The implications of Artificial Intelligence for property, planning and environmental law practice and processes

AI is seemingly here to stay, accompanied by confident predictions of a fundamental restructuring of professional workflows, automation and enhanced productivity. Yet increasingly the news is dominated by stories of AI hallucinations being uncovered within court proceedings and at the heart of business and governmental decisions. Have we set a course for an explosion of professional liability claims, and if so against whom? It has been suggested that the future of human professional input into processes of property, planning and environmental management will increasingly be that of assurance – human verification of the accuracy and validity of AI generated advice. How ready are we for that new role?

The Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law publishes original legal research for academic scholars, policy makers and practitioners, including those working in real property, housing, legal and real estate practice, landlord and tenant law, environmental regulation and land use planning. 

This Call for Papers seeks contributions from around the world examining the impact of AI upon the operation of law within property, planning and environmental professional practice. Contributions could be empirical, doctrinal or conceptual and might focus on AI’s impact upon practices of training & education, regulation, transacting and/or advising and assessing. 

Potential topic areas might include:

• How is AI currently being adopted and used within professional advisory and transactional practice in property, planning and environmental law?
• How can the future generation of property, planning and environmental management professionals be trained to develop a critical engagement with AI tools so as to provide effective assurance of AI’s outputs?
• Who will have liability for hallucinations within property, planning and environmental law processes?
• What special issues, circumstances, risks and opportunities face the implementation of AI into property, planning and environmental law practice and processes?
• How successfully can AI be incorporated into processes of property, planning and environmental regulation? What are the dangers of automating the processing of licensing applications and/or regulatory investigation and enforcement action in the property, planning and environmental sphere?
• How well do existing legal frameworks address the physical footprint and effects of AI (e.g. energy and water use) when viewed through the lenses of property, planning and/or environmental law? 

It is recommended that interested submitters liaise with Dr Luke Bennett, the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Property, Planning & Environmental Law in order to discuss the suitability of their proposal for submission, for mutual benefit. Luke can be contacted at: [email protected]. The deadline for submission of papers (via the Journal’s website, here) is: 31st May 2027.

PLEASE NOTE: whilst use of AI to help craft a submission is permitted, such use must be fully disclosed and evaluated. Furthermore, submissions will need to provide evidence of ethical approval (if empirical) and in all cases present a fully referenced, original and thought-provoking contribution to this topic area, with a rigorous and critical approach to analysis and exposition. For more information on the publisher’s policies regarding the use of AI in academic work, please see our webpage here.