Call for Abstracts – World Comparative Law Special Issue: The City as a Contested Space: Constitutional Law Perspectives on Urban Housing Disputes

World Comparative Law is calling for abstracts for the upcoming special issue: The City as a Contested Space: Constitutional Law Perspectives on Urban Housing Disputes (Guest editors: Katharina König and Timo Laven)

In cities around the world, housing crises have become a defining feature of the metropolitan landscape. Skyrocketing rents, gentrification, and the financialization of housing have exacerbated social inequalities and exclusion, transforming cities into battlegrounds over adequate and affordable shelter. At the heart of these conflicts lies the tension between housing as a basic human need and housing as a profit-generating asset. Constitutional law, which oftentimes protects private property interests on the one hand and social justice, including access to housing on the other, has a crucial role to play in mediating and shaping these tensions. How constitutions conceptualize and protect a right to housing, the scope of property rights, and the state’s responsibilities in regulating the housing market can significantly impact the balance of power between different stakeholders on the housing market. Constitutional provisions concerning the distribution of housing can be concretized and implemented by legislative regulation in a variety of ways. Consequently, the constitution itself can become a contested space, as various stakeholders interpret and invoke its provisions to advance their positions in urban housing disputes. For this special issue, we invite contributions that analyze the constitutional dimensions of urban housing crises from a comparative perspective. We welcome abstracts that explore the following or related questions:

• What historical and economic forces lie behind today’s housing crises, and how have they been shaped by the constitution as well as its interpretation?

• How do constitutional provisions, interpretations, and doctrines enable or constrain access to adequate housing in cities?

• What existing constitutional principles, such as equality, social justice, or the public good, can be leveraged to disrupt the status quo and advance more inclusive and equitable housing policies?

• What constitutional reforms or reinterpretations could help shape the political economy of urban housing to accommodate the needs of all residents?

• (How) Do marginalized groups, social movements, and civil society organizations use constitutional arguments and litigation strategies to challenge exclusionary housing regimes?

By examining the constitutional foundations of urban housing struggles, this special issue intends to shed light on the complex interplay between law, politics, and the urban environment. It thus aims at offering a multitude of perspectives on how constitutional law shapes the housing sector, while also exploring the historical, economic, and broader political contexts that shape urban housing struggles across the globe. We are particularly interested in comparative approaches to constitutional housing issues and encourage submissions from a wide range of disciplines including sociological, historical and economic perspectives on housing, especially those focusing on the Global South, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Timeline for the Special Issue 

March 15 2025: Submission of abstracts
April 1 2025: Decision on abstracts
July 1 2025: Deadline for submission of papers; One-day virtual workshop for internal feedback in the beginning of July
August 1 2025: Deadline for submission to peer reviewers November 1 2025: Decisions on papers and peer review feedback to authors for revision
January 1 2026: Submission of final manuscripts to WCL’s editor-in-chief

Abstract Submission Guidelines 

• Word limit: 500 words
• Format: Word document
• Deadline: March 15 2025
• Please submit your abstract to anna-katharina.koenig@fau.de 

Those whose abstracts are accepted should submit a draft paper by 1 July 2025. For further information, authors can access the journal’s style guide. Following the paper submission, a one-day virtual workshop will be held to provide a platform for sharing ideas and receiving feedback from peers and experts in the field. We look forward to receiving your contributions to this timely and important debate.