Seasons greetings and best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2012. In this final issue of 2011 we bring you a number of good papers, reviews of two very interesting books and a new innovation: a feature article On the state of the building industry in the wake of the GFC and the Euro-crisis where senior members of the discipline and industry provide their take on what it has meant to the industry, what will happen in their region and internationally in the near future and in the longer run. The paper is hot off the presses, or rather it would be if we weren’t electronic only, it has literally been completed in the last ten minutes and is built on a survey conducted over the last month. It is interesting reading. The surprising thing, at least to me, after so many years of talk about how globalisation has eliminated national and regional boundaries, is how different the impact has been in different regions and therefore, how different the future looks depending on where we live. Remember also that if you have any comments on the survey or anything else, I can add your comments to a discussion board at any time.

This has been a good year for the journal. We have increased the number of registered readers by almost two hundred to just under five hundred. We have increased our geographical cover both in terms of writers and authors and without change in quality, we have managed to reduce marginally the rejection rate to below 70 per cent. Importantly, after two years as an open access journal, we have, with one single exception, published all accepted papers within six months of submission. We are also negotiating to bring out a special “Conference Issue” with the best papers from a selected conference.

The progress so far doesn’t mean we intend to rest here. Firstly, if our feature article that we have just introduced, works out well, similar articles on the important issues facing the industry will become a permanent feature of the journal. If so, we will need a panel of people who have something to say on the issues of the day. If you feel that this should include you, please send me an email. The next topic will be about the need for new business models in the wake of the great financial crisis.

Finally, we hope to expand both the number of registered readers and authors over the next year. In particular it means we intend to increase the number of reviewers who are willing to respond (yes or no) within 2-3 weeks, so that we can continue to process papers quickly, something that is in the interest of both readers and authors. So, if you like this issue and are not already registered as a reader, please do so and if you want to be one of the people that influence the future of research and publication in the discipline, register as a reviewer.

As for my New Year’s wish, it is simple: that everyone that submits papers to the journal has a good look at the “Guidelines for Authors” before their final submission.

Finally, thanks to all readers, authors and reviewers and in particular to Dr Woo who has made my life so much simpler by her competence and unfailing good humour.