The Preview Issue you are viewing is the dress rehearsal for our September Premier Issue. The pieces you will find in this preliminary effort are personal reflections on how the urban landscape serves as an arena for our daily lives. As you will discover, the "landscape" we seek to explore reaches beyond the physical space of the city and into the idea space of political, economic, and social realities. Our regular issues will expand upon this issue's offering and will contain a more varied mix of articles, including full-length expository features, essays, interviews, and multimedia presentations.

One of the exciting aspects of this magazine is the potential of hearing from many different viewpoints, each anchored in a different urban space. Our writers, photographers, and editorial staff come from a variety of social backgrounds and geographical places which will doubtless facilitate an international dialog on the urban environment. Watch and learn (and join in, if you'd like) as we present complimentary as well as drastically clashing opinions.

In addition, this project is an interesting experiment in how a group of people far separated in geographic and social dimensions can come together and interact on a very intense and meaningful level. There is a temporary downside to this experiment, however. Many of us know each other only over the net and by phone, so the social dynamic and publishing logistics are certain to be rough at times: bear with us as we work out the kinks.

Reader feedback is a key component in how we will evolve the magazine over time. Check back often to watch how things change and comment on what you like and dislike about the site design and contents. In these matters, your letters to the editor are always welcomed (see our "about" section of this site to e-mail us) and may even open up an avenue for discussion that may interest our readers and influence what we publish. You're our audience, so we'd appreciate it if you let us know how we're doing on occasion.

By the way, if after looking around the site you feel that tingle of excitement that says: "I want to work on this," we welcome your application to join the team of writers, interviewers, photographers, illustrators and support staff that contribute towards the production of the monthly issues. We are also looking for suggestions for an editorial board. This group will serve as the magazine's braintrust, shepherding the magazine's resources to work on specific article ideas. The editorial board will initially focus primarily on urban studies and architecture, yet will be open to anyone who can demonstrably contribute editorial ideas, contacts, and information upon which magazine articles may be based. For more information about working with Urbania Magazine in either capacity, check out the "staff" section of this site.

So, come in and make yourself at home as you peruse these collected works that attempt to interpret the urban landscape.

And stay tuned for our first full issue, the Premier Issue, which will be published in September.

Until then,

Carl Durrenberger, Publisher
Steven Wall, Editor