Best Conference Paper Award

Urban Affairs Association > Awards & Deadlines > Best Conference Paper Award

Initiated in 1985, the Best Conference Paper Award seeks to recognize high quality research presented at the annual spring UAA conference.  This highly competitive award is made to the author(s) of the paper judged by peer scholars as the best presented at the conference. The award is sponsored by Taylor and Francis, the official publisher of the Journal of Urban Affairs.

Eligibility Criteria
Submission Instructions
Award Benefits
Past Recipients
Eligibility Criteria / Selection Process

All conference papers submitted for review to the Journal of Urban Affairs are eligible for the award. Papers are subjected to the normal Journal of Urban Affairs review process, and finalists are determined by composite review comments. The award winner is selected by a committee designated by the Chair of the Governing Board. The committee reports its decision to the Executive Director and the Chair of the Board. The Executive Director informs the award recipient of the outcome.

Submission Instructions

To be considered for the Best Conference Paper Award, submit your paper to: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/juaf

  • In the Cover Letter field, please identify your paper as a conference paper and include the year and location of the conference (ex: 2022 UAA Conference in Washington, DC).
Award Benefits

The award recipients are given:

  • A special award plaque
  • An honorarium of $1,000 USD
  • A complimentary conference registration waiver (including meal + reception tickets) for the conference at which the award is received (valued at $500+ USD)

Papers that are accepted for publication through the review process will appear in a subsequent issue of the Journal of Urban Affairs (JUA).

The plaque will be presented at the Annual Awards Program held during the spring conference. Following the conference, a press release will be prepared announcing the winner.

Past Recipients
  • (2020 – award citation date) Redento Recio
    “Understanding Governing Relations in Informal Trading: Evidence and Implications for Urban Governance”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2019 at the UAA Los Angeles, CA conference
  • (2019 – award citation date) Martine August
    “The Financialization of Canadian Multi-family Rental Housing: From Trailer to Tower”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2018 at the UAA Toronto, Ontario conference
  • (2019 – award citation date) Stacey Sutton
    “Cooperative Cities: Municipal Support for Worker Cooperatives in the United States”
    Awarded honorable mention for the best paper award in 2018 at the UAA Toronto, Ontario conference
  • (2018 – award citation date) Haifeng Qian and Shiqin Liu
    “Cultural Entrepreneurship in U.S. Cities”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2017 at the UAA Minneapolis, MN conference
  • (2017 – award citation date) Elora Lee Raymond
    “Race, Uneven Recovery and Persistent Negative Equity in the Southeastern United States”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2016 at the UAA San Diego, CA conference.
  • (2016 – award citation date) Theodore Pride, Richard Smith, and Catherine Schmitt-Sands
    “Does Spatial Assimilation Lead to Reproduction of Gentrification in the Global City?”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2015 at the UAA Miami, FL conference.
  • (2015 – award citation date) George Galster, Anna Santiago and Lisa Stack
    “School Performance of Low Income Latino and African American Youth: The Role of Neighborhood Context”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2014 at the UAA San Antonio, TX conference.
  • (2014 – award citation date) George Galster and Erica Raleigh
    “Neighborhood Disinvestment, Abandonment and Crime Dynamics”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2013 at the UAA San Francisco, CA conference.
  • (2013 – award citation date) Michael Leo Owens and Jacob Robert Brown
    “Weakening Strong Black Political Empowerment: Implications from Atlanta’s 2009 Mayoral Election”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2012 at the UAA Pittsburgh, PA conference.
  • (2012 – award citation date) Diane M. Grams
    “Freedom and Cultural Consciousness: Black Working Class Parades in Post-Katrina New Orleans”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2011 at the UAA New Orleans, LA conference.
  • (2011 – award citation date) Talia M. McCray and Sabina Mora
    “Linking Perceptions to Activity Patterns of Low-Income Teenagers”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2010 at the UAA Honolulu, HI conference.
  • (2010 – award citation date) Laurence Bherer
    “Successful and Unsuccessful Participatory Arrangements: Why is There a Participatory Movement at the Local Level?”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2009 at the UAA Chicago, IL conference.
  • (2009 – award citation date) Frédérick Douzet
    “Revisiting Black Electoral Success: Oakland (CA), 40 Years Later”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2008 at the UAA Baltimore, MD conference.
  • (2008 – award citation date) Mark Joseph
    “Early Resident Experiences at a New Mixed-Income Development in Chicago”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2007 at the UAA Seattle, WA conference.
  • (2007 – award citation date) Scott A. Bollens
    “Urban Governance at the Nationalist Divide: Coping with Group-Based Claims”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2006 at the UAA Montréal, Québec conference.
  • (2006 – award citation date) Laurence Crot
    “‘Scenographic’ and ‘Cosmetic’ Planning: Globalization and Territorial Restructuring in Buenos Aires”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2005 at the UAA Salt Lake City, UT conference.
  • (2005 – award citation date) Kirk McClure
    “Deconcentrating Poverty Through Alternative Housing Assistance Programs”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2004 at the UAA Washington, DC conference.
  • (2004 – award citation date) R. Alan Walks
    “Place of Residence, the Vote, and Political Attitudes in Canadian Cities and Suburbs”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2003 at the UAA Cleveland, OH conference.
  • (2003 – award citation date) Jonathan Davies
    “Partnerships versus Regimes: Why Regime Theory Cannot Explain Urban Coalitions in the United Kingdom”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2002 at the UAA Boston, MA conference.
  • (2002 – award citation date) Janet M. Kelly and David Swindell
    “Service Quality Variation Across Urban Space: First steps Toward a model of Citizen Satisfaction”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2001 at the UAA Detroit, MI conference.
  • (2001 – award citation date) R. Allen Hays
    “Habitat for Humanity: Building Social Capital Through Faith Based Service”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 2000 at the Los Angeles, CA conference.
  • (2000 – award citation date) Greg Andranovich, Matthew Burbank and Charles Heying
    “Olympic Cities: Lessons Learned from Mega-Event Politics”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1999 at the UAA Louisville, KY conference.
  • (1999 – award citation date) Michelle Boyd
    “Reconstructing Bronzeville: Racial Nostalgia and Neighborhood Development”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1998 at the UAA Fort Worth, TX conference.
  • (1998 – award citation date) John Kincaid
    “De facto Devolution and Urban Defunding: The Priority of Persons Over Places”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1997 at the UAA Toronto, Ontario conference.
  • (1997 – award citation date) Larry Bennett
    “Do We Really Wish to Live in a Communitarian City? Communitarian Thinking and the Redevelopment of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green Public Housing Complex”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1996 at the UAA New York City, New York conference.
  • (1996 – award citation date) Susan C. Turner
    “Barriers to a Better Break: Employer Discrimination and Spatial mismatch in Metropolitan Detroit”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1995 at the UAA Portland, Oregon conference.
  • (1995 – award citation date) Meredith Ramsay
    “The Local Community: Producer of Culture and Wealth”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1994 at the UAA New Orleans, LA conference.
  • (1994 – award citation date) Andrew Wiese
    “Neighborhood Diversity: Social Change, Ambiguity, and Fair Housing since 1968”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1993 at the UAA Indianapolis, IN conference.
  • (1993 – award citation date) Stacy Warren
    “Disneyfication of the Metropolis: Popular Resistance in Seattle”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1992 at the UAA Cleveland, OH conference.
  • (1993 – award citation date) John Ottensmann
    “Evaluating Equity in Service Deliver for Public Library Branches by Assessing Service Levels, Distance, and Accessibility”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1992 at the UAA Cleveland, OH conference.
  • (1992 – award citation date) Robert Beauregard
    “Descendents of Ascendant Cities and Other Urban Dualities”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1991 at the UAA Vancouver, British Columbia conference.
  • (1991 – award citation date) Ali Modarres
    “Ethnic Community Development: A Spatial Re-Examination”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1990 at the UAA Charlotte, NC conference.
  • (1990 – award citation date) Teresa Herrero
    “Housing Linkage: Will It Play a Role in the 1990s?”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1989 at the UAA Baltimore, MD conference.
  • (1989 – award citation date) Judith Garber
    “Law and the Possibility for a Just Urban Political Economy”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1988 at the UAA St. Louis, MO conference.
  • (1988 – award citation date) Todd Swanstrom
    “Gimme Shelter: Housing Policy and the Homeless”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1987 at the UAA Akron, OH conference.
  • (1987 – award citation date) Margaret Wilder and Barry Rubin
    “Targeted Redevelopment Through Urban Enterprise Zones”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1986 at the UAA Fort Worth, TX conference.
  • (1986 – award citation date) William Velez and Gregory Squires
    “Insurance Redlining and the Transformation of the Urban Metropolis”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1985 at the Norfolk, VA conference.
  • (1985 – award citation date) Douglas Muzzio and Robert Bailey
    “Economic Development, Housing and Zoning: A Tale of Two Cities”
    Awarded for the best paper presented in 1984 at the UAA Portland, Oregon conference.