két megközelítése a történelmi Magyarországon (1870) · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the understanding of urbanization in historical Hungary. The study highlights the limitations of previous approaches to understanding urbanization.

    A városodás területi differenciálódásának két megközelítése a történelmi Magyarországon (1870) · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the transformations of the urban network of the Lublin region. The region did not sit at the forefront of the changes due to various reasons.

    Transformations of the Urban Network of the Lublin Region from 1827 to 1870 and Their Historical Significance – Preliminary Research · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the literature regarding the types of fiscal policy of cities in Poland in terms of property tax. The paper addresses the problem of identifying the consequences of these policies in terms of finance and urban economy.

    Fiscal Policy Strategies of Cities Regarding Property Tax and Their Financial and Economic Consequences · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to understand the general relationship between settlement networks and school networks. The study aims to fill this gap by examining the relationship between the size of a locality and both the presence and the characteristics of primary schools in Poland.

    Settlement size and the location of primary schools in Poland · 2026 · DOI

  • The impact of urban renewal on housing prices remains contested. There is a need for a comprehensive synthesis of the current state of knowledge on this topic.

    Impacts of urban renewal on housing prices: A systematic review and meta-analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should integrate spatial– economic modeling, leverage richer micro-data (including transaction and mobility records), track time-series dy- namics across announcement, construction, and comple- tion, and expand attention to under-studied domains such as commercial and industrial renewal and diverse govern- ance arrangements.

    Impacts of urban renewal on housing prices: A systematic review and meta-analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • The limitations of the HDI when applied at the national level. The need for a territorial diagnostic tool to quantify heterogeneity.

    The Local Human Development Idexas a Tool for Assessing Territorial Socio-economic Potential: a Case Study of Cahul District, Republic of Moldova · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the factors driving the continuity and change in regional development disparities. The study's findings could be used to inform further research on the effectiveness of regional development policies.

    Changing and continuous patterns of regional development disparities in Hungary, 1910-2022 · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the long-term transformation of territorial development disparities in Hungary. The research aims to fill this gap by analyzing regional development disparities at five points in time.

    Changing and continuous patterns of regional development disparities in Hungary, 1910-2022 · 2026 · DOI

  • The issue of phasing out the energy industry is not widely publicised, - There is a lack of awareness among residents about the future of their region

    Attitudes of rural residents towards changes in their living environment. The example of the Bełchatów Industrial District in the Łódź region, Poland · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited access to high-quality data. Complexity of suburbanisation phenomenon. Regional specificity and dynamics of suburbanisation.

    How industrial transformation shapes suburbanisation in the XXI century: insights from the Wrocław urban agglomeration in Poland · 2026 · DOI

  • The relationship between industrial transformation and suburbanisation is understudied in CEE urban agglomerations. Limited access to high-quality data hinders the study of this relationship.

    How industrial transformation shapes suburbanisation in the XXI century: insights from the Wrocław urban agglomeration in Poland · 2026 · DOI

  • However, while in the West, there are running discussions on theories of uneven development aiming at understanding causes of inequalities, analyses from CEE are scarcely linked to these theoretical debates.

    Characteristics and courses of uneven development in Central and Eastern Europe: The evolution of places of underdevelopment · 2026 · DOI

  • The absence of a coherent national urbanisation policy in India. Weak coordination among planning institutions and inadequate linkage between urban and regional planning.

    Demographical and Social Infrastructural Impact on Balanced Regional Development: Derivation of Settlement Orders in a Micro Region · 2026 · DOI

  • The recent evolution of socioeconomic indicators in Chaco has received little attention. There is a need for a territorial diagnosis of the socioeconomic conditions of the province of Chaco.

    Monitoreo territorial del desarrollo en Chaco · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research could examine urban expansion dynamics in other city regions, - Additional studies could investigate the impact of urban expansion on environmental sustainability, - Research could also explore the effects of different policy interventions on urban expansion patterns

    Patterns of Current Urban Expansion in Germany: A Comparative Analysis of Five City Regions · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of urban expansion processes in German metropolitan regions. It highlights the need to examine the sustainability of urban expansion patterns. The paper notes that prior work has not fully addressed the heterogeneity of urban expansion patterns in Germany.

    Patterns of Current Urban Expansion in Germany: A Comparative Analysis of Five City Regions · 2026 · DOI

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921 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 4,552 Urbanization and City Planning papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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