Call for papers | Vol. 49 | Place Branding, Digital Communication and Citizenship | From June 30 to September 05, 2025

2025-05-09

In the context of globalisation and rapid technological advancement, territorial dynamics are being profoundly reshaped. Cities and governments are reconfiguring their relationships with citizens and visitors alike. In this evolving landscape, place branding has emerged as a key strategic tool to attract tourism, stimulate investment, and reinforce the international visibility of cities. At the same time, digital communication platforms have become strategic spaces for civic engagement, fostering public debate, participation, and the collective formulation of policies.

However, these two dimensions — territorial promotion and civic engagement — do not always align harmoniously. How can the promotion of cities as attractive destinations be reconciled with the development of strategies that empower and include local communities? What are the implications of these communicative practices for territorial equity and social justice?

This call seeks to promote a critical reflection on the tensions, limits, and potential of urban communication strategies, particularly in relation to structural inequalities, racism, and symbolic and material forms of violence — including those affecting native peoples. It aims to examine how these dynamics intersect with the construction of territorial identities and the promotion of cultural diversity in contemporary cities.

 

We invite contributions that engage with, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Digital communication and the promotion of urban territories;
  • Territorial communication, fostering citizenship, and public engagement;
  • Place branding, public policy, and the configuration of urban space;
  • Globalisation, social media, and cultural and territorial identities;
  • Tourism promotion and local communities;
  • Digital communication, place branding, and civic participation: comparative studies;
  • Representation, exclusion, and urban communication practices;
  • Migration and the territorial communication of cities;
  • Sustainable territories and digital communication;
  • Urban geography, mobility, and territorial communication.

Proposals submission (full manuscript): from June 30, 2025 to September 05, 2025
Publication period: continuous edition (January to June 2025)

LANGUAGE

Papers can be submitted in English or Portuguese. The articles selected for publication will be translated into Portuguese or English, respectively, being published in both languages.  

EDITING AND SUBMISSION

Comunicação e Sociedade is an open-access academic journal, operating according to demanding standards of the peer-review system, and operates on a double-blind peer-review process. After submission, each paper will be distributed to two reviewers, previously invited to evaluate it according to its academic quality, originality and relevance to the objectives and scope of the theme.

Originals should be submitted through the journal's website. When accessing Comunicação e Sociedade for the first time, you must register before submitting your article (instructions to register here).

Refer to the guidelines for authors here.

For further information, please contact: comunicacaoesociedade@ics.uminho.pt