Since the decolonization of African and Asian countries over the last fifty years, particularly since the Second World War, the context for built environmental education and practice has evolved in diverse ways. A range of identities and divergent perspectives has emerged within the built environment field in Global South countries. It was observed that locally educated architects, environmentalists and planners, often influenced by Western curricula, have sought to establish international practices. This fusion of Western ideals with indigenous architectural forms has led to the emergence of non-homogeneous, composite identities. The resulting architectural landscapes reflect a nuanced tension between global influences and local traditions. This evolving condition also necessitates deeper exploration into how decolonization can be addressed in both practice and pedagogy.

In response, this online open-access international journal intends to explore the creative freedom of architects today and the dichotomy between practice and academia. This journal also has a particular focus on methods to decolonize the Eurocentric curriculum in the Global South. It seeks to stimulate critical evaluation and dialogue on emerging cultural contexts by examining the influence of colonial European architecture on local teaching and learning.

JBEGS aims to bring together diverse experiences from the Global South in order to explicate ongoing post-colonial conditions. Such conditions, that are shaped by oppressive market economies, authoritarian regimes, and increasingly, by accelerating environmental change. Moreover, the public’s desire for democracy unaccompanied by inequality compels us to reconsider architecture’s role in producing, consuming, and managing the lived environment that is both deeply situated and globally entangled.

JBEGS seeks to explore the notion of understanding space from a local vantage point, to look inwards rather than toward the West or Far East; and to underscore its commitment to amplify indigenous perspectives and develop scholarship that emerges from within communities, rather than continually translating external discourses.

Launched in 2025, JBEGS (Journal of Built Environments in the Global South) builds on the legacy of the Global Built Environment Review (GBER), one of the first online open-access international journals in this field- carrying forward its critical spirit with renewed focus on the Global South.