AESOP ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

7 Jul 2025, 08:15 → 11 Jul 2025, 20:30 Europe/Istanbul

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

See also the AESOP 2025 Istanbul Annual Congress Website

 

IMPORTANT DATES 

05 December 2024: Call for abstracts open (Congress Tracks)
16 December 2024: Call for Special Sessions and Roundtables open
31 January 2025: Deadline for abstract submissions (Congress Tracks)
31 January 2025: Deadline for Special Session and Roundtable Applications
17 February 2025: Special Sessions and Roundtables notifications
05 March 2025: Deadline for abstract submission for presentations included in Special Sessions
10 March 2025: Abstract notifications
10 March 2025: Early Bird Registration open
08 April 2024: Full Paper Submission open
25 April 2025: Early bird registration deadline - Extended Deadline
08 May 2025: Registration deadline for presenters to be included in the Congress Program - Extended Deadline
07 June 2025: Full paper submission deadline - Extended Deadline
16 June 2025: Late registration deadline for participants without paper presentation

For Abstract Submission Questions:
aesop2025.abstract@yildiz.edu.tr

AESOP-2025-Full-Paper_Guidelines.docx

AESOP-2025-Oral-presentation-Guidelines.pdf

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-Template.pptx

AESOP-2025-Poster-Guidelines.pdf

AESOP bulding map book.pdf

Editor uploads image.png

Monday 7 July

08:15 → 09:00 Registration (for Co - Reps)

09:00 → 12:00 Co - Rep Meeting

12:00 → 13:30 Co - Rep Lunch

13:30 → 15:00 Co - Rep Meeting

15:00 → 16:30 Registration

16:30 → 19:00 Congress Opening Session

16:30 Urban Political Ecology: Prefigurative Planning for a Climate emergency

In this talk I argue that Urban Political Ecology’s (UPE) ontologies, epistemologies, and methods are not
simply an academic exercise; they are scientific developments that make academic research more relevant
to the politics of climate change. UPE unsettles ‘traditional’ understandings of ‘cities’ as ontological entities
separate from ‘nature’, and develops methods to examine how urbanization is inseparably and
metabolically interlinked with flows of capital, labour, and resources, and with the metabolism of the entire
biophysical world. In the talk, I propose ways forward, to replace the currently dominant catastrophism
over climate, with new forms of prefigurative politics and use values to promote socio-political action for
‘impossible’ solutions. I draw partly upon the books: Turning Up the Heat: Urban Political Ecology for a
Climate Emergency (Kaika, Keil, Mandler and Tzaninis (eds), 2023; Manchester UP); and Class Meets Land:
the Embodied History of Land Financialization (Kaika and Ruggiero, 2024, U of California Press)

Speaker: Maria Kaika (University of Amsterdam)

17:00 Planning Istanbul in Hard Times with(out) Great Expectations

The recently completed Vision 2050 Action Plan took as its starting point the intersecting global crises expected to define the 21st century, recognizing that their most dramatic consequences will be felt in metropolises like Istanbul. The Action Plan aims to address these vulnerabilities in order to create a more sustainable and resilient Istanbul.
In line with this perspective, the recently launched upper-scale planning initiative—namely, Istanbul Plan 2050—asserts that the aggressive and expansionist growth model that has shaped the city in recent decades is no longer sustainable due to the high social, geo-ecological, and economic costs it generates. Rather than preventing vulnerabilities, this model in fact amplifies them. While a number of mega-projects targeting ecologically sensitive zones well outside the built-up areas are being promoted, the existing built environment—and the lives of millions of Istanbul residents—remain under imminent threat from a major earthquake. Similar vulnerabilities appear in the form of the degradation of the environment and the ecological services as well as the inability to regenerate livelihoods for large segments of society caught in cycles of unemployment and social precarity and housing crises.
Rejecting the paradigm of so-called ‘expansionism’ and 'creative destruction'—which legitimizes opening up non-urbanized ecological areas to development and encourages redevelopment within the existing built environment—Istanbul Plan 2050 instead embraces a logic of compactness that centers on the reproduction, repair, and resilience of the urban fabric, while addressing accumulated damages and inherent vulnerabilities head-on.

Speaker: H. Tarık Şengül (Middle East Technical University & Coordinator of Istanbul Plan 2050)

19:00 → 22:00 Welcome Reception

Tuesday 8 July

08:15 → 09:00 Registration

09:00 → 10:30 Keynote Speakers

09:00 Just Sustainabilities in Policy, Planning and Practice

In his talk, Julian will outline the concept of 'just sustainabilities' as a response to the ‘equity deficit’ of much sustainability thinking and practice. He will explore his contention that who can belong in our cities will ultimately determine what our cities can become. He will illustrate his ideas with examples from urban planning and design, food justice and the ‘Minneapolis Paradox’.

Speaker: Julian Agyeman (Department Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, USA)

09:30 The Paradoxical Potential of Interregnum: Exploring Opportunities for Transformative Planning in Times of Crisis

As the ideological frameworks of post-neoliberalism and post-modernism approach their endpoints, we find ourselves in a transitional phase, a period Antonio Gramsci described as the interregnum, where the old order is dying but the new has yet to be born. This in-between moment, marked by uncertainty and disorientation, also holds the paradoxical potential for transformation. Contemporary planning discourses, which once aimed to serve bridging and corrective functions, have increasingly fallen short, remaining largely rhetorical and fragmented. In this context, the interregnum compels us to reimagine the role of planning in the face of systemic crises. Rather than seeking immediate solutions within the constraints of failing paradigms, we must instead foster collective imagination to conceptualise and construct alternative futures. This paper argues for a reorientation of planning thoughts toward a "post-neoliberal" ethos grounded in transformative, inclusive and anticipatory approaches that embrace the uncertainty of the interregnum as a generative space for systemic change.

Speaker: Ayda Eraydın (The Middle East Technical University)

10:30 → 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 → 12:30 RT_05 CIRCULARITY AND/OR SUSTAINABILITY? IMAGINING TRANSFORMATIVE STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS FOR THE URBAN TRANSITION

Conveners: Andresa Ledo Marques (University of Lisbon), Federica Scaffidi (Leibniz University Hannover), Mina Di Marino (Norwegian University of Life Sciences)

11:00 Circularity and/or Sustainability? Imagining Transformative Strategies and Actions for the Urban Transition

As cities face multiple challenges from climate change, rapid urbanisation, and resource scarcity, urban transitions have emerged as a critical framework for planning and rethinking urban futures. Circularity and sustainability are pivotal in these transitions, offering transformative approaches to managing resources, fostering resilience, and creating more equitable urban systems. However, how do these concepts translate into actionable actions and strategies for urban development, and can they truly address the pressing social, economic and environmental crises cities face today?
This roundtable builds on AESOP 2025's theme of "Planning as a Transformative Action in an Age of Planetary Crisis", focused on environmental, social and economic global challenges by exploring the intersection and complementarity of circularity and sustainability. It seeks to provoke a dialogue that moves beyond technical solutions and engages with urban transitions' systemic challenges and opportunities. While circular economic models, adaptive reuse, and zero-waste initiatives have demonstrated localised success, this session interrogates their scalability, temporality, and inclusiveness. Are circular and sustainable urban models accessible to diverse communities, or do they risk perpetuating inequalities? And how do we balance the focus on circularity with the imperative to reduce overall consumption and rethink innovative growth paradigms?
Participants will engage with critical questions such as: How can circularity contribute to the broader goals of urban transitions? What governance frameworks and policy innovations are needed to align circular and sustainable actions and strategies? How do circular practices address socio-economic inequalities and promote inclusivity in urban spaces? What role do cultural and behavioural shifts play in advancing sustainable urban transitions?
The session will feature contributions drawing on theoretical insights and empirical research which investigates planning policies, strategies and practices, on one or more of the following topics:
• The intersection and complementarity of circularity and sustainability;
• Policy and governance innovations supporting circular and sustainable urban transitions;
• Case studies highlight both successes and limitations;
• The integration of circularity and sustainability with social justice and innovation in urban development;
• Circularity and sustainable nature based frameworks;
• Behavioural and cultural changes required for systemic transformation.

Aligned with AESOP 2025's theme of rethinking urban transitions, this roundtable aims to inspire new perspectives and actionable strategies for cities navigating the complexities of the 21st century. Critically examining circularity and sustainability through the lens of equity and innovation will foster a deeper understanding of the pathways to transformative urban futures. Together, we will explore how to translate circularity and sustainability into inclusive, scalable, and impactful practices that redefine our urban future.

Speakers: Federica Scaffidi (Leibniz University Hannover), Mina Di Marino (Norwegian University of Life Sciences), Andresa Ledo Marques (University of Lisbon), Martina Massari

11:00 → 12:30 RT_07 CITY-MAKING BEYOND CRISIS MANAGEMENT: TOWARD JUST URBAN POLICIES

Conveners: Androniki Pappa (University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory), Laura Sobral (Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies – DINÂMIA'CET, ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal, and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space at the Technischen Universität Wien, Austria)

11:00 City-Making Beyond Crisis Management: Toward Just Urban Policies

Urban policies are not static—they evolve, adapt, and sometimes fade away. Their lifecycle is shaped by “middling actors”—urban professionals, activists, and bureaucrats—who navigate complex socio-political landscapes while co-producing and implementing policies, mediating between diverse stakeholders, and drawing on successful precedents. Yet, their work is fraught with tensions arising from land commodification, climate crises, and armed conflicts, all exacerbated by neoliberal urbanism and urban extractivism.

This roundtable critically examines the lifecycle of urban policies, the agency of those involved, and the conflicts they navigate. Inspired by Brazilian philosopher Nego Bispo’s phrase: “O começo, o meio e o começo” (“The beginning, the middle, and the beginning”), we propose a processual approach to urban policy design and implementation to explore negotiation, adaptation, and resistance.

1. Power Dynamics in Urban Policy Formation

Who are the middling actors, what are their positionalities, and how do they negotiate power within multi-level urban governance? How do policies emerge from these interactions, and how do unequal power dynamics shape or hinder inclusive decision-making? When does participation reinforce exclusion rather than fostering just urban policies?

1. How Urban Policies Travel, Adapt, and Move Forward

How do policies travel across different contexts while retaining their core values, and what role does political agency play in their adaptation? How can urban policies remain relevant in rapidly changing environments while overcoming power imbalances and institutional inertia? How do shifts in political power influence the interpretation and implementation of existing policies?

1. How Urban Policies Fade Out (or Not)

How can trust and stewardship be sustained beyond funding or political cycles? How to create policies for maintenance? What does a “good death” for a policy look like, and how can its lessons be carried forward?

1. Making Change: Towards Justice-Oriented Urban Policies

How can middling actors push urban policies beyond tokenistic participation toward structural transformation? What strategies can make city-making more equitable?

Drawing on feminist and Global South perspectives, this session explores creativity, trust-building, and collective vision in urban policy-making—while avoiding romanticised notions of participation and foregrounding the conflicts that shape urban transformation. Guided by the questions above, we will address various cases and discuss different scales and scopes of practices, from neighbourhood-level to ecosystem-level planning, considering the lifecycle of urban policies.

Within this roundtable, we will critically engage with how urban planning can shift from reactive harm mitigation to proactive justice-oriented practices, fostering policies for equitable and inclusive urban environments.

Speakers: Predrag Milić (Vienna University of Technology (TUWien), URBAN – Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space; Austria | University of Applied Arts Vienna, Social Design – Arts as Urban Innovation; Austria), Isabella Rusconi (University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory; Portugal), Sonja Dragović (University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory; Portugal), Dr Burcu Ateş (URBAN – Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space; Austria), Laura Sobral (University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory; Portugal | Vienna University of Technology (TUWien), URBAN – Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space; Austria), Androniki Pappa (University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory; Portugal), Maria Manuel Rola (CEAU/FAUP)

11:00 → 12:30 RT_13 FUNDAMENTAL? OR BEST FORGOTTEN? CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON THE PUBLIC INTEREST

Conveners: Christopher Maidment (University of Reading), Michael Lennon (University College Dublin)

11:00 FUNDAMENTAL? OR BEST FORGOTTEN? CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON THE PUBLIC INTEREST

The concept of the public interest has long been bound up in debates about the purpose of, and justification for, planning activities. Yet, writing at the beginning of the 21st Century, Campbell and Marshall (2000) highlight that:
“What constitutes the public interest has always been contentious but its value as a legitimising concept has been increasingly called into question in the recent past. It is a term which has often been used to mystify rather than clarify...it is frequently used as a device to cast an aura of legitimacy over the final resolution of policy questions where there are still significant areas of disagreement.”
(Campbell and Marshall, 2000, p.308)

The concept is simultaneously a carrier of many meanings and of no meaning; its inherent lack of content beyond the vague notion of serving the public leaves it open to being appropriated for less than normative purposes and, despite a lineage debating back to Aristotle, its practical application remains contested. On the other hand, it remains a justification for action that the discipline of planning clings onto; without a remit to serve the public what reason is there for spatial planning to exist?
Using the theory and practice of spatial planning as a basis, the aim of this roundtable is to present a range of contemporary perspectives, some optimistic, some less optimistic, about the relevance of the concept as we move further into the 21st Century. Each contributor will be asked to respond to the following questions:
- Does/should the public interest remain a relevant as a conceptual basis for spatial planning?
- How should the public interest be theorised or conceptualised?
- Is the public interest a relevant concept for practitioners?
- To what extent is a consensus needed around around who or what constitutes the public?
Some contributions will focus on the relevance of the concept in practice, whilst others will explore how the theorisation of the public interest has evolved. Specifically, we want to draw out the contrasts and dissensus between viewpoints and generate debate about whether the public interest remains an important foundation for planning theory and practice.

Speakers: Dr Christopher Maidment (University of Reading), Dr Michael Lennon (University College Dublin), Prof. Angelique Chettiparamb (University of Reading), Prof. Ben Clifford (University College London), Dr Hanna Mattila (University of Turku), Prof. Stefano Moroni (Politecnico di Milano), Akif Burak ATLAR (President of the Chamber of Planners of Türkiye)

11:00 → 12:30 SS_10 SHAPING REGIONAL FUTURES TOWARD SUSTAINABLE TRANSITIONS: COMMUNITY INVOLVMENT IN VISIONING AND IMPLEMENTATION

Conveners: Cristina Cavaco (CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa), Valeria Lingua (University of Florence, Department of Architecture), Verena Balz (Delft University of Technology)

11:00 Navigating Regional Challenges: Food Systems as a Catalyst for Spatial Planning Innovation - The Food Transition Strategy and FoodLink Network in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon

In an anthropogenic era marked by recurring environmental and socioeconomic crises and heightened unpredictability, planning regional futures for a sustainable transition has become an increasingly pressing and complex challenge.
In Portugal, however, regional planning has historically been overlooked within the national spatial planning system and public policies. This is largely due to the fact that, while statutory planning within a traditional state framework rooted in nested territorial administrative units and formal tiers of government, regionalization has neither been pursued nor has a regional level of government been established. As a result, regional and supra-municipal policies depend either on central government decision-making or on the voluntary cooperation of local authorities in policymaking and decision. This highlights a significant gap between how power is territorially exercised and the pressing territorial challenges that are emerging, such as climate change adaptation, food production and supply, housing, and socio-territorial inequalities.
To address these challenges, the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon has, in recent years, become a key platform for developing several strategy-oriented soft planning initiatives grounded in multi-level governance arrangements, inter-municipal cooperation, and the active engagement of diverse territorial actors. Despite the difficulties of implementing territorial approaches at a regional scale, these strategies underscore the emergence of a new supra-municipal spatial reasoning aimed at fostering the metropolitan area as a transformative space for collaborative visioning and decision-making.
The Food Transition Strategy in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (FTS-LMA) exemplifies such initiatives. Encompassing all 18 municipalities of the LMA, it seeks to integrate diverse policies to establish a sustainable and resilient food system at a metropolitan level. This strategy is developed and supported by FoodLink – the Network for Food Transition in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area – a bottom-up collaborative network that acts as an interface for identifying solutions to plan an integrated and intersectoral food system within the regional context of the LMA. Through its Action Plan, the FTS-LMA articulates a shared vision, guidelines, and objectives to be followed by the entities involved.
In this paper, we aim to examine how the transformative agenda of food systems can drive positive transitions in current spatial planning practices. As a voluntary policy instrument and an example of soft planning practice, the FTS-LMA offers an opportunity to foster the emergence of new planning spaces while advancing innovation in planning at the regional level. We seek to explore how this initiative, with its place-based, territorially sensitive, and integrated approach, can lay the groundwork for supporting collaborative visioning and regional design approaches at the metropolitan scale, while also contributing to reinforcing traditional state-led planning frameworks.

Speakers: Prof. Cristina Cavaco (CIAUD, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa), Dr Rosário Oliveira (Institute of Social Sciences, Universidade de Lisboa)

11:10 MAPPING COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES FOR CO-DESIGNING REGIONAL SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS

For sustainability transition policies and plans to succeed, they must address territorial specificities and mobilize commitment from communities most vulnerable to transitional challenges. Otherwise, they risk being perceived as creating "winners" and "losers," eroding trust in governance, increasing resistance to change, and exacerbating polarization and social unrest (COM, 2022). Active and direct involvement of communities is therefore an essential component of EU, national, regional, and local place-based policymaking for just sustainability transitions. However, involving communities in this policymaking is challenging because it is often a technocratic, top-down endeavor with little apparent relevance or meaning for communities.

Against this background, this paper discusses an instrumental approach to revealing the dreams and expectations of the least-engaged communities (LECs) in place-based policymaking in four European regions transitioning from coal and iron mining. The analysis was carried out as part of experimentation with design-led territorial and digital tools in the Horizon Europe project Democratising jUst Sustainability Transitions (DUST) in Norrbotten (SE), Stara Zagora (BG), Katowice (PL), and Lusatia (DE). Experiments titled Regional Futures Literacy Labs (RFLLs) engaged local communities in deliberations on transition policies during four co-design workshops.

The concept of Territorial Capital (TC) provided a framework to trace deliberations, identify regional social-spatial dynamics, inform regional design explorations, and compare community and policy perspectives. The communities’ dreams and expectations were captured through audio recordings, transcribed, and qualitatively analyzed using Atlas.ti software. The coding system was developed using a combined deductive and inductive approach, starting with broad predefined TC categories and gaining depth with specific TC aspects identified inductively in the qualitative data collected from LECs.

This paper presents key findings on the communities’ dreams and expectations vis-à-vis sustainability transition policymaking and explores how these narratives can inform regional designs and community-policy comparisons. The preliminary conclusions of the paper are twofold. First, we draw on the empirical results to discuss how the transition narratives of LECs evolved over the course of the labs and under the influence of various factors. Second, we propose how methods can be refined to enhance community future literacy and support community reflection on regional sustainability transitions. Final conclusions will draw on how the proposed design-led methodology can facilitate policy and community alignment, indicating their potential to better represent LECs' voices in shaping policies across diverse regional contexts, fostering inclusive decision-making processes.

Speaker: Ms Anca Ioana Forgaci (Delft University of Technology)

060625_AESOP_Mapping Community Perspectives_AIF.pdf

060625_AESOP_Mapping Community Perspectives_AIF.pptx

11:20 “Co-Visioning” Urban-Rural Futures: Testing a participative and integrated regional planning approach in Germany and China

Integrating urban-rural linkages into local and regional planning processes can be a key factor in shaping sustainable social, economic and ecological transformation processes. In efforts to advance regenerative supplies of energy, food, or building materials while mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity, the territories of extended urbanization are becoming a central arena for future innovation. Agile planning approaches, multi-stakeholder platforms and models of integrated regional governance are therefore needed to negotiate and envision urban-rural futures across administrative boundaries and sectoral silos.

The Sino-German Urban-Rural Assembly project (URA, 2019-2025) addressed this methodological gap by conducting transdisciplinary and transformative research in living labs in Germany and China. Based on multidisciplinary analyses of socio-spatial practices, material cycles, water landscapes, ecosystems, migration and inclusion, the project initiated "Urban-Rural Co-Visioning" processes in both regions. In a series of multi-actor workshops, researchers and local stakeholders entered into negotiations on regional futures and co-designed goals, future visions and transformation paths for strengthening sustainable urban-rural relations in the living labs. The aim was firstly to develop evidence-based and locally robust guiding principles for sustainable transformation in both regions, and secondly to derive a transferable methodology for “Co-Visioning” urban-rural regions. The paper will present the refined approach as published in a joint policy paper with UN-Habitat.

Speaker: Anke Hagemann (Technische Universität Berlin)

URA_AESOP_presentation_Hagemann.pptx

11:30 Navigating Lusatia’s Structural Transition Between Consensus and Dissensus

The structural transition in Lusatia, Germany, prompted by the national coal phase-out, exemplifies the complex interplay between technocratic governance and divergent public narratives. Despite sustained economic stability, bolstered by job creation and infrastructure improvements, public sentiment often remains tied to the decline of the region’s energy-intensive industries. Stories that make headlines tend to depict an unsettled, dissatisfied population and an urban environment resistant to change and wary of difference.

In view of the contingencies surrounding Lusatia’s transition, the national Structural Strengthening Investment Program aims at establishing governance structures that bind various levels of decision making from national to local, which support projects aiming to stage a new aesthetics of transition through flagship structural projects and massive landscape restorations. This multilevel governance approach relies on consensus-driven, technocratic strategies that emphasize compromise and managerial coordination. Such depoliticization tends to be critiqued in social sciences for replacing adversarial politics and stifling radical new imaginaries. However, Lusatia’s case reveals a different dynamic, in which dissent is driven by radical-right polarization, which capitalizes on narratives of exclusion, economic insecurity, and cultural fears, thus creating a complex ethical and political landscape that defies conventional categorizations of the post-political condition.

Drawing on qualitative data from document analysis, stakeholder interviews and focus groups, this study identifies three pathways regional governance structures use to address the challenges of aligning structural policy with regional aspirations. First, counteracting radicalization through accessibility focuses on demystifying the complex lexicon of sustainability transitions and emphasizing equitable outcomes. While the stakeholders underscore the importance of transparent, relatable policies, the emphasis on consensus can paradoxically fuel polarization as the voices that feel left on the other side of environmental justice are picked up and mobilized by populist movements. Second, depoliticizing transition through evidence-based governance prioritizes common interest for a coal phase-out aligning particular interests of mainstream political parties with interests of consensus-driven governance structures, which seek to address dissent by presenting decisions as apolitical and inevitable. Third, public participation is recognized as a mitigative tool for marginalizing radical-right narratives. Stakeholders advocate for an inclusive framework that foster consensus and actively engage publics across plural differences, yet at the operational level they agree there is still much room for enhancing active and direct public involvement.

This research reimagines technocratic governance as both a stabilizing force and a potential source of alienation, offering lessons for managing structural transitions in polarized contexts. By addressing the interplay between consensus-driven governance and dissensus rooted in radical-right polarization, this paper offers insights into balancing technocratic efficiency with inclusive participatory practices.

Speaker: Tihomir Viderman (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

Viderman_Jugendbeteiligung_DUST.pdf

11:40 ASSETs for circular futures: boosting the transition to circular construction in the Eurodelta

The ASSET project—A Spatial Strategy for Eurodelta, boosting the Transition to circular construction—is a transformative initiative to establish the Eurodelta as a blueprint for a circular built environment (CBE). ASSET is a collaborative project between the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Brussels, Krefeld, and Duisburg; RWTH Aachen and TU Delt universities; and the Deltametropolis Association and Metrex. The Eurodelta encompasses diverse urban regions such as the Randstad, Brussels, and Rhine-Ruhr, and it faces challenges of climate adaptation, biodiversity loss, and socio-economic inequalities, among others. ASSET uses shared infrastructure and economic networks to develop spatial strategies for a CBE. Early efforts, including material flow mapping and cross-regional collaboration, have identified circular construction hubs and reuse practices, and showcased scalable solutions that combine local innovation with regional coordination.

ASSET emphasises the importance of bridging visioning and implementation by integrating bottom-up innovation and top-down coordination. Through participatory practices, multi-stakeholder workshops engage municipalities, private companies, practitioners and communities in co-creating actionable design principles that reflect local needs and aspirations. These processes ensure alignment with long-term regional strategies, while maintaining a focus on place-based policy-making to address local specificities. Collaborative student-led design initiatives further enrich the process, combining grassroots creativity with structured governance to foster shared narratives that prioritise ecological balance and social equity.

By integrating local action with overarching coordination, ASSET illustrates a paradigm shift towards a place-based circular economy. It redefines land use, logistics, and governance to achieve regenerative material flows and adaptive urban systems. Thereby, positioning the Eurodelta as a global model for sustainable transformation, and demonstrating how collaboration at all levels can shape an equitable, resilient urban future.

Speaker: Fabio Bayro Kaiser (RWTH Aachen University)

20240708_AESOP-IST_SS10_ASSETs_fbayrokaiser.pdf

11:50 Enacting Istanbul Vision 2050: Addressing Key Urban Challenges Through Participatory and Multi-Scale Planning

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and deepening socio-economic inequalities are global crises that increasingly compel urban governments to adopt transformative planning actions. Istanbul, significantly impacted by these challenges, also possesses unique potential for generating sustainable solutions. The city is distinguished by its rich historical context, multi-layered natural and cultural heritage, strategic economic role in Turkey, and dynamic metropolitan characteristics. However, the economic, ecological, and social costs associated with centralised decision-making, predominantly imposed by the central government, pose serious risks. Large-scale infrastructure projects and top-down spatial interventions not aligned with urban plans threaten Istanbul's urban landscape, presenting a significant challenge for local government and communities.
Istanbul is also the focus of demands for urban democracy and participation. The need for spatial decisions that are developed with participatory governance and provide equal opportunities to residents is directly related to the democratic functioning of the public sphere and the protection of freedom of expression (Istanbul Planning Agency - Vision 2050 Office, 2020).
Developing a shared urban vision between local municipalities and residents to establish a roadmap has become essential for urban governance. To steer Istanbul towards a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future, the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA) was established in 2020, resulting in the development of the Istanbul Vision 2050 Strategic Document (2022) and the Vision 2050 Action Plan (2024), which delineate the city's key strategic actions.
The Istanbul Vision 2050 Strategic Document and Vision 2050 Action Plan emphasise the need for a new planning paradigm in response to ongoing local and global transformations. Accordingly, rather than static policy documents or action plans, they are conceived as dynamic, continuously negotiated, and adaptable governance frameworks. The governance and democracy components shape the targets defined in the Vision, providing a foundation for decision-making processes. While the metropolitan municipality is responsible for steering Istanbul towards these objectives, implementing the proposed actions relies on collaboration with other public institutions, civil society organisations, and experts.
Civic engagement is central to developing and implementing these plans and to the broader future vision set by the Istanbul Vision 2050 Strategic Document and Action Plan. Accordingly, the Vision 2050 Action Plan defines numerous objectives and actions focused on participatory governance. Democratising urban life in Istanbul involves stimulating active citizenship and enabling residents to participate in urban policymaking. The plan proposes mechanisms and platforms for collaboration between civil society and local authorities in areas such as environmental sustainability, spatial planning, and cultural heritage. This approach prioritises decision-making processes that include residents, ensuring community involvement in shaping policies that directly affect urban life. Moreover, involving civil society and Istanbul residents in decision-making and implementation processes concerning urban services will contribute to making these services more inclusive, spatially just, and accessible, thereby reinforcing the city’s resilience goals.
Improving the governance of urban commons based on the right to the city will strengthen solidarity among community networks and enhance residents’ sense of belonging. This, in turn, will contribute to achieving the spatial objectives outlined in the Vision. Furthermore, civil society and individuals will actively engage in decision-making through participatory spatial planning and mechanisms defined within the Action Plan. Community participation will be strengthened through a resilience-focused governance model, starting at the neighbourhood level.
The established action areas, policies, and projects have emerged from a participatory approach, engaging pertinent institutions and societal stakeholders in the development process. Thus, the Action Plan is envisioned as a dynamic and continuously evolving roadmap. The next step involves creating a comprehensive spatial framework for Istanbul, aligning the new Istanbul Environmental Master Plan with key transformative projects outlined in the Vision 2050 Action Plan and their spatial implications.

Speaker: MÜGE YORGANCI OZAR (ISTANBUL PLANNING AGENCY)

Muge_Yorganci_Ozar_Aesop2025.pptx

12:00 GIVING OPERATIONALITY TO STRATEGIC PLANNING: FROM THE VISION 2030 TO THE TERRITORIAL PLAN OF THE METROPOLITAN CITY OF FLORENCE

The contribution reflects on the way to give operationality to strategic plan, by describing the path from the definition of the strategic metropolitan plan (SMP) and its implementation through operational projects that are the base of the territorial metropolitan plan (TMP) of the metropolitan City of Florence.
The SMP has provided to connect places with strategic development directions, providing with a visioning process able to define, select and make sense of the complex reality of the metropolitan city and its positioning into the global context. In such a complex framework, the making of the strategic metropolitan plan (PSM) has been conducted as a creative regional design practice for framing the urban region and envisioning its possible future development. By using spatial representations and shared visions, the debate has raised on physical changes, sharing responsibilities and resources. In the implementation phase, this process has conveyed to conceive a multi-level and trans-scalar approach to local projects, conceived as part of the integrated visions of the SMP.
With the TMP, the Metropolitan City of Florence has embarked on an institutional experimentation aimed at simplifying the metropolitan planning, drawing up a Metropolitan Territorial Plan (PTM) With a form and nature that make it more in line with the social and economic conditions of our time.
The TMP of Florence is structured as an instrument for territorialization of the contents of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan, adopting at the same time a dialogic and cooperative approach, therefore not imposing on the municipalities, but rather governance made of soft power, multi sectoral and multi scalar instrument to guide the multiple directions of change. The PTM is divided into three main components: the Knowledge Framework, the Statute and the Proposals Framework which, organized in Strategies and Meta-projects, has the objective of serving as a grid to identify, first, and then define, some design solutions of “issues” subways.

Speakers: Giuseppe De Luca (University of Study in Florence), Valeria Lingua (University of Florence, Department of Architecture)

12:10 UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF WATER DATA SPACE IMAGINARIES IN ACCELERATING TWIN (GREEN AND DIGITAL) TRANSITION PATHWAYS FOR THE WATER MULTIVERSE

Europe is at the heart of a digital revolution affecting almost every domain of the economy, policies and citizens' lifestyles in general. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation unveiling at the same time important challenges characterizing this socio-technical transformation: 1) it has exposed society's vulnerability to new digital divides, 2) it demonstrated that there are wide variations in digital transformation advances between Member States, and 3) it highlighted the European Union's dependency on non-EU digital players and platforms (Negreiro 2022). On these premises, the European Parliament have launched the 2030 Policy Programme 'Path to the Digital Decade' to reinforce digital sovereignty and to ensure strategic autonomy, ensuring that the digital transformation will promote EU values and respect fundamental freedoms. The final goal is “to boost Europe's global competitiveness and further the digitalization of European industry, which still lags behind, particularly in [SMEs]” (Negreiro 2022). An important pillar of this policy programme is the intention to build a fair and sustainable data economy for Europe. One of the key conceptual foundations of this policy package is the creation of common European data spaces. This focus derived from the awareness that, despite the exponential growth of data produced and the value potential they bear for society and the economy, the use of this data is suboptimal and therefore its value is not fully exploited. There are multiple reasons for this but the most critical are: 1) lack of trust between data providers and data users; 2) data protection and regulatory aspects, 3) limited accessibility and availability of data (Otto, ten Hompel, and Wrobel 2022b).
This is the context in which the “Water Data Space” project was funded. The purpose of this project is for the water sector, in collaboration with universities and SMEs, to “establish an open data space that can systematically facilitate the complex task of collecting, organizing and displaying data from multiple data sources, so that it is possible for a large diversity of actors to develop new knowledge and business models for the innovation of the water sector”. Our role within this project is to study how and if the emergence of sustainability transition pathways within the water sector can be facilitated and supported through the sharing of data, when this data sharing is made possible by means of innovative, open and accessible “water data spaces”. An evidence-based approach seeks to document the knowledge co-production of emerging water data space imaginaries within this project to become a reference point for further initiatives nationally and internationally. The results from this study will provide the basis for a broader involvement of actors with the capacities needed to support the establishment of those transformational imaginaries bearing potentials for the acceleration of the twin (digital and green) transitions in Europe and beyond.

Speaker: Dr Chiara Farné Fratini (DTU Sustain, Technical University of Denmark)

AESOP_Regional Futures_CFF_2025-07-08_final.pptx

11:00 → 12:30 SS_02 DISCUSSING SPATIAL JUSTICE FROM/TOWARDS A SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: Part 1

Conveners: Alessia Franzese, Elena Bruno, Luca Nicoletto (Università Iuav di Venezia), Valeria Volpe

11:00 Infrastructures, Inequalities, and Rights: The Sacco Valley in Italy’s Intermediate Territories

The contribution refers to the PRIN “Italia di Mezzo” and proposes the exploration of the Sacco Valley as an emblematic synthesis of the tensions between social and ecological dimensions that characterize the territories of Italy in-between metropolises and inner areas. In a territory marked by a century structured over time around various sectors, the river stands as a structuring axis and a witness to global and local transformations. The infrastructures of the Valley - such as the canal systems, the industrial development policies, the road network that fragments territories and local cultures - materialize forms of exclusion and privilege, revealing the intrinsic asymmetries in the development processes. These infrastructures, although often perceived as abstract entities functional to the connection of flows, possess a materiality and symbolic weight that anchor them deeply to the territory. They are devices that amplify inequalities. Divested of its vital function and reduced to a "stream of unconsciousness," the Sacco River is reduced to a symbol and vector of pollution, otherwise forgotten and excluded from everyday life. It becomes a point of the intersection between environmental and socio-economic marginality: an impoverished actor of an unsustainable development model, the offspring of extractive logics and industrial reconversion. The Valley, a significant part of which is within the boundaries of an area identified by the national government as being of significant environmental concern, requiring special environmental remediation and restoration measures, tells now a history of new extractive trends that are being distributed in the seemingly empty space left by the broken promise of growth. The Sacco Valley becomes a laboratory to investigate socio-ecological justice, where the frictions between promises of industrial well-being and the disillusions of that development model converge: how to rethink infrastructures for a vision that considers the right to space for all forms of life? What territorial configurations can foster alternative and emancipatory coexistences? How can policies and projects address inequalities, not only material, but also symbolic and cultural? The relational value of infrastructures and the plurality of subjectivities that inhabit the territory (human and more-than-human communities) require renegotiating the territorialization of transition also as a process in which it is necessary to clarify and reposition rights, avoiding forms of compensation that perpetuate unequal access to collective resources.

Speaker: Enrico Formato (Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II)

11:10 Unveiling spatial interdependencies between inland areas and urban poles for enhanced regional cohesion strategies

A key challenge for territorial cohesion is to cope with the increasing marginalization and inequalities brought by urbanization. The “inland areas” discourse is today fostered by academic literature and policies to describe areas remote from the delivering of services such as health, education, and mobility while overcoming the connotation of “rural” in dichotomy with urban centres. These areas are undergoing a process of economic decline and depopulation, while not being recognized for their crucial role in terms of the multiple ecosystem services (ES) they provide to society. Such neglection is often due to current territorial policies, which prioritize investments based on economic benefits but fail to consider the ecological functions characterizing these areas. To overcome this gap, our work applies the lens of landscapes as social-ecological systems to analyse territorial dependencies between inland areas and urban poles, combining 9 socio-economic indicators for territorial characterization with patterns of supply and demand for 12 ES in Le Marche region, Italy. First, we identified 5 bundles of ES supply and demand, which were best characterized through land use and social indicators. Second, the ES budgeting highlighted how the outermost inland areas are the main providers of regulating and cultural ES; while the urban poles on the coast are the main consumers of provisioning services. Our results revealed the interdependencies along the coastal-mountain gradient, highlighting how the urban-rural dichotomy which characterize environmental analysis often disregard the socio-cultural heritage of the inland areas and ignore the polycentric condition of rural territories. These results allow to unveil potential environmental equity conflicts. We suggest that cohesion policies should embed a place-based approach integrating local environmental characteristics to the socio-economic perspective.

Speaker: Matteo Giacomelli (POLIMI)

11:20 The words and operational tools of transition. On territorial systems

This contribution proposes a critical analysis of the acronyms and operational tools that describe the package of measures, actions and projects implemented with the resources allocated by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), the instrument through which the ‘Next Generation EU’ European plan (the programme with which Europe responded to the pandemic crisis) was territorialised in Italy. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate the relationship between public policies and the operational tools they make use of, in order to reflect on the effects they produce on the territories, through textual analysis - the explicitness of words, their recurrence (or not) in institutional documents, the possible ambivalent meanings they take on - and the parallel spatial mapping of inertia and territorial transformations.
In particular, we examine a wide-ranging research programme, financed with PNRR funds, which involves, in an ‘extended partnership’, several universities, research centres and companies: the network called ‘GRINS’, an acronym for Growing Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable. This case study allows us a privileged point of view, since each of the authors of this contribution is involved with a different role within this research network. The deconstruction and critical analysis work looks at the PE9 partnership within the broader system of European funding allocated through the Next Generation EU (NGEU), also known as the European Green Deal. The pact was endorsed by the European Commission in 2019, when member states committed themselves to a process of converting their once prosperous and linear growth into a sustainable and virtuous development process. On the contrary, in the PNRR, approved after the pandemic emergency, the words recovery and resilience refer to the capacity of a system to resist, adapt and recover its form after traumatic events, denouncing the state of crisis and the need to cope with the effects generated by the pandemic on economies and territories.
An analysis of the acronyms and words most frequently used in the two documents reveals a shift in the focus of the issue: climate, ecology, the environment and the green transition, central in the former, assume marginal importance in the latter, which highlights the need for reforms and territorial investments instrumental to recovery.
As in the use of the term territory, which in its adjectival derivation is reduced to a background presence, so in the GRINS proposal for the implementation of a database, to which the description of the territory is entrusted, space is represented through an abstraction. This contribution, reflecting the research approach of the DiARC unit within the GRINS project, highlights the need to integrate this perspective by restituting the material system, woven with tangible and intangible relationships. This system is not merely a locus of sovereign authority for implementing the actions outlined in the Plan.
The absence or disappearance of the terms Landscape and Ecosystem, that is, precisely those devices constituted by the relations themselves and in which rights and interests intersect, denounces the reversal of priorities and ambitions of the Plan and its implementation tools.
The problem therefore arises of restoring the complexity of territorial systems, dynamic configurations of relationships in which flows, interactions and interdependencies intertwine, within data-informed processes.
This investigation into the vocabulary of premises and the use of tools aims to bring to attention the territorial specificities and the otherwise unexpressed needs of the plurality of instances involved in transformation processes that produce significant effects on the socio-ecological cohesion of territories.

Speaker: Dr Teresa Gargiulo (Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II)

11:30 Re-mining Punta Corna. A Laboratory on the Local Impacts of the Critical Raw Material Act in the Alpine Region

The transition to a clean energy economy necessitates securing critical minerals—such as nickel, copper, and cobalt—essential for advanced technologies and low-carbon solutions. The European Critical Raw Materials Act (2023) seeks to enhance the EU's self-sufficiency by mandating domestic sourcing of mined, processed, and recycled materials, while addressing the geopolitical challenges of dependence on external suppliers. This proposal explores the environmental and socio-economic implications of renewed extractive activities in Europe, focusing on the Alpine landscapes, particularly investigating Italy, which possesses 16 of the 34 critical raw materials identified in the Act but lacks active metal mining since the 1970s.
Our investigation centers on the proposed strategy by the Italian government to revitalize old and open new mines, particularly in the Alpine regions, alongside the need for substantial technological investments. Among the significant sites is Punta Corna, once Europe's largest cobalt mine, now a focal point for examining the clash between extractivist development and sustainable local economies rooted in tourism. Through a cartographic analysis, we analyze the competing narratives surrounding these mining initiatives, characterized by a traditional extractivist model and the "enrichment economy" (Boltanski & Esquerre, 2019) which emphasizes ultra protective territorial development strategies as territorial patrimonialization. This contrast raises critical questions about the sustainability of mining projects and their alignment with the values of local communities experiencing peripheralization and depopulation.
Our findings shed light on the intricate conflicts arising from rare earth extraction, illustrating the tension between economic aspirations and environmental integrity but also across different development paradigms. By framing Punta Corna as a case study, exploring its extractivist dynamics as advantaged laboratory for understanding the fears and hopes of local communities linked to the European Critical Raw Materials Act projects, we aim to ultimately contributing to broader discussions on sustainable resource governance and the socio-political complexities of extractive economies.

Speakers: Dr Elena Longhin (TUDelft), Dr Luis Martin Sanchez (Politecnico di Torino)

11:40 Mobile Commons and spatial justice in the face of climate change on the North Adriatic coast

The North Adriatic coastline has undergone profound transformations due to the interplay of human interventions and natural forces. Two major modernization projects, in particular, have reshaped the region: the early 20th-century land reclamation efforts, which converted marshy areas into productive land, and the extensive developments that established coastal resorts, now among Italy’s leading tourism sectors. However, agricultural productivity in the reclaimed areas is in decline, while coastal tourism faces the crisis of mass beach tourism. Today, climate change introduces new and urgent challenges, particularly rising sea levels, necessitating an examination of spatial justice (Soja, 2010) and mobility commons (Sheller & Urry, 2006; Sheller, 2018) in the region. This paper investigates the modalities and impacts of climate change on the North Adriatic and explores future mobility and adaptation strategies. It emphasizes the uneven distribution of climate change effects across different territories and the role of planning processes in either mitigating or exacerbating social and spatial inequalities. Employing a qualitative, multi-method approach, the research integrates interviews, policy document analysis, and a review of European projects. Based on the collected data, a ‘Scenario 0’ (business-as-planned) is formulated to identify current trajectories and gaps in long-term strategic planning, while future scenarios are developed under the hypothesis that promoting slow forms of mobility can drive a more just transformation of the territory.
Results indicate that climate change has only recently emerged as a concern in the North Adriatic. While European projects reflect a growing awareness, their approach remains incremental rather than transformative, and planning documents still lack concrete adaptation measures. Interviews with local administrators reveal varying levels of concern, but climate change is not yet perceived as an urgent issue. This lack of adequate recognition, coupled with the limited implementation of adaptation strategies, is already contributing to unequal impacts across different territories and populations—disparities that are expected to intensify in the coming years. In regard to mobility, conflicting trends are evident. On one hand, investments in high-speed infrastructure reinforce territorial centralities and enhance economic competitiveness, often prioritizing tourism-driven growth over local needs and environmental justice. On the other, certain local initiatives promote alternative, slower mobility networks aimed at fostering sustainable territorial development beyond seasonal tourism. These initiatives have the potential to improve spatial justice by ensuring more equitable access to resources and mobility opportunities.

Speakers: Emanuel Giannotti (Università Iuav di venezia), Prof. Maria Chiara Tosi (Università Iuav di venezia), Prof. Luca Velo (Università Iuav di venezia)

11:50 UNFAIR PROXIMITY The coexistence of energy infrastructures in marginal territory, reemerging conflicts, unfair supply, and unbalanced governance

The territories of energy production often do not coincide with those of their consumption. The "energy footprint" of urban areas has always extended over increasingly large basins, shaping distant and detached territories and creating "reciprocal landscapes." For example, for much of the 20th century, hydropower production has particularly impacted alpine territories near urban areas, marginal and fragile regions both in socio-economic terms and in terms of representation and self-determination. The construction of these infrastructures has not merely juxtaposed with the existing forms of territories but has instead led to drastic transformations, including the physical erasure of landscapes (valley submersions) and the alteration of natural and economic metabolisms (reduced water flow has changed river ecosystems and related activities). Over time, these infrastructures have failed to provide benefits to the surrounding areas (in many cases, the regions hosting the plants were the last electrified) and have even caused catastrophic repercussions (e.g., the Vajont disaster). These events are not as distant from us as they may seem. Today, energy transition policies and pressing narratives about energy and water security have once again turned the spotlight on mountainous regions and their potential infrastructural development, reviving long-standing tensions. However, something new seems to be emerging in this era of re-infrastructuring: historical memory and the growing awareness of local communities have fostered a widespread network of conflicts, forcing a reassessment and redesign of these projects. This situation presents an opportunity: acknowledging and giving agency to these conflicts by emphasising their spatial dimension could enable a fair and balanced design that considers both the external interests of the infrastructure and the local needs of the communities (human and non-human) living nearby.
This contribution aims to reinterpret five stories of conflict in the Piave basin in the Eastern Italian Alps, highlighting often latent but ever-present spatial and design-related issues. The construction of small hydroelectric plants, the reconfiguration of a high-voltage power line, the management of an old hydroelectric reservoir, and the funding for a new one for water supply all serve as examples of the new forms of territorial injustice tied to hydropower. At the same time, these cases reveal new potential design approaches that emerge from conflict and strive for a balance between external and local interests.

Speaker: Dr Fabrizio D'Angelo (Roma Tre)

12:00 Brussels’s not an island. A critical reflection on the places of multispecies spatial injustice

The need to expand the idea of justice from the individual human subject to the non-human and the planetary is increasingly recognized today, thanks to a growing body of theory nurtured by Indigenous, decolonial, and feminist posthuman philosophies (Winter, 2022). The emerging field of Multispecies Justice recognizes the interconnectedness of human and other-than-human oppression, seeking to build fairer interspecies relationships (Celermajer et al., 2021). Here, the role of urban design and planning is compelling, as the design of space is part of a biopolitical action that has an inherent responsibility to make space (or not) (Secchi, 2015) for the living to thrive. As Metzeger notes (2023), even in the “incompossibility” of the perfect coexistence for all beings simultaneously in any space, planning can certainly act on reducing the degree of violence and segregation that its processes produce.
In reasoning about socio-ecological spatial justice, I argue that a multispecies justice framework can help unveil blind or overlooked injustices spots. Indeed, the landing of this sensibility into urban design practice questions us about its spatial repercussions. Where do the social and ecological demands create friction when we consider the interests of all the species and other-than-human actors involved, and not just human well-being?
Drawing on interviews and fieldwork in Brussels with people involved in projects using a more-than-human approach (students, engaged citizens, urban practitioners, university researchers, administration workers, etc.) I propose a critical reflection on the places of multispecies spatial injustice, helped by a radical ecological standpoint that seeks nothing less than the emancipation of the living (Ouassak, 2024). Alongside spaces where transspecies socio-ecological injustices are more evident (i.e. contested undeveloped abandoned land in the compact city), the research underpins how the major sites of violence were deliberately planned out-of-sight/out-of-town and still are often forgotten in the major discourse about city ecological transition, where the Brussels capital region is depicted as an island forgotten of its territory.

Speaker: Dr Anastasia Battani (Iuav University of Venice, Doctoral School of Project Cultures, Urbanism)

11:00 → 12:30 SS_06 METROPOLITAN RESILIENCE: CHALLENGES, FIELDS OF ACTION AND ANSWERS

Conveners: Joaquín Farinós Dasí (University of Valencia), Petra Schelkmann (Deutsch)

11:00 Spatial Planning and Metropolitan Govenance to face flood risk in the new Climate Change context: A comparison between Eurodelta Megaregion and Valencia metropolitan area

Spatial planning at metropolitan level is an important basis in order to make steps forward to an appropriate metropolitan governance as soft spaces, despite non-formalized metropolitan governments. That is asking for collaborative, interscalar approaches to address complex challenges,redefining governance and planning practices beyond traditional administrative boundaries. This presentation, based in a comparative approach bettewen two case studies (Eurodelta metropolis and euroregion, and Valencian metropolitan area) will emphasise on innovative planning procedures research by design approaches, frameworks for shared knowledge and exchange, fostering an interplay across scales and sectors. Both The Netherlands (in past 2010 decade) and Valencia region (more recently in past october 2024) has heavely soffered effects of floods due extraordinary rainfalls intesified by the Climate Change, causing very important damages at personal, economic, facilities and infrastrutural levels.
If climate adaptation measures as well as the issue of resilience in decision-making are not included in the planning of area developments, sooner or later these projects will be unviable; more particularly in low-lying areas with geomorfological risk. The compliance with planning, the knowledge of protocols and the coordination between actors will be some of the factors that will be evaluated.
The objective is to highlight the need to strength a territorial culture and to develop institutional capacity to respond in a coordinated manner to these phenomena at metropolitan scale. By shifting the focus toward the changing roles of designers and planners, the presentation aims to spark a dialogue on innovative approaches to resilience. How can planning evolve to navigate the complexities of climate transitions and ensure equitable outcomes? What new methods and collaborations are needed to create adaptable, future-proof megaregions? This dialogue seeks to exchange knowledge and ideas across disciplines and regions, advancing the global conversation on crossing borders for resilience and sustainable spatial development.

Speakers: Prof. Joaquín Farinós Dasí (University of Valencia), Moneyba Gonzalez-Medina (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Mrs Alankrita Sarkar (Delft University of Technology)

11:10 Spatial Planning at a time of climate change: Dutch metropolis to Eurodelta Megaregion

The shifting focus from the development of Dutch metropolis to the Eurodelta megaregion represents a paradigm shift in spatial planning, emphasizing the need for collaborative, interscalar approaches to address complex challenges. The Eurodelta, a non-formalized metropolitan scale, offers unique opportunities for redefining governance and planning practices beyond traditional administrative boundaries. This presentation explores why the Eurodelta scale is crucial in fostering climate transitions and enhancing resilience, while crossing several borders of sectors, administration, values, planning systems and governance. This presentation calls for a critical discussion on how interscalar and collaborative approaches can drive transformative resilience strategies, offering a new exploration of the evolving roles of planners and designers.
Drawing on lessons from Dutch spatial planning, the presentation highlights scenario-based methodologies, interscalar and integrative design and planning practices that address climate challenges and socioeconomic transitions. This presentation will emphasise on informal planning procedures research by design approaches, frameworks for shared knowledge and exchange, fostering an interplay across scales and sectors. By shifting the focus toward the changing roles of designers and planners, the presentation aims to spark a dialogue on innovative approaches to resilience. How can planning evolve to navigate the complexities of climate transitions and ensure equitable outcomes? What new methods and collaborations are needed to create adaptable, future-proof megaregions? This dialogue seeks to exchange knowledge and ideas across disciplines and regions, advancing the global conversation on crossing borders for resilience and sustainable spatial development.

Speaker: Alankrita Sarkar (Delft University of Technology)

11:20 From complex adaptive systems to anti-fragility and social innovation: The notion of resilience in metropolitn spatial planning

In the current polycrisis context, resilience has taken a prominent spot as a prime objective on the political agenda. In spatial planning, the concept has also received increased attention in the past two decades as a planning rationale for designing “future-fit” spatial structures and planning procedures. In that regard, the metropolitan region is particularly cited as a promising scale for ensuring resilient spatial development and dealing with the challenges of social-ecological transformation.
This paper presents the conceptual understanding of resilience in the context of metropolitan regions as currently debated in the ARL International Working Group “Resilient Metropolitan Regions”. We shortly introduce the concept’s social-ecological origins and recent differentiations in planning discourse to distill the five resilience principles of robustness, adaptability, learning, innovation, and governability as a general rationale for addressing and assessing substantial and procedural aspects of metropolitan resilience.
We then explore the concept’s evolution towards anti-fragility, that is, the ability to take advantage of uncertainties and disruptions, turning vulnerability into opportunity. In particular, we illustrate (i) how modern crises can be interpreted as opportunities to reorganize and improve existing structures, (ii) why a territorial perspective is necessary to assess resilience and how it can foster anti-fragility, and (iii) why a perspective on (planning) institutions matters particularly to ensure resilience.
To conclude, we discuss some key ambivalences that these rationales imply on the substantial and procedural level of metropolitan planning: On the substantial level, we emphasize the ambivalence between redundant and sustainable infrastructure systems, decentralization and polycentricity. On the procedural level, we discuss the ambivalence of legitimacy vs. agility/flexibility of (planning) institutions and what this implies for often-heralded social and governance innovations in planning.

Speakers: Mr Johannes Suitner (TU Wien, Institute of Spatial Planning, Research Unit Urban and Regional Research), Ms Valeria Fedeli (Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies)

11:30 Planning and Housing Policy: in defence of resilient metropolitan regions

Over the last decade the affordability of housing has become a major policy issue and increasingly a concern for governments as house prices have risen dramatically with respect to wages. Whilst land is limited in supply and fixed in space, the quantity of credit and investment has expanded over time. The high liquidity has driven property prices at a much faster rate than rises in incomes, making housing increasingly unaffordable for a large proportion of the population. In various metropolitan contexts, the growing awareness of housing’s multifaceted impact on social, economic and environmental systems has led to its recognition as a key governance issue to foster resilience. Based on evidence from case studies and fed from the activities of ARL working group, this contribution is based upon a dialogue between the authors that aims at contributing to the debate of:
• whether there is effective metropolitan-scale governance on this policy issue
• how legal and financial instruments can help to foster effective planning policies and practices for affordable housing.
• How solutions and tools adopted are inspired by a proactive conceptualisation of resilience and how the metropolitan dimension is key to this approach

Speakers: Sónia Alves (ARL – Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association), Valeria Fedeli (Politecnico di Milano)

11:40 It Takes a Metropolis and Even a Megalopolis to Become Resilient: Lessons from Bologna and Marmara

This presentation will explore two distinct yet complementary case studies that exemplify unique and synergistic approaches to urban resilience: the Metropolitan City of Bologna in Italy and the Marmara Region in Türkiye, a megalopolis comprising six metropolitan areas. It will deal with complex problems like including rapid urbanization, climate change, widening social and economic disparities that require innovative approaches (for ex. new finance tools) and utilise the strengths of urban planning and cooperative administration.

In 2021, the Metropolitan City of Bologna established the Metropolitan Equalization Fund, aligned with the strategies outlined in the Metropolitan Area Development Plan (“PTM - Piano Territoriale Metropolitano”). Funded by urbanization charges collected from significant developments near metropolitan hubs, primarily in central municipalities, this fund distributes resources with an emphasis on territorial equity. These programs not only support urban regeneration in socially, demographically, and economically fragile areas but also promote a more cohesive development across the metropolitan territory.

On the other side of the world, the Marmara Region, home to over 26
million people—one-third of Türkiye’s population—displays a dynamic mix of urban complexity and interconnectivity. This region’s response to climate crises and natural disasters is managed by the Marmara
Municipalities Union (MMU), which includes over 190 member
municipalities from 11 cities. The MMU employs a multifaceted approach to enhance urban resilience, incorporating the Local Government Academy, five specialized Centers, the Mentor Program, and initiatives like the Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF). Using these tools, MMU addresses the critical need for inter-city collaboration across the region to effectively confront and adapt to shared challenges.

Together, these case studies from Bologna and Marmara demonstrate
proactive steps towards fostering urban resilience. They emphasize how strategic financial mechanisms and robust inter-municipal cooperation can create more sustainable and resilient urban environments. Drawing inspiration from the proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ this presentation adapts it to urban dynamics, proposing that ‘It takes a metropolis, and sometimes even a megalopolis, to become resilient.’ This underscores the collaborative efforts needed to address the complexities of urban development in an era of growing planetary challenges.

Speakers: Alessandro Delpiano, Dr Görsev Argın Uz (Marmara Municipalities Union)

11:00 → 12:30 T_01 POSTGROWTH URBANISM: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS: POST-GROWTH URBANISM

Conveners: Barbara Pizzo (Sapienza Università di Roma), EMRAH ALTINOK (Istanbul Bilgi University), Shefali Nayak (HafenCity Universität), Maria Kaika (University of Amsterdam)

11:00 Post growth and Being. What is envisaged for human being in a post-growth world.

This paper asks what is envisaged for being in a post growth world. It stems from the observation that in calling for a transformation of human relations in almost every sphere of action, post growth and degrowth, are in some way talking about a transformation of human being. For example, according to Savini (2024, p. 4) ‘Degrowth envisions a shift in the social norms that sustain the compulsion to grow, accumulate, exploit and prioritise productivity’. I have argued elsewhere (Low & Sturup, 2018; Sturup & Low, 2017) that being is both constituted by, and constituting of, social norms. Therefore, a titanic shift of the nature called for by Savini, is going to have ontological implications.
Undertaking a substantial review of the post-growth and degrowth literature, combined with a personal journey through a process of degrowing, this paper considers the ontological implications of degrowth. In so doing the paper attempts to expose those ways of being most likely to be confronted during a transformation to this new world. A world which many ache for, but at the same times forces us to confront central constructions of who we are, how we validate ourselves, and what we therefore might do.

Speaker: Dr Sophie Sturup (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University)

11:10 A new vocabulary for postgrowth transition in planning

Urban planning has operated for over a century as the primary instrument of urban development, fundamentally equating development with growth (Pizzo 2023a, b, c; Savini et al. 2022, Rydin 2022; Xue, 2022). As we confront escalating environmental and social challenges, this traditional approach faces increasing scrutiny. While new theoretical frameworks emphasizing sufficiency, reduction, and downscaling principles have emerged to challenge mainstream planning orthodoxy, these approaches have yet to produce substantial changes in planning practices.
Current planning practices continue to define growth primarily through increases in building stock and economic value. Spatial plans are developed to maximize value creation, whether through suburban expansion generating absolute rent or through inner-city densification and various forms of urban regeneration producing differential rent. Even urban greening initiatives and climate crisis response policies often reinforce this growth-oriented paradigm (Conde et al. 2022) , and “monetization” is often preferred as a solution than avoiding questionable urban transformation proposals (Lave & Doyle 2021). Many planning professionals view their discipline as inextricable from the current development paradigm, reflected in the renewed relevance of Jameson's observation that “it is easier to imagine the end of the world than to contemplate the end of capitalism” (Jameson 1996).
Contemporary analysis of planning practices, particularly at the local level, reveals the persistent dominance of mainstream approaches. These practices remain firmly anchored not only in traditional concepts and norms but also in a vocabulary that perpetuates an increasingly contested pro-growth mindset.
Our research in Rome, Italy, provides the empirical foundation for examining critical elements that impede the transition from pro-growth to post-growth planning. We focus particularly on key planning concepts and policy tools, such as “compensation”, which in their current application obstruct meaningful change. Our analysis demonstrates why merely modifying existing planning tools while maintaining their growth-oriented framework proves insufficient for achieving genuine transformation toward post-growth cities. Moreover, we illustrate how conventional planning vocabulary presents a fundamental barrier to more radical post-growth transitions. Our investigation proceeds through three main objectives:
1. Analyzing how growth assumptions embedded in planning tools and vocabulary perpetuate unsustainable development patterns
2. Examining specific cases where traditional planning concepts impede the implementation of post-growth approaches
3. Developing alternative frameworks that transcend the conventional equation of development with growth.
We aim to contribute to the broader post-growth debate by examining real-world planning practices and their limitations in achieving post-growth objectives. We provide both theoretical insights and practical evidence demonstrating how entrenched planning paradigms must transform to achieve genuine ecological balance and social equity. Our findings challenge the above-mentioned Jameson's observation about the difficulty of imagining alternatives to capitalism by demonstrating concrete ways to reconceptualize planning beyond growth-centric approaches.

Speaker: Barbara Pizzo (Sapienza Università di Roma)

11:20 Planning for conviviality

Modern urban planning was born and consolidated as a means of managing, and thereby facilitating, urban and economic growth. The recent shift to the pursuit of ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’ growth still accepts this basic orientation. Today, emergent, ‘degrowth’ and ‘post-growth’ planning are instead fundamentally questioning the focus on enabling growth, in whatever form, following the acknowledgment that there are intrinsic, inescapable connections between the pursuit of growth and current social and environmental challenges.
Degrowth and post-growth planning are, however, faced by a dilemma. On the one hand, degrowth and post-growth planning narratives, while compelling, struggle to mobilize broad constituencies and impact planning practice. On the other hand, less compelling sustainable and green growth planning narratives, appear more appealing and applicable to many. One way out of this dilemma is the development of more broadly mobilizing and more readily applicable degrowth and post-growth planning narratives. Such narratives would still have to be firmly rooted in the acknowledgment of the entanglements of current social and environmental challenges with the pursuit of urban and economic growth, but at the same time, they would have to be able to convey hope to a broad public and generate concrete options for planners aiming at ‘better places’.
I claim that Ivan Illich’s 1973 ‘Tools for Conviviality’ can provide one powerful inspiration for such a narrative, following recent applications in other fields, most notably in technology and energy. Illich was well-aware of the dilemma sketched above. He did not believe that a majority opposed to growth was feasible, or that an antigrowth minority, while feasible, was desirable. Rather, he saw a way out of the dilemma in the substitution of the dominant logic of industrial productivity with an alternative logic of ‘conviviality’, which he defined as the “autonomous creative intercourse among persons, and of persons with their environment”. One essential notion he advanced is the distinction between two phases in the development of tools (technologies, institutions): a first, in which they are primarily means for the empowerment and liberation of individuals, and a second, in which they become primarily self-referential ends, ultimately oppressive and enslaving of individuals (as illustrated in, e.g., transport by the shift from bicycles and motorized public transport to mass automobility). A second, related essential notion is the need for continuous, democratic deliberation about, and scientific inquiry in the opportunities for new tools entering the first phase, and the risks of existing tools entering the second phase.
In this paper, I explore and articulate how both Illich’s criticism of industrial productivity and his pursuit of conviviality can provide directions for a mobilizing, applicable narrative for planning beyond growth. I illustrate the argument with concrete examples from the topical domains of planning for mobility, housing, and energy, in their place-based interrelations, and discuss connections with similar undertakings in other fields.

Speaker: Luca Bertolini (University of Amsterdam)

11:30 Towards the understanding of the energetic bases of spatial dynamics: an introduction for postgrowth planning

Although acritically reported as steadily galloping for the next decades, based on recent trends, global urbanisation is not exempt from either physico-ecological and social issues and related limits, just like the well-known ones dealt with by Meadows et al. (1972) and by Hirsch (1976). As a matter of fact, natural systems follow pulsing paradigms (Odum et al., 1995), with successions of growth, peak, and descent phases; acknowledging this, and consequently adapting to the right phase can make the "way down" prosperous (Odum & Odum, 2011). Prosperous is an adjective also related to the political proposal of degrowth (Kallis et al., 2012), which can be seen as a step toward a postgrowth societies (in the pulsing paradigm, theoretically this would not exclude novel growth phases in the future). More and more discourses are emerging around the concepts of postgrowth cities and postgrowth urbanism (Xue, 2022; Savini et al. 2023), often pursuing stronger forms of socio-ecological sustainability and resilience altogether (Cristiano et al., 2020). As a part of a stream of founding contributions in such a novel field, a transdisciplinary recognition is here offered to possibly understand the physico-ecological foundations of spatial dynamics, with a focus on human settlements and their relations with the rest of nature. More specifically, all of this is framed - qualitatively - in the systems thinking and diagramming notions behind the above-mentioned scientific literature and - quantitatively - in the systems designs that ecosystems and other self-organising systems develop to reinforce energy use (Odum, 1988), also resorting to the algebra of the eMergy theory (Odum, 1996), to the maxiumum power principle (Lotka, 1922) and to the maximum empower principle (Odum, 1988; 2002). On top of providing an unprecedented literature review bridging all of these topics in and urban and regional planning perspective, this study aims at producing new knowledge out of the reading of (human) spatial systems through these "hard science" lenses, also launching debates around the many possible extensive declinations of the concept of energy (after all complying with the notion of eMergy as a memory of energy and other resources), also including both "wealth" and basic livelihoods, crucially representing - this is one of our hypothesis - respectively drivers of competition in a growth phase and societal flows to try to secure in other times. Far from offering a complete scientific work, some research lines are here offered for dialectic use in the scientific arena - with a strong orientation toward the scholars of urban, regional, and landscape design and planning - towards a plural scientific toolbox to feed the emerging field of postgrowth urbanism with both "hard" and "soft" science inputs, and transdisciplinary ones.

Speaker: Dr Silvio Cristiano (Department of Architecture, Università degli Studi di Firenze)

11:40 Towards post-growth cities: the cultural politics of mobility transitions in Barcelona and London

Post-growth urban planning has in recent years begun to redefine urban development by foregrounding objectives beyond economic growth and towards social and ecological wellbeing. However, this emerging field has not yet considered the cultural politics that we argue are crucial in facilitating such a significant shift. This is particularly evident in the significant sociocultural and political tensions and contestations around recent progressive urban mobility initiatives.

To address this gap, we conduct ethnographic and archival research around the cultural politics of two contested mobility initiatives that we consider of interest from a post-growth perspective as ‘latent’ examples of post-growth (see Tsing, 2015): Low-traffic neighbourhoods (‘Liveable Neighbourhoods’) in Islington, London, and superblocks (superilles) in Eixample, Barcelona. Both have encountered backlash and political mobilisation against them, resulting in stalled and downscaled implementation of these ambitious initiatives. Although there are similarities in how, why and by whom these mobility interventions have been contested, they are also embedded in very different sociocultural, historic and linguistic national and urban contexts, producing distinct cultural politics of transitions that merit further study.

In this context, we foreground ‘the cultural’ as a key site of political struggles over meanings, hopes, visions and historical place attachments. We develop a more thorough account of what cultural politics means: Moving beyond a strong focus on values and imaginaries, as prevalent in post-growth (urban planning) literatures, we introduce an interdisciplinary framework of cultural politics that considers the confluence and tensions between urban planning histories, political imaginaries and affective attachments. In so doing, we argue for the importance of a more strongly humanities-informed approach to post-growth urban planning and transitions. Finally, we argue that contestation must be dealt with not only as impediments to overcome, but as integral and indeed indispensable part of (democratic) transformative processes towards post-growth cities. This in turn implies that there is a need for urban planners to (1) pay attention to cultural dimensions, loosely defined and including contradictory and messy elements, in both processes and ‘results’ of post-growth transitions and (2) to be radically open to uncertainty and emergence throughout such processes, embracing culturally diverse and variegated solutions for post-growth, refusing ‘cookie-cutter’ solutions.

Speaker: Dr Elisa Schramm

11:00 → 12:30 T_11 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: Artificial Intelligence S1

Conveners: Prof. Fatih Terzi (Istanbul Technical University), Merve Deniz Tak (İstanbul University), Michele Campagna (University of Cagliari)

11:00 Using artificial intelligence to analyse the role of multi-level strategic spatial planning in the development of operational landscapes

Worldwide, there is an unprecedented rise in demand for space dedicated to production, transportation, and storage of goods. Urban theorist Neil Brenner (2019) proposed the overarching term operational landscapes to capture the dynamic nature of these spaces and their increasing role in defining urban and peri-urban areas. Studies on the spatial (land) transformation entailed by operational landscapes is a part of a broader ‘turn’ of urban studies which go beyond the distinction between urban and non-urban. Development of operational landscapes has been described as a result of coalitions of governmental and nongovernmental actors with a common interest in economic growth (Nefs and Daamen, 2022). These actors work together across multiple scales, creating ‘soft spaces’ by using various planning instruments and governance mechanisms (Allmendinger and Haughton, 2009). This study contributes to debates on how governments, particularly embedded in multi-level governance systems, influence the development of operational landscapes.
Using Romania as a study area, we determine if and how the development of operational landscapes is driven by planning at local, county and regional level. Our focus is on 32 cases of operational landscapes developed after 2009. Generative artificial intelligence, specifically ChatGPT, is used to analyse strategic planning documents adopted at the three up mentioned planning levels. Recent developments in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have simplified its use for a range of users, including document analysis. We developed a two-steps procedure to a) analyse the documents using a combined use of GhatGPT and coding of the prompts by the authors and b) validate the results to ensure reliability. Considering the size of the 81 analysed documents, i.e., each having between 100 and 500 pages of text, tables and visualizations, the procedure allows for a fast analysis of large amounts of data.
Results reveal broadly two approaches used by governments in development of operational landscapes. First, which we call “strategic approach”, includes cases where governments, alone or in coalitions with private actors, proactively develop operational landscapes, setting planning goals in this regard and collaborating across levels from local to regional. Second, titled the “opportunistic approach”, refers to situations where governments react to initiatives of private investors.
The contribution of our study is twofold: it provides empirical evidence on the role of governments in development of operational landscapes, and it illustrates how generative artificial intelligence can be used to enhance our understanding of spatial processes.

Speaker: Dr Simona R Gradinaru (Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL)

11:10 Reframing Urban Narratives: AI, Digital Innovation, and the Role of Intelligent Adaptation in Just and Equitable Planning

Spatial government and planning are tools for implementing and safeguarding increasingly complex and globally interconnected systems. These processes use new systems for mapping, monitoring, and communicating spatial information, which can integrate territories, cities, and societies based on scaling processes and digital innovation flows.
The increasing complexity of global emergencies invites urbanism to explicitly re-evaluate its methodological and applicative contribution to urban and territorial transformation processes. Moreover, the intertwining of climate crisis and social inequalities increasingly calls for innovative and flexible interventions capable of dialoguing with the most advanced systems of cognitive automation and computational capacity. Hence, the need for a new urban paradigm emerges, capable of anchoring spatial models and settlement strategies to technologically advanced and/or emerging solutions. This new paradigm inevitably recalls the concept of ‘intelligent adaptation’, promoting design actions built based on natural languages typical of artificial intelligence (AI).
This contribution aims to deepen and discuss the relationship between spatial planning and new technologies, with a particular focus on the use of information and digital technologies in sustainable land management and development processes. 
The contribution will address these issues from two distinct but integrated perspectives. 
The first perspective will be mainly related to collecting and processing large information flows derived from the increasing use of physical and virtual components. The paper will explore the importance of adapting cities to increasing climate risks, which are considered more frequent and intense due to ongoing climate change. As central nodes of economic and social life, cities are particularly vulnerable and require a proactive and adaptive planning approach. The need to expand urban knowledge frameworks with greater detail, which helps manage risks and design resilient adaptation strategies, is explored. Specifically, this first part considers the application of digital technologies at the service of smart cities and territories. These are particularly useful in analysis and monitoring, especially in adaptation processes at different scales.
The second perspective will attempt to understand the analytical and organisational advantages that generative models bring to spatial planning and governance activities. To this end, some contemporary spatial planning issues will be examined where AI is already making relevant contributions.
This proposal offers a focal point to build an interdisciplinary debate on semantic and technical interoperability between AI and spatial planning. In the face of this growing complexity, modern computer algorithms could be fundamental in responding to emerging management needs. Today, the planning horizon of AI enables the analysis of complex data in real-time, optimising the management of local resources and improving the resilience of cities in the face of catastrophic events. As proof of this, the use of predictive models powered by machine learning techniques is accelerating the adaptive capacity of settlement systems, making decision-making processes more responsive and customised to the specific needs of each territory.MV is not limited to the restitution of a diagnostic or decision-support process but can become an accurate operational tool for implementing design solutions. MV can help identify opportunities for intervention, directing design action towards strategies that can at least mitigate vulnerabilities.

Speaker: Dr Denis Maragno (University Iuav of Venice)

11:20 PC-GAN: A Hybrid Pix2pix-CycleGAN Framework for Low-Carbon Urban Morphology Optimization

Optimizing urban morphology is a pivotal strategy for reducing carbon emissions, thereby fostering sustainable urban development (Gurney et al., 2015). In this context, human-machine collaboration significantly enhances the efficiency and scientific rigor of urban morphological design. However, traditional methods often rely on post-evaluation processes, which are inefficient and fail to support goal-oriented, creative design solutions directly (Yuan et al., 2021). The advent of generative algorithms presents a transformative opportunity to advance these workflows (Zhou et al., 2023), thereby integrating technological innovation into the optimization of urban morphology.
To this end, this study develops an automated block design tool based on deep generative methods, termed the PC-GAN model, aimed at providing precise and efficient design schemes for carbon emission reduction in urban development. The PC-GAN model builds upon the single-step Pix2pix network architecture by integrating a two-step generative adversarial network (GAN) mechanism that incorporates the CycleGAN framework. This hybrid approach leverages the strengths of both models: Pix2pix effectively captures the nonlinear regression relationships between input conditions and output urban morphology, while CycleGAN enhances clarity restoration and optimizes the morphology of specific elements. By generating high-resolution, three-dimensional urban morphology schemes that establish a direct correspondence between urban morphology and carbon emissions, the model facilitates automated optimization tailored to specific climatic conditions, architectural styles, and carbon emission reduction targets. The PC-GAN model enables the rapid generation of carbon-efficient urban designs in the initial stages of planning while offering creative flexibility, allowing urban planners to explore diverse configurations aligned with carbon reduction goals (see Fig. 1 for the detailed technical workflow).
To further investigate the relationship between urban morphology and carbon emissions, this study utilizes the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification system to analyze urban blocks in Guangzhou. The LCZ system, which categorizes urban areas based on land use, morphology, and climatic factors, provides a framework for identifying carbon emission differences across zones. This classification facilitates the precise identification of differences in carbon emission optimization across zones, providing scientific support for targeted carbon emission reduction strategies. The study focuses on three representative LCZ types—LCZ4, LCZ5, and LCZ6—and develops iterative urban morphology optimization schemes with a 1% stepwise reduction in baseline carbon emissions.
Experimental results demonstrate that the PC-GAN model exhibits exceptional performance in both generation accuracy and carbon emission prediction. Specifically, the structural similarity index (SSIM) of the generated images reaches 0.87, and the coefficient of determination (R²) for carbon emission prediction achieves 0.90. In comparison, the traditional Pix2pix model attained an SSIM of 0.82 and an R² of 0.86. The PC-GAN model significantly enhances generation accuracy and adaptability in complex urban environments, particularly in generating key elements such as building layouts, green spaces, and impervious surfaces. Furthermore, the stepwise 1% iterative optimization method reveals distinct carbon emission optimization characteristics across different LCZ types, thereby providing robust support for developing region-specific carbon emission reduction strategies.
In conclusion, the PC-GAN-driven automated block design tool demonstrates high efficiency, precision, and superior texture generation capabilities, thereby significantly enhancing the quality of urban planning and design. This tool offers an innovative technological solution for carbon emission optimization and reduction, advancing the implementation of carbon emission reduction urban design concepts and providing new directions and frameworks for future urban morphology optimization. Furthermore, it provides methodological and technical framework references for optimizing other urban objectives, such as urban cooling.

Speaker: Mr Tao Wu (Tongji University)

11:30 Using Social Media Big Data and ChatGPT for Identifying Counter-Urbanisation Hot Spots in China

While urban areas remain home to most of the global population, the countryside is increasingly becoming a preferred place of residence, even in some developing nations such as China. The potential benefits and challenges for rural development posed by this counter-urbanisation trend make it essential to monitor its extend and progression. However, In China, statistical data on this phenomenon remains scarce due to the restrictions on rural property ownership by outsiders, who can only rent properties from individual rural resident, leaving no formal record. This research uses the data from the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (or REDnote, similar to Instagram), where specific users share their experience renting second homes in or returning to countryside. A web crawler was developed to collect all these ‘big data’, which was subsequently cleaned and processed by ChatGPT AI model. To ensure credibility, partial human validation was also applied to the AI-processed results. Despite certain limitations, the findings provide insights into counterurbanisation trend in China, highlighting its widespread fact and identifying several hot spots area. This study demonstrates that combining social media big data with AI processing offers an effective and timely way to identify human migration flows between urban and rural areas, enabling valuable reference for policymakers and the real estate sector.

Speaker: Mr Jian Chen (Newcastle University)

1130-8 July 25-A105--Jian Chen.pptx

11:40 Unraveling the Complexity of Urban Functional Organization Based on Explainable GeoAI

With the expansion of urban scales and the increasing intricacy of urban population composition, the organization of urban functions and the formation of sub-markets have become increasingly diverse and complex, driven by the growing diversity of urban living demands. Traditional land use strategies are increasingly challenged, and the interplay effects among multiple-function combinations are deemed to play a crucial role. The emergence of Geo AI and explainable AI has provided promising approaches to deciphering the underlying patterns and emergent phenomena in complex urban functional organizations. This study employs an explainable graph neural networks model to uncover the interactions among urban functions along the spatial structure. It conducts a spatially explicit analysis of the importance differences of various functional elements based on the connectivity of the road street network, revealing to urban planners which functional combinations are essential and which can be substituted. Additionally, this study proposes a working framework for integrating the expertise of urban professionals with machine intelligence, playing a key role in the future intelligent development of cities.

Speaker: Mr Xinzhuo Zhao (Southeast University)

11:50 Towards a Domain specific LLM for Sustainable Urban Development: Extracting Research trends and topics from Text Data

The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) funding priority Sustainable Development of Urban Regions, (SURE) is an application-oriented research that supports ten collaborative research projects focused on urban sustainability. The ten collaborative projects aim to develop practical solutions for more sustainable and resilient cities and regions in Southeast Asia and China. The SURE Facilitation and Synthesis Project has one of the main aims to research and employ state-of-the-art technologies and develop digital tools that help to uncover dormant knowledge, identify open questions and problems, and outline solutions and trends for future research on sustainable urban development. This research is a part of a series of experiments aimed at creating a benchmark methodology for identifying Topic clusters and monitoring Research trends in the rapidly growing corpus of texts under the SURE funding initiative.
Topic modeling and extraction is not a new field in synthesis-research, but with the current advancements in LLMs, such processes can as well be advanced with better accuracy and efficiency. Machine based topic/trend extraction has traditionally focused on variations of LSI (Latent Sematic Indexing), LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) (Churchill and Singh 2022) or a simpler keyword evaluation of research papers (Nguyen et al. 2022). During the past decade, however, with the emergence of the word embeddings-based methods, the field of LLMs (Large Language Models) has taken a center stage, and the continuous improvements in these models make them ever more accurate for analysis of texts. In this paper, we explore the application of an LLM based methodology, firstly to validate the domain experts based manual identification of topics and secondly, to create a benchmark method for machine-based extraction of Topics related to sustainable urban development, based on our case studies. The research uses a corpus of documents, including field reports and grant application documents, from the ten SURE-projects, and hence it provides a window into the often-ignored part of applied research like activity reports and other forms of knowledge transfers. The process builds upon established methodology by (Thompson and Mimno 2020) whereby the tokenized text is used to create embeddings with BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) (Devlin et al. 2018) to create a vector space. The embeddings are then clustered and labeled according to their semantic similarity (cosine) with domain expert input, which allows a comprehensive view of themes/topics and sub-topics.
The results of the approach aim to take a step towards building a domain specific Language Model to synthesize Sustainable Urban Development practices and approaches which can further support decision making and knowledge transfer in applied research projects.

Speakers: Agota Barabas (HafenCity University, Digital City Science), Husain Vaghjipurwala (HafenCity University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_12 DISASTER-RESILIENT PLANNING: Strategies for flood risk and coastal tranformation

Convener: Dr Meltem ŞENOL BALABAN (Middle East Technical University)

11:00 Floods and Livelihoods: A Multi-dimensional Comparative Study of Territorial Space Planning Policies for Flood Detention Areas in China

Flood detention areas (FDAs) in China, as unique geographical spatial units, serve the dual purpose of flood control and livelihood protection. These FDAs typically exhibit lower levels of socioeconomic development compared to their surrounding regions. In the context of escalating climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, the utilization of FDAs has become more frequent, intensifying competition for land between residents and floodwaters, thereby exacerbating the conflict between livelihood security and flood disaster management. Taking the Huaihe River Basin as a case in point, this region exhibits the highest population density and the most frequent use of FDAs among China’s major river basins. Since 1950, these FDAs have been activated over 200 times, accounting for half of the national total. Presently, approximately 2.85 million people reside within these FDAs, with about 560,000 requiring relocation during flood events. The inherent contradiction between ensuring the safety of both upstream and downstream urban areas and improving the living conditions of residents within the FDAs presents a persistent challenge.

Developing systematic territorial space planning policies that encompass land use, population management, economic models, and other key factors is essential for addressing flood disaster challenges and ensuring sustainable socioeconomic development within these FDAs. This approach is both necessary and urgent. However, current policies in China predominantly focus on water conservancy project sectors, with limited attention given to the scientific planning of territorial space. Furthermore, these policies suffer from a lack of systematic structure, specificity, and consistency. Academic research on these policies is also fragmented, with a lack of comprehensive analysis and evaluation, which hampers evidence-based policy formulation and revision.

This study adopts a regional comparative perspective, focusing on all nine key FDAs within the Huaihe River Basin in China. It systematically collects and analyzes territorial space planning policies, as well as plans related to population control, infrastructure construction, safety construction, and relocation strategies for these FDAs. Using comparative methods, the study examines the commonalities, differences and distinctive features across multiple dimensions, including resident relocation, ecological restoration, infrastructure development, and economic growth. The analysis integrates both quantitative planning indicators and qualitative aspects of policy formulation and implementation. Additionally, an in-depth case study of the Mengwa FDAs is conducted to assess the outcomes of implemented policies and their interaction with local residents through surveys and interviews. This approach aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of policy impacts at the grassroots level.

This paper elucidates the prevailing issues and insights related to the current territorial space planning policies governing China’s FDAs. Issues: While existing policies are relatively unified at the macro level, their implementation across various administrative levels exacerbates disparities. The current policy and regulatory system remain fragmented and underdeveloped. In practice, there are challenges related to inadequate alignment between government initiatives and resident needs, as well as significant difficulties in relocation processes. Insights: These include the establishment of unified planning standards, regional collaborative development, and post-planning evaluations, etc. In conclusion, this paper provides a solid empirical foundation for the formulation and revision of future policies, with the aim of enhancing the living standards of residents in FDAs and promoting sustainable development and social-spatial equity within these areas.

Speaker: Xijia SUN (Southeast University)

11:10 Sprawl on Flood Risk : Focusing on Land Use Planning and Fragmentation Index in Coastal City

[Problems]
People have a desires to own coastal landscapes. The purpose of zoning is for land to be used in a way that enables all people to access coastal spaces and be safe from the impacts of climate change. According to prior studies, coasts are structurally vulnerable to flooding, and it is important to secure disaster-preventive area by zoning.
However, in many coastal cities in South Korea, zoning is used to privatize coastal landscapes, and preserve personal property, which puts people at risk. As development progresses, residential buildings aggressively encroach on the coast. Every year, the government invests considerable amount of money in disaster prevention to protect residents’ property. But what if zoning had been carried out correctly from the beginning?
Most previous research has focused on the choices and risk perceptions of people who decided to reside on the coast despite the risks. However, if land-use regulations had not been relaxed, demand would have been controlled. This study uses the landscape index to analyze how land-use deregulation affects sprawl and how much the risk increases.

[Research Methodology]
The study area of this paper covers highly developed coastal areas in Busan, South Korea. Busan is the second-largest city in South Korea and the most popular with coastal tourism. Additionally, high-rise building development is actively taking place adjacent to the Busan coast. In this study, we traced the zoning changes along the coast, which has been rapidly developing since the mid-2000s.
Based on the correlation between fragmented development and sprawl, we analyzed the impact of land use deregulation on sprawl and disaster exposure. The analysis used geo-coded data for 26,000 grids of 200m*200m. The impact of land use regulation relaxation on fragmentation index and disaster exposure index was analyzed through multiple regression, and the development spread pattern according to fragmentation type was presented. In addition, MANOVA was performed on variables that were found to be significant to analyze the differences according to coastal proximity.

[Findings]
As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that deregulation was the cause of fragmented development in many aspects such as the area of ​​development relaxation and the number of development relaxation cases, which had a direct effect on sprawl. And the degree of effect was different depending on coastal proximity. In addition, it was found that development due to the relaxation of land use regulations increased exposure to disasters.

[Conclusion and Discussion]
Three implications can be derived from the results of this study. First, the relaxation of zoning not only puts many people at risk but also encourages private use of public resources. Second, the coast satisfies both aesthetic preferences and economic interests. It is evident that if land use regulations are relaxed, people’s demands will become concentrated at coast. Third, The results of this study suggest that the continuous deregulation has an impact on coastal development expansion and, furthermore, on development that could be a threat in the era of climate change. This result can be used as a basis for future urban planning decisions.

Speaker: Mr Segyo Seo (Department of Urban Planning and Engineering, Pusan National University)

11:20 Heavy rainfall, critical consequences? - Risk analysis of the impact of flood related street blockades on emergency medical services coverage in Münster, Germany

Heavy rainfall and resulting floods pose an imminent threat to critical infrastructure (CI) (Fekete, 2021). Roads are especially vulnerable, as they might become impassable for cars and emergency vehicles, leading to cascading effects that endanger the function of other critical services (Groenemeijer et al., 2015). Road disruptions present a major challenge for emergency medical service (EMS) Vehicles as they might lead to life-threating delays in the provision of first aid (Benden, 2014).

This research presents a GIS-based methodology to examine the dependencies between flood-induced road disruptions and the emergency medical service coverage. The city of Münster, in which a heavy rainfall event in 2014 has led to the loss of lives and destruction of CI (Frerichs et al., 2015), was a cooperation partner for the study by providing data on flood levels in case of an extreme heavy rainfall event for the city area. The study determined the normal coverage areas of emergency medical services stations by using the ArcGIS Network Analyst and evaluated the flood exposure of critical roads within the fire department’s priority road network in case of an extreme heavy rainfall event. Within the fire department’s priority road network 54 road sections in which the potential flood levels exceed the wading depth of EMS Vehicles were identified. Considering potential flood-induced blockades on all roads accessible to EMS Vehicles, coverage polygons of EMS Stations during extreme rainfall were again determined by using ArcGIS Network Analyst. Based on these polygons and considering municipally designated response time thresholds, the area of Münster was divided into adequately covered and underserved regions.

While under normal conditions about 63% of Münster´s area is adequately covered, only 38% of the cities area is covered in case of an extreme rainfall. Considering population density at the city cell level, the amount of adequately covered population would decrease from circa 236.000 to 167.000 residents during an extreme heavy rainfall event. Under normal conditions suburban centers have lower emergency medical coverage, while the densely populated inner-city areas are generally adequately served. However, during heavy rainfall the coverage level in southern and eastern inner-city districts decrease significantly due to flood-induced road disruption, especially where EMS Stations connections to highly populated districts depend on railroad underpasses.

While further detailed flood simulations for identified neuralgic sections of the road network are recommended, the results can be useful for an evaluation of EMS station locations and future investments in measures that increase resilience. The presented methodology can be adapted for different flood scenarios or vehicle sensitivities, so that emergency infrastructure planning can better align with Münster’s climate adaptation ambitions to ensure the continuity of critical services during extreme weather events.

Speaker: Oskar Paßlick (TU Dortmund)

11:30 Resilient Land Use Strategies in Urban Waterfront Development towards Flood Risk: A Case Study of Chongqing, China

Global climate change has significantly increased the frequency of extreme weather events, with floods becoming an increasingly severe and unpredictable threat to urban areas. Consequently, flood control has emerged as a critical strategy to ensure public safety, particularly in transitional zones between urban areas and water bodies, such as waterfronts. In response, the city of Chongqing, China, has proposed raising the flood protection standards for its downtown waterfront areas. However, this proposal presents a conflict between meeting sustainable urban development needs and ensuring flood safety, as much of the surrounding land may fall within the newly designated floodplain, severely restricting its potential for development and regeneration. This research seeks to resolve this issue by presenting three key elements: (1) a flood resilience model based on resilience thinking and complex adaptive systems theory; (2) a risk distribution matrix developed from flood risk analysis under various scenarios and spatial vulnerability assessments; and (3) systematic solutions that integrate spatial planning and design, flood protection engineering, and risk management to determine the most suitable development intensity for different risk zones while ensuring flood safety and minimizing land resource consumption.

Speakers: Prof. Zhiduan Chen (Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture), Ms Zihan Qi (Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture)

11:40 Exploring the Feasibility of Sponge City Solutions for Flood Resilience in Gangnam, Seoul

Cities are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, necessitating innovative approaches to mitigate environmental hazards and enhance resilience (IPCC, 2014). Gangnam, a dense and economically vital district in Seoul, South Korea, faces escalating flood risks exacerbated by the combined pressures of climate change and rapid urbanization. Notably, the severe flooding in 2022 highlighted the district’s vulnerability, which stems from its low-lying geography, insufficient green spaces, and aging drainage systems (Park et al., 2024; Lee, 2017). Despite governmental efforts to introduce temporary solutions, these reactive measures have proven limited in their long-term effectiveness, underscoring the need for comprehensive, preventative strategies for disaster risk management.

This research investigates the feasibility of adopting the "Sponge City" concept, a nature-based approach originally developed by Yu Kongjian (Yu, 2016), to address Gangnam’s flood challenges. Central to this framework are green infrastructure solutions such as permeable pavements, bioswales, rain gardens, and artificial wetlands, designed to enhance stormwater management by absorbing, retaining, and filtering runoff at its source (Li et al., 2017). To complement these strategies, the study examines the integration of the planned Deep Tunnel Sewer System (DTSS), set to be completed in 2028, as part of a hybrid approach that balances engineered and nature-based solutions (Park et al., 2024).

A mixed-methods approach is employed, combining Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis and flood simulation modeling to identify high-risk areas, project future rainfall scenarios, and assess the effectiveness of proposed interventions. GIS-based spatial analysis incorporates data on land use, topography, and hydrology, providing a detailed understanding of Gangnam’s flood vulnerabilities (Lee et al., 2023; Lei et al., 2021). Simulation modeling evaluates the impact of Sponge City interventions on reducing surface runoff, peak water flow, and flood extents, offering actionable insights for sustainable urban planning.

To ensure the feasibility and acceptance of these solutions, stakeholder engagement plays a central role in this research. Collaboration with municipal governments, environmental agencies, and local communities addresses land-use conflicts, regulatory challenges, and public perceptions (Reed, 2008). Policy recommendations include strategies to incentivize green infrastructure, enforce land-use regulations, and foster integrated governance frameworks that align technical solutions with social equity considerations.

By demonstrating the capacity of the Sponge City concept to mitigate flooding, enhance urban livability, and build resilience, this research contributes to a broader understanding of how nature-based solutions can complement conventional infrastructure in dense urban environments. The findings offer Gangnam actionable strategies for sustainable flood management while providing a replicable framework for other cities facing similar challenges. This study aligns with the conference’s call for proactive disaster risk management and highlights the importance of shifting from short-term emergency responses to holistic, preventative resilience-building practices.

Speaker: Ms Dayeon Shin (George Mason University)

11:50 Flood Risk Perception Under the Levee Effect: Adaptive Management Strategies for heterogeneous individuals

Extreme phenomena caused by climate change have led to an increasing intensity and frequency of precipitation events, gradually becoming normalized. In light of these rising flood risk challenges, most urban area engineering structures remain the prevailing flood risk management strategies to reduce the impact of flooding. However, the short-term effectiveness of these structural measures in alleviating flooding may create a false sense of safety, which can lower people's risk perception, ultimately leading to an increase in risk over time. This paradoxical phenomenon is known as the "levee effect" (White,1958； Burby, 2006； Ding et al., 2023). However, whether the change in risk perception caused by this levee effect is consistent across all groups or whether it varies due to heterogeneous individuals of the groups is worth further investigation.
The methods of risk analysis are usually based on objective measures, but subjective risk assessment, such as risk perception, is still currently considered a crucial aspect in the context of flood risk management (Kellens et al., 2011). Risk perception describes how an individual 'assesses a threat's probability and damage potential,' and its variation is influenced by individual conditions, including education, age, societies' views, knowledge, and disaster experience (Babcicky & Seebauer, 2016). Research on the levee effect and risk perception shows that residents in the 'Floods continuing' group had higher levels of Flood awareness and risk threat assessment; on the contrary, residents in the 'Floods slowing' group had lower levels of flood awareness and risk threat assessment(Chang et al., 2022). However, within these groups, there may still be differences in risk perception due to heterogeneous individuals. Therefore, in flood risk management, risk perception should consider individual conditions and further classify the differences in risk perception across different groups to formulate appropriate strategies for specific local groups.
The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of heterogeneous individuals on risk perception in the context of the levee effect and develop adaptive strategies suitable for different types of groups. The study focuses on Tainan City, Taiwan, as the empirical research area. First, the relevant literature is reviewed to summarize the evolution of urban flood control strategies, and the impact of engineering structures flood mitigation measures on risk perception. A questionnaire is designed based on past flood management approaches and risk perception measurement indicators. Spatial analysis is used to identify the concentration of flood-prone areas and the spatial distribution of flooding events, which serve as the potential spatial scope of the levee effect for the survey. Finally, through cross-tabulation analysis, groups with similar individual characteristics are classified and compared, identifying the factors most influential on risk perception and the differences in risk perception across different groups.
This study aims to address the neglect of heterogeneous individuals in flood risk management. The focus is on areas affected by the levee effect, exploring the differences in risk perception among different groups when facing flood risks. It is hoped that by understanding the characteristics of other groups, driving policies suitable for their features can be designed, risk awareness can be enhanced, and effective flood risk mitigation measures can be taken to provide more precise adaptive management and planning policy references for future flood risk management.

Speaker: Ms Miao-Ching Shen (Department Of Urban Planning, Taiwan)

12:00 How the coastal cities are transforming? The disaster as catalysts of change

In the contemporary era, rapid demographic growth, widespread urbanization in vulnerable areas, and the escalating impacts of climate change have heightened the exposure of cities to natural disasters. Among the various forces of nature, water emerges as a pivotal factor in these catastrophes, manifesting both as scarcity and overabundance. Prolonged droughts and wildfires are direct consequences of insufficient water availability, while sudden and excessive precipitation often leads to devastating floods and hydrogeological instability. In addition to these acute and extreme events, slower and more progressive phenomena, such as rising sea levels, present equally significant threats to urban landscapes and coastal territories.
Coastal cities, particularly those situated along the U.S. East Coast (Rebuild by design, 2012), and in India, have been at the forefront of monitoring and addressing the risks posed by rising sea levels. Similarly, several northern European nations have proactively implemented national strategies aimed at enhancing urban resilience for several decades. In contrast, the Mediterranean region has emerged as one of the most vulnerable areas globally to the impacts of rising sea levels. According to projections by the European Environment Agency (EEA, 2024), sea levels in the Mediterranean are expected to rise by approximately 10 centimeters prior 2050. While early discussions on this issue began as early as the 1970s under the framework of the Barcelona Convention (UNEP/MAP, 1976). —highlighting the need for integrated coastal area management—many countries in the region still lack the necessary tools and frameworks to address these challenges effectively. The absence of adequate planning mechanisms significantly increases the likelihood of emergency scenarios, such as those witnessed along the Valencian coast in late October 2024.
Given these pressing challenges, a critical question arises: how can we effectively plan coastal territories using a resilient approach that prioritizes proactive management of change over reactive responses to emergencies? This research aims to address this question through an inductive methodology that bridges the domains of design and planning. By analyzing concrete case studies from diverse geographic and socio-economic contexts, the research seeks to develop a comprehensive strategy for guiding coastal planning practices. The ultimate goal is to formulate actionable guidelines that integrate the scales of urban planning and design, ensuring a holistic and resilient approach to managing coastal areas.
A central component of this research initiative is the development of an "Disasters Compendium" for coastal cities. This compendium serves as a repository of global case studies documenting disasters resulting from the dynamic interaction between land and sea. These disasters are conceptualized not merely as crises but as catalysts for innovation and transformation in urban and territorial planning. By systematically collecting, classifying, and analyzing these global experiences, the compendium aims to identify patterns, strategies, and best practices that have emerged in response to such challenges.
The insights derived from this analysis will form the basis for structuring comprehensive guidelines tailored to the Mediterranean region's unique vulnerabilities. By framing disasters as opportunities for learning and innovation, this research underscores the need for a paradigm shift in coastal planning—one that embraces resilience as a cornerstone for sustainable urban development in the face of climate change.
This paper presents the progress of a key outcome from the PRIN COSTA|Med research project, currently being conducted at Università degli Studi Roma Tre.

Speaker: Dr Francesca Paola Mondelli (Roma Tre University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_13 HOUSING AND SHELTER: Housing crisis I

Convener: Massimo Bricocoli (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano)

11:00 Understanding the Preference and Choice of Housing Environment for University Students in Metropolitan Areas

In metropolitan areas with large populations, university students suffer from spatial inequalities due to inadequate housing supply and uneven distribution of housing environment elements, leading to stress, instability, and insecurity (Sotomayor et al., 2022; Fang and van Liempt, 2021). Since students are a vulnerable group with limited housing choices, an over-reliance on market distribution fails to address student housing inadequacies and inequalities (Pillai et al., 2024). Decision-makers should investigate the factors shaping students' housing preferences and implement supportive policies to address the housing needs of students. However, existing research predominantly adopts a top-down perspective, analyzing the student housing distribution as an outcome of policies and emphasizing the impact of existing environments on housing choices (Poku-Boansi et al., 2023). Few studies explore the mechanisms underlying the deviation between students’ housing preferences and actual choices, limiting the potential of policies to mitigate spatial and systemic constraints on housing equality for students.
Our research addresses this gap by analyzing the correlation between students' housing preferences and choices from a humanistic perspective, exploring the influential mechanism of economic, social, and physical factors in students' housing decisions and the discrepancies between their subjective values and actual solutions. This analysis provides insights into the underlying causes of spatial inequality of housing distribution among students. Based on these insights, we propose targeted housing distribution strategies that align with students' needs, considering the existing urban environment across different districts to promote equitable allocation of urban transportation, services, and communities.
The study focuses on Berlin, a metropolis with severe student housing shortages. Through semi-structured interviews, university students were asked to rate the importance of five key factors—rent price, transportation convenience, room type, service density, and community safety—contributing to their ideal housing. These preference data were used for clustering analysis, dividing the respondents into groups with distinct housing preferences and spatial distribution patterns. Furthermore, the economic, social, and physical environment indicators corresponding to these five factors were measured and examined for their correlation with students' subjective preferences, using postal code areas as the unit of analysis. This approach reveals the alignment or deviation between students' housing preferences and the actual environment of their selected housing, forming the basis for proposing housing distribution strategies that account for the preferences of this vulnerable group in metropolitan areas.
The results demonstrate that students are distinctly categorized into three groups based on their housing preferences. Groups 1 and 3 prioritize rent price, with the former placing transportation convenience as the second priority, while the latter considers service density equally important. In contrast, Group 2, which prioritizes room type, places less emphasis on low rent. A comparison between preference scores and actual housing environments reveals a high degree of alignment regarding transportation factors. Students who prioritize transportation convenience tend to select housing within a 30-minute commute from their university, whereas the other two groups do not. Conversely, preferences for service density do not exhibit a strong positive correlation with the actual distribution of chosen housing, reflecting the uncertainty of service density as a guiding factor in students' housing decisions.
These findings reveal the group differences in housing preferences among students, from which we unveil the varying degrees of influence exerted by environmental factors on their subjective values and actual decisions on housing. These influencing mechanism investigations in our research not only assist governments and planning departments in optimizing student housing distribution, but also provide more targeted references for urban renewal and land use policy development from a humanistic perspective. This contributes to more effectively addressing the actual needs of the student population at the policy level and mitigating housing inequality.

Speaker: Lexun Wang (Tongji University)

11:10 A Study on Per Capita Housing Status and Living Quality Enhancement in Dashilan Historical and Cultural Block

China's housing development has moved from incremental construction to the stage of improving the quality of stock.Historic and cultural block, due to their early construction, property rights, heritage conservation, and funding, have poor living qualities, difficulties in relocating populations, and a concentration of vulnerable populations, and residents generally lack a safe, healthy, and dignified living environment.Dashilan is one of the first national historic and cultural block in Beijing, and because the current renewal planning model is still limited to public space and street facade improvement, the housing problem has not been fundamentally solved, and there is a lack of quantitative assessment of the current per capita housing situation and the housing problem of the vulnerable populations.Therefore, this study firstly summarizes the experiences of eight countries or regions, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong, China, in terms of minimum housing standards and housing quality improvement.Second, based on the minimum housing standards of each country, combined with the seventh population census and field research data, the study quantitatively evaluates the current per capita housing situation in Dashilan in terms of spatial size, basic functional space, architectural performance and basic equipment, and the living environment, and identifies gaps in relation to the minimum housing standards of each country.Finally, drawing on international experience in improving living quality, we put forward policy recommendations in five aspects: sustainable development, space size, basic functional space, architectural performance and basic equipment, and living environment, and put forward the minimum per capita living space and basic environmental requirements, in order to guarantee a safe, healthy and dignified living environment for Dashilan residents, improve living quality and provide reference for historical and cultural block of the same type.

Speaker: Dr jiaqi zhao (School of Architecture, Southeast University)

11:20 Future Housing: Essential Resources for Youth and Their Impact on Planning

The housing crisis in Germany, particularly the shortage of affordable housing in metropolitan areas, poses a significant challenge for middle- and low-income households. However, new buildings alone cannot resolve this issue, especially in the context of the climate crisis. Construction activities and the operation of buildings are among the largest contributors to CO2 emissions in Germany (BBSR, 2020). For socially and ecologically sustainable urban development, transformative approaches are needed. This calls for identifying essential housing needs that genuinely enhance quality of life (Abel, 2023) and integrating these insights into planning processes.

Within the group of middle- and low-income households, particularly children and adolescents have specific needs that are inconsistently considered in urban planning. Drawing on empirical research conducted in a large housing estate in Berlin, I aim to provide insights into the housing realities of young residents. The research area is distinguished by a significant prevalence of single-parent households, a substantial number of individuals reliant on state transfer payments, and an elevated rate of child poverty (Bezirksamt Lichtenberg von Berlin, 2021). With a specific focus on these households, I will address the following research question: Which housing needs are essential for children and adolescents, and how can these findings be translated into planning?

Young people are active agents, who “do not merely passively consume their spatially structured (everyday) surroundings. Instead, they are active and competent producers of their spatial worlds” (Castillo Ulloa et al., 2023: 38). These practices we can also see in the research area. Here, young residents are often unable to live in their parents’ homes according to their own preferences, either due to a lack of economic resources or because they must constantly accommodate the needs of other household members. In response, they externalize their activities, which can be interpreted as a production of home (Löw, 2001). Through these practices, they address both their material and immaterial housing needs: For instance, at the apartment scale, the size of the homes may not be as crucial as opportunities for the appropriation of places and the production of space (Lefebvre, 1974; Akyildiz, 2024: 68–70). These observations indicate that, in the face of limited resources, young people develop adaptive strategies that make resources inside and outside their parental homes increasingly relevant. Along with that, the findings highlight the importance of the neighborhood scale. The urban characteristics and social infrastructure in the research area enable the externalization of activities. It is the qualities of the large housing estate that allow young residents to produce their spaces.

In times marked by a lack of affordable housing, urban planning should not only focus on increasing housing supply but also on creating further places, that allow people to satisfy their housing needs – regardless of the floor plan. So, transformative approaches are needed, to confront the housing and climate crises and to ensure the quality of life independently from the household's income.

Speaker: Aylin Akyildiz (Technical University of Berlin)

11:30 An Assessment on Provincial Differentiation of Housing Problem in the Turkish Case

Housing has been one of Türkiye's significant urban problems in recent decades. There are two broad categories of factors that directly influence this multifaceted problem. The supply-side factors are mainly the economic and institutional factors that aim to solve the problem by using the housing supply as a tool. Since high rents have been considered the primary cause of the high costs of daily living, central governments usually focused on increasing the housing supply to control high rents with the help of institutions like the Mass Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) and the municipalities. Demand-side factors, on the other hand, have a greater impact on the intensity of the housing problem since the housing supply, though it is increasing, can never meet the growing demand. Between the years 2000 and 2023, the overall population of Türkiye increased by approximately 35%, while the average household size dropped from 4.48 to 3.14 people. These demographic changes increased housing demand radically. Moreover, there has been an additional demand originating from the increasing number of immigrants in Türkiye and the ease of housing sales to foreigners. This unbalanced situation between housing supply and demand has artificially increased housing prices and consequently decreased homeownership rates, especially for certain socioeconomic groups. Between the years 2002 and 2025, the homeownership rate in Türkiye has decreased from 73.1% to 56.2%. This means that approximately 17% of the overall population, mostly low- and middle-income groups, have lost the chance to be homeowners. In this period, rental housing has appeared as one of the main solutions to the housing demands of these groups. However, it generated budgetary problems for those households since housing and rent expenditures account for the largest share of their consumption expenditures. Even though there are regulations to control the overall increase of rents, they are incapable because of the shortcomings of those regulations detected by the market actors. In these circumstances, the housing problem gradually turns into a housing crisis.
There are lots of studies focusing on housing problems in Türkiye. However, they generally study this issue at the national level and have limited emphasis on provincial differentiations of the problem. To overcome this limitation, this study aims to analyze provincial distributions of ownership statuses of residential units and reveal whether their spatial repercussions are similar in developed and underdeveloped provinces. There are three sections of the study. The first section contains a general quantitative description of the housing problem. With this description, it becomes possible to present different dimensions of the housing problem. The second section is the analytical section with its two parts. The first part aims to produce provincial profiles by considering the ownership statuses of residential units and the total number of households in each province. Consequently, these profiles are hierarchically clustered concerning their similarities, and the clusters are used to visualize provincial profiles. In the second part, these clusters are simultaneously evaluated with the socioeconomic development levels of provinces to understand whether there is a correlation between provincial profiles of ownership statuses and those development levels. Starting from the assumption that national housing policies are mostly inefficient, in the last section, there is a general discussion on housing policy that considers provincial differentiations.

Speaker: Dr Tolga Levent

11:40 The Socio-Spatial Implications of Urban Densification: The case of Oslo

Urban densification is often considered the best strategy for achieving sustainability goals and fostering social mix in urban contexts. While social mix has been used as a central argument to promote densification in several contexts, research has shown that densification is often linked to rising rents and housing prices, displacement, and exclusionary pressures if effective housing policies and regulations are not in place.

In Oslo, the case study of this investigation, densification is the main development strategy and has been primarily implemented in the eastern, historically less affluent side of the city, particularly through the redevelopment of former industrial areas. We argue that while a combination of a highly deregulated housing system, developer-led densification, and housing speculation risks creating exclusionary dynamics, the social implications of densification can vary depending on its location.

By analyzing census-tract-level data on household composition, ethnic background, and income, we explore whether newly developed densification areas in Oslo exhibit a more homogeneous or mixed socio-demographic profile in the western and eastern parts of the city and assess the implications for housing inequalities. Our analysis reveals that while the historical divide between Oslo’s eastern and western sides remains, densification areas appear to contribute to a more balanced social composition. Indeed, while densification areas in the less affluent eastern districts attract households with a higher socio-economic profile compared to the surrounding neighborhoods, those in the west show the opposite tendency.

However, two key shortcomings emerge. First, densification areas in the east tend to attract higher-income households, aligning with findings from new-build gentrification research on the development of densification areas in attractive urban locations.

The second drawback concerns the west side, where densification interventions, while bringing less well-off residents into wealthier areas, remain sporadic and face strong local opposition. Further research should investigate the potential effects of densifying areas further west in Oslo, where the most exclusive single-family home neighborhoods are located.

Additionally, future studies should consider micro-segregation dynamics to better understand potential trade-offs between social mix and inequalities in housing standards, living conditions, and stigmatization in densification areas. Finally, comparative research on the implications of densification for desegregation in different housing regimes is needed.

Speaker: Ms Roberta Cucca (Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU))

11:00 → 12:30 T_14 ETHICS, VALUES AND PLANNING: Conceptions of Justice in Planning

Conveners: Brett Allen Slack, Stefano Cozzolino (ILS - Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development)

11:00 Planning for gender health justice: A scoping review and research agenda

Urban planning plays a crucial role in advancing social justice, public health, and gender equity in parallel. Increasingly, scholars are investigating the field’s potential to simultaneously enhance outcomes across all three areas through planning for gender health justice. This scoping review assesses the extent to which planners are incorporating gender in healthy cities scholarship, including current work already being done in this area and gaps where further research is needed. Our analysis suggests that planners are making progress on violence against women in public spaces and planning deficits related to women’s unpaid care labor. However, our review also indicates that further research is needed to address more diverse forms of gender violence, expand the scope of gendered health issues being investigated, and incorporate a more holistic understanding of gender identity. Based on these findings, we outline an integrated research agenda designed to support planning scholars in advancing gender health justice.

Speaker: Ms Sophia Hoffacker (University of Michigan, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning)

11:10 A capability theory of spatial justice

Many planning theorists agree that justice is one, if not the primary, goal of planning. In planning practice and policymaking, phrases such as “inclusive planning” or “equitable design” also indicate the key role of justice considerations in the planning profession. A normative position towards justice issues is present in every planning task, albeit this stance often remains implicit. Planning theory refers to spatial justice as a notion to capture the spatial component of these justice issues. Arguing for an explicit normative position, my aim is to further the discussion on the philosophical basis of spatial justice, and to develop methods to operationalise such a position. To this end, I make use of the differentiation between the concept and conceptions of justice elaborated by Moroni and De Franco (2024), the concept denoting a general, universal idea of justice and the conceptions denoting various normative positions towards justice issues.

The purpose of this research is to concretise the concept and develop a workable conception of justice to apply to spatial issues. To characterise the concept and define “true” instances of injustice, I build upon Miller’s (2023) four aspects of justice: i) justice as concerning the treatment of individuals, ii) justice as claims rightfully made, iii) justice as impartial, and iv) injustice as caused by human agency. Secondly, I argue for a specific conception of spatial justice that builds on the capability approach and ideas from sufficientarianism and limitarianism. I argue that this conception is not only morally justified, but also practically useful for the planning profession, as it can be operationalised to answer some questions regarding significant spatial issues: for example, regarding the role of space as a condition for granting positive rights (Moroni and De Franco, 2024). To illustrate, I take traffic planning as an example. The planning paradigm of accessibility, which is common in transport studies, denotes the capability to reach destinations and activities. Therefore, accessibility in transport serves as an indicator for injustices regarding the capability to make use of one’s positive rights.

Speaker: Ms Helena Schuch (Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna)

11:20 Participatory Planning in Brazil: a moralized approach to Sociospatial Justice

Participatory planning in Brazil is frequently celebrated as a cornerstone of urban governance designed to foster sociospatial justice. However, its implementation exposes significant ethical and operational challenges. This paper examines how contemporary master plans, developed in the nation’s major metropolises, are influenced by moralized narratives that oversimplify the complexities of urban governance. Emerging during the country’s democratic transition in the late 1980s, the participatory planning paradigm was a direct response to the technocratic dominance of the previous dictatorial regime. This shift institutionalized the belief that public interest could only be genuinely articulated through inclusive, participatory processes. Substantial governmental funding to municipalities supported this vision, positioning master plans as fundamental instruments for addressing historical inequities and advancing urban equity.
Despite its democratic intentions, participatory planning in Brazil often reduces conflicts between grassroots movements advocating for equity and real estate developers pursuing market-driven interests to a binary framing of good versus evil. This reductionist perspective, reinforced by public officials, segments of academia, and media narratives, oversimplifies the multifaceted nature of urban governance. Consequently, confidence in planning’s ability to mediate divergent interests and achieve equitable outcomes has diminished, contributing to broader skepticism about its efficacy.
Within this context, this paper critically analyzes the formulation processes of master plans in Brazil’s metropolises, with a focus on the ethical assumptions underpinning these efforts and their broader implications. By situating Brazil’s experience within wider debates on ethics and justice in planning, the study examines the limitations of participatory frameworks in addressing sociospatial inequalities and explores their potential contributions to more equitable urban futures.

Speaker: Dr Paulo Nascimento Neto (Graduate Program in Urban Management, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná)

11:00 → 12:30 T_15 PROPERTY MARKET ACTORS: Public Planning Mechanisms and Financial Actors

Convener: Tuna Tasan-Kok (University of Amsterdam)

11:00 The financialisation of planning through formal legislative change: the case of Ireland

While there is a growing body of scholarship elucidating the nexus between financialisation, urban governance and planning (Savini and Aalbers, 2016; Waldron, 2019), the ways the local state (and planning systems) shape the necessary legal, regulatory, and policy frameworks that enable financialisation in practice remain largely overlooked (Christophers 2015). Moreover, little attention has been paid to formal legislative changes in planning as a key site of influence. Using the case of Ireland which has recently approved a major new piece of planning legislation in the form of the Planning and Development Act 2024, this paper seeks to chart how the ‘real-estate financial complex’ (Aalbers, 2012) is successfully deploying the planning system as a tool for creating real estate assets. Specifically, the paper seeks to show how formal legislative changes in planning are being carefully choreographed through policy narratives dominated by financial sector logic to help alleviate investment risks and enhance the viability of real estate development. In doing so, it documents the emergence of new barriers that restrict democratic engagement and undermine the principles of subsidiarity in the planning process. The paper seeks to contribute to the literature that explores the ‘operational infrastructures’ of financialisation (Christophers, 2015). In particular, it attempts to redress the emphasis in financialisation research on macro-economic forces and path dependencies that enable financial expansion by looking more closely at the often-underestimated roles of elected officials, bureaucrats, and industry lobbyists in shaping the necessary institutional, policy and legal frameworks (Ward & Swyngedouw, 2018) that shape flows of financial capital into local real estate (Weber, 2019).

Speaker: Dr Linda Fox-Rogers (University College Dublin)

11:10 The financialization of actors, practices and instruments. Insights from Milano’s Urban Market

Over the past two decades, the concept of ‘financialization’ has gained prominence in urban studies, reflecting the growing influence of financial actors, practices, and instruments in shaping urban markets.

This phenomenon, as explored by scholars such as Epstein (2005), Leyshon and Thrift (2007), Krippner (2011), Gotham (2012), Christophers (2015), Raco et al. (2019), and Aalbers (2019), underscores the pivotal role of real estate investments and financial strategies for the management of built environment and urban development. Despite extensive global research, the financialization of urban markets in Milano requires deeper investigation, given the mounting pressures exerted by real estate dynamics on the city’s spatial planning frameworks.

Building on solid research (Pasqui, 2019; Anselmi & Vicari, 2020; Conte & Anselmi, 2022) and empirical analysis, this study aims to unveil the multifaceted financialization processes influencing Milano’s urban market by addressing the patterns and impacts of property investments in urban development and real estate management; the regulatory, programming, and planning instruments that enable real estate finance; and (the roles and strategies of the key actors operating in Milano’s urban market.

By focusing on Milano, a city emblematic of contemporary urban transformation in Southern Europe, this research seeks to uncover the intricate connections between predatory financial mechanisms and urban development related to capital accumulation liberated by Milanese households and enterprises. It will explore how especially global and continental financial actors, motives and instruments shape spatial configurations, intensify real estate pressures, and influence urban policy and governance.

The findings are intended to contribute to broader discussions on the implications of financialization for urban sustainability, equity, and resilience, while offering practical insights into navigating these challenges in Milano and similar urban contexts worldwide.

Also, this contribution tackles the specificity of Milano in being a gateway city (Bolocan Goldstein, 2017) despite its medium-size dimension and its political status as a non-capital city. In this sense, its geopolitical configuration in the middle between Continental and Mediterranean Europe makes this city an important catalyst for institutional financial investment, which enormously renovated the city in comparison to the rest of the country.

In conclusion, this research project adopts an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from urban planning, geo-economics, and real estate studies, to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the financialization complex in Milano. The insights gained aim to inform both scholarly debates and policymaking, emphasizing the need for strategies that balance financial imperatives with inclusive urban development.

Speaker: Alberto Bortolotti

11:20 Becoming asset managers under institutional uncertainty: Local land governance in Ukraine

The implementation of three interconnected reforms in Ukraine in 2019-2021 has set the stage for one of the largest transfers of land ownership and land use controls on the European continent. First of these, the Decentralization reform resulted in a large-scope municipal amalgamation. Over 12,000 mostly sparsely populated rural, institutionally weak, and subsidy-dependent municipalities were amalgamated into 1469. The amalgamated jurisdictions of municipalities now cover the whole territory of the country and include heterogeneous assemblages of urbanised areas, cultivated lands, and open natural space (see Romanova & Umland 2024; OECD, 2017 and 2022; Dudley 2019 for a general overview). Moreover, the majority of state-owned lands within the municipal territory have been transferred into municipal ownership (Taratula & Stupen 2018).

Second, the spatial planning reform introduced a locally developed statutory comprehensive plan that sets functional zoning for the entire municipal territory (see Anisimov et al. (2024); Steinkemper and Vlasenko (2024). This essentially established a formal municipal planning monopoly without regional or state interference. Third, the land market reform completed the land privatisation by lifting the 20-year moratorium on selling private agricultural land plots, mostly owned by farmers. As a result, the mobility and value of land resources have increased dramatically, with the expectation of intense use and local economic growth in the upcoming years (Deininger & Ali, 2023). Even during the Russian invasion, market transactions expanded and prices increased.

These reforms gave local authorities strong statutory planning powers and fiscal capacities while expanding the market reach in land use. As municipalities lack the experience and the expertise to use these powers effectively and efficiently, this poses a risk to a sustainable and just recovery of the country, especially considering the impending global land scarcity and its overlapping impacts (Meyfroidt et al., 2022), exacerbated by the loss of lands to the Russian invasion.

And while much research is currently focused on a better understanding of the drivers of local land policies (Götze & Hartmann, 2021), their effectiveness and trade-offs, chiefly in light of the housing (Krigsholm et al., 2022; Lönnroth et al., 2024), climate and energy crises (Löschner et al., 2021), we know little about how local governments start building capacity in land-use planning or develop a land portfolio strategy. While benefitting from extended knowledge of the range of land policies, we can still hardly explain and compare which local land policies are used and why in different contexts (Hengstermann et al., 2023). Intermunicipal learning and knowledge systematization remain weak. Resolving the knowledge and policy gap is crucial, as municipalities are key mediators of land use and are responsible for the implementation of supra-national normative regulations and strategies (Evers, 2024), while also balancing the interests of their constituency and local stakeholders (Mazzoleni, 2022).

Focusing on Ukrainian municipalities of different sizes, land use and population we explore both the use of public land (land portfolio management) and control over privately owned lands (land use management) from the perspective of organizational learning and institutional theory. Via in-depth interviews, we analyse how the local authorities interpret the broader governance context, as well as learn and develop their approach to land management. Using questionnaires and follow-up interviews we identify the use of policy tools and structure the reasoning behind their implementation.

Synthesising these findings, we expand the theoretical understanding of how municipalities engage in land management under conditions of institutional uncertainty and explore practical consequences for the broad goals of achieving sustainable land use.

Speaker: Mr Oleksandr Anisimov (Aalto University)

11:30 The Process and Financialization Characteristics of Financial Institutions' Involvement in Renewed Rental Housing: Latest Cases from China

Against the backdrop of tight urban spatial resources, urban governments in China are actively implementing urban renewal strategies by transforming idle commercial and office spaces as well as urban villages into rental housing. This is conducive to revitalizing the utilization of existing spatial resources and promoting the balance between employment and residence. Globally, the rental housing market shows strong profit - making potential, attracting in - depth participation from investment institutions and banks, thus forming a new trend of the financialization of rental housing. The Chinese government not only strongly supports the development of rental housing to ease residents' housing difficulties but also explicitly encourages the active participation of financial institutions. This paper explores the intervention process and financialization characteristics of Chinese financial institutions in renewed rental housing projects through the analysis of two micro - cases of the light - asset model (operating companies) and heavy - asset model (equity investment) of financial institutions' participation in renewed rental housing.

The contributions of this paper are reflected in two aspects: (1) It elaborately summarizes the financial innovations of financial institutions' intervention in renewed rental housing projects. Firstly, by establishing different specialized institutions (operating companies and equity investment institutions), they intervene in the renovation process of "light - asset" and "heavy - asset" rental housing respectively, and support this process through financial innovations in aspects such as equity acquisition, special loans, and REITs. Secondly, an asset operation process of "investment, financing, management, and exit" has been formed, which is significantly different from the previous short - cycle real estate projects of "building houses - selling for profit". Thirdly, the "second curve" is developed. When the income from rental housing is meager, banks obtain additional income by marketing their other financial products (to the government, enterprises, and tenants), which is an interesting new trend in the Chinese banking industry. (2) By placing the theory of "the financialization of rental housing" in the unique institutional and market environment of China and comparing it with the previous "land financialization" model centered on land transactions, it is found that: Firstly, the goal of financialization has undergone a transformation. It now emphasizes the strategic focus on addressing residents' housing issues with national welfare, rather than merely concentrating on spatial expansion and capital accumulation. Secondly, the realization of the financialization process depends on the good cooperation among the government, property owners, and financial institutions, and this cooperative relationship needs to run through the entire process of "investment, financing, management, and exit". This research enriches the theory of the financialization of rental housing and is of great significance for promoting the healthy and sustainable development of the rental housing market.

Speaker: Mr 岚清 李 (清华大学)

11:00 → 12:30 T_16 FOOD: Food systems in times of crisis: innovation, inclusion and sustainability

Conveners: Riccardo Giovanni Bruno (Poliytecnich of Turin), Dr Zeynep Özçam (İzmir Institute of Technology)

11:00 Care for food: choices and perceptions of food security and sustainability in a changing world

Food systems lie at the intersection of sustainability, food security, and climate change. In Western societies, consumption patterns have a significant environmental footprint, yet only a small proportion of consumers prioritize seasonal and locally produced food. Urban areas are more susceptible to food insecurity, with certain populations facing greater challenges in accessing healthier and more sustainable food systems. Meanwhile, in rural areas, aging populations encounter difficulties in accessing commercial food markets. As a result, individual food choices, shaped by their immediate food environment, have profound implications not only for health but also for the environment, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion.

This study examines the impact of Portuguese households' food choices on climate change and explores whether food security—encompassing health considerations—aligns with concerns about environmental footprints. Additionally, it investigates whether socio-economic and environmental conditions act as barriers to or enablers of the transition toward more sustainable and healthy dietary practices.

To analyze these dynamics, a telephone survey was conducted between July and August 2024, gathering responses from 1,813 households across mainland Portugal (with a 2% margin of error at a 95% confidence interval).

The results reveal distinct spatial trends across different Portuguese territories, particularly between urban and rural areas, as well as between the northern and southern regions. These differences are evident in terms of food security, including access to food, which is more constrained in metropolitan areas; perceptions of a healthy and sustainable food system; and the extent to which individuals’ dietary habits align with sustainability principles. Notably, while some individuals who believe they eat healthily do adhere to better diets, the majority of respondents overestimated the healthiness and sustainability of their food choices.

From a policy perspective, the survey results indicate that 85% of respondents support state intervention in the food system, agreeing on the need for government policies to promote food security and sustainability. The most widely supported measures include soil conservation initiatives, urban gardening programs, and food literacy campaigns.

These findings highlight the need for targeted policies that account for regional disparities and the socio-economic and environmental realities that shape food choices in Portugal. By addressing both structural and behavioral factors, policymakers can foster a more sustainable and resilient food system—one that balances food security with environmental responsibility.

Speaker: Patricia Abrantes (Institute of Geography and spatial planning / University of Lisboa)

11:10 Exploring the food-climate nexus through a justice lens: insights from urban experimentations

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, with scientists and experts emphasizing the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, given the already devastating effects caused by global warming to our planet (IPCC, 2023). Food systems are increasingly recognized as major contributors to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, with food production alone responsible for approximately one-third of global emissions (IPES Food, 2016; Thornton, 2012; Garnett, 2011). In response to this crisis, urban areas have become pivotal in governance and planning efforts aimed at meeting the Paris Agreement targets of limiting global warming to below 1.5°C or 2°C (Bulkeley et al., 2012; Busch et al., 2018). In this context, several cities are adopting re-localized food systems as a vehicle to achieve climate goals, implementing initiatives like productive nature-based solutions, plant-based food procurement, sustainable food environments, net-zero food waste strategies, and more (IPES Food, 2023). However, despite the potential of these urban experimentations to bridge food and climate sustainability, the urban sustainability literature has largely overlooked the food-climate nexus as a critical arena for achieving place-based sustainability, and for addressing socio-ecological justice.

Highlighting this gap, this reflective paper examines how cities are experimenting with a new socio-ecological agenda at the cross-roads between food and climate, positioning themselves as potential agents of transformative change within this nexus. Particularly, this contribution explores the key governance and planning strategies that emerging urban experiments employ to implement a food-climate nexus. Additionally, it interrogates the central tensions and questions surrounding socio-ecological justice in this context. To address these aspects, this paper will draw on insights from literature spanning both the urban food and climate (justice) domains. First, the paper will draw from work on climate urbanism and mundane innovations (Castán Broto, 2020; Robin and Castán Broto, 2021) to shift the focus from mitigation or adaptation as policy frameworks, to the understanding of the innovative and transformative potential of on-the-ground actions. Second, the analysis will argue about the emergence of a recent wave of urban food movements visibly linking food systems to climate action through place-based experiments and networks (IPES Food, 2023). Bringing on board critical insights on justice from the urban food and climate literatures (Amorim-Maia et al., 2022; Avelino et al., 2024; de Bruin et al., 2024), the analysis will then highlight emerging tensions in combining diverse dimensions of justice through the food-climate nexus. Starting to connect theoretical reflections to empirical evidence, this contribution will briefly illustrate few examples of urban experiments at the food-climate intersection spanning different sections of the urban food system. Particularly, the paper highlights how these initiatives enact sustainability governance strategies and deal with issues of justice as outlined above. Based on the analysis, the paper will conclude by highlighting the importance of learning from place-based practices, and understanding justice as a dynamic and continuously negotiated nexus.

Speaker: Dr Alessandra Manganelli (HafenCity Universität Hamburg / University of Barcelona)

11:20 How Local Policies Transform Foodscapes, Influence Dietary Shifts, and Reduce Emissions: Insights from Six Mediterranean Sub-Regions in France

Despite its profound implications for sustainability and public health, food planning emerged as a distinct area of focus only in the early 2000s (Pothukuchi and Kaufman, 2000). Existing studies predominantly address the spatial perspective of foodscapes such as retail outlets (e.g., supermarkets, restaurants, and fast food) and their health implications (Mejean and Recchia, 2022). However, they often overlook the multifaceted role of urban and rural planning in shaping foodscapes, including physical infrastructure, economic factors, and socio-cultural influences. In France, local planning policies, such as Food Territorial Projects (Projets Alimentaires Territoriaux, PAT), promote both, sustainable food production and consumption (Marechal et al., 2018). These policies thus engage in innovative approaches that address not only physical food environments but also economic and socio-cultural dimensions influencing dietary habits. While it has been demonstrated that these projects protect agricultural land, expand urban agriculture, and reorient public procurement, their broader impacts on diets and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) remain underexplored.
This research addresses this gap by examining how these local food planning initiatives influence foodscapes and dietary behaviors in six Mediterranean sub-regions of France. Using a mixed-methods approach, we combine multi-level statistical analyses with in-depth case studies to assess the transformative potential of local interventions. First, we assess the capacity of these policies to reshape the physical (e.g., local markets, sustainable food access), economic (e.g., pricing strategies, subsidies), and socio-cultural (e.g., educational campaigns, public procurement) dimensions through a systemic approach of foodscapes (Vonthron et al., 2020). Second, we use a quantitative questionnaire developed by Lulovicova and Bouissou (2023) to track dietary shifts towards environmental sustainability, accounting for socio-demographic variables, rural versus urban contexts, and local infrastructure. The objective is to compare changing behavioral patterns with regional objectives and interventions. Lastly, we analyze the environmental implications of these dietary changes by assessing GHGEs linked to evolving consumption patterns using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology.
Preliminary findings reveal a shift in local policies from prioritizing physical infrastructure to emphasizing socio-cultural dimensions of foodscapes. While earlier efforts focused on improving access to fresh food mostly through food relocalisation interventions, recent strategies highlight fostering a culture of sustainable eating via awareness campaigns, educational initiatives, and local food networks. Such a shift underscores the growing recognition that lasting sustainable food planning requires reshaping consumption habits and social norms. Early evidence suggests that these initiatives have had some success in promoting sustainable dietary behaviors among the surveyed population. However, many interventions focus on non-intrusive, “soft” policy instruments, such as informational campaigns, which may not be sufficient to induce substantial behavior change (Mattioni, 2021). Consequently, the preliminary findings indicate that the estimated dietary changes may be insufficient to achieve significant short-term reductions in GHGEs. Additionally, early data suggest that rural and urban sub-regions exhibit distinct behavioral responses, highlighting socio-spatial inequalities in access to sustainable food options between coastal cities and rural areas.
This research underscores the critical role of local food planning in addressing sustainability challenges and advancing net-zero targets. Cities and planners are beginning to recognize the importance of integrating food systems into urban and rural planning, yet significant gaps remain in understanding how to influence dietary habits effectively. Addressing these gaps is essential for achieving long-term environmental, social, and health objectives. By exploring the interactions between regional food planning, foodscapes and climate, our research offers valuable insights into how local policies can transform food systems, promote sustainable diets, and reduce emissions. These findings have broader implications for aligning regional planning with global frameworks such as the EU Green Deal and the Paris Agreement, providing actionable strategies for cities seeking to address food sustainability and climate change.

Speaker: Dr Andrea Lulovicova (CNRS)

11:30 Re-thinking urban food systems through territorialisation and resilience: learnings from the COVID-19 crisis in Paris

The pressures on globalised, tertiarised, and privatised food systems are intensifying within a context of escalating environmental, socio-economic, and political tensions as planetary boundaries are exceeded. These systems face criticism regarding environmental issues (environmental pollution, soil erosion, biodiversity collapse, deforestation), spatial concerns (increased cultivated land area, land grabbing), economic challenges (poverty, dependence on chemical inputs, price volatility, low farmer incomes), social problems (hunger, land conflicts, loss of traditional knowledge), and sanitary risks (animal production sanitary crises, pesticide exposure) (Gasselin et al., 2021). The negative externalities of these systems compromise food security and social justice in the context of climate change, prompting a re-evaluation of food system scales.
In response, initiatives promoting the territorialisation of agri-food systems have emerged, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which witnessed numerous metropolitan initiatives aimed at reconnecting citizens with their food (Nemes et al., 2021). This research examines how key local actors in Paris – public authorities, private entities, and grassroot movements – implemented alternative food initiatives in response to the pandemic, ranging from short supply chains and combating food insecurity to the greening of practices and development of local supply chains. By contextualising the COVID-19 crisis within broader ongoing disruptions – such as inflation in the French economy, organic farming crisis, and climate-related challenges -this work evaluates the potential for food system re-localisation. Our work explores the reconnection of urban dynamics and food security through territorialised food systems, employing a framework rooted in urban studies (Morgan, 2015; Nemes et al., 2023). More specifically, our findings aim to question the agri-food trajectory of the Paris basin (Bognon et al., 2015) during a time of crisis and its structural and circumstantial changes.

This research draws upon two qualitative surveys. The first, conducted in 2023, originates from an investigation carried out as part of the "Monde d’Avant Monde d’Après" program of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) (Corne et al., 2023). It comprises approximately fifty semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the agri-food system, including producers, processors, logistics operators, distributors, local governments, institutional bodies, and associations. The second survey is ongoing and is based on a method of "observant participation" within the departments of the Paris City Council. It includes field observations and interviews with around twenty territorial actors from the Parisian agri-food system, such as businesses, associations, and local governments. Analysing periods of crisis enables us to understand the territorial vulnerabilities of food systems, therefore studying the Parisian agri-food system through the prism of the COVID-19 crisis is particularly heuristic (Fraser, 2007).

In the first place, the research demonstrates how the pandemic intensified initiatives aimed at territorialising the agri-food system, detailing the crisis’ repercussions and the emergence of agri-food counter-models supported by local stakeholders. In the second place, it examines the long-term changes resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. Firstly, we will study the growing role of food planning tools in urban food crisis management. Secondly, we will present some initial findings on the way in which the food aid sector, which was substantially impacted during the pandemic, has worked to relocate its supplies in order to guarantee its beneficiaries a right to healthy and sustainable food. Finally, we will explore the development and strengthening of urban-rural links and the current food governance model in the Seine Basin, through the cooperation between the City of Paris and other local governments, thus contributing to the advent of an agri-food model based on sustainability, territorial resilience, the greening of its practices and the territorialisation of its supply chains.

Speaker: Lena Meunier (Université Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne)

11:40 Empowering Women through Food Production from the Perspective of Cooperatives

Since the advent of industrialization, food production and distribution systems have prioritized profit over social and environmental considerations. In response, alternative business models that emphasize community-oriented, environmentally sustainable, and socially conscious approaches to food systems have received increasing academic and practical attention. Even though cooperatives are not a new concept, they have gained considerable importance as a viable model within this framework. Notably, in the food production and distribution sectors, cooperatives are increasingly recognized as a robust alternative to conventional corporate structures. Moreover, cooperatives offer a means to integrate disadvantaged groups into the system.
As one of the disadvantaged groups, women play an essential role in cooperatives aimed at promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. Women’s cooperatives provide a platform where women can gain control over their labor, develop skills, and access education. These cooperatives thus serve as an essential mechanism for fostering women's economic empowerment. Beyond economic independence, feminist movements advocate for women's active participation in social life and involvement in decision-making processes. In this context, women’s cooperatives contribute significantly to enhancing women’s societal engagement, building their self-confidence, and facilitating the sharing of knowledge and resources. Building on these motivations, the "Empowering Women Through Cooperatives Project" (2021-2024), led by Türkiye's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with EU co-financing, established the "Women’s Cooperative Network." This project marks a significant milestone for women’s cooperatives in Türkiye. In this regard, the analysis of the social and economic contributions of women's food production cooperatives in Türkiye has become a key issue.
The study aims to explore the relationships that women cooperative members establish with their cooperatives, and the significance these organizations hold in their lives. It ultimately addresses the research question: “What are the perceptions and experiences of women members of food production cooperatives regarding their cooperatives?”. For this question, one of the country’s leading agricultural cities, Antalya is selected as the location for this study. In Antalya, 22 women’s cooperatives are part of the network, with 15 focused on food production. Among these, four production cooperatives are located in Kepez, a socioeconomically disadvantaged district of the city. While there is a substantial body of literature on women’s food production cooperatives, each cooperative and its members have unique experiences and connections with their organizations. This diversity highlights the importance of studying individual cooperatives to better understand their specific contributions and challenges. The Antalya Köy Pazarı Women’s Cooperative, chosen as a case study in this research, provides valuable insights into these distinct dynamics. As the methodology, participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted with cooperative members, and the data obtained were subjected to content analysis. The experiences of women's food production cooperatives were analyzed under three themes: Motivation (1), Impact on Daily Life (2), and Cooperative Operation (3).
The findings of the study reveal that the primary motivation behind the participation of women in food producer cooperatives is economic independence. Additionally, the cooperatives are found to provide significant social benefits alongside economic empowerment. The results demonstrate that food producer women’s cooperatives contribute positively to women’s economic, social, and individual well-being. Furthermore, for cooperative members, the cooperative and their colleagues hold a value that extends beyond mere financial income. Considering the role of women within their families and society, women’s cooperatives emerge as critical social initiatives that foster women’s participation in the economic sphere and their empowerment within both familial and societal contexts.

Speaker: Ayşe burcu Kısacık (Kendi)

11:50 Crisis-Driven Transitions: Scale-up Innovative Alternative Food Models in Lebanon

Since October 2019, Lebanon has been witnessing radical crises that revealed the fragility of the mainstream food system. The collapse of the banking sector, political instability, and the COVID-19 pandemic have drastically reduced purchasing power and exacerbated socio-economic vulnerabilities. Compounded by geopolitical tensions and the influx of Syrian refugees, these crises have intensified concerns about food security, with alarming indicators highlighting inequities at both national and sub-national levels. Amid collapsing public institutions and rising food insecurity, vibrant civil society organizations (CSOs) have played a significant role in planning for a more just and sustainable food system. These organizations have developed socially innovative practices tackling food issues. By leveraging socio-technical disruptions caused by the crises, some have successfully scaled up their models offering the potential for alternative food models to the mainstream food system. Although the Lebanese case is not unique, its radical crises and vibrant civil society offer exceptional moments and a compelling context for developing empirical analyses on planning for a just and sustainable food system.
Using a multi-disciplinary approach from planning and organizational development disciplines, this study examines how various CSOs in Lebanon mobilized to address institutional voids and explores their socially innovative practices to scale up their Alternative Food Models (AFMs) during radical crises. By linking Lebanon’s food system transitions to global food regimes and applying the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework, the study contextualizes crises-driven socio-technical disruptions as opportunities for niche innovations to scale up and develop alternative models. After mapping food-related initiatives developed by CSOs across Lebanon during the crises, the study applied Frake and Manissa’s (2018) framework to examine the planning practices of 5 significant AFMs involved in scaling up processes, focusing on interventions, mechanisms, and outcomes. A mixed-method approach was employed, and fieldwork was conducted in two phases. In the summer of 2022, semi-structured interviews were carried out with key stakeholders, including CSO representatives, donors, local producers, municipalities, and implementing partners. In the summer of 2023, the second phase involved participatory observation, further interviews, and a social media analysis.
The study identified five types of scale-up strategies the five selected AFMs developed, ranging from temporary measures to more sustainable approaches that might create systemic change. They mainly worked on expanding their spatial reach, diversifying food-related services, and increasing public awareness of local and agroecological practices. However, the type and sustainability of their approaches were shaped by the mechanisms they adopted, including governance restructuring, efficient resource management, knowledge development through experimental learning, and strategic networking. These scaling efforts aimed to address immediate food insecurity while contributing to broader food system transitions and/or the enhancement of local development.
This study offers critical insights into how civil society organizations can play a transformative role in addressing food system vulnerabilities in fragile and crisis-affected contexts. Understanding the socially innovative approaches of the different AFMs and their scale-up practices within a fragile context like Lebanon provides valuable insights into food planning during crisis-driven situations. By offering insights into scalable, community-driven approaches, it gives planners, policymakers, and practitioners with strategies to address complex food security challenges while promoting resilience, sustainability, and equity. These findings are globally relevant, offering transferable lessons for planning just and sustainable food systems in the face of escalating planetary crises.

Speaker: Sherin ASSAF (UNIVERSITÉ DE POITIERS)

11:00 → 12:30 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (A): Urban transformation, regeneration

Conveners: Dr Bahar Aksel (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Dept. of City and Regional Planning), Matej Niksic (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia)

11:00 Rethinking the Urban Periphery: A Theoretical Matrix of Nuanced Urban Regeneration Models Exemplified in Post-Socialist Urban Spaces of Belgrade

The contemporary urban paradigm is undergoing a significant shift from traditional design standards to more flexible, context-sensitive, and participatory approaches, especially in response to challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. In this evolving context, urban regeneration strategies necessitate a reconsideration, particularly in post-socialist cities where public spaces frequently fail to address the socio-spatial complexities found in peripheral areas.
This study investigates the evolving notion of the urban periphery—not merely as a geographic boundary, but as a multi-faceted socio-cultural construct shaped by historical transformations, economic fluctuations, and the appropriation and management of public space through urban design. Peripheral urban public spaces, often perceived as residual or marginal, are identified as critical sites for rethinking contemporary regeneration practices. These spaces are characterised by heterogeneity and are not uniformly disadvantaged; instead, they embody diverse urban conditions shaped by distinct cultural interpretations of publicness, accessibility, and social interaction.
Drawing upon comparative literature and case studies, this research emphasises the imperative to transcend outdated centre-periphery dichotomies and adopt nuanced regeneration models that prioritise spatial justice, inclusivity, and long-term resilience. To this end, a variety of open public spaces within the urban fabric of Belgrade (Serbia) have been systematically identified and mapped as peripheral public spaces. These locations illustrate varying types of open public areas based on morphological and qualitative indicators, encompassing the specific size of urban pockets and their liminal positions within pedestrian networks across diverse functional zones, ranging from the neighbourhood and social spaces to transport infrastructure.
The analysis critically examines existing approaches in the literature and practice to evaluate the role of urban design in the regeneration of peripheral spaces. It identifies different topics across several frameworks, including cognitive patterns within psychological approaches, place-based strategies, cultural and creative industries, local collective action initiatives, tactical urbanism, and principles of proximity. The key concepts of these approaches are exemplified within a post-socialist context, where fragmented urban structures and socio-economic disparities pose significant challenges to conventional planning paradigms.
This research introduces a matrix that connects empirically observed spaces with theoretical frameworks, offering guidelines for enhancing fragmented areas through more refined regeneration models. Furthermore, it underscores the necessity of shifting focus from large-scale projects to micro-scale interventions aimed at improving the everyday usability of public spaces, thus fostering increased community engagement and promoting long-term adaptability.
The findings indicate that effective urban regeneration models must incorporate hybrid approaches that balance top-down policies with bottom-up initiatives, thereby facilitating public-private-civic collaborations. By delineating various methodologies and case studies, this study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how peripheral urban spaces can function as catalysts for equitable and sustainable urban transformation. In conclusion, this research advocates for a paradigm shift in urban planning that acknowledges the regenerative potential of peripheral public spaces, reconceptualising them from overlooked margins into dynamic nodes of urban life, particularly within the context of post-socialist environments.

Speaker: Nikola Mitrović (University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture)

11:10 From transport corridors to integrated urban spaces: Transformation potential of Vienna's urban trunk roads

Historic trunk roads are formative elements of the urban fabric that play central infrastructural and functional roles. As public-owned linear spaces, they hold great transformation potential, especially when considered in conjunction with the adjacent urban fabric - for example with regard to mobility transition and climate change adaptations. Despite urban planning sovereignty in Vienna, arterial streets are still treated as linear traffic corridors, reinforcing spatial-functional separation rather than integrating them as inclusive public spaces. Hence, this study moves beyond standard cross-sections to explore the reciprocal relationship between street space and urban fabric in Vienna. It adopts a mixed-method approach, incorporating qualitative research, mapping, spatial analysis, and typology formation to identify challenges and opportunities of these streetscapes. The paper aims to illustrate the complexity of spatial, social and functional relations between neighborhoods and street space to open up new perspectives for sustainable transformations.
By analyzing historic development and spatio-functional interfaces between streetscapes and other urban systems, the paper identifies overarching structural characteristics and thus leading to categorization of streetscape typologies in Vienna. Subsequently, a comparative analysis focuses on the morphological aspects of these typologies. The range of impact of relations between street space and urban fabric is analyzed, particularly with regard to porosity and programming. Does the urban morphology relate to the quality and use of public space? Which public and semipublic space foster relations between streetscape and hinterland? What are factors for separation? What are typical threshold spaces or special elements in interconnected zones?
In the further course of the work, the analysis is deepened in selected key spaces in order to reveal exemplary activities, patterns of action and neighborly relations in the tension field of built space, programming and everyday use. Through the systematic cataloguing and assessment of processes and relations at different scales, the Viennese streetscapes are taken out of their proverbial urban periphery and made accessible to experts. The cross-scale and integrated perspective of the research illustrates the potentials but also the challenges of the streetscapes of Vienna's historic trunk roads, which should provide new research impulses and enrich the public discourse beyond Vienna.

Speaker: Mr Adrian Judt (TU Wien)

11:20 Reclaiming or Excluding? The Evolution of Waterfront Redevelopment and Public Space in Genoa

The ever-changing relationship between the water body and urban hinterland has been weakened by the increasing presence of industrial and port spaces in the inner-city waterfront that pushed cities away from the water and ended up as enclaved spaces in the longer term. Changing conditions in the inner-city waterfronts over the last half-century gave the possibility of re-integrating water-urban interfaces into public life, particularly through waterfront redevelopment processes. The projects and policies developed under the motto of reclaiming waterfront areas and reintegrating them into urban life for public use have been significantly altered over time. Especially recent waterfront regeneration strategies and practices demonstrate the opposite tendencies of the prior examples in the field regarding their profound impact on built environments, urban programs, and open spaces. Consequently, inner-city coasts are again defined by new enclaves that exclude the public realm.

Within this context, this research revolves around the question of how the waterfront redevelopment concept has chronologically shifted and their direct impact on public grounds. Increased influence of the market, changing involvement weights of stakeholders, the underlying rationale for waterfront regeneration, and their reflection on the hinterland’s spatial and programmatic development of the waterfront projects from the emergence of the phenomenon to the current timespan are discussed by addressing back to the main idea of the “reclaiming waterfronts for the public”.

This issue is examined in the case of Genoa, which has undergone different canonical waterfront projects since the late 1980s. It comparatively evaluates the public nature of the transformed spaces, from the Porto Antico regeneration to the ongoing Waterfront di Levante redevelopment, by focusing on the key dimensions of public space- ownership, accessibility, management, and inclusivity. Thus, the research employs digital humanities methodologies to advance spatial mapping strategies for the longitudinal analysis of public spaces emerging from waterfront redevelopment processes and their dynamic interrelations with broader urban hinterlands. The intergenerational shifts in Genoa’s waterfront projects are analyzed within a broader framework to assess their impact on public ground, integration, and exclusion.

Speaker: Necdet Ayik (Politecnico di Milano)

11:30 Spes non confundit. Hope does not disappoint. Transformative potential of Jubilee public spaces in Rome.

Public spaces have always played a central role in shaping urban quality providing a range of socially valuable services. However, in an age of growing social inequalities, environmental challenges and political polarization, the question of how public spaces can foster inclusion, equity and positive change becomes more critical than ever.
Public spaces have the potential to inspire hope by regaining a role to integrate multiple layers and functions.
The paper explores some of the public projects currently underway in Rome for the Jubilee year 2025. The Jubilee of Hope is expected to attract 35 million people over the duration of 2025. The event started in January and goes through December 2025. In Rome History “…the Jubilee has always been an event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church… The faithful…draw from the spiritual treasury of the Church by passing through the Holy Door…. Down the centuries, millions upon millions of pilgrims have journeyed to these sacred places, bearing living witness to the faith professed in every age... Pope Frencis Letter).
Rome is preparing this event with significant interventions aimed at improving the quality of the infrastructures, the visitor facilities and the cultural and the tourist offer. The Jubilee public projects are a wide range of interventions types (600): squares and public spaces, infrastructures, tram tracks, bike lanes. These are just some of hundreds of improvements to Rome that were planned in conjunction with the Jubilee Year: a new pedestrian square and walkway connecting Rome’s historic center to the Vatican. Piazza Pia, the square in front of St. John Lateran archbasilica with ground-level fountains for summer-heat mitigation, the renovations around Rome’s major Termini Train Station, Trevi Fountain. The ambitious undertaking at Piazza Pia in front of the Vatican converted one of the area’s busiest roads to an underpass, allowing pilgrims to walk freely in the space from Castel Sant’Angelo down to St. Peter’s Basilica. The public square at Piazza Pia is now car-free area full of benches, trees, as well as two fountains. Another renewed space close to Vatican City was Ottaviano Street and Risorgimento Square. The street and square, located to the north of the Vatican walls in between St. Peter’s Square and the entrance to the Vatican Museums, are some of the first-place people see after emerging from the subway stop closest to the Vatican. Some of the projects are improvements that will benefit locals such as: a new bicycle path connecting the area south of the Vatican to an existing walkway in Monte Ciocci Park, the pedestrian-and-biking path along the banks of the Tiber River. Some smaller upgrades are the re-pavement of streets, updated street lighting and new buses and trams, a pedestrian bridge and path connecting the station to the Vatican basilica.
The paper explores the potential of these new spaces on assembling and recombining different elements to structure the contemporary fragmented city.
The paper presents preliminary result of an ongoing research project, dealing with recent processes of public space development in Rome’s metropolitan area.

Speaker: Prof. Lucia Nucci (Roma Tre University, Department of Architecture)

11:40 Study on the Vitality of Urban Public Space Based on Crowd Behavior Trajectories — A Case of Three Gorges Plaza in Shapingba District, Chongqing, China

With the rapid progress of urbanization in China, the demand for urban public spaces has grown significantly. However, many public spaces lack the vitality needed to meet the diverse needs of residents. Enhancing public space vitality is crucial for optimizing relationships between people and between people and spaces. Establishing a scientific quantitative assessment framework and indicator system is a key step toward achieving this goal.

Crowd behavior trajectories, as an essential characteristic of public space vitality, serve as a vital link connecting human behavior and spatial elements. By analyzing crowd trajectories, the spatiotemporal distribution of activities can be uncovered, and the underlying spatial environmental factors can be evaluated. The point-line network model constructed from activity trajectories provides an intuitive representation of the physical and dynamic attributes of urban vitality.

This study uses Three Gorges Plaza in Shapingba District, Chongqing, as a typical case. Data on crowd activity trajectories and the spatial conditions of the plaza were collected through field observations and surveys. Key activity nodes and flow relationships were extracted. By integrating GIS technology and Gephi software, and employing spatial morphology analysis and complex network analysis methods, the study constructed a weighted complex network model comprising 123 nodes and 605 directed edges. Through visualization and analysis of the model's spatial vitality distribution, key factors influencing vitality were identified, leading to the development of a quantitative index system for public space vitality. This system spans both overall and localized levels, encompassing three indicator categories—accessibility, cohesion, and contact opportunities—and employs metrics such as graph density, average path length, degree centrality, clustering coefficient, and betweenness centrality to quantify spatial characteristics and activity patterns.

In the empirical analysis of Three Gorges Plaza, the study applied the inverse distance weighting (IDW) method to conduct spatial interpolation analysis of each indicator. The findings reveal the spatial distribution patterns of vitality: nodes with high accessibility are concentrated in central areas and entrances/exits; nodes with strong cohesion are located in functionally diverse public spaces; and nodes with high contact opportunities are concentrated at critical hubs, such as road intersections.

The results show that high-accessibility nodes in Three Gorges Plaza play a pivotal role in connecting surrounding areas; variations in the cohesion index are significantly correlated with the distribution of functional modules; and nodes with high betweenness centrality serve as core hubs for pedestrian flow conversion and aggregation. Based on these insights, the study proposes the following optimization strategies: (1) enhance the utilization of peripheral spaces by adding entrances to shopping malls and improving the quality of street-level businesses, thereby optimizing transitions between internal and external spaces; (2) increase the functional diversity of the plaza to boost usage frequency and stimulate spatial vitality; (3) strengthen traffic management and evacuation capacity in high-vitality areas to improve traffic mobility; and (4) explore the latent potential of the space by adding leisure facilities to balance vitality distribution.

Through the empirical study of Three Gorges Plaza, this research addresses the limitations of traditional spatial assessment methods in terms of quantification and objectivity. It provides new perspectives and methodologies for the quantitative evaluation of public space vitality, offering significant practical applications and reference value.

Speaker: Yunting Li (Tianjin University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (O): Reshaping public spaces

Convener: Dr Nuket Ipek Cetin (Gebze Technical University, Urban and Regional Planning Department)

11:00 Reconstructing the Healing System of Public Space: Data-Driven Multidimensional Health Interventions and Inclusive Practices in High-Density Urban Areas

In the context of high-density urbanization and post-pandemic mental health challenges, walkable urban spaces such as streets, plazas, and street corners are increasingly recognized as essential for physical and mental healing. However, public spaces in high-density urban areas often suffer from standardized design and fragmented functionality, limiting their ability to meet the deeper needs of urban inhabitants, from “natural contact” to “emotional healing.” Taking Xuhui District in Shanghai as a case study, this research explores how public spaces can be transformed into “healing nodes” accessible to all population segments through scientific design. The study employs a four-dimensional framework—nature healing, physical activity, consumer willingness, and cultural perception—along with data-driven methodologies and global experience benchmarking.

The study adopted a data-driven approach structured around the core framework of “street view perception - healing quantification - strategy generation,” integrating multiple data sources and case studies. Utilizing Baidu Street View data, 12 three-dimensional spatial indicators, including green visibility, interface diversity, and enclosure, were extracted via deep learning semantic segmentation technology. The real pedestrian perception scene was reconstructed using a visual threshold simulation model (a 120° human eye view), overcoming the limitations of traditional two-dimensional spatial evaluations. A stratified questionnaire survey covering 300 sample points, representing young, middle-aged, elderly, and sub-healthy individuals, quantified the four dimensions of healing, physical activity, consumer willingness, and cultural perception. To further calibrate the strategies, the study incorporated approximately 5,000 health-related points of interest (POIs) from the Chinese social media platform Rednote, identified the spatial attractiveness of emerging businesses such as flash bazaars and sound healing workshops, and referenced international guidelines, including the “Melbourne Central City Design Guide” and Tokyo's “Station Front” design guidelines.

The findings reveal that the healing efficacy of high-density public spaces depends on multidimensional elements. An inverted U-shaped relationship exists between the degree of business mix and economic healing effect. The interface diversity index was positively correlated with healing value, although its marginal effect diminished after exceeding 0.7. Sky openness between 40% and 60% enhances the natural healing effect, likely because a more open view of the sky contributes to psychological comfort. Regarding demographic differences, Generation Z consumers preferred immersive experiential spaces, with higher demand for scenario-based consumption than other groups. In contrast, older age groups prioritized green coverage and accessibility to open space facilities.

Drawing on quantitative analysis and global best practices (e.g., Melbourne Central City Design Guide and Tokyo Station Square Shared Design), the study proposed a modular public space design toolkit that integrated new consumption functions. By controlling built environment indicators and matching them with nature education/interaction and new consumption nature healing businesses, the study achieved the synergy of ecological and psychological benefits, creating a healing node within high-density urban areas.

The core value of this study lied in constructing a closed-loop framework that integrates data-driven insights, global best practices, and locally tailored strategies, emphasizing the multidimensional health benefits of public spaces. This research innovatively employed a mixed-methods approach to provide a comprehensive assessment of the health and well-being impacts of public spaces in high-density urban areas. By combining extensive quantitative data analysis with qualitative case studies and public surveys, this study offered a holistic understanding of how public spaces can function as healing nodes. Future work will explore the role of community governance models in supporting the long-term operation of public spaces and the dynamic optimization of healing scenarios through virtual reality technology. Public spaces in high-density cities should evolve into incubators of social hope, fostering both physical and mental well-being through innovative design and inclusive practices.

Speakers: Ms Tingjia Xu (同济大学), Ms Han Yang (同济大学), Ms Bingmo Ben (同济大学), Mr Yu Zhang (同济大学)

11:10 Designing Equitable Outdoor Sports Spaces: Mitigating Weight Stigma for Overweight Adolescents —A Case Study of Quyang Park, Shanghai

Introduction
Weight stigma—a societal bias linking body weight to personal failure—spatially excludes overweight adolescents from public sports areas by intensifying fears of social judgment. In Shanghai’s Quyang Park, overcrowded and highly visible exercise zones deter this group from physical activity, worsening health disparities. This study examines how spatial configurations perpetuate exclusion and proposes design interventions to balance visibility and privacy, ensuring equitable access to health-promoting environments.

Approach and Methodology
Guided by Space Syntax theory, the study quantifies two core needs of overweight adolescents:
1. Activity Independence: Freedom from surveillance, measured by integration (spatial accessibility). High integration values (1.15–1.39 vs. park average 0.527) indicate overcrowded zones unsuitable for solitary exercise. 、
2. Psychological Security: Reduced exposure to judgment, assessed through three metrics:
• Visual Integration: Privacy levels via visibility from surroundings (scores 2.31–2.71 correlate with low seclusion).
• Choice: Pedestrian traffic density (e.g., runway choice=3502 highlights congestion).
• Intelligibility: Spatial legibility (R=0.28 reflects poor navigational clarity).
Axial analysis and visibility graph analysis (VGA) were applied to six zones (fitness areas, courts, runways) to identify exclusionary patterns.

Based on this assessment framework, we developed targeted optimization strategie.

Results Analysis
1. Activity Independence: Integration values across all sports zones (1.15–1.39 vs. park average 0.527) were significantly elevated, indicating high accessibility but excessive crowding, leaving overweight adolescents without adequate spaces for independent low-intensity exercise.
2. Psychological Security:
• Privacy: Visual integration scores (2.31–2.71) revealed insufficient spatial seclusion, particularly in high-traffic runway areas.
• Movement Flow: Choice values in fitness zones (626.75) and runway areas (peak at 3502) indicated path congestion, intensifying users' self-consciousness.
• Cognitive Clarity: Low intelligibility (R=0.28) demonstrated poor spatial legibility, causing navigation difficulties and anxiety.
3. Intervention Strategies
• Moderate Density Reduction: Restructured path layouts to lower integration values in fitness areas (from 1.20 to 0.93), creating semi-enclosed independent exercise spaces.
• Activity-Based Flow Segregation: Divided runways into dedicated exercise paths and transit corridors, reducing cross-traffic (runway choice value decreased from 3502 to 2171).
• Enhanced Intelligibility: Implemented landmarks and wayfinding systems to improve spatial cognition (target R>0.5).

Discussion and Conclusion
This study demonstrates that spatial equity for overweight adolescents hinges on rebalancing visibility and seclusion. Lowering integration and choice values created “buffer zones” to mitigate scrutiny, directly countering stigma’s psychological impacts. Improved intelligibility reduced navigation anxiety, fostering independent use.
The findings emphasize that inclusive design must prioritize marginalized groups’ unique needs over generic accessibility standards. While spatial interventions effectively redistributed flows, future work should integrate real-time behavioral tracking and survey data to validate Space Syntax metrics dynamically. For instance, simulating pedestrian movements post-intervention could verify reduced congestion, while user feedback on privacy perceptions would strengthen the correlation between visual integration and psychological security. Such mixed-method approaches would enhance the robustness of spatial equity evaluations.
By translating spatial analysis into actionable design, this framework offers a scalable model for transforming exclusionary public spaces into equitable, health-promoting environments.

Speaker: Ms Xinlan Luo (Tongji University)

11:20 STUMBLING AND GRAFTING: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF PASSAGEWAYS IN PUBLIC SPACE

Public spaces are often conceptualized through notions of accessibility, continuity, and structured use. However, the dynamics of urban life are equally shaped by interruptions, unexpected encounters, and shifts in rhythm. This paper examines passageways as a spatial and social phenomenon that disrupts urban continuity, generating alternative public interactions and micro-transformations in everyday life. Specifically, it focuses on Büyük Beşiktaş Çarşısı (BBÇ). By engaging with Benjamin’s montage principle, the concept of stumbling as a productive rupture, and Buck-Morss’s critique of capitalist urbanism, this study highlights the transformative power of passageways as counter-sites within the city.
Public spaces are not neutral; they are shaped by contestation, negotiation, and power asymmetries (Lefebvre, 1991). Passages have historically functioned as urban generators, serving as both connectors and independent microcosms of urban life. Their permeability and adaptability allow them to host a range of socio-spatial practices, from informal economies to subversive urban movements. However, as Buck-Morss (2010) argues, modern capitalist urbanization increasingly produces self-contained, large-scale urban structures that prioritize efficiency and control, suppressing the unpredictability of public life. While contemporary urban megaprojects tend to reinforce rigid spatial orders and social stratification, the persistence of passages suggests an enduring urban desire for informality, local traditions, and contingent spatial experiences (Smith, 1995; Imai, 2018). This paper investigates the ways in which passageways-situated between street networks and enclosed architectural structures-resist homogenization by fostering unexpected social encounters, collective agency, and alternative urban rhythms.
BBÇ, as a multi-entrance passage with a porous architectural form, provides an ideal case study for understanding how urban thresholds can act as sites of transformation. Unlike enclosed shopping malls or gated spaces, passages such as BBÇ introduce a form of stumbling-a momentary rupture in the expected flow of urban movement. This stumbling effect creates temporal and spatial intervals that can generate new social possibilities. The act of moving through a passageway can similarly challenge dominant spatial logics. Instead of merely facilitating movement, passageways momentarily suspend it, creating gaps in which urban subjects must renegotiate their interactions with the space and with each other.
This montage-like structure of passages also produces a form of grafting, where diverse urban practices intersect and hybrid social configurations emerge. As Imai (2018) notes, such urban thresholds reflect a broader tension between decay and renewal, informality and regulation, collective memory and emerging urban conditions.
Unlike enclosed shopping malls or gated spaces, passages such as BBÇ introduce a form of stumbling-a momentary rupture in the expected flow of urban movement. This stumbling effect creates temporal and spatial intervals that can generate new social possibilities, enabling alternative forms of civic engagement and public agency. As negotiated spaces, passageways exist in a constant state of contestation between formal governance and informal appropriation, state planning and local adaptation, control and resistance. While some passageways remain inclusive urban commons, others face increasing privatization, reducing their accessibility and reinforcing spatial exclusions. Yet, the ability of passageways to foster unscripted encounters, informal economic activities, and collective reappropriations highlights their potential as sites of spatial democracy in the city.
This paper contributes to the discussion on public spaces as agents of transformation by positioning passages as urban voids that foster hope through their capacity for openness, resistance, and reinvention. As Istanbul undergoes rapid urban change, understanding the role of passages in sustaining collective urban agency becomes increasingly critical. Rather than viewing them merely as residual spaces, this study argues for recognizing passageways as productive interruptions in the urban fabric-spatial conditions that enable alternative civic formations and reimagine the possibilities of public life.

Speaker: Mrs Canan Ganiç Dönmez (Istanbul Technical University)

11:30 The Reinvented Streets of an Inner Neighborhood in İstanbul: Transformation of the Commercial Landscape of Bomonti

This study focuses on the layers of the urban transformation in one of the most central and valued areas of Istanbul. Bomonti with its unique history offers a site where the impacts of political economy of the various eras can be read. Influenced by global production and consumption dynamics, as well as central and local land use decisions, Bomonti has undergone a dramatic transformation over time. While in the 1960s the area was recognized as the most dense industrial region in İstanbul (Tümertekin, 1967), today it stands out as a quintessential post-industrial scene with rising business centers, residences, and entertainment. Meanwhile, the garment industry has clustered in its northern part, ensuring the continuity of production dynamics. This study aims to examine this transformation through the lens of the "street". By employing a creative research methodology, the study analyzes the commercial character of the specific streets at different times in the history and reveals the manifestations of economic policies on the ‘pavements’.
In urban studies literature, it is frequently emphasized that the production of urban space for upper classes through plans, policies, and projects has become a central strategy of neoliberal urbanization (Brenner and Theodore, 2005). However, the upscaling of urban spaces is often analyzed through residential areas, with a special focus on luxury housing. Yet, urban transformation is also materialized and experienced on the “sidewalks” of neighborhoods (Patch, 2008). Although streets and their commercial character are crucial both as a reflection and also as a fundamental element of urban life, they are often taken for granted (Zukin et all, 2016). Streets can be said to be both the product and the victim of urbanization (Hartanti and Martokusumo, 2012). Based on this literature gap, the study’s main concern is what streets reveal about the interplay between the macro and micro dynamics when considered as an arena of interplay. For this aim, the main transforming policies of each urbanization era and the character of the streets are analyzed; and put a special focus on today’s streetscape. Through the lense of the commercial landscape of a street, how the political economy of an era is manifested on the streets is revealed.
In the study, the policies and land use decisions of each era is categorized based on the secondary literature and planning documents. To determine the uses of the street and its commercial character historically, mainly the aerial photos and adress directories were used. Bomonti is a neighborhood comprised of different identity zones. The streets were chosen in line with zones. Using 1941 and 1987 city adress books and aerial photographs, it is possible to see the land uses, the industrial and commercial businesses of different historical eras. As for the contemporary transformation, google map street function was used. 2013 and 2023 streetview was utilized based on the type of economic activity. They were analyzed quantitatively.
Bomonti streets are unique in the sense that they reflect the important breakthroughs in the mode of production. As an inner city neighbourhood, streets show the clash between different land uses and economic activities throught the time. Especially the recent transformation of Bomonti as a result of a central decision declaring here a “Tourism District” has a dramatic effect on the character of the neighbourhood, reflected on the streets. Yet the existence of the old and the new; the production and consumption clearly show that the transformation of urban space is a never ending process open to the possibilities.

Speaker: Sinem Seçer Sipahi

11:40 The Role of Land Use Regulations and Property Market Actors in Shaping Socio-Spatial Segregation: Insights from Lima’s High-Value Areas

Since the 2000s, Lima has undergone significant transformations in socio-spatial segregation patterns, driven by neoliberal policies from the 1990s (Fernández-de-Córdova et al., 2021). These policies encouraged the disorderly expansion of the urban periphery and the emergence of mixed-use areas, while high-value districts consolidated patterns of economic exclusivity (Fernández-Maldonado, 2018). Urban planning, particularly through land use regulations, has been shown to exacerbate residential segregation and distort the housing market (Fischel, 2015; Goytia, Heikkila and Pasquini, 2023; Kayden, 2020). However, there is limited research in Latin America directly measuring the impact of these regulations on housing access and real estate market dynamics.

In this region, unlike in developed countries where land use regulations often remain frozen for long periods to consolidate specific socioeconomic strata, these regulations are frequently modified and legally flexed to provide targeted benefits to landowners and developers (Goytia, Heikkila and Pasquini, 2023). In high-value areas such as the districts surrounding Lima's financial center, this flexibility coexists with freezes that perpetuate economic exclusivity (Kayden, 2020). These actions are not guided by a coherent national policy but rather by local regulations and decrees, arbitrarily applied based on specific interests, reflecting a fragmented vision of the city.

Lima is divided into four Normative Treatment Areas (ATN), designed to differentiate urban planning parameters according to socioeconomic and geographic characteristics. ATN III, which includes districts such as Miraflores, San Isidro, and La Molina, illustrates how regulatory restrictions, such as minimum apartment sizes of up to 130 square meters, high parking requirements, and mandatory setbacks, perpetuate economic exclusivity (Fernández-Maldonado, 2018). While normative Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in these areas allows for some densification, its impact is insufficient to counteract the dynamics of the luxury real estate market, characterized by high land prices and demand for exclusive housing (Fischel, 2015). Consequently, these areas exhibit low income diversity, consolidating patterns of socio-economic homogeneity.

In contrast, peripheral areas within ATN I demonstrate higher potential for promoting socio-economic diversity. More flexible land use regulations in these zones permit smaller plots, moderate building heights, and mixed land uses, enabling developments accessible to low- and middle-income families. However, this potential is undermined by inadequate urban infrastructure, including limited public transport and basic services, which constrain the positive impact of increased FAR and exacerbate structural inequalities.

This study analyzes the historical and current impacts of land use regulations, focusing on the relationship between FAR and socio-spatial segregation. Using mixed methods, including a linear regression model and the Entropy Index (global and local), the research identifies the regulatory mechanisms that reinforce exclusivity in high-value areas and the socio-economic diversity observed in peripheral zones. Additionally, the Spatial Error Model (SEM) confirms the moderate spatial autocorrelation of the data, validating the robustness of the findings.

The results underscore that simply increasing FAR does not guarantee a reduction in socio-spatial segregation. Policies aimed at relaxing land use regulations in high-value areas must be complemented by inclusive housing strategies and comprehensive urban planning measures that address underlying structural inequalities. This includes increasing the supply of social housing, improving urban connectivity, and providing equitable access to essential services and infrastructure.

A historical analysis reveals that land use regulations in Lima have historically segmented the real estate market, consolidating zones of social and economic exclusion. These findings highlight the importance of transitioning from fragmented local policies to a coherent urban strategy that promotes equity and integration. Future research should address related challenges, such as informal settlement growth and urban fragmentation, and their implications for housing access, employment opportunities, and transportation costs.

Speaker: Lady Rosa Torrejón Zelaya (University of Seoul)

11:50 Comparative Analysis of Legal Frameworks and Reform in Global Urban Planning Systems: Insights from 'Planning Regulation - Constrained' and 'Development Order - Guided' Models in the Stock Era

Urban planning systems worldwide encompass various hierarchical plans, all incorporating statutory plans and rules for project development control. These statutory plans dictate the content and procedures for land development and construction projects to obtain planning permits. Urban development control systems can be categorized into two modes based on the relationship between statutory plans and development control: " Planning Regulation - Constrained " and "Development Order - Guided". The Planning Regulation Constrained Mode is mainly represented by zoning systems in Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands, while the Development Order - Guided Mode is typified by the UK and Singapore. These traditional models have evolved over time, incorporating features of both types to form more flexible hybrid models. Most countries and regions now exhibit a blend of both systems, such as Hong Kong, where land covenants primarily follow the development rule control model, while statutory plans are mainly planning-oriented, leveraging the strengths of both modes to create a hybrid development control system. In Mainland China, project development decision-making aligns with the Development Order - Guided Mode, adopting an administrative licensing system where planning permits are required for authorization. Meanwhile, the control detailed planning implemented in Mainland China is largely based on zoning-oriented development management systems, exhibiting characteristics of the Planning Regulation - Constrained Mode.
By comparing the system architecture, operational logic, regulatory elements in different countries and regions, and specific project practices of the two typical development control systems, this study aims to uncover the underlying logic of project development and construction control in both modes. Especially in the context of the stock era, with more complex and diverse project development change demands for specific actual projects, this research holds significant value for the reform of planning control systems in the stock era. The study also explores the legal frameworks governing these systems, highlighting the need for a just transition in urban planning and development control, which is essential for addressing the socio-technical and governance challenges of planetary transformation .

Speaker: Ms Han Tao (Tongji University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_18 TOURISM: CULTURE, ART AND ENTERTAINMENT

Conveners: Flavia Giallorenzo (Università degli Studi di Firenze), Nikola Mitrović (University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture)

11:00 Exploring the genuine flavours of Tehran's cafes: a postmodern destination for tourism

Globalisation and multiculturalism have significant impacts on food culture worldwide. International brands and cooking styles, especially in the fast-food industry, are prevalent even in small cities worldwide. With its diverse climate and local cuisine, Iran always has various cooking styles. Food plays a significant role in the local communities, ethnicity, and everyday life. The consideration of the regional and natural ingredients, cooking styles, and even cutlery are parts of this custom. However, the situation is different in major bustling cities like Tehran. In this city, the capital of Iran, fast-food and routine restaurants that serve the same foods are primarily ordinary, and some traditional foods are served as well. Meanwhile, some Western-style restaurants serve the most popular international foods, such as pasta, steaks, Italian pizza, etc. Here, some cafés play a different role as a third place, as Ray Oldenburg, the urban sociologist, introduces a home away from home. While people in a big city lose time on transportation and are busy with work, welcoming cafes open their doors to visitors, catering to the desires of citizens and strangers alike.

This research, which aims to uncover the role of Tehran's contemporary cafés in introducing and expanding Iranian local cuisines as a tourism destination, was conducted using a qualitative approach and ethnography method. The study involved 22 cafés and their users in Tehran city, explicitly focusing on the historical central area. It included observations and semi-structured interviews.

The outcome of the research shows that in recent years, some of these trendy cafes have had insightful impacts on introducing local and traditional Iranian foods and beverages to tourists and new national generations and as a pure remembrance to elders. Some home cafés symbolise the connection between yesterday’s life and modern life, a postmodern destination. These spaces reuse old buildings as cultural spaces and cafes, helping to conserve the city’s historical aspects, both physically and non-physically. The robust economy enhanced the intention of these café businesses as a thriving destination.

These places play a crucial role as a tourist attraction in the historical area of Tehran. The critical point is that not only are the architecture and physical elements attractive to users, but also the food, cutlery, table decor, and all details of the food traditions are celebrated, fostering a sense of cultural appreciation and respect. In the end, the main category derived from the study is authenticity, which illustrates the lost part of the city and the importance of cafés in conserving our past.

Speaker: Dr Maryam Farash Khiabani (PhD. in Urbanism, University of Art, Tehran, Iran)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-Maryam Farash Khiabani.pptx

11:10 Beaches Matter. Mass seaside tourism and the social dimension of shores, what future?

Coastal areas underwent a radical transformation during the twentieth century related to the beach tourism industry. The development of beach tourism in Italy had a significant impact on the gradual transformation of the coastal landscape from elitist to mass tourism between the 1950s and 1960s, leading over time to the recognition of the coast as a major economic driver.
This beach revolution has led to the establishment of tourist and recreational facilities along the coast, changing the dynamic nature of the beach and disrupting the ecological continuity between land and sea. Originally, the beach had a marginal role, mainly used for defence and security, but as beach tourism became established, its function expanded to include economic and recreational uses.
Local governments, to meet the growing demand for beach entrepreneurship, have authoried the construction of brick buildings directly on the beach. This development has led to a linear, discontinuous and sometimes illegal urbanisation, with buildings, hotels and second homes characterised by marked morpho-typological heterogeneity.
In this context, many Italian coastal localities have been transformed into “summer cities,” characterised by a building frenzy that has radically altered the natural landscape, resulting in a continuous urbanisation of coastal areas, with anonymous tourist settlements, the irregular proliferation of hotels and second homes, and the intensive occupation of beaches with often precarious equipment and facilities.
The result is a fragmented coastal landscape of low quality, with houses built on the water. The state property line, which marks the boundary between the maritime domain and the property of third parties, has been eroded in some places, widened by sand accumulations in others, and no longer exists. In some areas, the state property divide has become a mere theoretical line, coinciding with the shoreline. This raises the need to rebuild a public domain, which guarantees access to the coasts for all citizens, also in response to the impacts of climate change, which seem to be getting worse in coastal areas.
This indiscriminate urbanisation has had serious environmental repercussions. The continuous construction of buildings close to the beach has contributed to the degradation of dune landscapes and the loss of natural habitats. Mass tourism has also led to a change in the natural and cultural characteristics of the coasts, which have been transformed into value-extraction assets and merely consumer and economically exploited spaces. At a social level, the intensive occupation of beaches has generated profound inequalities, with the beach becoming an exclusive good, accessible mainly for a fee. The proliferation of beach establishments, which now occupy 43% of Italy's sandy coastline, has reduced the free beach areas, making access to the sea difficult for many citizens. Free beaches have increasingly become marginalised and, in some contexts, relegated to peripheral or inaccessible areas. The situation is particularly critical in some regions, where the occupation of the coast has reached extreme levels. In Campania, as an example, gates and barbed wire have even been installed to prevent public access. This has transformed the beach from a public good into a commodity, reducing its social value and making collective enjoyment difficult.
Today, coastal tourism and the management of beach concessions pose complex challenges, with the Bolkestein Directive offering an opportunity to reverse a trend that has ignored the public nature of the beach. Based on these considerations, the contribution investigates the beach concession as a possible design tool that favours a new management model capable of responding to the demand for free use and guaranteeing the right balance between the different interests at stake to preserve the ecological, social and cultural function of Italian beaches.

Speaker: Dr Klarissa Pica (Università Iuav di Venezia)

11:20 From Company Town to Contemporary Art Capital? Assessing Urban Policies for Tourism Development through Contemporary Art in Turin.

The relationship between culture and tourism has been increasingly pivotal in shaping urban development and academic discussion within tourism literature (Richards, 2018). The ‘Bilbao Effect’ triggered and amplified a segment of this growing debate specifically focusing on art and tourism (Franklin, 2018) and consolidated a ‘ubiquitous narrative among urban decision makers’ (Ponzini, 2010). While the policy transfer process and adapted replication of the model linking art and tourism in post-industrial cities have been widely discussed (Gonzalez, 2011; Giordano and Ong, 2017), the strategic and policy frameworks guiding local implementations remain mostly unclear. The same goes for the long-term impact of policy-stimulated contemporary art initiatives on tourism development beyond the Bilbao case (Franklin, 2016).

The article explores the relationship between contemporary art and tourism within urban development strategies and policies, using the former industrial city of Turin in Italy as a case study. The research examines Turin’s three Strategic Plans (issued in 2000, 2006 and 2015) to address how the Municipality integrated contemporary art into its tourism strategy. It further asks whether Turin developed specific policies to implement this strategy and which actions and programmes have been designed to operationalise it. Finally, the article evaluates these policies’ results through available data, underlining the lack thereof.

The paper employs a mixed-method approach to address the coherence between strategies, policies and results. It relies on qualitative content analysis of strategic plans, policies, reports and financial statements, semi-structured interviews with current and former policymakers and contemporary art professionals, and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources from the study period (1994 to 2023).

Findings highlight that Turin coherently implemented policies in response to strategic goals related to contemporary art and tourism. In this process, the City rejected a prescriptive implementation of policy models related to art tourism, developing and refining its policies in response to local conditions. Rather than building a flagship museum, Turin created and supported contemporary art institutions rooted in its history of artistic production and collecting. In terms of outcomes, these policies contributed to the consolidation and expansion of a rich ‘system’ of public and private contemporary art institutions and initiatives. Though it reached international visibility through its art fair – Artissima –, its development was curbed by internal competition, unstable coordination and decreasing funding from the City. The research crucially underscores Artissima’s organisational priority to attract and retain a small niche of collectors against the City’s broader tourism goals. It further reveals that the Municipality financially supported exhibition programmes and disregarded fostering new artistic productions against recommendations by local contemporary art researchers and practitioners. Finally, the lack or inconsistency of data on weekly tourism flows and contemporary art audiences prevented the City from exercising comprehensive monitoring.

Speakers: Prof. Sara Bonini Baraldi (Università di Torino), Francesco Grasso (Politecnico di Torino), Simone Napolitano (Università di Torino)

11:30 Traveling for Concerts: Fandom Tourism and the Creatively Repurposing of Urban Spaces

“Traveling for concerts” has become a popular tourism trend in China (He & Fu, 2024). Besides attending performances, travellers would explore host cities. More audiences, especially celebrity fans, now travel to other cities for an event. This type of tourism, tied to specific events or media content, is not a new phenomenon. As early as the 1980s, the influence of films and TV dramas on tourism destinations was recognized, making “film tourism" a significant topic in tourism studies (Nakayama, 2021). Later, the impacts of novels (Reijnders, 2011; Belarmino, 2023), anime (Jang, 2020), sports competitions (McManus, 2020), and music festivals (Kinnunen & Honkanen, 2021) on tourism experiences was also acknowledged. To boost tourism, the Japanese government introduced contents tourism (Graburn & Yamamura, 2020), referring to travel inspired by popular culture, alongside similar concepts like events tourism (Getz, 2008).

These concepts are typically defined around specific events or destinations. However, as active participants in affective consumption, fans’ travel behaviours could be far more complex, especially when involving cross-city trips. For example, fans may collaborate with cafés near concert venues to set up (celebrity) concert-themed exhibitions, transforming the cafes into temporary “fandom attractions” which may be more appealing than real attractions. In this process, fans not only utilize urban spaces but also creatively reimagine them. This model is providing new momentum for tourism development and urban regeneration for major cities in the post-urbanization phase.

As China’s fan economy is thriving, the fandom activities are becoming increasingly diverse. While engaging with the cultural functions of cities, fans also contribute to their renewal. This phenomenon is difficult to be explained solely within the frameworks of content tourism or events tourism. Thus, this project conducts exploratory research aimed at providing an overview of fandom tourism. Using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, the study investigates fans' experiences of traveling to another city for events related to their favourite celebrities. Through grounded theory analysis, the study develops a theoretical framework for fandom tourism.

From a behavioural perspective, this study found that fans’ travel plans are primarily centred on celebrity-related events. The timing and location of these events play a key role in shaping their other travel choices. Activities in fandom tourism could be divided into three categories based on their relevance: core, related, and other activities. Firstly, core activities are the events that drive fandom tourism, typically tied to major cultural and sports complexes. Related activities include collective, social, and ritualistic activities, which may overlap. Collective activities, commonly arranged by fan organizations or event hosts, occur in large public spaces near event venues. Social activities are a key part of the fan experience, creating a demand for social spaces. Ritualistic activities involve fans visiting celebrity-related locations and re-enacting the celebrities’ actions at those places. Related activities would interact with urban commercial areas, green spaces, and other public spaces. Fans may not only utilize existing spatial functions but also creatively repurpose these spaces. Other activities mainly involve visiting local attractions or socializing with non-fans. In these cases, urban spaces are utilized in their intended functions. Though fan-related behaviours may still occur, such as taking photos at landmarks with the celebrity’s poster.

In the "post-urbanization" phase, urban development faces transformation and spatial restructuring challenges. As a driver of urban optimization, cultural consumption is one of the central elements of the "beyond growth" framework. This study develops a framework to better understand fandom tourism and its impact on urban spaces. Fandom tourism theory may aid in optimizing public services, revitalizing urban spaces, and supporting the integration of cultural and tourism industries, while exploring modern travel behaviours and sustainable development.

Speaker: Ms Yuxiao Ma (Tongji University)

11:40 Urban space and socioeconomic transitions in cultural tourist cities after the pandemic. Reflections in the framework of transition studies

The paper frames selected spatial questions linked to the ‘pandemic shock by Covid-19’ into the
transition studies and spatial turn literature. Specifically, the research focuses on socioeconomic
conditions related to the tourist sector in Milan, Florence, Rome before and after the Covid-19
crisis, to investigate if and which spatial effects were produced by the pandemic, by a re-
negotiation of the space linked to new policies, and, thus, which new actors took the fore, acquiring
power.
The research focuses on tourism, culture and leisure, which is a wide field to be studied under
dozens of lenses (economic, sociological, geographical, anthropological, political…). Thus, the first
phase of the work was aimed at reducing the scope of these multi-scalar and intertwined domains,
framing tourism as a socioeconomic and spatial ambit characterised by flows of people that
cross places for specific reasons, mainly linked to leisure activities, and by economic actors that
are related to the supply (online platforms, traditional economies, public bodies, associations,
activists). Leisure activities are all those satellite activities that sustain the supply in tourist cities,
while culture is meant as a material cultural heritage that tourists can visit. The governance
related to those is also taken into consideration by the research.
The final aim is to trace the emergence of ‘niches of innovation’, that are provided by firms,
governments, and civil society groups and promote sustainable transitions “as shifts from one stable
socio-technical configuration to a new one by interacting processes at the different “levels” of
landscape, regimes and niches, hence the term MLP (multi-level approach, noa). […The] MLP
approach suffers from a missing or naive conceptualization of space (Cooke, 2010; Hodson e
Marvin, 2010; Smith et al., 2010; Spath e Rohracher, 2010)”. (Coenen e Truffer, 2012: 369).
In order to achieve the research goal related to the tourist sector in cultural cities (Milan, Florence,
Rome), a one-year study on the field led to some statistical evidence and geographical information
to introduce the state of the art before and after the pandemic and some hints from a set of semi-
structured interviews to specific actors in the sector (public, private, institutional, associations).
Indeed, the question of the spatial externalities related to Covid-19 necessarily takes into
consideration the governance sphere at different levels. Are the political institutions aware of and
responsive to the changes linked to the tourist sector (not only the socioeconomic ones but also
the spatial ones) in cultural over touristic cities? The awareness and responsiveness (in terms of
enabling or disabling processes of innovation) of the institutions can improve the preparedness,
social bonding and sustainability of transitions at the local level. Thus, it is crucial to evidence
the ‘niches of innovation’ and the interactions between them and the public sphere.
The paper is part of a wider research funded by the Ministry of Research that investigates not only
the tourist sector, but also the industry, logistics, and higher education in the three case studies
mentioned above.

Speaker: Dr Flavia Giallorenzo (Università degli Studi di Firenze)

11:50 From Global Indicators to Local Solutions: How to Foster Responsible Tourism for Rural Heritage Conservation

The 1970s saw a significant increase in visitors to historical sites, leading to problems in managing these sites and the development of concepts in tourism and urban literature, such as “tourism carrying capacity” (Kuss and Morgan, 1980), “tolerance model” (Doxey, 1975), and “tourist perspective” (Urry, 1990). The pressures of visitor density and resource management inadequacies have created challenges in conserving heritage sites, with debates now centred on “over-tourism”, a continuation of the problems of tourism pressure in cities. In today's world, it has become necessary to view this issue from a broader perspective, analyse indicators in multiple ways, and develop new strategies.
UNESCO's (1976) analysis of tourism's effects highlighted its role as a promotional tool for weak economies, aiming to revitalise regional economies while emphasising the need to preserve existing conditions and create a new economic order (Imon, 2017). Fluctuations in global tourism and increasing scale have complicated the management of heritage sites, hindering the development of sustainable and responsible tourism strategies (Imon, 2017). When studies addressing these issues are evaluated, three key headings emerge: (1) environmental concerns, including climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss due to economic growth; (2) social fractures in the reproduction of identity, locality, and cultural diversity; and (3) a new economic order shaped by globalisation, mobility, innovation, cultural commercialisation, and commodification.
This study seeks to understand the tourism and heritage dilemma, particularly in rural heritage areas, and contribute to the development of responsible tourism strategies. It focuses on sites with rural character and the risk of economic, social, and environmental vulnerability, rather than large-scale, tourism-intensive sites evident in the literature. The primary motivation of the study is the concern about losing authenticity and local identity in these areas, where these dynamics are particularly pronounced.
The selected cases include Cinque Terre in Italy (over-tourism), Honghe Hani Rice Terraces in China (unconscious use and destruction of natural formations), Lamu Island in Kenya (unpreparedness against tourism growth), Lenggong Valley in Malaysia (archaeological site destruction), Wachau Valley in Austria (increasing destruction of natural and cultural landscapes), Bagan in Myanmar (historic temples and uncontrolled tourism), Lake Bled in Slovenia (environmental carrying capacity issues), Giethoorn in the Netherlands (water canals and car-free living affected by tourism), Matka Canyon in North Macedonia (tourism integration challenges), and La Picadora in Spain (local over-reliance on tourism for economic gain). Each case has been analysed in terms of its heritage values, tourism structure, impact indicators of tourism pressure, and policies for responsible tourism. The literature has been grouped into economic, social, and environmental risks and presented in tables, enabling the coding of tourism impact indicators.
The tourism impact indicators derived from these reviews were analysed in Kemaliye, a significant rural heritage site in Turkey, to determine their presence in the area. Kemaliye, included on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List, serves as a study area that has not yet been subjected to intensive tourism impacts, due to its small scale and rural character, yet possesses considerable potential. These global tourism impact indicators provide a framework for Kemaliye to develop appropriate tourism policies addressing economic development, local residents' quality of life, and environmental preservation.
The study's findings contribute to academic research and policy development by offering a comprehensive framework that balances the competing concepts of tourism and heritage conservation. Analysing tourism impacts on small-scale rural heritage sites like Kemaliye before they intensify and developing responsible policies is critical for sustainable site management. Furthermore, the study serves as a reference for future research aimed at reconciling tourism and heritage conservation, two often competing yet essential concepts.

Speaker: Ms Büşra Yalçın (Istanbul Technical University (PhD candidate))

11:00 → 12:30 T_02 PLANNING AND LAW: Property Rights Regimes

Conveners: Daniela Hrabovská (Ústav manažmentu STU), Prof. Rachelle Alterman (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology)

11:00 Land Policies in Europe - Land-use planning, property rights, and spatial development

In many European countries, land-use planning is facing increasing and oftentimes contradictory challenges. The increasing demand for housing is at odds with the policy objective of reducing land take. Densification is often seen as a panacea, yet it entails new implementation challenges, particularly in situations of fragmented property rights. In order to understand how land policy struggles with ever-increasing challenges such as land take, housing shortages, and densification, it is essential to look closely at how land policy is enacted in specific situations, what instruments are used, what actors are involved in the processes, and what the outcomes are.
This contribution shows how in different countries across Europe, land policies are strategically enacted on the local level. It explores the relationship between private landowners and public planning authorities based on 12 specific case studies on land policy in different European countries (AT, BE, CH, CZ, DE, ENG, FI, FR, NL, NO, PL, SE). The cases are a collection of qualitative analysis that introduce how land policy is perceived and pursued in practice in different countries. These stories follow a systematic 5-step approach describing the understanding of land policy, the approach to land, the actors involved, the underlying institutions, and conclude with a reflection of each case within the national context.
The comparative approach provides a structured reflection when facing practical challenges or considering legislative adjustments, empowering them with knowledge and insights. Using the elements land, actors, and institutions to develop a perspective across the cases, we derive a common understanding of land policy and identify how different countries deal with property in land.
The contribution focusses on four main conclusions, which we derive from this comparative research:
• First, the case studies highlight that land policy is often closely related to spatial planning. It differs in two dimensions: (1) Land policy addresses both, allocative and distributive aspects of land property, and (2) it entails a strategic and an operational level of public policy. This allows to differentiate land use policy, land use planning, land tenure policy, and land management from land policy.
• Second, the various cases show how land policies involve a series of intentional decisions or activities led by public actors, sometimes in cooperation with private actors, to address collective issues related to land use and allocation. Therefore, understanding land policies also requires understanding these instruments and how they are strategically combined.
• Third, the comparative insights underscore that differing land policy strategies are rooted in varying interpretations of the role of landowners in land policy. These interpretations are often more decisive than the specific land policy instruments used.
• Forth, the cases reveal a spectrum of how public actors conceptualise the relationship between property rights and land policy. At one end, there is the tendency to overlook landowners as key stakeholders in the planning process – which sometimes leads to almost fatalistic behaviour on the part of planning authorities. At the other end, landowners are seen as partners in the collaborative development of spatial projects.
These conclusions illustrate that land use planning and property rights are well-established in individual countries, but there are also viable alternatives. Exploring approaches abroad reveals a deeper understanding of land-use planning, property rights, and spatial development.

Speaker: Prof. Thomas Hartmann (TU Dortmund University, Germany)

11:10 Anticipatory politicization management: the case of No Net Land Take

It is now widely accepted that EU-policies, particularly environmental, have considerable impact on spatial planning in the member states (Evers and Tennekes, 2016; Fernández-i-Marín et al., 2024; Purkarthofer, 2024). This impact can be felt at in all phases of the policy cycle: it can frame the discussion on planning issues (agenda setting), affect the types of policy interventions considered, speed up or slow down planning processes and influence physical development (Tennekes and Evers, 2024). As EU-policies become entwined with everyday conflicts over land use in practice, they can become politicized long after being adopted. Consider, for example, how media reports on housing developments frustrated by air or water quality standards or endangered species serve to mobilize Eurosceptic sentiments in domestic politics. Or consider how domestic politicization is prompted by litigation in the context of the enforcement of European policy. The decisions (hence jurisprudence) made by the Court of Justice can blur the distinction between policymaking and the judiciary, at least in the court of public opinion. This can have ramifications for the next wave of European policymaking by politicizing an otherwise technical matter (Feindt, Schwindenhammer and Tosun, 2021).

The case of the No Net Land Take (NNLT) objective, contained in the Soil Monitoring Law legislative proposal is illustrative (European Commission, 2023). By striving to halt all greenfield development by 2050, this goal cuts to the heart of planning practice – but has hardly entered the planning debate in the Netherlands, one of the member states that would be most affected (Evers, 2024). A quantitative analysis of the public consultation clearly shows the extent to which NNLT was depoliticized: there was an overwhelming support for binding legislation on soil quality, and of the need for rules on NNLT in particular (Evers, Soromenho and Savini, 2024). Like the Nature Restoration Act before it, it was mainly during the Parliamentary and Council phases that opposing viewpoints became heard and mobilized. This resulted in the production of a multitude of amendment suggestions, some of which are contradictory and most weakening the original proposal. At the time of writing, the jury is still out (i.e. the ‘trialogue’ between the three European institutions is still forthcoming).

A form of politicization, however, was achieved within the Netherlands by means of an ongoing interdepartmental assessment instigated to determine the national standpoint in the European Council. This paper argues the Dutch method could be integrated into the European policymaking process to manage or even reduce the politization of policy after it is too late to change it (Bressanelli, Koop and Reh, 2020; Schimmelfennig, 2020). It reflects on the advantages and disadvantages of escalating an issue politically at a particular moment in the process, and whether there is an ideal moment for this (i.e. early or late politicization). More generally, it contributes to the literature on Territorial Impact Assessment and top-down Europeanization by considering a case study grounded in land-use planning.

Speaker: Mr David Evers (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency)

11:20 Land ownership and cultural landscape patterns A case study of the Upper Horehronie, Slovakia

The paper presents various forms of ownership in Slovakia, their historical context and changes over time. The theoretical part focuses on the forms of land ownership relations in Horehronie, their specifics, uniqueness and use in the past. Results from field research, structured interviews and simple cartographic methods applied to the case study of Horehronie, provides an exploration of these forms of ownership relations and their functioning in the present. Specifically, the research will focus on the Upper Horehronie region. The choice of the Upper Horehronie case study area is based on previous knowledge and also on research that has been carried out in this area. The natural boundaries of Horehronie and the economic isolation of the area have elevated the territory of the Upper Hron into a separate cultural area. With the stabilisation of the settlement structure, the emergence of feudalism and the establishment of land ownership in the 11th century in what was then Hungary (today's Slovakia), a diversified traditional landscape emerged, which was shaped mainly by the influence of ownership relations. The Hungarian law of inheritance, which ensured the inheritance of land among all descendants, formed the basis of a small-scale structured agricultural landscape. These ownership relations have had a significant impact on the way the landscape continues to function, extending into the present day. The basic forms of property law that will be discussed in this article are private ownership and fractional undivided ownership. These forms of private ownership and fractional ownership have had and continue to have significance and relevance to land use today. In addition to private ownership of land farmed individually by individual owners, there were also forms of collective farming in the Horehronie region on land that was indivisibly owned by a collective. The forms of undivided share ownership in Slovakia include land communities: forest communities and pasture communities. Forest and pasture communities were also in existence in the past in the Horehronie region. They laid the historical foundation and the relationship with the landscape. Of these, the forest community form has been preserved. In Slovakia, the current challenge is to make effective use of these forms of ownership relations for the efficient use of land. It is land management that is a key instrument for improving the structure of the landscape in Slovakia. In 2019, the Government of Slovakia approved the Draft Measures for the accelerated implementation of land adjustments, which have no legislative basis. The essence of these measures is to carry out land adjustments, in all cadastral territories in Slovakia, if they have not yet taken place in a given cadastral territory. These land adjustments have the potential, particularly in relation to the efficient use of land, the expansion of a number of landscape features, the increase of biodiversity in the landscape and, last but not least, the promotion of a sustainable cultural landscape. By linking to historic functioning communities, they can also be the basis for large-scale changes in the future in the context of landscapes that can be seen as part of our identity. Theoretical research, field research and structured interviews with interested communities capture a changes over time in the landscape of Horehronie. An assessment of the current state of private and share ownership in Horehronie, contributes significantly to further research and upcoming land reform in Slovakia.

Speaker: Ms Daniela Hrabovská (Ústav manažmentu)

11:30 No net land take? A uniform European policy but varying regulations and property rights

In international comparative terms, the EU has excelled in adopting a set of nature-protection policies and directives. However, these have not been enough to restrain urban and infrastructure development that continues to consume agricultural land and open landscapes. Aware of the urgency caused by climate change, the EU has adopted a set of policies that switches the focus from designating protected areas to restraining the "culprits" – urban areas and commuting zones. EU agencies have also proposed a variety of legal and economic instruments that the different member states are encouraged to adopt and apply.
However, the uniform net-zero policy inevitably meets a variety of existing legal contexts and the realities of property rights. Even though these may seem similar to non-expert eyes, the legal contexts differ in many ways that are likely to impede or support the no net land take policy. Because land-related laws in each jurisdiction are anchored in a complex web of several laws, ongoing regulations, and differing financial and socio-economic contexts, the hoped-for adoption of new instruments is likely to meet more difficulties than expected.
The paper will illustrate the impacts of cross-national differences through one selected topic shared by any planning-law framework: Is there a right to compensation payments or other legal remedies when government bodies seek to roll back previous planning decisions, thereby causing a decline in the value of real property? Are governments legally and financially ready to abolish or divert preexisting development rights? To illustrate the impact that such legal differences can have on the success of the no net land take policy, I will draw on my previous comparative research spanning 14 jurisdictions. The findings showed that no two countries have the same legal response to these questions. The paper will present several cross-national examples where existing laws and property rights can differentially promote or inhibit the implementation of the no net land take policy. These questions point to the need for targeted in-depth comparative research on current and anticipated interaction between differences in laws and regulations across EU countries and how they have already impacted the progress of the no net land take policy, and what are projected expectations.

Speaker: Rachelle Alterman (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology)

11:00 → 12:30 T_03 MOBILITY (A): 15 minute city I

Convener: Simon De Boeck (University of Antwerp)

11:00 The 15-minute city center: A comparative analysis of the cities of Thessaloniki and Hanover.

The concept of the 15-minute city goes back to the urbanist Carlos Moreno and by no means exclusively involves new ways of thinking and planning: A city of short distances with a social and functional mix has existed in urban planning concepts since the 1980s and still exists today (Kurth, 2021, p. 28). Moreno focuses on reducing car traffic and defined the 15-minute city in 2016, in which essential things should be within a maximum distance of 15 minutes on foot or by bicycle in cities (Moreno et al., 2021, p. 100f.). The concept aims to create self-sufficient urban districts with the essential functions of living, working, retail, health, education, and entertainment by decentralizing urban functions and services (Khavarian-Garmsir et al., 2023, p. 10) and thus counter the negative consequences of a city focused on car traffic with urban development that reduces traffic (BBSR, 2020-2024). Among other things, the aim is to create environmentally friendly, efficient transport alternatives to car traffic and improve public transport infrastructure (Büttner et al., 2024, p. 4). As cities are mostly polyrhythmic and polychronic, Moreno's 15-minute city shifts the focus from “urban planning” to “planning urban life” (Abdelfattah et al., 2022, p. 331).
This paper aims to compare the extent to which the 15-minute city concept can contribute to the sustainable urban development of Thessaloniki and Hanover and where the cities currently stand with regard to the shift towards walking and cycling as part of the DAAD university partnership “Centers of the Future - Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development (ZukunftZentren).” Conceived in the past as car-friendly cities, the developments of the two cities now differ significantly from each other and offer different approaches to implementing the 15-minute city concept. As a starting point and connecting element, the article focuses on the aspect of mobility - especially walking and cycling.
A literature analysis (according to Brink, 2013, p. 46ff) is first used to develop the basics of the 15-minute city concept. Participant observations (according to Bachmann, 2009) are carried out in both cities during various research visits, and urban development is systematic, standardized, and recorded. Based on the main topic of mobility, the potentials, and challenges of the two cities of Thessaloniki and Hanover are then compared verbally and argumentatively concerning the development of the 15-minute city concept.
The decentralization of urban functions and mixed uses has already been implemented in both Thessaloniki and Hanover in isolated cases, which shows that such a transformation is possible. For both cities, which have been developed with a strong focus on the car, a development towards a 15-minute city can be particularly challenging (Khavarian-Garmsir et al., 2023, p. 12). Often, pure densification and concentration of functions are not enough; instead, it is advisable to use central locations such as train stations, for example, and to optimize uses and locate services there (Abdelfattah, 2022, p. 331), which, fundamentally contradicts the concept of the 15-minute city. In Thessaloniki, however, such mixed uses help revitalize the city. This could also be an option for the city of Hannover to shape the transition actively.
Although neither Thessaloniki nor Hanover are 15-minute cities, they are both on the road to transformation. The direction they ultimately take depends heavily on political decisions and the resources and framework conditions in the cities.

Speaker: Dr Lena Greinke (Leibniz University Hanover, Institute of Environmental Planning)

11:10 The operationalization and implementation potential of x-minute city policies across the globe: A review of the literature

X-minute city (XMC) policies represent a proximity-based planning approach designed to promote local living and active travel. These policies have gained significant attention in both research and practice, particularly since the mayor of Paris incorporated Carlos Moreno’s 15-minute city framework into her 2020 re-election campaign. In this paper, we review thirty-seven studies that explore the potential of XMCs across the globe. Our analysis focuses on how the XMC concept has been operationalized in research, trends in implementation potential, and equity concerns related to these policies. Authors in our selection recognize the XMC framework as a “culmination” or a “heritage” of long-standing planning theories and practices, often linking it to concepts like Clarence Perry’s Neighborhood Unit, the New Urbanist Movement, Jane Jacobs’ ideas, and policies such as Portland’s 20-minute neighbourhood strategy. To operationalize’ XMCs, researchers frequently develop assessment measures or indexes to evaluate the XMC potential of specific locations. This often involves using secondary data sources, such as local and open-source databases, to identify the location of points of interest. From this data, cumulative or gravity-based accessibility measures are derived aiming to determine the percentage of the population located within x-minutes from specific amenity types or bundles. The choice of amenities defined as basic urban functions varies widely across studies and is highly dependent on data availability. Most studies prioritize destinations related to services, education, healthcare, and entertainment; categories initially proposed by Moreno. However, few studies have examined job accessibility within the XMC framework, often due to data limitations or the perception that work locations are a regional, rather than local, issue. Studies predominantly focus on walking, with relatively few addressing cycling, highlighting the research's strong emphasis on walkability. Furthermore, the literature suggests that especially in regions without a strong cycling culture, local living will be mostly constricted by what is achieved on foot offering a justification for its walkability focus. Studies in Europe and Asia tend to adopt shorter time thresholds compared to those in North America and Oceania. This difference reflects the challenges of implementing such policies in historically sprawled regions, where the inclusion of transit in the analyzed modes often becomes necessary. A recurring finding is that core central areas, especially in Asian and European cities, are more adapted to local living while lower accessibility levels are found in peripherical and low-income areas. Moreover, studies highlight the critical role of zoning laws in shaping accessibility, with mixed-use neighborhoods inducing shorter trips for the average person. Across all contexts, our review of the literature reinforces the need to not approach the XMC as a one-size-fits-all solution. XMC policies should be derived based on an understanding of local travel behavior and preferences, while considering inequalities of access and regional idiosyncrasies, especially in sprawled regions where a combination of local and regional planning approaches is needed to achieve XMC goals.

Speakers: Mr Thiago Carvalho (McGill University), Prof. Ahmed El-Geneidy (McGill University)

11:20 Who lives (in) the 15-min city? Sociodemographic insights into the 15-minute lifestyle in Barcelona.

The 15-minute city concept has gained prominence as a sustainable urban planning framework, advocating for the localization of daily activities by ensuring that essential services and amenities are accessible within a short walk or bike ride from residences. However, this concept raises a critical question: does living in high accessibility conditions inherently lead to proximity-based lifestyles? This study investigates the sociodemographic factors influencing the adoption of such lifestyles in Barcelona, a dense, compact urban environment celebrated for its high accessibility.

Utilizing detailed travel behavior surveys and highly disaggregated spatial datasets, the research examines the relationship between residents’ proximity to 25 key destinations—such as schools, health facilities, and markets—and their actual travel practices for non-commuting purposes. Despite 95% of Barcelona residents living within areas that meet 15-minute city criteria, only 26% consistently engage in localized travel patterns for these trips. This reveals a significant gap between the potential of the built environment and actual behavioral outcomes.

The study identifies several sociodemographic determinants that mediate this gap. Women, older adults, and individuals with lower educational attainment are more likely to adopt a proximity-based lifestyle, whereas younger adults and highly educated individuals display a preference for extended travel patterns. These variations reflect broader societal and cultural dynamics, including preferences for specialized services, diverse amenities, and entrenched mobility habits.

Moreover, the findings challenge a core assumption of the 15-minute city model: that spatial accessibility alone can drive behavioral change. The study highlights the role of cultural norms, social networks, and individual preferences in perpetuating long-distance travel, even in accessibility-rich environments. For effective implementation, complementary policies such as restrictions on car use, incentives for localized services, and targeted educational campaigns are necessary to address behavioral inertia and mobility norms.

By revealing both the barriers to and opportunities for fostering proximity-based lifestyles, this research provides critical insights into the translation of built environment potential into equitable and sustainable urban living. These findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on the practicality and adaptability of the 15-minute city model in diverse urban contexts.

Speaker: Dr Monika Maciejewska (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

11:30 Proximity as a conceptual lens. The growing recognition of proximity planning

The concept of proximity can be a useful framework for interpreting and designing the urban environment. It aids in understanding spatial and social relationships while serving as a design tool to shape those interactions. This paper explores the resurgence of proximity in urban planning, offering insights for policymakers and designers.

The concept of proximity has gained international popularity recently with the '15-minute city' idea as a feasible and flexible solution for human well-being and effective climate action (Manzini, 2022). The recent COVID-19 crisis shed new light on the relevance of the concept which inspired numerous ideas of application. However, proximity is a fundamental concept in geography and urban studies and goes beyond easy access to various urban functions or the measure of distancing. The idea has old roots (Crawford, 2023) and evergreen Jacobs’s and Gehl’s seminal urban theories must be mentioned. Urban designers and planners may not explicitly use the term proximity-propinquity, but the concept is central to their work. In fact, it plays a role in shaping urban dynamics, influencing patterns of social interaction, organization, economic activity, and resource accessibility.

The growing recognition of proximity in urban planning as a key factor in creating livable and resilient cities is evident in some initiatives such as the Global Observatory of Sustainable Proximities, a capacity-building platform launched to support 'proximity' in urban planning supported by the UN (GOSP, 2025). The concept is, in fact, integral to the United Nations' strategies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and is explicitly mentioned in SDG11 and SDG 9.
Despite its relevance and resurgence in practice, research on proximity planning has not kept pace with the increased recognition. The conceptual emphasis on proximity is rare. This contribution aims to foster a deeper understanding of the attention to proximity – more precisely to the group of concepts proximity, propinquity, intensity - in the planning discourse. In fact, the research hypothesis is that spatial proximity imposes itself prominently in new urbanization processes in developing countries and that proximity is back in the urban design-planning discourse in developed countries for the attention given to small dimensions, micro-mobility, polycentrism and compactness, intensification of uses (Cogato Lanza and Girot, 2014).

The study addresses proximity through three lenses: proximity as a social link; as shares spaces; as functional organization (Pellegrini, 2012). The study draws on key texts and different arguments, from Melvin Webber Order in Diversity: Community without Propinquity, 1963, to Barthes’ Seminar Comment vivre ensemble at the Collège de France (1976-’77), to Neil Brenner’s book New Urban Spaces. Urban theory and the scale question, 2019, which explores the relevance of socio-spatial interdependencies and inter-scalar framework. The paper discusses the concept and contributes to a deeper understanding of proximity's role in contemporary urban planning and its implications for sustainable development.

Speaker: Dr Paola Pellegrini (XJTLU - Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University)

11:40 Performance Analysis of 15-Minute City Zones Through Spatial and Machine Learning Techniques

With the significant growth of urban populations, cities are expanding rapidly, making urban sprawl a critical global challenge that necessitates urgent attention in policy agendas. This trend leads to various negative outcomes, such as increased energy consumption from a heightened reliance on automobiles, elevated levels of air and water pollution, and severe traffic congestion that hinders mobility. The environmental affects are also significant, as ecological disruption frequently endangers local ecosystems and biodiversity. Therefore, addressing these interconnected issues is vital for fostering sustainable urban development and enhancing the quality of life for urban residents. In light of these challenges, Professor Carlos Moreno introduced the innovative urban planning concept known as the 15-Minute City in 2016, designed to address these concerns. The 15-Minute City aims to foster sustainable neighborhoods, allowing residents to conveniently access essential services and facilities within a 15-minute walk or other sustainable transportation modes from their homes. This idea is rooted in chrono-urbanism, which argues that the quality of urban life declines as the time and financial resources devoted to transportation increase (Moreno et al., 2016; Moreno et al., 2021). The adoption of this concept is projected to lead to improvements in transportation efficiency, a reduction in pollution generated by automobiles, and a significant transformation of urban environments (Olivari et al., 2023). The 15-Minute City concept, has garnered considerable attention from scholars, and its definition and scope have continued to evolve. Cities in Europe and Asia, which generally feature higher population densities, are more likely to adopt the 15-Minute City model. In contrast, urban areas in the United States and Australia often implement the 20-Minute City concept due to their lower suburban densities (Staricco, 2022). Furthermore, there are various time-based urban models, such as the 1-Minute City in Stockholm, the 5-Minute City in Barcelona, and the 30-Minute City in Sydney (Pinto and Akhavan, 2021). These varied concepts highlight a range of methodologies for characterizing urban environments under Moreno's innovative framework. All share a common objective: to create sustainable and accessible urban spaces based on the principle of hyper-proximity, which asserts that basic necessities should be reachable within a specified travel time from an individual's location (Logan et al., 2022).
This study employs spatial analyses within a GIS framework, incorporating machine learning algorithms to evaluate the effectiveness of potential 15-Minute City zones in a specific district. A machine learning algorithm, such as DBSCAN, is used during the neighborhood selection process to accurately represent building density. Eleven categories are identified to generate performance metrics: education, food, daily essentials, public spaces, small industrial areas, cultural facilities, healthcare services, social infrastructure, community services, commerce and economy, and transportation. The significance of these categories is assessed using the entropy weight method. The study area is organized into grids, which will be tested for their shapes and dimensions to accurately represent land cover/ land use. Additionally, a digital elevation model will be utilized to assess walkability. The performance values for each zone will be evaluated based on established categories, using objective weighting methods to ensure a thorough analysis. These concepts will be applied in the Küçükçekmece district of İstanbul, Türkiye due to the engagement of this district in 15-Minute City projects. By employing robust techniques and high-granularity data from reputable open-access sources, this research will help rank potential neighborhoods for a 15-Minute City within the selected district.

Speaker: Mr Aydın Furkan Terzi (Istanbul Technical University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_03 MOBILITY (B): Transport Policy I

Convener: Ela Babalik (Middle Eastern Technical University)

11:00 Shaping the Future of Mobility Culture: An Expert-Driven Policy Roadmap

Daily mobility patterns vary across regions but share key similarities, shaped by spatial, social, economic, and cultural factors. Mobility can be seen as a “culture” in itself, and in Europe, this culture is currently undergoing significant evolution. The Horizon 2020 project REBALANCE, involving six participants from six European countries until 2022, sought to explore the values and culture of future mobility. The project’s goal was to encourage a paradigm shift in mobility policy, urging greater attention to social values in decision-making and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

REBALANCE initiated discussions about the foundations of current mobility policies. By reflecting on existing frameworks, it brought together a broad network of experts and stakeholders to explore new mobility cultures and policies. The objective was to converge on a sustainable, shared vision and create a roadmap for a new mobility paradigm. What set REBALANCE apart was its focus on engaging high-level interdisciplinary thinkers who have traditionally not been involved in transport research. Philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, geographers, and legal experts played a crucial role in challenging the assumptions underlying conventional mobility paradigms. In addition to this interdisciplinary engagement, the project involved a group of visionaries and 14 transport experts. A key outcome was the creation of a Manifesto for a New Mobility Culture.

The project aimed to significantly influence European public policies on mobility and transport. It examined the evolution of mobility culture, identifying emerging trends through expert insights. These trends were translated into future scenarios, distinguishing between desirable and probable trajectories. Through surveys across European countries and extensive input from experts and thinkers, REBALANCE articulated a vision for the future of mobility. This vision was formalized in a manifesto addressed to European policymakers, calling for integration into future public policies. Supported by a roadmap containing concrete actions, timelines, and policy guidance, the manifesto offered a plan to break free from outdated paradigms. Additionally, it underscored the importance of communication in shaping mobility culture, examined the public interest in mobility issues, and proposed new methods for evaluating mobility projects to better address the necessary changes.

This presentation will focus on the roadmap and guide for future European mobility policies. It will detail the methodology employed to translate the REBALANCE vision into the manifesto and, ultimately, into the roadmap and policy guide. An innovative workshop, inspired by the Delphi method, was conducted to bring together experts, including scientists, associations, and industry representatives, to achieve a high level of consensus at every stage of the process.

Speakers: Dr Maxime Hachette (AVENUES, Université de Technologie de Compiègne), Dr Alain L'Hostis (LVMT, Université Gustave Eiffel)

11:10 Opening closed practices to other ways of seeing: Transport and Urban Planning’s imperative for self-reflection and re-invention

To influence the formation of alternative trajectories for socially and environmentally just futures, transport and urban planners must challenge the status quo. To achieve this, they must actively facilitate a ‘cultural reform’ by bringing in new insights, knowledges, new narratives and new discourses with a commanding presence. However, the currently dominant ontologies, epistemologies, methodologies and tools of these disciplines are inadequate to open up alternative epistemic possibilities and imagine alternative pathways compatible with contemporary imperatives for equity, justice, health and wellbeing.
For transport and urban planners to achieve the cultural transformation required means seeing themselves and their disciplines differently. Rather than separate disciplines, with their individual objects and pre-occupations, they must see themselves as being not only mutually dependent but also part of the same processual entity. To enable this ontological shift entails these disciplines first to critically engage with their modes of being in the world and how they feed desires and outcomes contradictory to an equitable and climate just future.
What keeps sustainable transport and land use planning apart and how can they become genuinely integrated? While ‘integrated transport and land use planning’ is an easy phrase that has been repeated for decades, transformation begins with ‘being’ and to ‘become different’ requires seeing oneself and the world one is implicated in clearly. For instance, to what extent can we observe that meaningful change has occurred in terms of planning and building more equitable, sustainable, healthy urbanisms? Those small niches of celebrated progressive practice (we see you! We know who you are!) appear currently to be overwhelmed by a global regime of planet-destroying urbanism, cynical or perhaps just misguided at best.
In this paper, we advocate for an open-minded approach to counter-hegemonic alternatives. We argue that the framing of transport and urban planning and thus, planners - those with the agency to make change - is within a long-standing devious discursive space that is a powerful contributor constraining our self-reflective capacity and concomitantly, planners’ ability to facilitate the transition.
Acknowledging the principles of social constructionism, which assert that truth and knowledge are created and legitimised within different discourses and narratives, this position paper examines core aspects of the contemporary discursive landscape of transport and urban planning with a focus on Australia.
The settler colonial Australia’s urbanism represents a range of extremes, reflecting its ongoing struggle to address numerous contrasts and contradictions. A defining feature of this urbanism is the very high levels of automobility and the devious discourses that maintain the nation’s cultural and economic dependency upon it.
We explore some key practices shaped by these discourses and, in turn, how these practices help perpetuate their own discursive framing. In recognition of the narratives, values, assumptions and judgements that wield significant power in underpinning the discursive spaces of transport and urban planning, we illustrate how this discursive space coerces the urban and transport planning fields into operating as ‘closed practices’. By so doing, we aim to facilitate a critical discussion and encourage the self-reflection transport and urban planners urgently need to have. We conclude by describing some possible pathways for reorienting the transport and urban planning field toward embracing alternative epistemic perspectives and enabling long-overdue cultural reform.

Speaker: Dr Hulya Gilbert (La Trobe University)

11:20 Suburbia or Dead End Street? Rethinking Mobility in Central Europe

Planetary crises of climate change, environmental degradation, and socio-economic inequalities are being accelerated by urbanisation patterns prioritising economic growth over ecological sustainability and social justice. A prominent example of such a phenomenon in the Czech Republic (and the whole Central Europe region) is suburbanisation, a long-ignored problem attributed to the idea of “free market growth.” Unlike integrated transport and land-use planning in Western Europe, the rapid post-socialist suburban growth in the Czech Republic is marked by spatial fragmentation and car dependency, deepening environmental and social concerns. This has reinforced socio-spatial inequalities, reduced access to essential services, and fostered unsustainable transport reliance. Rethinking suburban mobility strategies is urgently needed as urban areas aim for sustainable, just development models. In response, the Czech planning discourse started discussing accessibility-centred interventions to reduce car dependency and promote equitable mobility. These strategies are based on frameworks of 15-minute city, transit-oriented development (TOD), and low-traffic neighbourhoods. By integrating local amenities and enhancing public transport, planners hope to build resilient communities that reduce car reliance. However, these interventions need strong empirical support tailored to the unique socio-economic and spatial contexts of post-socialist cities. While international studies offer insights, their relevance to the Czech context is limited due to differing urban structures, policies, and economic conditions.

This paper contributes to addressing this gap by applying an advanced structural equation model (SEM) to analyse the relationship between built environment characteristics, socio-economic factors, and travel behaviour in suburban Prague. Specifically, the research examines the impact of local amenity accessibility on car dependency, measured through person miles travelled (PMT). Unlike conventional regression models, SEM captures the complex interdependencies between socioeconomic conditions, urban form, and mobility choices by incorporating latent variables and indirect effects. It offers a deeper understanding of mobility behaviours and their underlying structural relationships. The study includes a comprehensive set of amenities—such as educational facilities, healthcare services, retail, sports infrastructure, and community centres—while utilising geolocated travel diary data to provide detailed insights into individual mobility patterns. Findings are further contextualised through case studies of selected suburban areas around Prague, assessing their implications for Czech planning practice.

The results reveal that socio-economic characteristics play a crucial role in shaping travel behaviour, often outweighing the direct influence of the built environment. Factors such as income levels, household composition, and employment status significantly determine mobility choices, including car dependency. This suggests that accessibility-centred interventions alone may have limited impact unless they are accompanied by policies addressing socio-economic inequalities. In particular, lower-income households often face constrained mobility options despite living in areas with high public transport accessibility. Therefore, strategies aiming to reduce car reliance must consider the broader socio-economic landscape to ensure that planning interventions effectively influence travel behaviour in post-socialist suburban contexts.

Speaker: Mr Jan Bittner (CTU in Prague)

11:30 Planning amidst Planetary Crisis: Rethinking Theory and Practice through Adaptive Transformations in Public Transit

The global crises of climate change, resource scarcity, and public health have profoundly reshaped the operational logic of urban spaces and the spatiotemporal patterns of transportation networks. Urban mobility systems must not only adhere to sustainability goals but also enhance resilience to uncertainty. In China, severe mismatches in the supply and demand of public transportation persist, as conventional planning methods fail to address dynamic demands and complex socio-spatial variables. Meanwhile, the rapid rise of diversified mobility options—such as shared mobility, electric vehicles, and autonomous technologies—has redefined the role of public transit within urban systems. This study reexamines the foundational role of public transportation within an adaptive planning framework, seeking to provide scientific insights to address supply-demand imbalances through theoretical innovation and methodological advancements.

This research addresses three core questions: What are the theoretical shifts required for adaptive planning under global crises? How can the key attributes of adaptive planning be characterized? What role does public transportation play in this framework? By conducting a systematic literature review, the study synthesizes the core concepts and developmental trajectories of adaptive planning, offering a context-specific theoretical definition that bridges Chinese and European planning perspectives.

Focusing on public buses as a case study, the research examines its evolving foundational role amid the proliferation of diversified mobility modes and investigates the structural causes of supply-demand mismatches. It integrates the dynamics of collaboration and competition among multiple transport modes into the planning process, expanding the boundaries of traditional transit planning paradigms. A representative Chinese city is selected for empirical analysis, employing a combination of quantitative models and qualitative methods to assess supply-demand matching and its influencing factors. The study develops a multi-dimensional evaluation system—including metrics for accessibility, equity, and resilience—to systematically assess the operational performance of public buses systems. The results inform the construction of an adaptive planning framework aimed at achieving dynamic supply-demand alignment and offering actionable decision-making support.

The findings reveal that traditional efficiency-driven planning paradigms are insufficient to address increasingly complex urban challenges under planetary crises. Public transportation remains irreplaceable as the backbone of urban mobility, yet it requires collaborative innovations in planning and operation to align with other mobility modes. Adaptive planning must move beyond static optimization, emphasizing dynamic responsiveness and multi-dimensional collaboration to bolster urban resilience against uncertainty. This study proposes a “resilience-oriented adaptive transit planning framework” centered on: (1) multi-level governance mechanisms to foster inter-modal coordination; (2) data-driven dynamic response systems to enhance service flexibility; and (3) equity-focused evaluation systems to ensure the fair distribution of transportation resources.

By embedding the principles of dynamic adjustment into supply-demand matching, this framework enhances system efficiency, user satisfaction, and resilience against both immediate disruptions and long-term trends. Theoretical advancements and empirical findings contribute to the global academic discourse on adaptive planning, offering a unified framework that integrates technological innovation, institutional reforms, and social equity. These insights provide practical solutions for the sustainable development of ground public transit and the systemic optimization of urban mobility.

Adaptive planning plays a significant role in addressing complex urban issues and has become an important direction leading the theoretical transformation of global urban and transportation planning. Future research should explore the transformative impact in the context of digital innovation, climate change, and urban disparities between the Global North and South, extending its relevance beyond transportation to broader urban systems.

Speaker: Mr Yanyun MAO (Urban Mobility Institute, Tongji University)

11:40 The Suburban Transformation: Rethinking Post-Pandemic Urban Futures

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a critical juncture for the fields of urban planning, urban design, and transportation studies. There has been an increase in active modes of travel such as walking and cycling, especially amongst people who previously relied on private vehicles and public transportation (Rice, 2020). A renewed dialogue has begun about what post-pandemic cities should look like. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of human life and affected a variety of disciplines, including urban planning and design. The pandemic is touted as an opportunity to rethink neighborhood design and has raised challenging questions for planners and policymakers about the issues of density and mobility (de Rosa & Mannarini, 2021). There is an urgent need to design cities that accommodate pandemic-control measures while attending to people’s daily needs, including access to outdoor spaces for physical, social, and mental well-being. These requirements for post-pandemic cities have positioned suburbs as a more attractive and viable alternative than compact urban areas. However, the conventional suburban model of low-density, automobile-centric development with fragmented streets cannot maintain high levels of accessibility within neighborhoods. This study offers an alternative, evidence-based suburban design model for post-pandemic cities. Quantitative examinations of case studies in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, along with illustrations of potential redesign options, show how suburbs can be made more accessible to pedestrian traffic.

The study provides a new approach to suburban studies that combines morphological mapping, network analysis, and quantified renewed scenarios for future suburban design. Morphological mapping and network analysis diagnose the accessibility levels in a variety of suburban samples. The redesigned or renewed suburban scenarios are then developed based on the lessons and quantified outcomes learned from the highly accessible suburban samples. This investigation is relevant for urban planning and design scholarship because it contributes to the evolving literature that depicts suburbs as a potent ground for innovation, rather than demonizing them. This approach or process of inquiry can be applied to urban areas worldwide to study the performance of built forms with the aim of retrofitting existing fabrics or redesigning new ones.

Speaker: Khaled Alawadi (Associate Professor)

11:50 Is SUMP a Panacea for Dynamic Cities? Bridging Ambition and Reality: A Case Study of Istanbul

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) have emerged as a key framework for addressing the transportation challenges of urban areas by emphasizing sustainability, inclusivity, and environmental responsibility. Developed within the European Commission’s policy landscape, SUMPs aim to integrate public transport, active modes like walking and cycling, and land-use planning into a cohesive strategy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and promotes equitable access to mobility. Despite their promise, SUMPs face critical challenges when applied to dynamic and rapidly expanding metropolises such as Istanbul, a city characterized by rapid population growth, increasing car ownership, and sprawling urban development (Rupprecht et al., 2019; Werland, 2020).
Istanbul’s SUMP illustrates how a framework designed for stable urban environments struggles to adapt to the complexities of a fast-growing city. While the plan aspires to promote sustainable modes of transport, it inadequately addresses integration with land-use policies and urban design. The fragmented pedestrian and cycling infrastructure highlights a disconnect between planning and implementation, resulting in limited utility for active mobility initiatives. Similarly, the absence of robust measures to curb private car use, such as congestion pricing or low-emission zones, undermines efforts to reduce traffic congestion and environmental impact (Przybylowski, 2018; Spadaro and Pirlone, 2021).
Additionally, Istanbul’s significant investments in rail transit expansion reveal a missed opportunity to integrate new infrastructure into a cohesive multimodal strategy. The lack of alignment between metro, tram, bus, and ferry systems exacerbates inefficiencies, limiting the potential benefits of these critical developments (Yaoundé SUMP Summary, 2019; Kiba-Janiak and Witkowski, 2019). The challenges faced by Istanbul emphasize the need for SUMPs to incorporate real-time data analytics and adaptive planning tools, ensuring that policies evolve with the city’s rapid changes (Wołek, 2014; Rutka et al., 2024).
Central to overcoming these challenges is the need for institutional changes in Istanbul’s administrative structure. The current framework, characterized by fragmented and distributed decision-making across multiple agencies, undermines the effectiveness of transportation planning. A restructured governance model that consolidates decision-making authority under a unified body is essential. This single, centralized institution should be tasked with integrating transportation and land-use planning, ensuring a holistic approach to urban mobility challenges. Without such institutional reforms, the successful implementation of SUMP initiatives will remain elusive, and the potential of these plans will be limited by inefficiencies and conflicting priorities across sectors.
Establishing stronger connections between transportation and land use is another critical institutional shift. Urban mobility cannot be effectively addressed in isolation; it requires close collaboration with urban design and development strategies. A governance framework that formalizes the relationship between these domains can enable more cohesive policies, facilitating the creation of mixed-use developments, transit-oriented projects, and pedestrian-friendly spaces. This alignment would not only enhance the feasibility of sustainable mobility solutions but also contribute to reducing commute times and improving overall quality of life.
This study proposes a reimagined SUMP framework for Istanbul, emphasizing land-use integration and transit-oriented development. Policies such as enhancing public spaces for pedestrians, expanding non-motorized transport networks, and introducing innovative car-use restrictions are essential to fostering a sustainable mobility culture. Moreover, effective stakeholder engagement, including citizens, policymakers, and private entities, is crucial for implementing inclusive and responsive strategies (Lindenaua and Böhler-Baedeker, 2014; Andréi and Papuc, 2021).
Istanbul’s experience offers valuable lessons for cities facing similar challenges, underscoring the necessity of adapting SUMPs to local contexts. By aligning long-term urban development goals with flexible, innovative mobility strategies, and implementing critical institutional changes, SUMPs can transcend their current limitations, providing transformative solutions for the cities of tomorrow. This paper aims to contribute to propose a vision for advancing SUMPs in rapidly changing urban contexts, offering a roadmap for sustainable and inclusive mobility planning.

Speaker: Metin Senbil (Gazi University)

IS SUMP A PANACEA FOR DYNAMİC CİTİES BRIDGING AMBITION AND REALITY A CASE STUDY OF ISTANBUL.pptx

12:00 Assessing the Integration of Spatial and Strategic Plans in Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning: Insights from SUMP İzmir

Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) is a comprehensive, data-driven approach aimed at improving urban transport systems through stakeholder engagement, evidence-based decision-making, and strategic scenario development. In Türkiye, SUMP projects initiated in cities of İzmir, Ankara, Kocaeli, and İstanbul, which not only included new modeling approaches, but also a thorough legislative investigation. İzmir SUMP projects stands out due to its pioneering activity-based modeling approach, and a detailed examination of policy documents and planning instruments to ensure a strong analytical foundation.This study, conducted as a part of the “SUMP İzmir Project”, evaluates the coherence between İzmir’s spatial and strategic plans and its sustainable urban mobility objectives, using the CIVITAS intervention areas as an assessment framework.
The methodology involves a detailed content analysis of the policies, and spatial and strategic plans that form the basis of Izmir's sustainable urban mobility planning. These plans were evaluated for their alignment with 12 CIVITAS intervention areas, including active mobility, public transport, demand management, smart mobility, logistics, and environmental sustainability, as well as İzmir-specific priorities such as coastal planning and port integration. The results are presented in tables and schemes.
The findings reveal significant gaps in İzmir’s spatial planning concerning sustainable urban mobility. The findings from spatial plans can be summarized as:
• The 1/100,000 Environmental Regulation Plan (2014) acknowledges the connection between transport and urban expansion but lacks a structured approach to demand management and spatial planning that supports sustainable mobility.
• The 1/25,000 Metropolitan Environmental Plan (2012) was developed based on the Transportation Master Plan (2009) but fails to incorporate key aspects such as inclusive planning, active mobility, demand management, and urban space management. A limitation of this study is the lack of access to plans at the 1/1000 and 1/5,000 scales.
• Due to the existing planning paradigm, these numerous plans do not cover CIVITAS intervention areas as comprehensively as higher-level plans.
On the other hand, İzmir’s strategic planning efforts show stronger commitments to sustainable mobility. The findings are;
• The IMM Strategic Plan (2020-2024) promotes clean energy vehicles, cycling infrastructure, and public transport integration.
• The İzmir Green City Action Plan (GCAP, 2020) focuses on low-emission transport, sustainable logistics, and energy efficiency, while the İzmir Transportation Master Plan (TMP 2030, 2015) emphasizes rail network expansion and reduced car dependency.
• Supporting action plans such as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan (2018), Parking Action Plan (2019), and Marine Transport Integration Plan (2019) reinforce multimodal transport solutions.
• The İzmir Logistics Plan (LOPI, 2022) and the Sustainable Logistics Plan for the Historic City Center (2030) contribute to freight and last-mile delivery strategies.
Additionally, climate-focused policies, including the İzmir Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan and the Climate Change Resilient Cities Framework (2019), provide long-term sustainability, and climate adaptation measures.

Even with these advancements, numerous challenges continue to exist:
• Many strategic plans function independently, resulting in fragmented implementation.
• Furthermore, there is a disconnect between national regulations promoting sustainable mobility and local implementation efforts.
• Public engagement mechanisms need further enhancement to better balance citizen participation with varying mobility needs.

In conclusion, İzmir’s urban mobility framework reflects a strong policy commitment to sustainability; however, spatial planning remains misaligned with strategic transport objectives.
The study concludes with recommendations that may also contribute to the development of the SUMP methodology:

• Enhanced policy coordination is needed to align spatial planning with transport strategies effectively.
• Existing land-use and spatial plans at lower levels, along with population projections, are necessary to accurately capture current and future socio-demographic and spatial dynamics.
• The adoption of decision-support systems should be prioritized to inform policy and planning.

Speaker: Dr Sıla ÖZKAVAF ŞENALP (Parabol Yazılım)

11:00 → 12:30 T_04 GOVERNANCE (A): Learning and agency

Convener: Mustafa Kemal Bayırbağ (Middle East Technical University)

11:00 Rethinking Policy Learning in Urban Policy Mobility

The question of how policy learning affects the localization of globally circulating policies has been central to our understanding of urban policy mobility. Within the policy mobilities literature, scholars from various disciplines, ranging from anthropology to geography and sociology to urban planning, have captured the interconnected urban processes and outcomes of global policy circulation, wherein policy actors learn and move policy ideas from place to place through global networks of policy communities.

Yet, this understanding of policy learning in urban policy mobility only limitedly describes the policymaking behaviors and learning activities of policy elites that primarily occur in the earliest moments of its overall experience. In practice, their localization in the actual policymaking context will feature more complex adaptive dynamics and interactions, in which various learned lessons and their (uneven) deliberation flow constantly between its constitutive stages. It entails multiple forms of knowledge exchange between a diverse range of policy actors from different governance levels with varying capacities to influence specific components of the whole policy cycle. Together, they will have a special consequence for the localized process and outcome of urban policy mobility.

In these reflections, this article explores diverse patterns of policy learning and their implications for policy outcome as an international ‘best practice’ not only travels to and arrives in a city, but also lives through multiple interrelated stages of its life cycle. The purpose is to highlight how multiple types of learned lessons, drawn from diverse sources of knowledge, become (differently) enmeshed, streamlined and articulated into the local formulation and implementation of a traveling policy practice, extending beyond the initial encounters of policy elites with its simplified narrative of success. It argues that the way in which the specific capacities of policy actors intersect with prevailing contextual circumstances at the local level will have a significant influence on the translation of learned lessons into concrete substances for policy outcome.

The case of participatory budgeting for climate change adaptation (Wiener Klimateam) from Vienna, Austria, adds an empirical dimension to this theoretical approach. The empirical findings presented zoom the relationship between policy learning and policy outcome in Wiener Klimateam into five separate – yet interrelated – stages of its overall budgeting cycle (issue-framing; instrument selection; participatory process; output implementation; and evaluation) vis-à-vis the actors, sources, types and effects of policy learning. By doing so, the discussion of these findings connects the recent theoretical advances in the literature on policy learning within the broader policy sciences with the remaining issues and gaps in extant research on urban policy mobility.

Speaker: Dr Byeongsun Ahn (University of Vienna)

11:10 Transnational Knowledge Flow: Evidence from Chinese Planning Scholars’ Involvement in International Conferences

The transnational flow of planning knowledge has gradually become a research hotspot since the late 20th century against the trends of the globalization of planning and EU integration. Various interdisciplinary terms have been used to describe this phenomenon, such as "cross-national learning" and "policy mobilization" in politics study, and "knowledge flow" in management study. Some findings focus on the actors and their activities involved in the transnational knowledge flow. It is specifically highlighted that planning scholars, as the main actors and most direct participants, often disseminate their planning knowledge through academic activities like conferences, lectures, exhibitions, and competitions.
There has been an increase in terms of the number of scholars and the degree of involvement in international academic activities among Chinese planning scholars since China proposed the "Belt and Road" initiative in 2013. Attending international conferences is one of the key academic activities that effectively promotes the transnational planning knowledge flow. Against this backdrop, our research examines Chinese planning scholars' involvement in international conferences, aiming at exploring the content and influential factors of transnational knowledge flow. Employing data crawling and natural language processing techniques, we collect and analyze two types of data. 1) A mandatory requirement was released by the Chinese Ministry of Education at the end of 2015, entitled "Information Disclosure on Temporary Official Overseas Trips", which stipulated that an official announcement should be released online on each international academic activity made by Chinese scholars. In terms of this requirement, we search the websites of universities with urban planning programs to gather data on scholars’ attendance in international conferences. 2) We search for keywords in the Web of Science, specifically the Conference Proceedings Citation Index, to collect international conference papers published by Chinese planning scholars between 2016 and 2024.
Based on the data above, our research explores the content of knowledge dissemination, its regional distribution trends, and the influential factors during scholars' involvement in conferences. The data analysis shows that Chinese scholars disseminate planning knowledge on many topics or issues, including natural resource management, rural governance, regional development planning, digital city construction, and cultural heritage preservation, among others. Furthermore, the transnational knowledge flow has clear regional characteristics: neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region are the primary areas for knowledge dissemination, followed by the United States and Northwestern Europe as the secondary regions. In addition, factors such as planning formulation, changes in national development strategies, shifts in academic trends, and economic changes have all impacted the transnational knowledge flow. Our research also reveals that although there has been some progress in the transnational flow of Chinese planning knowledge, it still faces numerous challenges, including cultural differences, language barriers, and policy differences between different countries. The findings offer useful insights for European scholars studying planning policies and practices related to European knowledge spillover and EU integration.

Speaker: Ms Ronglu Yang (Zhejiang University)

11:20 Cross-Scale Transactions and Multi-Level Governance on Spatial Gains of Commons: A Comparative Study from Türkiye

Crises and conflicts at different spatial scales have some planetary consequences. Interventions on commons spaces (state or private sector) have increased with the acceleration of privatization policies in 2008, and debates on the commons theory have re-entered the agenda. The struggles on the commons offer a new perspective of space and a new ontology of politicization in the creation of this new path as an alternative. Constructing alternative multi-scale governance models can be a solution for spatial conflicts and crises emerging from planetary urbanisation (Brenner and Schmid, 2014). Therefore the most important pathway to create innovative solutions for spatial crisis is representing roles of different actors at different scales on the processes of spatial and political gains achieved through social movements. This study examines the multilevel governance and (upward and downward) scaling of on the commons (urban, systems and natural) by comparing different cases from Türkiye after 2008 crisis and afterward. Therefore, firstly a media search was carried out between 2008 and 2023 in digital newspaper archives. Different perspectives (liberal, right-wing, left-wing) were included in scanning newspapers and keywords such as "protest, struggle, urban movement and environmental action" and synonyms like "resistance, action, activism" were searched for defining our cases. As a consequence, the scans have led to several successful and influential movements that have shaped public sentiment. These include: Validebağ Grove; Kazdağları; Çeşme Tourism Project; Gerze Thermal Power Plant; Düzce Hope Houses Cooperative; Alpu Coal Thermal Power Plant; and BÜKOOP Consumer Cooperative's Cooperative Movement for the spatiality of food. In total, 125 in-depth interviews were conducted with locals, experts (planners, lawyers, academics, architects, doctors, engineers), NGOs (local, national, regional, global) and local governments involved in and supporting these movements between 24 April and 28 May 2024. The data were analysed by using an interpretive approach.
Findings on our cases have shown that the movements are firstly initiated by local level actors, then by national actors supporting throughout the spatial gain process. At the local scale, local people, local NGOs, and local governments (such as provincial-district municipalities and village-neighborhood heads) are typically considered the primary drivers of social struggle. At the national level, the support of professional chambers and national NGOs are particularly prevalent. An exception, the social movement in Kazdağları emerged from a regional actor's opposition to long-standing mining activities in the region, underscoring a distinctive down-ward scaling with local NGO’s and up-ward scaling with Global NGO’s as a case for multi-level scaling. In instances where local government support was found to be robust, such as in Gerze and Alpu, success was attained more expeditiously. While up-ward scaling was observed in these areas, gains were also made, and the presence of global actors during and post-gains underscores the interplay between up-ward and down-ward scaling across multiple levels. The achievements in the cases of Validebağ, BÜKOOP, Düzce, and Çeşme show a more bottom-up scaling. Considering the views of the actors in these spaces where gains have been made, it has been determined that the interaction between different levels of scales is much higher today, and therefore shows a need for multi-level forms of governance. The main success factor of these movements, which created a new alternative to planetary urbanization processes, is that they reclaimed and shared space through cross-scale interactions and multi-level governance.

Speakers: Ms Gülşah Tırış, Prof. Hilal ERKUŞ

11:30 Collaborative governance through the Mediterranean: Framing a Community of Practice for Wetland Contracts

Wetlands are vital ecosystems, supporting 40% of global biodiversity while providing essential services such as flood regulation, carbon storage, and water purification. Despite their significance, wetlands rank among the most endangered habitats worldwide. Over the past 50 years, more than 35% have been lost due to urbanization, agricultural intensification, and pollution. In Europe, nearly half of all wetlands have disappeared since the 20th century, with the Mediterranean region facing particularly acute threats. These challenges are exacerbated by the intensification of agriculture and inadequate water management, intertwining ecological and governance concerns that demand innovative and collaborative solutions.
Wetland Contracts have emerged as effective tools for governing wetland areas. Although they are formally recognized only in France, Belgium, and Italy, Wetland Contracts provide a structured yet flexible framework for stakeholders, including landowners, local governments, and private organizations, to negotiate shared goals for wetland preservation and sustainable use. They exemplify bottom-up governance by aligning biodiversity conservation with sustainable practices such as eco-tourism and agriculture.
The WE GO COOP project adopts a dual-level approach to strengthen and expand the use of Wetland Contracts. This strategy combines upscaling the tool through the creation of a Community of Practice (CoP) at the Mediterranean level and downscaling it to new contexts, including Croatia, Portugal, Albania, and regions in the South and Middle East Mediterranean. Simultaneously, the project aims to reinforce the tool in countries where it has already been tested, such as Italy, Greece, and Spain. This transnational cooperation allows WE GO COOP to address wetland challenges at scale while ensuring the adaptability of its governance models to diverse local contexts.
At the core of the project’s upscaling efforts is the establishment of a Community of Practice (CoP), a transnational network of policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and local communities. The CoP fosters dialogue, knowledge exchange, and the dissemination of best practices, supporting the development and implementation of participatory governance tools like Wetland Contracts. It represents a collaborative space where stakeholders can bridge gaps between scientific research, policy frameworks, and community action, facilitating multi-level and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
One of the project’s milestones was the first thematic seminar, “Framing the Community of Practice,” held in Rome. This event provided a platform for stakeholders to discuss shared challenges, define governance objectives, and explore strategies for enhancing wetland management. The seminar highlighted the critical need for tools that enable collaboration across sectors and levels of governance, while integrating diverse perspectives into decision-making processes.
A key deliverable of the project is the development of a virtual collaborative platform designed to support the CoP’s activities. The platform serves as a centralized repository of information and resources on signed Wetland Contracts at the Mediterranean level, together with relevant guidelines and handbooks. It facilitates continuous interaction, capacity-building, and the sharing of knowledge among CoP members, regardless of their geographical location. By integrating these resources into an accessible digital space, the platform enhances the effectiveness, scalability, and transferability of collaborative governance practices.
This work presents the first results of the project and illustrates how the virtual platform functions as a pivotal tool for advancing wetland governance. By enabling the CoP to access, share, and co-create knowledge, the platform plays a central role in addressing the ecological and socio-economic challenges faced by wetlands in the Mediterranean and beyond.

Speaker: Dr Romina D'Ascanio (Departmet of Architecture, Roma Tre University)

11:40 Ways of learning in urban governance experiments: Insights from the Vienna Climate Team "Wiener Klimateam"

In the face of pressing social and environmental challenges, experimental interventions – such as real-world laboratories, urban living labs, niche experiments and demonstration projects – are increasingly being recognised as important drivers of transformative urban change. In particular, experiments with co-creative governance are expected to trigger learning processes that challenge inflexible administrative structures by promoting adaptable and solution-oriented strategies.
Although learning is considered a central component of these urban experiments, it is rarely explicitly and systematically investigated in the scientific literature. There is a large discrepancy between studies that focus on urban experiments and those that explicitly address the learning processes in these experiments.
Addressing this research gap, the paper uses the example of the Vienna Climate Team (Wiener Klimateam) – an innovative governance experiment for the co-productive development of climate-relevant projects – to examine how the process design and project structure of an experimental process influence different forms of learning at different levels. The Vienna Climate Team is characterised by the active involvement of different actors, from municipal departments and districts to political decision-makers and citizens and has explicitly placed the promotion of learning processes at the centre.
Methodologically, the research is based on a qualitative case study that includes document analysis, participant observation and focus interviews with institutional actors involved in the experiment. To capture the multi-layered learning processes in the context of urban governance experiments, the study draws on theoretical concepts of social learning, transformative learning, organisational learning and process learning.
The results show that learning processes manifest themselves differently depending on the design of the experimental arrangements in various phases of the process. The study highlights various learning arenas that were created by the specific structure of the Vienna Climate Team and analyses their influence on individual and collective learning processes. The analysis identifies three central learning strands: learning collaborative decision-making, transdisciplinary co-productive collaboration and communication, and internal administrative learning processes and institutional change.
Based on the insights gained, concrete tactics for the effective design and implementation of co-creative governance experiments are derived. The proposed analysis will not only advance the theoretical discussion of learning in experimental governance approaches, but also provide practical insights for the design of urban transformation processes. It emphasises the importance of consciously and systematically integrating learning processes into the design and implementation of urban governance experiments and contributes to the further development of the theoretical discussion on learning in experimental governance approaches.

Speaker: Ms Anna Caroline Aigner (TU Wien)

11:50 What’s the planner’s role in policy making for sustainability? Using Q methodology to explore how public planners perceive their scope of action

In the context of planning, sustainable development is a ubiquitous yet vague goal which can be pursued through a broad range of policies and policy mixes (Griggs et al., 2017; Gunder & Hillier, 2009). Neither of these policies are unavoidable or self-evident. Rather, they represent conscious or unconscious choices, determined by different knowledges, path dependencies, institutional frameworks and the actions and interactions of individuals. Consequently, they are the outcome of the dialectic between agency and structure (Giddens, 1984).
This contribution aims to explore what role individual public planners play in the creation of policies geared at sustainable development – or more precisely how they perceive their influence. The literature suggests that there are different ideal types of actors: the “doers”, who strive for pragmatic solutions; the “entrepreneurs” who use creativity and networking skills to tap existing potentials; the “bureaucrats” who aim for inclusion, dialogue, and improvement of rules within an established system; and the “neutrals” who focus on their technical expertise or their own careers (Purkarthofer and Stead, 2023).
These theoretical actor types will be contrasted with the data obtained through an online Q questionnaire in which public planners are asked to sort statements about their work practices and perceived influence. Q methodology is able to elicit, evaluate and compare subjective viewpoints (Robbins and Krueger, 2000) and is therefore suitable to delineate a nuanced picture of planners’ self-assessment regarding their role in the policy making process. The study invites public sector planners from four countries (Austria, Finland, Italy, United Kingdom) to participate.
Investigating the leeway of planners contributes to shed light on the question where policies aimed at sustainable urban development become concrete and how agency plays a decisive role in defining actions in a specific context. Such a view enables us to move beyond blanket statements such as “agency matters” / “structure matters” and towards an empirically informed view of how planners perceive their role and agency in policy making. A better understanding of planners’ scope of action can reveal new perspectives on sustainability leadership (Purkarthofer, Halko and Mäntysalo, 2024), the tensions between technocratic modes of governance and the complexities of places (Raco and Savini, 2019) and help to reflect on the (changing) role of the planner (Fox-Rogers and Murphy, 2016).

Speaker: Eva Purkarthofer (Aalto University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (A): Role of Urban Planning in Climate Action

Convener: Osman Balaban (Middle East Technical University)

11:00 Geographies of Carbon Trading: Spatial Planning Approaches for Equitable Offset Projects

Carbon trading markets aim to balance greenhouse gas emissions of the countries by channeling climate finance from developed countries to developing ones by helping them mitigate climate change impacts and promote sustainable development. Carbon offsetting was introduced by the Kyoto Protocol, later expanded through market forces and United Nations’ initiatives in a multi-layered structure spanning from supranational to local levels. However, the complex, multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder nature of the mechanism poses challenges in the operationalisation processes that have been widely criticised for failing to address local needs and exacerbating environmental and social inequalities.

This research explores the ways spatial planning can enhance the operationalisation of carbon markets through policy design, community engagement, and land use management for delivering justice to the local communities with a lens to Uganda. Over the last 20 years, Uganda has become a hotspot for carbon offset projects due to its favorable bureaucratic processes influenced by its colonial legacy, and its conducive natural environment. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the carbon trading mechanisms’ operationalisation, this study employs two different methodologies: firstly, the policy frameworks on environment and land use management are examined to understand the integration of carbon market projects, along with community engagement. Second, it uses desk research and interviews to analyze two contrasting case studies: the top-down Kachung Forest Project (KFP) of the Kyoto Protocol and the participatory Trees for Global Benefits (TGB) project of the voluntary carbon market. The KFP stands as an example of centralized governance in project management through top-down approaches that come from the supranational level and demonstrates its adverse impacts including displacement, lack of community involvement, and environmental degradation. On the other hand, the TGB illustrates the potential of grassroots activities and community-centred approaches to realise effective and efficient carbon offset projects, even though there are still some challenges to reaching long-term sustainability objectives. The findings of this research show that well-designed policies, inclusive management and equitable resource distribution are essential for the carbon offset projects’ success through the experiences of Uganda.

Taken the lessons from the Uganda experiences, this research aims to identify the pathways to address environmental and social inequalities occurs in the carbon trading projects by integrating spatial planning tools and emphasising participatory governance to enhance the equity and effectiveness of carbon offset initiatives to enhance justice on the global level.

Speaker: Cemre Betul Ay (Student)

11:10 Simulsoil: Sustainability-Oriented Soil Planning and Management in Turin’s Metropolitan Area

Mountain areas represent a key domain where scientific literature recognizes emerging cultural and settlement trends that attribute centrality to mountains as privileged sites for experimenting with alternative lifestyles, in contrast to those commonly characterizing lowland urban contexts (Dematteis, 2020). Moreover, at the European level, mountains have been acknowledged for their economic, environmental, energy, and cultural significance, serving as water reservoirs, sources of renewable energy, major tourism hubs, and repositories of biodiversity. At the same time, their vulnerabilities linked to climate change and its cascading effects on broader territorial contexts have also been highlighted.
These dynamics threaten the proper exchange of flows and services, including Ecosystem Services (ES), originating in mountain areas and providing substantial benefits to lowland territories. Numerous studies and research initiatives have applied the ES paradigm to spatially represent ecological and environmental characteristics, supporting territorial governance processes and addressing contemporary challenges related to climate change. This raises the critical question of the appropriate scale at which ES should be assessed: ecosystem performance depends on spatial configurations that identify both service-providing and beneficiary areas (Corrado et al., 2019).
The paper examines the case of the Metropolitan City of Turin (CmTo) in the Piedmont Region (Italy), where mountain areas account for 53% of the territory and host 23% of its 312 municipalities. This context is part of an Alpine metro-mountain system, where economic, social, and cultural dynamics are shaped by mountain-lowland interactions (Dematteis, 2018).
Building on these premises, the study presents the results of an ES analysis in the CmTo area, aiming to assess the relationships and flows between mountain and lowland areas and highlight the role of high-altitude territories in the broader metropolitan system of reciprocal interactions.
This application is based on the latest scientific knowledge regarding soil ecological functions, drawing on findings from the EU Life SAM4CP Project (2014–2018) (1). The project, developed by CmTo in collaboration with DIST-Politecnico di Torino, ISPRA, CREA, and CSI Piemonte (Giaimo & Barbieri, 2018; Giaimo, Barbieri & Salata, 2019), received formal recognition from the European Commission for its results, particularly for the use of the open-source plugin Simulsoil.
Currently under revision (2), Simulsoil is being updated to better support metropolitan land-use planning and soil consumption monitoring. This study leverages soil analysis methodologies using the Habitat Quality and Carbon Storage and Sequestration statistical models embedded in Simulsoil.
The findings underscore the crucial role of ES analysis as an integrated tool for supporting spatial planning processes at the territorial and municipal level.

Notes
(1) Co-financed by the European Commission – DG Environment under the LIFE+ 2007–2013 program.
(2) In May 2024, DIST-Politecnico di Torino (lead: C. Giaimo) was awarded a contract for the "In-depth study and update of the evaluation methods for key Ecosystem Services calculated by the SimulSoil software application, developed within the EU LIFE SAM4CP project, and acquisition of contextual data necessary for the biophysical and economic assessment of the considered Services."

Speakers: Prof. Carolina GIAIMO (Politecnico di Torino, DIST - Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning), Dr Andrea Nino (Politecnico di Torino, DIST - Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning)

11:20 The Relationship between Climate Action Plans and Spatial Planning: The Case of Gaziantep City Center

Climate change and urban planning exhibit a strong interplay. Achieving sustainability goals critically depends on the integration of climate action plans developed at both national and local scales into spatial plans. Having become a party to the Kyoto Protocol (2009) and the Paris Agreement (2021), Türkiye has maintained its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, in line with these commitments, developed national-level strategies and action plans. At the local level, 18 metropolitan municipalities have prepared their own climate action plans, thus taking an active role in combating the climate crisis.
This study examines how national-level climate action plans are reflected locally and assesses the degree of integration between local climate action plans and spatial plans, focusing on the case of Gaziantep. Gaziantep prepared its first Climate Change Action Plan in 2011, updated it in 2016, and, having signed the Covenant of Mayors in 2017, established its Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) in 2018. Subsequently, in 2021, the city joined the Green Cities Program and published the “Green City Action Plan” in the same year, articulating a vision for sustainable and resilient urban development.
An evaluation of the local plans prepared after 2011 in Gaziantep’s urban center (the districts of Şehitkamil and Şahinbey) indicates that the integration of climate action plans into spatial plans has remained limited. For instance, despite the development of renewable energy projects under SECAP, direct alignment with spatial plans has not been achieved. Moreover, the Green City Action Plan particularly underscores the lack of a long-term and holistic approach within the “Land Use” sector. This underscores the need to update local land-use plans (Master Development Plans and Implementation Development Plans) in harmony with the climate action plans.
The Green City Action Plan is divided into sectors under the headings of “water, energy, solid waste, transportation, land use, buildings, industry, and climate action.” Within the water sector, under the sub-action of “developing an integrated plan for water resources management,” projects and actions focusing on rainwater management and water reclamation are proposed to combat drought risk. In the transportation sector, the sub-action of “continuing the expansion of the rail system network,” as well as the “ecological village” sub-action under the climate action sector, both have clear links to local land-use plans (Master and Implementation Plans). In the industrial sector, the sub-action of “establishing an industrial zone for renewable energy production” includes the objective of preparing the necessary zoning and parceling plans. However, research findings indicate that these sector-specific sub-goals are not sufficiently integrated into spatial planning processes.
In conclusion, in the Gaziantep case, the relationship between local-scale climate action plans and spatial plans is not at a satisfactory level in terms of enhancing resilience to climate change and achieving sustainable urban development. It is critically important for the strategies identified in climate action plans to be concretely reflected in spatial plans of varying scales and degrees of detail in order to ensure that the urban environment becomes both sustainable and climate-resilient.

Speakers: Emine Zorkirişçi, Dr Yasin Bektaş (Advisor)

11:30 Transforming a consolidated City into a resilient City: Lessons from Lisbon's recent strategies

Over the past decades, cities have faced increasing environmental, social, and economic challenges, which are complex to resolve not only due to its complexity but also because of the intricate chain of causes and consequences among phenomena (Hardoy and Ruete, 2013). Additionally, the adaptation of densely populated urban areas with consolidated urban fabric poses significant constraints for any strategy involving structural changes (Marchigiani & Bonfantini, 2022). Nevertheless, some cities have sought to adapt to the challenges of climate change while promoting the quality of life of the population from an inclusive perspective, particularly for the most vulnerable communities, through a combination of intervention strategies in the city, in domains as urban mobility, green spaces, access to goods and services, etc.; and especially revaluing the local/neighborhood level.
Triggered by the AccessCity4All Project - Adapting the 15-Minute City concept to support active mobility in neighborhoods with different levels of accessibility, this paper aims to understand how a consolidated and dense city, like Lisbon (Portugal), developed an urban policy framework towards a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive city. This qualitative analysis examines recent urban planning strategies in Lisbon that promote a new city model, identifying their objectives, specific actions, goals, geographical areas of intervention, and types of interventions. According to the execution level, key findings demonstrating substantial city improvements will be identified whenever possible.
Lisbon is a paradigmatic case in the European context as a city that, in recent years, has transformed to combat growing challenges. Awarded as the European Green Capital in 2020 for its strong intervention in the area of environment and sustainability (including water management and energy efficiency, sustainable urban mobility and green areas). Beyond the environmental component, the local scale is being revalued by applying the concept of the 15-minute city, proposed by Moreno in 2016, that aims to create urban spaces where daily needs are accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike ride (Moreno, 2020; Moreno et al., 2021), continuing programs that were previously in development, such as "One Square in Each Neighbourhood", implemented to reinforce micro-centralities and upgrade public spaces for community interaction. After the emergence of Moreno's concept, one program - "There’s Life in My Neighbourhood", was explicitly founded on the 15-Minute City approach, aimed to enhance neighborhood identity, quality of life, active mobility, safety, comfort in public spaces, and access to local services (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, 2022). Consequently, beyond the commonality in the direction of various strategies towards a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive city, and especially to accomplish the 15-minute city model, it is important to emphasize the concern for a distributive intervention throughout the city, considering the specificities and needs of each parish and community, especially those who are more socially and economically vulnerable. The combination of these strategies means that the city is committed to effective adaptation to climate change, and at the same time, seeking to increase the quality of life and well-being of the population.
In conclusion, despite the challenges that a consolidated city may face when restructuring towards a more resilient and sustainable situation, political and technical will are crucial for the implementation of the necessary strategies. In Lisbon, this intention was clearly converted into action. Furthermore, it is evident that this urban paradigm shift required a combined intervention of various domains (e.g., urban planning, transport, environment, etc.) to maximize overall outcomes, even if the outcomes of this decision will need time to manifest and be accounted for.

Speaker: Prof. Ana Louro (Centre of Geographical Studies, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Portugal.)

11:40 Exploring coastal boundaries: trasformative planning as a tool for territorial resilience

The planetary crisis, driven by the accelerating impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, places coastal areas at the forefront of a global challenge. These transitional spaces between land and sea are home to a significant proportion of the world’s population, rich cultural heritage, and essential ecosystems. Yet, they face escalating pressures from hazards such as sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and extreme temperatures, which disrupt social, economic, and ecological systems. In this context, spatial planning emerges as a transformative tool to mediate competing interests and navigate the complexities of coastal adaptation, ensuring socio-ecological resilience.
The concept of the coast itself encapsulates the multidimensional nature of this challenge. Ketchum (1972) defines the coast as “the band of dry land and adjacent ocean space (water and submerged soil) where terrestrial processes and land uses directly affect oceanic processes and uses, and vice versa.” However, Sorensen and McCreary’s (1990) distinction between coastal zones and coastal areas highlights the ambiguity and variability of these spaces, shaped by ecological, geomorphological, and socio-economic forces. This plurality complicates efforts to define, delimit, and manage coastal territories, which are intrinsically fluid and dynamic.
Historically, coasts have been recognized as fragile and high-risk environments. Bultrighini’s (2013) exploration of coastalness versus inlandness in the Mediterranean underscores the intrinsic vulnerability of coastal areas and their heightened exposure to risks compared to inland territories. Climate change exacerbates these vulnerabilities, intensifying tensions linked to urbanization, tourism, and ecological degradation. Coastal territories remain exposed to overlapping hazards that transcend administrative and disciplinary boundaries, challenging the capacity of existing governance frameworks to provide effective solutions.
This contribution critically examines the interplay between definitions, delimitations, and vulnerabilities in coastal areas, aiming to inform more effective planning and governance practices. Drawing on perspectives from geography, environmental studies, and urban planning, it explores how differing conceptualizations of coastal spaces influence the identification of hazards and the design of adaptive strategies. Coastal areas cannot be managed merely as physical spaces through sectoral technical tools; they demand an integrated, interdisciplinary approach. Planning must embrace the coast as a complex system, where ecological, economic, social, and cultural variables intersect.
Spatial planning, when applied to coastal management, faces the challenge of integrating multiple scales and addressing the inherent dynamism of these areas. To become a transformative tool, planning must account for the hybrid nature of coastal systems, balancing ecological integrity with socio-economic needs, overcoming static boundaries and disciplinary silos, and fostering resilience by recognizing the fluidity and interconnectedness of coastal environments.
This initial phase of research focuses on defining and delimiting coastal spaces, recognizing that governance tools currently in place often fail to capture the complex, transboundary nature of these territories. The task of managing coastal areas requires acknowledging their hybrid and fragile character, where diverse and overlapping interests intersect. Understanding these territories as dynamic systems necessitates a deeper inquiry into the reasons, they remain central to academic and policy debates. By exploring these dynamics, the aim is to reshape coastal governance frameworks, leveraging interdisciplinary collaboration and multi-scalar approaches to transform coastal resilience and sustainability into a cornerstone of the response to the planetary crisis.

Speaker: Vittoria Ridolfi (Università IUAV di Venezia)

11:00 → 12:30 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (B): Risk and Vulnerability

Convener: Xiaolin Lao (University College Dublin)

11:00 Leveraging ecosystem services for resilient flood management: a composite index for prioritising actions

Climate change has intensified extreme rainfall events which have made flood risk management critical for cities (IPCC, 2023). Conventional drainage systems are struggling to cope with increased stormwater flows, leading to sewer overflows and localised flooding (Ashley et al., 2020). A shift towards resilient flood management is needed, focusing on polycentric governance, integrated management, distributed infrastructure and multifunctional measures (Franco-Torres et al., 2021). Spatial planning plays a key role by integrating sectors (water management, environmental planning, transportation), coordinating policies and providing a framework to systematise incremental interventions (Davoudi et al., 2010).

There are gaps in the implementation of resilient flood risk management in planning practice (Dorst et al., 2021). In this context, knowledge production plays a crucial role in shaping flood management approaches and solutions. Indeed, the analyses carried out in the early stages of planning activities provide an opportunity to highlight the shortcomings of existing infrastructure and to advocate for change. A comprehensive analytical framework is needed to address the multiple dimensions of urban drainage, including surface and subsurface layers and different rainfall events. Through this framework, benefits beyond flood mitigation can be introduced into the urban environment.
However, there has been little research on such a framework at the urban scale. Therefore, this study proposes a composite index to analyse how cities cope with different rainfall events. The intent of the index is to capture three different urban capacities connected to flood management: (i) the capacity of an urban system to manage runoff during light rainfall; (ii) the capacity to prevent infrastructure failure during moderate rainfall; (iii) and the capacity to mitigate damage during extreme rainfall. The study also examines whether synergies or trade-offs exist between these capacities.

The study applies a quantitative methodology to Varese, a medium-sized city in northern Italy, by using the ecosystem services framework to assess the three capacities: (i) source control, (ii) local retention and (iii) flood mitigation, as part of the ecosystem service "water cycle and flow mitigation" (WCFM). These capacities are assessed using three models: InVEST from the Natural Capital Project, SWMM from the Environmental Protection Agency and HEC-RAS from the US Army Corps of Engineers. By integrating these models, the study provides a comprehensive view of (i) areas with the highest runoff throughout the year, (ii) nodes where grey infrastructures are most vulnerable to failure during moderate rainfall, and (iii) areas where stormwater accumulates during extreme events.

The study aggregates the results of the three models on the census track. Three indicators are then calculated: (i) runoff as a percentage of total rainfall, (ii) node failure density, (iii) flood risk. These results are then normalised and combined to create a composite index of the WCFM demand in Varese. The study defines priority areas for action through a hotspot analysis. A Spearman's rank correlation coefficient is used to identify synergies and trade-offs between the three indicators.

Results show almost no spatial correlation between the three indicators. This could be interpreted by the fact that they represent different phenomena that contribute separately to the demand for WCFM. There is a need to consider each dimension to provide a more comprehensive evidence base for prioritising action. Nevertheless, through the composite index and hotspot analysis, the study can identify priority areas and characterise them according to the composition of the index. This characterisation allows for more targeted interventions when developing planning strategies.

This study contributes to the growth of methodological knowledge by developing a composite index that integrates several models to assess stormwater management. It also creates practical knowledge that can guide planners in identifying priority areas for improving the effectiveness of multifunctional measures.

Speaker: Prof. Andrea Arcidiacono (Politecnico di Milano)

11:10 A Multi-Risk Framework for Assessing Urban Flood and Drought Risk: Lessons from Barcelona

Urban areas are increasingly susceptible to the co-occurrence of flood and drought events, driven by climate change and rapid urbanization. This study applies a novel multi-risk framework for analyzing urban flood and drought risks, using Barcelona, Spain, as a case study. The framework integrates insights from existing multi-hazard and multi-risk assessment methodologies, focusing on a comprehensive assessment of combined flood and drought risks. This includes an analysis of all its components—exposure, vulnerability, and hazard—while considering their spatial and temporal distribution and dynamic interactions.
The framework consists of six key components: 1) Context Analysis, which establishes the broader environmental, climatic, and socio-economic context of the study area; 2) Hazard Analysis, which considers the spatial and temporal distribution of flood and drought hazards and potential compound events; 3) Exposure Analysis, which identifies urban elements at risk; 4) Vulnerability Analysis, which examines the capacity of the urban system to cope with and recover from these hazards; 5) Risk Assessment, which integrates data on hazard, exposure, and vulnerability to identify areas of high risk; and 6) Dynamics Analysis, which explores the underlying factors and dynamics contributing to the high-risk status of specific areas.
To demonstrate the applicability of this framework, a case study was conducted in Barcelona, Spain, a city that faces significant risks from both flooding and drought. Historical data highlight the city's vulnerability, with notable droughts occurring in 1945, 1986-1989, 2004-2008, 2017 and 2023, along with major pluvial floods in 1995 and 2018. In response, Barcelona has implemented various adaptation measures, including the construction of the Ebro River pipeline in 2008 for drought mitigation and a desalination plant established in 2009 to enhance water supply resilience. This analysis examines specific vulnerabilities in Barcelona, such as aging water infrastructure, which pose a considerable risk to the city's water supply system. Additionally, the city's history of water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change impacts—such as increased temperatures and altered precipitation patterns—further intensifies these vulnerabilities.
The Barcelona case study demonstrates how the framework can inform climate change adaptation planning. By analyzing the city's risks related to floods, droughts, and their combined impacts, the framework highlights the need for: 1) enhanced stormwater management systems to mitigate flood risks, aligning with climate adaptation strategies; 2) improved water conservation measures to address drought vulnerability, contributing to climate mitigation; and 3) the development of early warning systems for both floods and droughts to enhance preparedness and response capabilities, which are crucial for building urban resilience. This framework enables urban planners to develop more effective and integrated strategies for managing flood and drought risks, ultimately enhancing urban resilience and supporting the transition to sustainable, climate-resilient cities.

Speaker: Ms Maria Pizzorni (UNESCO Chair on Urban Resilience, Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Denmark)

11:20 Assessing the Interplay Between Policies for Climate Change-Induced Disaster Risk and Urban Growth in the Case of Istanbul, Turkiye

As cities continue to expand, the increasing pressures of climate change and disaster risks have revealed significant gaps in conventional growth-driven urban strategies, which often fail to address ecological balance and social equity adequately (Pelling, 2011; Ahern, 2011). Urban growth patterns, when poorly managed, can intensify vulnerability to climate hazards while neglecting critical aspects of social justice and sustainability (Anguelovski et al., 2016). In Turkiye, rapid urbanization results from infrastructure-led development and economic expansion, which continue to reshape urban areas while often prioritizing spatial growth instead of long-term climate resilience and disaster risk reduction (Balaban, 2012). Despite the existence of national and local policy frameworks addressing climate change and disaster risks, there remains a significant gap in the integration of urban growth policies with these strategies, particularly in the context of rapidly transforming metropolitan regions like Istanbul.
This study evaluates the extent to which climate change-related disaster risk policies in Istanbul, Turkiye are integrated with urban growth strategies. A dual-focus analysis explores how disaster risk policies impact urban growth patterns and how unregulated urban expansion can exacerbate climate vulnerabilities. Within the framework of ecological balance and social equity, the research critically examines the limitations of economic and physical expansion-driven growth models and their implications for urban risks. A total of seven policy documents, including four national policies (12th Development Plan, National Earthquake Strategy and Action Plan, Turkiye Disaster Risk Reduction Plan, and National Climate Change Action Plan) and three local policies (Istanbul Vision 2050 Strategy Document, Istanbul Climate Change Action Plan, and Istanbul Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Plan), were analyzed using strategic policy analysis methodology. The analysis focused on target groups, core strategies, key performance indicators, and key measures. The research also considers how effectively these policies have been translated into practice and their real-world implications for urban risks and sustainability.
Findings reveal a significant disconnection between disaster risk management and urban growth strategies, with disaster policies predominantly emphasizing technical and structural measures while neglecting social resilience, spatial justice, inclusive governance, and implementation tools. The results highlight limited policy coherence with national frameworks emphasizing top-down control while local strategies vary in their capacity to address both spatial vulnerabilities and social inequalities. This research advocates for a paradigm shift beyond growth-driven development models by promoting a more integrated framework that prioritizes ecological sustainability and social equity in urban development and disaster risk management strategies.

Speaker: Burcu Soygüzeloğlu (Gebze Technical University)

11:30 ALLEVIATING NEGATIVE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF SUSTAINABILITY POLICIES IN URBAN AREAS

Sustainability policies achieved increasing attention in the last decades, with the EU green transition initiatives, especially the European Green Deal, taking a leading role (Almeida, et al, 2023). There are now a series of concrete ideas adopted and under implementation in many cities and metropolitan areas, such as greening public space, renovating buildings, avoiding to develop unbuilt areas.
However, evidence shows that there are many potential negative socio-spatial consequences of these good-willing sustainability policies (Anguelovski and Connolly, 2021). Such unwanted social externalities might include green or ecological gentrification due to the price increase following greening initiatives, renoviction following the renovation and ecological retrofitting of buildings, displacement of the original residents during densification of urban areas.
The fundamental research question (linked to the Horizon Europe project „ReHousIn”, which started in 2024 under the coordination of Metropolitan Research Institute) is: what type of public policies might alleviate such types of negative social externalities of environmental policies? The paper examines this question through critical overview of the research literature (e.g. the analysis of the newly emerging ideas of ’sufficiency’ and ’stationary city’, Bihouix, 2024) and carrying out a ’resilience test’ examination on long term development strategies of European cities (Berlin, Brno, Budapest, Ostrava, Stuttgart, Torino, Warsaw), in discussion with urban planners of these cities.
Emerging key findings indicate special importance of metropolitan level coordination of sectoral policies. Besides restraining and modifying development ideas in each sector of development (e.g. renovation of the existing stock instead of building new, ensuring accessibility instead of increasing mobility, densification of built-up areas instead of building in greenfields), there is also an over-arching vision needed, based on a post-growth oriented strategic thinking. This can best be developed on the metropolitan level of governance, ensuring sectoral, horizontal, and vertical integration across the municipalities of the functionally connected urban area.

Speaker: Dr Ivan Tosics (Metropolitan Research Institute, Budapest)

11:40 Integrating Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessments into Sustainable Real Estate Development: Insights from the city of Venice & Milan

The contribution examines how climate risk and vulnerability assessments (CRVA) can be systematically embedded into real estate development to advance both urban climate resilience and compliance with emerging European regulatory frameworks. Using Milan as a demonstrative context, the study highlights CRVA’s value in meeting the requirements of the EU Taxonomy (European Commission, 2020) and aligning with the recommendations of the European Green Deal, thereby enabling developers to pursue adaptation measures with clear environmental, social, and financial benefits.
A two-step methodological framework underpins this approach: City Profiling and Mapping Urban Climate Risk and Vulnerability. In the first step, City Profiling collates detailed climatological and morphoclimatic data—ranging from temperature trends and precipitation patterns to urban heat island (UHI) effects and impervious surfaces (Baker et al., 2012). By establishing a baseline of local climate conditions, real estate developers can identify how site-specific or neighborhood-level vulnerabilities may affect project design, construction costs, and long-term asset performance. This data-driven perspective not only helps prioritize adaptation strategies but also supports compliance with the EU Taxonomy’s technical screening criteria, designed to steer investments toward sustainable outcomes.
The second step, Mapping Urban Climate Risk and Vulnerability, refines broader climate projections through downscaling techniques (Adger, 2003; Adamson et al., 2018). This process yields high-resolution maps detailing localized hazards, such as intensified heatwaves or flood-prone zones, enabling developers to evaluate potential risks to specific building sites and surrounding communities (Pietrapertosa et al., 2019). Integrating these localized insights into early-stage planning is critical for meeting the European Commission’s growing emphasis on adaptation within investment portfolios, as well as for ensuring alignment with the European Green Deal’s ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions and enhance climate resilience.
Focusing on Milan illustrates both the urgency and the potential of this framework. The city’s dense urban morphology, ongoing regeneration initiatives, and heightened exposure to climate stressors (e.g., heat stress and periodic flooding) make it a compelling laboratory for innovation. By applying CRVA at multiple scales, developers gain a robust evidence base to inform architectural design choices, infrastructure improvements, and long-term maintenance plans. This not only mitigates risks associated with climate-related damages but also supports sustainable finance objectives—an increasingly important consideration for investors seeking environmentally responsible projects under programs like Next Generation EU (2021) and Horizon Europe (2021).
Moreover, by complying with EU Taxonomy guidelines, real estate stakeholders can demonstrate a proactive commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, thereby enhancing market reputation and unlocking potential financial incentives. The synergy between robust climate data and strategic development decisions also supports citywide adaptation efforts, amplifying the impact of private investments on Milan’s overall climate resilience. Importantly, CRVA can serve as a unifying platform for collaboration among municipal authorities, developers, and local communities, fostering inclusive governance mechanisms as advocated by the European Green Deal’s participatory tenets (Few et al., 2007).
In conclusion, integrating climate risk and vulnerability assessments into real estate development offers a unique opportunity to achieve compliance with EU regulations, fulfill the new recommendations of the European Green Deal, and drive widespread adaptation actions. By uniting scientific rigor, stakeholder engagement, and strategic policy alignment, CRVA emerges as a powerful tool for future-proofing urban environments and guiding responsible investment decisions. Milan’s experience exemplifies the broader relevance of this approach, reinforcing how the real estate sector can serve as a pivotal catalyst for climate resilience, environmental stewardship, and long-term urban sustainability.

Speakers: Dr Carlo Federico dall'Omo (Università Iuav di Venezia), Dr Vittore Negretto (Università Iuav di Venezia)

11:50 Fostering Resilient and Healthy Cities: MAINCODE Urban Climate Shelters as Cooling Demonstration Projects

Climate change is significantly increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, posing severe risks to health. According to the Lancet Countdown (2023), heat-related deaths among the elderly have risen by approximately 85% in recent years. Additionally, a recent study published in Nature estimates that, without effective mitigation, extreme temperatures could result in an additional 2.3 million deaths in European cities by the end of the century (Masselot et al., 2025). COP29 has emphasized that "health is the argument for climate action," highlighting the urgent need to prioritize health in climate adaptation strategies.
The critical link between climate change and health is one of the most pressing challenges for planners, as extreme heat is a major driver of rising mortality rates and has become the most frequent natural disaster. Moreover, record-breaking temperatures are already transforming how people experience urban life and public spaces. Planners are helping cities worldwide develop strategies such as green infrastructure to enhance resilience and adaptability to multiple hazards. These solutions mitigate urban heat islands (UHI) by providing cooling benefits while also facilitating natural processes that improve soil water absorption and reduce runoff (Keith et al., 2020). To achieve meaningful results, adaptive solutions must be systematically implemented, focusing on replicable, flexible, and cost-effective measures that generate co-benefits for health, the environment, and the economy (Orsetti et al., 2022). Additionally, green and accessible public spaces incorporating nature-based solutions (NbS) can play a crucial role in improving urban health and well-being (UN-Habitat, 2025).
Building on these premises, this paper examines the potential of climate shelters in schoolyards as a strategy to reduce heat exposure and promote health in urban environments (Caldarice et al., 2025). Specifically, urban climate shelters offer a promising approach to maximizing the co-benefits of urban nature, from climate change mitigation and adaptation to improved health, well-being, and social equity, particularly for children and other vulnerable populations exposed to extreme heat (Pincegher et al., 2025). As highlighted in the 2025 Trend Report for Planners by the American Planning Association, cooling centres play a vital role in providing shelter from extreme heat. However, while these facilities are being implemented more frequently and for longer periods, encouraging residents to use them remains a challenge. Planners can play a key role in raising public awareness about cooling centres and integrating supportive services to reach those most in need as extreme heat events become more common. To address this challenge, this paper will present the primary findings of the ongoing EU-funded project MAINCODE – MAINstreaming nature to CO-DEsign urban climate shelters in schoolyards. As part of the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership, MAINCODE promotes the integration of NbS in schoolyards and public access to these spaces as a climate adaptation measure. The project emphasizes the importance of embedding cooling solutions within schoolyards and incorporating them into broader urban adaptation strategies and policies to foster healthier and more resilient cities. Ultimately, MAINCODE views urban climate shelters as a viable solution to mitigate extreme temperatures, manage heat-related hazards, and enhance health, well-being, and social cohesion, particularly for those most vulnerable to climate extremes.

Speakers: Prof. Ombretta Caldarice (Politecnico di Torino, DIST), Dr Bruna Pincegher (Politecnico di Torino, DIST)

11:00 → 12:30 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (A): Culture, Heritage, and Lived Practices 1

Conveners: Anita Martinelli (Politecnico di Milano), Dr Zeynep Gunay (Istanbul Technical University)

11:00 Reviving Cultural Heritage Under Pressure: Geopolitical Constraints and Rapid Urbanization in Ramallah's Historic Center.

As cities worldwide grapple with the pressures of rapid urbanization and cultural heritage preservation, Ramallah’s case study offers a compelling case to understand these challenges within the context of geopolitically constrained urban landscapes. While cities like Jerusalem, Nablus, Bethlehem, and Hebron hold rich cultural heritage and thus significance in the Palestinian context, Ramallah’s historic center is less renowned. However, it encapsulates transformative impacts compounded by demographic changes, geopolitical pressures, and growth pressures, making it a unique lens through which to examine the tensions between urban development and heritage preservation.

Once a small village, Ramallah underwent significant transformation following the 1948 Nakba, which displaced waves of refugees from coastal Palestinian towns like Lod, Ramla, and Jaffa. This influx spurred rapid urban growth and renewal to accommodate refugees which did changes in the city’s historic fabric, including the loss of numerous historic buildings. Another pivotal moment was the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, positioning Ramallah as the administrative hub and de facto capital of Palestine. The resulting population growth and economic expansion placed unprecedented pressures on the city’s historic center, leading to its neglect and, in some cases, its demolition to accommodate new development and capital.

In addition to these internal pressures, Ramallah’s geographic location is quite sensitive as its growth has been restricted by surrounding Israeli settlements, which limit access to land for urban expansion as well as the fact that 21% of its area is Area C which represents areas that are restricted for Palestinians to build at because they are fully Israeli-controlled. These geopolitical constraints have exacerbated the risks to the city’s cultural heritage – both tangible and intangible – threatening its erosion and loss.

This article explores how such transformative changes have shaped Ramallah’s historic center, emphasizing the risks posed by rapid urbanization and occupation. Using a mixed-methods approach, including observations, document analysis, and in-depth interviews with stakeholders and community members, it highlights the role of authorities and community-driven initiatives in safeguarding cultural heritage and reviving it. It emphasizes the role of grassroots efforts, such as festivals and cultural activities in reconnecting intangible cultural heritage with the city’s tangible landscape and landmarks successfully, fostering social cohesion and resilience despite external pressures.

The study underscores how contested social relations, local resilience, and public awareness have shaped efforts to revitalize the historic center, even in the absence of formal regeneration and revitalization plans. Ramallah now stands as a powerful example of how cities in constrained environments can balance urban growth with heritage preservation and revitalization through innovative, community-driven approaches. The findings offer practical insights for urban planners, policymakers, and cultural heritage advocates working in similarly pressured contexts, demonstrating how heritage can serve as both a tool for resilience and a foundation for sustainable urban development. However, the study also identifies potential risks, such as gentrification due to uncontrolled and unmitigated urban development, which might displace long-standing communities and alter the area’s cultural identity in the future.

Speaker: Ms Yasmeen Salem (Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning Department)

11:10 Co-designing Net Zero Strategy in historic settings: Bristol’s case study

Despite the widespread acknowledgement of the role of local communities in net zero transition, the approach in areas designated as conservation areas is predominantly expert driven with limited involvement from local communities. Conservation areas in England are areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. To protect the special character, there are stricter planning control in place in conservation areas which is perceived to have a negative impact on the uptake of energy efficiency and low carbon heating improvements for houses located in conservation areas (Fetzer, 2023) which are around 2.8 million houses (Historic England, 2021) with potential CO2 emissions of up to 3.2 million tons of annually (Fetzer, 2023).

This presentation interrogates the challenges and aspirations of local communities to protect the character of conservation areas while progressing with net zero transition by reflecting on the findings from engagement workshops with a selected conservation areas in Bristol, Sea Mills. Sea Mills neighbourhood is an intact example of a Garden Suburb in England and Bristol’s finest example of planned post-WWI municipal housing (BCC, 2011). It is widely acknowledged that 20th-century heritage forms a significant layer of history displaying transformation of England’s planning philosophy and culture, accompanied by the emergence of new building types, construction techniques and materials (Twentieth Century Society, 2017).

The intention of the workshops with Sea Mills’ local community were to better understand the challenges that the local community is facing in adapting their homes and to co-design solutions with the local community. This presentation will share learnings from this project by concluding that it is through collaboration with local communities and adopting grassroot approaches that the challenges of net zero transition in designated heritage areas can be addressed.

Speaker: Dr Katy Karampour (UWE, Bristol)

11:20 Ghost plots – memory of empty urban spaces

This paper takes up the theme of empty plots that exist within the urban fabric. In reference to “ghost signs” – advertising and other signs that have been preserved for an extended period of time because of their nostalgic appeal or as result of lack of interest – we coin the term “ghost plots”. Internationally, the phenomena is common, ranging from examples of post-war Amsterdam, where bombed, empty plots were turned to children's parks (Lefaivre and de Roode, 2002), or studies of shrinking cities, where derelict sites and obsolete buildings become norm rather than an exception. In urban studies, empty spaces are often analysed through the lens of urban development and need for regeneration, and referred to with terms as derelict and obsolete sites, urban voids, lost spaces, under-utilised or leftover spaces/areas, gap, unoccupied land, wasteland, wasted space, abandoned or abused locations. (Pallagst, Wiechmann, and Martinez-Fernandez 2015; Nemeth and Langhorst 2013; Rahmann and Jonas 2011) Furthermore, as a rule, these are seen to be indicative of poor planning.

Our aim is to turn the tables by enquiring how the “ghost plots” can pause and potentially disrupt rhythms of urban development. We assert that to get beyond the dominating concerns over under-used sites and how these could be regenerated, “ghost plots” make it possible to turn attention to the longer historical processes of a specific site, and its meanings as part of the wider urban context. In many cases, the sites have been, and continue to be valued by the locals, which tells of continuity rather than a total cut.

Our research focuses on selected, representative cases from Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Each case is telling of both different type(s) of past buildings and uses, as well as views concerning the present and future of the site. The key case introduced is a “ghost plot” in the Sörnäinen, historically a working class district of Helsinki, positioned between Väinö Tanner Park and the buildings of University of Arts. The “ghost plot” emerged after half of a large 1970s office structure was demolished in 2017. The plan was to construct a new government office building, but a reassessment of the state's needs for real estate led to the sale of the plot to a private developer and the introduction of a new hybrid concept. (Perälä, Liski, Rajamäki and Väinämö 2026) Due to economic and political challenges, the project however remained stagnant. In 2025 there is no knowledge of how the project might proceed. There is a large pit on the plot, where different kinds of plants have begun to grow, and where for example temporary, site specific exhibitions have been organised.

As everyday urban spaces, “ghost plots” emerge as hinge points that serve as a tool for seeing value in the (supposedly) empty, and re-considering the most common approaches to urban derelict sites, making it possible to focus on history and memory of the sites, and thus the role of processes and continuity instead of the cut, caused by demolition. Furthermore, we turn attention to authorised heritage discourse (AHD) which typically holds the position that heritagesation process can happen only, when a specific structure can be preserved.

Speakers: Dr Laura Berger (Aalto University), Dr Netta Böök (Aalto University), Prof. Panu Savolainen (Aalto University)

11:30 Public Emotions and Visual Perception of Historic Districts: An AI Approach Using Social Media Data

Background: Historic districts can offer positive emotional experiences to the public (Scopelliti et al., 2019; Reece et al., 2022). Visual perception is one of the most direct ways people experience historic districts, so the visual landscape characteristics of historic districts may influence public emotions. However, emotional experiences and visual landscape characteristics have often been studied as two separate themes, and the impact of visual landscapes in historic districts on emotional experiences has yet to be revealed. Artificial Intelligence methods, particularly multimodal large models can provide an approach for analyzing the relationship between visual landscapes and public emotions. Therefore, this study aims to construct a multimodal deep learning framework to explore the relationship between visual landscapes and public emotions in historic districts.
Methods: Text reviews from social media help understand people’s emotional experiences with the built environment (Ghahramani et al., 2021; Park et al., 2020), and images voluntarily shared on social media serve as a rich resource for understanding people’s visual preferences for environments (Chen et al., 2020). Although some studies have attempted to qualitatively explore the relationship between visual perception and emotional experience (Yang & Zhang, 2024), no quantitative analysis framework for this relationship has been established. In this study, we use Nanluoguxiang, a typical historic district in Beijing, as a case study. Drawing on 5,251 text reviews and 23,553 associated images from Dianping between 2022 and 2024, this study develops a multimodal deep learning framework that integrates GPT-4, U-net, multi-layer attention mechanisms, and interpretability analysis modules (SHAP and Grad-CAM) to examine the impact of 8 environmental scenes and 14 environmental elements in historic districts on public emotional experiences.
Results: The results show that: (1) Public emotions in Nanluoguxiang are predominantly positive, with a complex emotional state during the pandemic; (2) Architectural and natural landscape scenes are more strongly associated with positive emotions, while street scenes are linked to negative emotions; (3) For positive emotions, the most significant contributions come from architectural elements such as tiles and plants, as well as traditional food and handicrafts within commercial scenes; for negative emotions, the greatest influence is exerted by commercial signage in street scenes.
Conclusion: This study reveals that certain types and specific elements within historic districts impact public emotions. At the same time, the multimodal deep learning framework effectively predicts the impact of visual landscapes on public emotions in historic districts.

Speaker: Chunye Ma (Tongji university)

11:40 Framing the Narrative of Chinese Post-Colonial Heritage: Storylines and Mechanisms of Shanghai Concession Heritage Management

Heritage serves as a pivotal medium in constructing collective memory and identity of nations and social groups (Meskell, 2005). Post-colonial heritage, with its inherently negative historical attributes, frequently becomes a contested site in heritage politics. As a prominent example of post-colonial heritage, the legacy of concessions in China occupies the core of many urban areas. Preserving the heritage value while addressing the discrepancies between their public perception and broader urban image falls to local governance. However, some concession heritage sites remain underutilized, others are dismantled due to their lack of alignment with state-promoted ideologies, and still others face challenges of over-development and insufficient public engagement (Athanassiou et al., 2018).

Previous studies on the management of post-colonial heritage have analyzed the limitations posed by insufficient policy support, competition for interpretive authority among multiple groups, and neo-liberal regeneration strategies (Giblin, 2015). Nonetheless, these studies have yet to fully elucidate—let alone explain—the nuanced strategies made by Chinese urban governments in dealing with concession heritage and the dilemmas they currently encounter. In response, this paper contends that summarizing the prevalent narrative frameworks adopted by Chinese governments, rather than focusing on isolated case studies or imposing rigid theoretical paradigms, provides a pragmatic foundation for advancements in related research.

The concept of "storylines" is employed to provide a comprehensive representation of heritage images crafted by public institutions through diverse channels. Processes such as value assessment and site identification contribute to crafting these storylines, while planning and public projects materialize them in practice. Given the heterogeneity of concession heritage, it is implausible for a singular storyline to dominate the appropriation of its value. Instead, multiple storylines frequently coexist and intersect, shaped by the interplay of political-economic negotiations. In the Chinese context, local governments orchestrate this process, mediating between administrative agencies and other stakeholders (Zhu & Maags, 2020). Such storylines exhibit varying logics and priorities, with the evolving public perceptions they engender playing a catalytic role in urban mobilization and negotiation (Viderman & Knierbein, 2020).

Using Shanghai as a case study, this research drew extensively on policies, historical records, planning documents, and official media reports concerning the conservation and utilization of concession heritage. We identified the dominant storylines in Shanghai's approach to heritage management, examined their impact on public consciousness, and explored the cultural tensions they engender. Additionally, we investigated the mechanisms underpinning these narrative constructs, analyzing how stakeholder preferences and institutional configurations shape the representation of concession heritage.

The result reveals three principal storylines in the governance of Shanghai's former concession heritage: “Revolutionary Culture,” “Aesthetic Priority,” and “Haipai Culture.” The Revolutionary Culture storyline foregrounds the role of concession heritage as sites of historical figures and revolutionary milestones, emphasizing national consciousness and modern ideals while aligning with central policy priorities. The Aesthetic Priority storyline de-emphasizes the political and identity conflicts within historical narratives, favoring an interpretation that celebrates cultural fusion and artistic innovation. Conversely, the Haipai Culture storyline accentuates Shanghai’s distinctive identity, underscoring inclusivity and global interconnectedness as core attributes, which aligns with market-driven development strategies. Through these storylines, local governments aim to harmonize the divergent demands of Government agencies, market, and community, striving for an overarching governance of the urban image. However, these narratives often lack the specificity required to inform granular practices. Consequently, projects risk overemphasizing narrow aspects, such as economic imperatives in Haipai Culture or revolutionary symbolism in local history, leading to over-development and diminished heritage integrity.

This study reveals the achievements and limitations of a local government-led model of post-colonial heritage management in narrative construction, offering insights into potential power redistribution within the heritage management system.

Speaker: Ms Qingyun LUO (Tsinghua University, School of Architecture)

11:50 Mapping Changes in Public Perceptions of Chinese Historic Districts: An Integrated LDA-LLM Analysis of Social Media Commentary (2009-2023)

Understanding public perceptions of historic districts demonstrates a pivotal role in both heritage conservation and sustainable urban development. While traditional surveys have long been the standard tool for gathering public opinion, social media commentary has emerged as an increasingly valuable data source, offering deeper insights across broader temporal spans and proven effective by many studies. However, current research faces several notable limitations: the tendency to focus on isolated aspects such as visitor experiences or aesthetic preferences rather than holistic public concerns; the prevalence of single-site, snapshot studies that fail to capture evolutionary patterns across different historic districts; and analytical methods that often decompose social media narratives into discrete units, losing the rich contextual meaning embedded in complete discussions. The recent emergence of large language models (LLMs) presents a promising methodological breakthrough through their capacity for sophisticated natural language understanding and contextual analysis.

To address these challenges, this study introduces an analytical framework that combines Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and LLM to systematically analyze public perspectives on the historic districts. The framework demonstrates robust performance, achieving over 75% accuracy in viewpoint classification. Applying this methodology, we analyzed an extensive dataset of over 190,000 social media comments spanning 46 Chinese historic and cultural districts from 2009 to 2023. Through LDA, we identified eight primary thematic categories in public discourse: built environment, management and services, human behaviors, environmental atmosphere, commercial experience, heritage information, tour information, and district identity. These primary categories were further refined into 16 distinct subcategories to enable more granular analysis.

The thematic distribution derived from the summarization of LLMs and statistical analysis across districts reflects their distinctive characteristics. Noteworthy examples include districts where commercial themes are frequently mentioned in public commentary, such as Furong Street in Jinan, Nanluoguxiang in Beijing, and Ciqikou Ancient Town in Chongqing—all widely documented in literature as archetypal cases of commercialization in historic areas. Additionally, the thematic analysis illuminates public preferences regarding specific district features. Particularly striking is the heightened focus on historic architecture in districts built during the Late Qing to Republican period, especially those featuring well-preserved European-style districts, such as Beijing's Dongjiaominxiang and Tianjin's Wudadao. These districts stand out for their distinct architectural styles compared to the surrounding urban fabric, making them more likely to attract attention and discussion.

Analysis of topic evolution over the study period reveals three significant trends in public perception. Firstly, topics concerning historic buildings, heritage information, and cultural atmosphere have garnered increasing attention. This shift suggests that, following years of preservation efforts and educational initiatives, the public has developed a deeper interest in the cultural significance of these districts. This interest now extends beyond the tangible architectural elements to embrace the intangible cultural heritage, including local narratives, traditions, and historical significance.

Secondly, a particularly striking trend is the dramatic surge in location-based social sharing since 2017, with only a modest decline through the pandemic period. This phenomenon aligns with the rise of image-sharing platforms, where the desire to capture and share visually compelling images of historic districts has become a primary visitor motivation. extending even to less touristic areas.

Thirdly, the analysis also points to a noticeable decline in public discussions surrounding the living atmosphere and local memory. This shift can be attributed to the commercialization of historic districts, where urban renewal and architectural modifications have often overshadowed the preservation of authentic residential character. While these transformations have generally yielded positive economic outcomes, it has also diminished the traditional living environment that once defined these neighborhoods. This trend highlights the challenge of balancing the commercial development with the protection of the area’s authentic character.

Speakers: Ms Anqi Shi (Department of Urban Planning and Design, Tsinghua University), Mr Jinfeng Xie (Department of Urban Planning and Design, the University of Hong Kong), Mr Yuheng Zhou (Department of Urban Planning and Design, Tsinghua University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (B): Cultures, Heritage, and Transformations 1

Conveners: Evangelia Athanasiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Tihomir Viderman (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

11:00 Integrating Heritage Planning into Urban Policy Frameworks: The Case of Istanbul Vision 2050

Istanbul is a metropolis that both experiences the effects of multiple crises—sometimes even becoming part of the crisis dynamics—and has the potential to develop proactive solutions to them. Since 2019, the city has been actively working to address these challenges through innovative planning approaches.
The macro-scale planning outputs of these new approaches are the Istanbul Vision 2050 Strategy Document and the Istanbul Vision 2050 Action Plan (VEP). The Istanbul Vision 2050 Action Plan was developed with a perspective that considers the challenges posed by multiple crises and follows a multi-scale planning framework. These efforts have evolved through a comprehensive participatory process, synthesizing contemporary academic research, the demands of civil society, and the conditions of local governments.

Within this contemporary planning practice in Istanbul, heritage planning has become an increasingly important issue due to the multi-stakeholder nature of cultural and natural heritage governance and the unique ontological value of the city’s heritage itself.

This situation has opened up discussions on how Istanbul’s cultural heritage can move beyond merely being an asset that requires conservation to play a more decisive role in urban policies. In this context, the intersection of cultural heritage strategies and actions with other urban policy areas has strengthened its impact and expanded its role. This paper aims to explore and evaluate the growing role of heritage in Istanbul Vision 2050 and examine how this transformation has taken shape.

The Istanbul Vision 2050 Strategy Document focuses on the challenges of integrated conservation for Istanbul's cultural and natural heritage. It defines the "Istanbul Heritage" approach not only in terms of heritage elements such as protected areas and registered cultural assets but also in relation to its broader metropolitan and even transboundary impacts. At the same time, the management, conservation, accessibility, and sustainability of Istanbul Heritage are framed as essential urban services, much like transportation, education, and healthcare.

In this context, VEP proposes a heritage-based spatial network to operationalize the concept of Istanbul Heritage. It identifies tools and steps for adapting theoretical approaches to cultural landscapes and complex socio-ecological networks into practical applications for local governance. The goal is to develop actionable strategies for implementing innovative conservation practices.

The Vision 2050 Action Plan is structured around the strategic action framework of "Istanbulites' Right to Cultural Heritage", guided by discussions on cultural heritage rights and rights-based conservation. Within this framework, specific actions have been identified to ensure inclusive participation in cultural heritage conservation, foster sustainable heritage governance, and facilitate access to and engagement with cultural heritage. Additionally, the multi-crisis-oriented structure of VEP has enabled Istanbul Heritage to be addressed through a more multi-scalar and intersectional approach.

Istanbul's current planning experience has gained distinctiveness within the field of heritage planning by bridging theoretical discussions, civil society demands, and expert knowledge with practical planning tools implemented by local governments. This paper aims to discuss and further develop the Istanbul Heritage planning approach, summarizing key focal points within this evolving planning framework.

Speaker: Mr Yiğit Ozar (Istanbul Planning Agency)

11:10 The Dilemma of Authenticity: The Conservation and Reconstruction of Traditional Residences in China — Taking Pingyao, Suzhou and Shanghai as Examples

Thirty years after the release of the Nara Document on Authenticity, the concept of authenticity still faces many difficulties in its localization in China, which are manifested in three aspects: the contradiction between absolutization and relativization, materiality and spirituality, and authority and popularization. In China's historic cities, there are a large number of traditional residences, which constitute the background of the "authenticity" of urban heritage. However, due to the traditional wooden construction in China, these traditional residences have undergone nearly a century of historical changes and suffer from problems such as structural aging and long-term disrepair. Unlike the legally protected historical buildings in China, which are maintained by the state, most traditional residences are protected by individuals, and often encounter difficulties such as lack of funds and high maintenance costs during the conservation process. To a considerable extent, there are also calls for demolition and reconstruction among the public. How to maintain the authenticity of traditional residences? This paper takes three historic cities in China - Pingyao, Suzhou and Shanghai - as examples to explore three different protection models caused by the different land values: government-led, market-led, and swinging between government-led and market-led. It also discusses the similarities and differences in the attitudes of the government, experts and the public towards the protection of traditional residences, and how they maintain a delicate balance like walking on a tightrope to the greatest extent possible to preserve the authenticity of traditional residences.

Speaker: Ms Shuyin Li (Tongji University, China)

11:20 Digital Platform for Inner Areas

In the context of the European debate on the valorisation of the most fragile and scarcely accessible territorial contexts, a key role has long been recognised for heritage, no longer a static constraint to be preserved, but a real driving force in territorial cohesion and development policies. Heritage has acquired a central role in stimulating the exchange of specialised and local knowledge, in strengthening social resilience through connection to places and in promoting participation.
Within this framework, the contribution outlines the progress of the research within a nationally significant interdisciplinary project aimed at experimenting with a virtual system for exploring small historic villages in inner areas using digital technology and the valorisation of the historical heritage and landscape as well as the promotion of more inclusive access.
In particular, we investigate the role that the virtual platform tool can acquire in these contexts to guarantee the right to knowledge and sharing of heritage, understood as a set of socio-cultural and spatial, material and immaterial, cultural and environmental assets that constitute the identity and common heritage of places, removing obstacles to accessibility in both physical and information terms. A digital ‘space’ to be built in collaboration with local communities, in which to identify - also through virtual interaction between user-space and users - shared strategies for the protection, valorisation and promotion of cultural heritage and to foster the exchange of ideas between stakeholders (private individuals, public decision-makers and inhabitants). At the same time, it will serve as a community archive that allows the community to tell its own story.
The conceptual and operational set-up of the platform, as well as the underlying public involvement processes (of co-design and co-management), are currently being tested in the village of Stigliano, a leading municipality of the inland area ‘Montagna Materana’ in Basilicata.
The platform and the entire digital ecosystem proposed by the project acquire a dual significance in the research objectives. First, it becomes a useful tool to support and strengthen strategies aimed at countering territorial inequalities, in a context marked by structural socio-economic gaps that have accelerated depopulation, leading to a depletion of social capital and both material and immaterial resources. Through the integration of data on heritage, local businesses, citizen or visitor services, cultural events, and other public manifestations, as well as the ability to interact within a virtual environment, the platform aims to increase the visibility of the territory, the activities taking place there, and the connected landscape, facilitating remote access and attempting to stimulate interactions between users in the virtual environment to foster opportunities for cooperation and investment. However, this potential is countered by the risk that remote access may become self-contained within the virtual space, failing to promote physical presence or produce tangible benefits for local economies and communities.
A second meaning is related to the preservation of memory and local identities. Digitizing the cultural heritage in areas subject to depopulation and high levels of hydrogeological risk (aggravated by the climate crisis) represents, in practice, an important opportunity for accumulating knowledge in the face of the potential ‘inevitable fate’ of abandonment. In a ‘town that is crumbling’ (Teti, 2024), like Stigliano, whose historic centre is part of a relocation perimeter, as is the case for other towns in the Italian Apennines, preserving cultural heritage, even in digital form, means acknowledging ‘a fundamental democratic need’ (Tosco, 2014) and the identity of these territories and their communities. The platform thus becomes an accessible and shared archive capable of recording past and ongoing transformations, opening a dialogue on the future with the communities involved, including through paths of cultural and social regeneration.

Speaker: Ms Altea Panebianco (Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma)

11:30 Rethinking Creative Cities: Towards Inclusive and Equitable Urban Transformations in India

As societies deal with increasingly turbulent urban conditions, the role of creative city policies as potential catalysts for change becomes more urgent than ever. The concept of the Creative City has become a central framework in the urban policy of developed countries (Cooper and Florida, 2005; Pratt, 2011; Landry, 2012), often positioned as a driver of economic growth, cultural vibrancy, and urban regeneration. However, the policies and their implementation frequently overlook the socio-spatial inequalities they can generate as well as the shifting focus on design quality, small-scale public art projects and long-term impacts (Boddy and Parkinson, 2004; Evans, 2005), particularly in the Global South, where urban cultures and heritage become contested arenas for transformation (Molho et al., 2020). This research critically examines creative city policies and projects in Indian urban centres, focusing on their inclusivity, sustainability, and transformative potential for marginalised communities.

India’s urban landscape presents a compelling case for exploring the creative city discourse. With rapid urbanisation and increasing socio-economic disparities, gentrification (Jaglan and Rajeshwari, 2021), cultural and creative projects have been integrated into planning strategies to foster urban renewal and development, especially after India underwent liberalisation in the 1990s. While these initiatives often claim to promote inclusivity and community engagement, their real-world implications remain underexplored. This study addresses three key questions: (1) What is the content of Indian policies and strategies dealing with the principles of the creative city agenda since the 1990s? (2) What has been the typology of projects dealing with principles of the creative city agenda in India since the 1990s? (3) How do selected projects impact local communities, particularly vulnerable groups such as low-income populations, informal workers, and historically disadvantaged communities?

This research employs a qualitative approach, including (a) a content analysis of central, state, and municipal policies, (b) a typological analysis of creative city projects, and (c) an in-depth case study of representative projects. The (a) content analysis explores policy narratives and their alignment with principles of access equity and sustainability. The (b) typological analysis categorises creative city projects based on their spatial characteristics, governance structures, and objectives, distinguishing between economic-driven creative industries and community-oriented cultural amenities. The (c) case study examines selected urban transformation initiatives, assessing their social and spatial outcomes through interviews, field observations, and photography.

Preliminary findings suggest that while creative policies in India aim to generate inclusive urban spaces, their implementation often accelerates the loss of lived heritage and intensifies socio-spatial disparities. Large-scale flagship developments, such as cultural districts and creative hubs, contribute to gentrification, displacing existing communities and eroding cultural landscapes. Conversely, smaller-scale community-driven initiatives—such as public art projects and adaptive reuse of historic sites—demonstrate a stronger capacity for fostering inclusive urban transformations when adequately supported. These initiatives illustrate how urban cultures foster moments of engagement with the unknown and unpredictable, enhancing the capacity for creative action in shaping urban environments.

This study contributes to the discussion on planning for equitable and just futures on urban cultures and heritage as dynamic and contested processes by offering a critical perspective on the adaptation of the creative city model in the Global South. It calls for participatory urban strategies that prioritise social inclusion, accessibility, and sustainability. By situating India’s creative city policies within broader global urban debates, this research highlights the need for context-specific, community-anchored planning approaches that genuinely address the aspirations and needs of diverse urban populations.

Speaker: Ms Ludmila Kolouchova (Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague)

11:00 → 12:30 T_07 INCLUSION (A): Sustainable inclusive planning and development

Convener: Esin Özdemir Ulutaş (İzmir Institute of Technology)

11:00 Success in inclusion? How do policymakers in Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Gothenburg evaluate inclusive city policies?

This study investigates how policymakers evaluate the success of inclusive city policies, which aim to reduce urban disparities and foster equal opportunities across social, economic, spatial, environmental, and political dimensions. Despite their widespread adoption, many initiatives fall short of bridging the gap between ambitious goals and tangible outcomes. For instance, the Safer Cities Initiative has been criticized for deepening exclusion rather than fostering inclusion. Current evaluation methods, such as city rankings and crowd mapping, often fail to capture the nuanced interplay of quantitative and qualitative factors, while conflicting stakeholder expectations further complicate assessments. This highlights the need for more comprehensive and context-sensitive evaluation frameworks.

To address these challenges, this research explores inclusive policy evaluation in Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Gothenburg through a multidimensional framework encompassing process, programmatic, and political success. Drawing on 27 interviews with policymakers and supplementary secondary data, the findings suggest that while traditional tools like city indices and rankings provide insights into urban performance, they are often disconnected from real-world practices and struggle to measure the nuanced impacts of inclusive policies. Key dimensions of policy success reveal interrelated challenges: process success, requiring fair decision-making and broad participation, is frequently undervalued in evaluations; programmatic success often prioritizes measurable economic and spatial outcomes, neglecting the complexity of social inclusion; and political success, essential for sustaining and scaling policies, is frequently undermined by power struggles and political resistance. Furthermore, regional or externally funded initiatives tend to emphasize procedural compliance over substantive social outcomes, limiting their potential to meet inclusive policy goals.

Ultimately, the success of inclusive policies depends not only on visible outcomes but also on fostering inclusive processes, sustaining political commitment, and addressing diverse societal needs. By moving beyond binary judgments of success or failure, it offers practical insights for developing more effective and adaptive approaches to inclusive policy evaluation.

Speaker: Ms Run Zhao (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

11:10 A MODEL FOR MEASURING AND ASSESSING SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY: ANKARA DIKMEN VALLEY CASE STUDY

During the transformation and reconstruction of cities, the politics of sustainability has been adopted. Because of the focus on environmental and economic components of sustainability during urban interventions, problems of social inequalities, insufficiency, insecurity, social exclusion, and lack of social unity have been raised. Since the primary purpose of urban interventions is to improve the spatial structure, enhancing and maintaining social structure is essential in ensuring spatial sustainability. From this point of view, this paper focuses on measuring and assessing social sustainability before and after urban interventions. This paper presents a model that defines the key issues/criteria of social sustainability, the objectives and sub-objectives for achieving social sustainability, and the indicators to measure and evaluate them.
The universal model is based on a holistic approach that can be applied to all urban areas and scales. The model identifies 10 criteria for measuring social sustainability: demography and employment, accessibility, education and skills, health, sheltering, security, belonging, participation, social capital and social cohesion, urban life quality, satisfaction, and adequacy of services. In the scope of these criteria, 12 targets, 24 sub-targets, 45 indicators to evaluate their feasibility, and 72 indicator definitions are determined. Ankara Dikmen Valley has been selected as a case study for implementing the model. Dikmen Valley Housing and Environmental Development Project is the first multi-purpose urban development project; in other words, it is an urban regeneration project for slum areas and squatter settlements in Turkey. Dikmen Valley was chosen as the implementation area as it has been inhabited for more than 5 years. The project aims to improve living conditions there, emphasizing the participation of the right stakeholders and other stakeholders during the preparation and planning phases. In implementing the model for measuring and evaluating social sustainability in Dikmen Valley, all quantitative and qualitative data were obtained through spatial analyses and face-to-face interviews. These data were added as research findings to the dashboards defined for all criteria with the model proposal. The overall averages of the targets and sub-targets determined for each criterion were calculated, and the level of achievement of the targets and sub-targets was determined.
Although one of the main objectives and principles of the Dikmen Valley Housing and Environmental Development Project is "to eliminate the physical, social and cultural differences that prevent the integrity of the area by ensuring integration between segments", and the fact that the former rightful squatters in Dikmen Valley did not live in the valley after the implementation of the project, moved to other districts, and those who tried to live in the valley were exposed to many problems shows that the primary goal of the project could not be reached and failed.

Speaker: Dr Hilay Atalay

11:20 Navigating Urban Borderlands: A Brussels Case Study

The contribution revolves around the "Borderland Brussels" project (BCUS-VUB, 2020-2022) and further research-by-design explorations (Cosmopolis, 2023-2025) which examine urban borderlands—spaces defined by political, physical, and symbolic borders—through interdisciplinary research in urbanism, anthropology, and criminology. These borderlands, shaped by migration, exclusion, and tension, are vital sites for understanding the challenges faced by marginalized populations and discussing innovative planning for vulnerable groups. The project highlights the need to amplify the voices of these communities in urban planning.
By emphasizing the transactional nature of urban borderlands, where boundaries are not only physical but also social and symbolic, we interpret these spaces as fluid and porous, requiring interdisciplinary methodologies to fully grasp the dynamics of exclusion and precarization. The proposed participatory approach includes a key experimental method, displaying an urban intervention—an installation at the contested Les Brigittines Square (Brussels), designed for interaction and dialogue between different communities. This installation helped reveal social dynamics and offered insights into fostering coexistence in borderlands. The following workshops and research-by-design explorations discuss the findings and potential urban interventions, aiming at finalizing a methodological document with actions for inclusive urban planning.
By focusing on borderlands as sites of both conflict and potential transformation, the project contributes to rethinking urban spaces as inclusive and resilient, prioritizing marginalized voices and proposing urban interventions that enhance coexistence in cities.

Speaker: Prof. Fabio Vanin (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

11:30 A Study on the Optimization of Public Service Facilities in the '15-Minute Community Life Circle' Based on Equity: A Case Study of Wujiaochang District, Shanghai

As China continues to explore and implement the concept of the "15-Minute Community Life Circle," optimizing the equitable and inclusive distribution of resources has become a key issue in the regeneration and construction of community life circles. Studies found that, although the distribution of public service facilities in existing communities meets various indicators, there was a clear mismatch between the distribution of these facilities and the needs of different demographic groups. Vulnerable populations, in particular, often face difficulties in accessing equal public services due to constraints on their mobility or physical abilities. This phenomenon not only affects social equity but also hinders the core objective of improving residents' quality of life through community life circle development. This paper focuses on the fairness of resource access for vulnerable groups in Wujiaochang District, Shanghai, quantifies the differences in resource accessibility for different demographic groups, and proposes optimization strategies.The study first used GIS to analyze the spatial distribution of different populations in Wujiaochang District, then collected POI data on public service facilities, and analyzed the coverage area of these facilities. Based on this, a spatial analysis model was constructed, overlaying multiple layers to analyze the distribution of resources and populations. The study then quantitatively assessed the accessibility of facilities for different groups within walking and cycling ranges. Using time geography's ability constraints and authority systems, the network analysis method was employed to calculate the time cost for different groups to access various facilities, revealing the barriers faced by vulnerable groups in accessing resources. A regression model was further used to analyze the impact of income level, occupation, and age structure on accessibility disparities.The findings showed that inequities exist in the supply and demand of facilities in Wujiaochang District. Specifically, high-income and stable occupational groups have better access to resources and services compared to low-income and vulnerable groups. Spatially, there is a mismatch between population distribution and facility placement, leading to resource underutilization and waste. Functionally, some facilities are mono-functional, failing to meet the diverse needs of various populations. To address these issues, this study focused on Shanghai's ongoing projects such as 'People's Square' and 'Six Arts Pavilion,' which integrate multifunctional spaces and guide staggered usage. These projects significantly improve space utilization efficiency and service coverage, providing more convenient service access for vulnerable groups.Based on the above analysis, this paper proposes the following optimization strategies: First, improve the facility layout, enhance service capacity, and reduce usage disparities among different groups. Second, optimize underutilized spaces by promoting functional integration and incorporating time-planning paths. Additionally, at the policy level, strengthen support measures for vulnerable groups, such as targeted service provision and precise resource allocation, to lower barriers to accessing public resources. It is hoped that this research will provide valuable references for the development of community life circles in China and other regions, contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities).

Speaker: Ms Bowen Cui (Tongji University)

11:40 Measurement of In-Situ Urbanization Level and Analysis of Influencing Factors in the Suzhou - Wuxi - Changzhou Metropolitan Area in China

Sharing economic development achievements is crucial for urban inclusivity. As globalization progresses and the economy grows, urbanization has become a vital indicator for assessing the socio - economic development level of a region. As an inclusive urbanization model, in - situ urbanization centers on the interests and demands of the rural population, a disadvantaged group. It can reduce the migration costs and efficiently extend the scope of public welfare to a broader demographic. As a result, the rural population can actively participate in urban co - construction while also enjoying the fruits of urban development. Nevertheless, in China, the transition of the rural population into urban residents has not been smooth sailing. The rural population in cities not only lacks social welfare and material security, but also has no sense of identity and belonging, showing a tendency to be marginalized. Therefore, research on in - situ urbanization of the population is timely and significant. Presently, the Suzhou - Wuxi - Changzhou metropolitan area in China has basically entered the late phase of urbanization. What stands out is that in - situ urbanization, as the key mode of its urbanization, has been highly productive. It results in a slight difference between the urbanization rates of the permanent and registered populations. Simultaneously, the boundary of the urban - rural dual structure becomes blurred.

This study aims to measure the in - situ urbanization level of the population in the Suzhou - Wuxi - Changzhou metropolitan area and explore its influencing factors. Firstly, in conjunction with the national statistical data, the study analyzes the current situation and characteristics of rural population mobility. Then, according to different in-situ urbanization stages, the study determines four primary level measurement indicators from the participants' perspective: the urbanization of economic livelihood, social participation, personal qualities, and consciousness behavior. Each has three sub - indicators. Thereafter, the Equal - Weight Weighting Method is utilized to construct a citizenization level measurement model. Secondly, the Grounded Theory is applied to formulate a model of the influencing factors for the in - situ urbanization of the population. Meanwhile, the Structural Equation Model tests hypotheses and model validity on collected data, exploring the intensity and direction of the various factors. Finally, a comparative analysis of the implemented strategies is performed, aiming to help local governments formulate targeted and differentiated in - situ urbanization policies for the population.

The research results demonstrate that：
（1）In the Suzhou - Wuxi - Changzhou metropolitan area, the rural population's migration is infrequent and mostly local or near - by. After in - situ urbanization, the rural population has witnessed multifaceted enhancements. However, they are still concentrated in low - end urban jobs and have low acceptance of their citizen status.
（2）Among the influencing factors, the mismatch between the uniform policy supply and in - situ urbanization demand is the biggest hindrance. In addition, the rural population choose in-situ urbanization mainly to maximize personal comparative interests, especially when rural employment, income, social security, and local attachment outweigh urban equivalents.
（3）In response to these issues, the research suggests strategies like reforming the household registration system, perfecting the land system, strengthening social security, enhancing human capital and optimizing public services. These aim to transform the production, living, and residential patterns of the rural population, ensuring their equitable, all - around and sustainable development.

This study deeply grasped the complexity of in - situ urbanization and the rural population's true perspectives and needs. It offers a more viable development path for breaking the urban - rural divide, promoting balanced resource allocation, and enabling all to share urban development dividends.

Speaker: Ms Xuwei Zhao (Tongji University)

11:50 Transformative Planning for Sustainable Futures: Bridging Global Goals and Local Actions through Adaptive Frameworks

Abstract

Planning has been the key transformative action during these times of highly increasing global crises such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, and socio-economic inequality. We should not have blind pursuit of economic benefits; instead, we have to consider environmental ones during construction. It is not advisable to obtain high benefits at the expense of the environment. The following research searches for ways in which planning as a theoretical framework and instrument can catalyze systemic changes in urban and regional contexts. This research is especially relevant in light of the urgent gap between global environmental goals and strategies for their implementation at the local level, specifically in rapidly urbanizing areas.The interdisciplinary approach of the study combines insights from urban planning, environmental science, and social innovation. This research embarks on adopting both qualitative and quantitative approaches, such as case studies, spatial data analysis, and participatory workshops, to investigate the effectiveness of transformative planning practices in building up the needed resilience and sustainability. Three key dimensions are central to the analysis: governance innovation, community empowerment, and cocreation of adaptive infrastructure.Key findings suggest that transformative planning can orchestrate different actors, integrate sustainability in decision-making processes, and facilitate fair resource distribution. The present study thereby highlights the innovative potential of integrating such digital tools like AI-driven urban simulation and scenario planning into participatory processes for inclusive and dynamic planning outcomes.This paper contributes to the debate with a new "adaptive planning framework" that centers on flexibility, inclusivity, and a systems thinking approach. The framework gives policymakers and planners a guideline to address the complexity of global crises while striving toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Redefining the interrelationship between economic systems, ecological balance, and equity, planning can serve as an active driver for holistic and sustainable solutions to global crises.

Speaker: Ms YI ZHONG (Università IUAV di Venezia)

11:00 → 12:30 T_07 INCLUSION (O): Informality, migration, and inclusivity

Convener: Chandrima Mukhopadhyay (UN-Habitat India)

11:00 Grassroots Organizations and Informal Sector: A Study of the Hawker Sangram Committee in Kolkata, India.

The informal economy, comprising a wide range of unregulated economic activities, provides jobs for almost two billion of the world’s workers today. In developing nations, such as India, this share is around 90%. As the informal economy dominates the world’s employment and the nature of urbanization, it also creates challenges, especially
in developing countries, to comprehend and control informality. Informal employment does not strictly adhere to national legislation, income taxation, social security, or employment benefits and, therefore, is prone to injustice, human rights, and labor moralities. In India, almost two-thirds of the workers are in the informal sector; around 89% of such workers reside below the poverty level, and about 80% live in cities. Vending and hawking in urban streets are India’s most popular forms of informal self-employment and are a crucial source of income for many in the dearth of organized sector jobs.

Government initiatives to address the needs of such informal vendors are inadequate, and hence, in India and other Global South countries, Grassroots Organizations (GROs) play a crucial role in institutionalizing such informality. The GRO, Hawker Sangram Committee (HSC) in Kolkata, India, united hawkers’ unions across the city, state, and country, formed the National Hawker Federation, and passed the 2014 Street Vendors Act, legalizing street hawking and vending in the country. This study aims to understand how GROs like HSC work and their roles in the context of informal street vendors and hawkers when formal means of legitimization are unavailable. The study employs a comprehensive multi-method approach, including an archival study of old newspaper articles and working documents of HSC; interviews with HSC board members, selected union leaders, and their member hawkers; and observation and photo documentation of their daily operations, protests, and rallies, and their hawking and vending practices.

The study finds that HSC contributes to legalizing informal street vendors and hawkers at two levels. At the macro level, HSC’s state and national initiatives have solved grassroots issues more permanently and universally. At this level, HSC acts as a mediator between the government, the public, and the hawkers; an advocate for hawkers’ welfare and rights; a facilitator of structured protest for the legalization of hawkers; a resource builder to gather intellectual help for grassroots activism; and a trust builder between the marginalized and the government. At the micro-level, HSC addresses the needs of the unions and the hawkers, who do not have or require government intervention. Here, HSC performs as an arbitrator solving the issues of hawkers and unions locally; a social entrepreneur innovating new ways of vending and hawking to keep up with the changing society; a local problem solver mitigating local issues without government interventions; a housekeeper regulating in-house hawkers and maintaining their goodwill in the society; and a bookkeeper documenting hawkers’ registrations, licensing, events, protests, policies, and workings. HSC’s efforts to legitimize informal street hawkers in India have been unique, unprecedented, and revolutionary. Although the actual implementation of the Act is still underway, HSC’s journey since its inception tells the story of how GROs operate to address grassroots social issues, in this case, to legitimize the hawkers. As the informal sector is expected to grow with global urbanization, recognizing GROs’ roles in supporting marginalized individuals can provide useful policy insights to governments, practitioners, and scholars across nations.

Speaker: Dr Binita Mahato (Auburn University)

11:10 Immigrant Housing and Cultural Practices as a Change Factor in Current Density and Price Distribution of New York

The metropolises of many nations are experiencing constant splintering of their districts. This splintering brings along housing and cultural diversity as well as distribution of density across the urban landscape of cities. In most North American countries, it has been identified that these outcomes are triggered by two major forms of segregation as it is manifested on the ground: natural segregation and artificial segregation (including systemic segregation). Among three selected neighborhoods (at the suburb-Mount Vernon, the interstice -Parkchester and the city core-South Bronx) in New York City, this paper adopts the transect point analysis method to explore the formation of these two forms of segregation and how they can help us understand how the new diverse silicon-valley-like global nodes could look like. These nodes represent spaces of immigrants' livelihoods. Here, I argue that we may be presenting an inaccurate depiction of the housing density/price from the core to the periphery since immigrants' culture and housing practices could change our analysis of housing density. This could also enable us to plan the heterogeneous, 'appropriately' compact and diverse smart city that could be developed bottom-up. Thus, my research question is: How does the housing practices of New York residents change our depiction of the housing density/price distribution?

Speaker: Kwadwo Gyan (University of Arizona)

11:20 Study on the Construction and Inheritance of Rural Models in Shaanxi North from the Perspective of Human-Land Emotional Bonds

In the Shaanxi North region of China, the unique loess terrain and crisscrossing gullies have fostered a deep emotional connection between its inhabitants and the land, a phenomenon known as topophilia, which refers to the strong bond people share with their environment[1]. However, the rapid urbanization of this area has challenged traditional construction models and conventional spatial layouts, leading to issues in rural construction such as the uncritical adoption of urban design principles, the abandonment of traditional spaces, and the erosion of local building techniques. These issues have resulted in the inefficiency and unattractiveness of rural spaces, particularly due to the neglect of local culture and residents’ emotional needs[2,3].
This study highlights the importance of understanding the affective relationship between people and land in addressing these challenges, while also preserving and revitalizing traditional models of rural space. It investigates the motivations behind rural space construction in the Shaanxi North region, focusing on the emotional bonds between residents and their environment. Through interviews, surveys, and analysis, the study identifies the cultural significance and emotional needs associated with spatial features such as alleys, gullies, hillside elevations, and courtyards, which are integral to traditional construction models[4].
By employing qualitative methods, the study creates a knowledge map of human-land affective bonds in the region, emphasizing the value of traditional spatial layouts. It incorporates affective mapping tools and spatial narrative techniques, integrating affective data from social surveys with spatial data through Public Participation GIS (PPGIS)[5]. This results in an affective cartography that maps the emotional bonds between people and their environment, while also honoring traditional models[6]. The study also draws on rural reconstruction practices, proposing strategies for developing settlement areas that respect and enhance the local sense of place, incorporating elements of traditional construction models into a more empathetic and inclusive framework for rural development.

Speaker: Mr Huan Liu (Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology)

11:30 Peripheralization as process: shrinkage of small towns in metropolitan area——Case study of Shanghai

Amidst the tide of global competition, the evolution of metropolitan regions and the associated phenomena of polarization and peripheralization have garnered increasing scholarly and policy attention. As urbanization and regional integration advance, Shanghai's central urban district has witnessed continuous expansion, with its competitiveness and influence in land use dynamics, industrial development, and talent attraction progressively intensifying. Nevertheless, the peripheral rural areas of Shanghai and the dispersed small towns therein are not also developing at the same pace. In fact, some small suburban towns are going through shrinkage, characterized by demographic decline, industrial atrophy, and spatial Degeneration.
This shrinkage phenomenon has further exacerbated the erosion of the power base of small suburban towns within urban areas, leading to the loss of their developmental resources and voice, thereby engendering a downward spiral of peripheralization. At the economic level, the process of peripheralization has led to the exclusion to small towns and rural area from the core of the region, the developmental disparity between small suburban towns and central urban areas has widened further, the manifestation of spatially uneven development has become more pronounced, and residents from different communities have experienced increased inequities in employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. At the social level, the process of peripheralization has accelerated the loss of community identity. Local residents have gradually been displaced, resulting in spatial social divisions and a reduction in social inclusiveness.
This study elucidates the dilemmas confronted by these small suburban towns in Shanghai from the perspective of peripheralization. It delineates the dynamics of peripheralization in small suburban towns on one hand, and on the other, it investigates the role of government decision-making, planning instruments, and the interactions among multiple stakeholders. Specifically, it examines how these factors influence the process of peripheralization in small suburban towns, and explores how the process of peripheralization leading to the exclusion in metropolitan region.

Speaker: Ms Shuo Han (Tongji University)

11:40 Research on the Needs of the Elderly in Urban Renewal of Old Communities: A Case Study of Nanjing

With the increasing severity of aging issues, the demand of the elderly for a better quality of life has been growing. However, the needs of the elderly in urban areas have not received sufficient attention. Old communities, as places where elderly people gather, are facing the challenge of outdated conditions that fail to meet the needs of their residents. In the context of urban transformation, how to ensure the interests of the elderly during the urban renewal of old communities, within the framework of stock planning, has become a critical issue in current research.
This study first summarizes the needs of the elderly at three levels—urban, neighborhood, and residential—through a literature review. It then analyzes the current conditions of urban renewal in Nanjing using GIS technology and literature research. Furthermore, a hierarchical analysis method and questionnaire survey were employed to construct an evaluation index system for urban renewal based on the needs of the elderly. Field surveys and interviews were conducted to collect data on the elderly's satisfaction with existing renewal projects, followed by fuzzy evaluation to analyze the results.
The results show that the demand for urban public service facilities among the elderly in Nanjing follows a "centralized core—dispersed periphery" pattern. The physical space of old communities lags behind the needs of the elderly, and many residential buildings are of poor quality, urgently requiring renovation. The elderly prioritize the urban level of needs, although the importance of the three levels does not differ significantly. Analysis of survey data indicates a generally low satisfaction level with the current renewal projects, suggesting the need for further improvements to better meet the elderly’s needs.
Urban renewal models for old communities, based on the needs of the elderly, should consider multi-level demands, focusing on the improvement of urban facilities, neighborhood spaces, and residential environments to enhance the quality of life for the elderly. The findings provide valuable experiences and references for future urban renewal planning, particularly in designing renewal strategies that address the specific needs of the elderly population.

Speaker: Jingyu Xiong (Tongji University)

11:50 Equity-Oriented Optimization of Public Space Supply-Demand in Aging Communities: A Behavioral Perspective on Elderly Residents

With socioeconomic development, China's urbanization has transitioned from incremental expansion to a focus on improving quality and efficiency through stock renewal. As one of the most prevalent forms of urban public space, community public spaces have become a critical component of urban construction in this new era. Due to physiological and psychological decline, the behavioral characteristics and influencing factors of elderly individuals differ significantly from those of children, youth, and middle-aged adults. Moreover, the accelerated aging process, combined with variations in health status, living habits, and socioeconomic conditions, results in greater differences among elderly individuals themselves than between elderly and non-elderly populations. These internal differences are particularly pronounced in aging communities. While differences in the demands of elderly and non-elderly populations have received some attention, variations in the demands of elderly residents across different age groups remain underexplored. Shanghai, the city with the highest aging population in China, is actively promoting the "15-Minute Community Life Circle" initiative to optimize the configuration of community public spaces. This initiative aims to provide essential services and public activity spaces within a walkable radius of residents' homes. However, in some aging communities, optimization efforts have revealed mismatches between the supply of public spaces and the actual demands of elderly residents. For instance, newly developed neighborhood green spaces often experience low utilization, while informal spaces located near facilities such as bike repair stations, locksmith shops, and residential entrances consistently attract frequent gatherings of elderly residents. This discrepancy highlights a misalignment between the supply of public spaces and the actual demands of elderly users, particularly regarding spatial allocation, quantity, and functional accessibility. This study focuses on the supply-demand mismatch of public spaces in aging communities, selecting the Yinhang Community in Shanghai as the research area. Yinhang Community, with an aging population rate of 47.69%, covers an area of approximately 7.98 km² and houses a permanent population of about 194,100. Based on an analysis of 1,016 field survey questionnaires, the study explores behavioral differences among elderly residents of different age groups in their use of public spaces. To further investigate, the study applies an improved two-step floating catchment area model, the MGH3SFCA model, to quantitatively assess how spatiotemporal behavioral differences among elderly residents affect public space accessibility. The results reveal significant differences in spatiotemporal behavior among elderly residents of different age groups. Walking distance is primarily constrained by physiological age, while activity frequency is influenced by the type of public space. Ignoring the differences in maximum walking distance and activity frequency across different times of day can result in an overestimation of public space accessibility for nearly 70% of residential units with elderly residents (). Furthermore, the layout of formal public spaces significantly impacts accessibility for elderly residents, while imbalances in accessibility contribute to the emergence of informal public spaces. Incorporating often-overlooked informal public spaces into the formal public space system can help optimize public space configurations in aging communities, improving equitable accessibility for elderly residents, especially those in advanced age groups.

Speaker: Dr RUOTONG ZHANG (Tongji University)

12:00 The Demand-Supply Measurement of Youth Development-Oriented Cities Based on the Characteristics of Generation Z: A Case Study of Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou

Due to the influence of social generational shifts and the specific life stage of individuals, Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) exhibits distinctive characteristics in consumption attitudes(Noor, 2017), lifestyles, and areas of interest(Lee and Eun Hak Lee, 2024). As the most dynamic and creative human capital group in modern society, Generation Z plays a pivotal role in urban innovation, entrepreneurship, productivity, and economic growth(Jiang and Hong, 2021). However, under the urban development model driven primarily by economic growth, capital accumulation and productivity enhancement often become the dominant factors in policy decisions and urban spatial planning. As a result, the youth demographic faces a dilemma in major cities, where the cost of living does not align with their income, and their needs for employment, housing, and social interaction are often unmet or deprioritized(Kolomatsky, 2022).As urbanization in China enters its middle and later stages and the demographic dividend gradually fades, it becomes crucial to construct youth development-oriented cities based on the specific needs and characteristics of Generation Z. This approach can effectively balance economic growth with social welfare needs, enhancing the inclusivity and attractiveness of cities to the younger population.
This study summarizes the characteristics of Generation Z, which include high educational attainment, high individualism, virtualized and fragmented socialization, and a strong pursuit of self-actualization. From these characteristics, a youth-oriented urban development framework is constructed from both demand and supply dimensions. This framework includes three evaluative levels: "basic growth, relational cohesion, and developmental leap." Empirical research is conducted on three regional central cities in China—Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Nanjing—to assess the degree of alignment between the satisfaction of youth needs and the supply of urban factors, providing theoretical and methodological insights for advancing youth development-oriented cities .
The evaluation results indicate that all three cities—Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou—exhibit varying degrees of mismatched supply and demand. Specifically, Hangzhou performs the best in meeting the needs of Generation Z, with the highest alignment between youth demands and the provision of urban resources. In contrast, Shanghai, while relatively rich in supply factors, demonstrates a lower satisfaction level on the demand side, suggesting a mismatch in the targeting and precision of spatial resources and service provision. Shanghai needs to improve the directionality and adaptability of its supply to better meet the diverse needs of the youth demographic. On the other hand, Nanjing shows a higher satisfaction with demand-side factors but faces a shortage in supply, reflecting the city's greater attention to the needs of young people but insufficient provision of resources in housing, employment, and public services. Overall, the differences in urban space planning and resource supply across the three cities highlight the varying strengths and weaknesses in addressing the needs of the youth population, indicating the necessity for targeted optimization and adjustment based on the unique characteristics of each city.

Speaker: Ms Keyi Sun (Southeast University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_08 EDUCATION AND SKILLS: Core Issues in Planning Curricula

Convener: Prof. Turgay Kerem Koramaz (Istanbul Technical University)

11:00 Planning education between hybridization and transdisciplinarity: towards a ‘specialized generalist’

Despite the complex and interdependent nature of contemporary and future urban challenges, which certainly require a comprehensive and integrated approach, planning education needs to provide students with specific analytical and operational competences. Furthermore, the role of planners has evolved significantly in the past decades: no longer envisioned as all-powerful visionaries, they are now expected to navigate specialized professional environments, while adapting to increasingly complex, multidisciplinary settings (Mazza, 2013).
Nevertheless, despite the persistent limitations to specialization in many educational settings, it has, in certain cases, led to detrimental forms of hyper-specialization, leading to excessive fragmentation of knowledge bases, professional training, and policy approaches (Signoroni, 2024). Such educational framework undermines a planners’ capability of understanding interdependent urban processes, increases the theory-practice gap and impinges on the risk of further isolating academia and expert knowledge (Palermo, 2014; Signoroni, 2022). Additionally, it exacerbates the current difficulties in collaboration between different actors, leading to a form of multidisciplinarity where individuals work in parallel, even within heterogeneous teams, without achieving true integration of knowledge and skills.
Such pernicious mechanisms of sectorization and compartmentalization are the result of failing educational practices, which require a paradigm shift. Hybridization between different fields such as, for instance, traditional planning and ecology, could lead to more effective and efficient ways of understanding and tackling urban issues by integrating new approaches with traditional ones, and replacing obsolete practices in education and beyond.
Here, a form of “specialized generalist” is proposed: someone able to specialize in a specific subfield (e.g. ecological planning), which results from hybridization between disciplines, but simultaneously manages to comprehend the multifaced nature of the urban, and how choices taken in specific fields may relate to each other. Such an approach would mitigate the risks associated with both excessively broad and overly specific curricula, which may lead to low job attractiveness on the one hand, and limited career choice and resilience in the job market on the other. Both extremes have led and lead to inadequacy in fulfilling the tasks that planners are supposed to accomplish.
Hybridization and transdisciplinarity in urban planning curricula should focus primarily on two main issues: mastery of the specific tools of planning and a reduction of the theory-practice gap.
The specialized generalist applies their knowledge to specific topics within planning practice (Bonfantini, 2024) by mastering the tools that define our disciplinary field: projects, plans (particularly urban codes), and policies. Tools that remain at the core of planning even in the most radical, transformative proposals (Moroni, 2010). Hybridization would allow for a critical understanding of such tools, their scope and their conventional application, strengthening the planner’s role in what seems to have become a highly contested field of knowledge and practice, resulting in the partial marginality of such figure (Bonfantini, 2023).
To enable a goal-oriented approach and governance of the tools, educators should substantially reduce the current gap between theoretical and practical training. Courses aimed at developing practical, project-oriented knowledge (e.g. urban design studios) should be supplemented with a greater theoretical background (e.g. composition). Likewise, theoretical coursework focusing on understanding current planning phenomena from an analytical perspective (e.g. urban policy/codes analysis) should encourage students to develop proposals (e.g. policy design), not by oversimplifying the complexity of such tasks, but by exposing them to real-world challenges.
The study draws upon existing literature and is informed by a targeted and qualitative comparative analysis of case studies from multiple planning schools across Europe. The paradigm shift underpinning this study would be reflected in more integrated curricula, combining theoretical and practical knowledge, while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among transdisciplinary-educated, specialized generalists.

Speaker: Mr Alessandro Maisano (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano)

11:10 Bridging Theory and Practice: Peer Learning as a Pedagogical Approach to Teaching Planning Theory

One central challenge in planning theory education is connecting planning theory and practice. Planning theory literature is often difficult to comprehend, since its language can resemble an expert discourse, encoded and inaccessible to many readers (Thompson, 2000). Consequently, conventional lecture-based courses might not foster deep learning of planning theory. Furthermore, there are several challenges in the pedagogy of planning theory. For example, Frank (2002) emphasizes the need for teaching methods that allow students to observe planning in action and improve their understanding of the planning outcomes. Frank also underscores the challenge of maintaining an inspiring learning environment. Similarly, Olsen (2018) argues that engaging students in role-playing can enable them to grapple with the practical implications of planning theory and foster their development as reflective practitioners. Furthermore, Chen (2024) shows how peer-learning fosters student interaction, promotes open communication, and enhances students’ confidence (Chen, 2024).

This article examines the pedagogical methods used in a planning theory course delivered during the 2024–2025 academic year. This course is offered to master’s students from diverse academic backgrounds. It incorporates peer-learning and teamwork on international case studies, which encourages collaborative problem-solving and exposes students to multiple perspectives on planning theory and practice. The course fosters a supportive and stimulating environment that encourages discussions and debates, while offering diverse tasks involving individual, pair and teamwork. These tasks support students to demonstrate different knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards planning, for example, presentations, case study analysis or thematic essays. They also enable students to employ the planning theory lens to understand actions taken by planning bodies. The article employs observation of the learning process, analysis of the course design, and students’ feedback on their learning experiences.

For students, this course offers an exploratory atmosphere, enabling them to apply abstract planning theories to cases from real-world, critically evaluate alternative approaches, and engage in creative, problem idintification. It further broadens their geographic and institutional knowledge, and prepares them for their professional careers.

Instructors act as facilitators, creating an open environment while exploring concepts students find challenging to grasp or implement. This initiative positions Aalto University’s Department of Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning courses as an innovative approach to planning education, which contributes to a repository of planning-specific cases and connecting theory to societal interests. By embedding peer-based learning and practice-oriented case studies in the course, this approach aims to enhance professional judgment and inspire creative solutions to the pressing challenges faced by planners today.

The contributions of this article are multifaceted. First, bridging the gap between theory and practice prepares future planners as reflective practitioners. Second, examining the evolution of planning theory provides a critical perspective on various schools of thought, highlighting their limitations and critiques. Third, analyzing case studies empowers learners to confidently engage with theory. Fourth, combining peer-learning in a seminar environment and teamworking enhances learner-centred education. Finally, allowing freedom in task selection fosters leadership and authorship among learners.

Speakers: Dr Christine Mady (Senior University Lecturer/Aalto University), Dr Hossam Hewidy (Senior University Lecturer/Aalto University)

11:20 Urban planning: how to introduce the discipline?

In this paper I look back on the process of writing a handbook, intended to introduce the discipline of urban planning to bachelor’s and master’s students in Flanders and Brussels (Belgium). For many of these students, particularly those enrolled in programmes of architecture or geography, this handbook serves as their sole introduction to the field within their curriculum. The challenge was therefore to cover the breadth of topics that constitute the field in an exceptionally compact format, while maintaining minimum standards of theoretical framing, and staying attuned to the territorial, cultural and institutional peculiarities of the context of Flanders and Brussels. The book draws inspiration from classic handbooks, including those by Peter Hall and Mark Tewdwr-Jones, as well as Chris Couch, while aligning to a local tradition of reflecting on the built and non-built environment. Its intended audience extends beyond students to include local policymakers and civil society, and it is therefore written in Dutch. The present paper reflects on the considerations that shaped the book and aims to stimulate discussion on creating and updating teaching materials.

Speaker: Dr Kobe Boussauw (Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research)

11:30 A Map of Planning - How spatial planning is taught and researched around the world

Since its beginnings more than a century ago, the discipline of planning has developed into an academic field relevant in research, teaching and practice. For a long time, however, planning was merely understood as a practical problem-oriented part of engineering work. It was "trapped inside a modernist instrumental rationalism" (Healey 1997: 7). In the 1960s controversial debates began about the relationship between planning and politics, about the understanding of values in planning and about the legitimacy of planning statements. Since then, planning has – at least partly – shifted from planning as a design-based art to planning as a (social) science (Davoudi, Pendlebury 2010).
This paper examines how spatial planning is taught and researched today at planning schools around the world. The empirical basis is formed by selected major planning schools on all continents and their study programs. According to UN Habitat (2009), the only report that attempts to provide an inventory of planning education at the university level worldwide, there were back then 550 universities in 81 countries that offered planning degrees. Today, there are likely to be many more. Any empirical work must therefore be selective.
In the research project presented here, a list of 20 major planning schools in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Australia was therefore compiled in consultation with the continental associations of planning schools – AAPS, ACSP, AESOP, ALEUP, ANZAPS and APSA – and on the basis of a desk research. Between October 2023 and May 2024, ten planning schools on all six continents were visited to conduct semi-structured interviews with faculty members as well as students and to observe classes. At the beginning of 2025, an additional online survey was conducted at a total of twenty planning schools worldwide.
The paper presents a comparative overview of the results of the empirical research. Despite the sometimes dramatically different issues that spatial planning has to deal with in different parts of the world, the research indicates that planning education is remarkably similar and that the conceptual and theoretical understanding of spatial planning is surprisingly homogenous – despite the lack of a global canon of standard textbooks. The homogenizing influence of standards such as the AESOP core curriculum (Frank, Koll-Schretzenmayr 2024) and the PAB accreditation standards is evident, as is the Anglo-American hegemony in literature (Stiftel, Mukhopadhyay 2007) and the significant increase in international cooperation and networking in the field (Haghani 2023).
The presented research ultimately produced a map of planning as a discipline that provides an overview of what is understood by planning in different parts of the world and how the travelling concept of planning changes as it travels. It includes various aspects of applied planning (comprehensive planning, sectoral planning, instruments) and of the foundations of planning (basic disciplines, theories, methods).

Speaker: Prof. Thorsten Wiechmann (TU Dortmund)

11:40 What kind of planning are we preparing students for…and are we succeeding?

As planning emerged as a profession, the education and training of aspiring planners in universities has become a hallmark of this recognition. This has always involved debates and sometimes tension between the expectations of professional bodies (initially for architecture and engineering before the establishment of planning professional bodies) and the pedagogic principles of host universities. In more recent decades governments and civil society institutions (from neighbourhood groups to bodies like AESOP) have become more articulate in their views about planning and their expectations of planners.
As in other fields these debates include the appropriate balance between a general education and professional training, between the acquisition of theoretical and practical knowledge and between classroom and ‘real world’ learning environments.
This presentation begins by surveying some of the trends in the terms of these debates over the last century and the changes in prevailing wisdom about the various balances referred to above. It then presents a case study of planning education in Australia, a country struggling to come to terms with its colonial past and the role of planning in those processes. It is also a country where planning initially adopted many of the principles of early 20th-century British town and country planning and has since come to recognise both its geopolitical location in the Asia Pacific region and the potential value of Indigenous knowledge and traditions of environmental management.
In many parts of Australia at present, university-based planning programs accredited by the Planning Institute of Australia are struggling to enrol students in the numbers expected by their host institutions and are closing. Paradoxically, this is at a time when the demand for qualified planners is very high and the employers of planning students in both the public and private sectors report serious problems of recruitment and retention.
The presentation considers whether existing programs are offering sufficiently inspiring curricula and whether more radical offerings have the potential to not only attract more students but also to prepare them better to work successfully as planners committed to and capable of leading transformative action in an age of planetary crisis.
The presentation draws on my experience as a planning academic teaching courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and as an active member of the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), on both its National Education Committee and as chair of the Education sub-Committee of PIA’s Queensland Division.

Speaker: Prof. Paul Burton (Griffith University)

11:50 Advancing Transdisciplinary Planning Education for Future Cities: European University Alliance PIONEER

In an era of increasing environmental volatility, socio-economic disparities, and demographic shifts, planning education, research, and knowledge transfer have become essential components of a robust response to contemporary urban and regional challenges. Traditional planning curricula often emphasize specialized technical skills in isolation from the interconnected realities of climate change, migration, food insecurity, and uneven development. However, the urgency of current crises reveals the need for more holistic educational models that prepare future professionals to navigate these complex terrains through interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative pedagogies, and engagement with diverse stakeholders.
This contribution explores how European university networks—exemplified by alliances such as PIONEER, oriented toward SDG 11—are transforming planning education through transdisciplinary approaches. Rather than focusing solely on disciplinary silos, these alliances foster integrative competencies that blend urban policy, environmental science, design thinking, and social engagement (Butler et al., 2012). By doing so, they respond more effectively to rising urban vulnerabilities, whether related to climate adaptation or socio-economic inequality. These initiatives build on impact-driven collaborations identified by Harrison et al. (2016) and Maassen et al. (2023), which highlight the growing relevance of transregional alliances in shaping new institutional geographies of higher education.
A core feature of this evolving landscape is the emphasis on reflective and challenge-based learning, where real-world scenarios become living laboratories for pedagogy and research (Adamson et al., 2018). Students and faculty work alongside policy-makers, local communities, and industry actors to co-produce knowledge, translating academic expertise into context-specific solutions. Such collaborative engagements anchor educational experiences in tangible issues—such as extreme weather events, forced displacement, or public health crises—while reinforcing the socio-political skills needed to facilitate inclusive and equitable urban transformations (Adger, 2003; Baker et al., 2012). By embedding Schön’s (1987) concept of reflective practice into the curriculum, these alliances encourage critical thinking, adaptability, and a willingness to challenge established paradigms.
Knowledge transfer mechanisms play a pivotal role in this process. Liaison offices—for instance, those based in Brussels—help universities secure competitive funding and align their programs with broader European policy directives (European Commission, 2021). They also serve as critical bridges between academic institutions and transnational governance arenas, facilitating dialogues around pressing urban issues. Through such offices, alliances can pursue strategic partnerships, tapping into the Recovery and Resilience Facility (Next Generation EU, 2021) and other instruments that enable cross-border research consortia and project-based learning. These networks thus ensure that educational innovations remain financially viable and policy-relevant, while advancing a culture of scholarly collaboration and pragmatic problem-solving.
By integrating planning education, rigorous research, and strategic knowledge transfer, universities are laying a new foundation for addressing complex urban challenges. This synergy strengthens the academic core of planning programs and broadens their social impact, ensuring that graduates gain not only theoretical acumen but also practical, adaptive skills. The resultant epistemological shift departs from traditional lecture-based instruction and moves toward a model where co-production of knowledge, cultural awareness, and stakeholder engagement form the bedrock of the learning experience (Schön, 1987; Webster, 2008). From this perspective, the experience of alliances like PIONEER demonstrates that planning education, when informed by diverse perspectives and grounded in real-world challenges, can both respond to and actively shape more sustainable, equitable, and resilient urban futures.

Speaker: Cristina Catalanotti (Università Iuav di Venezia)

11:00 → 12:30 T_09 URBAN FUTURES: Narratives in planning-critical perspectives

Convener: Mete Basar BAYPINAR (Istanbul University , Urban Policy Applied Research Center)

11:00 “Possibility Design”: accepting indeterminacy, irreversibility and complexity in urban policy-making

Since Leibniz, the conceptual construct of “possible worlds” has been widely used to understand what is thinkable, necessary, or contingent. The creation of alternate versions of reality is particularly important for whoever has to test and evaluate different choices, events and natural laws that might exist, so as to examine moral dilemmas and metaphysical questions before putting them into practice. Architects and planners are engaged in world-building activities by definition, and planning academics increasingly resort to “possible world” narratives, proposing specific ideas of “the good”, “most fit”, and “the urban” itself. In this paper, the concept of “possibility design” is introduced not to discuss which “possible worlds” are to be reached but to explore the “world of the possible” without the presumption to predict or prescribe a precise state of affairs. The central focus is on human possibilities, assuming that their nature and expansion are largely influenced by cities and that cities themselves are expressions of human possibilities. To argue so, this paper illustrates how “possibility design” affects both the conception and development of specific domains of spatial design (e.g. mobility infrastructures, building activities, welfare policies). The main challenges for urban “possibility designers” are essentially two: (i) recognizing human activities as a search and combination of possibilities and (ii) supporting human activities across space and time. A critical discussion follows, highlighting the main descriptive and normative implications at stake. On the one hand, exploring the “world of the possible” requires accepting indeterminacy and dynamicity as essential elements of complex systems – especially man-made ones. On the other hand, desiring to seriously expand, differentiate and protect “human possibilities” requires going beyond concerns of precise calculation.

Speaker: Dr Anita De Franco (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Polytechnic University of Milan)

11:10 The Evolution of Dominant Stories in Rural Spatial Planning: A Memetic Perspective

The increasing emphasis on participatory planning processes has highlighted the importance of communicative approaches to engage stakeholders (Hajer & Zonneveld, 2000). Within this context, planning theorists have underscored the value of storytelling, both as a tool for and an outcome of planning (see Van Hulst, 2012). This ‘narrative turn’ in spatial planning (Ameel et al., 2023) shifts the focus from planning as a technical task to an ongoing process of co-creating, negotiating, and sharing stories about places and their futures. From this perspective, spatial planning can be understood as a dynamic, open-ended storytelling process, seeking common ground to guide decisions about spatial development.

A dominant story emerges when diverse perspectives and interests converge in the search for a shared narrative that guides the spatial development of a place (Ameel et al., 2023). The dominant story is not static or final; rather, it is a continuously evolving synthesis of ideas shaped by ongoing dialogue between spatial actors. It reflects a collective search for joint understanding into ‘what is’ and ‘what ought to be’ (Van Hulst, 2012). Over time, the dominant story shapes how the physical environment is understood, which spatial decisions are made, and how change (or conservation) is implemented (Ameel et al., 2023).

While much of the literature on storytelling in planning has focused on urban political processes (Van Hulst, 2012), this paper extends the discussion to rural contexts. Rural areas face numerous complex spatial and social challenges, with stakeholders often diverging in their views on the best path forward. In such settings, the collaborative search process and evolution of a dominant story can provide clarity and direction, helping to reconcile conflicting interests and shape collaborative decisions. Achieving this convergence, however, requires deliberate facilitation to encourage dialogue, align stakeholder values, and create shared frames of reference (Lindhout et al., 2024).

Despite the growing recognition of storytelling’s role in planning, epistemological challenges persist regarding its definition and measurement. The perspective that storytelling is a core element of planning itself emphasizes that planning is fundamentally a cultural activity of collective meaning-making. Drawing from the influential works of Richard Dawkins (1976), Aaron Lynch (1996), Susan Blackmore (2000) and Malcolm Gladwell (2000), this paper adopts a memetic perspective to explore how the content of stories evolve and spread during a rural spatial planning process. When storytelling is viewed through a lens of memetics, a dominant story emerges as a synthesis of replicating cultural messages and ideas—or ‘memes’—that actively shape the planning discourse.

The paper explores how a dominant story evolves throughout a planning process, applying the memetic lense. The research is guided by three research questions: (I) What memes can be identified during the planning process? (II) When do these memes emerge, adapt, align, and/or fade? And (III) what contextual conditions, factors, or events influence the evolution of the dominant story? A case study approach is employed, focusing primarily on document analysis of materials related to a visionary rural area development process: the Holwerd aan Zee (Holwerd by the Sea) project, located in the north of the Netherlands.

Although the analysis is ongoing, this paper argues that memes can serve as proxies for internal cognitive processes and as indicators of storytelling within spatial planning. By tracing memes throughout the planning process, this research aims to provide insights into how dominant stories evolve and shape rural spatial development.

Speaker: Ms Nika Lindhout (University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial Sciences)

11:20 Evolutionary Urbanism: changing mindsets and innovative narratives for future cities

Cities and urban spaces worldwide and in South Africa are changing rapidly. New challenges confront planners in dealing with these changes in ways that will consider the future well-being of the planet and its people. Cities, precincts and public spaces need to adapt and transform to address the challenges of rapid urbanisation, densification, climate change, social conflict, exclusion, and disconnection from nature. In a time of planetary crisis and human suffering, cities must adopt alternative approaches to prioritise people and the planet.
As transformative and often disruptive action and forced to deal with complex challenges, Planning relies on strong narratives to inspire and move actors in the most appropriate direction. Old habits clash with new visions, while technological innovation offers hope and hazards. For example, in South Africa, post-apartheid planning and development policies have repeatedly called for spatial transformation to address many of the abovementioned challenges. However, 30 years after the dawn of democracy, most of the interventions reflect signs of spatial redistribution, with limited evidence of spatial adaptation and regeneration. Social conflict, exclusion and disconnection with nature remain critical in the context of growing urbanization, poverty and inequality. Although international debates highlight the importance of regenerative sustainability, there is still limited evidence of that being promoted and implemented in South Africa.
Building on local planning debates and trends in South Africa, juxtaposed with growing international work on regenerative sustainability, this paper is an experiment to introduce a new narrative towards transformative planning actions. The presentation highlights the need to move beyond a simplistic interpretation of transformation to a more nuanced reading of continuous evolution. The paper proposes the notion of evolutionary urbanism and its supporting principles to allow nature and humans to heal and thrive, harnessing the power of adaptation and regeneration. The discussion argues that evolutionary urbanism could assist in re-orientating planners and other key stakeholders towards more equitable and just futures in rapidly changing cities.

Speaker: Prof. Karina Landman

11:30 Breaking Old Patterns: The Transformative Role of Innovation in Shaping Regional Trajectories in CEE

Complex interactions between various actors including state institutions, private enterprises and civic organizations shape the socio-spatial transformation of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This study explores the role of innovation as a transformative force in regional futures within the CEE context. The CEE region’s transition from socialist economies to market-driven development has led to uneven regional growth, socio-spatial polarization and shifting patterns of urbanization (Scott & Kühn, 2012; Nagy et al., 2022; Rácz & Egyed, 2023). These structural shifts have created disparities in economic development, infrastructure and regional integration, with former industrial regions experiencing significant economic decline while urban cores undergo rapid transformation (Tsenkova, 2003; Bouzarovski et al., 2017).
The idea of creating something entirely new—disrupting old paradigms of thought and problem-solving—generates excitement at both the individual and institutional levels. There has been an ongoing push to rethink how we produce knowledge, create products and design innovative spaces. In theory, innovation presents itself as a solution, a force capable of pulling industries, firms, local production centers and entire regions out of developmental stagnation. However, the process is not as straightforward. However, the discourse on innovation allows us to rethink developmental dead ends from multiple perspectives. Cultural, social and political contexts deeply embedded in localities are crucial considerations for planners when formulating policy solutions.
Against this backdrop, the REGINNO project investigates the innovation capacity of Slovak regions (Kraje) at the NUTS 3 level, examining sectoral, spatial and human agency dimensions. This research provides key insights into policy-making in regional innovation and regional disparities in Slovakia and neighboring CEE countries. The findings are based on a three-year-long research effort that integrates academic perspectives with local insights. The researcher, through fieldwork, interviews and visits across Slovakia, engaged with public, private, academic and non-governmental actors, learning the language and closely observing the local socio-economic environment.
This research supports and extends existing literature on regional transformation in CEE by examining urban restructuring, socio-economic cohesion and the role of planning actors. Nagy et al. (2022) highlight the emergence of new peripheralities and urban cores, while Raagmaa et al. (2019) identify policy paradoxes that shape socio-spatial dynamics—issues central to this research’s focus on governance and planning frameworks. Similarly, Bouzarovski et al. (2017) emphasize the impact of innovation and energy transitions on urban vulnerability, a crucial dimension in understanding the resilience of post-socialist cities. Scott & Kühn (2012) further highlight how policy responses shape regional adaptation and sustainability, reinforcing this study’s emphasis on governance mechanisms. By synthesizing these perspectives, this research advances the discourse on regional transformation in CEE, offering insights into the interaction of governance, socio-economic change and spatial planning in fostering innovative regional futures.
Despite progress, challenges remain in integrating regional planning with participatory governance, addressing economic restructuring and ensuring social inclusivity in spatial transformations. This research contributes to the discourse on future-oriented spatial planning, emphasizing the need for adaptive policies that support innovation-driven development with sustainable regional strategies in CEE.

Speaker: Dr Sıla Ceren Varış Husar (Slovak University of Technology)

12:30 → 14:00 Lunch Break

12:45 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: REGIONAL DESIGN

Convener: Valeria Lingua (University of Florence, Department of Architecture)

12:45 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: THEORIES

Conveners: Franziska Sielker (TU Wien), Meike Levin-Keitel

12:45 → 14:00 RT_31 PLANNING, PUBLISHING AND THE PLANET: ACADEMIC PLANNING PUBLISHING IN TIMES OF PLANETARY CRISES

Convener: David Kaufmann (ETH Zürich, IRL SPUR)

12:45 PLANNING, PUBLISHING AND THE PLANET: ACADEMIC PLANNING PUBLISHING IN TIMES OF PLANETARY CRISES

This roundtable will address the role of academic planning publishing in today's world of multiple and protracted crises. It will include perspectives from editors of leading planning journals such as Planning Theory, European Planning Studies, Planning Theory & Practice, European Journal of Spatial Development, and disP - The Planning Review.
By engaging with the Congress theme, this roundtable will discuss the role of academic planning journals in today's age of planetary crises, what these journals can and should do to approach these world of multiple interlinked crises (such as climate change, biodiversity loss, related social exclusions and socio-spatial inequalities, and ongoing wars and displacements) and whether and how they can contribute to transformative action. We will discuss whether these global crises are well represented, reflected and analysed through the lenses of planning in planning journals and what could be future approaches to make our planning journals more relevant for transformation action. We are sure that planning research has much to say about how these crises are playing out, affecting different regions of the world and different populations in different ways. We will also ask whether we have enough diverse perspectives represented in planning outlets; and how we can engage with diverse disciplines, all of which are relevant to analysing these crises and proposing transformative action, despite being already a highly interdisciplinary field.
We will also discuss important issues about the future of academic planning journals: What are new publishing formats, article types, and processes to be more innovative, inclusive and equitable? How can early career researchers and voices from practice and community organizations be better integrated? How can we better incorporate the perspectives of planning scholars from different regions of the world, and what role can AESOP and other international planning associations play in facilitating academic planning publishing?
All in all, we will ask substantive and procedural questions for how to produce and disseminate planning knowledge relevant for better understanding these planetary crises as well as formulating transformation strategies, tools and pathways for approaching these crises. After some initial reflections from various editors of planning journals, we will open the roundtable for comments and questions from the audience. Please come and ask questions that interest you!

Speakers: Angelique Chettiparamb (University of Reading), David Kaufmann (ETH Zürich), Dominic Stead (Aalto University), Katie McClymont (University of the West of England Bristol), Tuna Tasan-Kok (University of Amsterdam)

12:45 → 14:00 SS_22 ISTANBUL PLANNING AGENCY

Convener: Oktay Kargul

13:00 → 14:00 T_10 THEORIES: In memorial to Ben Davy - Academic Debates - What makes them interesting and challenging

Conveners: Franziska Sielker (TU Wien), Meike Levin-Keitel, Stefano Moroni (Polytechnic University of Milan), Tanja Winkler (University of Cape Town), Prof. Thomas Hartmann (TU Dortmund University)

13:30 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: TRANSBOUNDARY PLANNING AND GOVERNANCE

Convener: Eva Purkarthofer (Aalto University)

14:00 → 15:30 RT_02 WHAT IS NEW IN COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL PLANNING: WHY, WHAT, AND HOW?

Conveners: ELA BABALIK (MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY), Olivier Sykes (University of Liverpool)

14:00 WHAT IS NEW IN COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL PLANNING: WHY, WHAT, AND HOW?

In this roundtable contributors to a forthcoming compilation - the Routledge Handbook on Comparative International Planning - will discuss the current state of the field of comparative international planning studies.
Comparative international planning research has a considerable history and the reasons for undertaking such work have been well rehearsed in the literature from at least the 1970s. The comparative impulse can derive from multiple and often complementary motivations. For example, from an interest in studying and learning from other places as means of general or personal enrichment; comparing the governance performance in different places (e.g. in meeting sustainability goals); studying different planning approaches and their effectiveness in addressing particular planning themes; improving understanding of different situations and planning contexts; developing theories or shaping and influencing agendas and supporting government lobbying. A distinct feature of international comparative studies in planning is that these are not the sole preserve of academics. In fact, there is a significant amount of comparative work being undertaken in planning practice both by the public sector as well as large international consultancies. Planning education is also characterised by varied methods of comparative international studies and the teaching and learning of the subject in Higher Education is explored by a section and contributions in the compilation with a particular emphasis on dissecting methodological approaches.
The roundtable will stimulate critical reflections across these three domains of planning - research, practice, education – including interrogations of power relations amongst global regions and the potential for the adoption of decolonial perspectives. Though it will highlight the value of adopting a comparative approach, it will also highlight its possible limitations. The roundtable will emphasise that a comparative approach must be grounded in a good understanding of the local context, and that the methodology adopted, level of analysis, scope, scale, language, transferability, and the direction of flow of ideas (considering the decolonial perspective mentioned above) all require considerable attention.

Speakers: Andrea Frank (University of Birmingham), Bruce Stiftel (Georgia Institute of Technology (Retired)), Ela Babalik (Middle Eastern Technical University), Juliana Martins (Bartlett School of Planning, University College London), Manuela Madeddu (University of Liverpool), Olivier Sykes (University of Liverpool)

14:00 → 15:30 RT_08 STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING HEAT RESILIENCE IN CITIES – WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE IN PLANNING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE?

Convener: Gerard Hutter (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), Dresden, Germany)

14:00 Strategies for increasing heat resilience in cities – Where do we go from here in planning research and practice?

Planning and preparing for heat stress and heat waves are high-priority issues in cities across Europe and elsewhere – at least in theory, if not in practice. Efforts of dealing with heat stress and heat waves are closely related to efforts of climate change adaptation as one component of climate policy (the other component being climate change mitigation). Increasingly, researchers seek to assess the state of art and activity level of cities with regard to climate policy in general, climate change adaptation in particular (e.g., see the survey of Otto et al. 2021 on German cities, Reckien et al. 2018, Galderisi et al. 2020, Reckien et al. 2023 on European cities, see Araos et al. 2016, Berrang-Ford et al. 2021, Fu et al. 2024 with regard to a global perspective).

Against this background, the Round Table addresses issues of strategies to increase heat resilience in cities from the perspective of strategic spatial planning (Healey 2009). The term resilience covers efforts of adaptive as well as transformative resilience. Input statements of researchers from Northern and Southern Europe provide insights into the state of work in cities like Athens, Dresden, Frankfurt, and Vienna. Input statements and contributions to discussion may refer to qualitative and quantitative research on planning (in the sense of small- and large-N research, Goertz & Mahoney 2012). The Round Table is organized to suggest some issues of high priority for future work in planning research and practice.

References
Araos, M., Berrang-Ford, L., Ford, J. D., Austin, S. E., Biesbroek, R. & Lesnikowski, A. (2016). Climate change adaptation planning in large cities: A systematic global assessment. In: Environmental Science & Policy, 66, 375-382.
Berrang-Ford, L. et al. (2021). A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change. In: Nature Climate Change, 11, 989–1000.
Fu, Q.; Zheng, Z.; Sarker M.N.I.; Lv, Y. (2024): Combating urban heat: Systematic review of urban resilience and adaptation strategies. In: Heliyon, 10, e37001.
Galderisi, A.; Limongi, G.; Salata, K.-D. (2020): Strengths and weaknesses of the 100 Resilient Cities Initiative in Southern Europe: Rome and Athens´ experience. In: City, Territory, and Architecture, 1-22.
Goertz, G., & Mahoney, J. (2012). A tale of two cultures: Qualitative and quantitative research in the social sciences. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Healey, P. (2009). In Search of the “Strategic” in Spatial Strategy Making. In: Planning Theory & Practice, 10(4), 439–457.
Otto, A., Göpfert, C., & Thieken, A. H. (2021). Are cities prepared for climate change? An analysis of adaptation readiness in 104 German cities. In: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 26(8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-021-09971-4
Reckien, D. et al. (2023). Quality of urban climate adaptation plans over time. In: npj Urban Sustainability, 13, 1-14.
Reckien, D. et al. (2018). How are cities planning to respond to climate change? Assessment of local climate plans from 885 cities in the EU-28. In: Journal of Cleaner Production, 191, 207-219.

Speakers: Dr Gerard Hutter (IOER), Ms Jasmin Uttner (TU Dresden), Mr Mark Scherner (BOKU University), Prof. Kalliopi Sapountzaki (Harokopio University of Athens)

14:00 → 15:30 RT_25 UGOVERN: FROM POLICY TO PRACTICE: INNOVATIVE REGULATORY TOOLS FOR ADDRESSING THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS

Conveners: Dr Ebru Kurt-Özman (University of Amsterdam), Nuno Travasso (CEAU/FAUP)

14:00 UGoveRN: From Policy to Practice: Innovative Regulatory Tools for Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis

The roundtable we propose will explore innovative regulatory tools and practices addressing the affordable housing crisis within fragmented governance systems, with a focus on their implementation, benefits, and challenges in diverse country contexts. While housing market trends and urban development processes vary significantly across nations, this session aims to foster a comparative analysis of actionable policy instruments that have demonstrated potential to stimulate affordable housing production while addressing equity and sustainability goals.

In the context of the global housing crisis, particularly in the Netherlands, Turkey, Portugal, the U.S., and France, discussions on the most effective public policies and planning tools have gained urgency. A nuanced analysis of specific regulatory approaches within these fragmented governance systems is essential to formulating innovative strategies. This roundtable will pursue three key objectives:

1) Highlighting Innovative Tools: Exploring specific regulatory instruments and policies being used to address the housing crisis in different contexts.
2) Evaluating Contextual Effectiveness: Understanding the conditions under which these tools operate and the factors influencing their success or failure.
3) Fostering Adaptability: Discussing the potential for adapting and scaling these tools across diverse governance systems while respecting contextual specificities.

Additionally, the roundtable will aim to establish a set of key metrics and issues to support future comparative research, potentially leading to a broader international publication on this theme, comprising a larger number of countries.

Structure of the Roundtable

1) Introduction and Comparative Data
The session will begin with a brief overview of the affordable housing crisis and its relationship with fragmented governance systems across the different case studies. A comparative statistics dataset will set the stage, helping to understand the different contexts on which the different policy tools operate.

2) Policy Tool Presentations
Each speaker will present one innovative regulatory tool currently in use in their country. Presentations will focus on:
a) Tool Design and Implementation: A detailed description of the regulatory tool, including its goals, mechanisms, and governance structure.
b) Impact and Challenges: An evaluation of the tool’s effectiveness in addressing the affordable housing crisis, with attention to equity and sustainability.

The tools presented may include:

*** The Netherlands: The 40-40-20 rule, which balances social, mid-income, and market-rate housing in new developments.
*** Turkey: Urban transformation projects incentivized through public-private partnerships.
*** Portugal: Affordable rental housing programs targeting middle-and low-income households.
*** U.S.: Inclusionary zoning policies and housing trust funds.
*** France:** The ZAC (Zone d’Aménagement Concerté) model for integrated urban development and affordable housing production.

3) Discussion and Interactive Engagement
The open discussion will examine the benefits, limitations, and transferability of the described tools across governance systems. Participants will critically assess how these fragmented yet innovative approaches can address housing affordability while advancing equity and sustainability goals.
To make the session more engaging, interactive elements such as small group exercises or real-time polling may be incorporated. For example, participants might propose adaptations or new tools inspired by the cases presented and collaboratively discuss their feasibility in different governance contexts.

Speakers: Mr Andre Legarza (University of Amsterdam), Prof. Ayda Eraydın (The Middle East Technical University), Mrs Ebru Kurt-Özman (University of Amsterdam), Prof. Gülden Erkut (Istanbul Technical University), Dr Nuno Travasso (University of Coimbra / University of Porto), Prof. Tuna Taşan-Kok (University of Amsterdam)

14:00 → 15:30 RT_27 TRANSFORMATIONS TO POST-GROWTH – POSITIONS, PERSPECTIVES, AND PROSPECTS FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET

Conveners: Astrid Krisch (University of Oxford), Christian Lamker (University of Groningen), Lucas Barning (University of Vienna)

14:00 Transformations to post-growth – Positions, perspectives, and prospects for people and planet

In the context of critical and looming change toward a post-growth society – one that aligns ecological imperatives with social equity – planning plays a pivotal role in shaping viable pathways forward. In recent years, post-growth ideas have gained significant traction within planning discourse. However, this shift raises serious questions about the suitability of existing planning paradigms, their underlying logics, and their capacity to drive systemic change. Understanding their contextual relevance and legitimacy is essential in responding to the profound challenges of an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world.
This roundtable will engage with these discussions from three consecutive perspectives:
• A key tension in planning for sustainability and transformation lies between top-down governance and bottom-up participation, in particular moving beyond studying them in isolation. A major challenge for future research is to better connect insights from local experiments with broader policy implementation. This panel will explore the trade-offs, contradictions, and potential of hybrid governance models that bridge these perspectives, offering original pathways to move beyond growth dependencies.
• Current planning paradigms reach limits and systemic barriers, highlighted by post-growth and degrowth critiques. Many of these challenges arise at the intersection of planning’s deep-rooted growth orientation and the broader economic and societal frameworks that reinforce it. By interrogating these dynamics, we aim to uncover opportunities for rethinking planning approaches beyond conventional growth imperatives.
• Established roles and practices seem insufficient to meet contemporary societal and environmental challenges effectively. The panel will reflect on how post-growth planning approaches can enhance institutions, tools, instruments, and governance structures. This includes reimagining the role of planners in coordinating diverse and often conflicting demands while navigating the increasing complexity of policy landscapes and public expectations.
The roundtable invites panellists to share insights from their research and practice, examining the paradigms and theoretical foundations that shape their work. We encourage the audience to critically engage with the potential of spatial planning as a transformative force, reflecting on its capacity “to shift our thinking and adopt alternative approaches that prioritize people and the planet” (AESOP 2025, Call for Papers). Through this dialogue, we aim to explore the diverse approaches that position planning as a critical catalyst for systemic change in an era of planetary crisis.

Speakers: Luca Bertolini (University of Amsterdam), Prof. Thomas Hartmann (TU Dortmund University), Karl Krähmer (Università di Torino), Sophie Sturup (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University), Meike Levin-Keitel, Eva Purkarthofer (Aalto University), Ms Karin Bugow (Hochschule Darmstadt), Johannes Suitner (TU Wien, Institute of Spatial Planning, Research Unit Urban and Regional Research)

14:00 → 15:30 SS_02 DISCUSSING SPATIAL JUSTICE FROM/TOWARDS A SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: Part 2

Conveners: Alessia Franzese, Elena Bruno, Luca Nicoletto (Università Iuav di Venezia), Valeria Volpe

14:00 A Community Out of the Box: Understanding Flexibility and Justice through Self-organised Housing in the Netherlands

Introduction

The concept of flexibility, generally associated with the customisation of dwellings, has shifted to a more restrictive meaning, particularly in the context of housing emergencies. Temporary, mobile, modular, containerised, and prefab have become synonyms with flexible. In the Netherlands, flexwoningen (flexible housing) are primarily designed to accommodate migrant workers and are often characterised by containerised and temporary nature. These housing solutions, driven by efficiency criteria, allow employment agencies to exert control over workers' lives, regulating behaviour through inspections and warnings, while organizing shifts and transportation via algorithms. These practices reveal the oppressive nature of workers’ housing, where hyper-rationalised layouts amplify workers’ stress. The study examines the Roma community at De Witte Plas campsite, North Brabant, as an emblematic case of self-designed housing, which subverts corporate planning models in the Rotterdam-Venlo logistics corridor.



Sustained Thesis

The thesis explores the Roma community’s practices within broader theoretical debates on flexible housing and spatial justice emphasising their relevance to reimagine contemporary urban forms. Through practices such as self-planning, recycling and sourcing building materials, and negotiating labour conditions, the community challenges rigid models of workers’ housing imposed by employment agencies. By actively reshaping the logistical systems that govern their lives, the community embodies Adrian Forty’s concept of ‘flexibility as a political tactic,’ where architectural flexibility becomes a means of resisting the capitalist control of space, enabling emancipatory forms of living. Rejecting the compartmentalisation of life into rigid functions typical of flexwoningen designed to optimise profit and control labour, the community’s approach shows how workers’ housing can be reconfigured into adaptable, circular, ecological, and participatory frameworks that serve the inhabitants’ needs.
A key theme of this study is reconfiguration. The Roma community’s practices illustrate how logistical systems, designed to optimise profit and control labour, can be repurposed to serve the needs of marginalised groups. By subverting the conventional use of online platforms and supply chains, the Roma community transforms tools of corporate logistics into mechanisms of empowerment and sustainable development.
The study also identifies the Roma community’s methods as an embodiment of spontaneous order, a concept developed by Edwin Buitelaar. This contrasts sharply with the designed order typical in urban planning. Rather than adhering to strict, top-down regulations, spontaneous order relies on minimal and generic building rules, enabling the evolution of community spaces. 



Methodology
The adopted method adopts a combination of field research and design-driven research. Data were collected through spatial analysis and field research, as well as a series of qualitative interviews at De Witte Plas campsite with the inhabitants, and with the Barka Foudation, an organisation supporting migrants experiencing homelessness, and FairWork, an NGO committed to aiding individuals facing exploitation. Additionally, a 12-minute documentary, filmed at the campsite in both formal and informal settings, provides a brief impression of community life.

Outcomes and Conclusions

This case study contributes to the debate on spatial justice, suggesting that the Roma community’s approach provides a tangible example of how marginalised groups can assert control over their living conditions. It challenges the prevailing norms of spatial organisation in the logistics corridor, illustrating an alternative paradigm where community needs and environmental considerations dictate the use of space and resources.
The findings demonstrate the Roma community’s ability to negotiate autonomy within the constraints of global logistics and racialized labour systems. Their housing practices, rooted in circular economy principles and participatory design, show how self-organised housing can create adaptive, fair, and resilient environments. This case suggests urban planning frameworks that prioritise community agency, flexibility, and ecology, offering a redefinition of justice and equity in spatial arrangements.

Speaker: Mr Renzo Sgolacchia

14:10 Discussing spatial justice at the intersection between migration and housing. The inclusion system in the inner regions of southern Italy

The interaction between migration, access to housing, and depopulation provides a significant perspective on how Italian territories adapt to global dynamics and the role of public reception policies in addressing social urban inequalities. This paper proposes the case study of INTRA, a social cooperative located in Avellino, Campania, to examine the connection between Italian migrant integration policies and informal practices of access to houses. Focusing on the recognition of fundamental rights -enshrined in international legal frameworks and endorsed by nation-states- and proceeding through the lens of migration and housing, we recognise housing as a necessary tool to access the right to the city and thus to achieve minimum conditions of spatial and social justice. The analysis inquires a SAI project (Sistema di Accoglienza e Integrazione) in a network of small towns in the Campania region -partly- affected by the National Strategy of Inner Areas. Examining social inclusion policies in vulnerable areas, such as Avellino, illustrates the crucial role of local communities in implementing these policies by triggering bureaucratic barriers delaying the recognition of migrants’ spatial and social rights. At the stage of finding housing - as well as employment - the strategic role of mobilising personal skills and local networks within resident communities becomes evident, as these systems facilitate the integration of new inhabitants muddling through a complex formal inclusion system.
The informal practices of the proposed case study appear both as potential alliances between subjects with differential distribution of precarity and as a measure of the opportunities created by public policies. These alliances are built on the recognition of shared and contrasting vulnerabilities among subjectivities bringing different approaches and methodologies . Migration and housing access, therefore, are not only interconnected issues but also privileged arenas for observing and fostering practices of resistance and solidarity.

Speaker: Ms Marina Volpe (Università Federico II Napoli)

14:20 Designing good life for all. Explorations on “fragile” neighbourhoods in Trieste

In Europe, multiple crises (economic, environmental, social, demographic, …) are impacting the quality of life in urban contexts, with direct consequences on the “affordability” of housing and the resilience of welfare facilities. While sustainability, inclusivity, and accessibility “for all” are central to many urban regeneration interventions, their translation into local actions often suffers from vague strategies and, in the worst cases, results into depoliticized processes, gentrification and speculative dynamics displacing residents (Checker, 2007; Swyngedouw, 2007). Strong is, therefore, the need for a project-oriented reflection on: i) the spatial conditions of comfort; ii) the policies, actions and actors for their “just” implementation.

The paper questions the conditions of poverty and fragility that are growing in many European cities. “Poverty” is framed as a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing material, relational, and contextual factors that constrain well-being, making people “fragile” by limiting their opportunity to build and maintain a decent quality of life (Sen, 1976; Bourguignon & Chakravarty, 2003; Aaberge & Brandolini, 2015). From this perspective, space is understood as a “capacitating” infrastructure (Sen, 1993; Nussbaum, 2011), that can either worsen or help reduce fragility conditions. Consistently to this, urban design is called to overcome a binary view of private space versus public space towards a networked approach integrating services, open spaces, and welfare equipment to create more accessible and personalized support to well-being.

The paper describes “research by design and action” developed in marginal parts of the inner city of Trieste, a medium-sized Italian city facing population aging and decline, economic distress, gentrification, and rising pressure on welfare facilities. The research involves: (i) mapping spatial indicators of poverty, including housing, food accessibility, socio-relational, and environmental conditions; (ii) engaging local stakeholders in dialogue and fieldwork; (iii) developing design explorations on underutilized spaces to strengthen the relationship between collective facilities and open spaces.

Speaker: Prof. Elena Marchigiani (University of Trieste)

14:30 The case of the Old Town of Taranto and its post-disaster possible futures

The paper proposal focuses on the peculiar case of Taranto’s Old Town which today finds itself in extremely precarious conditions in terms of both spatial and social infrastructures.
The city of Taranto (Apulia, Southern Italy) is paying the consequences of a massive process of industrialization (Italian Institute for Industrial Re-construction). Its territory is undergoing one of the deepest environmental crises of Southern Europe as it is affected by severe pollution, environmental degradation and a growing public health crisis. In 2022, Taranto’s territory was included in the UN’s world list of “sacrifice zones”.
Throughout the 20th century - as a consequence of the industrial turn - the Old Town underwent an impressive diaspora: a large number of new social housing complexes were built in the outskirts of the city and, through an intervention of so-called “sanitation”, most of the inhabitants were forced to move. It gradually became a stigmatised place as it was perceived as dangerous and unsafe. The number of inhabitants decreased from 25 thousand (19th century), to less than 3 thousands.
One of the most drastic effects of the depopulation is the collapse of abandoned buildings. At the beginning of the 21st century, almost 80% of the buildings in the Old Town were no longer able to accommodate life. Entire areas are now enclosed and inaccessible and, due to the physical ruination and persistent lack of care, local communities are fragmented and fragile.
The paper could unfold in two parts:
- Part 1 aims to provide a cognitive framework of the situation including, first, an analysis of the context and processes that have led to a condition of structural crisis, and second, regeneration policies implemented by local and regional administrations.
- Part 2 takes into consideration specific cases of civic activation that, through cultural production programmes, pursue an agenda aimed at promoting a process of collective emancipation by building a renewed imagery of the city as a laboratory for urgent urban topics.

Speaker: Mr Gabriele Leo (IUAV)

14:40 MOTILITY as a lens to challenge the urban metabolism research agenda. Towards more just and sustainable cities

Motility is a biological term, referring to the capability of organisms to move independently. The research "MOTILITY - Metabolism Of inTersectIonaLITY” starts from this metaphor, to investigate mainstream discourses on Urban Metabolism (UM), Sustainable Development (SD) and Circular Economy (CE), recently criticized for being focused on technological issues, neglecting spatial and social justice, and thereby not considering the need for social and systemic changes (Agyeman, 2005; Korhonen et al., 2018). To adopt a Territorial Metabolism perspective, there is the need to integrate various components: human, industrial, urban, political, landscape (Grulois et al., 2018).
Building on past research on urban political ecology, the research works from an intersectional perspective looking at the management of spatial resources and intersecting social abilities of minority groups in sample communities in East Naples.
MOTILITY focuses on the city role on social interaction among people developing their own identity and orientation, conceiving sexuality and gender as multiscalar axes for developing and expressing meaning and power in public spaces (Wright, 2010). To this end, it revisits research within the diverse fields of queer and feminist theories, studying a variety of social experiences of places, identity and power across the space (Forsyth, 2001), challenging the traditional discourse on CE and related practices.
The objective is to include minorities in envisioning new purposes for metabolic flows, raising awareness as the base to promote local transitions. By fostering citizen engagement in co-designing CE micro-actions, the research aims to bridge the gap between social, behavioral aspects and the ecological transition, advancing a socially just ecological transition.
To support an experimental phase of mapping, the project will develop a community-based online mapping platform for digitally archiving experiences of care and use of metabolic resources and flows in the built environment, to build collective learning and awareness from past experiences/acquired competences and strengthen the potential relationships with forms of co-production of sustainable and inclusive space with the institutions.
The project started in January 2025, posing three questions, on which the research team is currently working through a literature review/mapping of the national and international debates, actors, main categories of research and critical points:
- Which are the main forms of marginalization in the access to metabolic resources (water, air, soil, etc.) for people out of heteronormativity?
- How do intersectional categories of minorities respond to socio-ecological issues, using metabolic resources and spaces (privately/collectively)?
- To which extent could these collective experiences of care and use feed Niches of Innovation (ref. Transition Studies) and make significant progress in terms of regulations, institutional level, experimental governance?
In compliance with the 2030 Agenda for SD (UNDP, 2015), the paper will explore spatial and social justice aspects, which can contribute to increasing the engagement of non-conformist groups (Fernandez & Maione 2017), disregarded by targeted policies of CE, as subversive of the mainstream approach on resource management and related spatial assets.

Speakers: Dr Anna Attademo (Department of Architecture, University of Naples), Prof. Gilda Berruti (Department of Architecture, University of Naples), Prof. Katia Fabbricatti (Department of Architecture, University of Naples), Prof. Orfina Fatigato (Department of Architecture, University of Naples)

14:50 Uncovering the potential of community energy actions to cope with energy poverty in remote areas: a systematic literature review

Energy is one of the essential services that everyone should have access to, as identified by the European Pillar of Social Rights. Nevertheless, according to Eurostat, in 2023, an average of 10.6% of the European population was in a condition of energy poverty, i.e. could not afford to keep their homes adequately heated. For some Mediterranean countries (Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey) and Lithuania, this percentage exceeded 19% and reached about 21%. Against this backdrop, alleviating energy poverty becomes crucial to fostering a fair and equitable transition. However, the design of effective policies to reduce energy poverty in the EU is a challenge that faces several barriers, including the lack of (i) a shared definition of energy poverty at the European level, (ii) a set of common indicators to measure and monitor it, and (iii) the disaggregation and spatialisation of data.
Energy poverty is multidimensional and thus depends on a plurality of factors, both individual (income, living conditions, available technologies, health-related needs) and external (energy price, climatic conditions, which are also exacerbated by climate change). In addition, energy poverty represents a form of spatial injustice regarding the geographical issues of resource accessibility, production, and distribution.
The ‘Clean energy for all Europeans package’, adopted by the EU in 2019, introduced the concept of energy communities to denote forms of citizen-driven energy actions able to accelerate the clean energy transition and foster social innovation. Regarding the latter, engaging and empowering citizens can fundamentally impact sustainable behavioural change for consumers, who become energy prosumers, thus helping to transform the energy system. Moreover, this engagement is extended to all consumers, regardless of socio-economic status. Hence, energy communities represent a valuable tool in responding to energy poverty. Despite this promising picture, evidence of their contribution to a just and sustainable energy transition in Europe is still lacking: further experiences, scientific studies, and analysis tools to capture their potential in energy poverty alleviation are thus needed.
This work addresses these gaps from a spatial planning perspective while adopting a socio-ecological justice lens. Indeed, it investigates practices of clean energy production through multi-purpose community actions, focusing specifically on remote areas, typically rural and remarkably impacted by poor energy access and socio-economic disadvantage. It discusses the results of a systematic literature review conducted in two phases to investigate possible access to such practices. Through a keyword analysis - in Scopus - of titles and abstracts, the first phase collects publications since 2000 with one or more EU case studies in which three research domains - namely, clean energy production, community actions, and remote areas - appeared jointly. The second phase explores the links between domains and identifies those publications with the highest relevance to the research objective. Out of 1127 publications collected, the number has eventually been reduced to 67.
Based on the results obtained, the contribution discusses several issues, including (i) in what geographical contexts and subject areas they are addressed, and concerning the relevant publications identified, (ii) what are the elements that generate success or problematic situations, (iii) what is the degree of citizens engagement, and finally (iv) which is the primary publication’s scope or output, e.g. assessment, modelling or implementation. In conclusion, the contribution questions to what extent the available instruments and identified initiatives can be improved with a view to remote areas.

Speaker: Dr Alessandra Longo (Iuav University of Venice)

15:00 Energy Transitions as Socio-Ecological Urban Projects: Representation, Redistribution, and Scale in Cureghem’s PED Strategies

In the face of interlinked socio-ecological challenges, energy transitions are increasingly framed not merely as technical undertakings but as urban projects that reshape spatial, social, and political relations. This paper examines the case of Cureghem, one of the most socio-economically vulnerable and culturally diverse neighborhoods in the Brussels Capital Region, through the lens of spatial justice. Drawing on findings from the PED4ALL project (JPI Urban Europe, PED Call II), it critically engages with the governance, design, and implementation of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs), highlighting their role in redistributive and participatory energy transitions.
Through a co-directed engagement process with local residents and organizations, this research unpacks the interplay between socio-technical interventions and the lived realities of Cureghem’s inhabitants. It identifies key tensions that shape energy transitions in fragile urban environments: 1) navigating institutional frameworks that often fail to accommodate fragmented, informal, and rapidly changing urban fabrics; 2) balancing economic incentives with broader socio-ecological imperatives, particularly regarding the uneven distribution of benefits among different community groups; and 3) reconciling individual household energy needs with pre-existing, yet often overlooked, collective dynamics of energy practices.
By framing PEDs as urban projects embedded in complex socio-ecological assemblages, this paper argues that energy transitions must move beyond technocratic solutions to embrace more inclusive, multi-scalar, and justice-oriented approaches. The Cureghem case offers broader insights into how spatial planning and policy-making can support just energy transitions that foreground participation, redistribution, and ecological sustainability in marginalized urban territories.

Speakers: Mr Dieter Bruggeman (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Mr Fabio Vanin (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Mrs Laura Shllaku (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

14:00 → 15:30 SS_09 GOVERNING THE “CARBON NEUTRAL CITY”: BARRIERS AND ENABLERS FOR AN INTEGRATED CLIMATE GOVERNANCE IN CITIES

Conveners: Eda Yucesoy (Istanbul Technical University), Eloise Deshayes (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya)

14:00 Accounting beyond boundaries: Exploring consumption-based carbon approaches in Paris and Gothenburg

As cities increasingly commit to achieving carbon neutrality, they engage in greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories to measure their emissions. These inventories are guided by international frameworks, such as the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) and primarily rely on production-based carbon accounting (PBCA).

However, growing claims, both from the literature and policy circles, highlight the limitations of PBCA, emphasizing that it captures only a partial view of urban emissions. Consumption-based carbon accounting (CBCA) addresses this gap by considering embedded emissions in goods and services consumed within cities. This is particularly important in European and Northern American cities, where production-based emissions are declining while consumption-based emissions are projected to increase. Overall, CBCA is considered to offer a more comprehensive and equitable framework for addressing urban GHG emissions, incentivizing the adoption of policies that promote less carbon-intensive consumption.

Despite its promise, CBCA presents challenges, particularly in governance and implementation. However, existing studies predominantly address methodological issues, such as data collection and calculation techniques,while the political and governance dimensions at the city level remain underexplored. This study bridges that gap by investigating the governance conditions necessary for CBCA implementation, using Paris and Gothenburg as case studies. Both cities are leaders in this area, having established ambitious targets for consumption-based emissions reduction. The research employs a mixed-method approach, analyzing city documents, conducting interviews with officials, and integrating desk research to uncover key drivers of CBCA adoption.

This presentation will expose the results of that research, highlighting the governance and political factors necessary for developing CBCA in cities. It will offer insights and best practices that can inform the development of CBCA approaches in cities and support global climate networks.

Speaker: Eloise Deshayes (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya)

14:10 Exploring the feasibility of climate actions: what guides adaptation implementation in Europe?

European cities are reacting to the climate crisis. Climate planning has exponentially increased in recent years, but a gap remains between planning and implementing climate actions. While many cities and regions have outlined ambitious strategies, far fewer have turned these plans into tangible results. There is a need to act faster to keep global warming within 2ºC, addressing mitigation and adaptation challenges. Thus, analysing the feasibility of climate actions (e.g., their potential to be implemented) becomes crucial.
However, some might argue that feasibility is no longer solely about implementation but should include the capability to reach climate goals in time and be implemented fairly. The feasibility of climate actions depends on a combination of factors. First, context is critical. Economic conditions, social dynamics, governance systems, and legislative frameworks all influence whether an action can succeed. For example, regions with stronger adaptation laws often make more progress in planning and implementing actions. However, even in these regions, changing conditions—such as shifts in political leadership or global crises—can alter what is feasible over time. Second, the role of stakeholders is essential. Feasibility depends on clear responsibilities, adequate resources, and meaningful engagement with all affected groups. A lack of clarity about who is responsible for implementation, funding, or monitoring can derail even the most promising projects. Furthermore, failing to involve vulnerable groups or address justice issues can lead to inequitable or counterproductive actions.
Time also plays a crucial role here. Actions need to be evaluated not only for their immediate feasibility but also for their long-term impact. Planning, implementation, and monitoring are interconnected, and decisions made at any stage can influence outcomes later. Solutions to close such gaps remain between empirical data. Exploring reported data from international initiatives such as the Covenant of May without proper monitoring and contrasting it with detailed information about particular implementation processes reveals important information for the science community and practitioners, which can contribute to closing the gap between planning and implementation.
This session will explore the results obtained after analysing the European adaptation actions reported in the latest dataset released by the Global Covenant of Mayors. Spatial and inferential statistics have been used to identify potential socio-economic and agency-related factors that influence climate action implementation. The results are meant to clarify how such factors can increase the feasibility of actions and identify potential best practices and relevant patterns that can guide the decision-making process.

Speaker: Mr Gerard Martínez Görbig (Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente)

14:20 Urban Carbon Emission Data

Cities across the globe are actively working to reduce their carbon footprint, with a common approach being the development of neighbourhood and district level pilots. However, whilst such interventions are well meaning and grounded in a will to reduce the city’s carbon impact, the data to validate and inform such approaches is often lacking. To this end, many cities rely upon city-wide carbon emission datasets, downscaled from national emission inventories, which lack the granularity to support such pilots. Here a misalignment of data and context is present, resulting in the emission impacts of such neighbourhood level projects as being unquantifiable. This presentation serves to highlight approaches to closing this gap between carbon emission data and practices centred around reducing emissions within decarbonisation projects and the city as a whole. This is initially structured around outlining the current state of carbon accounting within European cities, and the data available to practitioners and decision makers, before expanding into the cutting edge of urban carbon accounting currently being conducted within academia. Here the concept of urban carbon emission data maturity is discussed, outlining the prerequisite resources, capacities and data availability required for city authorities to conduct more advanced carbon accounting.

Speaker: Dr Will Brown (University of Cambridge)

14:30 Digital tools for smart decision-making towards carbon neutrality

This presentation focuses on how digital tools can support cities in achieving carbon neutrality by providing smarter decision-making frameworks. Using examples from the UP2030 project in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district, it highlights tools like “Urban Building Energy Modeling (UBEM) and Urban Building Transport Energy Modeling (UBTEM): AI-based Digital Decisionmaking Tool for Decarbonization”. These tools use AI, GIS, and optimization techniques to make urban systems including buildings and transport more energy-efficient, reduce emissions, and improve overall comfort.
A critical aspect of achieving meaningful, sustainable strategies is the development of digital tools that can support urban decision-making processes by analyzing the impact of decarbonization strategies on cities. These tools should be designed to integrate climate change considerations into strategic planning and provide decision-makers with a means to evaluate the effects of different mitigation and adaptation measures considering different aspects, including energy consumption, related CO2 emissions, and economic considerations. Moreover, the integration of digital tools with decision-making processes should be strengthened, ensuring that they are developed with interdisciplinary research findings that bring together expertise from various fields to support urban governance.
In addition to digital solutions, the implementation of tangible urban interventions—such as renewable-energy integrated urban furniture—can serve as a means to raise awareness and foster engagement with decarbonization strategies at the local level as a platform of digital tools. These integrated approaches not only enhance climate governance but also contribute to embedding climate action within the urban fabric in a way that is both visible and actionable.
We’ll discuss all of these while also addressing social dimensions such as equity and governance. Insights from a recent workshop in Istanbul will highlight how community engagement, practical awareness campaigns, and policy incentives can empower local residents to adopt sustainable practices.
The aim is to demonstrate how cities can integrate technology with community-driven approaches, ensuring that decarbonization efforts are not only data-informed but also socially inclusive and contextually relevant. This work bridges technical innovation with local needs, offering a holistic perspective on urban decarbonization.

Speakers: Ms Elsen Aydin (ODTÜ-GÜNAM), Ms İlkim Canlı (ODTÜ-GÜNAM), Prof. İpek Gürsel Dino (METU)

14:00 → 15:30 T_01 POSTGROWTH URBANISM: URBAN METABOLIC FRAMEWORKS AND ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT METRICS

Conveners: Barbara Pizzo (Sapienza Università di Roma), EMRAH ALTINOK (Istanbul Bilgi University), Shefali Nayak (HafenCity Universität), Maria Kaika (University of Amsterdam)

14:00 Urban Metabolic Risk: Rethinking Circular Urban Metabolism for Sustainable Regeneration Processes

Urban metabolic risk refers to the cumulative negative impacts of urban metabolism, which undermine quality of life and create significant challenges for urban regeneration initiatives. In the context of post-growth urbanism, this concept offers a lens to explore how urban metabolisms can be reconfigured to sustain ecological balance and social equity, moving beyond growth-driven models of development.
This paper aims to define the different factors that determine urban metabolic risk by analyzing the case of Bagnoli-Coroglio, a multi-risk contaminated Site of National Interest (SIN) in Naples, Southern Italy. Bagnoli, historically an agricultural area that became an industrial hub in the late 19th century, exemplifies the socio-ecological disruptions driven by unsustainable urbanization. The closure of industrial activities in 1990 left behind severe soil and sea pollution and social fractures due to unemployment and loss of identity; furthermore, the area has been waiting for a reclamation project for almost 40 years, making the site a paradigmatic example of metabolic risk.
Urban metabolic risk is not limited to the inefficiency in managing material and resource flows in cities and between urban and rural contexts at a regional level, but also considers the rebalance of human- nature relation, encompassing the broader alienation of humans from the natural environment, as conceptualized by Marx’s metabolic rift (Moore, 2000). This rupture accelerates ecosystem degradation (Heynen et al., 2006), exacerbates socio-economic inequalities, and intensifies urban vulnerabilities, particularly in marginalized communities. While ecological dimensions of the metabolic rift are well-documented (McClintock, 2010), this paper emphasizes the often-overlooked social and political dimensions that hinder equitable regeneration processes.
By analyzing the site of Bagnoli-Coroglio, this research aims to identify and map the factors that contribute to metabolic risk and to define the planning tools, such as participative governance and circular planning models that may help mitigating urban metabolic risk while allowing more inclusive and environmentally sustainable urban systems. This study is part of the PE3 – RETURN project Task 5.4.4 - Circular Metabolism in Urban and Metropolitan Settlements.

Speaker: Dr Bruna Vendemmia (DiARC Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)

14:10 Ecopolis. What does a post-growth city may look like?

Ecopolis. What does a post-growth city may look like?

In the second decade of the century, Espon, the European Agency for territorial studies, conducted scenario studies on the future of the European city, examining three major scenarios respectively named: Metropolis, Metapolis and Ecopolis. We consider that study still valid but currently it seems to have a weaker meaning as Espon aimed to synthesize them. From our perspective, it seems more preferable to choose and promote, among the three, the most just and sustainable one. We call this proposed model: the post-growth city. This cannot be a “fossil city” (Malm) based on the infrastructures of the fossil world; nor a city based on strong social, economic and power hierarchies, the unjust city (Harvey); nor a city dominated by alienation and a sick relationship between humans and nature (Latour).
At the same time, it must be capable to face all the contemporary challenges (Seto). The fundamental questions for a spatial planner consequently are: what dimension has this city? What shape? What economic structure?
First of all, it should be said that the city is no longer an “economic machine” like the Fordist metropolis (Metropolis), but not even an infrastructure to support traffic, mobility and logistics (Metapolis). The post-growth city is an ecosystem that balances human development and planetary sustainability. It must be, therefore, a living organism, in which humanity reconnects with the rest of nature and works collectively to build a more human and just future. In our research we propose the name of Ecopolis (Fabbro). The physical and social space of Ecopolis includes anthropic components (settlements), semi-natural spaces (for agriculture) and natural spaces (rivers, forests, meadows, etc.). It is supported by a dominance of vegetal and water ecosystems over the built environment. It is neither hierarchical nor monocentric and, therefore, has no single center and large peripheries but different structures.
Its form is ‘organic’ i.e. following the shape generated by its dominant geophysical (valleys, slopes, basins, the course of a river, coasts, uniform plains, etc.) and natural components (climate, air, sun exposure). It aggregates around or within a large natural ecosystem (a much biodiverse river, a valley system, etc.). Its metabolisms is inspired on ecological dynamics, thus encouraging the flourishing of buffers (lakes, forests, other ecosystems) and harmonizing energy, and resource in and outflows to meet strong forms of sustainability and resilience, safeguarding the basic, vital functioning of spatial systems in the event of resource availability oscillations.
Its political economy can no longer be capitalist, not even in its most softened conceptions. Its political economic model is, coherently with its structure and shape, post-metropolitan (Soja), post-growth (Savini) and post-capitalist (Kohei). This does not mean that capitalist companies and market exchange no longer exist; they are rather not dominant. It implies a tripartite model (Polanyi) made up of (i) market regulation to avoid their excessive expansion, (ii) protection of land, people and labour from the destructive effects of commodification, (iii) promotion of forms of social economy closer to people and the Earth. Who builds this city-territory and how? It implies a broader reterritorialization capable of calling into question all the generative parameters of the modern city concept. It will therefore be necessarily reconstructed on the basis of a community ethos. Is Ecopolis a utopia? No, because Ecopolis already exists in many parts of the world but is suffocated by the effects of the "planetary urbanization" (Brenner). It must be recognized, made to re-emerge and be valorized.

Speaker: Silvio Cristiano (Università degli Studi di Firenze)

Fabbro & Cristiano (Ecopolis, AESOP 2025).docx

14:20 Community-based Street Greening: A Postgrowth Approach to Resilient and Healthy Cities

Caring for a garden bed along the street, where neighbors happily pick your herbs, may seem unimaginable for most urban inhabitants. However, in Sydney, Australia, public gardening practices have emerged, transforming bare public patches along roadsides into vibrant green spaces. By reimagining public space as a place for collective ecological and social regeneration, these practices challenge the growth-oriented urban development.
Urban gardening in underutilised public spaces, such as nature strips, can act as small-scale community gardens, enhancing individual and community health. These initiatives build social bonds, encourage outdoor exercise, and provide access to fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Moreover, greening the streets improves planetary health by cooling local climates, increasing biodiversity, and providing habitats for urban fauna.
Through a comparative analysis of local government policies across Greater Sydney, this study examines how different regulatory frameworks support or hinder community-led street greening projects. Over seventy interviews with local government officials and community members shed light on the governance processes and highlight the role of street-level bureaucrats in executing policy decisions based on their views and experiences.
This case study provides actionable insights to future local public policy and citizen-initiatives’ agendas for integrating nature-based solutions and fostering regenerative relationships between society and the environment. This research underscores the urgency of moving beyond growth-oriented development and adopting alternative approaches that prioritize people and the planet. In an age of planetary crisis, citizen-led public urban gardening offers a hopeful path towards resilient and equitable urban futures.

Speaker: Ms Kristina Ulm (University of New South Wales)

14:30 IS GDP EVERYTHING? ANALYZING GDP EFFECT ON DEVELOPMENT FOR TÜRKİYE PROVINCES.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is an important variable used to compare regions and countries as a welfare indicator. But is GDP everything? Post-growth and de-growth approaches criticize the idea that solely focus on GDP growth. These alternative approaches, based on the unsustainability of unlimited growth, seek ways to ensure welfare, and sustainability and to conserve resources beyond growth.
This critical approach emphasizes the need to focus on development rather than economic growth. Indeed, while economic growth is measured through basic economic data such as GDP, development includes variables such as education, health, quality of life and innovation. In the literature, there are studies examining the impact of GDP on concepts such as human development index, welfare, and sustainability that post-growth and de-growth approaches focus on. However, such studies are quite limited in Türkiye
In relation to this, the main question identified in the study is whether the change in GDP at the provincial level in Türkiye is effective on the change in the level of development. The dependent variable is the change in level of development and the independent variable is the change in GDP.
Development data at the provincial level is taken from the socio-economic development index prepared on different dates. In this respect, the 2003 socio-economic development index prepared by the State Planning Organization and the index data prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, General Directorate of Development Agencies in 2017, which is the current data, were used. The change in the development rank of the provinces among 81 provinces between 2003 and 2017 is taken as the change in the level of development, which is the dependent variable of the study. In terms of GDP change (dollar), the proportional change between 2004 data, which is the oldest data at the provincial level, and 2017 data is taken as the independent variable.
A two-stage method was applied in the study. First, the change in the level of development and the change in GDP were analyzed by mapping through geographic information systems. Secondly, linear regression analysis was applied to determine the effect of GDP change on the change in the level of development. Regression analysis is a statistical method used to examine the effect of the dependent variable on the independent variable. For the application of this method, the data must fit the normal distribution. In the normality analysis performed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, it was seen that the data fit the normal distribution, and regression analysis was applied.
According to the results of the analysis, the effect of GDP on the change in development level is not statistically significant. The average GDP increase of the 6 provinces with the highest decrease in development level ranking (11 and below) is 74%, while the average GDP increase of the other provinces that have a decrease in development level ranking (30 provinces) is 69%. On the other hand, the average GDP increase of the 8 provinces with the highest increase in development level ranking (8 ranks and above) is 77%, while the average GDP increase of the 30 provinces that have an increase in development level ranking (7 ranks and below) is 77%.
These findings show that GDP has no statistically significant effect on the level of development. Therefore, as a policy recommendation, it is important to focus on the welfare level, development, and sustainability along with GDP as emphasized in the literature.

Speaker: Mr Adem sakarya (Yildiz Technical University)

14:40 Deprivation Analysis in Turkey and Its Provinces: Insights for Post-Growth Urbanism

This paper discusses the socio-economic and environmental deprivation patterns across provinces in Turkey by applying the English Index of Deprivation framework. In this study, data from TURKSTAT were used to assess disparities and determine the prime areas that need development interventions. The research underlines notable regional disparities by analyzing seven domains: income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers to housing and services, and the living environment, and provides a comprehensive deprivation map for Turkey.

This paper fits into the track on Postgrowth Urbanism, especially under the theme of envisioning cities and regions as integrated social-ecological systems. By applying the EID framework to Turkey, it contributes to the greater discourse on degrowth and equitable urban transformation. It challenges growth-oriented paradigms by calling for planning tools that would prioritize community needs, reduce environmental footprints, and nurture regenerative relationships between society and the environment.

This approach involves the translation of data from TURKSTAT into indicators defined by the EID, normalization, and categorization under component domains, followed by ranking using a multi-criteria weighted sum method. It thus offers a hands-on tool to policymakers, ensuring that decisions taken are based on evidence to stimulate fair development.

Results indicate striking contrasts between the most deprived southeastern provinces and the relatively less deprived far northwestern provinces. This disparity underlines the urgent need for an equitable resource distribution strategy in order to address structural inequalities. The research also emphasizes that one of the objectives of adopting a multidimensional approach in urban planning is to have growth metrics consider social equity and ecological balance.

The paper concludes by calling for the routine use of such analyses to facilitate competitive, sustainable, and equitable regional development. It highlights the transformative potential of deprivation analysis in guiding resource allocation, enhancing governance, and addressing social and ecological inequalities. The findings of this study provide a critical foundation for reimagining urban and regional planning in Turkey and beyond, contributing to global efforts toward eco-social integrity in a post-growth context.

Speaker: Mr Abdalrahman T. Y. Alashi (Istanbul Technical University, Turkey)

Deprivation Analysis in Turkey and Its Provinces Insights for Post-Growth Urbanism-presentation

14:00 → 15:30 T_10 THEORIES: Theories and theorizing I

Conveners: Anna Loffing (University of Vienna), Meike Levin-Keitel

14:00 The Radical Means-Ends Model in Planning by Prefigurative Mobilizations

Tore Sager, Professor Emeritus
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
7491, Trondheim, Norway
tore.sager@ntnu.no
Phone +47 918 97 158

Abstract: Prefigurative mobilizations, such as alternative micro-communities and urban social movements, organize their practice here and now in ways that are in line with and reveal the activists’ aspirations for a future society founded on principles and values quite different from those forming present capitalist society. The purpose of my presentation is to show that this means-ends coherence has wide-reaching consequences for the ethics, policymaking and organization of the prefigurative entities.

Progressive radical initiatives often combine means-ends coherence with direct democracy, anti-hierarchy, value rationality, direct action, and real-world experimentation leading to revisions of their present practice and their goals for the future – that is, a degree of openendedness in visions of the good society. These elements characterize the activist planning theory for prefigurative mobilizations, and this theory is briefly introduced in the presentation. I focus on the claim for means-ends consistency, which strongly affects central features of the mobilizations’ planning.

A few pitfalls of prefigurative mobilizations deserve mentioning. For example, there is a risk that activists put too much emphasis on developing a beloved micro-community here and now. The more time and resources spent on building a separate identity and developing community members’ sense of belonging, the less energy is allocated to the political task of reforming the surrounding society. Besides, strict policies to further the prefigurative initiative’s distinctive character and identity can make it difficult to find loyal allies. Collaboration with other communities and movements is, however, necessary to influence changes of society at large.

The pros and cons of strict means-ends consistency are briefly discussed. On the positive side it gives no room for hypocrisy. One cannot, for example, claim to have democratic goals and at the same time use authoritarian means. So, aligning the actions of today with the ends of tomorrow has an ethical reason. On the negative side, insisting on realizing a future society corresponding perfectly with the practice preferred today would lead to blueprint planning. This is something that planners have long aimed to avoid, admitting that conditions often change over time, making it necessary to revise goals. Strategies to ensure some openendedness in prefigurative planning will be presented.

The theoretical points are accompanied by vignettes drawn mainly from small, alternative urban communities planning their own area and simultaneously working for social change. These illustrations come from the intentional communities Christiania in Copenhagen (Denmark), Svartlamon in Trondheim (Norway), and Kommune Niederkaufungen near Basel (Germany).

There is a need for an activist planning theory, as thousands of intentional communities, prefigurative social movements and progressive towns (transition towns, slow cities, human rights cities) around the globe are planning for transformation to a greener, more just and convivial society.

Speaker: Prof. Tore Sager (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU))

14:10 The Retheorization of Collaborative Planning Using Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal: Mean-End Presupposition, Rationality, and Procedure-Substantive Dichotomy

Collaborative planning based on Habermasian communicative theories is a holistic planning theory different from action-oriented planning theories (Levin-Keitel & Behrend, 2023). In empirical research, collaborative planning is often explained well in the literature review, but its application in examining local planning cases tends to be superficial. Much of the focus is on whether the case includes stakeholders’ negotiation and/or reaching consensus, overlooking that collaborative planning is an advocation of a communicative due process. Perhaps planning researchers understand that applying the whole depiction by collaborative planning theorists to local contexts is problematic. Collaborative planning, like other holistic planning theories, is still what John Rawls called an “ideal theory,” so between holistic theory (ideal theory) and theory of action (action design and implementation), a “bridge” is needed. The authors contend that this “bridge” should be akin to a social process, which starts by recognizing the diverged ideal from a reality setting and restructuring the holistic theory. This paper will make headway toward this bridging by retheorizing collaborative planning through an empirical study of Hong Kong’s urban renewal. The retheorization will follow three subjects: mean-end presupposition, rationality, and procedure-substantive dichotomy.

Original collaborative planning influenced by Habermas takes the positions of mean-focused, communicative rationality, and proceduralism in the prior subjects, whilst the empirical context of Hong Kong’s urban renewal allows the authors to scrutinize these original positions. Methodologically, we choose digital ethnography and focus group discussion to investigate the stakeholder communication for negotiating compensation for property acquisition in urban renewal projects. Observations were conducted in an online chatroom of a self-help group representing the affected residential and commercial property owners of a redevelopment project in Kowloon City to comprehend the why and wherefores and the strategies the group took to communicate with the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). The observations also provided access to the physical meetings between the group and the URA and other actions the group initiated; we interviewed stakeholders, who were involved to various degrees. Other than the digital ethnography in a redevelopment project under property acquisition, the authors also organized focus group discussions with residential property owners and relevant personnel from projects that had not experienced the URA’s property acquisition. Using three types of data (ethnographic field notes, in-depth interview transcripts, and focus group discussion notes) from the empirical study, we attempt to modify collaborative planning’s positions in the aforementioned subjects based on our realization of the gap between the communicative ideal and reality.

The retheorization will take three steps. First, the end of collaborative planning will be reconstructed in terms of private interests rather than consensual public interest, adding the considerations of individual parties’ interests and their marginal private interests into the mean (discourse) of collaborative planning. This will address the transformation from an “objective truth” to a truth covering various subjectivities in the hermeneutics of a dialogical consensus. Second, the rationality of collaborative planning will amalgamate instrumentality, strategy, and communication to ensure that the collaborative end will be oriented to both success and reaching an understanding (Habermas, 1982). Last, introducing the collaborative end, private interest, and substantivism to the limit of a function will enable an infinite approach of proceduralism in collaborative planning to substantivism. Collaborative planning can be very close to a substantive theory if significant enough private interests are involved.

We believe the retheorization will contribute to the discussion of planning theory, especially in transiting Habermas’ ideal communicative theories to nonideal theories under the collaborative communication paradigm. Leads from mean-end presupposition, rationality, and procedure-substantive dichotomy backed by rich empirical evidence will put rigor to setting up a “bridge” between holistic and action-oriented planning theories.

Speaker: Lirrey Lin (The University of Hong Kong)

14:20 Planning and democracy 'otherwise': Learning from Southern onto-epistemologies

Public trust in democratic governance structures (including planning structures) is at historic lows (OECD, 2022), while attacks on democratic institutions, coupled with increasing support for ethnonationalist political parties, warrant palpable concerns for a looming anti-democratic/anti-planning turn, globally (Freedom House, 2021). But attacks on democracy and public-sector planning stem not only from right-wing nationalists. They also stem from a global political economy that is deliberately crafted to obviate scrutiny from democratic institutions. Said differently, since at least the late 1980s, neoliberal globalisation has eroded democratic planning practices, because power is transferred from citizens to transnational corporations that are not subject to direct democratic oversight (Purcell, 2009). To worsen matters, such transferences are supported by nation states that subscribe to a market democracy (disguised as liberal democracy).

Planning democracy 'otherwise'--which is grounded in decoloniality (Winkler, 2018) and its accompanying epistemologies of the South (Santos, 2016; 2020)--provide urban and regional planners with an opportunity to learn from the different democratic planning practices arising in the global South that are deliberately delinked from capitalism and globalisation. One such example is evidenced in South Africa's communal landholdings where residents deploy multiple principles of legitimacy to engender emplaced planning practices. But given the entwined relationship between planning and the state, and the state's support of market rationalities, decoloniality urges us to question if alternative praxes are possible beyond local settings. Findings presented in this article suggest that place-dependency diminishes transferability. Nevertheless, herein lies an 'otherwise' praxis' power to counter coloniality, while keeping alive Derrida's (2005) 'always to come' narrative that challenges the liberal tradition of democracy as the only, and most lucrative, outcome. This power allows planners to learn from the South; but not for the purpose of replicating its rich diversity, but rather for the purpose of being inspired by altogether different futures. And it offers a role for emplaced democratic planning theories and practices that are cognisant of pluriversality, relationality, popular knowledges, local experiences, and situated worldviews, whilst supporting and nurturing a 'politics of difference' (Mignolo and Walsh, 2018) and 'becomings in place' (Gibson-Graham, 2003), in tandem with 'idioms of autonomy and community' (Escobar, 2019).

Speaker: Prof. Tanja Winkler (University of Cape Town)

14:30 Planning Theory through the lens of its own publication corpus

Planning theory literature has changed signfiicantly since the emergence of planning theory as a subdiscipline. In recent decades, the literature has moved away from big conceptual turns and 'grand theories.' But what has it moved towards? This paper originates from the author team's interest in the question: what has planning theory research focused on in recent years? What are key streams of debate and how has the theoretical landscape evolved?

The project is to conduct a literature review of key planning theory publications. More precisely, we aim to identify the questions and themes dominant in planning theory publications in the last decade and a half. By analysing all papers published since 2010 in two key journals of planning theory (Planning Theory and Planning Theory and Practice), we allow for a quantitative and qualitative review of themes, theoretical foundations, shifts in discourses as well as the use and development of theories. We first try to understand what questions scholars have asked that actively engage planning theory scholarship and, second, to understand current trends in the use and development of planning theories. Complemented by a quantitative analysis, this qualitative analysis also identifies texts which have been influential in shaping the debate. Altogether, the research considers more than 1000 articles, commentaries, reviews and opinion pieces, with an in-depth analysis of 56 articles. Through this analysis, we hope to summarise the contemporary debate and provide a sense of what planning theories deem important for planning practice and research.

This article is being developed in the context of an International Working Group established by the Academy of Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association, entitled: “Beyond the process – Finding common ground for a discussion on planning’s substantial foundation."

Speaker: Luke Juday (Technische Universität Wien (Vienna University of Technology))

14:40 Understanding Uncertainty in Planning

Understanding Uncertainty in Planning;
Case study of demographic forecasts in urban plans in Iran

Uncertainty is an intrinsic notion in planning that is mostly recognized as the obstacle in the process of planning and achieving its goals. So planning devoted practice and theory to reduce this unpopular notion and take control of reality. But all the tools introduced to tackle with uncertainty have sides of subjective and normative characteristics and use of power in themselves that sometimes the sole reason of facing uncertainty is not enough to justify them and they seem to be insufficient in a way that they produce even more uncertainty. In this case planning would be in a position of redistributing uncertainty, but even this meaning has its own limitations(Marris,1996). Practitioners may deny or be unfamiliar with the responsibility of its consequences. It will be helpful if planning had a comprehensive narrative of uncertainty that can actually demonstrate what is happening in the planning practice.
This research is interpretive research with a value-oriented approach (Buunk, van der Eidem,2015), with focus on the definition of uncertainty and the tools (in terms of different theories, technologies, or philosophy) being used against it in planning practice. The chosen context is the case study of demographic forecasts in urban plans in Iran. The data were collected from deep interviews with practitioners and discourse analysis.
The literature review delves deep into four introduced approaches to uncertainty in the planning theory and one approach in demographic science, and then goes on to compare them with the the planner’s crafts to tackle with uncertainties. These five categories are:
- Rational and mathematical approach (Myers,2001)
- The technology/ agree-disagree matrix (Christensen,1985)
- Strategic choice (Friend & Hickling,2005)
- Planning as expectation management (Hartmaan,2012)
- Hauntology of urban planning (Gunder,2008)
Analytical philosophy was used in this research as a basic view to certainty and to analyze the meanings that practitioners have for uncertainty. Analyzing interviews and theories lead to a new definition of planning. In this new take on planning, uncertainty does not mean the absence of certainty, but an independent concept that can be present along with it. In this definition uncertainty is an inherent characteristic of planning that made it possible in the first place to plan, and within planning it has always generated the potential of creativity and meaning of power. These insights can be traced back in every step that population forecasts take in the planning process.
Thus, following the narratives that was collected from professionals we can suggest that when speaking of uncertainty in planning, we are not just referring to “uncertainty” itself, but the question is who had the advantage of being “certain”.

Speaker: Ms Niyusha Zarei (TU Dortmund)

14:00 → 15:30 T_11 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: L2 - Digital Transformation

Conveners: Merve Deniz Tak (İstanbul University), Michele Campagna (University of Cagliari)

14:00 Digitalization, Culture, and Urban Space Interaction: A Design Fiction Approach

Digital environments, which entered our lives in the 1990s and have become increasingly widespread, have profoundly affected social norms and the relationship between people and the artificial products of digital integration. Digitalization has radically changed our communication habits, with face-to-face interactions gradually being replaced by digital platforms. E-mail, online chat rooms, and social media have slowly diminished the importance of physical space, gradually shifting relationships to a virtual ground in specific contexts. In addition, the rise of e-commerce platforms, the emergence of virtual galleries and museums, and the proliferation of online education platforms have transformed traditional experiences, replacing physical activities with digital ones.

This process has blurred the boundaries between the virtual and physical worlds, transforming individuals' perceptions of identity and modes of social interaction. Digitalization is not only restructuring individual lives but also redefining the use of public spaces and the organization of urban environments. The digital age is fundamentally transforming the relationship between urban spaces, cultural practices, and social interactions. Technological advancements are blurring the boundaries between physical and digital environments and reshaping urban spaces.

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of digital technologies on the reconfiguration of urban and public spaces as well as cultural practices. It examines the hybridization of physical and digital environments in shaping urban dynamics and evaluates their potential to address future urban challenges. The research will employ a mixed-methods approach, including the "design fiction scenario-based survey" technique, to model the potential impacts of digitalization on urban spaces. Advanced analytical tools such as Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Maxqda will be used to uncover trends in the intersection of digital and physical environments. The methodology will provide a speculative yet grounded urban transition perspective, allowing for an understanding of the transformative effects of digital technologies on urban life and the exploration of possible future scenarios. These findings aim to offer insights for urban planners, policymakers, and urban researchers to foster a sustainable and inclusive urban future.

Speaker: Ms Zeynep Gülce Aydın (Istanbul Technical University)

14:10 A Digitalised Tourism Sector: Impact on Occupations and Geographies

Large cities such as Berlin, Munich and Hamburg are the top German tourist destinations in absolute numbers, with over 26, 16 and 14 million overnight stays respectively in 2022 (INKAR, 2024). However, in terms of relative numbers, the sector of tourism plays a more significant role in less densely populated regions along the country’s coastline, in the Alps and in the southwest. In these districts, overnight stays exceed the number of inhabitants up to 40 to 50 times (INKAR, 2024).

This strong representation of the tourism sector is a main driver for economic performance. Coastal districts, for instance, tend to show better economic indicators than their inland neighbours (INKAR, 2024). At the same time, an over-reliance on this sector also creates vulnerabilities (Sarrión-Gavilán et al., 2015, Bei & Celata, 2024). Understanding the spatial implications of labour market trends in tourism is interesting because occupations in this sector are highly susceptible to digitalisation. Research indicates that occupations such as waiters and waitresses, check-in clerks at accommodations, but also tour guides and hosts perform tasks that can easily be automated (Frey & Osborne, 2017).

While digitalisation trends are difficult to translate into simple (one- or two-dimensional) indicators, we can already perceive certain transformation effects in the tourism sector, impacting the labour market. Examples include check-in machines at accommodations or app-based tour guides used by tourists during their visits. Additional indicators related to digitalisation show among others a higher potential exposure of occupations in the tourism sector towards Artificial Intelligence (Felten et al., 2021) and a relatively high share of digital skills needed to conduct their usual tasks (Lennon et al., 2023), even though such exposures are rather moderate when compared to their computerisation potentials.

Our research provides a replicable approach to integrating outputs in the field of research in digitalisation trends with spatial labor market analysis. This is done through a harmonisation of (official) labour market taxonomies and information on digitalisation queried from different sources. The approach is presented on the example of Germany on the district (Kreise) level, with a focus on (rural) touristic regions, where we develop a multi-dimensional measure to describe regional tourism susceptibility to digitalisation. Outputs can be used to interpret the regional vulnerability towards potential job losses, possible needs for further training in the sector (e.g. due to changes in the nature of how tasks are being conducted) and the impact of local economic geographies, aligned with ancillary industries and sectors.

Speakers: Balázs Cserpes (HafenCity Universität Hamburg), Rachele Vanessa Gatto (University of basilicata)

14:20 The Impact of Environmental Design Elements on Corporate Site Selection for Information Industry Companies in the Metaverse

With advancements in information and communication technologies, the virtual world is becoming a broader expression of our personal and collective space, leading to a bidirectional formation. This situation underscores the uncertain distinction between an individual's physical presence and actions in the real world, and their digital identity (and behavior) in virtual networks. With the transition from the Web 2.0 era to Web 3.0, the Metaverse, which places the user at the center and provides a sense of reality in virtual environments, has gained significant popularity. The Metaverse platform, which was initially popularized by virtual games, played a key role in converting physical spaces into virtual environments, particularly with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hybrid work model and the goal of improving employee experience scores are driving companies in the information industry to invest in virtual offices particularly metaverse offices which need to be designed with specific environmental design elements to make them attractive. The Metaverse serves as a virtual environment that can meet this demand for virtual offices while providing both social and commercial benefits.

The study aims to identify the factors influencing corporate site selection decisions of information industry companies in Turkiye within metaverse platforms and to explore how urban/environmental design tools can create added value. The structure of the study is concentrated on the relationship between the “Metaverse and urban design” with also “real estate and urban design” through remarkable subtopics which have emerged as the key terms most frequently associated with environmental design elements such as regional identity, mixed uses, open spaces, building heights and appearances, spatial relationships, sustainability, visual and morphological concepts.

The method of this study involves an online survey application based on key elements encountered in literature review and other environmental design elements predicted in light of urban planning/urban design formation, in order to determine which environmental design factors influence corporate site selection decisions of information industry companies in the Metaverse. Based on the survey results, the relationships and importance evaluation of environmental design elements were conducted using regression analysis in the SPSS software. Based on the initial findings of the pilot survey, environmental elements within the accessibility cluster have a more significant impact on the corporate site selection decisions of companies or institutions operating in the information industry compared to the urban space design elements cluster and building design cluster. It can be said that the dominance of this result is largely due to the fact that the survey was conducted in Turkiye, particularly reflecting the responses of company representatives based in Istanbul. This is because Istanbul is a metropolitan city where traffic and accessibility issues are particularly pronounced. Therefore, environmental design elements within the accessibility cluster have become the most prominent criterion even when making site selection decisions in the Metaverse. In line with the final results of this stage, it is aimed to capture an intersection between theory and practice with the platform design in the Metaverse planned for the next stage with simulating the environmental design elements identified through the survey. Additionally, it seeks to contribute to literature by identifying new environmental design elements in the Metaverse that may overlap with or differ completely from those in the physical world.

Speaker: Mr Yılma KARATUNA

14:30 Unraveling the relationship between the digital platforms and gentrification: Evidence from Nanjing, China

Driven by information technology, digital platforms are increasingly integrated into urban life through navigation services, social connections, and consumer services, leading to profound transformations in urban and social spaces. These changes are also closely linked to the gentrification process.
Taking Weibo, one of China’s most popular social media platforms, this study aims to explore the relationship between digital platforms and physical spaces, and their connection to gentrification. Using Nanjing’s main urban area as a case study, this research analyzes transaction data from second-hand housing platforms (Beike) and Weibo check-in data from 2019 to 2024. The study first measures the stages of gentrification in different communities, then employs spatial autocorrelation, cluster analysis, and regression analysis to examine the relationship between Weibo check-in activities and gentrification. The study further illustrates the role of digital platforms in the gentrification process in the information era and proposes strategies for addressing its challenges.
The results show a significant correlation between gentrification levels and the intensity of social media check-in activities. Communities near commercial centers, business hubs, tourist attractions, and university districts exhibit “high-high” clusters of gentrification, characterized by both high gentrification levels and active check-in behavior. In contrast, peripheral urban areas display “low-low” clusters, reflecting low levels of both gentrification and digital activity. Regression analysis further demonstrates that, in addition to traditional factors influencing gentrification, community gentrification stages are strongly associated with check-in activity intensity within residential, commercial, and public service areas. Notably, the activities of non-local users, KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders), and KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers) have a greater impact on gentrification than those of local users or other groups. The findings suggest that informational capital transcends spatial and temporal boundaries, commodifying potential urban spaces. Through algorithmic mechanisms, platforms guide users to link textual and visual content to specific physical locations. Through ‘discursive investing’, this process attracts individuals or investors with similar tastes to certain communities, accelerating gentrification in these areas.
This study provides a new perspective on gentrification research in the Global South in the digital age, offering sight into how activities in digital platforms reshape the communities and highlight their role as potential amplifiers of inequality. It emphasizes the need for urban governance policies to consider the impact of digital platform activities on community changes, especially regarding population structure and the potential for gentrification. Furthermore, effective measures should be implemented to regulate digital platform algorithms and content to prevent widening inequality among communities and to promote spatial justice in the digital age.

Speaker: Qianhui He (Southeast University)

14:40 Effective Monitoring and Evaluation for Digital Twins

With any innovative technological development and application, the "monitoring and evaluation" of impact is essential. Regarding the emerging area of urban "Digital Twins", this is even more critical as citizens should and are at the centre of this innovation, and their collaborative engagement and "buy in" will ensure the successfully delivery. It is widely accepted in all fields of study that to understand and assess impact, a framework approach is preferable, and no more so that with monitoring and evaluation.
In recent years, significant advancements in the development of an applied Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework to assess impact within the context of Digital Twins, have been achieved, and through ongoing applied projects, this is moving at pace to deliver success. This framework can provide a crucial assessment mechanism for innovative technological specially against the aims and objectives of the initiative, project, etc. An robust and evidence-based M&E Framework will ensure the outcomes remain relevant and impactful to the stakeholders, end-users and the community as a whole, allowing for the equipping of all with relevant information cultivated through the continuous M&E of real-time progress. This places stakeholders, end-users and community in the advantaged position of being able to make informed decisions and implement timely interventions. Additionally, M&E works as a vital mechanism in the assessment of risk which ensures any project’s success is adequately safeguarded against unforeseen challenges. This highlights the role of M&E in navigating the inherently complex nature of urban development and ensures project resilience.
A robust M&E framework requires a distinct understanding among all regarding the purpose and objectives of the project at hand. It is paramount to a project’s success that all key actors hold a clear understanding of the goals they wish to achieve throughout a project’s duration and beyond. Such goals should be clear, defined and measurable whilst also in alignment with the central vision of a project. In this way, communication should be a priority during both the framework’s development and application phases.
An M&E Framework should maintain a form that allows for flexibility and adaptability to accommodate contextual changes that may arise throughout the project’s lifespan. In this way, M&E is seen to facilitate the continuous improvement and refinement of the project whilst also showing a commitment to an approach characterised by integrity.
To allow for any type of M&E to determine impact, the establishment of "Key Performance Indicators" (KPIs), both quantitative and qualitative in type, are needed. The use of a Multi-Criteria Analysis approach can significant enhance and prioritise development of these KPIs.
This presentation will set out the components and workings of an applied M&E Framework, particularly through the lens of the applied research three-year (2024-2026) project titled Building Intelligent Positive Energy Districts (BIPED) (https://www.bi-ped.eu/), funded under the European Union Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme. The project is focused on a new solution to “fast-track” energy transition. Within BIPED, Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are urban areas where energy produced is the same as, or greater than, energy consumed. The BIPED project is building intelligent PEDs to assist urban area/cities with decarbonisation efforts aimed at reaching net zero by 2030 through the development and application of a “Digital Twin” for the city of Aarhus, Denmark. PEDs are a key building block in the future energy paradigm for carbon-neutral cities and communities. With the rise of modern technology, PED development is set to evolve towards a more agile arrangement in which decisions are first tested and fine-tuned in virtual environments before they are deployed on the ground.

Speaker: Dr William Hynes (KPMG Future Analytics / University College Dublin, Ireland)

14:00 → 15:30 T_12 DISASTER-RESILIENT PLANNING: Measuring and mapping: tools and analysis for risk reduction

Convener: Dr Meltem ŞENOL BALABAN (Middle East Technical University)

14:00 Social Vulnerability Mapping

Almost every region faces some significant threats (natural hazards, like floods, fires, droughts, etc. or human-made risks, like poverty, unmanageable and/or unpredicted population changes, social unrest, wars, etc., just to name a few). Every one of them needs different strategies to address these challenges. Also, it is important to examine if communities and people are able and capable of addressing these threats sufficiently. Earlier researchers established methods for evaluating the social vulnerability of communities. Yet these methods require contextual knowledge about the society – various criteria about population and predetermined vulnerable groups (like, poor people, people with special needs, etc.). In the end, social vulnerability is expressed as an index, which could help to identify the most vulnerable areas. It could also hint at suggestions for development policies and practices in order to minimise negative outcomes or implement adaptation and/or prevention measures. Here, we will present the social vulnerability mapping done for Lithuania at the administrative unit LAU3 level. It will be accompanied by a survey data investigation on public risk preparedness, which could help to propose more tailored strategies for future urban development.

Speaker: Dr Paulina Budryte (Kaunas University of Technology)

14:10 Assessment of community resilience to disaster at the local level in Korea

Disaster resilience is increasingly recognized as a critical capacity for communities to withstand and recover from hazardous events. Communities that demonstrate higher resilience typically experience reduced impacts from disasters and shorter recovery periods. Building a resilient community to disasters has become a primary objective of disaster management aimed at absorbing and mitigating the adverse effects of disaster. This study measures the level of community resilience to natural disasters in South Korea by providing a set of indicators assessing resilience in terms of human, social, economic, environmental, and physical capacity aspects. This study develops a methodology to aggregate constructed disaster resilience index for local communities and analyze data from 229 local municipalities to measure their resilience level. This study compares community disaster resilience level between 2010 and 2020, and employs the aggregated disaster resilience index to explore its relationship with disaster losses in the country. The findings reveal geographic variation in disaster resilience across South Korea. By identifying the extent of community resilience within this framework, this study offers disaster management officials or decision-makers with strategic insights for enhancing community resilience and minimizing the negative impacts of natural disasters.

Speaker: Prof. Dong Keun Yoon (Yonsei University)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-Yoon.pdf

14:20 When Buses Become Beacons: Rethinking Buses as Adaptive Responders in Crisis—A Chinese Perspective

Modern urban transportation systems prioritize efficiency and precision, often overlooking resilience and adaptability under extreme events. While transit-priority policies have gained global recognition, their systemic value in emergency response remains underexplored. This study re-evaluates the role of urban public transit—particularly buses—in extreme scenarios, emphasizing their potential to enhance urban resilience.

Unlike metro systems, which dominate the discourse on urban transportation during crises, ground buses are an underappreciated yet critical component of urban mobility networks. Their inherent flexibility allows rapid resource deployment and service reconfiguration, making them indispensable in scenarios of constrained resources and dynamic, unpredictable demand. However, existing research rarely addresses the mechanisms by which buses adapt to emergencies or the policy and planning measures required to support such adaptations. This study aims to fill this gap by addressing two key questions: how do buses respond dynamically to extreme conditions, and how can their planning and governance frameworks be optimized to enhance resilience?

Using empirical data from China’s emergency response cases—such as bus dispatching during the COVID-19 outbreak and service continuity during the catastrophic flooding—the study investigates the dynamic adaptation of buses. Grounded in theories of adaptive planning, resilient cities, and dynamic resource allocation, we propose a conceptual framework termed the Crisis-Adaptive Transit System (CATS). This framework positions public transit not merely as an everyday service but as a strategic asset for crisis management. It identifies critical variables influencing bus system adaptability, including policy support, network flexibility, spatial distribution equity, and response time, extending the traditional focus on efficiency to encompass resilience and societal functions.

Key findings reveal that China’s bus systems demonstrate unique strengths in crisis response:

1. Network Density and Coverage: Comprehensive spatial layouts provide a foundation for resilience.
2. Public Ownership Model: Facilitates rapid resource integration and redeployment.
3. Digitalization: Enhances real-time monitoring and effective scheduling.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, urban bus systems across China implemented innovative service models and flexible strategies, ensuring essential mobility while supporting pandemic containment measures. These practices underscore the potential of ground buses as cost-effective, agile responders in extreme situations.

To translate these insights into actionable strategies, the study proposes a resilience-oriented planning framework for public transit under extreme conditions:

1. Modular Network Design: Develop hierarchical and redundant network structures to absorb disruptions.
2. Intelligent Management Platforms: Employ digital technologies to enhance real-time coordination and precise response.
3. Community-Scale Micro-Networks: Strengthen “last-mile” connectivity to bolster neighborhood resilience.
4. Multi-Sectoral Collaboration: Establish integrated governance mechanisms for crisis response.

These findings challenge conventional transit planning paradigms, which prioritize efficiency over resilience and equity. The study argues that adaptive planning and flexible operational mechanisms are essential for enhancing the emergency capacity of public transit. By integrating crisis response capabilities into the performance evaluation of transit systems, this research expands the theoretical and practical understanding of public transportation’s role in urban resilience. Furthermore, it highlights the global relevance of China’s practices, offering valuable lessons for the sustainable evolution of urban mobility systems amid growing climate challenges and increasing uncertainties.

In conclusion, this study advocates for a paradigm shift in urban transit planning—from efficiency-driven models to resilience-oriented frameworks. Ground buses, as cost-effective and flexible components of urban mobility networks, hold untapped potential to act as critical responders to extreme events, ensuring continuity and equity in urban transportation systems. Future research should explore pathways for integrating climate adaptation strategies into public transit planning, ensuring systems are robust, equitable, and responsive to diverse urban demands in the face of an increasingly uncertain world.

Speaker: Mr Yanyun MAO (Urban Mobility Institute, Tongji University)

14:30 Agent-Based Modeling Applied to the Analysis of Landslide Risk Dynamics: A Virtual Laboratory to Explore the Underlying Mechanisms of Risk

Climate change, driven by human activity, has intensified extreme weather events, causing significant losses, especially in vulnerable communities (IPCC, 2023). In Brazil, data from 2023 indicate that around 73% of the population lives in municipalities with high risk of flooding, flash floods, or landslides (Anjos, 2024). In this context, the integration between environmental risk management and urban management has gained more prominence nationally and internationally (Cabral; Cândido, 2019). However, its translation into effective public policies still faces limitations regarding the understanding of vulnerability or resilience states in cities.
Research has advanced to identify "risk," and numerous quantitative and qualitative methods have been developed to model these processes. Background conditions leading to a "disaster" have been documented by frameworks like the Risk-Hazard and Pressure and Release models (Turner et al., 2003; Blaikie et al., 1994). Advances have also been made in mapping, measuring, and classifying areas of social vulnerability to risks (Cutter et al., 2003).
Insights into resilience in socio-ecological systems can contribute to a convergence of historically distinct research lines (Adgar, 2006). Resilience, from complex systems' perspective, is defined as the ability to absorb disturbances before the system shifts to a different state and the capacity for self-(re)organization and adaptation (Mochizuki et al., 2018). Vulnerability refers to the degree a system is susceptible and unable to cope with adverse effects (Mochizuki et al., 2018). Traditional vulnerability analysis relies on static mapping and quantifying vulnerable areas, often ignoring the dynamic aspect of risk and the role of social actors in changing vulnerability states (Adger, 2006, Aerts et al., 2018).
Agent-based models (ABMs) provide insights into complex systems by modeling risk dynamics through environmental and social factors (Filatova et al., 2013). This research develops the Landslide Risk Simulation Model (LRSIM), aimed at contributing to public policies on urban management, exploring institutional actions through "what-if" scenarios. The research's main goal is to understand landslide risk mechanisms in the emergence of vulnerability or resilience states, providing insights for urban and risk management.
The model simulates landslides based on predisposing factors (environmental conditions such as slope, geology, geomorphology) and effective factors (land use, infrastructure, population density, precipitation). The empirical application area is Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, which has a history of large-scale landslides: 1967, 1979, 1988, 2012, 2014 and 2022. The February 2022 event resulted in 238 deaths.
The prototype was implemented in NetLogo and calibrated using two rainfall scenarios. Data comes from rain gauge records for the 2024 dates (no landslide occurrence) and 2022 rains (landslides ocorrence). As expected, the model generated more landslides for the 2022 scenario. In the sensitivity analysis, the model shows sensitivity to the population density parameter, tending to locate landslides in areas with high population density and occupation typologies such as “favelas” (slums). The LRSIM is still in sensitivity analysis and validation process. The model will be validated by comparing the model outputs and landslide scars mapped in 2022 in Petrópolis. Once validated, scenarios will be created to test different urban management policies to minimize risks.

Speakers: Dr Agnes Silva de Araujo (Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR)), Mrs Lissandra Baldissera (Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR))

14:40 Why should we bother about risk reduction at the urban scale? The Early Recovery System (ERS) framework to assess the impact of seismic prevention instruments on post-quake urban functionality

Italy is highly vulnerable to seismic hazards, with historical earthquakes causing substantial casualties and economic losses. Despite this, Italian seismic risk management has traditionally prioritized post-disaster recovery instead of effective urban prevention strategies.
This approach carries significant costs, profoundly affecting territorial functionality and local communities through losses, service interruptions, population and business displacement, and socio-cultural imbalances. Therefore, the speed of recovery plays a critical role in determining whether communities choose to rebuild or relocate permanently. Effective disaster risk reduction policies centered on urban prevention strategies to safeguard territorial safety are needed to accelerate post-earthquake recovery and enhance urban resilience.
In this work, we introduced the Early Recovery System (ERS) framework that identifies essential urban elements such as emergency functions, healthcare facilities, schools, road networks, areas for temporary housing, and interfering buildings with the potential for seismic retrofitting. By calculating 18 indicators over different time intervals and across three hypothetical scenarios, we generated recovery curves that illustrate urban functionality loss and recovery trajectories, to establish the optimal prevention strategy to be adopted. Evaluation of the ERS framework in the case study of L’Aquila post-2009 earthquake demonstrates its potential to mitigate long-term urban functional disruptions and facilitate faster recovery.
ERS may represent a further step towards constructing an urban seismic prevention instrument for early recovery, that could support decision-makers in planning interventions and setting priorities based on common goals of territorial safety in earthquake-prone regions.

Speaker: Dr Margherita Giuffrè (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria CNR-IGAG)

14:50 Reevaluating Urban Resilience: Challenges and Opportunities in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges' ZAC Centre-Ville and Renaturation Projects

This study evaluates the implementation of resilience strategies in two urban projects in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges: the ZAC Centre-Ville and the Renaturation de l'Yerres. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, including document analysis, interviews, and qualitative assessment, the research uncovers important understandings regarding the effectiveness and limitations of these resilience measures.
The analysis reveals several critical findings: (1) The ZAC Centre-Ville project exhibits considerable gaps in resilience principles, particularly in flood risk management, failing to comply with established guidelines and increasing vulnerability. (2) The Renaturation de l'Yerres project, while aligned with ecological goals, faces challenges in community engagement and participation, underscoring the need for better integration of social dimensions. (3) Socio-economic factors, such as high poverty and informal housing, exacerbate vulnerability and impede resilience efforts. (4) Financial constraints and the lack of legal mandates for resilience investments pose significant barriers to effective implementation.
The study highlights the necessity for enhanced compliance with resilience standards, a more holistic and systemic planning approach, and greater consideration of socio-economic factors. Recommendations include advocating for stronger policy frameworks, securing investment through clearer communication of benefits, and fostering inclusive planning processes that involve all stakeholders. These findings provide a framework for improving urban resilience strategies, ensuring they are both effective and equitable in addressing the diverse challenges faced by cities.
This research contributes to a deeper understanding of urban resilience dynamics and offers actionable insights for policymakers, planners, and communities seeking to enhance their adaptive capacity in the face of evolving risks.

Speaker: Dr Maliheh Hashemi Tilenoi (Sorbonne Université)

14:00 → 15:30 T_13 HOUSING AND SHELTER: Housing crisis II

Convener: Massimo Bricocoli (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano)

14:00 Milan inside-out: housing affordability and the extended urban region

In the city of Milan, the gap between salaries and housing costs continues to widen. As the divide deepens, homeownership (by those who already own or inherit) or financial support are becoming almost necessary conditions for living and working in the city. For those who cannot rely on either of these conditions, the almost constant upward trend of property values and rents has a strong impact on housing affordability, even for broad groups of workers whose net wages don’t grow but are well above the absolute poverty threshold. The risk is a progressive expulsion of low-income individuals and households from the municipal perimeter to hinterland municipalities, and at the same time, a blockade to the immigration of low-income individuals and households, with the result of a selective turnover. In Milan, as in the case of other attractive cities, the distance from the city centre generally corresponds to a cheaper housing supply. Nevertheless, our perspective is to uncover the articulated framework of relationships that run between the urban region and the central city, to open a broader reflection on the concrete and contextual conditions in which those excluded from Milan would find themselves living ‘outside Milan’.
This contribution presents the outcomes of the second year of research activities of OCA, the Housing Affordability Observatory in Milan, focusing on the ‘Milan inside-out’ conditions of affordability between the central city and its urban region. The territory we have defined as ‘outside Milan’ includes administrative and analytical perimeters, in a square of about 60 kilometers around Milan: the equivalent of a ‘section’ of territory incorporating about 300 municipalities and most of the urban region. By analyzing the affordability conditions of the territory surrounding the attractive city, this work offers the elaboration of public and open data to represent and discuss the reality of this diverse territory. The densely populated urban region, affected by a strong commuting component to Milan, seems to offer some more affordable settlement opportunities, but with criticalities related to commuting costs and the value of time spent on transfers.

Speaker: Lorenzo Caresana (DAStU, Politecnico di Milano)

14:10 Comparing the impacts of specialized industries on housing prices between the regions: Case of the Seoul Metropolitan Area

South Korea has been experienced rapid increase in housing prices and residential instability due to job and industry concentration in the Seoul metropolitan region. The sharp rise in housing prices is one of the major factors that undermines residential stability and housing affordability. Many studies have highlighted the regional imbalance of jobs and industries as a key factor in the increase in housing prices in the metropolitan regions. It is therefore crucial to identify factors affecting housing prices including variables related to employment and industry location.

This study aims to uncover the factors influencing housing prices in the Seoul metropolitan region covering three areas: Seoul Metropolitan City, Incheon Metropolitan City and Gyeonggi-do Province in Korea, while focusing on the impact of regional specialized industries. Specialized industries are defined as those within a specific industry category with a location quotient exceeding 1.25, and the quotients of specialized industries are recalculated using the number of employees working for the specialized industries in the region(Lee and Lim, 2021). To understand the disparity in the industrial impact between the areas, this research compares differences in the effects of specialized industries on housing prices between the region in Seoul metropolitan area. This study further compares the effects of the location quotients by major industry categories.

In this study, spatial panel model is employed to compare the factors influencing housing prices among the areas and industries. Housing sale prices are set as the dependent variable, with the location quotients of specialized industries, as well as various indicators related to households, housing, transportation, education, culture, and the regional economy, set as independent variables. The panel data consists of annual data from 2011 to 2023, with the basic administrative districts within the Seoul metropolitan region. Separate panel data sets are prepared for the Seoul and other Seoul metropolitan regions.

The results indicate that housing prices significantly increase as the location quotients of specialized industries rise. Furthermore, the location quotients of specialized industries have a more positive effect in Seoul than Incheon and Gyeonggi-do. When standardized coefficients are compared, the impacts of the location quotients of specialized industries are less than the net migration rate, the number of households, housing stock, and per capita regional income. However, they are higher than those of other variables related to transportation, education, culture, and the regional economy. Comparing the impacts of specialized industries in Seoul, finance and insurance, professional, scientific and technical services, and construction are identified as having a strong positive effects on housing prices, while other areas, manufacturing, construction, and professional, scientific and technical services are identified as significant. Therefore, housing policies in metropolitan regions should be implemented considering regional industrial strategies, including the development of regional specialized industries.

Speaker: Mr Kang-Hyun Cho (Kangwon National University)

14:20 Predicting Housing Prices: The Case of Ankara Housing Market

The housing market is considered a critical sector and a driving force in nearly all economies. In Türkiye, ongoing economic instability has further amplified the significance of the housing sector, fueling a steady increase in housing prices nationwide. Given its critical role in the Turkish economy, the housing market’s trajectory is crucial not only for economic stability but also for household affordability. This study aims to predict housing market trends across various parts of the city by utilizing a comprehensive dataset of 20,000 rental listings scraped from a real estate platform. The dataset includes key housing attributes such as housing price, type, number of rooms, area, age, floor level, and geographic location. By integrating advanced data analysis and machine learning techniques, this research seeks to identify patterns and predict rental price movements, providing valuable insights for urban planning and housing policy development. Accurately predicting housing prices has been a critical issue that impacts a wide range of stakeholders, including landlords, investors, real estate agents, buyers, sellers, and institutions such as governments and banks.
Valuing housing presents a unique challenge due to its heterogeneous nature. This complexity has led most housing price studies to rely heavily on hedonic pricing theory. As Rosen (1974) explains, "Hedonic prices are defined as the implicit prices of attributes, derived from the observed prices of differentiated products and the specific quantities of characteristics associated with them." In simpler terms, the price of a house reflects the cumulative implicit values of its individual features, which cannot be priced separately. A hedonic equation is a regression model that links the price of a house to its various characteristics. In previous studies, the hedonic price model based on linear regression, which uses OLS estimation, has been often used to predict housing prices. However, the relationship between property value and its influencing factors is often complex and non-linear. Various other techniques have been developed that offer potential advantages over the standard approach. Recent research has demonstrated that non-linear models leveraging machine learning techniques provide more accurate and reliable predictions. These modeling techniques can be more accurate than the standard approach because they can learn from data and continually enhance their predictive performance. Artificial neural networks, gradient boosting, and random forests are the most fundamental and widely used machine learning algorithms for prediction. As a result of this study, it has been seen that machine learning methods make better predictions in line with the literature.
The second phase of the study focuses on evaluating the affordability of housing in different parts of the city, with significant implications for urban planning and housing policy. Housing affordability can be measured using various methods, such as the price-to-income ratio (PIR), which is defined as the ratio of the median house price to the median household income in a city or country. Using the price-to-income ratio, the study identifies areas at risk of affordability crises, gentrification, or housing shortages. For instance, neighborhoods experiencing rapidly rising rental prices can be flagged for interventions like affordable housing initiatives or rent subsidies. Conversely, areas with stagnant or declining prices can be targeted for revitalization efforts to prevent marginalization.
In conclusion, this research offers a robust framework for predicting housing market trends, combining machine learning, spatial analysis, and urban policy considerations. By providing actionable insights into rental price dynamics, it contributes to more equitable and sustainable urban development, addressing the housing needs of diverse populations in Ankara and beyond.

Speaker: Duygu Çayan (Gazi University)

14:30 Housing Affordability in Europe - comparing housing markets and policies across Europe

Housing, and more specifically providing affordable housing, is now a hot political topic with the European Union now having appointed the first ever Commissioner for Energy and Housing. The drivers of this contemporary housing crisis are manifold, and differ across Europe. In this paper, we will present key results of the ESPON House4All European Research project running from July 2023-July 2025. More precisely, we will first summarise the main policy developments at the European level, ranging from the rising attention towards housing towards the development of the new EU Housing Task Force across the Commission. We then second present key results of the indicator development for measuring housing affordability in Europe drawing on a weekly webscrapping exercise in 31 countries. Third, we revisit typologies of housing policy families based on a literature review as well as the development of a European-wide compendium of policies contributing to housing markets in the ESPON space. Finally, we discuss key drivers of housing unaffordability based on the analysis of the compendium and the housing affordability indicators combined with case study research on specific housing policies. The paper thereby aims to draw attention to the local specificities of drivers of housing unaffordability while carving out general trends contributing to the contemporary housing crisis.

Speaker: Franziska Sielker ((TU Wien))

14:40 Regeneration as an Approach for Upgrading Informal Settlement in Kampung Deret Petogogan

Informal settlements are a global issue affecting many countries, including Jakarta. Ongoing urbanization and socio-economic changes have accelerated the development of these settlements in recent decades (UN Habitat, 2021; Cinnamon & Noth, 2023). Informal settlements are complex in both their composition and the social relationships within them; they are neither homogeneous nor well-organized (Smit, 2006; Misselhorn, 2008; Brown-Luthango et al., 2017). These areas are often unplanned, with residents facing insecure land tenure, which limits their access to essential services prior to government intervention (Cirolia, L.R et al., 2016; Weimann & Oni, 2019).

The growth of informal settlements is closely linked to urban expansion, and after extensive debate, urban regeneration has been recognized as a potential solution (Amoda, 2016). Urban regeneration is a comprehensive approach that contributes to sustainable development by redeveloping urban land and reusing resources. It aims to improve the physical and functional spaces of cities, enhancing social, economic, and environmental outcomes (Korkmaz & Balaban, 2020; Liu et al., 2023).

One example of urban regeneration is the Kampung Deret initiative in Petogogan, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, which aims to improve informal settlements. This initiative was driven by the "Assistance for Home Improvement in Slum Settlements through Kampung Structuring" policy, established under Governor Regulation No. 64 of 2013. The policy focuses on improving physical environments, including housing, infrastructure, and public utilities, ensuring alignment with residential development standards. The Kampung Deret project includes repairing housing components and expanding homes to meet livability standards in targeted slum areas.

While most international and national literature focuses on the periods before and during these improvements, this paper seeks to assess the long-term impact of housing interventions on community structures and governance patterns after the improvements. The main research question is: What is the impact of housing improvement in slum settlements through the Kampung Deret Petogogan initiative? How have the physical environment, social dynamics, community cohesion, economic regeneration, and regulations evolved before and after the improvements, using an urban regeneration approach?

This study employs an ex-post evaluation approach, which allows for a more accurate measurement of a program’s impact. Ex-post evaluation, conducted after program completion, enables a comprehensive and holistic analysis of the program's outcomes (Wollman, 2007; Kawengian & Rares, 2015; Abraham & Mahany, 2021). The primary objective is to determine whether the program's outputs, results, and impacts have effectively addressed the initial problems. Additionally, it evaluates the efficiency, effectiveness, and overall benefits of the program (Abraham & Mahany, 2021). Evaluation research plays a crucial role in determining the future of programs by providing recommendations on whether they should be continued or replicated in other areas.

The first step in this research is a systematic review of relevant literature. Secondary data is gathered from existing documents, such as the Kampung Deret development plans. The study adopts a case study approach, incorporating field research that includes interviews with key informants, direct observations, and household surveys. Focus group discussions (FGD) will also be held with key figures, government officials, NGO staff, and academics. The research utilizes a comparative methodology with a before-and-after design. The analysis focuses on the impact over a 10-year period following the improvements.

Keywords: Informal Settlement, Upgrading, Regeneration,

Speaker: Mrs Laili Fuji Widyawati (Esa Unggul University)

14:00 → 15:30 T_14 ETHICS, VALUES AND PLANNING: Environmental Ethics and Planning

Conveners: Busra Ince, Stefano Moroni (Polytechnic University of Milan)

14:00 Distributive justice in energy policy: Five theoretical perspectives on distributive justice applied to the case of the planning of renewable energy projects

The call for justice is omnipresent in the planning of the energy transition, both in academia and policy practice. Over the past decades, research on justice has flourished, resulting in various frameworks and conceptualizations of justice (Basta, 2016; Fainstein, 2010; Stein and Harper, 2005; Weghorst, Buitelaar, and Pelzer, 2024). Despite the growing academic attention to justice and its aim to inform just decision-making in policy practice, key questions remain underexplored. These include how different conceptions of justice can be operationalised, how contradictory conceptions of justice can be addressed, and how justice theory can provide normative guidance for decision-making.

This paper aims to advance the operationalization of distributive justice to offer normative guidance for academics and policymakers in planning a just energy transition. It introduces five theories of distributive justice rooted in political philosophy: utilitarianism, libertarianism, egalitarianism, sufficientarianism, and communitarianism. These theories articulate reasons why a particular situation may be considered just or unjust and what a just distribution requires from a moral point of view (Kymlicka, 2001).

Those five theories of justice are used to reflect on the planning process for wind and solar energy projects in the Dutch Regional Energy Strategies. This approach facilitates an examination of the normative assumptions and decisions embedded in renewable energy planning and identifies the justice trade-offs inherent in the planning process. Special attention is paid to how spatial considerations shape justice arguments (Moroni and De Franco, 2024). By analyzing policy options, justice trade-offs, and the implications of certain decisions through the lens of distributive justice theories and spatial considerations, normative guidance in the planning process can be provided.

While there will always be multiple answers to the question of what constitutes a just distribution, addressing this moral issue is important because alternative distributions are always possible. Reflecting on these alternatives is therefore crucial for the deliberate and just planning of the energy transition, rather than accepting the status quo and risking to exacerbate injustices.

Speaker: Ms Petra van der Kooij (PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency/ Utrecht University)

14:10 Decisions about decisions: process literacy as a tool to increase understanding of value conflicts in coastal decisions

The spatial decisions made by regulators and policy makers have been formulated through evolving practices and incorporate a range of values from multiple sources. This applies to both terrestrial planning and marine planning but is particularly complex at the coast where regulatory and policy regimes overlap. The way is which diverse values are considered within these regulatory and policy regimes differs between process and between administration, with decisions made at the coast the locus for value conflicts which can put marine and terrestrial interests and values at odds with each other.

This research analyses coastal decision-making processes within the English spatial planning and marine licensing regimes. Using the development of a new sea defence in Southsea, Portsmouth as a case study, we explore how current stakeholder engagement and decision-making processes and practices incorporate the diverse values for multiple stakeholder groups which cross the terrestrial/marine boundary. Within the complex governance framework which seeks to sustainably manage coastal areas, the need for decision-makers to contemplate their own values related to the legitimacy of stakeholder value claims and related to good decision-making processes themselves is explored. Applying a spatial justice lens to management of coastal areas provides a conceptual framing through which value statements can be seen as fundamental for defining the spaces for which decisions are being made. The research concludes that increasing process literacy within both stakeholders (including the pubic) and decision-makers is crucial for maintaining spatial justice for coastal management.

Through illustratively mapping the Southsea Coastal Defence Scheme, this research increases process literacy through explaining how the dual terrestrial/marine decision-making process operates in England, along with Environmental Impact Assessment requirements. It further asserts the importance reflexive practice for decision-makers, policy-practitioners and researcher. By asking the question "what values am I bringing to decision-making processes?" practitioners and theorists can better understand what value statements they are (unconsciously) privileging and where the barriers to diverse values still exist.

Speaker: Dr Kat Fradera (University of Glasgow)

14:20 Unveiling Justice Perceptions in Managing Pluvial Flood Risks

Flood risk management (FRM) in the Netherlands is historically rooted in a protectionist discourse, driven by large-scale interventions in the 20th century to mitigate fluvial and coastal flood risks (Kaufmann et al., 2018). However, the growing impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events and rising sea levels, have intensified calls for more adaptive policies. These policies are intended to balance collective solidarity with a larger emphasis on individual preparedness, partially in response to the rising costs of recovery after pluvial floods. This study explores how Dutch residents perceive justice within FRM, using pluvial flooding as a case study.
Justice, as a normative and multifaceted concept, has increasingly been recognized as a critical consideration in spatial planning, both in academia (Moroni, 2020) and in practice (Voorontwerp Nota Ruimte, 2024). A growing body of research suggests that while differing interpretations of justice are not inherently problematic, acknowledging and explicitly addressing these differences is very important (Weghorst et al., 2024; Wijsman & Berbés-Blázquez, 2022). This study investigates how residents of flood-prone areas conceptualize and prioritize justice in decisions about flood preparedness. We analyze the narratives that underlie residents’ perceptions through interviews and compare them to institutional justice discourses.
Our findings reveal dominant narratives emphasizing government responsibility, shaped by residents’ perceived safety from floods due to large-scale flood infrastructure projects. These narratives contribute to a "silent" justice discourse (Kaufmann et al., 2018), where implicit expectations overshadow explicit debates, particularly concerning pluvial flooding. Although pluvial flooding is increasingly seen as a significant threat, residents show a limited sense of urgency for taking personal adaptive measures.
By comparing these insights with justice markers identified in the literature, we uncover key parallels and divergences, particularly regarding how justice is operationalized in societal and planning contexts. These findings highlight the challenges of transitioning from persistent protectionist paradigms to more adaptive approaches.
This study emphasizes the importance of justice-informed strategies in addressing evolving climate challenges. By focusing on the perspectives of residents, it provides a richer understanding of justice in FRM and offers actionable insights for policymakers. Furthermore, it extends existing research by examining whether justice discourses on pluvial flooding remain underdeveloped and how implicit assumptions about government responsibility influence adaptive capacities.

Speaker: Ms Claudia Rot (Wageningen University and Research)

14:30 Framing the Landscape, Concealing the Waste-scape

Bayramoğlu, historically known as Philokrene and dating back to the 14th century, stands out as one of Istanbul’s coastal settlements. After the 1970s, it was reshaped as a holiday area extending beyond the city limits in response to Istanbul’s expanding urbanization dynamics. Located on the Bayramoğlu peninsula, the Öbitaş Coastal Site was designed as an alternative holiday settlement to address Istanbul’s secondary housing demand, representing an example of the coastal expansion of the apartmentization process in Turkey. Consisting of concrete blocks, this site was built to ensure that every apartment had a sea view. The design and planning approach, which maximized individual views, simultaneously contributed to the removal of waste through the same landscape.

Bayramoğlu and similar coastal settlements exemplify the impact of urban growth on rural and natural areas. The filling and reconstruction of the shoreline extended the coastline further into the sea, transforming both the built environment and ecosystems. As seen in the Öbitaş Coastal Site, many residences in Bayramoğlu provide direct access to the sea via modernized concrete sunbathing platforms. However, in this process, concrete sewer pipes have transported waste that has harmed the coastal ecosystem. These interventions pose a significant problem for urban ecology while also becoming part of the growing ecological crisis in the Marmara Sea. In recent years, with the mucilage (sea snot) crisis, the necessity of reevaluating such coastal transformations within a political-ecological context has become even more evident.

This text aims to discuss the intersection of coastal urbanization, housing policies, and ecological destruction, with a particular focus on Bayramoğlu. The privatization of coastal areas and the restriction of access highlight the need to consider urbanization not only in spatial terms but also in its ecological and social dimensions. While tracing my childhood memories of this area’s transformation, I will also focus on developing a critical perspective within the framework of ecological responsibility. Rather than viewing mucilage merely as a disaster, it should be understood as a consequence of coastal policies and urbanization processes, emphasizing the importance of developing a sustainable approach in coastal areas. In this context, I aim to present a discussion centered on the decisive role of concrete in urbanization practices and the ways in which coastal landscapes are reimagined.

Speaker: Elif Hant (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University)

14:00 → 15:30 T_15 PROPERTY MARKET ACTORS: Property Owners, Developers and Community

Convener: Francesca Leccis (University of Cagliari)

14:00 An Analysis on the Factors Affecting the Institutional Resilience of Housing Developers

Resilience theory focuses on the ability of systems and organisations to resist crisis situations, absorb the effects of crisis and adapt to new conditions. This theory offers an important perspective, especially in understanding the dynamics of complex systems. In this study, Resilience theory is analysed in the context of the housing sector. Studies on the factors affecting the corporate resilience of housing developer firms are limited in the literature and in-depth analyses on the determinants of resilience are needed.
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of various parameters affecting the resilience capacity of housing developer firms. In this way, it identifies the factors that shape the resilience capabilities of firms against the institutional, economic, social and environmental crises they face and reveals the network of relationships between these factors. In this context, this study aims to contribute to the existing gaps in the literature by providing both a theoretical and practical framework.
Within the scope of the research, the data obtained from a survey conducted with 110 housing developer companies operating in Istanbul were analysed. The survey was designed to gather information on how economic, ecological, political, institutional and social factors affect the resilience capacities of firms. The scope of the questionnaire included a total of 30 parameters to measure the perceptions of the respondents, which were evaluated using a five-point Likert scale. The data was collected between October 2024 and December 2024 using a hybrid model involving both online and face-to-face interviews. In this way, the views of the participants were systematically quantitatively evaluated and flexibility was provided in the data collection process.
In the analysis part of the study, Factor Analysis was used to examine the data obtained in depth. This method reveals the implicit relationships and dimensions between resilience parameters thanks to its ability to reduce high-dimensional data sets to a meaningful and small number of factors. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) method was applied in the study; in this process, no hypothesis was determined in advance, and factor structures were discovered in line with the results of the analysis. Factor analysis was used as a tool to understand the basic components by simplifying the complex relationships between resilience parameters.
The findings have identified the main factor groups affecting the resilience of housing developer firms. Important clues have been provided for integrating these factor groups into sectoral practices. The research results provide information that will help managers and decision makers to develop more strategic and flexible management approaches. In addition, it is aimed to contribute to the establishment of a more robust institutional structure in the sector by providing concrete suggestions for companies that want to increase their resilience capacity.
In conclusion, this study brings a new perspective to the theoretical debates in the literature and demonstrates the applicability of resilience theory in the housing sector. By providing a comprehensive analysis of resilience factors, the research contributes to the development of a more prepared and adaptive structure of sectoral actors against crises. In this context, it has the potential to be a valuable reference source for both academic literature and sectoral practices.

Speaker: Ms Şeyma Öztaş

14:10 From sprawl to tall: Lessons from Kelowna, Canada as a blueprint for downtown intensification in mid-sized cities

Canadian cities are consistently characterized as low-density, dispersed and decentralized, largely due to the pervasiveness of car-oriented development and policies that encourage urban sprawl (Bunting et al., 2007; Talmage & Frederick, 2019). This has cemented Canada’s profile as a “suburban nation” (Gordon & Janzen, 2013), which is particularly true in “mid-sized” Canadian cities (populations between 50,000 and 500,000), where urban sprawl is more pronounced (Bunting et al., 2007). Since the early 1990s however, planning paradigms such as New Urbanism and Smart Growth, have promoted growth management policies that favour compact and dense development through intensification. Despite these policies, mid-sized cities continue to encounter challenges with implementation (Graham et al., 2019), often a result of soft market demand (Brewer and Grant, 2015), ample greenfield development opportunities (De Sousa, 2017), and inflexible planning regulations which constrain higher-density development (Nicol and Biggar, 2024).

Recent census data, however, identifies a few exemplary cases, where there is evidence of change in the downtown core. Most notably is Kelowna, British Columbia – a city of approximately 160,000 residents. Downtown Kelowna is undergoing a dramatic evolution, driven by a surge in the number of development applications, and a rapidly growing downtown residential population. Through semi-structured interviews with experts involved with planning and development in Kelowna, this study identifies the key factors contributing to the city’s unique successes with intensification of the downtown core. These include the proximity to quality amenities and services in and around the downtown; the unparalleled access to natural features including Okanagan Lake; a proactive local government and pro-development council; rapid population growth amongst demographics that favour living downtown (young adults and retirees); escalating housing prices increasing the demand for denser forms of housing in centralized locations; and the city’s appeal from developers based in larger centers who have expertise in developing high-density housing in a downtown context. Despite this momentum, these recent successes are threatened by rising interest rates, labour shortages, and changing regulations related to short-term rentals.

This research offers new insight into the factors that generate success with intensification in a downtown context in a mid-sized city. By understanding what has contributed to Kelowna's success, policymakers and planners working in similar contexts can adapt these lessons to aid in the intensification and revitalization of their respective downtowns – addressing the longstanding implementation challenges. This presentation will provide an overview of these findings and offer broader insights about growth and development patterns in Canadian cities.

References

Brewer, K., & Grant, J. L. (2015). Seeking density and mix in the suburbs: challenges for mid-sized cities. Planning Theory & Practice, 16(2), 151-168.

Bunting, T., Filion, P., Hoernig, H., Seasons, M., & Lederer, J. (2007). Density, size, dispersion: Towards understanding the structural dynamics of mid-size cities. Canadian Journal of Urban
Research, 16(2), 27-52.

De Sousa, C. (2017) Trying to smart-in-up and cleanup our act by linking regional growth planning, brownfields remediation, and urban infill in Southern Ontario cities, Urban Planning, 2(3), pp. 5. doi:10.17645/up.v2i3.1026

Gordon, D. L., & Janzen, M. (2013). Suburban nation? Estimating the size of Canada's suburban population. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 197-220.

Graham, R., Han, A. T., & Tsenkova, S. (2019). An analysis of the influence of smart growth on growth patterns in mid-sized Canadian metropolitan areas. Planning Practice & Research, 34(5), 498-521.

Nicol, P., & Biggar, J. (2024). Optimizing urban density: developer positions on densification in two mid-sized cities. Planning Practice & Research, 1-20.

Talmage, C. A., & Frederick, C. (2019). Quality of life, multimodality, and the demise of the autocentric metropolis: A multivariate analysis of 148 mid-size US cities. Social Indicators Research, 141(1), 365-390.

Speaker: Dr Rylan Graham (University of Northern British Columbia)

14:20 Negotiated Planning in Brazil: From Comprehensive Planning to Deal-Making Cities

This paper critically examines the transformation of spatial planning in Brazil, marked by a shift from participatory and comprehensive frameworks grounded in master plans and zoning regulations to negotiation-driven, project-specific approaches shaped by the interests of private investors. Historically, Brazil’s planning system has adhered to the normative principles of the City Statute, emphasizing participatory processes and formal regulations as mechanisms for promoting social justice and equitable urban development. However, the financialization of urban policies has introduced new dynamics and actors, exerting substantial influence over urban transformation.
Using São Paulo as a case study, mainly focusing on Urban Intervention Projects (UIPs), this paper explores how these instruments reflect a hybridization of planning practices. UIPs allow developers to propose tailored projects that adapt established planning regulations, creating tension with the participatory and equity-oriented ideals embedded in the national framework. These negotiations, often prioritizing financial imperatives, challenge the inclusiveness and equity goals traditionally associated with comprehensive planning paradigms, raising critical questions about the evolving role of planning systems in balancing public interest with market-driven urban transformations.
This study argues that Brazil’s shifting planning practices do not merely represent a retreat from comprehensive planning but rather an adaptive response to the tensions between financialization and participatory ideals. By analyzing the broader experience of UIPs in São Paulo, the paper identifies strategies and insights for navigating contemporary challenges in urban governance and safeguarding social justice within negotiation-based frameworks.

Speaker: Paulo Nascimento Neto (Graduate Program in Urban Management, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná)

14:30 Hacking the home: Prefabricated housing and new property regimes in residential property development

This paper examines how prefabricated housing units with temporary planning permits are reshaping property relations in urban development. While residential property development has traditionally been characterized by permanent structures and fixed property rights, the emergence of prefabricated housing units operating under temporary permits creates new models of ownership, access, and control. The paper has analyzed ‘flexwonen’, a Dutch national policy that facilitates the rapid deployment of prefabricated housing units through temporary planning permits, typically lasting 10-15 years (Groot & Ronald 2024). These units can be assembled, disassembled, and relocated, challenging traditional notions of real estate as permanently fixed assets. The state enables this through public funding, streamlined planning procedures, and deregulated property arrangements that allow municipalities to bypass standard building regulations.

The article advances three theoretical arguments with broader implications for urban governance and property theory: first, that prefabricated housing with temporary permits represents a fundamental shift in how property relations are articulated in residential development; second, that this shift is enabled through new forms of networked governance and discretionary decision-making that circumvent traditional planning instruments; and third, that the integration of new technologies in these arrangements is creating new property regimes which exploit principles of circularity and temporary occupation while mediating new dynamics of value extraction.
The project is based on a combination of (1) semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders including property developers, investors, local governments, financiers, and real estate consultants in the Netherlands; (2) content analysis of policy documents, industry reports, and planning guidelines; and (3) spatial analysis. The findings reveal how prefabricated housing developments under temporary permits are negotiated through governance networks where spatial norms are selectively enforced through discretionary decision-making. This research contributes to broader debates about the digital transformation of property (Faxon et al. 2024) and temporary housing (Debrunner & Gerber 2021). We conclude by considering the implications of these shifts for planning theory and practice, arguing that emerging property regimes require us to rethink assumptions about permanence, ownership, and control in urban development.

Speaker: Dr Daan Bossuyt (Utrecht University)

14:00 → 15:30 T_16 FOOD: Urban food governance and policy-making

Convener: Ebru Seçkin (Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi)

14:00 Revisiting the City-Region Concept in CRFS: Bridging Theory, Methodology, and Application in the Context of Turin, Italy

This contribution is derived from my broader doctoral thesis on "Urban Food Policies" developed within the context of Turin, Italy, where the local food system and its emerging food policy are investigated using a City-Region Food System (CRFS) approach. The focus of this presentation is the effort, conducted in collaboration with colleagues involved in several projects within the Turin Food Atlas group, to innovate the theoretical-methodological framework behind the construction of the city-region concept within the CRFS context.
Specifically, I conducted a systematic literature review to understand what use of the city-region knowledge, per how understood in urban and economic geography, was made in the CRFS framework and how the latter reflects prior scholar discussions. The review revealed five distinct interpretations of city-region, with a notable dominance of the normative paradigm.
The finding starkly contrasts with earlier literature, which views the city-region as the result of an organic process rather than a normative construct, and highlights the critical need to discuss the methodologies that contribute in selecting the components that constitute a relevant city-region. Drawing on the FAO’s conceptualization of "Territoriality and City-Region"’s pillar, the discussion examines how territoriality shall support the normative delineation of the city-region, with the specific goal of understanding whether it successfully contributes to perimeter contexts that should otherwise emerge from a preceding process rather than be created ad hoc for the research’s purposes.
This theoretical framework, enriched with the Italian Territorialist School knowledge, was tested through the development of a methodology designed to delineate the CRFS using the territoriality concepts as proposed by geographic scholarship also in relation to food systems. This methodology was then applied to the case of Turin, where the CRFS delineation was analyzed across various potential scales (City of Turin, Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont Region, Italian North-West industrial triangle of Genoa, Milan and Turin), reflecting the interplay of urban and rural relations in multiple fields.
This research aims to address a significant theoretical gap by critically evaluating the shortcomings in the use of the city-region concept within CRFS studies. Furthermore, it proposes a methodology that, building on existing knowledge, supports the delineation of city-regions that reflect local specificities rather than being the top-down selection of external actors. This approach offers a nuanced tool for scholars and practitioners seeking to integrate territoriality into sustainable food planning at the city-region scale.

Speaker: Mr Riccardo Giovanni Bruno (Polytechnic of Turin)

14:10 Understanding the role of diverse cities for sustainable food security: a socio-ecological governance framework

In face of compelling socio-ecological urgencies, including conditions of persistent food insecurity and (planetary) health crisis, cities are confronted with the mounting challenge of guaranteeing access to healthy and sustainable food for all (HLPE, 2024). Thousands of urban food policies and initiatives have emerged in the last decade to incorporate food related concerns into urban agendas, signalling the emergence of urban areas as key actors creating more equitable and sustainable food systems (Moragues-Faus et al., 2024). In this context, academic and practitioner demands for overcoming siloed approaches and for linking food with key socio-ecological and urban systems have become more pressing (Hawkes, 2023; HLPE, 2024). Yet, existing conceptual frameworks and practical approaches do not adequately account for the wider urban socio-ecological configurations and multi-scalar governance relations which largely determine sustainability and food security outcomes. In other words, urban food governance actors still face hard times to look ‘beyond food’ and grasp how place-based socio-ecological, economic, and political dynamics of diverse urbanisation processes condition food security outcomes and governance responses. Thus, the risk is that food system interventions remain a niche, losing the transformative potential of key urban processes.
With the aim to address this problem, in this contribution we seek to provide a deeper understanding of how different urban social-ecological, economic, and political configurations hamper or, on the contrary, enable sustainable food security outcomes; and, consequently, how actors can leverage diverse urban dynamics to shape adequate food security governance and policy responses. To do so, we propose a conceptual framework that informs theories and practices of urban governance for sustainable food security. Helped by research which connects urban food systems with critical approaches on socio-ecological systems (urban political ecology, urban metabolism, hybrid socio-natural assemblages …), the framework will provide tools to illuminate how key urban and socio-ecological drivers impact on urban food security outcomes (Swyngedouw, and Kaika, 2014; Moragues-Faus and Marsden, 2017). These drivers – or layers – relate to: governance and institutional dynamics, networks and resource flows, urban infrastructure and form, socio-ecological dynamics. The governance layer will be particularly deepened by adopting urban and territorialized approaches to (food) sustainability governance (Cistulli et al., 2014; Sonnino and Milbourne, 2022), offering a place-based perspective on how governance arrangements deal with key drivers, accounting for their hybridity and complexity, so as to tackle the specific challenge of improving urban food security.
The paper will then develop first insights on how this conceptual framework can begin to be operationalised in diverse cities. Particularly, we will illustrate the development of a food system monitoring framework in which key variables related to the abovementioned layers are considered and, potentially, can become vectors for a more transformative urban governance for sustainable food security.
Finally, the paper will conclude by highlighting key implications for an improved sustainable food security governance and policy-making in urban areas. We stress how urban food system action and monitoring should keep attention to the question of “who governs the city” in order to take advantage of key urban dynamics that can help to address food security more structurally.

Speaker: Dr Alessandra Manganelli (HafenCity Universität Hamburg / Universitat de Barcelona)

14:20 Gender mainstreaming in urban food policies: governance approaches and processes from three Spanish cities

This paper explores the integration of gender mainstreaming in urban food policies (UFPs) through
case studies of three Spanish cities: Barcelona, Valencia, and Zaragoza. While UFPs are pivotal for
addressing sustainability in urban food systems, attention to gender disparities within these
frameworks remains insufficient. Using a qualitative comparative analysis of policy documents and
interviews with policymakers, this study examines how these cities approached gender integration,
the processes that enabled it, and the outcomes achieved. The findings reveal three diverse
approaches varying in terms of bottom-up or top-down processes, types of actors involved and the
comprehensiveness of gender integration in the resulting UFP documents. Challenges identified
include limited local jurisdiction, insufficient administrative capacities, and the risk for gender
mainstreaming to remain a façade. This research contributes to urban food governance literature by
analyzing three examples of gender integration in UFPs, a topic that is scarcely addressed empirically
and theoretically. It also contributes to gender mainstreaming literature by highlighting the
importance of tailored policy tools and administrative training.

Speaker: Ms Chiara Bergonzini (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca)

14:30 Comparing the effectiveness of food policy networks on food system transformation in the mediterranean context.

Over the past two decades, food policy networks have significantly contributed to transforming food systems globally. However, there remains a critical gap in understanding the precise impact and scope of these transformations, particularly when considering the diverse interfaces within the triad of science, policy, and action. This challenge becomes more pronounced during periods of environmental, political, and socioeconomic crises, marked by heightened uncertainty.
Although still underexplored in the literature, recent studies (e.g., Zerbian et al., 2024; Moragues-Faus et al., 2024; Oliveira, 2022) highlight that a key determinant of these transformations lies in the constellation of multi-actor urban food governance spaces. These spaces enable the co-creation of more inclusive and territorially embedded knowledge-policy interfaces, which are crucial for advancing sustainable food systems.
Building on the framework of the European project FoodCLIC, which seeks to guide policy, planning, and practice-based interventions in urban food environments, this research investigates sustainable co-benefits, strengthened rural-urban linkages, enhanced social inclusion, and new connections between food systems and other complex systems. Specifically, we assess the effectiveness of food policy networks in the Mediterranean context, leveraging empirical data derived from structured interviews conducted in three city-regions: Lisbon (Portugal), Barcelona (Spain), and Pisa (Italy).
Drawing from the perspectives of representatives from science, policy, and action in each city-region, the study applies the analytical framework proposed by Moragues-Faus (2024), which emphasizes the principles of Time, Place, Relations, Diversity, and Power. This approach allows for a comparative analysis that sheds light on the dynamics of urban food governance and the opportunities for fostering socio-ecological transformation.
By contextualizing the findings within the broader theoretical landscape, this work aims to inspire reflexive initiatives tailored to the specific needs of each city-region. Ultimately, the goal is to identify and promote effective, long-term commitments and shared responsibilities that drive sustainable food systems while addressing the interconnected challenges of urbanization, inequality, and environmental sustainability.

Speaker: Dr Rosário Oliveira (Institute of Social Sciences - University of Lisbon)

14:40 Informing Sustainable Regional Food Chains through Serious Games: The Play Marmara “Food”

The food system accounts for one-third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with significant contributions from agricultural production, land-use changes, and supply chain logistics, highlighting its critical role in the climate crisis (Crippa et al., 2021). Reports such as "Sustainable and Resilient City Region Food Systems" by FAO and RUAF underscore the need for multi-stakeholder participation, dialogue, and collaborative strategies to address urban and regional food system challenges (FAO, 2023). This dialogue is vital in building sustainable food chains, particularly involving local governments, NGOs, technical experts, logistics, cooperatives, retail groups, and consumers.

In Türkiye, the Marmara Region stands out as the most densely populated and urbanized area, housing over 25 million people and contributing significantly to the national economy. Intense urbanization places considerable pressure on the region's food resources and systems, including procurement, production, and distribution processes. While the region's fertile soils, climate conditions, and water resources allow for the cultivation of various agricultural products, rapid urbanization and industrialization in the area are leading to a reduction in agricultural land, decreasing quality of soil and underground water pollution,which have an impact on biodiversity and food safety. The region’s dual role as both an economic hub and a critical agricultural center underscores its importance in developing sustainable food supply chains at the national level (MMU, 2024).

To research these challenges and define urgent actions, the Play Marmara Food game, developed as part of the MARUF initiative and designed by Play the City, serves as an innovative tool for fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration. By engaging participants from diverse sectors in a serious game format, the initiative facilitates collaboration by gathering and visualizing high quality data, simulating real-world scenarios, encouraging dialogue, and fostering a shared understanding of challenges and opportunities, ultimately generating actionable strategies for sustainable solutions in regional food systems. This study examines the insights and outputs of the Play Marmara Food game, focusing on its contribution to informing food supply chains and advancing sustainable food system design in the Marmara Region.

Speakers: Ekin Güneş Şanlı (Urban Planner), İrem Özdarendeli (Urban Designer, Interior Architect)

Informing Regional Food ChainsPM_Food.pdf

14:00 → 15:30 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (A): Policy, planning and design

Conveners: Ebru Firidin (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), Elke Schlack (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile)

14:00 The application of Minimalist philosophy in public space design

This research builds on three main contexts of the recent decade. Firstly, there is a recognition that the contemporary world is becoming increasingly complex, accompanied by an overload of sensory inputs that can lead to negative consequences. Secondly, the impact of aesthetic quality on human well-being and behaviour is recognised, with many urban design agendas and guidelines outlining the importance of aesthetically attractive public spaces. Thirdly, the crisis of over-consumption of resources and sustainability is receiving increasing attention. As a result, the philosophy of minimalism, increasingly seen by many as a solution for private interior spaces, promises to be explored as a remedy for urban complexity, aiming to enhance the aesthetic quality of outdoor public spaces and pursue sustainable development.

Minimalism was often referred to as a design style with features such as extreme simplicity in form, materials and means of production. The concept of minimalism is widely used in art, architecture, interior design and has recently become a fashionable way of life, with many believing that living a minimalist lifestyle is good for mental wellbeing and health. However, the concept and philosophy of minimalism remains unexplored in the field of urban design. Thus, this study is an attempt to seek a link between minimalism and urban design to explore more possibilities and potentials for future public space design.

This research builds on three key contexts that have emerged over the past decade. Firstly, there is a growing recognition that the contemporary world is becoming increasingly complex, with an overload of sensory inputs often leading to adverse consequences. Secondly, the influence of aesthetic quality on human well-being and behaviour has been widely acknowledged, with numerous urban design agendas and guidelines emphasising the importance of aesthetically pleasing public spaces. Thirdly, the escalating crisis of resource over-consumption and the urgency of sustainability have become central to global discourse. In response to these challenges, the philosophy of minimalism - often embraced as a solution for private interior spaces - offers promising potential as a remedy for urban complexity. Minimalism aims to enhance the aesthetic quality of outdoor public spaces while fostering sustainable development.
Traditionally, minimalism has been associated with a design style characterised by extreme simplicity in form, materials, and methods of production. The concept of minimalism is widely applied in art, architecture, and interior design and has more recently evolved into a popular lifestyle movement, with advocates suggesting that minimalist living contributes positively to mental well-being and health. However, the concept and philosophy of minimalism remain largely underexplored in the field of urban design. This study seeks to bridge this gap by investigating the relationship between minimalism and urban design, uncovering new opportunities and potentials for future public space design.
To examine the applicability of minimalism in public space design theory and practice, this research addresses three key questions: 1) How do existing theories of urban design relate to minimalist ideologies? 2) How are minimalist features currently applied in public space design, and what are their implications? 3) How can theories and practices of urban and public space design learn from minimalist ideologies to respond to the increasing complexity of cities? This research aims to develop both a conceptual framework and a practical toolkit to guide future public space design, enabling the achievement of aesthetic, sustainable, and resilient outcomes in an increasingly complex urban context.
A mixed-methods approach was adopted, incorporating systematic online research, on-site observations of four minimalist public spaces, and semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders. The findings explore the application and impacts of minimalist principles in public space design, providing insights into broader trends and deeper understandings within the field.

Speaker: Ms Zhaoxi Li (PhD Candidate)

14:10 Transforming Infrastructure into Public Space: Evaluating the Impact of a Highway Cap Park on Physical Activity

Highway cap parks are emerging as transformative urban green infrastructure, addressing environmental challenges while promoting physical activity (PA) and public space utilization in dense urban areas. This study examines the impact of the Bundang-Suseo Highway cap park in South Korea on residents’ PA levels, focusing on walking, moderate-intensity, and vigorous-intensity activities. Using pre-post comparisons, within-group analyses, and individual-level difference-in-differences (DID) modeling, the study evaluates changes in PA among households near the park (experimental group) and those farther away (control group), accounting for demographic and health-related characteristics.
The findings indicate a significant increase in walking-related activities in the experimental group. Average walking duration rose by 13.95 minutes per day, and days with at least 10 minutes of walking increased by 0.69 days per week. In contrast, no notable changes occurred in the control group, underscoring the park’s localized effect. While moderate- and vigorous-intensity activities remained largely unaffected, the park effectively promoted low-intensity activities, particularly among previously inactive individuals, demonstrating its potential to address physical inactivity and improve public health outcomes.
DID analysis further supports these trends, showing a marginally significant increase in walking frequency (0.41 days per week, p=0.070) but statistically insignificant changes in walking duration and overall PA scores. Despite modest effects, the park emerged as an accessible and inclusive public space, fostering informal exercise and social interaction. Its design prioritizes usability for diverse groups, including older adults and families, strengthening community cohesion and expanding opportunities for social engagement.
Beyond promoting PA, the cap park highlights the broader role of public spaces in enhancing urban livability. By repurposing underutilized infrastructure, it addresses spatial inequities, creating equitable access to recreational opportunities. Notably, walking activity in the experimental group eventually surpassed that of the control group, which initially benefited from proximity to an existing linear park, underscoring the cap park’s role in reducing disparities in green space access.
These findings offer important insights for urban planners and policymakers. Incorporating green infrastructure into urban design can simultaneously improve public health and expand high-quality public spaces. Ensuring equitable access to such spaces should remain a priority, complemented by features supporting diverse activities, such as fitness stations and organized programs, to further increase participation across different activity levels.
While this study highlights the short-term impacts of highway cap parks, further research is needed to explore long-term behavioral changes and broader social, environmental, and economic benefits. As multifunctional public spaces, cap parks present sustainable and equitable solutions for promoting physical activity, fostering social connections, and improving urban livability. These findings emphasize the need for integrated green infrastructure strategies to create more resilient, inclusive, and active urban environments.

Speaker: Dr Jeongwoo Lee (Chung-Ang University)

14:20 Medellín’s Social Urbanism: Analysing the Urban Planning Concepts and Multiple Narratives of a Policy Paradigm Shift

Over the past three decades, the city has transformed from the most dangerous city in the world to a globally celebrated example of integrating social inclusion into urban transformation. This study explores Medellín’s Social Urbanism as a transformative urban planning paradigm shift, accommodating multiple narratives while adapting to an ever-evolving reality. Social Urbanism is characterised by participatory planning, equitable public space design, and bold, innovative solutions prioritising social infrastructure in the most vulnerable neighbourhoods. Drawing from the theoretical framework of policy paradigm shifts and multiple discourse analysis, this research examines the concept’s elasticity in accommodating diverse narratives while aiming for continuity in its transformations across political terms. The case study research includes observational photography, mapping and expert interviews with key stakeholders to capture the interplay between governance, design, and community dynamics.

Medellín’s sustained efforts demonstrate significant agility and resilience in pursuing social innovation by responding with adaptive narratives of one transformative concept. Successive city councils promote projects with differing characteristics, such as target groups, locations, and scales, reflecting evolving narratives. Some projects persist across administrations, such as the well-known cable cars, a flagship project that reconnects informal settlements to the formal city. Other projects fluctuate with political currents, creating opportunities to incorporate increasing challenges like ecology, climate adaptation, and active mobility modes.
The findings reveal that Social Urbanism was not a pre-thought model but a resulting synthesis, with urban projects evolving through five distinct eras, each characterised by differing focuses and responses to evolving urban challenges. Perceptions of more recent policies suggest that the paradigm shift is at risk, with a potential reversion to narratives of repression and symptom control, instead of continued bold infrastructural projects, thereby threatening to undermine ongoing efforts to reduce poverty, conflict, and inequality.
However, this article underscores Medellín’s significance as a global reference for policy mobility, identifying critical insights for cities in diverse contexts seeking to replicate or adapt Social Urbanism principles. Importantly, interviewed experts emphasise the uniqueness of Medellín’s profound challenges and strong responses within the city’s unique historical and sociopolitical context. Thus, the concept’s transferability lies not in replicating Medellín’s solutions but in drawing inspiration from the city’s transformative power, characterised by academic capacity building, international knowledge exchange, visionary and bold political leadership, prioritisation of efforts in critical neighbourhoods, a robust participatory approach, and intense collaboration with resourceful institutions.

Ultimately, this work contributes to the discourse on urban resilience and equity, emphasising the role of transformative urban policies in addressing the multifaceted crises of contemporary cities. By unpacking the layered narratives of Social Urbanism and confronting them with the mapping of the implemented urban projects, the study provides a nuanced understanding of how paradigm shifts can redefine urban futures, even in agile, conflictual, and contested contexts.

Speaker: Simon De Boeck (University of Antwerp)

14:30 Sensitizing officials to spatial problems: A participatory approach to Green Infrastructure planning in Adriatic Cities

Adriatic cities face critical environmental and spatial challenges, mainly urban heat islands, flood risks and pollution, driven by urbanization and climate change. Green Infrastructure (GI) delivers critical ecosystem services to mitigate these issues. However, the planning and implementation of GI in the region often lack coherence, resulting in fragmented and suboptimal outcomes. To address this, the Interreg SI-HR ZeleNatura project developed a handbook to standardize GI planning and management in Adriatic cities while tackling the lack of awareness and understanding among decision-makers, municipal staff and other stakeholders required to engage with spatial issues. It focuses on equipping stakeholders with tools to understand the spatial dimensions of challenges and the transformative potential of GI. By fostering spatial literacy, the handbook facilitates informed decision-making and promotes more optimal implementation of GI.

Central to this research approach is the participatory process that bridges the gap between spatial expertise and local knowledge. The methodology actively involves local stakeholders, including municipal representatives, urban planners and community members through focus groups which include participatory mapping. This ensures that GI planning addresses specific local challenges and integrates the needs and priorities of diverse stakeholders by serving three critical functions:

1. Problem identification: Engaging non-spatial professionals in focus groups sensitizes them to pressing urban issues, such as flood-prone areas, heat islands, and zones with insufficient green spaces. Stakeholders collectively define priority areas for intervention based on the issues recognized, fostering a shared understanding of urban challenges.
2. Solution development: Using spatial analyses and a toolkit of GI elements (e.g., green roofs, urban forests, permeable surfaces), participants collaboratively propose tailored interventions for identified priority areas. Interactive tools, such as transparent mapping overlays and ecosystem service evaluations of GI elements facilitate context-sensitive and multifunctional GI solutions.
3. Validation and integration: Proposed GI solutions are reviewed with professional guidance to ensure alignment with spatial plans, local policies, and environmental goals. This iterative process strengthens the feasibility and acceptance of GI strategies.

Results of the participatory process demonstrate its transformative impact on research and practice. Stakeholder input has been instrumental in identifying underrepresented urban issues, refining GI designs, and ensuring interventions are not only ecologically effective but also feasible. For example, the mapping exercises revealed nuanced community priorities and showed where certain types of green infrastructure are deliverable in terms of spatial availability.

The key contribution of the handbook is its ability to transform the way local stakeholders and non-spatial professionals engage with urban planning. The participatory process plays a pivotal role fostering a shared understanding of urban challenges and aligning perspectives towards GI implementation, serving both as a practical tool and a strategic guide for standardizing GI planning.

The handbook synthesizes the Problem identification, the Solution development and the Validation steps of the participatory approach and translates them into a practical framework, structured around three questions:

• Where GI? Participatory mapping and spatial analyses identify priority areas for GI interventions.

• What GI? A participatory toolkit supports the selection of GI types, optimized for local needs and ecosystem services.

• How GI? Guidelines emphasize participatory implementation, connectivity, multifunctionality, and integration across spatial scales.

This research will first outline contextual conditions under which Adriatic cities face pressing environmental challenges, emphasizing the role of GI in addressing these issues. It will then describe the participatory methods employed to bridge the gap between spatial professionals and local stakeholders highlighting how awareness-raising and stakeholder engagement were integral to identifying and solving spatial problems. Lastly, the research will evaluate the outcomes of this participatory approach, showcasing its effectiveness in developing tailored GI solutions and fostering a deeper understanding of spatial challenges among decision-makers.

Speaker: Dr Barbara Kostanjšek (University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty)

14:40 Evaluation of Emotional Attachment Characteristics of Urban Vitality Complexes Based on EW-GRA-TOPSIS Model in the Context of Stock Renewal: A Case Study of Five Typical Urban Complexes in Beijing and Shanghai

The construction of vibrant urban spaces is an important component of humanistic urban development, especially for China's first-tier cities in the context of stock renewal. In response to the lack of quantitative evaluation methods for the emotional attachment between people and the built environment in small-scale urban vitality spaces, this study proposes a new method to quantify the attachment between people and the built environment as an evaluation index of vitality space and thereby evaluate its comprehensive attachment level. The study selected five representative urban renewal vitality complexes in Beijing and Shanghai to demonstrate the feasibility of this method. The study first constructed an emotional attachment evaluation index system for small-scale urban vitality space based on the emotional attachment theory from a multidisciplinary perspective, including 14 indicators describing the degree, dimension, and intensity of attachment to specific built environment characteristics. Secondly, SPSS is used to process and analyze the data of each indicator, and the specific correlation between indicators is calculated to provide support and explanation for the subsequent evaluation results. Then, the TOPSIS evaluation model improved by combining the entropy weight method (EW) and the grey relational model (GRA) was used to calculate and organize the index results, and the evaluation results of the emotional correlation level of the five complexes were obtained. Last but not least, the evaluation results, specific values of each indicator, correlation analysis results, and local observation and interview results were analyzed comprehensively. The preliminary results of the study show that small-scale built environment can effectively promote the vitality of urban spaces by establishing emotional attachment with people. Specifically, the role of material characteristics is highlighted by reinterpreting historical material and structures or introducing new ones, deepening people's emotional experience and promoting spatial vitality through place identity or novel emotional connections. While the non-material characteristics of space are closely related to its material characteristics, their impact on the vitality of space changes dynamically over time and with the surrounding environment. At the same time, this study further expanded the quantitative method framework in the research and evaluation of vitality space, combining the scale method and multi-criteria decision analysis method for mining emotional attachment characteristics and evaluating attachment level. The results not only reveal the built environment characteristics that affect people's emotional experience in urban vibrant spaces in a more scientific and objective manner, but also provides a more humane methodological reference for the renewal, design, management and evaluation of future urban vibrant spaces.

Speaker: Prof. RUOSHI ZHANG (Beijing Forestry University)

14:50 Migration and Public Space: Inclusion and Exclusion in Martim Moniz Square through Urban Policy and Design

Urban public spaces, which naturally draw diverse users and activities, remain a key topic of discussion, especially as migration and urban unpredictability continue to rise. Theories on public space highlight the importance of social interactions in all urban environments, including superdiverse examples. However, particularly in ethnically diverse, disadvantaged communities, urban policy and design tools aimed at addressing the complexities of diversity and socio-spatial inequalities are often insufficient. For this, details of everyday use and actual users of urban public spaces that are attracting diverse populations to foster inclusion in public space.

At the intersection of urban public space and migration, this paper focuses on Martim Moniz Square located in a highly diversely populated neighborhood in Lisbon. Almost 90 different nationalities are mentioned to live in the area. The rhythm of everyday life in this area sets it apart from other parts of central Lisbon. The businesses and activities in the square are primarily run by non-Western communities, attracting a diverse crowd for work, leisure, and social interactions. Martim Moniz Square exemplifies city’s multicultural identity by serving as a dynamic urban square and center where history, culture, and modernity come together, making it a distinctive site. The square’s evolution reflects periods of urban renewal, various master plans, design competitions and influences from both modernist and postmodern design, accompanied by debates over privatization. In 2020, a participatory project for Martim Moniz resulted inin an international urban design initiative envisioning a “world garden” in the square. However, these efforts coexist with persistent socio-political challenges, as the square has recently become a focal point for xenophobic incidents, racist rhetoric, and public protests against such exclusionary behaviorsThis juxtaposition highlights the tensions between urban renewal efforts and the area’s complex social realities.

To critically explore the concept of micro-publics, as discussed by Amin (2002), this study evaluates the everyday use patterns, spontaneous appropriation, group behaviour and created borders within the physical space of Martim Moniz Square through an ethnographic lens for which a field study has been realized. The square reveals a tension between modern and traditional notions of public space, challenging static or stereotypical definitions, while also highlighting its role as migrant infrastructure. the main findings discuss the diverse meanings and potential of public spaces within migration context, highlighting its ordinary role and power to stimulate socio-spatial patterns in everyday life, beyond predetermined design and planning solutions.

Speaker: duygu Cihanger Ribeiro (Middle East Technical University)

14:00 → 15:30 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (B): Policy, planning and design

14:00 Rethinking ageing in transit: Integrating older adults into the design of Sydney’s transit-oriented urban environments

As Australia’s population ages, aligning with global demographic shifts, the proportion of older adults is projected to rise significantly, increasing from 15% in 2017 to 21–23% by 2066 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018). There is increasing recognition of the needs in understanding how the built environment (including transport) can support healthy ageing and address the needs of an older population within the rapidly evolving framework of transit-based urbanism. Sydney's expansive (and expanding) network of Train, Metro and Light Rail stations plays a key role in the city’s transit-focused planning strategies (Committee for Sydney 2022; Transport for NSW 2023), enhancing productivity and liveability across diverse demographic groups, particularly benefiting older residents through improved accessibility. Recent research by Xie et al. (2025) demonstrated that well-designed public open spaces near railway stations in Greater Metropolitan Sydney can enable older adults to engage in physical activities and social interactions beyond their immediate residential neighbourhoods, potentially enhancing the physical, emotional and mental health. However, a detailed, nuanced understanding of how professionals approach the design of these environments and the relationship between policy frameworks, design practices, and their real-world application remains largely underexplored.

This study aims to address this gap by presenting preliminary findings from broader research involving open-ended, semi-structured interviews with 8 - 10 professionals, including urban designers, architects, landscape architects, and policymakers associated with transit-oriented projects in four selected sites across Sydney. These interviews will examine the extents and ways that older adults have been considered in the planning and design processes of transit-oriented urban environments and explore how broader policy frameworks impact architectural design and procurement of architectural projects, with a particular focus on transit-oriented suburban public spaces in Sydney, Australia.

Previous stages of this research employed ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews conducted across seven public spaces near suburban railway stations in Sydney. These investigations mapped the scale of older adults’ activity spaces associated with multiple public transport modes and provided insights into how different transport options influence their use of these spaces. The findings revealed valuable insights into older adults’ actual uses of, and desires for, transit-oriented public spaces of varying scales and types. Building on these insights, this phase of research will further examine the professional practices and policy dynamics that shape the design of these environments. The findings are expected to ensure greater validity of the broader research outcomes, which may inform urban planning and design, public health strategies, and social policies aimed at improving the quality of life for older adults. Ultimately, this research seeks to adapt to an ageing population by promoting built environments that effectively support healthy ageing in place. It also calls for a rethinking of older adults’ needs and desires in urban design and transport, while acknowledging the significant cultural biases that must be overcome to create truly inclusive, multi-generational urbanism.

Speaker: Ms Jialing Xie (Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, Australia)

14:10 Activation and Renewal: Research on the Community Agricultural Garden from the Perspective of Aging

A key issue causing mental health problems among older adults is the lack of social engagement. For senior citizens living in urban areas, especially those residing in communities built before the 2000s, the only spaces for outdoor activities were sidewalks with no green features. These narrow outdoor spaces result in a lack of community engagement, which decreases the quality of life for both senior and younger residents (Han, 2005; Han, 2018). In China, older adults tend to grow vegetables wherever possible. The planting process and the harvest promote social engagement and enhance their sense of achievement (Li, Lin, and Yang, 2016). This study aims to investigate how urban agricultural gardens benefit community engagement in old residential areas in northeast China. To identify residents’ perceptions of agricultural gardens, a study was conducted in a selected neighborhood in Dalian, northeast China, an old residential area with a large aging population.

Mixed methods were used to collect data. Before conducting fieldwork, we reviewed articles containing the keywords "agricultural garden," "community engagement," "mental health," and "older adults" to investigate the correlation between agricultural activities and the well-being of senior citizens. Residents' behaviors were observed at different times to collect data on their use of outdoor spaces. Face-to-face surveys were conducted on-site to gather residents’ perceptions of the community environment and their preferences for outdoor activities and spaces. Most of the participants were 60–70 years old, along with some younger residents. The results indicated dissatisfaction with the existing outdoor environment. Residents expressed a high preference for community engagement spaces and agricultural gardens. "Growing vegetables and fish" were the most preferred activities.

Based on these results, this study proposed an alternative plan for an agricultural community garden to enhance community engagement. In terms of design strategy, the site is equipped with several multifunctional spaces, including a slow-moving loop, a fitness area, and a playground. To enhance communication among different age groups, these functional spaces were connected by a roofed corridor surrounding a mulberry fish pond. The pond's circulation system is used to moderate the neighborhood's microclimate(Dikann, 2020). Additionally, a farmer’s market is regularly held in the garden to activate the community and promote the mental health of older adults who desire social interaction and to be held in esteem (Clements, 1989).

Speaker: Ms Xinhang Yan (Tongji University)

AESOP适老化.pptx

14:20 Studentification and the Democratization of Public Space? New Social Interactions in a Turkish University Town

Studentification—the social, cultural, and physical transformation of urban areas driven by the influx of student populations—presents opportunities and challenges for the cities that choose the path of student-centered urban development (Smith, 2005). The literature on studentification typically highlights how students stimulate the housing market in the neighborhoods where they cluster (Hubbard 2009; Smith and Holt 2007), how they contribute to the development of new commercial establishments by creating an important consumer class (Chatterton, 1999; Chatterton and Hollands, 2002; Ma et al. 2018), and potentially disrupt community cohesion through their antisocial behavior (Allinson, 2006; Munro and Livingston 2012).
Aside from a few studies, research on studentification has largely overlooked its diverse socio-cultural impacts, particularly its influence on daily routines and the cultural exchange between students and local residents. This study aims to address this gap by exploring whether studentification can serve as a catalyst for inclusion, equity, and positive change through community empowerment and the expansion and democratization of public spaces in university towns in Turkey.
By focusing on Kayseri—a rapidly transforming and traditionally conservative city in Central Anatolia, Turkey—this research examines the complex dynamics of student-centered spatial development and its impact on social life and public space usage. The study is part of an ongoing TÜBİTAK 1001 project investigating the socio-cultural impacts of the studentification process in six Central Anatolian cities, including Kayseri. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research incorporates quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with long-term residents to explore diverse local perspectives on the sociocultural transformations driven by studentification.
The study reveals distinct patterns of neighborhood transformation in commercial and residential districts, highlighting the temporal and spatial evolution of public spaces. Findings indicate that different demographic groups perceive and practice public life in varied ways, leading to complex and contested spatial patterns of daily practice and social interactions.
Proponents of the studentification process support its new dynamics and opportunities, including the expansion of public places, increasing attractiveness of studentified districts, and the emergence of new social interactions fostered by these spaces. They also perceive student-centered environments as socially secure and tend to embrace the relaxation of social norms. This includes increased open-mindedness toward social practices that challenge established norms, shifts in public dress codes, evolving socialization patterns, and new relationship dynamics.
On the other hand, opponents express concerns about the erosion of traditional values and a diminished sense of security, manifested in the loss of familiar public spaces, reduced neighborhood tranquility, and the weakening of long-standing social ties. These concerns are often framed within a moral panic narrative, portraying studentification as a threat to tradition. This perspective emphasizes the abandonment of conventional values, resistance to shifting norms of public interaction and relationships, tensions over evolving dress codes, and the influence of student culture on the social expressions and practices of young local residents.
This study aims to contribute both to the theoretical understanding of contemporary urban transformation processes through the lens of student-centered urban development and to the empirical expansion of the literature into unexplored territories. The findings may offer valuable insights for urban planning policies and community engagement strategies in university towns, particularly in traditional communities experiencing rapid educational expansion and urbanization.

Speaker: Mr Tolga İslam (Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi)

14:30 Reimagining Youth-friendly Social Spaces: The Potentials of Privately Owned Public Spaces as Alternative Social Settings

Young people use public spaces distinctively different from adults, seeking environments for social interactions, gatherings, and identity formation rather than purposeful activities. Their unique spatial use patterns - characterised by fluid group dynamics, extended stays, and spontaneous social activities - often conflict with conventional public space management. Traditional public spaces present some fundamental usability challenges like poor lighting during the night, lack of weather protection, inadequate amenities, and insufficient social surveillance and feeling safe, making them neither welcoming nor practically suitable for young people's complex social needs. While shopping malls and commercial centres have emerged as preferred alternatives, offering climate-controlled environments, comfortable seating, and diverse activities, they impose significant restrictions through surveillance regimes and commercial imperatives, creating a paradoxical situation where youth are simultaneously welcomed as consumers but rejected as social beings. This creates a fundamental dilemma as young people need inclusive spaces for social development, yet their presence is frequently perceived as problematic in urban life.
This research investigates how Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPSs) as an alternative social setting can bridge this spatial dilemma for youth. POPSs are policy-driven public amenities within private developments, legally mandated to serve as public spaces while operating under private management. These hybrid spaces offer a potential middle ground that combines commercial spaces' environmental comfort and management benefits with the accessibility and social freedom of public spaces. Through critical analysis of recent literature, we examine how POPS' distinctive characteristics can be leveraged to support youth's social dynamics and occupation patterns while addressing traditional public spaces' environmental constraints and commercial spaces' exclusionary practices. Our analysis explores different approaches to POPS design, management, and regulation across various contexts, with particular attention to European welfare state models that emphasize public oversight and social inclusion over purely market-driven imperatives. Through a systematic examination of recent empirical studies, we develop an evaluation framework that assesses POPS' social potential across four levels of interaction defined by Goffman (1963): Co-Present, Co-Attention, Co-Exchange, and Co-Action.
The findings suggest that while POPSs cannot fully replace traditional public spaces, they offer significant potential through balanced governance models and integrated design approaches combining private controls and inclusivity. Through comparative analysis, we identify spatial characteristics and management approaches that encourage youth accessibility and useability, from physical features to management practices that support or deter different levels of social interaction. The research contributes to both theoretical and practical domains of urban studies. Theoretically, it advances the understanding of how hybrid public-private governance models can support youth social needs in increasingly privatized urban environments. Practically, it provides planners and policymakers with specific regulatory tools to enhance POPS' social inclusivity through design guidelines, spatial programming requirements, and management protocols for youth engagement.

Speaker: Mohammad Mohammadi (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology)

14:40 Small-scale transformations as seeds of hope: A summer garden experiment in Helsinki

Since the beginning of the 21st century the world has witnessed numerous global and local events that have led humanity back to hoping for more just and peaceful futures. Urban planning systems hold the potential to support such hope, with the anticipation of transforming lives, and the willingness to act towards realising such future visions. Particularly public spaces have a distinctive role within planning. They can be spaces at the intersection of human-nature relations, which are inclusive of other species within human habitats. Locally, they can mitigate unforeseen climate-related challenges. Public spaces are also spaces for wellbeing, and social integration (leBrasseur, 2022; Madanipour, 2020). However, experimentation for the transformative planning of public spaces is both limited and limiting our understanding of this process’s role in meeting our hope for just and peaceful spaces.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, experimentation with public spaces has led some cities to transform their spaces, while others reverted to the previous state (Deas et al., 2021; Law et al., 2021). Either way, one lesson learned was that these experiments have the potential to succeed when collaboration among various stakeholders is supported. This paper examines the case of one summer park in Helsinki, Finland with the purpose of learning from this process, which has led to transforming a vacant, brownfield site to a lively, inclusive space in the middle of the city.
The paper proposes a framework that combines concepts of urban experimentation, wellbeing, climate actions, and social inclusion in exploring public spaces. Specifically, Finland is a country that has promoted experimentation in relation to urban planning, thus enabling the investigation of opportunities and challenges of this process within the spectrum of temporary public spaces, DIY and placemaking (Lino & Åkerman, 2022; Mokkila, 2022). Furthermore, the role of green spaces in promoting health and wellbeing and the importance of exposure to nature in cities posit possibility for further investigation (Ojala et al., 2019). Moreover, the role of public green spaces in terms of responding to climate change challenges, like extreme weather conditions, like temperature or rainfall, requires immediate attention (Vukmirovic et al., 2020).
The case of Töölö park in Helsinki provides insights into ways of engaging residents and other stakeholders for long-term decisions in public space planning. This case started in 2015, with plans for the revitalisation of the polluted Töölö bay area. The park process started in 2023 with a resident survey, workshops with several stakeholders, phased implementation of experimental spaces, and anticipated completion by the end of 2025. The design implementation considered the definition of different areas within the park, amenities, and vegetation to provide activities for all ages and interest profiles. The research is based on analysing available academic and grey literature. Also, participant observation since early 2024 focused on experiencing the spatio-temporal uses in the park, level of crowding, and favourite spots.
The passage of time or transition from short to long-term becomes a method in the planning and design processes, which supports human and nature integration in the city, while considering seasonal and climatic variations. It also emphasises the importance of monitoring and adjustment, in which people programme spaces based on preferences, while leaving other open to unexplored uses. This research serves to identify factors and obstacles to successful implementation of this approach, and its transferability to other contexts for upgrading areas, increasing the connection to nature, and rethinking possibilities for defining what urban parks could be. It provides a basis for exploring similar initiatives in other climatic regions towards realising the hope for resilient public spaces.

Speaker: Dr Christine Mady (Aalto University)

14:50 Informal Utilization Characteristics of Underpass Public Spaces in Megacities from the Perspective of Co-Production Theory: A Case Study of Elevated Highway Underpasses in Guangzhou

Since 2019, China has promoted the concept of "People-Centered Urban Development," emphasizing the role of public spaces as a core component. As metropolitan areas transition into a phase of incremental urban renewal, the Chinese government has repeatedly stressed the importance of urban renewal. The 2025 State Council meeting on urban renewal highlighted the need to accelerate infrastructure construction and enhance urban functions. Against this backdrop, the spaces beneath elevated highways in megacities have garnered increasing attention as potential public assets for urban renewal and adaptive reuse.

In the early stages of urban renewal, the formal redevelopment of underpass spaces is often hindered by complex property rights and the involvement of multiple administrative entities, resulting in prolonged project implementation timelines. Consequently, informal use of these spaces as public areas is a widespread phenomenon in metropolitan areas, frequently preceding formal interventions. This study employs the theory of co-production to examine multiple cases of informally utilized spaces beneath elevated highways in Guangzhou. Through field surveys, typo morphological analysis, and semi-structured interviews, this research adopts a socio-spatial perspective to identify key characteristics of the informal use of elevated highway underpasses as public spaces. The findings aim to provide insights and recommendations for the future regeneration and adaptive reuse of these spaces in megacities within the context of urban renewal.

Speaker: Ms Jiaxin Qi (Tongji University)

14:00 → 15:30 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (O): Public space and urban futures

Convener: Dr Nuket Ipek Cetin (Gebze Technical University, Urban and Regional Planning Department)

14:00 Evaluating Public Space Resilience: an index and a case study

Urban resilience (Cutter et al., 2012; Davoudi, 2012) is a crucial concept in urban planning, but it often merges the distinction between events that trigger crises and the processes of adapting to them. Sudden disruptions and gradual, undesirable changes are frequently addressed in similar ways, which can create ambiguities in planning and response strategies. To overcome this challenge, it is essential to introduce the concepts of "multiresilience" and "multiadaptation" to better understand how public spaces function under various risk scenarios, which are becoming increasingly common in contemporary contexts (Sepe, 2023).
Multiresilience refers to a system's ability to respond effectively to multiple simultaneous risks of different types. This concept considers the unique characteristics of the location, the specific nature of each risk, and the inclusive participation of various stakeholders. The goal of multiresilience is to restore the pre-crisis state after the challenges have been managed. Achieving this requires a comprehensive understanding of the relationships between different risks and their cumulative effects on urban systems, particularly in public spaces. Multiresilience promotes strategies that address these risks collectively, ensuring that solutions are tailored to the specific needs and features of the area.
Multiadaptation, on the other hand, describes a system’s capacity to adjust to unforeseen multi-risk scenarios by achieving a new balance. This equilibrium incorporates territorial characteristics, the types of risks involved, the actors participating in the response, and emerging needs, always emphasizing inclusion. Unlike multiresilience, which seeks to restore the prior state, multiadaptation accepts that the post-crisis condition may differ and could better align with new circumstances.
In practical terms, multiadaptation could involve reimagining urban design to create flexible public spaces capable of serving multiple purposes (Pinkwart, Schingen, Pannes, et al., 2022).
To explore these concepts, a methodology was developed within the PRIN 2020 research project, "Sustainable Modelling of Materials, Structures, and Urban Spaces" (#20209F3A37) Urban Impact Unit under the author’s responsibility. This methodology aims to define principles for multiresilient planning through case studies, providing a flexible framework for designing public spaces that are both resilient and adaptable to unexpected multi-risk scenarios.
Among the principles derived from the research is the importance of integrating risk assessment into urban planning processes. This involves not only identifying and mitigating current risks but also examining how different risks may interact and amplify one another. Accordingly, measuring the degree of multi-adaptation can significantly enhance the understanding of adaptation to diverse risks.
Starting on these premises, the aim of this study is to present the original Multiadaptation Place Index (MPI). The MPI is a tool designed to measure the adaptability of public spaces by evaluating their flexibility to accommodate interventions tailored to current and emerging needs, while simultaneously enhancing livability and well-being. This index serves as a valuable resource for urban planners and policymakers, enabling them to prioritize inclusive project interventions—from environmental to socio-economic—and allocate resources more effectively.
The MPI evaluates factors such as the physical characteristics of the space, the types of risks present, socio-economic conditions, and existing infrastructure. By analyzing these elements, the index provides a comprehensive picture of a space’s resilience and adaptability.
For example, an emblematic case study—the new Hudson River Park in New York—will illustrate the application of the MPI to a specific public space. This project has transformed Manhattan’s West Side waterfront from a concrete landscape into a public space capable of absorbing rainwater and runoff, while also enhancing livability through inclusive, accessible activities and enriching the area’s cultural resources.

Speaker: Prof. Marichela Sepe (DICEA-SAPIENZA UNIVERSITA' DI ROMA-ISMED CNR)

14:10 Collaborative GIS for Sustainable Waste Management. The Case of Ulaanbaatar in the 3R4UB Project

The increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related events have highlighted the fragility of urban areas, generating complex challenges in public spaces within cities. Communities are expressing a growing need to rapidly adapt urban environments to ongoing changes through a renewal process that integrates physical interventions in spaces with new housing models capable of responding to the demand for more inclusive, sustainable, and intelligent solutions. Solid waste management is a crucial issue that involves the environment, economy, and society, affecting public health, climate change, and urban sustainability (Rodic & Wilson, 2017; Wilson, 2007). In this context, the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these dynamics: on one hand, it has increased inadequate waste management due to disruptions in collection services and insufficient infrastructure; on the other hand, it has reduced commercial and industrial waste due to the temporary suspension of economic activities (UNEP, 2020b; Sharma et al., 2020).
From this perspective, collaborative planning approaches (Healey, 2003) and the application of citizen science (Haklay et al., 2020; Robinson et al., 2018) could improve citizens' responses to these dynamics by actively contributing to data collection and the definition of solutions for transformative actions at the urban level. This process, in the context of waste management planning, includes capacity-building activities aimed at providing tools and knowledge to promote virtuous, sustainable, and inclusive behaviours (Vohland et al., 2021). Promoting responsible behaviour among producers and consumers requires forward-thinking and collaborative decision-making, a particularly complex challenge in developing countries where adequate waste management infrastructure is lacking and awareness of 3R practices: reduce, reuse, recycle (Esposito De Vita et al., 2023; Memon, 2010).
This paper is part of the international project “The 3Rs for a sustainable use of natural resources in Ulaanbaatar (3R4UB)”, which aims to integrate waste management, civic participation, stakeholder dialogue and green financing by developing an innovative method that enhances communication and science to foster collaboration between citizens and public authorities. The city of Ulaanbaatar (UB), the capital of Mongolia, faces significant challenges related to rapid urbanization, informal settlements (gher) and inefficient municipal solid waste management.
Currently, waste management planning in UB is hindered by fragmented data and the lack of tools that integrate social, environmental, and infrastructural dynamics. Moreover, the urban context is characterized by a division into three distinct "cities": (1) Planned city, inherited from the Soviet period; (2) Informal city, characterized by gher settlements; (3) City in motion, where semi-nomadic conditions persist. Each of these urban forms presents specific needs and challenges, requiring an adaptive and multisectoral strategy.
The research methodology, named Ulaanbaatar Spatial Sustainable Waste Management (UBSWM), aims to activate a collaborative decision-making process that integrates GIS tools and participatory practices to map waste flows, identify waste collection hubs (understood as new neighbourhood facilities), and develop environmental awareness strategies. The integration of quantitative data, such as infrastructure mapping and mobility flows, with qualitative data, such as photojournalism and the awareness strategy in schools, has enabled the construction of a multi-scalar narrative of urban dynamics. This approach has given voice to the cultural diversity of UB, transforming it into a strength for the implementation of adaptive and transferable solutions.
The research findings represent a replicable model to address the challenges of waste management in cities with similar characteristics, offering new perspectives for the creation of more sustainable and equitable public spaces. Among the research outputs, the development of an open-access ArcGIS StoryMaps platform is planned, which will not only provide an updatable tool to present the project’s findings but also serve as a means for sharing knowledge with the involved stakeholders and local communities, reinforcing dialogue and co-production of knowledge.

Speaker: Francesco Stefano Sammarco (Department of Architecture (DiARC) of University of Naples Federico II)

14:20 Reshaping Urban Spaces: Exploring the Role of Temporary Public Open Spaces in Alleviating Land Pressure in Hong Kong

As cities face increasing land scarcity due to rapid urbanization, temporary public open spaces (TPOS) have emerged as flexible solutions to alleviate urban pressures. This study investigates the role of TPOS in high-density cities, using Hong Kong as a focal point. Through a detailed examination of three case studies, this research explores how TPOS can mitigate the societal challenges caused by land scarcity.

The research aims to deepen the understanding of TPOS by analyzing their characteristics, practices, and effectiveness in addressing the social impact of land scarcity in high-density urban environments like Hong Kong. It seeks to answer three key questions: What are the core features of temporary public spaces usage in such areas? How do different types of TPOS address the social impact of land scarcity? And how can these insights guide the development of more structured TPOS policies?

The study employs a qualitative approach, including a comprehensive literature review of TPOS and comparative analysis of the selected case studies, alongside interviews with stakeholders. The research findings emphasize several critical factors for the successful implementation of TPOS. Moreover, by studying the temporary uses of public spaces, this study analyzes and derives policy recommendations for the design and management of TPOS in high-density cities like Hong Kong. It uncovers the potential of TPOS to enhance urban planning and offers guidance for developing a more systematic and comprehensive theoretical framework for public space policy.

Speaker: Ruohan YIN (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

14:30 Rethinking The Urban Design of Coastline: Izmirdeniz Project

This study addresses the challenges of coastline development, highlighting the limitations of top-down, fragmented approaches that fail to fully integrate the diverse needs of stakeholders, with a particular focus on the prioritization of recreational spaces over the transformative potential of the sea and the underutilization of participatory processes. The coastal city of Izmir, Türkiye offers an insightful case study for collaborative, inclusive, and sustainable strategies that enhance coastal spaces as dynamic arenas for shared urban futures. The study centers on the Izmirdeniz Project, an urban coastal design initiative led by the local government in Izmir. The project aims to strengthen the connection between the residents and the sea through the redesign of its inner bay as a performance venue for the people of Izmir and its 40-kilometer coastline.
The study begins by exploring how Izmir's vision as the 'Mediterranean's city of culture, art, and design,' developed through the Culture Workshop and Design Forum, led to the creation of the coastal urban design project. This vision sought to integrate design with daily urban life, making coastal urban spaces not only accessible but also actively engaged by the public. Transforming the coastline involved both spatial interventions and embedding the coastal spaces within the city’s social and cultural rhythms. The study aims to unpack the urban design process, critically analyzing the conceptual and professional approaches that challenge conventional urban development narratives.
The study investigates the relationship between the publicness of the sea and urban design, focusing on the collaborative efforts of over 100 local design actors. Using a multimethodological approach—document analysis, literature review, and semi-structured interviews—it dissects the decision-making, design, development, and implementation phases, assessing each phase and the involved actors. This study critiques traditional coastal development narratives, advocating for an approach that fosters collective agency and supports participatory, iterative design processes. It emphasizes that publicness should be seen as an evolving process rather than a fixed outcome, advocating for a mindset shift towards more equitable, sustainable coastal development. However, there are limitations to this study, including potential constraints in data availability and the challenge of fully capturing the complexity of stakeholder interactions. Future research should explore the long-term impacts of urban coastal development, with a focus on ensuring social equity and environmental resilience.
The study suggests that the complexity of the sea and its interplay with the real-world setting influence the scope and outcome of the project, probing the transformative potential of sea. It contends that the project prioritizes quality of life by fostering everyday connections with the sea through various land-sea interface sections, while preserving the low-intensity lifestyle that defines the city’s character and promoting sustainable urban design decisions. However, the process encountered several challenges, including the gap between design and implementation phases, the exclusion of design actors during implementation and significant changes to the proposed designs. This led to a shift in intention, from the publicness of the sea to the publicness of the coastline.
In conclusion, this study offers a comprehensive exploration of the challenges and opportunities associated with coastal urban development. By situating the Izmirdeniz Project within debates on publicness, agency and participatory governance, it underscores the potential for urban design to act as a dynamic arena of negotiation and collaboration. The study provides valuable insights for local governments, planners, and designers seeking to develop more equitable, inclusive, and resilient coastal communities, emphasizing the importance of fostering inclusive public design cultures in coastal urban spaces.

Speaker: Ms Aysu GURMAN (Yasar University & Izmir Institute of Technology)

14:40 The impact of urban growth generators on creating socio-economic centrality: Public Spaces in Algiers' Large-Scale Housing

Public space is becoming the focus of urban studies, as it holds the influential potential to create resilient cities. This research explores the significant capability of urban growth generators to create socio-economic centralities in Large-Scale Housing's public space.
Our main objective is to understand the evolution of the socio-economic state in the public space of large housing in Algiers, from underprivileged settlements to socio-economic centers that contribute to the growth of the city, and to understand the role of urban growth generators (walkability, accessibility, commercial clusters) in impacting the development of centrality in the influence area.
To address this objective, we focused primarily on agent-based modeling, as it perfectly captures the complex interactions between multiple generators of incremental growth.
The model is built based on quantitative data provided by the National Center for Trade Registration (C.N.R.C.), which contains the number of active retailers and population growth rate, as well as qualitative data assessed through surveys that give us an insight into the local community, additionally GIS of the influence area, including road networks, land use, public facilities, etc.
Moreover, this ABM model explains the transition from (decline period) to (prosperity phase) by analyzing the socio-economic interaction network between human agents (residents/visitors) and physical agents (stores and public facilities). These interactions evolve into preferences, which we modeled in the form of scenarios to predict annual socio-economic changes.
Our results indicate that accessibility is associated with an increased level of pedestrian traffic.
Furthermore, if this level of pedestrian traffic meets improvements in walkability, it encourages new retail establishments to invest in these public spaces, and they gradually become centralities.
Our study highlights the important contribution of improving accessibility patterns, walkability, and commercial clustering in order to keep public spaces vibrant and contribute to their potential growth and openness to the outside world.
In conclusion, urban growth generators are indeed essential drivers of economic development and social cohesion in large-scale housing’s public spaces, which should be taken into consideration in future urban planning and city renewal schemes.

Speakers: Ms Khadidja KHELIL CHERFI (PhD condidate), Dr Dario ESPOSITO (Senior lecturer)

14:50 The Path of Land Use Control for Urban Construction Projects in Germany

This paper, integrating practical research on land use control for urban construction projects, aims to offer beneficial references and guidance for planning control in projects of other countries, especially for those adopting a German-style planning system. Germany's planning system has evolved to integrate functional zoning, aiming for sustainable urban development that balances social, economic, and environmental needs. The goal is to utilize land justly and effectively, considering housing demands and public interest, while protecting the environment and fostering climate adaptation.
The core of German development control is to define construction area functions per the Federal Building Code (BauNVO), regulating land and building use to prevent conflicts and ensure orderly growth. Key principles include functional separation, orderly urban landscapes, healthy living conditions, flexibility, legal certainty, and use conflict avoidance.
Technically, Germany adopts a "mixed land categories + building uses" approach. Urban land is divided into major types like residential (W), mixed construction (M), industrial (G), and special areas (S), further split into smaller categories. Each is a functional group of building uses, controlled via permits. Additional restrictions on scale, business type, service targets, and external impacts form a "2+n" control logic.
Germany's zoning method reflects a comprehensive planning concept, balancing development, livability, and sustainability. It encourages functional mix while preventing interference. For instance, mixed areas permit combinations of residential, commercial, and light industrial uses, subject to mixing degrees and scale restrictions. Classification also adapts to different development needs under the same function.
To protect the environment and living conditions while promoting efficiency, restrictions are placed on the negative externalities of different uses. Heavy industry, with significant pollution and noise, is segregated from residential areas, while light industry and commercial activities with lesser interference are permitted in certain zones with specific regulations.
The German development control system is a multi-layered one. Legally, the Building Code (Baugesetzbuch, BauGB) sets the top-level framework. At the planning level, both statutory and non-statutory plans provide spatial regulations. The building permit level ensures project implementation compliance. Different control tools at various stages form an effective hierarchical mechanism.
In practice, cities like Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Berlin show unique characteristics in land use classification in their land use plans (F-plan, Flaechennutzungsplan) and building plans (B-plan, Bebauungsplan). In addition, there is a non-statutory intermediate framework plan (R-plan, Rahmenplan). The construction permit stage ensures a closed management loop.
Several project cases are analyzed. For example, Munich's Messestadt Riem follows a process from framework planning to construction guidelines. Stuttgart's Schoch area compiles the B-plan based on urban design. Hamburg's Port City adjusts the B-plan and F-plan according to project schemes. Berlin's Potsdamer Platz compiles block-based B-plans in a simplified B-plan context.
In conclusion, Germany's land use control approach provides valuable insights for sustainable urban development, thanks to its evolved system, clear principles, technical methods, and practical experiences.

Speaker: Ms Han Tao (Tongji University)

15:00 Operationalizing Justice: Ethical Frameworks for Adaptive Planning in the Age of Planetary Crisis

Planners today face an unprecedented dual challenge: addressing the immediate demands of crises like climate change, social inequality, and economic instability while ensuring justice and equity in the long term. These overlapping crises often intensify existing disparities, compelling planners to critically engage with ethical principles as a guide for transformative action. This paper delves into the practical application of justice in planning, highlighting the complexities of reconciling diverse interests and ideals within urban societies.

Through case studies focused on post-industrial urban areas and communities most affected by climate change, the paper examines three core dimensions: (1) the ethical foundations shaping decision-making in planning, (2) approaches to embedding justice and inclusivity into adaptive planning strategies, and (3) tools for mediating between conflicting societal priorities. It emphasizes participatory practices, interdisciplinary collaboration, and robust governance as key mechanisms for aligning ethical commitments with actionable solutions.

Grounded in distributive, procedural, and recognition-based justice theories, the study offers critical insights into integrating justice into planning efforts at local and systemic levels. It also underscores the importance of fostering resilience and inclusion, particularly for marginalized populations, while tackling broader challenges posed by planetary crises.

By exploring the ethical imperatives of planning in this transformative era, the paper aims to bridge theoretical and practical perspectives, offering concrete recommendations for planners, policymakers, and other stakeholders committed to advancing justice in a rapidly changing world.

Speaker: Asma Mehan

14:00 → 15:30 T_18 TOURISM: RESPONSES TO CONSTRAINTS AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF TOURISM

Conveners: Prof. Ferhan Gezici (Istanbul Technical University), Nikola Mitrović (University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture)

14:00 Land Use Planning for Second Homes in Norway: Addressing the Challenges of Balancing Expanding Touristification, Environmental Sustainability and Competing Local Identities

The growth of tourism, and particularly second-home development, has created significant challenges for municipal land use planning in Norway. Ownership of a second home in the mountains or coast for sport and relaxation is a long-standing part of Norwegian culture and lifestyle. However, their growing numbers and intensive commercialisation in connection with new forms of tourism have raised concerns about how their development can be harmonised with national targets for environmental sustainability. There is a touristification of second homes aimed at short-term occupation. Climate change is also a factor in encouraging increased construction, with locations previously considered only suited for Winter sports now being marketed as year-round destinations with all the amenities this requires. In this paper, I draw on my qualitative research on the planning dynamics of local municipalities to explore these changes and how planners and politicians address concerns regarding environmental sustainability. The findings of my qualitative research demonstrate that municipalities play a key role in promoting sustainable tourism, but this is done in tension with multiple competing agendas. Also, drawing on a theoretical framework informed by Steven Luke's three dimensions of power, my research reveals the tensions and negotiations between the demands of global tourism, local landowners and the limited resources of local planners and governments. In conclusion, the proposed paper suggests a need to redesign planning procedures. I argue that through planning, the needs of the local economy must be balanced with long-term concerns regarding environmental sustainability and the concerns of a plurality of local identities.

Speaker: Ms Carmen Mapis (Norwegian University of Life Sciences)

14:10 Identification of Spatial Conflicts between Tourists and Local Residents: Based on "Nanjing Travel Pitfall Avoidance" Posts on Weibo and Xiaohongshu

The rapid development of mobile Internet has made it more common for tourists to actively share their travel experience and itineraries on social media platforms, influencing the offline travel destination choices of other tourists with similar travel intention. This has had a huge impact on the traditional tourism routes, which were once centred around travel agency-recommended attractions. The spatial range of tourists is no longer confined to limited tourist attractions of the past, but gradually permeates into the daily lives of local residents, leading to a reconstruction of the urban tourism space. However, the activity trajectories of local residents are regular, and their living spaces are also relatively stable. This emerging shift in tourism trend has inevitably led to spatial conflicts between tourists and local residents, disrupting the original balance of space usage. In recent years, numerous "Travel Pitfall Avoidance" posts have emerged on social media platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu. These posts reflect the dissatisfaction of tourists with certain urban spaces, many of which are closely related to the living spaces of local residents, becoming an important manifestation of the spatial conflicts between tourists and local residents.
This paper focuses on the spatial conflicts between tourists and local residents. It selects "Nanjing Travel Pitfall Avoidance" posts from popular social media platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu as the research data. Text mining techniques are used to extract spatial location information from the posts and their comments. By utilizing ArcGIS for spatial localization and spatial analysis model construction, the paper analyses the distribution of spatial conflicts between tourists and local residents in Nanjing, as well as the underlying causes. The paper also categorizes the types of spatial conflicts and provides targeted strategies for alleviating these conflicts. Strengthening the identification of spatial conflicts will provide scientific evidence for urban planning, tourism management, and community development in Nanjing, facilitating better coexistence and sharing between tourists and local residents.
Based on preliminary judgment, the following conclusions can be hypothesized. The spatial conflicts between tourists and Nanjing residents primarily concentrate in three types of areas: high-profile spaces that are deeply embedded into the daily life of local residents’ communities, spaces with a high frequency of use by local residents but with low levels of tourism service facilities, spaces served for transportation and mobility. Additionally, with the rising demand of tourists for ecological environments and landscape quality, the distribution of spatial conflicts also shows seasonal variations. The emergence of spatial conflicts between tourists and local residents is essentially a result of the mismatch between spatial supply and spatial demand caused by the development of the mobile internet.

Speaker: Dr Yixuan Zhang (Southeast University)

14:20 Planetary Gentrification of Rural China: the case of Yangjiale

Yangjiale is a form of homestay in Mount Mogan Village, Zhejiang Province, China. Newcomers from surrounding metropolises rented abandoned village houses in the local area, turning them into BnB, thus initiating a form of rural tourism called Yangjiale. Later, Indigenous Mount Mogan people, who lived in the surrounding cities, returned to their places of origin to exploit the new opportunities given by Yangjiale. After a fast period of initial growth, such a new form of rural tourism began to cool down, possibly due to the progressive loss of the quality experience made available in the early years of Yangjiale. This paper offers an overview of the phenomenon since its inception, focusing on the land use change associated with it associated. First historical data about the location of Yangjiale homestays was retrieved from local administrations and verified by fieldwork conducted in 2024. The complied dataset allowed for longitudinanl understand of the locational patterns in the evolution of Yangjiale services from 1934 to 2022 Second the land-use change analysis with a focus on Mout Mogan Town administrative area was made possible via secondary data provided by the local administration, rendering the territorial transformation occurring from 2006 to 2020. Further investigation considered the planning scheme, released in 2021 with 2035 horizon. The findings reveals a progressive shrinkage and fragmentation of agricultural land. In contrast, the areas designated for orchards, tea plantations, and gardens have shown a notable increase. Rural residential areas have continued to expand, indicating a growing trend in continue expansion. The emergence and development of Yangjiale can be explained in light of a global gentrification process, which shows the urban entrepreneurial consciousness generated by the combination of international market forces and the new possibilities given by digital platforms. Thus, the process of touristification in rural China can be discussed as a form of counter-urbanization driven by the platform economy.

Speaker: YIfan Song (City University of Hong Kong)

Yifan Song Presentation PPT.pptx

14:30 Exploring Tourism related Conflicts among Stakeholders: A Neighborhood in the Historical Peninsula, İstanbul

According to the World Tourism Organization (2024), estimated number of international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) during the first nine months of 2024 is 1.1 billion and statistics show us that 2024 will be fully recovered the pre-pandemic period. Although Covid-19 is one of the biggest international crises in recent years, the number of travelers has increased rapidly. Therefore, urban spaces where have intensive tourism activities continue to transform. About this issue, the overtourism concept is discussed, while some destinations have been faced discontent of the local people.

Tourism is a complex system that includes many different stakeholders. In addition, these actors have a close relationship with each other in places where tourism activities take place. Understanding the conflicts among stakeholders and identifying problems in tourism destinations can be seen as the first step in a successful spatial planning process and creating useful strategies. For this purpose, conflict analysis is used in this study as a systematic tool for analyzing data and categorizing them according to theoretical framework of (Almeida et al., 2017). This approach is used in various fields in literature; however, it is modified for specific areas in Almeida’s study which creates eight categories in order to evaluate tourism related conflicts in spatial planning process.

Küçük Ayasofya neighborhood is determined as a study area where development of tourism activities lead to spatial and socio-cultural transformation dramatically in. This neighborhood is in the most famous tourism destination of the city called İstanbul Historical Peninsula. There are two underlying reasons why this investigation focuses on this neighborhood as a tourism destination are unique characteristic of this place compared to other neighborhood in this region and having excessive amount of tourism activities and accommodation facilities.

According to results, conflicts related to stakeholder interests and institutional framework are much more than other conflict categories in this neighborhood. The main source of conflicts is about stakeholder interests especially for material and procedural interests. When we look at the material interests, most of them are related to land use problems mentioned by locals and tourism entrepreneurs. It can be considered these material interests as consequence of overtourism. The second most frequently cited conflict category is institutional framework. Conflicts in this category were divided into two groups and mentioned by all stakeholders. Reasons of institutional framework conflicts mentioned by different stakeholders consist of, firstly, the indifference of the administrations about this destination, and secondly the authority fragmentation in planning and the resulting uncertainties. Like procedural conflicts in the category of stakeholder interests, these institutional framework conflicts are generally associated with planning process and governmental issues of the neighborhood.

Managing tourism activities in an urban space is a very complex issue as each stakeholder has different expectations and demands. In this context, the study aims to reveal the reasons for the problems that create conflicts among stakeholders. In addition to evaluating all these conflict categories separately, establishing a holistic relationship between stakeholders and conflict categories is also very important to understand the problems related to tourism in Küçük Ayasofya Neighborhood. Framework provides us with understanding about not only categorizing the conflicts and their underlying reasons but also giving information about which conflicts mentioned more by specific group of stakeholders. It is very crucial for tourism planning and policy making processes for tourism destinations to observe which stakeholder groups consider different conflict categories more important and mentioned more frequently. Determining conflicts systematically is essential for resolving them and a better tourism destination planning process requires understanding these conflicts clearly. Thus, destinations can be more resilient towards crises and destination development process can be more sustainable.

Speaker: Mr Hasan Tahsin Karali

14:40 Examining the Phenomenon of Overtourism in the Context of Local Community Perception: The Case of Bodrum.

The concept of "overtourism," introduced by Claudio Milano in 2017, is defined as the increasingly unsustainable development of mass tourism practices (Milano, 2017). This phenomenon addresses the unsustainable social, economic, physical, and environmental impacts of tourism activities on destinations, particularly focusing on the perceptions of local communities. The effects of overtourism include the disruption of local spatial usage habits, overcrowding and traffic in public spaces, economic dependency on a single season or sector, rising property prices, environmental degradation, and reduced contributions to the local economy. These issues lead to local residents feeling discomfort with tourists, a decline in their sense of belonging, and eventual abandonment of residential areas. Although the concept of overtourism is considered a relatively new phenomenon in the literature, studies on the impacts of tourism on settlements have been conducted in various fields since the 1960s. Initially, this body of literature was limited to examining the economic effects of tourism, but by the 1980s, it began focusing on the environmental impacts of mass tourism. However, the social impacts of tourism on community structures were less frequently studied during this period. In the 2000s, studies addressing the social effects of mass tourism from the perspective of local perceptions gained momentum. The introduction of the concept of overtourism into the literature in 2017 has since gained significance as a contemporary field of research, emphasizing the viewpoint of local communities. According to Dods and Butler, the emergence of overtourism is driven by the tipping point of public resistance to tourism and the transformation of almost every area into a tourist destination. The increasing ease of travel has created a flow of visitors on an unprecedented scale, further complicating the lives of local residents (Dods, Butler, 2019). This study analyzes the social, economic, physical, and environmental dynamics of Bodrum, an internationally significant sea-sun-sand destination. International overtourism indicator sets were examined and adapted to the region using data from national tourism statistics. Subsequently, local perceptions were investigated through surveys and in-depth interviews. Combining theoretical and practical approaches, this study aims to contribute to understanding the multifaceted impacts of overtourism. By focusing on systematic issues in tourism and local-level challenges, the study seeks to present an adaptable framework for similar contexts. The findings aim to identify tourism activities' carrying capacity, determine areas requiring limitation or development, and provide strategic inputs for future measures.

Speakers: Ms Rümeysa Kuduban, Prof. Bora Yerliyurt

14:50 Navigating the University-Tourism Nexus: Employing Participatory Strategies for Livability in Sorrento

The interplay between universities, urban environments, and their diverse populations often presents both unique opportunities and challenges. This case study examines how best to mitigate challenges while building on opportunities through the use of participatory practice approaches in the university classroom. The approaches leverage theoretical instruction in conjunction with participation as a tool to build relationships within the community and address the urgent Peninsula issues of housing affordability, sustainable tourism, and livability. Sorrento, known for its cultural heritage and thriving tourism industry, faces challenges that mirror those of larger metropolitan destination cities. These are tied to rising housing costs, exacerbated by the growth of short-term rentals and growing pressures of tourists on city infrastructure. These dynamics have strained local residents, many of whom struggle to remain in their communities due to financial pressures and limited housing availability(Kennedy, 2020). Leveraging participatory approaches, the study highlights the integration of university populations, residents, municipal authorities, and other stakeholders to co-create solutions that balance the needs of locals with the demands of tourism(Innella et al., 2024)(Consilvio, 2024). Key findings from surveys and interviews reveal that residents feel underrepresented in decision-making, with many voicing concerns about the prioritization of tourism over local needs. By promoting open dialogue, fostering community engagement, and drawing on successful case studies from cities like Amsterdam and Barcelona, the research identified and presented actionable solutions, such as improving regulations on short-term rentals, implementing rent controls, enhancing public transportation, and developing a place-based, interactive responsible tourism campaign and a catalyst for growth and larger development projects.

Moreover, the study underscores the importance of embedding human rights principles—such as the right to housing and cultural participation—into policy frameworks to ensure equitable outcomes. Through student coursework using in-depth exploration of human rights law, participatory practice, and sustainable development principles, students utilized their curriculum in theory and practice to engage directly with the Sorrento community in their university neighborhood and the municipal government. The Service-Learning(Saija & Pappalardo, 2024) course design and place-based engagement serve as a conduit to foster strong bonds within the community through research, data collection, group discussion, and surveys. Co-design and co-creation are powerful tools that require collective brainstorming, cooperation, and collaboration. These types of exercises using real-world examples and case studies to build a sense of problem ownership(Cruz et al., 2022) and motivation, shaping the students as part of the Peninsula’s problems, but also that of the solution and fellow stewards of its resilience. Initiatives like community-led housing projects, nature-based solutions, and educational campaigns aim to empower residents while preserving Sorrento's unique cultural identity. This case study demonstrates that participatory practice is an effective and necessary tool for creating sustainable and inclusive urban environments, especially in small cities, offering a model for other destinations grappling with similar challenges(Arellano et al., 2016). Through collaboration and innovation, Sorrento has the potential to reconcile the needs of its residents and its role as a global tourist destination through a participatory system approach that fosters long-term bonds with tourists, residents, higher education institutions(Barnet et al., 2021), and their students.

Speaker: Ms Sarah E. Braun (PhD Fellow Politecnico di Torino; Visiting Research Sant'Anna Institute)

15:00 Between overtourism and abandonment: territorial tensions in coastal areas

In many regions of the world, and undoubtedly among them in Mediterranean countries, the dynamics of tourism are laying bare many tensions of a social, economic, cultural and spatial-territorial nature. Many cities are affected by heavy dynamics in which tourism-related transformations are intertwined according to recurring but contextually determined logics with dynamics of gentrification and replacement of resident populations; at the same time, in both coastal and mountainous areas, the tourism models of the past, rapidly obsolescing, leave behind a legacy of abandonment and underuse of buildings and parts of settlements.
In particular, in many coastal areas of the Mediterranean, and therefore also in our country, different models of tourist use have followed one another over the decades, and have become intertwined with the peculiar economic and social dynamics of each context, such as the more or less accentuated tourist specialisation of the labour market, the temporal forms and models of heritage use (e.g. that of second homes), the new residential and work models of metropolitan populations, and so on.
Starting from this problematic background, the paper questions the peculiar relations that can be read at a spatial level between overtourism and abandonment, which sometimes affect different territories, but which in many cases affect, on the contrary, the same contexts. In particular, the paper critically discusses some cases of abandonment or underuse of buildings, structures and tourist complexes in coastal areas, where in other respects the dynamics of tourist flows lead to congestion, overuse of existing infrastructures and services, and expulsion of the resident population, starting from some contexts of the Tyrrhenian coast in Italy and the Ionian coast in Greece with a long tradition of tourism, which has therefore gone through different phases and patterns.
The research carried out in these contexts shows the difficulties associated with the passive adherence to a development model based on a sector that is undoubtedly important, but with low added value and based on the depletion of environmental and territorial resources, and the importance of initiating a critical, contextual and argued reflection as a basis for imagining different development policies.

Speaker: Prof. Carolina Pacchi (Politecnico di Milano)

14:00 → 15:30 T_02 PLANNING AND LAW: Land Policy, Densification and Regulatory Innovations for Urban Dynamics

Convener: Luis Hilti (University of Liechtenstein)

14:00 Future Zones: Legal Innovations for Adaptive and Equitable Spatial Development

The increasing rigidity of legal and regulatory frameworks in spatial planning has hindered the ability to address contemporary challenges, including climate adaptation, demographic shifts, and rapidly changing local needs such as housing shortages or surpluses. Zoning, often criticized for perpetuating outdated models rooted in modernist or neoliberal priorities, has emerged in new forms with a different normative orientation. Future Zones represent an innovative reimagining of traditional regulatory instruments, enabling flexibility, sustainability, and equity while countering legislative inertia in urban and regional development.

This paper explores the legal underpinnings and characteristics of these “third-generation zones,” focusing on their role as catalysts for systemic change. Using a comparative and systematic approach, the study examines key dimensions:

1. Time – The legal mechanisms governing the longevity, adaptability, and dissolution of zones.

2. Form – How legal frameworks influence the evolution of zone boundaries and their prescribed dynamics.

3. Goal – The ideological and practical objectives encoded in zoning regulations.

4. Emergence – The conditions under which zones arise, contrasting top-down imposition with collaborative, stakeholder-driven planning.

By situating “Future Zones” within existing legal frameworks, this paper demonstrates their potential to reconcile tensions between public and private rights, foster inclusive governance, and create equitable and resilient urban spaces. The findings provide actionable insights into how planning law can evolve to meet the challenges of sustainability and just transitions in times of crisis.

Speaker: Luis Hilti (University of Liechtenstein)

14:10 Law as a Catalyst for Change in Water Supply Policies in Brazil: The Debate on the National Law for Social Water Tariffs

The rights to water and sanitation were recognized as autonomous, specific human rights "essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights" by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) on July 28, 2010, through Resolution A/RES/64/292. This resolution made it clear that providing universal access to drinking water and sanitation is an obligation of governments. In other words, it is the duty of the state to establish public policies to ensure the rights to water and sanitation—implying the removal of both physical and economic barriers that hinder universal access.

Drinking water affordability is among the principles highlighted in the UN resolution. If water services are available but prohibitively expensive, people with insufficient financial means may be forced to rely on cheaper but less safe water sources or practices or to sacrifice other basic rights, such as food, housing, and health. In many countries, social tariffs are a means to ensure affordability and guaranteed access to services for the most vulnerable users.

In Brazil, a new law from June 2024 establishes national guidelines for the Social Tariff for Water and Sewage (the "Social Tariff Law") that must be adhered to by both public and private service providers. This legislation affirms that basic sanitation must be managed under specific guidelines, including that user payments for services must be reasonable, socially equitable, and affordable.

According to the law Social Water and Sewage Tariff benefits users with a per capita income of up to half (1/2) of the minimum wage, provided they meet one of the following criteria:
-Belong to a low-income family registered in the Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico) or its successor registry system; or
- Belong to a family that includes:
A person with a disability, or
An elderly person aged 65 or older who proves they lack the means to support themselves or receive support from their family and who receives, under Articles 20 and 21 of Law No. 8,742 of December 7, 1993 (the Organic Law of Social Assistance), Continuous Benefit Payment (BPC) or an equivalent successor benefit.

Article 13 of the law established a vacatio legis period of 180 days, which ended on December 11, 2024. Between June and December 2024, the law was the subject of intense public debate in various hearings. Some stakeholders in the water sector, including public and private providers and regulators, argued against the law. They claimed it could lead to the economic unsustainability of water services in many Brazilian municipalities where a significant number of users benefit from social programs, resulting in an unsustainably high number of beneficiaries under the social tariff.

Conversely, social movements advocating for the human right to water supported the law, arguing that by enacting the Social Tariff Law, the Brazilian government fulfills part of the positive obligations inherent in the human rights to water.

This paper aims to explore the public controversies surrounding the national social tariff law for water. It recognizes the law as a fundamental instrument of public policy designed to address the challenges of ensuring universal access to water services in a context of increasing economic uncertainty.

Speaker: Ana Lucia Britto (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation Britto Finamore.pptx

14:20 Suburban Densification: Space, Strategies, and Land Policy

In light of global ambitions to reduce land take and the need for housing, densification has become a prominent policy goal for urban development in many countries. While densification has been widely discussed in academia for the inner-urban realm, suburban areas have huge potential but are yet understudied. Densification of suburban areas, however, is from a spatial planning perspective much more challenging.
This contribution presents evidence of the international research project SUBDENSE from city regions in England, France and Germany. There are three main types of results: (1) Based on a geo-spatial analysis, it will be shown where densification takes place and the institutional drivers behind different types of densification. (2) The study then looked at the role of actors in suburban densification process based on interviews with landowners, residents, developers, planners and councillors to assess the agency that various stakeholders have in the densification process. Finally, (3) the study investigated the role of land policy in the densification process.
The results reveal that the main barrier to suburban densification is not so much due to resistance from landowners, but the passivity of local authorities as well as a lack of proper tools to have informed public debate and to contract with stakeholders. Our results encourage a debate on the role that suburban areas play in trajectories towards sustainable urban development.

Speaker: Sebastian Dembski (University of Liverpool)

14:30 Post-socialist and Western housing policies for densifying suburbia – Understanding and comparing German and Czech perspective

Urban densification is increasingly advocated by planners throughout Europe as a viable solution to housing shortages and the reduction of land uptake. By optimizing existing urban spaces, densification promises to alleviate the pressure to develop greenfield sites, thereby preserving natural landscapes and promoting sustainable urban growth. Suburban areas have huge potential for densification, yet densification in these areas is barely in the focus of spatial planning and systematic implementation is often tardy. Existing property rights and stakeholder interests hamper development. Yet it can be expected that in different countries the hampering factors differ.
Western and post-socialist contexts deal differently with property rights and land policy. This study investigates possible soft densification of suburban areas in Germany, as a Western European state, and the Czech Republic, a post-socialist state, through the lens of three key research questions.
The first research question examines the historical development of suburbanization, analyzing how the trajectories differ between the Western and post-socialist settings. A comparative content analysis of literature explores temporal and quantitative distinctions, highlighting the role of property rights transitions—particularly in the Czech Republic's post-socialist privatization—in shaping suburban patterns.
The second research question investigates the morphological characteristics of suburban neighborhoods, comparing plot sizes, building layouts, built-up areas, and housing typologies (e.g. individual houses, row houses, duplexes) in the case studies of Prague and Dortmund suburbs. Using geospatial analysis, this study uncovers how spatial configuration and built environment in these regions can determine spatial reserves for soft densification, offering the most empirical insights of the research.
The third research question addresses governance perspectives, focusing on how soft densification is reflected in policy documents and perceived by municipal representatives. Data include interviews, legislation, and strategic documents, analyzed through keyword searches and qualitative coding. This research highlights how property rights frameworks—such as land-use regulations and ownership constraints—shape the feasibility and implementation of densification policies, revealing differences in institutional approaches and municipal practices.
By integrating historical, morphological, and governance perspectives, this study elucidates the interplay of suburbanization, property rights, and densification policies in Germany and the Czech Republic. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how socio-political and legal contexts influence suburban development and offer valuable insights for spatial planning and housing policy.

Speaker: Mrs Jana Nádravská (Faculty of Architecture, Czech Technical University in Prague)

14:40 Use of New Municipal Fiscal Powers for Sustainable Urban Development: Development and Application of a Strategic Financial Planning Method in the City of Mascouche, Québec (Canada)

Over the years, the Government of Québec has granted Québec municipalities extensive monetary levy powers. Aiming to enhance their autonomy and recognize their role as proximity governments, the provincial government provided municipalities with general taxation and regulatory charges powers in 2018 (Tremblay-Racicot et al., 2023). In 2023, additional powers were introduced, enabling municipalities to vary property tax rates based on different sectors or any characteristic of the property assessment roll, excluding the property’s value.

Although these new powers do not render municipalities fully financially autonomous, they allow diversification of revenue sources and reduce dependence on property taxes (Federation of Canadian Municipalities, 2024). They also offer opportunities to achieve various public policy objectives, such as mitigating or adapting to climate change, combating land speculation, or promoting a circular economy, through ecofiscal measures or by making property taxes more progressive. For instance, municipalities can impose regulatory charges targeting major traffic generators to encourage transportation management plans, tax vacant land or buildings, address underdensity through floor area ratio taxes, or impose higher tax rates on luxury properties ("monster houses") and lower rates on denser housing or areas with vulnerable populations.
In a pre-electoral context, many municipal officials and managers are questioning how to prudently use these new legislative powers, particularly as cities have historically tended to keep tax rates low while relying on new property assessments to grow their tax base. To address this, the City of Mascouche, located in Quebec, sought the services of our research team to assist in identifying and planning fiscal measures to prioritize over the next five years. This collaboration resulted in the December 2024 submission of a 2025–2030 Strategic Revenue Plan, offering recommendations to guide the City in prioritizing and phasing the deployment of fiscal tools (Tremblay-Racicot et al., 2024).
This paper aims to showcase the novel methodology developed to identify priority measures among over 25 documented fiscal tools. These tools were selected based on a diagnostic assessment of the City’s financial profile and four prioritization criteria: (1) fiscal potential; (2) sound administrative management, including legal risks; (3) social acceptability and equity; and (4) environmental efficiency. The application of these criteria will be detailed, as well as the final choices made by the municipal administration and elected officials.
While these decisions reflect difficult trade-offs between fiscal potential and environmental efficiency, administrative simplicity and legal risk emerged as dominant factors guiding the choices. The co-development process and exploration of new possibilities also led to the prioritization of innovative, progressive fiscal measures that are environmentally sustainable. Combined with measures adopted in other Quebec municipalities, these advancements suggest a paradigm shift in the financial planning approaches of Quebec municipalities.

Speakers: Prof. Fanny Tremblay-Racicot (École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP)), Dr Jérome Couture (École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP)), Ms Léa Béliveau (École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP))

AESOP-2025-Full-Paper_FTR_V1.pdf

14:00 → 15:30 T_03 MOBILITY (A): 15 minute city II

Convener: Simon De Boeck (University of Antwerp)

14:00 Adapting the 15-Minute City Model for Suburban Areas: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Multimodal Mobility Strategies

The 15-minute city (15minC) model has emerged as a guiding framework for just and sustainable urban development, prioritizing proximity, connectivity, and diversity to enhance residents’ quality of life. While widely applied in dense urban centers, its implementation in suburban areas faces particular challenges due to the lower density, insufficient connectivity, and limited diversity in the land use characteristics of such areas.

To reduce suburban distances, promote accessibility, and achieve the 15minC goals in peripheral regions, this research rethinks distance as a function of time, and proposes an approach that advocates for faster and more cost-effective solutions. The 15minC model often lacks actionable translation, as its guiding principles often remain aspirational and compass-driven rather than process-oriented, measurable, and applicable to planning documents and urban strategies.

Therefore, this study addresses these research gaps by defining a comprehensive set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to explore the potential of digitalization and integrated multimodal mobility strategies as enablers of the 15minC principles in suburban contexts. Five diverse case studies are examined across six countries in Europe: Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Italy, Germany, and Turkey.

The study’s methodology relies on key steps that include the identification of successful 15minC strategies, the assessment of available data sources for KPI measurement, and the primary definition of the set of KPIs. This is followed by conducting focus group workshops with local experts as a validation process, and sequentially by the refinement of the KPIs.

Preliminary findings suggest that while the KPIs provide a measurable framework for the 15minC, significant variations across case studies highlight the need for further refinement, additional data collection, and greater contextualisation in the next steps.

Speakers: Ms Jennifer Jiang (HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU)), Dr Domokos Esztergár-Kiss (HUN-REN Institute For Computer Science And Control (SZTAKI), Department of Transport Technology and Economics (KUKG), Faculty of Transportation Engineering and Vehicle Engineering (KJK), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME))

14:10 The role of New Working Spaces in the context of the 15-minute city: insights from Greek case studies

Urban areas face challenges like climate change and socioeconomic crises, necessitating innovative planning. Their inability to manage global shocks locally underscores long-term structural, organizational, and governance vulnerabilities (Pozoukidou & Plastara, 2025). At this edge, the 15-minute City (15mC) concept emerged as an innovative neighborhood-based approach for sustainable urban development. This idea is based on key urban planning principles like equitable access to services, mixed land uses, reducing commuting, increasing green spaces, and prioritizing the neighborhood as the community core (Pozoukidou & Chatziyiannaki, 2021; UN-Habitat, 2018). The 15mC approach suggests mixed land use and a compact urban form providing residents the daily needs within a short walk, bike ride, or transit stop (Moreno et al., 2021; Pozoukidou & Chatziyiannaki, 2021). This model aims to increase accessibility through geographic or digital proximity (Pozoukidou & Plastara, 2025). Proximity constitutes one of several ways for people to access spatially distributed opportunities in the urban environment. While the 15mC suggests proximity to daily needs as a solution to avoid commutes, the inflexible daily commuting to work remains an issue (Elldér, 2022; Pozoukidou and Chatziyiannaki, 2021).

In the post-COVID era, remote working has increased significantly, with 22.2% of people in the EU sometimes working from home in 2023 (Eurostat, 2024). The growing technological development combined with knowledge-intensive activities have transformed the nature of work, allowing individuals to work from anywhere. New forms of physical and virtual working locations outside of the “traditional” workspace have emerged as spatialities of RW. Building on Yu et al. (2019), there are six types of spatialities, defined by the location and nature of the working environment as New Working Spaces (NWS), these spaces allow “near working” – working closer to home (Biagetti et al., 2024). NWS such as coworking spaces (CS), third places like cafes and libraries, or neighborhood-based working hubs provide equipped and flexible spaces and can also serve additional i.e. cultural purposes (Di Marino, 2018). NWS can be a solution for individuals who are engaged in hybrid working arrangements, many of whom prefer using third places near their houses, reducing the need for long daily commuting to a traditional office (Biagetti et al., 2024). NWS can tackle the social isolation associated with work-from-home, fostering social interaction and community engagement. Locating workplaces within neighborhoods supports sustainable living and working, reduces daily commutes, and minimizes the associated environmental impact.

This paper examines whether NWS have the potential to serve as nuclei for the reorganization of the neighborhood in the 15mC framework, as they could be a solution for reducing the daily and inflexible commute to the traditional workplace. Two case studies were selected for comparative analysis, Athens and Thessaloniki, the capital and the second largest city in Greece respectively. In addition, for this analysis, only formal CSs were used from the variety of NWS.

Methodologically, spatial analysis will be conducted in GIS and open data from OSM will be used regarding the location of CS as well as the complementary land uses in a 15-minute range calculated in walking distance. The network analysis will be calculated by following the pedestrian network of each city instead of Euclidean distance from CS points.

The comparative results for the two cities are expected to i) Show the allocation of CS in the two cities and the service area that is covered by at least one CS and ii) The influence of CS on diverse amenities and services around them within the 15-minute range. The study contributes to the ongoing planning debate on emerging urban models for sustainable neighborhoods, drawing on insights from the European South.

Speaker: Dimitra Plastara (PhD Candidate)

14:20 Daily Mobility and Public Open Space in Large-scale Housing Estates: Connection and Social Networking Quality in a 15-minute City Concept

In the second half of the 20th century with the expansion of motorised transport "traffic function" of the streets started to dominate over the "place function”. The up-to-date urban mobility faces critical problems that require fast, innovative and effective solutions. One of the most visible problems is traffic congestion, which reduces traffic efficiency, increases pollution levels and affects the quality of life in cities (Herrera-Acevedo, Sierra-Porta, 2025), raising concerns about the rapid expansion of climate change. The second is the conversion of the outdoor spaces of the residential environment into car parking spaces, reducing the areas for relaxation, active recreation and other activities aimed at the population's well-being. This, in turn, increases the risks of social isolation and marginalisation. These negative phenomena encourage cities around the world to seek innovative solutions that support the spatial and social sustainability of urban environments (Nello-Deakin, 2024).
The 15-minute city concept emphasises proximity and diversity as key living options in urban planning based on walking and cycling. It is becoming a widely accepted strategy among urban planners around the world who aim to create a more walkable, car-free environment and a shift to more sustainable travel habits (Moreno, C., Allam, Z., Chabaud, D., et.al., 2021; Tammaru, et.al, 2023; Iannacci, et.al., 2025). The idea of a micro-district as the basis of the urban structure has been implemented in many European cities, where they form large built-up areas with the majority of the city population living there (Dragutinovič, et.al, 2023; Galan, 2024). These districts are initially planned in such a way that residents are provided with everything they need for everyday life within easy walking distance. Considering the specific urban pattern of the modern LHE’s environment, our research project 15minESTATES is focused on relations between the ’15-minute city’ concept and the modernist city concept implemented in LHEs. Through selected case studies in five European cities, the aim is to scrutinise if the six essential urban social functions of a ’15-minute city’ are present in the urban patterns in LHEs, and whether the amount and proximity to these specific services would help in saving time wasted in traffic, thus promoting sustainable mobility. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be adopted for the case studies, including mapping, spatial analysis, surveys, and interviews.
Comprehensive understanding of community interests and needs is crucial on the way to transitioning into sustainability. Thus, in this paper we present a complex approach for community engagement for investigating inhabitants’ mobility behaviour and disclose which functions are connected to the car-dependent behaviour of residents in the selected case studies. Comparison of the several public participation methods used during the workshop sessions in Riga and Delft allowed to close the gap in the collected information, and ensure better understanding of inhabitants’ opinions, attitudes and needs. Public discussion, mapping and walking activities examined how distance to daily destinations affects the choice of travel modes of people living in LHEs, what characteristics attract people and encourage them to choose certain paths in the area, and what characteristics of streets make them “places” of social interaction” and supports the “function of place”.

Speakers: Dr Uģis Bratuškins (Riga Technical University), Alisa Korolova (Riga Technical University)

14:30 Advancing the '15-Minute City' in Turkey: A Framework for Sustainable Urban Planning and Governance in Mid-Sized Turkish Cities

This study explores the potential of Turkey’s mid-sized cities to align with the "15-minute city" concept, emphasizing proximity, inclusivity, and sustainability. These cities, characterized by compact urban areas where most residents live within a 3-km radius, inherently support walkable, proximity-based urban planning. However, rising automobilization and minimal car use restrictions along with uncoordinated transportation policies in Turkey pose significant risks to the realization of this concept. This research underscores the need for integrated transportation strategies, pedestrian-focused urban planning, and stringent parking policies to support 15-minute city while mitigating car dependence and fostering sustainable urban environments.
Central to the "15-minute city" framework is the reorganization of urban functions to ensure proximity within neighborhoods, necessitating systemic changes in resource allocation patterns and governance schemes (Pozoukidou and Chatziyiannaki, 2021). The concept also emphasizes principles of proximity, diversity, density, and ubiquity, aiming to reduce reliance on motorized transport while promoting sustainable and equitable urban living (Moreno et al., 2021). Practical frameworks for neighborhood-level transformations and multimodal connectivity with an emphasis on public engagement and behavioral shifts in Moreno (2024) are particularly relevant for Turkish cities in transition.
For Turkish cities, rethinking public transportation as the backbone of urban mobility is essential. Developing trunk transit systems free from regular traffic conditions can increase reliability and encourage shifts from private vehicle use. Public transport nodes, such as rail and bus stations, should be integrated into neighborhoods to support seamless multimodal connectivity while reducing car travel.
Pedestrian-friendly design is another critical component. Enhancing walkability through well-maintained sidewalks, safe crossings, and traffic-free inviting public spaces can significantly encourage active mobility. Walkable neighborhoods not only promote physical health but also contribute to cognitive well-being and social interaction, particularly among vulnerable populations like the elderly (Zhang et al., 2023). Moreover, pedestrian infrastructure must account for inclusivity, addressing the "last millimeter" challenges to ensure accessibility for all (Buliung, 2024).
Parking policies play a pivotal role in reducing car dependency. Stringent regulations, such as limiting parking availability in central areas and imposing higher fees, discourage car use and reclaim urban space for pedestrian and community activities (Núñez et al., 2024). Mixed land-use planning further supports proximity by ensuring essential services, amenities, and recreational spaces are distributed across neighborhoods, thereby fostering local economies and social cohesion (Pozoukidou and Chatziyiannaki, 2021).
While the theoretical underpinnings of the "15-minute city" are rooted in principles of proximity and inclusivity, practical implementation requires data-driven approaches. Tools like the Next Proximity Index (NEXI) can assess accessibility levels and identify gaps in urban planning, guiding tailored interventions (Olivari et al., 2023). Besides, the experiences of cities worldwide provide valuable insights. For instance, European cities with high pedestrian accessibility and diverse land use demonstrate reduced car reliance and enhanced urban equity (Vale and Lopes, 2023). Similarly, compact neighborhoods in ultra-dense cities like Shanghai showcase how mixed-use planning and walkability can foster cognitive and physical health (Zhang et al., 2023). These examples underscore the importance of adopting integrated urban design principles that prioritize human-centric planning over car-oriented development.
Although Turkey's mid-sized cities possess unique opportunities to lead by example in movement, transitioning to the "15-minute city" in these cities requires addressing existing challenges, including societal car dependency and fragmented urban governance. The study explores different traits of collaboration across for sustainable urban planning goals. Moreover, community engagement in planning processes ensures that interventions reflect local needs and aspirations, fostering public support and long-term success (Pozoukidou and Chatziyiannaki, 2021).

Speaker: Prof. Emine Yetiskul (Middle East Technical University)

15-Minute City in Turkey A Framework for Sustainable Urban Planning and Governance in Mid-Sized Turkish Cities.pptx

14:40 Positive and Normative dimensions of accessibility by proximity for supporting a fair and sustainable 15 min city model

The presentation introduces several dimensions of the concept of accessibility by proximity that may better frame the actual contribution of proximity in different planning experiences finalised to promote the Xmin city model. Challenging an acritical use of the proximity concept based on the physical spatial-temporal conditions and a focus mainly on dense compact urban contexts, the presentation proposes to enrich this concept by combining a functional dimension of proximity, with a relational one, focused on the exchange of resources and collaboration spontaneously activated in a community, sharing specific accessibility-related needs, problems and mobility opportunities.
Based on this, the presentation aims at
- Introducing some considerations on the relationship between the Xmin city model and the accessibility by proximity concept and its relevance for a potential paradigm shift for reorienting transportation and land use planning toward increasing the availability of services, activities, and social contacts in proximity to reduce the need for travel, towards less extensive but more active and sustainable forms, and helping to reinforce internal community ties (Ferreira et al. 2003, 2007).
- Proposing a declination of proximity (as a mean) and accessibility by proximity (as an end) that can contribute to deal with the challenging issues in the implementation of X min city. Among them: the risk of standardising people’s needs and underestimating the demands of different social groups, reproducing existing inequalities (Cooke et al. 2022); and limited replicability in several different socio-spatial as in suburban, peri-urban and rural areas (Guzman et al., 2021); an increase in housing prices, gentrification and displacement of vulnerable populations (Dunning et al. 2021;Haarstad et al., 2022: Poorthuis & Zook, 2023) exacerbating social divides (Guironnet and Halbert, 2020).
- Presenting an operative framework for dealing with new metrics of accessibility by proximity and its positive and normative dimensions, based on the results of two research projects (https://ex-tra-project.eu/; https://commonaccessproje).

Speakers: Prof. Paola Pucci (Politecnico di Milano), Dr Giovanni Lanza (Politecnico di Milano)

14:50 Accessibility to urban services by several transport modes using open data to operationalize the 15-min city concept

Recent studies have explored the "15-minute city" concept, which aims to provide essential urban services within a short distance of residents. Researchers have developed various methodologies to evaluate accessibility, including network-based frameworks considering human mobility patterns (Zhang et al., 2022) and GIS-based approaches to measure proximity at the neighborhood level (Chiaradia et al., 2024). These studies have revealed disparities in accessibility between urban and suburban areas, as well as within a city (Akrami et al., 2024). The methodology of this study integrates open data, GIS-based tools and spatial analysis techniques to create accessibility indicators with the objective of evaluate access levels to urban services in five cities (Vienna, Lisbon, Munster, Groningen and Ankara), with the aim of operationalizing the "15-minute city" concept an assess accessibility to urban services. It focuses on measuring walking, cycling, and public transport proximity to four categories of amenities: healthcare, education, recreation and sport facilities, and retail and other services. Data collection and processing were structured around three main components: urban amenities, population data, and transport networks. Primary data sources include open platforms such as OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Google Maps, mapping approximately 27,000 points of interest. Population data from national statistical agencies were used to estimate populations served by amenities at fine spatial units, such as census blocks. Transport and road networks were derived from OSM, focusing on walkable streets, bike lanes, and public transport stops sourced from GTFS specifications. Moreover, the analytical model employs accessibility measures. Distance-based indicators calculate the percentage of the population with access to at least one amenity within 15 minutes. Diversity and density metrics are also included, assessing the variety of services available within specific areas. The analytical framework comprises several steps: defining origin units (residences), selecting target amenities, and applying average travel speeds (e.g., 4-5 km/h for walking and 13 km/h for cycling). Road networks simulate real-world conditions using network distances, ensuring higher accuracy. Amenities were categorized into four main types, enabling direct comparisons across cities. The methodological findings demonstrate that using open data is effective in producing replicable accessibility measures. Integrating detailed population data with urban networks provides granular insights for policymaking. The methodology also allows to identify significant inequalities in cities with low density and peri-urban development. The proposed approach can be applied in future studies to compare accessibility in urban areas and foster solutions for active and inclusive mobility.

Speaker: Dr Luis Encalada-Abarca (Centre of Geographical Studies, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Portugal.)

14:00 → 15:30 T_03 MOBILITY (B): Transport Policy II

Convener: Jan Schreurs (KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Dept. Architecture)

14:00 Sustainable mobility and Consolidated City. Urban Regeneration strategies for the Metropolitan City of Rome

The critical role of cities in addressing the global climate crisis is increasingly acknowledged. The European Union (EU), one of the most urbanized regions globally, has placed urban issues at the core of its political agenda, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as evidenced by numerous measures aimed at fostering sustainable development, such as the Leipzig charter (2007), The Urbana Agenda for the EU (2016) or the European Green Deal (2020). These international initiatives consistently identify mobility as a central issue for sustainable development, emphasizing both improved accessibility and reduced environmental impact. Confirming this awareness, the EU introduced a new strategic plan in 2009 at an inter-municipal scale, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) (COM 2009/490). This planning device, designed for a medium- to long-term implementation, aims to achieve social-economic and environmental sustainability objectives, highlighting the role of mobility in the context of the existing city as a tool to counter marginality.
This research examines urban regeneration by focusing on the strategic role of sustainable mobility within the consolidated city, defined as the urbanized territory shaped by 20th-century planning, characterized by a compact urban structure and limited public spaces and services (Garano, 2001). The significance of this portion of urbanized territory is underlined by its size, and the enormous building and housing density that characterizes it. In Italy, these strategic areas emerged during the rapid post-war growth period until the early 1980s, and now face challenges due to their original car-dependent development model. This issue is further exacerbated by the unique “genetic anomaly” of Italian cities, where industrial growth was not matched by the development of extensive rail networks (Campos Venuti, 2001).
The aim of this paper is to identify theoretical, methodological, and operational references for an innovative planning system which, through the implementation of public transport networks, can trigger regeneration processes within the consolidated city. A case study of Rome explores the interplay between the pilot project “15 Projects for the 15-Minute City,” inspired by Carlos Moreno’s model that prioritizes service accessibility and proximity (Moreno, 2024), and the mobility forecasts of the new metropolitan SUMP (approved December 2024). The latter renews and extends the ambitions of the current city's regulatory planning (NPRG, 2008), seeking to enhance mass public transport offer through a ‘rail therapy’ identified as ‘the condition’ for implementing the city’s development strategies, based on a polycentric model (Marcelloni, 2003; Ricci, 2009).
The methodology is structured in three phases:
1. Contextualization: A diachronic analysis of the formation processes of the consolidated city in relation to mobility infrastructure development, alongside a review of the regulatory framework.
2. Case Study Analysis: An examination of Rome’s mobility plans and urban regeneration projects to inductively identify innovative strategies, tools, and guidelines for transforming the consolidated city, including synergies with other planning devices and resource transposition strategies.
3. Systematization: The development of a flexible framework that organizes the identified strategies into coherent modalities for governing sustainable mobility interventions.
The proposed framework aim to integrate planning instruments at different scales, within a strategic/structural planning system that envisions potential implementations with coherence-based guidelines and structural invariants of planning at different scales serving as a coherence framework for transformations in the existing city, capable of enabling access to different funding channels (Galuzzi and Vitillo, 2018).
Ultimately, the research underscores the central role of sustainable mobility in regenerating the consolidated city, arguing that mobility planning must form the backbone, within the broader conception of the Public City as a reference matrix for urban sustainability, of transformative processes aimed at rebalancing spatial inequalities (Oliva and Ricci, 2017).

Speaker: Enrico Losardo (Department of Planning, Design and Architectural Technology - Sapienza University of Rome)

14:10 Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans: a catalyst for transformative urban practices?

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are strategic planning tools designed to satisfy mobility needs in cities and their surroundings for a better quality of life. According to the European Commission, “A SUMP offers a comprehensive, vision-led, flexible and resilient approach by serving as a long-term mobility plan that includes packages of measures addressing short-term objectives and targets the reaching of which can be fast-tracked in response to changing needs.” (EUR-Lex - 32023H0550 – EN). However, the capacity of SUMPs and other similar mobility planning instruments in bringing about effective changes towards more sustainable and just mobility practices has been questioned (Maltese, Gatta and Marcucci, 2021; Wågsæther et al., 2022; Hidayati and Tan, 2025). Aiming to shed light on the matter, this paper comparatively examines the multilevel governance framework of sustainable urban mobility planning across Europe, through the analysis of 8 case studies from the JUST STREETS project. We start from the assumption that in order to understand the effectiveness of SUMPs it is necessary to consider them as part of a spatial governance and planning system (SGPS), i.e. a complex and multidimensional interaction among the urban legal framework (i.e. structure), the tools for spatial planning (among which the SUMPs), the practices, and the discourses built around them (Berisha et al., 2021). This interaction shapes and determines the possibility for SUMPs to improve urban mobility towards more sustainable and just mobility practices. By combining literature, policy and document analysis, the paper reviews the multilevel frameworks in which SUMPs are developed and implemented, from the European to the local scale. First, the interaction between the urban legal framework (structure) and the SUMP (tools) is inquired. Then, the lens is brought closer to practices, focusing on one local case study from the JUST STREETS project. The mutual interactions between the SUMP, emerging sustainable and just mobility practices , and rising discourses on sustainable and just urban mobility is carried out. Overall, the paper sheds light on the possibility of SUMPs as a catalyst for transformative practices (Albrechts, 2017) actually contributing to mobility justice, and the room for improvement in this respect.

Speaker: Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone

14:20 Modelling Tailpipe Emissions: Assessing vulnerability of emissions with a planning perspective

This study explores the exposure to vehicular emissions in relation to social vulnerability. It takes a disaggregate, activity-based modelling approach to estimate tailpipe emissions at the road network level. The vulnerability index was derived based on socioeconomic information from census tabulations. It is necessary to investigate the exposure of harmful emissions on vulnerable populations as they are often susceptible to chronic health impacts, creating environmental justice issues (Molchan et al., 2024). Emissions are not equally dispersed and may impact people who may not be emitting them. Therefore, this study estimates tailpipe emissions and a vulnerability index to develop an emissions vulnerability assessment for Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The activity-based travel model was developed utilizing the 2022 Halifax Travel Activity Survey. The model consists of four segments: 1) Population synthesis, 2) Activity generation and scheduling, 3) Vehicle allocation and mobility assignment, and 4) Traffic and emission estimation. Greenhouse gas emission (GHG) is used as a proxy to understand exposure to vehicular emissions. The vulnerability index begins with a principal component analysis (PCA) to identify relative importance of socioeconomic attributes of individuals at the zonal level. In total, twelve attributes were considered in the development of a social vulnerability index (SoVI), focusing on four thematic areas: 1) Diversity and housing suitability, 2) Socioeconomic and mobility patterns, 3) Demography, and 4) Economic challenges. The resulting SoVI of different zones in HRM were overlayed with the vehicular emissions by utilising GIS analysis. It assesses emission vulnerabilities by classifying both vulnerability and emissions based on percentiles.
This paper identifies vulnerable areas to tailpipe emissions. The result of the SoVI shows that many of the lower income zones experience higher levels of emissions, particularly in the downtown areas. For instance, a Northern portion of Halifax exhibited the high score of 2.1. Interestingly, Halifax South end, which is adjacent to Halifax’s North end, also showed a high score of 2.0, despite being considered a high-income area. In general, tailpipe emissions are highest in urban areas, followed by suburban and rural zones. Similarly, the variability of vulnerability index is highest in urban areas, while decreasing in suburban and rural zones. This correlation underscores the greater significance of vulnerability to tailpipe emissions in the urban zones within the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth.
This provides valuable insights to identify vulnerable populations that are exposed to tailpipe emissions. This study offers important policy guidelines including reduction of vehicular activity in the downtown core by diversifying public transportation. The study also reveals environmental justice issues in Canadian cities that require further climate action to reduce the impact of over-reliance on private vehicles. Such transport policies will help Canadian governments and organizations to reduce their tailpipe emission levels for vulnerable populations and aim to achieve net-zero by 2050.

Speakers: Dr Ahsan Habib (Dalhousie University), Mr Shane Blundon (Dalhousie university)

14:30 Navigating Public Perceptions of Urban Mobility Transformations

Cities worldwide are embracing ambitious mobility transformation policies aimed at reshaping built environments to prioritize walkability, cyclability, and overall livability. These initiatives are part of a broader urban planning paradigm shift that seeks to reclaim space from cars and return it to pedestrians and cyclists. Policies such as 15-minute cities (Papadopoulos et al., 2023), Low-Traffic Neighborhoods (Aldred et al., 2021), and woonerfs (Cekrezi, 2022) exemplify this trend. By designing environments that reduce travel distances and support active transportation, these policies aim to address environmental challenges, enhance health outcomes, and foster social equity (Proffitt et al., 2019).
Despite their potential to create healthier, more equitable urban spaces, the success of these policies depends heavily on public acceptability. While their environmental and social benefits are well-documented—including reductions in energy consumption and emissions and enhanced transportation equity and justice—their acceptability remains underexplored. Nevertheless, understanding public perceptions is crucial, as resistance to these policies can lead to organized opposition, jeopardizing their implementation and sustainability (Marquet et al., 2024). Academic literature has so far found that the acceptability of these policies is influenced by the projection of future changes that will endure in the mobility habits of individuals. Rahman & Sciara, 2022 found that those policies that lead to forced and unwanted mobility changes to individuals can trigger resistance, and the opposite holds true -policies that align with citizen’s desired behaviors garner more support-.
This study focuses on the acceptability of Barcelona's key mobility transformation policies: Superblocks, School Streets, Bicycle Lanes, and Pedestrianizations. By examining multiple policies within a single urban context, this research provides a nuanced understanding of the dynamics underlying public acceptability and opposition. This approach is critical, as the literature has, until today, focused on analyzing the acceptability of single-issue policies, such as congestion charges, low-emission zones, or parking management.
The research employs a comprehensive survey targeting 2,000 Barcelona residents to investigate demographic, ideological, and experiential factors influencing public attitudes toward these policies. The survey examines variables such as perceived efficacy, distributional and procedural fairness, political trust, and projected impacts on personal mobility habits. Respondents’ willingness to support policy extensions, their trust in local governance, and their views on the equity of policy outcomes are also analyzed.
This study's findings will help us test for the first time whether certain sociodemographic and ideological characteristics influence public support or resistance to urban mobility transformation policies. Additionally, we will be able to assess whether individual values and norms play any role in shaping public perceptions of these policies. By addressing these factors, the study seeks to help policymakers avoid costly trial-and-error approaches, ensuring the alignment of mobility transformation policies with public needs and expectations.
Ultimately, this research highlights the importance of integrating public perceptions into the design and implementation of mobility policies, fostering inclusive and sustainable urban environments. It emphasizes the role of urban mobility transformations in addressing climate challenges, promoting equity, and ensuring resilience in urban systems. By advancing our understanding of public attitudes toward transformative urban planning, this work supports the development of just, safe, and accessible mobility systems critical to sustainable urban futures.

Speaker: Marta Fernández Núñez (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

14:40 Can pedestrianization trigger gentrification? Insights from Barcelona’s transformations

In recent years, cities around the world have launched ambitious urban transformation programs aimed at enhancing pedestrian mobility and improving public spaces. These initiatives often reflect a broader movement towards creating more livable and sustainable urban environments. Barcelona, with her internationally acclaimed Superblock flagship program, is a great example of that. Pedestrian-friendly designs are celebrated for their potential to reduce air pollution, encourage healthier lifestyles, and foster community interactions. However, these projects are not without criticism, and one significant area of concern involves their social consequences. A recurring critique of these policies is their potential to drive up land prices, making certain neighborhoods more attractive to wealthier individuals and displacing vulnerable populations in a process known as gentrification.
While extensive research has examined the phenomenon of "green gentrification"; that is, the gentrification processes triggered by urban greening projects like parks and greenways, relatively little attention has been given to other forms of urban transformation. The social justice implications of pedestrianization schemes (urban interventions that convert vehicular streets into pedestrian-only zones) remain underexplored. Existing studies on the spatial determinants of housing prices suggest that walkability is linked to higher land values, which can inadvertently contribute to exclusionary processes. Yet, it is unclear whether smaller-scale interventions like pedestrianization alone are sufficient to drive significant demographic changes in urban areas.
This study seeks to address this gap by analyzing the sociodemographic impacts of pedestrianization in Barcelona. Specifically, it examines whether such projects have triggered gentrification-like changes in the social composition of affected neighborhoods. Using a self-elaborated database documenting pedestrianization projects in the city from 2012 to 2020, combined with fine-grained annual sociodemographic data, the research employs a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) analysis. This method compares changes in demographic indicators in pedestrianized areas with non-pedestrianized areas, isolating the effects of pedestrianization from broader urban trends.
The findings reveal significant trends that, though small now, are growing over time. Pedestrianized areas have attracted a disproportionate number of European and North American newcomers compared to what would be expected in the absence of intervention. They have also received a higher-than-expected influx of highly educated residents, and a reduction of the proportion of those with lower level of studies. Additionally, these areas have experienced an increase in residents aged 31–64, a demographic often associated with higher income levels. These shifts suggest that pedestrianization projects may contribute to changes in neighborhood composition, attracting new residents that are wealthier, more educated and come from more affluent countries.
The implications of these findings are significant for urban policymakers. Pedestrianization projects, while beneficial in driving modal shifts and improving quality of life, may inadvertently undermine goals of social equity and inclusion. If such initiatives disproportionately attract wealthier groups, they could indirectly raise housing prices and lead to the displacement of previous residents, exacerbating urban inequalities and raising an issue of urban justice. Policymakers need to be aware of these dynamics when implementing pedestrianization schemes and consider measures to mitigate potential adverse effects.
This research also highlights the relevance of small-scale urban transformations. While some bigger Superblock interventions were considered in the study, most of the interventions were smaller interventions spread across the city, leading to consider the significancy of small-scale projects in driving broader sociodemographic shifts.
Designing policies that effectively address climate change pressures while guaranteeing the inclusion of vulnerable populations in urban life is a key challenge of contemporary urban planning. These results should not lead us to stop further pedestrianization schemes, but rather to consider which other policies need to be implemented along with them to ensure social justice.

Speaker: Pablo Villar-Abeijón (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

14:50 Do car-restrictive policies shape elections? The electoral impact of implementing low-traffic zones.

Car-restrictive policy measures such as low-traffic zones and car-free streets are increasingly implemented as cities seek to address challenges related to congestion, air pollution and climate change (Da Schio et al. 2023). While these measures aim to create more sustainable and livable urban environments, their implementation often sparks intense public and political debate. Transport stands out as a pervasive and pressing conflict in local politics (Paterson, 2007), with citizens and other sectors of society often actively resisting car-restrictive policies (Marquet et al. 2024a). This resistance contributes to a strong reluctance among policymakers to implement measures curbing car use (Unruh, 2000).

Lanzendorf et al. (2023) assert that the challenge lies not only in devising effective measures but also in garnering stronger public acceptance for the introduction of car-restrictive policies. Consequently, 'the public’ becomes an increasingly influential and active participant in the ongoing debate. While the public tends to accept pull measures more easily (for instance, dedicated bicycle infrastructure and increased public transport provision), politically, push measures are much more challenging to implement. Hence, public acceptance often plays a pivotal role in determining the success of these policies, and if these can even be implemented in the first place.

The introduction of such policies can influence public opinion and, subsequently, electoral outcomes. Political parties advocating circulation measures may face backlash from segments of the electorate opposed to the changes, while others may gain support for their commitment to traffic safety and urban well-being. These dynamics raise questions about the interplay between public acceptance, policy outcomes, and political accountability.

Against this backdrop, this paper aims to contribute to the emerging work (e.g. Marquet et al. 2024b) questioning the electoral impacts of implemented car-restrictive measures. By analyzing two cities in Belgium (Ghent and Leuven) where low-traffic zones were recently adopted, we examine the electoral performance of the Greens, the political party most strongly associated with it. As such, we seek to understand whether such policies contribute to electoral gains or losses. By means of election results at the level of statistical wards, combined with a set of socio-economic characteristics, car ownership and built environment characteristics, we analyse to what extent the Green party has gained or lost at the municipal elections of October 2024. We hypothesize that higher car ownership and use is associated with lower votes for the Greens. Higher bicycle ownership, higher education level and age is expected to positively affect a vote for the Green party. In the paper, we test whether the Green party received more or fewer votes than would be expected based on the selected variables. By comparing the observed electoral results with the predictions derived from the statistical model, we assess if the adoption of low-traffic zones influences voter behaviour beyond what socio-economic and other relevant variables would suggest.

Speaker: Dr Eva Van Eenoo (Vrije Universiteit Brussel; KU Leuven)

14:00 → 15:30 T_04 GOVERNANCE (A): Learning and institutions

Convener: Raine Mantysalo (Aalto University)

14:00 City-to-City Learning for a Climate-Neutral Future: Insights from the NetZeroCities Twinning Learning Programme

With cities facing complex and systemic challenges, city-to-city (C2C) collaborations are increasingly recognised as an effective mechanism for municipal capacity building and transfer of knowledge and practices (Moodley, 2020). C2C exchanges have become a widely occurring phenomenon facilitated by city networks, funding programmes, and projects. It is positioned as a form of peer learning – an organised yet dynamic process between municipalities for mutual learning among cities that face similar challenges (Hoetjes, 2009; Enseñado, 2024). Despite the popularity of different C2C learning programmes, there is still limited understanding of how the learning takes place, its impact, and the experiences of the participating city practitioners (Haupt et al., 2020; Moodley, 2020). Therefore, using the example of the NetZeroCities Twinning Learning Programme, this study explores the process, forms, outcomes, and enabling conditions of C2C learning, supporting replication and knowledge transfer among cities striving to achieve climate neutrality.
NetZeroCities is a platform supporting the EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. This platform is designed to help European cities build capabilities and ways of working to advance systemic change through innovation, including piloting (i.e. Pilot Cities Programme) and C2C learning (i.e. Twinning Learning Programme) programmes. While the Pilot Cities Programme enables the testing and implementation of innovative approaches for rapid decarbonisation through single-city or multi-city Pilot Activities, the Twinning Learning Programme makes it possible for other cities to learn from Pilot Cities. This Learning Programme is an expert-facilitated C2C learning programme pairing Pilot Activities with selected Twin Cities and enabling a structured mutual learning experience.
This study explores Cohort 1 of the NetZeroCities Twinning Learning Programme, which takes place from September 2023 until May 2025 and involves 37 Twin Cities paired with 25 Pilot Activities (implemented in 53 Pilot Cities). It analyses (1) the overall structure and outcomes of the Programme and (2) three in-depth case studies (Pilot and Twin pairings) involving 8 cities from 7 countries. The study employs a primarily qualitative approach combining analysis of Twinning Learning Programme (Cohort 1) documentation and participants’ feedback (from cities and facilitators), direct observations during C2C learning facilitation and process documentation, and analysis of the Programme outputs and deliverables.
The preliminary results show mixed outcomes. On the one hand, cities are satisfied with the Twinning Learning Programme and actively share knowledge and practices, especially during face-to-face interactions. On the other hand, the Programme is designed with a greater focus on Twin Cities, enabling structured and result-driven learning from the Pilot Cities while facilitating largely interest-driven learning from Twin Cities. Therefore, it limits the depth of mutual learning that is additionally impacted by the prior matching of cities (alignment of learning interests, climate ambitions and portfolio of actions, and contextual factors). Furthermore, the in-depth cases show that depending on the learning interests, cities engage in different forms of learning; for example, some cities emphasise technical learning while others primarily pursue conceptual or social learning. The participating cities also show different levels of preparedness to activate and engage with their local ecosystem during the Twinning Learning Programme, which is crucial for ensuring learning and knowledge transfer on institutional and societal levels and creating organisational memory. Finally, follow-up research will allow to assess the sustainability of established C2C collaborations and the longer-term impact of the Programme.

Speaker: Dr Lita Akmentina (FinEst Centre for Smart Cities, Tallinn University of Technology)

14:10 Ethnographies of Institutional Learning within Social Innovation Encounters: the case of Turin (Italy)

The contribution addresses questions of institutional learning within planning policies, proposing Social Innovation (SI) as a conceptual companion to investigate the region of Piedmont in Northern Italy. The term is extensively used and extremely hyped (Vigar et al., 2020). Yet, the project urges to examine the socio and spatial distribution of emerging inequalities and disadvantage patterns. It focuses on the importance of spatial infrastructures in addressing these issues with a local, pragmatic, and civic answer. Given this framework, the research investigates what institutions could learn from these social practices of cooperation by implementing analysed experiences in planning tools and policies. Thus, the public administrations could have a pivotal role in stabilising community-based activations, which may, otherwise, lose their momentum and effectiveness.
The paper focuses on the peculiar regional case with a specific zoom on the metropolitan area of Turin. During an initial mapping phase, the metropolitan context has shown a high-intensity concentration of civic activities, which partly sustain themselves thanks to philanthropic operations of private foundations and bank institutions and ad hoc alliances with public bodies. The analysed activities fall under a definition of SI that enhances territorial development and a general social value through everyday actions for the territory and its local communities.  SI is always localised and grounded in a specific context, making the concept decline in its operative actions. In-depth interviews with emblematic actors carrying out these local activities have confirmed a first hypothesis: the Turin case works thanks to an endured cooperation fostered in twenty years of conciliated collaboration between strategic visions and “real-world projects” (Ponzini and Santangelo, 2018).
The research explores how these SI realities exist, work and sustain themselves by placing their operations in the broader network of formal and informal relations with different actors they have established throughout the years. Research shows that a wide and heterogeneous net is already established within the Turin territory and that, thanks to its recognition, the Municipality increasingly involves these emergent actors in its public strategies, generally proposing a collaborative cooperation model. Therefore, this contribution proposes focusing on the drifts during these encounters.
By shifting the question to ‘how and if public Institutions learn from SI projects?’ the research addresses the Social Innovation discourses towards enabling learning patterns that could be test ground for similar local realities and thus endure civic initiatives and let them become stabilised within normative planning frameworks. To do so, partial results from an ongoing institutional ethnography will be discussed. The role of ethnography affects the research on the epistemological and methodological levels since it will ground the research in the middle of things by proposing to exceed an a priori definition of Social Innovation. By drawing on STS (Science and Technology Studies) methods, the proposal aims to shift knowledge production in media res and grounds the research in practice. The ongoing institutional ethnography intersects social innovation practices with policy instruments that specifically address and form the issues. This grounded perspective would facilitate assessing how and if institutions learn from the practices. Moreover, the research inquires to what extent the processes of stabilisation of SI practices within planning tools are welcomed or not, becoming governmental tools. Combined with the previous collection of data retrieved from the mapping, the micro-social perspective given by the ethnographic account will thus sharpen the reconfiguration of social and planning innovation landscapes.
This contribution is part of the broader research project RESISTING - Reconnecting Social Innovation with Institutions in Urban Planning, funded under the National Research Program of National Interest (PRIN NRRP 2022), within Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. RESISTING studies three different Italian regional contexts.

Speakers: Nadia Caruso (Politecnico di Torino), Saskia Gribling (Politecnico di Torino)

14:20 Governing tactical urbanism. Innovation in decision making processes and planning approaches in the case of Genoa, Italy.

In recent decades, an increasing number of cities worldwide have incorporated tactical urbanism into their urban planning strategies challenging traditional governance schemes and well-established planning approaches.
Some local administrations have developed structured tactical urban planning programs, defining criteria and priorities for implementing tactical experiments through a comprehensive, citywide approach. Otherwise, others have implemented individual transformations isolated one from another. The different interpretations of tactical urbanism vary according to the needs and objectives: it can be employed as a demonstration tool by the citizens, as a response to an urgent need, or as a test bed for structural transformations that the administration may implement.

This contribution explores the experience of Genoa, an Italian city currently experimenting with tactical urbanism through a first pilot test. This initiative is intended as the starting point for developing an urban-scale strategy aimed at scaling similar interventions across different neighbourhoods citywide.

The pilot project involved the municipal administration in collaboration with the Departments of Urban Planning and Design of Politecnico di Milano as scientific consultants to support the whole decision-making process: from the selection of the suitable areas, thanks to a qualitative-quantitative study conducted by the university, to the design and implementation of the interventions through a participatory process involving residents and local stakeholders.
The combination of interdisciplinary expertise was is crucial in addressing the project’s various phases. This collaboration facilitated inputs such as accessibility analysis, interviews, design, participation. The process required a continuous trade-off between the findings of qualitative-quantitative research, the aspirations of the population, and the technical, economic and administrative feasibility of the proposed interventions as assessed by the municipal administration.

The incremental nature of the process provided a learning-by-doing opportunity for the actors involved in its implementation, particularly the municipal administration, which for the first time is facing a dynamic, uncertain planning process charaterised by an innovative modus operandi: a more rapid, shared and participatory planning process, both in the identification of the areas on which to intervene and in the definition of the entities of the transformations. Adjustments, and thus changes, were necessary during the project, both in terms of the tools and methods utilized and the process.

This paper will present the experience conducted, discussing its process, adjustments and implications for the project. Some limitations and strengths will emerge: a flexible timeline that underwent continuous adjustments due to political changes, the involvement and turnover of different referents within the municipality; a slow, but constant dialogue between various levels of the administration (municipality and town hall); a continuous interaction between different expertise within the administration (involvement of several directorates) and the university .
In the context of an administrative apparatus confronted with an experimental scenario, these elements, far from being of minor significance, have facilitated the conceptualisation of suitable recalibrations and adjustments to the adopted approach. These reflections are fundamental in enabling the administration to adopt a working method applicable in other contexts and to develop an urban strategy.

Speakers: Dr Carla Baldissera (Politecnico di Milano - DAStU), Dr Giovanni Lanza (Politecnico di Milano - DAStU)

14:30 Reinventing Cities in Madrid: the life and death of a Parisian model of municipal land allocation?

Reinventing Cities (RC) is a planning and design competition organized by the C40, a global city network of knowledge exchange and policy support for climate adaptation. RC is one of the network's operational tools, through which cities sell sites deemed under-utilized, so that projects tackling C40’s ten climate challenges can emerge. These projects must be led by interdisciplinary consortia, including designers, specialized environmental consultancies and developer-investors. RC thus echoes other municipal practices of land allocation for “green” or “innovative” real estate projects in Europe (Bulkeley & Kern, 2006; Candel & Paulsson, 2023; Gerber, 2016; Tambach & Visscher, 2012). RC is a version of Réinventer Paris, launched in 2014, and rapidly exported expanded rapidly thanks to Parisian Mayor Hidalgo’s policy boosterism (McCann, 2013). The competition offers market-based solutions to social and environmental problems, utilizing the very high demand of public land to leverage real estate actors into changing their practices. This model sparked controversy in France, with criticism of the role given to private actors in decision-making regarding urban development projects and in urban service provision (Béhar et al., 2018).
Through RC, this model of land allocation travels to very diverse contexts, from an urban, social, economic and politically point of view. Madrid is a particularly intriguing example. The city participated in RC during Ahora Madrid's term at the helm of the City. This ‘new municipalist’ coalition, led by Manuela Carmena (2015-2019), held office in the aftermath of austerity responses to the subprime and Eurozone crises. Carmona’s program included the fight against property speculation, the development of affordable housing and the democratization of urban policies (Janoschka & Mota, 2021). Thus, in Madrid, RC is part of a political fight against a speculative and extensive model of urbanization and against austerity policies (Davies & Blanco, 2017). In a constrained context where Carmena’s office had few levers for implementing its ambitious electoral program (Janoschka & Mota, 2021), RC arguably appeared to be a credible tool for countering the speculative logics that had hitherto dominated, given the municipality's enthusiastic participation. Indeed, Madrid took part in the first two editions of Reinventing Cities in 2017 and 2019, and to date remains the second city – after Milan – with the largest amount of sites proposed across the three editions of Reinventing Cities.
This apparent paradox – a tool travelling from a context where it uses speculative urban development as a lever for “sustainable” real estate to a context where it fights speculation – is the starting point of this presentation. I will begin by placing RC in the broader context of Madrid's urban policies of recent decades, as a way to explain the adoption of RC by Carmona's government. The remainder of the presentation will provide an empirical analysis of the “effectiveness” of RC in Madrid. Firstly, I will analyse the motivations of public and private actors involved. Secondly, I will document the evolution of winning projects, as well as the reasons behind abandoned projects or difficult implementation. Finally, I will broaden the scope from mere project implementation to an investigation of the potential traces left behind by the competition, be it within the municipal technostructure or among the winning group members. The point here is to investigate whether RC contributes to transforming professional practices and the internal organization of urban stakeholders, as the CIUPs in the Paris region have done (Gomes and Pérès, 2022). The circulation of best practice in sustainable urban planning and real estate models might also be found there, beyond the scope of winning consortia and projects.

Speaker: Pedro Gomes (Lab'URBA - EIVP)

14:40 Institutional and community learning for transformative urban practices: Experiences from Area Based Initiatives in Trondheim, Norway

The article builds on two generations of Area Based Initiatives (ABIs) in Trondheim from 2013, that are being implemented in neighborhoods where the Municipality has identified quality of life challenges as well as urban physical degradation. The first program of this kind was implemented in the twin-neighborhoods of Saupstad-Kolstad from 2013 – 2021 and with three new ABIs ongoing in the neighborhoods of Tempe-Sorgenfri, Lademoen and Møllenberg from 2024. ABI as a methodology for urban regeneration has been adopted and promoted by the Norwegian Housing Bank and the State (including the Ministry of Municipal Affairs) for various urban neighborhoods that fare poorly on national quality of life statistics.
Goals of the ABIs in Trondheim have widely acknowledged that cross sectoral and public-private- civil society based partnership models for urban regeneration, such as in the Norwegian ABI model, require both institutional and societal learning and capacity building. Municipal staff involved in the first and second generation of ABIs in Trondheim often reflect more on the “internal” municipal learning than the tangible projects in the localities. Goals of the first generation ABI in Saupstad-Kolstad included: Contribution to interaction, collaboration and coordination across disciplines and sectors; Dialogue, communication and local anchoring and participation in connection with all public activities, competence development and learning.
This article is based on interviews with the municipal staff that have been involved in both generations of ABIs in Trondheim, supplemented by other documentations and evaluations of the first ABI completed in 2021, to present narratives that reflect learning – institutional, inter-institutional and community based – and analyse them in terms of the limits and potentials of their ability to be transformative.
The paper is position in literature related to territorial social innovation (e.g. Van Dyck and Van den Broeck, P., 2013), earlier discussion on the transformative potential of ABIs (e.g. in Hovik et al, 2024) and concepts of critical pedagogy applied to place-making and urban renewal projects (e.g. in Natarajan and Short, 2023).
Some of the findings from the interviews indicate that sustainability of community learning was dependent on the permanence of collective organisations and on individuals. Initiatives involving youth for example were dependent on their continued presence in the neighborhood, while initiatives involving housing cooperatives have led to more continued learning. Some of the barriers to achievement of community learning have been the gap between the strategic goals of the program to build local responsibility and the perception of the community actors that the support and resources made available would support long-term direct transfers. In terms of inter and intra-organisational learning, the impact of the first generation of ABI has been the acceptance of iterative engagement with community groups, anchored in neighborhoods rather than as sectoral engagement at city level. However, despite the demonstration of the benefits of cross-sectoral, place-based engagement in the ABI, the project management group has still had to use substantial resources for anchoring the second generation ABIs internally within the municipality and among the various public and private institutions in the city, putting in doubt the sustainability of organisational learning.
Van Dyck, B, Van den Broeck, P. (2013), Social innovation: a territorial process, chapter 2.4 in “International handbook on social innovation” Eds Moulaert, F., MacCallum, D., Mehmood, A., Hamdouch, A., Edward Elgar
Hovik, S., Legard, S., & Bertelsen, I. M. (2024). Area-based initiatives and urban democracy. Cities, 144, 104638.
Natarajan, L., & Short, M. (2023). Towards an engaged urban pedagogy. Engaged Urban Pedagogy: Participatory practices in planning and place-making, 1.

Speaker: Prof. Rolee Aranya (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

14:50 Spatial Planning and Experimental Governance: A Bioeconomy Framework for Sustainable Transformation

Spatial planning is a complex process deeply rooted in institutional contexts, playing a pivotal role in facilitating societal transitions towards sustainability. The governance structures shaping planning are influenced by a network of institutions, regulations, and procedures, which determine the decision-making processes around land-use and spatial configurations. Planning institutions are central to local and infrastructure development. Transformative policy agendas, such as the bioeconomy, hold promise for designing and planning pathways towards enhanced sustainability. However, the implementation of sustainability visions and goals by institutions is often hindered by rigid frameworks, fragmented governance, and a lack of cross-sector coordination. These challenges stem from different views on sustainability, limited control over the private sector, and slow political decision-making. The governance frameworks provide the necessary structures to put policy visions like the bioeconomy into practice, enabling their application across diverse contexts. Therefore, implementing alternative governance frameworks that prioritise sustainability is crucial and could enhance the planning system's effectiveness. Experimental governance (e.g. testbeds, innovation districts, and living labs) and strategic spatial planning can help dismantle entrenched practices, foster learning, and enable institutional flexibility. Experimental governance often involves collaboration between stakeholders from the public, private, academic, and non-profit sectors to drive sustainable transformations. These collaborations aim to facilitate co-creation through decentralised decision-making and action processes, raising questions about interests, conflict resolution, and power dynamics. This paper examines the relationship between planning systems and sustainable transitions, focusing on the bioeconomy as a key driver for change. It explores how experimental governance can contribute to institutional reform, overcoming conflicts, and the promotion greater coherence in policy implementation, helping to actualise visions like the bioeconomy as a workable solution for ongoing sustainability challenges at different scales of governance.

Speaker: Ms Palmira De Almeida (University College Dublin, School of Architecture Planning and Environmental Policy)

14:00 → 15:30 T_04 GOVERNANCE (B): Housing

Convener: Anna Growe (Kassel University)

14:00 Crossing boundaries and enabling the conversion of military land into social housing. The case of Spain

This study examines the complex challenges inherent in the public-public partnership established in 2023 between SEPES—the Public Land Entity under the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda (MITMA)—and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The primary objective of this partnership is to repurpose decommissioned military sites for social housing, thereby fostering socially equitable urban regeneration. The initiative encompasses the redevelopment of 8.25 million square meters across 50 MoD-owned assets, facilitating the construction of 19,876 affordable housing units in 34 municipalities within 15 of Spain’s 17 Autonomous Communities, with an estimated public investment of €620 million (MITMA, 2023). This project aligns with the broader state-led “Affordable Rental Housing Plan,” which seeks to utilize public land for social housing development, ensuring equitable access to adequate housing as enshrined in the Spanish Constitution. The implementation of this specific public-public partnership entails the transfer of MoD land to SEPES, which is responsible for enabling participatory and inclusive land readjustment while integrating private-sector stakeholders into the redevelopment process.
The central hypothesis of this research is that this innovative collaboration between public entities can reconcile the longstanding tension between the MoD’s short-term financial imperative to divest land for revenue generation and the long-term urban and social needs of local communities. Furthermore, this partnership has the potential to navigate the complex process of converting former military sites into civilian uses—a transformation typically fraught with architectural, environmental, legal, financial, and urban planning challenges, particularly in the aftermath of post-2007-08 urban austerity policies. A comparative analysis of two case studies—Madrid’s Campamento barracks (a site ready for development) and Valladolid’s La Rubia barracks (a site not yet development-ready)—provides empirical insight into the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation of this public-public partnership in large-scale urban regeneration projects.
The comparison discusses about the wider operation across Spain, in particular it focuses on the broad range of governance arrangements framing planning and enabling transition from the military use to social housing to face the increasing social and economic inequalities. The transformation of these barracks would necessitate enabling specific institutional aspects of planning governance (i.e. the rules, laws, and procedural requirements), as well as the possibilities opened by community practices and actors (co-)operating within these structural settings. This work also discuss how these practices might lead to generative conflicts, institutional learning, and enhanced reflexivity. In fact, the conversion of military land would mean a significant economic investment, which some administrations are reluctant to undertake, particularly in light of existing housing plans within communities such as Castilla y León (La Rubia barracks). These plans are aimed at providing affordable rents for vulnerable populations, in accordance with budgetary allocations that facilitate the progressive acquisition of assets, along with their subsequent rehabilitation and integration into the regional housing stock. In this case, and so far, the criticisms have not been more evident, something that may be due to the fact that, in principle, it will be the Spanish Government itself that will be responsible for purchasing the land from the Ministry of Defence (Campamento barracks). Nevertheless, there are still some reservations as to whether the central government will also be responsible for the building of these social housing units or whether, once again, it will transfer this responsibility to the autonomous communities and local authorities.

Speakers: Federico Camerin (University of Valladolid), Prof. Juan Luis de las Rivas Sanz (University of Valladolid)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-Template_Camerin_de las Rivas Sanz.pdf

14:10 Who will plan for “ageing in place”? Governance of affordable housing for a growing senior population in Switzerland

The growing percentage of seniors as a demographic trend presents significant societal challenges, impacting various aspects of urban life, including housing policy and spatial development (Huang, 2015). On one hand, changing housing needs—such as accessibility features, smaller units, and affordability—demand housing redevelopment (Luciano et al., 2020). On the other hand, there is an increasing mismatch between the rising demand for elderly care and society’s limited capacity to provide it, creating a widening care gap, particularly for low- and middle-income groups (Black, 2020). As the demand for barrier-free, smaller, and more affordable housing units rises, municipalities need to navigate the challenge at the intersection of land policy, social policy, and housing provision to support “ageing in place” (Lowies & Lushington, 2024). Despite the policy emphasis on enabling older adults to remain in their homes and communities, affordable housing for seniors remains an overlooked yet pressing governance issue in rapidly ageing societies, including Switzerland (Schwiter et al., 2018).

This paper examines how municipal, cooperative, and private actors respond to the growing demand for age-appropriate housing arrangements given the institutional context of land policy, social policy, and business interests in the growing elder care sector. Through a multiple case study of five housing projects in the Canton of Bern, I explore the governance of age-appropriate housing provision. The highly decentralized housing, land, and ageing policies in Swiss context provide a rich empirical context for different spatial, social, and economic interests involved in “ageing in place”. Findings suggest that housing cooperatives deploy distinct strategies to integrate housing and care, yet face challenges in affordability, accessibility, and long-term sustainability. Municipal priorities, particularly in efficiency in land allocation and keeping a balanced age composition of residents, significantly shape the extent to which senior housing is developed and how responsibilities for care are negotiated among public, private, and cooperative actors.

By situating age-appropriate housing within broader municipal planning and urban governance debates, this paper raises critical questions about who is responsible for planning and financing housing for changing demographics and how different governance arrangements either enable or constrain the capacity to ensure long-term affordability and care provision to mitigate the growing care gaps, particularly in cities. The study contributes to discussions on municipal planning, cooperative housing models, and the governance of ageing in cities, offering insights into the evolving role of local governments and community-based initiatives in mitigating the housing and care crisis beyond ageing communities.

Speaker: Dr Deniz Ay (University of Bern)

14:20 Identifying Barriers to Compact Urban Growth in the Irish Housing Sector: Insights from Industry Experts

Low-rise, low-density housing dominates Ireland’s housing sector, even as growing housing demand and ambitious carbon reduction targets necessitate a shift toward sustainable development. Compact urban growth (CUG) has emerged as a critical strategy to address these challenges, offering transformative environmental, social, and economic benefits. Promoted in key policies such as the National Planning Framework, CUG aims to reduce emissions, enhance urban vibrancy, and optimise land use. However, low-density development persists, contradicting these policy objectives. This paper will investigate this contradiction, exploring the barriers to the adoption of CUG in Ireland. It gathers insights from housing industry experts to highlight the disconnect between policy intentions and actual housing delivery.
The study adopts a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with housing experts, including developers, architects, and housing bodies, to identify barriers hindering the adoption of compact urban growth (CUG) in Ireland. These interviews focused on key themes such as the viability of housing typologies, the role of embodied carbon in housing design, and the future trajectory of housing development in Ireland.
The research identifies barriers, such as market preferences for low-density housing driven by consumer demand and limited awareness of alternatives, regulatory constraints, and spatial requirements that challenge higher-density developments. Additionally, car-centric planning practices within local authorities exacerbate the issue. Together, these factors perpetuate high-carbon, low-density development, underscoring a critical misalignment between national policies and actual housing delivery.
This study provides essential insights into these obstacles and offers a foundation for developing actionable pathways to align housing practices with policy objectives. The findings are crucial for advancing sustainable urban development, achieving Ireland’s housing and carbon reduction goals, and offering lessons for other nations navigating similar transitions.

Speakers: Ms Rola Abu Hilal (University College Dublin), Mrs Gillian Brady (Atlantic Technological University of Sligo)

14:30 Beyond ordinary boundaries. Dealing with housing rights to address spatial inequalities

The City of Naples is facing the complex challenge of dealing with the consequences of a persistent housing crisis. The reconfiguration of public housing settlements, often marked by serious conditions of blight and poverty, represents a structural problem for the city, a long-term emergency to be governed, recently carried out in the framework of National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), that is part of the Next Generation EU Programme.
The ongoing regeneration of the “Taverna del Ferro” housing estate in East Naples, known as the Bronx, marks the beginning of a significant urban transformation in a neighbourhood historically burdened by social and urban decay. The blue fences surrounding the working site can be read as a symbol of the ongoing change.
Environmental and energy transitions are key components of the NRPP project, while citizens’ involvement is a priority in the administration's political agenda.
The town council is striving to develop innovative regulatory approaches, particularly by creating new forms of social agreements that ensure the active participation of local communities in the ongoing transformations. These transformations highlight the need to develop sustainable transformation models capable of triggering public policies that respond to the economic and social needs of the neighbourhood. The objective is to ensure a regeneration process that is not only lasting, but also capable of stimulating new local economies and triggering employment opportunities.
This contribution starts from the results of a mapping activity carried out in collaboration with the "Ex Taverna del Ferro" fight committee and local inhabitants. Just before the opening of the construction site, the primary objective of the survey was to capture an overview of the formal and informal uses of the ground-floor spaces in the Taverna del Ferro residential buildings and the surrounding garages. The mapping was complemented by interviews with key local witnesses from the community and associations.
The case study prompts multiple reflections:
- on local responses to policy inputs coming from EU programmes;
- on institutional challenges to propose new regulatory approaches or changes in current regulations;
- on the role of collaborative mapping and interviews as tools for involving residents in the housing estate regeneration.
The paper explores how expectations and perceptions emerging from the collaborative mapping can be translated into effective project strategies. It highlights the importance of integrating issues such as valorising the informal local economy, improving the quality of public spaces, and preserving the cultural identity of the neighbourhood into regeneration plans. This integration is essential to ensure that transformation does not lead to displacement or social exclusion. In this context, the relational capabilities between the actors involved - administrations, planners and inhabitants - play a central role through participatory governance tools.
Such an approach results in consolidating mutual trust among actors, thus promoting an ‘open’ transformation process where mutual learning is addressed overcoming ordinary boundaries. It also works as a lens for analysing the relationships between stakeholders, uncovering inequalities and power relationships, thus treating potential conflicts during the transformation process.

Speaker: Giorgia Arillotta (Università Federico II di Napoli, DiARC)

14:40 Stakeholder Dynamics in Government-Led Gentrification: Case Studies from Urban Renewal in Beijing

Gentrification, a term first introduced in 1964, initially referred to the process of middle-class re-entry and transformation of working-class communities in central London (Glass, 1964). Over time, the concept has expanded beyond the return of capital to cities or the pursuit of specific lifestyle by the middle class (Zhang et al., 2014). Today, gentrification is increasingly linked to urban renewal policies and, driven by government initiatives, has become a global urban strategy to attract capital investment (Lees, 2000; Smith, 2002). Its manifestations vary significantly across countries and economic systems (He, 2019). In China, as the world's largest developing country, gentrification is frequently employed as an urban renewal strategy, leveraging land reuse to generate capital accumulation (Li et al., 2018). However, existing research offers limited comparative analyses of urban renewal models across different contexts, particularly regarding the interplay between gentrification and renewal strategies.

This study focuses on government-led residential renewal projects in China's authoritarian context, exploring the roles and strategies of various stakeholders in the gentrification process. It aims to contribute new perspectives for both the theoretical understanding of gentrification and the practical application of urban renewal initiatives. Two representative cases in Beijing are analyzed: Yuer Hutong in Nanluoguxiang and Courtyard No. 58 on Jiaoda East Road. The former represents a top-down policy-driven renewal model, while the latter reflects a bottom-up development approach. By investigating the interaction among state, market, and society, and how these interactions influence the gentrification process, this research provides empirical evidence for understanding the diverse pathways of urban renewal in China.

This study employs qualitative research methods, including random and snowball sampling, to conduct in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, such as residents, shop owners, street committee staff, and planning and design professionals. Data analysis is conducted using triangulation to ensure robustness. The findings reveal that while the government plays a dominant role in urban renewal strategies involving gentrification, the opinions and actions of developers and residents significantly influence renewal model within the policy framework. Furthermore, while gentrification can drive economic growth, it also bring certain negative social impacts.

By analyzing government-led urban renewal models that incorporate gentrification as a core strategy, this study reveals the complex relationships among stakeholders and their impact on renewal approaches. It offers practical recommendations for future residential urban renewal planning, emphasizes the adoption "mild gentrification" as a policy strategy to achieve sustainable and efficient urban renewal.

Speaker: Mr Haocheng Guo (University of Sheffield)

14:00 → 15:30 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (A): Ecosysystems and Ecosystem Services for Climate Action

Convener: Osman Balaban (Middle East Technical University)

14:00 Understanding the usability of climate services – An Actor Network Theory perspective

Climate adaptation is becoming increasingly critical in urban spatial planning as extreme weather events necessitate climate-adaptive measures. Effective planning relies on climate information to provide insight in potential climate impacts and/or the effectiveness of proposed adaptive measures. Such information is often provided by ‘climate services,’ such as maps or decision support tools, which spatial planners and other stakeholders use to guide decision-making (Vaughan et al., 2016). However, usability gaps - e.g., mismatches between user needs and provided data, or a lack of user expertise to interpret the information - limit their usability (Raaphorst et al., 2020; Lemos et al., 2012).

Recent research also highlights the role of contextual factors in shaping climate service usability. Contextual influences, such as institutional settings or competing priorities, significantly impact how stakeholders perceive and interact with these services (Findlater et al., 2021; Koers et al., 2024). However, most contemporary evaluation methods focus on human-centric perspectives, emphasizing the direct interactions between users and climate services (e.g., Vaughan & Dessai, 2014). While valuable, this approach is limited as it overlooks broader contextual influences and the positioning of climate services within wider decision-making systems (Koers et al., 2024). As a result, indirect contextual factors often remain overlooked in evaluations.

To address these limitations, we propose the use of an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) perspective. ANT views the world as a collection of interacting actors—both human and non-human—within networks that shape behaviours and outcomes (Law, 2004). Applying ANT to climate service usability evaluation shifts the focus from user-centric evaluations towards understanding usability as an intrinsic property of climate services as non-human actors. In other words, an ANT-perspective examines how climate services interact with other actors within broader networks, and in turn reveals how contextual factors influence usability. This helps to identify overlooked aspects of climate service usability by examining how human actors (e.g., planners, politicians) and non-human actors (e.g., legislation, policy documents, climate services) interact with and shape usability of the climate service. This study aims to demonstrate how integrating an ANT perspective broadens the understanding of climate service usability. By moving beyond user-centric evaluations, ANT provides a more comprehensive lens to assess the interplay of human and non-human actors within complex decision-making contexts. This results in a more nuanced understanding of usability, enabling the identification of barriers and opportunities for improving the use of climate services in practice.

For this paper, we follow and analyse a project of the municipality of Dordrecht (the Netherlands). Within this project, the municipality is utilizing a climate service to support decision-making among spatial planners, water managers, project leaders, and politicians to develop new policies for improving the climate resilience of the neighbourhood of ‘Dubbeldam’. Data collection includes interviews with stakeholders, observations during project meetings, and analysis of policy documents, agendas, and reports. Furthermore, found contextual factors are analysed following the method utilized by Koers et al. (2024). This allows for comparison with the results from this state-of-the-art overview to identify previously overlooked contextual factors that were identified with our proposed ANT-approach to show the added value of such a perspective.

Speaker: Gerben Koers (Radboud University Nijmegen)

14:10 The Thresholds of Urban Parks’ Charateritics on Heat Mitigation Effect：Case Study of 120 Parks in Foshan, China

In the context of the increasingly severe global environmental crisis, where the urban heat island effect is seriously eroding the ecological health of cities and threatening human well-being, it is extremely urgent to deeply explore the cooling mechanism of urban green spaces. (Farshid, 2019; Lin, 2021). Urban green spaces are crucial for alleviating urban overheating and play a vital role in achieving sustainable urban development if planned and utilized effectively (Soltanifard H, 2024). This research aims to address the following key questions: How to accurately assess the cooling capacity of urban parks in water network cities? How to determine the key factors and their thresholds that affect the cooling effect of parks? And how to formulate reasonable planning strategies based on the cooling performance of parks? This research focuses on the unique Lingnan water network cities in the southern China. Foshan, being a typically rapidly developing city in the Lingnan region, confronts representative environmental problems during its urbanization process, thus making the performance of its urban green spaces in coping with the heat island effect highly worthy of in-depth study.
This research takes 120 urban parks as example, aiming to comprehensively assess their cooling capabilities. To achieve this, four indicators are introduced: Park Cooling Area (PCA), Park cooling efficiency (PCE), Park cooling intensity (PCI), and Park cooling gradient (PCG) (Sun, 2024). Using the multi-ring buffer analysis tool in ArcGIS Pro, the surrounding area of each park is divided into 30 concentric buffers (extending to 900 meters), and the average temperature of each buffer is analyzed to comprehensively evaluate the cooling capacity of the park, with a particular focus on exploring the application of the law of diminishing marginal utility of cooling efficiency (Farshid, 2019; Lin, 2021).
The study is divided into five steps. First, the cooling performance of different park types is compared to determine the most effective park type (Chander, 2009; HEALEY, 2005). Second, the spatial landscape characteristics of urban green spaces are analyzed from three dimensions: morphology (covering park area, perimeter, landscape shape index, and normalized difference vegetation index), structure (such as water surface area ratio and blue-green space proportion) (Chen, 2014), and distribution (including the aggregation degree of ecological patches and water bodies). Thirdly, the Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) model is used to quantify the contribution of parks to reduce the land surface temperature under the combined influence of multiple environmental elements (Han, 2022). Fourthly, the marginal effect threshold of park characteristics on cooling is measured, and the nonlinear relationship between these factors and cooling benefits is elucidated (Friedmann, 2004; Zhang, 2024). Finally, the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model is used to cluster the parks based on their cooling performance.
The results are quite enlightening. (1) In summer, despite the significant urban heat island effect, urban parks still play a significant role in cooling. From a spatial perspective, the cooling effect gradually weakens from the suburban green belt to the city center. (2) The key determinants of the cooling effect include park area, distance to the riverbank, and the proportion of blue-green space within the park. (3) Notably, green infrastructure exhibits threshold effects, and specific marginal values are determined for park area, normalized difference vegetation index, water surface area ratio, distance to the riverbank, and ecological patch aggregation degree. (4) These 120 parks are divided into five different categories based on their cooling-dominated factors.
This research not only enriches the theoretical understanding of the cooling role of urban green spaces but also provides practical insights for optimizing the planning, layout, and design of green infrastructure, thereby contributing to strengthening urban climate regulation and promoting sustainable urban development.

Speaker: Lihua Chen (Tongji university)

14:20 Providing Strategies for Sustainable Cities by Comparing the Carbon Sink Benefits of Blue and Green Spaces: Evidence Based on Multiple Sources of Data

Cities are a major source of carbon emissions, and in a time of frequent extreme weather, how to realize sustainable urban development through emission reduction and sink enhancement has a bearing on the fate of mankind globally. Urban blue-green infrastructures have outstanding carbon sink benefits and potentials and are the baseline ecological carriers for carbon sequestration and sink enhancement in cities. However, with the rapid expansion of cities, the destruction of nature by cities has led to the phenomenon of the fracture and fragmentation of blue-green infrastructures, which in turn has led to a significant reduction in their carbon sink benefits. Relevant scholars have carried out in-depth research on this issue, but the current research, on the one hand, separates blue infrastructure and green infrastructure and discusses them separately, ignoring the comprehensive benefits of blue-green infrastructure. On the other hand, the measurement of the carbon sink efficiency of blue-green infrastructure is also limited by low data precision, fuzzy measurement boundaries, and complex influencing factors, which makes it impossible to accurately identify the carbon sink efficiency of the space. Therefore, exploring scientific, high-precision carbon sink measurement methods and integrating natural elements such as water bodies and green spaces in cities is an important direction for current research.

In this study, we take blue-green infrastructure as the research object and climate suitability as the target and discuss the overall carbon sink benefit and its influencing factors under the coupling of green space, vegetation, water systems, and soil in the city in a comprehensive way. Firstly, by combining macro satellite remote sensing data and micro field research data, the limitations brought by single data are compensated, and the scientificity and feasibility of the study are enhanced. Based on this, the spatial distribution map of carbon sink elements of blue and green infrastructures was constructed and visualized by ArcGIS. Secondly, the quantitative calculation of carbon stocks in green areas, water systems, and soils was carried out by carbon sink coefficients, and the carbon sink benefits of blue infrastructures and green infrastructures were discussed and reconciled with the score in a holistic perspective. Again, we constructed a linkage model between carbon sink benefits and blue and green infrastructure and further discussed what influences the carbon sink benefits of blue and green infrastructure. Finally, based on the above analysis, we propose optimization strategies for urban blue-green infrastructure for climate suitability objectives.

It is found that there are spatial differences in the distribution of carbon sinks of blue-green infrastructure in Nanjing's river-reading building area, and that the spatial aggregation of blue-green elements and the area of green space are the main factors affecting the carbon sink benefits. Further analysis shows that trees are the main vegetation type to enhance the carbon sink capacity. In addition, we propose optimization strategies for urban blue-green infrastructure from the levels of spatial pattern and blue-green elements and enhance the comprehensive benefits of carbon sinks by optimizing the plant communities in the space, widening the area of waterfront green space, and the reasonable ratio of blue-green space, with a view to improving the quality and efficiency of the comprehensive carbon sink benefits and ecological resilience of the city, so as to enhance the spatial climatic appropriateness and provide a solution path for the city to cope with global warming and promote the sustainability of the city. In this way, we can improve the climate suitability of the space, provide a solution path for the city to cope with global warming, and promote the sustainable development of the city.

Speaker: Ms zhihan ZHANG (Southeast University)

14:30 Landscape Assessment for Climate Adaptation: A Strategic Approach to the Nature Restoration Law

Landscape assessment tools are fundamental to the Environmental Assessment framework (EIA and SIA). They enable a comprehensive evaluation of aesthetic, cultural, and ecological dimensions during the planning and implementation of plans and projects (Geneletti, 2011). The recent adoption of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL), a crucial regulatory measure aimed at reversing ecosystem degradation and safeguarding biodiversity (EP, 2024), underscores the urgency of aligning landscape assessment tools with the contemporary challenge of climate change adaptation. According to the European Commission, over 80% of European habitats are in unfavorable conditions, and many species are at risk of extinction (EEA, 2021). The NRL aims to reverse this trend through specific and measurable restoration targets, emphasizing the integration of environmental protection, socio-economic development, and cultural heritage conservation.
In this evolving context, landscape assessment tools acquire a strategic role that extends beyond identifying potential environmental impacts. They foster resilience to climate change and support the sustainable management of natural resources (Harker et al., 2021). A critical analysis of current landscape assessment methodologies within Environmental Assessment procedures provides an opportunity to evaluate how these tools can contribute to achieving the multifaceted goals of the NRL while addressing legal, environmental, and social requirements. Traditional approaches, such as visual impact analysis, perceptual surveys, and geomorphological evaluations, have proven effective in delivering valuable insights (Simensen et al., 2018). However, these tools reveal notable limitations, particularly in addressing contemporary demands such as biodiversity conservation and the integration of climate resilience (Opdam et al., 2018). Advanced quantitative methods, such as GIS-based models and ecosystem service assessments, are increasingly advocated as potential solutions to these challenges. These methods offer robust frameworks for evaluating landscape impacts (Medeiros et al., 2021).
Climate change introduces profound challenges to landscapes. These challenges manifest in ecosystem alterations, impacts on cultural landmarks, and changes to visual aesthetics, while also undermining their adaptive capacity (IPCC, 2023). Integrating climate adaptation into landscape assessment methodologies is therefore essential to ensure that projects not only minimize environmental harm but actively enhance the adaptive potential of affected areas. In this context, the deployment of landscape quality indicators emerges as a cornerstone of effective decision-making within Environmental Assessment procedures (Shames & Scherr, 2019; Reed et al., 2020). These indicators, derived from ecological, cultural, and aesthetic criteria, provide critical metrics for evaluating landscape health and functionality. Key ecological indicators include habitat connectivity, species richness, and vegetation cover, which are vital for ecosystem assessment (Finotto, 2011; Cushman et al., 2019). Cultural indicators, such as historical site preservation, local knowledge integration, and community attachment to the landscape, provide insights into the socio-cultural significance of an area (Tengberg et al., 2012; Ridding et al., 2018). Similarly, aesthetic indicators, including visual coherence, scenic value, and landscape character, ensure that visual and perceptual aspects are integrated with ecological and cultural considerations (Ode et al., 2008; Fry et al., 2009). Combined, these indicators can form composite indices, offering a holistic perspective on landscape quality (Aad et al., 2024).
The proposal advocates for a multidimensional approach to landscape assessment that integrates ecological, cultural, and aesthetic dimensions through the development of an online platform. Aligning landscape assessment methodologies with the objectives of the NRL, therefore, represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen environmental governance and improve territorial planning. This transformative approach moves beyond conventional technical evaluations to embrace a broader socio-ecological perspective (Reed et al., 2020; Harker et al., 2021). By adapting environmental assessment tools to address current challenges and regulatory imperatives, landscape assessment can become a pivotal instrument for promoting sustainable development, enhancing climate resilience, and driving ecological restoration (Shames & Scherr, 2019; Medeiros et al., 2021).

Speaker: Dr Davide Vettore (University of Bergamo - Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences)

14:40 Forming to inform: the role of ecosystem services knowledge for climate adaptation planning

The growing recognition of the value of nature in addressing current environmental challenges calls for widespread consideration in spatial planning and decision-making processes. Of the many ecosystem services (ES) that nature can provide, some can directly influence the reduction of extreme events severity and, therefore, help adaptation to the impacts of climate change, particularly in urban contexts. However, it is precisely climate impacts in combination with human activity that are compromising the ability of ecosystems to provide these services.
This contribution describes research developed in support of the process of updating and revising the “Piano di Governo del Territorio (PGT)”, the planning tool of the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, taken as a case study. The administration’s objective is to make the tool more flexible and capable of adapting to changing territorial, environmental and social dynamics for eco-sustainable and resilient spatial planning. Concerning the context of the PGT, this research considers the multi-sectoral and multi-scalar aspects that characterise both the ES approach and the climate adaptation processes, then investigates the interdependence between these two themes to promote their integration in plans and policies. It assumes ecosystem services to be tools for assessing territorial performances through which to analyse the territory, as they can be both enabling factors in enhancing an adaptive reading and factors exposed to natural and anthropogenic threats. In this sense, building knowledge on ES can represent an opportunity to guide the inclusion of adaptation processes in planning tools and inform sustainable decisions.
First, the research identifies the main barriers to the implementation of ES in planning from a literature review. Second, it reflects on the ways to overcome these barriers by developing an integrated decision-support model, i.e., a practical context-specific toolkit that can, at the same time, make a theoretical contribution to the discipline of spatial planning. The focus is placed on a subset of ES that can foster adaptation, which in this research takes the name of Ecosystem Services for Climate Change Adaptation (ESCCA). The model consists of three main phases: (i) assessing the supply of ESCCA, (ii) defining the demand for ESCCA and identifying deficit areas, i.e., those areas where demand is not met by supply, and (iii) based on the latter, guiding the selection of appropriate nature-based solutions.
The aim is not to reach the best solution but to inform and train decision-makers to understand the importance of these two interconnected issues and their role in ordinary planning. Thus, the discussion will not focus on the methodology but more on the results obtained and the process of building a climate action and transition-oriented reasoning as an innovative guideline to adopt a new approach rather than one more tool. That makes it possible to promote forward-looking and cross-sectoral actions, not relegated to extraordinary planning, which appears outdated in light of the current planetary crisis. Finally, the research returns to the barriers found in the literature and, looking at Friuli Venezia Giulia’s PGT, proposes valuable observations and take-home messages from the case study and beyond.

Speaker: Dr Alessandra Longo (Iuav University of Venice)

14:00 → 15:30 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (B): Enhancing Institutional Capacities and Governance Systems

Convener: Xiaolin Lao (University College Dublin)

14:00 Adaptive Governance for Urban Heat Resilience in Xi’an’s Vulnerable Communities

Background:
Urban heat exacerbates pre-existing vulnerabilities in Xi’an’s vulnerable communities, characterized by ageing infrastructure, socio-economic inequality, and a concentration of rural-to-urban migrants. These communities frequently face resource shortages, limited awareness, and insufficient institutional support to mitigate heat-related challenges, underscoring the urgent need for equitable and effective adaptation solutions. Addressing these issues requires a shift from reactive responses to proactive governance frameworks that prioritize resilience and climate justice.
Research Gap and Objective:
While urban heat has been extensively studied globally, limited research explores how adaptive governance can address its impacts in resource-constrained, rapidly urbanizing cities like Xi'an. Existing literature often focuses on technical solutions, such as carbon reduction or heat mitigation technologies, without integrating governance perspectives or addressing the systemic barriers to adaptation. Moreover, research rarely examines these challenges at the grassroots level, where vulnerabilities are most pronounced. This study investigates the impacts of urban heat on Xi'an's vulnerable communities, identifies governance barriers to grassroots adaptation, and explores how adaptive governance principles can promote equitable and sustainable community resilience.
Methodology:
From October to December 2023, 31 semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders, including residents' committees, street offices, NGOs, professionals, academics, and government officials. Using purposive and snowball sampling, the interviews explored perceptions of urban heat, adaptation challenges, and opportunities for collaboration. Thematic analysis of the transcribed data was conducted using NVivo software.
Findings:
Urban heat intensifies vulnerabilities in Xi’an’s vulnerable communities due to governance inefficiencies, such as policy rigidity, understaffing, and limited local autonomy. Adaptive governance principles, which balance flexibility (loose coupling) with policy alignment (tight coupling), emerged as a promising framework for addressing these challenges. Collaborative community engagement initiatives, supported by capacity-building efforts and grassroots innovation, were identified as critical mechanisms for fostering societal engagement and enhancing resilience.
Conclusion:
This study advances the theoretical understanding of adaptive governance in urban heat adaptation and offers actionable policy recommendations for addressing heat risks in Xi’an’s vulnerable communities. By emphasizing equitable adaptation, stakeholder collaboration, and locally tailored initiatives, it aims to support the transition of a highly urbanized city like Xi’an toward a more resilient and sustainable urban future.

Speaker: Xiaolin Lao (University College Dublin)

14:10 Research on Cross-domain Eco-Spatial Synergistic Governance based on the Systems Ecology Paradigm

Harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature is the core objective of social development, and the need for collaborative governance of cross-domain ecological space is becoming more and more prominent. With the deepening of urbanisation, ecological space significantly crosses multi-level administrative boundaries, which involves the synergistic application of multiple governance subjects, complex governance arenas and diversified governance tools. In this study, the theoretical foundations of system ecology and cross-domain governance are firstly sorted out, and a collaborative governance framework is constructed, which emphasises the complexity and multi-dimensional interactions within the ecological space from the holistic and dynamic perspectives. Through the analysis of typical cases and the construction of theoretical models, we identify the core evolution laws in the governance process and reveal the characteristics of governance mechanisms at different stages. Secondly, based on system analysis, scenario modelling and empirical research, we identify and classify the key influencing factors of cross-domain eco-spatial collaborative governance, and use structural equation modelling, social network analysis and other methods to construct the role path model, revealing the role mechanisms and interrelationships of different factors in the governance. Finally, Wuyi Mountain National Park is selected as a typical ecological space in China as an empirical object to carry out multi-scale in-depth analysis and validation, to explore the practical possibilities of optimising the synergistic governance paths, and to put forward targeted policy recommendations.

Speakers: Siying Li (Tsinghua University), Zeyin Chen (Tongji University)

14:20 Mapping Norrbotten's green transition: A preliminary study to achieve the sustainable development goals

This study examines Norrbotten’s transition towards sustainability by analyzing and mapping regional indicators in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using GIS-based spatial storytelling, it visually represents the current state of prioritized SDGs in Norrbotten, Sweden. This story map integrates data-driven insights with region-specific indicators to provide an overview of the opportunities and challenges faced by Norrbotten and its municipalities in achieving SDGs. The visualization serves as a practical tool for policymakers, enabling informed and targeted decision-making. The study begins by defining the region and conducting a population analysis to examine both current demographics and future projections. A literature review, complemented by stakeholder workshops, was undertaken to conceptualize the green transition within the context of the Norrbotten region. Central to this green transition is the county’s carbon neutrality goal, which is explored through three future scenarios developed by Länsstyrelsen for carbon emissions. The study then examines greenhouse gas emissions across various sectors, encompassing the entire region and its 14 municipalities. To prioritize sustainability efforts, an online survey was distributed to urban planners across Norrbotten’s municipalities, gathering insights into their SDG priorities. Based on these responses, four key SDGs—SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities)—were identified for detailed mapping and analysis. These findings were synthesized into an interactive story map, offering a comprehensive visualization of Norrbotten’s progress toward sustainability. The platform was presented to stakeholders in the Norrbotten region to gather feedback and ensure its relevance to regional sustainability planning. The results demonstrate the feasibility of integrating global sustainability goals into regional contexts and highlight key areas for intervention to achieve the green transition.
Here is the link to the story map: https://arcg.is/1a491C2

Speaker: Ms Ava Soroudi (PhD student)

14:30 Bridging policy and practice: a dual approach to spatial planning for climate resilience in the Delta Po Area

In an era marked by an escalating planetary crisis, the need to rethink spatial planning as a transformative action becomes ever more pressing. Addressing the interconnected challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, and socio-spatial inequalities requires a paradigm shift that moves beyond conventional approaches, embracing adaptive frameworks capable of fostering resilience and sustainability. Cities and regions, as both epicenters of climate impacts and laboratories for innovative solutions, offer fertile ground for the development of new methodologies. This paper proposes the “+ Methodology”, an innovative framework designed to integrate vertical and horizontal dimensions of planning to create adaptive strategies and actionable solutions. The name "+ Methodology" reflects its conceptual foundation: the vertical axis represents the analysis of multi-level policy and institutional frameworks, while the horizontal axis encompasses the operational and thematic dimensions of territorial analysis and strategic planning. This dual structure facilitates a systemic understanding of territorial vulnerabilities, ensuring that local actions align seamlessly with broader strategic goals while remaining responsive to the specific needs of each context.
The vertical approach focuses on a comprehensive examination of multi-level policies and planning frameworks, tracing their evolution from international directives to regional and local implementations. It highlights how overarching initiatives, such as the European Green Deal, provide foundational guidance for territorial priorities, encompassing themes such as decarbonization, biodiversity restoration, sustainable mobility, and the promotion of circular economies. This dimension establishes a reference framework that not only prioritizes key objectives but also ensures coherence across scales, thus laying the groundwork for targeted territorial analyses.
In parallel, the horizontal approach operationalizes the insights derived from the vertical dimension through a structured methodology comprising three key phases: analysis, diagnosis, and visioning. The process begins with an in-depth examination of the territorial context, which includes a detailed assessment of climate risks and local vulnerabilities. Building upon this diagnostic phase, a shared vision of a sustainable and resilient future is articulated, capturing the aspirations of the territory under consideration. This vision is subsequently translated into macro-objectives and actionable goals, guiding the formulation of tailored strategies designed to address specific challenges while enhancing overall territorial resilience. The horizontal approach thus ensures that solutions are not only practical and implementable but also deeply rooted in the unique characteristics of the territory.
The proposed methodology was applied to the Delta del Po, a fragile Mediterranean delta system characterized by its significant ecological value and socio-economic complexity. This region faces numerous climate-related challenges, including sea-level rise, saline intrusion, coastal erosion, and biodiversity loss. By integrating vertical policy priorities with horizontal territorial insights, the study facilitated the development of adaptive strategies to address immediate risks while fostering long-term resilience. Additionally, the case study demonstrates how locally derived solutions can inform and refine higher-level planning frameworks, creating a feedback loop that strengthens governance across multiple scales.
This research underscores the transformative potential of the proposed methodology in addressing climate change through spatial planning. By uniting policy analysis with operational planning, it provides a replicable framework capable of guiding vulnerable territories toward sustainability and resilience. The dual focus on strategic coherence and contextual sensitivity ensures that the approach is both adaptable and scalable, making it applicable to a wide array of complex territorial settings.

Speaker: Prof. Filippo Magni (Università IUAV di Venezia)

14:40 Functional Adaptation Areas: Rethinking functional areas for climate adaptation governance.

It is increasingly understood that the impacts of climate change transcend traditional administrative boundaries, necessitating innovative, cross-boundary policy actions (Leck and Simon, 2013). Emerged in the 1990s as a way to reinterpret the evolving interplay between cities and their surrounding regions, the concept of 'functional areas' may be useful in this concern, indicating a shift in spatial governance and planning dynamics towards models pivoted around rigid, matryoshka-style administrative units towards more flexible, place-based approaches aimed at meeting actual territorial needs (Barca, 2009; Cotella, 2023). More in detail, the functional area aims at tailoring policy actions on the ongoing political, social, economic, cultural, and geographical interdependencies, on the one hand favouring more place-based and context-dependent actions (i.e. the "third level of intervention" outlined in the New Leipzig Charter (European Commission, 2020)), on the other hand, however, raising issues in relation to the legitimacy and accountability of this 'new territorialism' (Swyngedow, 2005; Faludi, 2018).
Developing from the theoretical roots of city-regionalism, this study revisits the foundational concepts of 'functional area', to explore its pertinence and added value to climate adaptation governance. Although the main objective of city-regionalism has emerged as a response to the increasing complexity of urban systems (Davoudi, 2008), early proponents anticipated key elements of the functional area concept. Geddes (1915) recognised the limitations of traditional municipal boundaries in addressing the interconnected social, economic, and environmental dynamics of city regions. He advocated for regional cooperation, integrated planning, and unified governance to effectively manage shared resources and overlapping challenges. Similarly, McKenzie (1933) emphasised that a city is not merely an aggregation of people or buildings but an organised system of activities and functions operating as an economic and social organism. He argued for viewing cities and their surrounding regions through a functional lens, highlighting the evolving relationships between institutions and services.
While these frameworks have proven effective for urban and regional planning, their focus on economic metrics has limited their capacity to address broader sustainability goals, particularly in climate adaptation. This study bridges this gap by examining the intersections between the functional area approach and climate adaptation governance. It introduces the "Functional Adaptation Areas" (FAAs), a territorial framework designed to tackle climate adaptation challenges. Unlike traditional functional areas, FAAs prioritise the spatial realities of climate risks and the adaptive capacities of territories requiring tailored governance models. In order to support this conceptual opening, the contribution presents the preliminary findings of a comparative analysis of 'functional areas' definitions based on an extensive literature review. The analysis aims to analyse the 'functional area' conceptual framework and the relationships that characterise them to determine a set of potential criteria and approaches for mapping FAAs.

Speaker: Dr Martina Caputo (Politecnico di torino)

14:50 Party politics and local administrative capacity in climate governance: a comparative study of the heat transition in German cities.

Motivation and research question
Cities contribute 70% of total greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2022), with the heat sector as a major, hard-to-decarbonize contributor. Solutions such as transitioning to renewable energy, electrification, and improving building efficiency require coordinated local action involving multiple stakeholders and varying infrastructure needs.

To guide the decarbonization of the heat sector, municipalities must develop heat plans that identify areas with potential heat sources. Germany's Heat Planning Act mandates these plans but, due to the federal government’s inability to directly delegate tasks to municipalities, relies on the Länder for implementation while offering financial support. Progress varies widely across cities—some have finalized their heat plans, while others are yet to begin. This raises critical questions about the factors and challenges shaping the process. This study seeks to answer: Why does progress in heat plan development vary across cities?

Theory
To address this question, we draw on theories of local climate policy implementation, urban governance, and multi-level climate governance. Existing research highlights barriers to stringent climate policy, including private sector influence (Wansleben & Neumann, 2023), political dynamics (Wurster & Hagemann, 2018), and resource constraints (Eckersley et al., 2023).

The first factor we examine is the understudied role of politics (Hughes, 2017; Ryan, 2015), particularly the influence of mayors, city councils, and political parties at both local and state levels. Given the Green Party’s growing presence in government, we anticipate that cities with strong Green Party representation will prioritize heat planning. Thus, we hypothesize that a strong Green Party influence at local and state levels positively affects heat plan progress.

The second factor is the constrained capacity of municipal administrations, which can hinder progress in implementing heat planning (Fernández-I-Marín et al., 2023; Kern, 2019). Complex climate policies introduce coordination-heavy tasks with overlapping responsibilities and limited resources (Christensen et al., 2019). The heat sector’s intricacies demand localized solutions, exacerbating resource strain, which likely varies by capacity (Herreras Martínez et al., 2022). Therefore, our second hypothesis is that higher administrative capacity, including financial resources and staffing, improves heat planning.

Data and methods
To explore our research question, we compile a dataset with information on the progress of heat planning, governing parties, administrative capacity, and ownership of energy infrastructures of all German cities with populations over 100,000. According to federal law, these cities must finalize their plans by June 30, 2026—two years before smaller municipalities, making them more likely to show progress.

The dataset informs the selection of four cities for in-depth case studies, chosen for their high variation in administrative capacity, political leadership, and progress in heat planning. These case studies enable us to evaluate the relative impact of political and administrative factors alongside other indicators. Using process tracing, we investigate the mechanisms driving differences in policy outcomes and effectiveness. Data is collected through semi-structured expert interviews (ten per city) scheduled from January to March, as well as desk research.

Contribution
This study contributes to the limited literature on urban heat transition governance by examining the interplay of political dynamics and administrative capacity in climate policy implementation. It provides valuable insights into the importance of these factors within the framework of multi-level climate governance.

Speaker: Ms Julia Sulerz (Hertie School)

15:00 Sustainability Challenges and Solution Pathways: A Meta-Perspective on Transdisciplinary Urban Research in SEA and China

Mounting evidence of climate-related impacts—such as intensifying heatwaves, flooding, and resource shortages—makes urban adaptation an urgent priority. Yet effectively addressing these interlinked environmental and social challenges requires innovative forms of knowledge production and decision-making. Central to such efforts is the active engagement of non-academic stakeholders, who bring practical insights, negotiate diverse values, and share ownership of both problems and solutions. Transdisciplinary and participatory approaches are increasingly recognized for advancing real-world mitigation and adaptation sustainability and climate measures that can lead to transformative outcomes. Ultimately, transdisciplinary research in sustainability seeks to overcome knowledge fragmentation, providing holistic approaches to complex social-ecological issues. By bringing together individuals with diverse backgrounds and interests, it fosters meaningful collaboration and drives the innovation needed to tackle urgent challenges.
From 2020 to 2025, we conducted a meta-analysis of ten transdisciplinary research projects under the “Sustainable Development of Urban Regions” (SURE) program, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Implemented in Germany, Southeast Asia, and China, these projects offered unique opportunities to analyze diverse transdisciplinary practices aimed at climate-resilient urban development within cross-cultural settings. Projects thematic foci ranging from nature-based solutions and disaster risk management to urban-rural planning, sustainable behavior, and resource efficiency. Our main objectives were (1) to identify recurring problem patterns, solution pathways and map innovative tools linked to climate adaptation and localized Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and (2) map guiding knowledge for practitioners, policymakers and funding agencies. In this paper, we focus on the first objective, while the second provides the future direction of this research.
Drawing on transformation-oriented, transdisciplinary literature, we propose chose a framework comprising five foundational elements—broad stakeholder composition, a focus on societally relevant climate challenges, mutual learning processes, solution-oriented knowledge production, and iterative research design. We further address cross-cutting issues such as epistemological diversity, communication barriers, cultural awareness, inclusiveness, and power relations. Adopting a “research on research” perspective allowed us to critically analyze how these studies were conceptualized, implemented, and interpreted, yielding insights not only on methodological gaps, innovative approaches but also on effective strategies and solution pathway for sustainable development and mitigating climate risks.
Key findings indicate that, even amid diverse thematic foci and in the face of restrictive, top-down governance structures, transdisciplinary methods of co-creation, collaboration, and the careful balancing of power dynamics can foster meaningful dialogue and enable practical solutions, tools, and actionable knowledge. While many of the examined projects have established capacity-building measures, introduced innovative tools, and nurtured collaborative networks, the full extent of stakeholder empowerment, knowledge transfer, and immediate impacts will only become evident during the implementation phase (2025–2028).
Nonetheless, our cross-case analysis shows both commonalities and divergences in local specific socio-economic and environmental challenge and solution pathways, offering critical lessons for balancing diverse perspectives without sacrificing academic rigor. Ultimately, we distill these findings into a practical guide “knowledge bank”, highlighting patterns, strategies, and relevant stakeholder networks that can help align urban planning with climate adaptation goals.
By pinpointing critical challenges, outlining concrete solution pathways, and demonstrating the power of transdisciplinary collaboration, this study strengthens the capacity of multi-sectoral and -cultural initiatives to foster equitable, sustainable urban resilience. It also contributes to the broader discourse on adaptive planning, bridging the gap between research insights and practical, on-the-ground action.

Speaker: Ms Ágota Barabás (HafenCity University)

14:00 → 15:30 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (A): Culture, Heritage, and Lived Practices 2

Conveners: Anita Martinelli (Politecnico di Milano), Evangelia Athanasiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

14:00 Measuring Cultural Participation: A Comprehensive Study in Kayseri

This research delves into the current dynamics of participatory approaches within the arts and culture scene of Kayseri, a city renowned for its profound historical and cultural heritage yet plagued by notably low levels of cultural engagement. This study addresses the pivotal gap in existing research by exploring the factors that inhibit cultural participation and devising actionable solutions to ameliorate these issues.
Despite its rich cultural assets, Kayseri's potential for cultural engagement remains largely untapped, as evidenced by low attendance rates at cultural events. Literature suggests that such phenomena are not unique to Kayseri but are common in regions where traditional barriers—social, economic, and physical—persist in the cultural sector (Bourdieu, 1984; DiMaggio & Useem, 1978). The necessity to transform these cultural landscapes into more accessible and inclusive environments is imperative not only for cultural preservation but also for the socio-economic development of the area (UNESCO, 2012).
This study employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating both qualitative and quantitative research to offer a holistic view of the cultural participation landscape in Kayseri. Surveys will quantify the extent of participation and profile the demographic characteristics of participants. Focus groups and in-depth interviews will explore deeper insights into the personal experiences, preferences, and perceived barriers faced by cultural attendees. This approach is supported by the analysis of existing data sources to validate and enrich primary data (Plano Clark, 2011). Initial results highlight significant socio-economic barriers such as affordability and availability of cultural offerings, physical barriers including inadequate access for disabled individuals, and cultural barriers such as lack of awareness or perceived relevance. These findings are in line with Stevenson's (2017) discussion on cultural capital and its impact on cultural participation.
Research on cultural participation often highlights the disparities in cultural access that stem from socio-economic status, educational attainment, and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984; DiMaggio, 1982). Furthermore, recent studies emphasize the need for strategic interventions that cater specifically to diverse populations to foster inclusive cultural environments (Stevenson, 2017; Falk & Katz-Gerro, 2016). These perspectives inform the development of our targeted strategies. The study aims to develop targeted strategies to increase cultural attendance and inclusivity. These strategies will be crafted to address specific barriers identified through our research, and their implementation will be closely monitored and adjusted based on ongoing evaluations. The outcomes are expected to contribute to the refinement of cultural policies and practices, ensuring they are effectively tailored to meet the needs of diverse community groups.
By identifying and tackling the barriers to cultural participation, this study not only contributes to the academic discourse on participatory culture but also enhances the societal welfare and economic fabric of Kayseri. The strategies developed will provide a framework for other cities with similar cultural landscapes, promoting wider applicability and significance.
This study is poised to offer significant insights into the mechanisms of cultural participation and the development of effective interventions. By addressing both the empirical and theoretical dimensions of cultural barriers, it will provide valuable guidelines for policymakers, cultural managers, and planners aiming to revitalize cultural landscapes in urban settings.

Speakers: Dr Özlem Tepeli Türel (Erciyes University), Dr Ahmet Türel

14:10 Integrating Historic Urban Landscapes into Urban Regulations: Evaluating the contribution of Switzerland's Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS)

The paradigms of built cultural heritage have undergone significant transformations over the past two decades. A critical element of this shift is the valorisation of urban landscapes as bearers of unique cultural value rather than mere collections of individual assets. This perspective inspired the development of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach. Formulated by UNESCO in 2011, the HUL approach advocates leveraging the cultural values of urban landscapes as contributors to high-quality urban development. Although the HUL approach encompasses considerations beyond urban morphology, it warns that uncontrolled development (e.g., excessive urban densification) may erode the sense of place and undermine the identity of communities.
Balancing development and preservation in HULs often creates tensions among divergent economic, political, and social interests. These conflicts are frequently mentioned in specialised academic literature, particularly within cultural heritage. However, the interplay between HUL values and urban regulations governing changes in urban morphology remains underexplored in research. A significant knowledge gap persists regarding what characteristics of the HUL challenge their incorporation into urban regulations.
This study narrows the broad development-versus-preservation conflict, focusing on a specific aspect of urban form—density—to analyse the contribution of HULs to planned urban development. It examines Switzerland’s Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS), a nationwide inventory of culturally significant landscapes. ISOS aims to support high-quality and sustainable urban densification by identifying unique local landscape characteristics of cultural value and providing recommendations towards their preservation and perpetuation. Cantons and municipalities are legally required to consider ISOS when formulating their urban plans, thus promoting incorporating HUL values into the form and function regulations. The scope of ISOS and its role in planning make it an adequate case study for better understanding the connections between HULs values and urban regulations.
While the ISOS must, by law, inform binding regulations, its effectiveness can be compromised by conflicts and negotiations among stakeholders—such as governments, property owners, and communities—arising from competing interests. As a result, the extent to which ISOS recommendations are reflected in binding regulations remains uncertain. This study seeks to identify the most frequent recommendations issued by ISOS and assess the extent to which binding regulations align with them, namely on density-related aspects such as building volume and height.
Selected settlements were analysed to extract explicit recommendations from their ISOS dossiers, which were then compared with corresponding regulations outlined in urban planning documents. This comparison facilitated categorising regulations as either enablers or barriers to the transference of ISOS recommendations as binding rules. For instance, if ISOS recommends maintaining the existing built volume while regulations allow for its increase, this would represent a barrier to the ISOS recommendation. These evaluations were synthesized into a compliance indicator, offering a measurable framework to assess how effectively ISOS values are translated into enforceable rules.
The analysis highlights which cultural heritage considerations are more effectively integrated into urban planning regulations. Identifying the preservation measures that stakeholders are more reluctant to adopt also sheds light on the challenges of integrating the HUL approach into binding urban planning regulations. Although this study focuses on the Swiss inventory and planning system, its findings have broader relevance, as the HUL approach advocates the creation of similar inventories worldwide. This methodology has proven effective for evaluating the contribution of HULs to urban development and opens avenues for studying other aspects of urban form and function.

Speaker: Dr Rafael Ramirez Eudave (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL)

14:20 Exploring Technology Use of Households in the Istanbul Historic Peninsula: Towards an Information Society

National development strategies in Türkiye and the future vision of the city of Istanbul strive to bring technological development to the planning agenda. Even though literature support that 'technological development is the determinant of economic growth' (Romer, 1990), vulnerability of households to this development is much larger, and they are rapidly forced to dematerialize and demobilize with smart technologies (Mitchell, 1999), especially ever after the pandemic (Dimopoulos, 2021). Besides, the most important obstacles, in the transition to the information society, is retrofitting the historical city centres with smart technologies and improving welfare of households, together (Belli and Koramaz, 2020).

This research examines technology use and access based on household survey data from 2019 in Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula, the city’s historical centre (Koramaz, et. al, 2019). By comparing socio-economic status and basic demographics with technology-related findings, the paper explores the ability of the household profile to be informed about the management of the historical city centre. This analysis also contributes to discussions on revitalizing city centres over promoting residents’ transition into the information society. Additionally, the paper addresses digital divide-related policies, which refer to the growing gap between groups that can access information and communication technologies and those who cannot. The survey findings also shed light on the extent to which households, varying in socio-economic status and demographic profiles, experienced compulsory digitalization in the four years preceding the pandemic.

The initial finding addresses that access to technology decrease significantly in households with low income. In addition, technology use also decrease in the households consisting only of individuals over the age of 65, as one of the most vulnerable groups in the transition to the information society. The nature of residential segregation in terms of technological development will also reveal the variances in the ability of being informed from communication channels and local online sources related to municipal services in the case.

The paper concludes by discussing smart technologies currently available as heritage site management services in Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula, along with strategies to address associated vulnerabilities, depicted with digital divide. With its traditional building stock and organic urban pattern, the Istanbul Historic Peninsula faces challenges in retrofitting smart technologies. Notably, enthusiasm for information and communication technologies related to smart mobility and digital interfaces in cultural infrastructure should align with the demand for smart and renewable energy sources, as well as the rights of smart citizenship and active participation in urban governance.

Speaker: Prof. Turgay Kerem Koramaz (Istanbul Technical University)

14:30 Spatial Identity and Urban Form: Nation-wide Research for Slovenia

This research investigates the relationship between spatial identity and urban form within the context of Slovenian settlements. Focusing on the dynamic interplay between historical and contemporary urban development, the study aims to understand how evolving morphological and architectural patterns and design contribute to, and are influenced by, the nation's unique cultural identity on one side and contemporary spatial processes on the other hand. While traditional architecture has long been a cornerstone of Slovenian identity, this research expands the scope to encompass the multifaceted influences of post-World War II urbanization, globalization and contemporary socio-economic transformations on the built environment.

To achieve this, the research employs a multi-faceted methodological approach that combines rigorous quantitative analysis with qualitative insights. A key component is the "Mappi Method," a novel approach that is based on the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze spatial patterns in detail. By examining a comprehensive dataset of Slovenian settlements, ranging from small villages to large cities, the research focuses on analyzing key morphological characteristics, including building types, densities, street patterns, land use distribution and green space networks. This in-depth analysis, complemented by in-situ observations and historical document analysis, aims to identify distinctive spatial signatures that characterize Slovenian settlements and contribute to a strong sense of place.

Beyond mere description, the research delves into the underlying socio-economic, cultural and historical processes that have shaped the evolution of Slovenian urban form. It investigates the interplay between local traditions, external influences and the impact of key historical events on architectural styles, urban planning decisions, and the overall character of settlements. By examining how these factors have interacted with the physical landscape and existing built environment, the research seeks to understand the complex forces that have shaped the distinctive character of Slovenian settlements.

The findings of the research will have significant implications for urban planning, architectural design and heritage conservation in Slovenia. By identifying the essential elements of Slovenian spatial identity, the research will provide valuable insights for policymakers, planners and architects in developing strategies for future urban development that respect local identity, preserve cultural heritage and enhance the quality of life for residents. These findings will inform the development of evidence-based guidelines for sustainable urban development, ensuring that contemporary needs are met while simultaneously safeguarding and enhancing spatial identity. The research findings aim to be integrated into the National Spatial Order as a national-level guidance for spatial planning, specifically focusing on the preservation and enhancement of spatial identity through urban and architectural design.

Furthermore, this research has the potential to contribute significantly to international scholarship on urban morphology and cultural identity. By applying the "Mappi Method" and the research framework developed in this study to other cultural contexts, it advances the understanding of how spatial patterns shape cultural identity and inform sustainable urban development globally. It seeks to contribute to a more informed understanding of the complex relationship between urban form, culture and identity.

Speaker: Dr Matej Niksic (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia)

14:40 Reviving Living Heritage in Antakya: Pathways Towards Community-Led Planning

The proposed paper examines the concept of "living heritage" in the context of post-disaster planning and reconstruction, focusing on practice-based research conducted by the authors in collaboration with Architecture Sans Frontières UK (Architecture Without Borders) and local partners in the area of Antakya, Türkiye, following the devastating earthquakes that struck the region in February 2023.
Nearly two years have passed since these catastrophic events, which resulted in the destruction of approximately 85% of Antakya and displaced a significant portion of its population. To date, much of the city remains a construction site, with many residents still living in temporary shelters.
The historical background of Antakya complicates the rebuilding efforts, as the region has a long history of state-led cultural erasure and dispossession. Consequently, both immediate relief operations and long-term reconstruction have become highly politicised, with residents fearing that government-led initiatives will reshape the city’s socio-spatial structure and demographic balance without adequate local input. Despite superficial calls for local involvement, meaningful engagement with residents remains limited, underscoring the need for concrete grassroots planning initiatives that articulate a shared vision for Antakya's future.
In response to the shortcomings of government plans and the growing social opposition advocating for resident-driven development, our coalition—comprising Architecture for All and Hatay Earthquake Solidarity—aims to promote community-led approaches in the planning, design, and implementation of reconstruction efforts. Since the summer of 2023, we have actively engaged various local stakeholders in this complex environment, aiming to co-produce more inclusive and equitable pathways for the city’s reconstruction.
A central element of our strategy has been to focus on the concept of "living heritage" as a framework for fostering dialogue and advocating for meaningful community involvement in rebuilding homes and neighbourhoods. This approach encourages the articulation of shared visions for the city of the future, grounded in people’s values and lived experiences.
This paper will critically review our experiences in implementing participatory planning within this context, highlighting the challenges and opportunities we have encountered in building coalitions, forming partnerships, and identifying effective advocacy channels centred around the notion of “living heritage.”

Speakers: Dr Beatrice De Carli (University of Sheffield), Dr Francesco Pasta (Politecnico di Milano)

14:50 The Spatial Dynamics of Cafés as Everyday Urban Spaces: Exploring Socialscapes through Streetscapes

In recent years, cafes located on side streets or in the peripheries of major commercial centers have emerged as a significant trend. These establishments overcome less favorable locational conditions by offering unique and differentiated experiences that set them apart from traditional retail spaces. Moreover, in urban contexts, cafes have evolved beyond their functional role as providers of food and beverages, becoming vital spaces for everyday social interaction and cultural exchange. The spatial evolution of cafe locations reflects a notable shift in consumer preferences, driven by the rise of social media and the commodification of urban spaces, from traditional accessibility-driven locational strategies to a greater emphasis on streetscape quality. This shift highlights the growing significance of cafes as third places, where evolving locational dynamics enhance their role in fostering social interaction, cultural exchange, and a sense of community.

Furthermore, pedestrians' perceptions of place derive from the interaction between the physical environment of the streetscape and individual establishments. Cafes, as quintessential spaces of spatial consumption, make it essential to understand how streetscape qualities influence location decisions. However, most studies focus on traditional locational factors such as accessibility and agglomeration effects. How do visual and perceptual streetscape characteristics shape location patterns, and what do these patterns reveal about the evolving relationship between urban commercial activity and cultural landscapes?

To address these questions, this study examines Hongdae area, Korea—a central business district known for its vibrant culture, artistic creativity—to evaluate the limitations of traditional location theories in the location of cafes and to explore their broader role in urban spaces. To this end, semantic segmentation techniques and a deep learning model based on the Place Pulse 2.0 dataset are used to categorize streetscape characteristics into visual attributes (e.g., greenness, openness) and perceptual qualities (e.g., liveliness, aesthetics).

The findings reveal a significant departure from traditional commercial location theories that prioritize foot traffic and centrality. Consumers increasingly prefer locations that provide aesthetic value, a sense of place, and opportunities for social interaction. The analysis showed that in the initial phase, cafes were primarily located in high-traffic commercial areas near Hongik University, reflecting conventional locational factors. In the second phase, characterized by the expansion of commercial activities, cafes gradually shifted towards semi-peripheral areas such as Sangsu-dong, offering pedestrian-friendly environments with broader sidewalks and reduced enclosure. By the third phase, cafes were increasingly located in residential neighborhoods like Yeonnam-dong and Mangwon-dong, integrating into narrow alleys with visually appealing streetscapes. These areas reflect a growing consumer preference for unique, experiential spaces over purely functional convenience. This trend illustrates the increasing importance of visual and experiential urban qualities in shaping consumer behavior—a shift further amplified by social media’s emphasis on visually appealing and shareable spaces.

From an urban planning perspective, these findings highlight the dynamic and interconnected processes through which sense of place, urban culture, and living heritage evolve. Cafes contribute to these processes by shaping and responding to the cultural identity and social vitality of urban spaces. This research suggests a planning framework that considers streetscapes not as static elements but as active components in fostering a sense of place and cultural continuity. These insights emphasize that urban planning can create environments that integrate aesthetic, social, and cultural dimensions, enhancing their relevance and resilience in a rapidly changing urban context.

Speaker: Ms Gyuna Hwang (Hanyang University)

AESOP 2025_Oral Presentation_Gyuna Hwang.pdf

AESOP 2025_Oral Presentation_Gyuna Hwang.pptx

14:00 → 15:30 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (B): Cultures, Heritage, and Transformations 2

Conveners: Pedro Guimarães (Lisbon University), Dr Zeynep Gunay (Istanbul Technical University)

14:00 Affective Discourses Against Heritage

In Finland, the building stock is relatively young: the majority of the buildings is built during the second half of the 1900s. Yet, statistics show high demolition rates in Finland, in particular in growing cities, where demolishing has boomed in parallel with real estate business. Demolition does not only erase potential layers of heritage, it also threatens officially protected historic buildings and areas. Detailed knowledge about the motives and reasoning behind demolitions has been scarce. (Huuhka & Lahdensivu, 2016)
In my doctoral dissertation, published in January 2025, I studied decision making and urban planning processes in a real estate development project, Tikkurila Church Quarter, where a protected church was dismantled and replaced by a new church and housing blocks. The aim was to explore the discursive struggles for and against heritage in a development project typical for 2010s’ Finland. In my analysis, I applied critical discourse analysis and Sara Ahmed’s concept of affect (Ahmed, 2004). The data consisted of minutes of decisions made, planning documents, opinions and media texts concerning Tikkurila Church Quarter.
In the complicated case, demolition was justified by discourses that made use of affective language. Negative emotions like fear and disgust were aroused by exaggerating the risks of renovation: pointing out ”mold”, ”poisonous” materials and ”polluted” structures, that possibly could not be removed, and mystifying the ”indoor air problem” that would keep spreading the contaminated air. Affects mobilised decision-making more efficiently than facts. The narrative of the pro-demolition discourse suggested, that buildings inevitably deteriorate in the course of time. It ignored that the owner, who wanted to dismantle the building in hope for economic profit, had not maintained it appropriately. (Julin, 2025).
According to Ahmed, affects are sticky; they unite communities of fear and adhere from similar objects to another. In Finland, old buildings that are in need of repair are in common language often called ”mold houses”. In USA, demolition of economically unwanted buildings and areas can be justified by ”blight” (Abramson, 2016; Nelson, 2014). Interestingly, the concept of blight refers similarly to mold and contamination. In this paper, I explore the connections between these affective discourses appearing in different countries.

Speaker: Mrs Paula Julin (University of Jyvaskyla)

14:10 Social Entrepreneurs as Innovators in Sustainable Heritage-Led Urban Regeneration

The intersection of cultural heritage and urban regeneration provides fertile ground for reimagining the sustainable future of cities. Within this dynamic field, social entrepreneurs have emerged as pivotal agents of change, driving innovative and community-centered approaches to revitalizing heritage assets (Scaffidi, Micelli, Nash; 2024).
While the state of the art in social entrepreneurship and its effect on urban regeneration is well-documented (Sacco & Segre, 2009; Mangialardo & Micelli, 2016; Micelli & Scaffidi, 2022; Micelli, Ostanel, Lazzarini, 2023), there remains a gap in the literature regarding the specific role of the social entrepreneur in sustainable heritage-led urban regeneration. This study – published in Cities Journal (Scaffidi, Micelli, Nash; 2024) - aims to test the hypothesis that social entrepreneurs play a crucial role in this context.
This research examines 17 European case studies where social enterprises transformed neglected industrial heritage into thriving community assets, contributing to cultural vibrancy, social inclusivity, and environmental sustainability. It employs qualitative research methodologies, including unstructured interviews, exploratory and dialogic surveys, data analysis, and comparative analysis.
Through regeneration, creativity and community-driven models, social entrepreneurs effectively bridge the regeneration of lived heritage with the demands of contemporary urban life. Projects such as ExRotaprint in Berlin and Dolomiti Hub in Italy exemplify this synergy, transforming derelict spaces into cultural hubs that celebrate local narratives while promoting equitable urban futures.
The findings show key success factors, including the cultural sensitivity, innovative mindset, and resilience of social entrepreneurs, alongside the systemic challenges they face, such as restrictive policies and funding limitations.
Aligning with Track 6 of AESOP 2025, this abstract underscores the potential of heritage-led regeneration to sustain and enhance urban cultures. It invites discussion on how social entrepreneurship can serve as a mechanism to preserve urban identities, celebrate diversity, and foster sustainable futures. By linking theoretical insights with practical examples, this contribution provides actionable recommendations for practitioners, policymakers, and academics invested in the evolving dialogue of lived heritage and urban transformation.
y linking theoretical insights with practical examples, this contribution provides actionable recommendations for practitioners, policymakers, and academics invested in the evolving dialogue of lived heritage and urban transformation.

Speaker: Dr Federica Scaffidi (Leibniz University Hannover)

14:20 Participatory heritage planning in practice: Lessons from Balıkçıköy, Istanbul

Contemporary urban governance systems in heritage management face unprecedented complexity and challenges, particularly in reconciling participatory planning aspirations and realities with the need to balance the everyday life practices of local communities and formal planning processes. While UNESCO's 'living heritage' framework emphasizes the conservation of both tangible and intangible assets, translating the knowledge generated through communities' daily experiences and cultural practices into actionable planning decisions remains a significant challenge (Bandarin and van Oers, 2012). The gap between theoretical framework and practice has become increasingly evident as local communities, despite their vital role in cultural landscape conservation, encounter systemic barriers within formal planning processes. Thus, there is a clear need for more empirical studies to bridge the said gap.
The process of the Balıkçıköy Conservation Development Plan (CDP) in Maltepe, Istanbul, presents a critical case study for examining these challenges. Known for its historical fishing identity which gives the neighborhood its name, Balıkçıköy Conservation Area is an area that has substantially retained its traditional physical and social fabric, harmoniously blending registered historical buildings with residential and commercial activities. The plan claims to have a people-centered participatory discourse with an emphasis on the sustainability of its unique qualities. Therefore, the primary motivation behind its preparation and implementation is to mitigate adverse transformations in Balıkçıköy resulting from global heritage site pressures, including tourism pressures, gentrification and spatial commodification, which are further deepened by conditions such as economic constraints on local stakeholders, infrastructure modernization demands, and deteriorating historic building stock. This complex interplay of challenges and objectives provides a unique context for examining how participatory planning approaches can be reconciled with social justice and inclusivity goals in heritage management.
This study investigates heritage-focused community participation over the case of Balıkçıköy through three interconnected dimensions: the mechanisms for translating community consultation findings into technical planning decisions; the methodological approaches for bridging community heritage values with formal planning frameworks; and the representational adequacy of documented consultation outcomes. Building upon Arnstein's (1969) seminal critique of tokenistic participation and incorporating recent theoretical advances in Healey’s (2003) collaborative planning, the study develops a comprehensive framework for evaluating participatory effectiveness in heritage contexts.
The research methodology employs four stages. First, content analysis of participation reports and planning documents evaluates how community input is documented and framed. Second, semi-structured interviews with local community members examine their understanding of the site's value, daily interactions, and experiences with the engagement process of the Balıkçıköy CDP. Third, semi-structured interviews with planning professionals assess the challenges of integrating community feedback into formal planning decisions. Finally, findings are synthesized into an analytical framework, evaluating the effectiveness of participation in terms of representation, access, transparency, inclusiveness, and impact, while providing insights into both procedural and outcome-oriented aspects.
This study contributes to participatory heritage planning in several ways. It develops an adaptable framework for evaluating participatory effectiveness, informed by criteria such as inclusiveness and transparency, ensuring applicability across diverse contexts. It identifies mechanisms for translating community knowledge into actionable decisions, addressing challenges like misalignment between community values and technical planning frameworks. It also provides empirically grounded recommendations by comparing documented consultation outcomes with insights from community members and planning professionals. The study thus demonstrates that heritage is not a static condition but a dynamic process continuously redefined through communities' everyday life practices. The findings reveal discrepancies between participatory ideals and implementation, and the importance of adaptive governance models that align participatory goals with practical realities. By bridging these gaps, the study offers a comprehensive framework for improving participatory planning practices in heritage contexts, with actionable strategies for achieving equitable and sustainable planning, particularly in rapidly transforming urban environments.

Speakers: Mrs Busra Nur Gundogdu (Istanbul Technical University), Prof. Imge Akcakaya Waite (Istanbul Technical University)

14:30 Environmental imaginaries of resistance: the case of the waterfront of Thessaloniki

In the context of climate change and the prospect of rising sea level and floods, urban waterfronts are seen as increasingly vulnerable geographies between the urban fabric and the sea. At the same time, they are attractive terrains for investment that transform varied coastlines to new landscapes of leisure and high end residential developments. Such large scale projects of waterfront regeneration, typically engaging both private and public actors in new schemes of entrepreneurial urban governance, aim at boosting the city’s economy by promoting an attractive image to the world. Indeed, urban waterfronts having lost their productive industrial character, are often projected in planning terms either as dormant opportunities for cities’ overall image and their competitiveness in world economy or as vulnerable zones of ecological importance that need to be protected. A large amount of literature has presented urban waterfronts from both these often contradicting perspectives, foregrounding their environmental or the strategic role.
This paper discusses urban waterfronts as places of the everyday around which environmental movements are articulated. Moving beyond, dualistic approaches to waterfronts - natural / technical, formal /informal, global/local - the paper embraces the approach of urban political ecology, viewing the waterfront as socio-natural urban terrain, to unveil the variety of conceptualization of nature, of “ecological imaginaries” (Gandy, 2006) that are vested on it. It suggests that, beyond its global character as an eldorado of real estate in the context of large urban regeneration projects and its natural character as zones of protection of biodiversity and management of climate risks, urban waterfronts are sites of - formal and informal - heritage, public spaces of common access, lived places of the everyday. Such varied imaginaries, often overlooked by formal plans, are foregrounded by local movements that resist proposed plans and actively claim their right to the waterfront, as a common good and a socio-natural heritage.
Adopting this understanding of the waterfront as a terrain where dominant imaginaries of “ecological modernization” coexist and collide with varied, lived ecological imaginaries of the everyday, the paper then examines the case of the waterfront of the city of Thessaloniki. The waterfront of Thessaloniki has been the object of various urban plans and projects of different scales, initiated by different actors, during the last decade. The proliferation of projects is related to developments in planning policy and the management of public land that were introduced during the years of the financial crisis in Greece. The paper maps the projects that have been proposed and/or are already underway, identifies the actors’ involved and their representation of the waterfront, their “waterfront imaginaries”. Next to and in constant interaction with the formal actors, different movements that have resisted, and acted against, these developments are charted. Such resistance is not homogeneous or static in time. It originates from various actors, organized movements or ad hoc intitiatives, may be highly localized or city-wide. They may also be expressed as “nonmovements” (Bayat, 2010)) i.e. “ shared practices of large numbers of ordinary people whose fragmented but similar activities trigger much social change, ... rarely guided by an ideology or recognizable leaderships and organizations”. Although there is no homogeneity or stability, these nascent urban cultures of resistance articulated around the waterfront, unveil this prominent stretch of land as a space of cultural, social and environmental value produced in different scales and temporalities.

The case study is based on recent schemes proposed on the eastern, less developed, part of Thessaloniki’s waterfront as well as on interviews of people participating in local movements.

Speaker: Prof. Evangelia Athanasiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

14:40 Possible Uses of Urban Heritage for Social Cohesion

The field of heritage faces growing pressures to demonstrate its benefits or contributions as funding declines and the sector is required to conform to results-oriented systems. In this context, arguments suggesting that urban heritage fosters social cohesion gain prominence. However, these arguments often do not specify how urban heritage can enhance social cohesion, which is further complicated by the fact that the concept of social cohesion is versatile and can encompass multiple notions. The Ph.D. project overarching this paper uses discursive institutionalism as a theoretical basis and combines policy analysis methods and interviews with experts to examine how ideas linked to social cohesion are (re)produced in and around key documents for the nomination and management of World Heritage (WH) cities. My paper for the AESOP conference focuses on the results of the interviews with experts to identify possible uses of urban WH to promote social cohesion. It discusses how expert advisors and authors of guidelines from the WH system largely focus on participation and promoting shared responsibility for the care of the heritage sites; meanwhile, managers working on the nomination and management of the sites emphasize the need and ongoing efforts to preserve traditional economic activities and spaces that enable and support the continuity of social structures. The paper also discusses how mobilisations of heritage under the banner of social cohesion may work towards contrasting objectives, ranging from reinforcing established power structures to promoting social justice. Finally, the paper reflects on the role of documents and actors in the process of identifying and constructing the narratives that justify the Outstanding Universal Value of WH Cities, pointing out the decision-making role of expert advisors from the WH System.

Speaker: Mr Rafael Maximiliano Flores de Leon (Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg)

14:50 everyday heritage: an approach for value-driven transformation

This paper provides a framework for value-driven transformation in residential neighbourhoods of the period 1965-1990 in the Netherlands. Many of these neighbourhoods are facing both massive restructuring programmes due to planned large-scale technical upgrades as part of the regular maintenance cycle of buildings, infrastructure and public (green) spaces, and transformations as part of the policy of 'energy transition' and 'demographic transition'.

Although these neighbourhoods are not yet highly valued in public discourse, discussions are beginning within the heritage discourse about what should be considered 'valuable' about them. Is it the 'historic' architecture and landscape forms, or should the specific planning concept or the lifestyles and 'histories' of the inhabitants inform the transition policy? The generic and technological solutions recently projected by the government on these neighbourhoods do not take these questions into account, as they are - for the time being - just considered as 'run-down neighbourhoods'.

This paper aims to identify the different stakeholder values in order to arrive at a value-based transition policy. First, it analyses which attributes of these neighbourhoods are considered representative of this type of heritage from different stakeholder perspectives. Second, it constructs a conceptual framework to analyse what values are at stake when different conceptions of 'heritage' are pitted against each other. Third, the conceptual framework is 'tested' in different Dutch neighbourhoods through design research scenarios and stakeholder discussions. Finally, conclusions are drawn on how heritage elements could be reinterpreted and reworked in transition policies, taking into account different stakeholder inputs at different stages of the transformation process.

Speaker: Ms Like Bijlsma

14:00 → 15:30 T_07 INCLUSION (A): Migration, segregation and development I

Convener: Prof. Ela Ataç Kavurmacı (TED University)

14:00 Coexistence of Inclusion and Prejudice: The Formation of Social Capital and Integration of North Korean Defectors in South Korea

As of December 2023, 34,078 North Korean defectors had entered South Korea, with more than 1,000 arrivals annually until 2019. The South Korean government, under the "Act on the Protection and Settlement Support of North Korean Defectors," provides comprehensive settlement assistance, including education, employment support, medical care, and housing. However, approximately half of North Korean defectors who have lived in South Korea for over a year suffer from mild to severe depression, with loneliness identified as one of the main contributing factors.
This study examines the development of social capital among North Korean defectors and suggests strategies to improve their integration into South Korean society. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling, starting with one initial defector who referred others for the study. One-on-one in-depth interviews, lasting about one hour each, were conducted in person with 24 defectors. The research examines the role of bonding social capital (connections among defectors) and bridging social capital (interactions with South Koreans) in shaping their settlement experiences. Bonding social capital showed mixed results: while it provides practical support, such as advice and job information, it also involves challenges like fraud and conflicts within defector communities, leading some to avoid these networks. Bridging social capital is often established through education, workplaces, or religious activities. In the early stages of settlement in South Korea, North Korean defectors primarily formed bonding social capital with other defectors who arrived around the same time or lived in nearby areas. As they gradually adapted to society, they began to develop bridging social capital. Younger defectors in their 20s and 30s often interacted with South Koreans through universities or part-time jobs, while middle-aged defectors in their 40s and 50s typically built relationships with South Koreans in work environments. Religious institutions initially served as a platform for building relationships, but many defectors did not maintain these relationships over time. Due to fear of prejudice, many defectors adapt by trying to behave like native South Koreans. Younger defectors often adjust their accents and avoid disclosing their origins unless necessary, while middle-aged defectors are generally more open about their identities.
The findings emphasize the importance of balancing bonding and bridging social capital for successful integration. Many North Korean defectors who participated in the study initially relied on bonding social capital to gain emotional stability during the early stages of their settlement in South Korea. Over time, however, they reduced their reliance on these networks, maintaining only a few close relationships while preserving their sense of identity. Simultaneously, through their experiences in South Korean society, they gradually increased their focus on bridging social capital, aiming to assimilate and adopt behaviors more aligned with South Koreans.
Despite sharing the same ethnicity, South Koreans and North Korean defectors have followed vastly different economic and cultural paths due to the division of the Korean Peninsula, resulting in defectors experiencing both inclusion and prejudice within South Korean society. This background illustrates that existing theories, such as the 'salad bowl' or 'melting pot,' may not adequately address the unique characteristics of North Korean detectors. Effective support systems must address their specific needs, foster constructive relationships, and help build broader connections with South Korean society. Programs that encourage mutual understanding and reduce prejudice can play a critical role in achieving meaningful integration and improving the quality of life for defectors.

Speaker: Ms Yoon Young Kim (Seoul National University)

14:10 Transformation of Everyday Life Practices of Urban Migrants in Rural Gallipoli Peninsula

In response to growing planetary crises and the COVID-19 pandemic, urban-to-rural migration has emerged as a significant demographic shift, challenging traditional planning approaches and spatial justice considerations. This spatial mobility is particularly visible in Turkey's rural areas, where improved infrastructure, remote working possibilities, and changing lifestyle preferences have accelerated urban-to-rural migration. This study examines how urban migrants transform and adapt to rural life in the villages of Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, where the construction of the Çanakkale Bridge in 2022 has intensified urban-rural mobilities and triggered significant socio-spatial transformations.
The research employs Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis as a theoretical framework to investigate the integration processes and everyday life practices of urban migrants through an intersectional lens. The Gallipoli Peninsula provides a unique research context due to its historical significance and protected status, which has helped preserve its rural character despite increasing urbanization pressures. Analysis of land registry data from 2012-2022 reveals a sharp increase in rural property transactions following the bridge's construction announcement, indicating emerging patterns of rural gentrification and changing land-use dynamics.
The study utilized a qualitative research methodology, combining ethnographic fieldwork conducted during winter (January 2023) and summer (August 2023) periods to capture seasonal variations in rural life. Data collection included in-depth interviews with 16 urban migrants across nine villages, representing diverse migration types (retirement, lifestyle, return migration) and settlement patterns. Participant observation was conducted through extended stays in migrant households, allowing direct experience of daily rhythms and community interactions. Additionally, informal conversations with local residents and spatial analysis of changing rural landscapes provided contextual depth to understanding the transformation processes.
The findings reveal three key dimensions of transformation in migrants' everyday practices: temporal, actional, and communal rhythms. While urban migrants transition from clock-based urban temporality to nature-based rural rhythms and develop new forms of bodily engagement through agricultural activities, their integration experiences are significantly shaped by gender. Male migrants often achieve faster social integration through traditional spaces like coffee houses, while female migrants face more complex challenges in navigating rural social norms and establishing community connections.
The study identified emerging hybrid rural communities that demonstrate both opportunities for social innovation and risks of exclusion. Urban migrants' presence is transforming traditional rural spaces through new land-use patterns, alternative agricultural practices, and changing social dynamics. This transformation sometimes leads to tensions with local residents over resource access and community participation, particularly regarding traditional agricultural practices and land enclosure.
The research reveals early signs of rural gentrification in the region, including changing property values, emerging lifestyle-oriented businesses, and new forms of spatial segregation. These changes raise important questions about spatial justice and inclusive rural development, particularly regarding access to housing and agricultural land for local communities.
This study contributes to planning literature by offering insights into how demographic shifts reshape rural spaces and social relations, while highlighting the need for inclusive planning approaches that address both newcomers' integration needs and local communities' concerns. The findings suggest that successful rural transformation requires planning interventions that promote spatial justice while preserving rural character and fostering inclusive community development. The study also emphasizes the importance of gender-sensitive planning approaches in rural areas, particularly in addressing the different integration experiences of male and female migrants.

Speaker: Ms Rüya ERKAN-ÖCEK (Yıldız Technical University / Department of City and Regional Planning)

14:20 The Urban Factor in Creatives’ Migration Motivation: The case of High-Skilled Turkish Migrants to the Netherlands

Migration, as a search for the better, has to be considered as an important element of human survival process. More than ever, in an age of planetary crisis migration gained multiple meanings and importance. Resource depletion, wars and disasters, social and economic injustices, problems of security and quality of life can be mentioned as some of the major research areas.
As a reflection of several factors related to planetary crisis, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in the international mobility of highly skilled individuals from Turkiye to European countries, particularly the Netherlands. Although it is hard to mention a definite number related to this migration process, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the Turkish-Dutch community has increased to more than 170 thousand people between 1996 and 2022 and researches indicate that this increase is boosted with the recent migration process of creative individuals and their families. There exist very few researches conducted on this subject but it is generally assumed that political reasons, social and economic expectations together with individual and family preferences play crucial roles in this migration process.
This study has been conducted to consolidate some assumptions mentioned above, but more importantly, to reveal and discuss the “urban factor” shaping the locational preferences of highly skilled individuals that has decided to move from Turkiye to the Netherlands. Using a qualitative research methodology, the study analyses the mobility motivations and locational preferences of highly skilled Turkish migrants through a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured online surveys. By utilising social media and email groups of Turkish creatives living in different parts of the Netherlands, we have obtained 198 number of completed forms. Answers to 7 number of open ended and 53 number of Likert Scale questions have been analysed on the basis of two factors (non-spatial and spatial). Although non-spatial factors such as economic opportunities, political, social reasons play a crucial role in mobility decisions, the research focuses on the impact of spatial factors, including public facilities, infrastructure, transportation, spatial quality and cost of living. By contributing to ongoing debates on talent migration and urban competitiveness, this research aims to offer new insights into how cities can attract and retain highly skilled human capital and discuss what kind of new planning mechanisms have to be created for attracting, integrating and harmonising migrated populations.
Findings indicate that spatial factors play a decisive role in the mobility patterns of highly skilled individuals. According to participants’ responses, the primary factor influencing mobility decisions (much more significantly than economic, social, and personal reasons) is living conditions such as accessible transportation options, diversity in urban functions, spatial quality, variety of public facilities. Following living conditions, non-spatial factors (like economic, social, political and personal reasons) also attracts attention. Additionally, spatial factors were found to have almost the same level of influence on mobility decisions as non-spatial factors. Spatial factors were found to be nearly as important as economic, social, and personal reasons in return mobility decisions. This study highlights the need for cities to enhance their attractiveness through a holistic approach to urban design and policy-making. Prioritizing spatial policies that improve quality of life is essential for creating competitive, inclusive, and livable cities.
We believe that our research will enrich the discussions on planetary crisis and transformative potential of planning by bringing a very up-to-date discussion on the movement of creative class from Türkiye to the Netherlands. Discussion reflecting the spatial and non-spatial factors related to urban life may suit well in the Track 7: Inclusion.

Speakers: Ms Hülya Saçın (Middle East Technical University), Dr Ahmet Burak Büyükcivelek (Middle East Technical University)

14:30 A Capital-Based Assessment of the Livelihood Vulnerability of Syrian Refugees

Refugee' livelihoods have recently attracted attention as they are increasingly caught up in and related to major global transitions in climatic, economic and social systems. In particular, human-made disasters and mass migrations make it necessary to examine the livelihood vulnerability of refugees. The United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals adopt a livelihoods approach to emphasise capital assets that reflect people's adaptive capabilities and sensitivities. A sustainable livelihood can maintain resources and reproduce capital assets against shock and stresses. The study contributes to the existing literature by addressing an existing gap in research on livelihood vulnerability assessments at the household level for Syrian refugees in Türkiye. The capital-based approach allows the incorporation of context-specific and community-specific variables associated with Syrian refugees besides variables commonly used in vulnerability assessments. The study assesses the livelihood vulnerability of Syrian refugees based on a capital framework and vulnerability dimensions (exposure, vulnerability and adaptive capacity) determined by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by creating a Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) to capture socio-economic problems, the presence or absence of diverse forms of capitals, and problems of organisation or balance among these capital types. The research questions are as following: What is the level of LVI of Syrian refugees, and what type of capitals make it more or less vulnerable? What dimension of vulnerability is more effective on vulnerability? How should planning strategies regulate the distribution and reproduction of capitals in refugee-dense areas? A mixed method was employed by including both qualitative and quantitative analyses to maximise the reliability of the research. The capital-based livelihood approach is based on five types of capital: human, social, financial, physical and natural. Syrian refugees were selected as a vulnerable group due to the difficulties they face as a result of the Syrian Civil War and forced displacement. The study area is Basmane, Agora and Kadifekale neighbourhoods of Konak District of Izmir, where Syrian refugees densely live. The literature review, field visits, discussions with vulnerable Syrian refugees, and in-depth interviews with non-governmental organisations, and household surveys were employed in order to grasp their needs, perspectives, and experiences. The study primarily relied on data derived from household surveys exploring or gaining a more nuanced understanding of complex issues related to livelihood vulnerability. The findings show that Syrian refugees have highly vulnerable level of LVI, and their vulnerability based on financial capital is the highest, while human capital is the least. Considering vulnerability dimensions, exposure, which includes indicators of hazards, climatic variability, population growth and occupation, is more effective contributing factor to livelihood vulnerability. Adaptive capacity of Syrian refugees is weak due to mainly indicators' values of housing ownership, education, livelihood strategies, socio-economic status and minority/language. In conclusion, physical and natural capital reflect high exposure level of Syrian refugees, while social, human and financial capitals reflect Syrians' capabilities and sensitivities. The study area, which is already a slum, has experienced an increase in inequalities and scarcity of resources due to an imbalance in the types of capital belonging to the host community and vulnerable groups, and the sharing of capitals among them. Planning as a transformative factor should develop convenient practices and strategies to reproduce capital and regulate the distribution of capital to cope with stressors or shocks according to specific characteristics of community and context.

Speaker: Lale Görgülü

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14:40 School and Residential Segregation in Ankara: The re-production of urban divisions

Education is critical for understanding urban and social inequalities in Turkey. The Turkish Statistical Institute's annual report on education expenditure and poverty highlights a significant disparity: individuals in the highest income bracket spend nearly ten times more on education than those in the lowest. The statistics reveal a striking correlation between education and poverty rates; illiterate individuals face a poverty rate of 27.7%, which dramatically decreases to 7.8% for high school graduates and just 2.6% for university graduates (TurkStat, 2023). As a result, obtaining a university degree is often seen as a key to a stable and esteemed future, especially among middle and upper socio-economic classes in Turkey. This widely held belief has made education increasingly competitive. Many parents express concerns about their children facing low educational quality, insufficient language and analytical skills, and unstable social settings, especially within public schools. While parents from middle and upper-income backgrounds are generally viewed as proactive regarding their children's education, those from lower-income families are often perceived as less involved in their children's schooling (Bagci & Gizir, 2013; Ünal et al., 2010).

Studies on segregation in Turkey, on the other hand, tend to focus more on residential segregation. Although the division of cities into different social groups and its causes have received ample attention (Güvenç & Işık, 2002, Işık & Pınarcıoğlu, 2009; Ataç, 2016), the relationship between education, schools, and residential segregation is not yet fully understood. Nonetheless, education is a critical factor even in the development of urban patterns in Turkey.

Based on this backdrop, this study aims to investigate the socio-spatial relationship between the academic performance of high schools and residential segregation in education line within the Ankara metropolitan area. Ankara serves as an unexplored yet promising case for examining the relationship between education and segregation. As the capital city of Turkey, Ankara boasts the most highly educated population and is often referred to as the educational capital. The research, therefore, seeks to answer these questions: Is there a spatial relationship between the academic performance of high schools and residential segregation in educational line in Ankara? If such a relationship exists, does it give rise to new urban divisions in the city? What is the role of public and private schools in shaping the divided structure of the city? How are residential segregation and the segregation of high schools interrelated? To address these questions, academic performance is represented by the results of the National University Entrance Examination at the high school level, while residential segregation is analyzed through the population census at the neighborhood level. By cross-referencing these two datasets and using mapping and statistical techniques, the study examines the relationship between school-based and residential-based segregation in Ankara metropolitan area.

The research reveals three core findings. First, there is a visible spatial segregation among high schools in Ankara, which correlates with academic performance, where public and private schools play a significant role in this division. Second, residential neighborhoods within Ankara are distinctly segregated based on the educational attainment of their inhabitants. Lastly, there is a clear connection between school-based segregation and residential segregation; these two phenomena are often intertwined, suggesting that Ankara is characterized by divisions related to education and the academic outcomes of its high schools. The study concludes that education serves not only as a criterion for social and economic status in Turkey but also plays an essential role in shaping patterns of segregation related to both residency and schooling, contributing to the emergence of new divisions within urban areas.

Speaker: Dr Ela Ataç Kavurmacı (TED University)

14:50 A Bibliometric Analysis on the Relationship between Migration and Urban Design

The study was carried out in order to reveal how migration is discussed in the urban design literature and in which contexts it is addressed. Migration is a concept that significantly affects space and social life in today's cities. This population movement, which started to increase in the second half of the last century, has accelerated even more in this century and has become observed on a global scale. According to the International Organization for Migration's World Migration Report 2020 (World Migration Report 2020 (Turkish): Chapter 2, no date), the number of international migrants has reached approximately 272 million people, 3.5 percent of the world population. Increasing migration trends cause different problems for different social groups. The issue of migration has therefore become even more critical for a significant number of people groups. This effect leads to significant changes in administrative, legal, social, spatial, economic, cultural and political fields at the national level for both receiving and sending countries.
The impact of migration on the city and its relationality with the city are generally addressed through policies in the literature. However, studies focusing on the effects of migration at regional and urban scales are the majority. Urban design, on the other hand, is among the subjects that are addressed in a limited way in the field of migration. It is a fact that urban design decisions can positively or negatively affect the lives of migrants, reinforcing and furthering social divisions as well as overcoming them. Therefore, it is obvious that the situation of migrants and migration impacts should be taken into account in design processes (Tuohy and Talen, 2017). This study, which is carried out with the bibliometric analysis method, focuses on understanding on which topics this limited production is realised. Thus, how the literature on the relationship between migration and urban design has been shaped has been revealed and literature gaps in important topics have been identified.
In this study, how the phenomenon of migration is handled in the field of urbanism and urban design in particular is analysed through conceptual relationships. Bibliometric analysis method was used to analyse the research topics on migration in urbanism and urban design. The bibliometric analysis method enables the evaluation of publications by individuals or institutions within a specific field, time period, and region, as well as their interrelationships. Scopus, ULAKBIM TR Dizin and DergiPark databases were used as the data set for the research. In this way, it has been revealed how migration-city planning and migration-urban design debates are shaped both in the world and in Turkey. As a result of the analysis, it has been observed that the concept of migration is mostly addressed in the literature with issues such as 'housing', 'urbanization', 'gentrification', 'social sustainability', 'accessibility', 'gated communities', 'segregation in settlements'. However, it is also associated with the concept of 'integration', albeit with a low frequency. In Turkey, on the other hand, it is seen that the concept of migration is addressed with more limited topics in the context of urban design. It has been seen that it has been handled in relation to issues such as 'urban transformation' and ‘slumism’, which are generally related to housing. In addition, studies on 'adaptation' and 'cultural adaptation' are quite limited. In this sense, it has been observed that the issue of migration has not been sufficiently addressed in urban planning and urban design in Turkey, which is both an immigration-receiving and an immigration-giving country. One of the expected effects is that the results can be a guide for studies focusing on the relationship between migration and urban design.

Speaker: Ms Büşra Tilki (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi)

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14:00 → 15:30 T_08 EDUCATION AND SKILLS: Technology and Urban Futures in Planning Education

Convener: Dafni Riga (Politecnico di Milano)

14:00 AI + Geospatial Models for Engagement and Performance Measures in the Pedagogy of Sustainable Planning Studio.

The emergence of the 15-minute city (Moreno, 2024) concept is closely linked to the climate crisis, particularly after the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21, held in Paris in December 2015. In that year, a consensus and adopted the Paris Agreement, a major international agreement aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change. This agreement recognized the need to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen society’s resilience to the inevitable impact of climate change.
Scholarship on decision-making in the planning practice and automation shows that integration of cutting-edge technologies can guide decision-making, enhance resource allocation, predict trends, engage citizens, and more (Ghisleni, 2024). The consequences of rapid economic growth and urbanization have led many cities that suffer from numerous problems such as traffic congestion, noise, air and water pollution to rethink their decision process through various scenario simulation and spatiotemporal analysis that addresses socio-spatial inequalities and predict approaches for sustainable urban development (Wang et al., 2021). An AI-based urban planning system capable of outperforming human urban planners in creating projects. Researchers discusses the factors used to define the ideal urban plan under the "15-minute city" concept by training the system using previous human-designed projects and factors that are predictive of positive outcomes (Ghisleni, 2024).
Planning studio instructions have also seen a transformation to integrate technology at various levels and scopes with pedagogies that integrate structured methodology for attaining academic goals and accreditation with the intention to align with professional practice. In this paper, I review and argue the use of several AI and geospatial modeling tools in a sustainable planning foundation studio at the US Campus of the University of Colorado Boulder. The City of Denver, Colorado was an open urban lab for this studio. Students explored the existing development code, newly adopted ordinances, and in-progress resiliency and climate action initiatives. In this studio 19 undergraduate students were introduced to sustainability and resilience measures, and contemporary urban design to examine urban growth as well as the development regulations on four prototype neighborhoods. The neighborhood characteristics entail different building typologies and density in order to propose a retrofit plan for each within the framework of the 15-minute neighborhood concept. As an undergraduate studio, the pedagogy challenges them to think through a multi-faceted and complex lens that intertwines environmental and equity measures. The optimal goal was to equip students with technical skills included focusing on geospatial tools and mapping and using different Geographic Information Systems apps and online tools for 2D, 3D mapping and data visualization apps for interactive data visualization (Esri, 2024). In this paper, I discuss the pedagogical innovations that included collaboration with the Immersive Media Lab, where students utilized VR/AR Meta devices and the Sketchup Software (Trimble, 2024) to develop the revised models of the pre-post retrofit scenarios of Denver neighborhoods. I also analyze the results of quantifiable use of an AI tool to measure a week-long Role-Play workshop series, led by students to emulate the roles of stakeholders and their -often- conflicting interests. This Co-Design CoBI AI tool was a collaboration with the campus Institute of Cognitive Science, which has tested the tool in different secondary education classrooms.
Comparing the results of engagement effectiveness will inform future pedagogies and assignment structure for next years. The results of student assessment, integration of AI and geospatial tools, and other online environmental performance platforms, will serve as an opportunity to discuss and reimagine planning education and accreditation requirements as a crucial agent of change. Quantitative measures for curriculum enhancement and student evaluation and reporting measures will be shared.

Speaker: Azza Kamal (University of Colorado Boulder)

14:10 Supporting transdisciplinary learning using Challenge-Based Learning in planning education

Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) refers to a methodology whereby students are invited to apply their knowledge and skills to address real-world problems. In planning education, this methodology has been adopted to several challenges such as urban sustainability transitions. In higher education institutes CBL is seen as a methodology that can facilitate student's critical thinking, generic and transdisciplinary skills, long-term retention and student-led learning. It also has the advantages that it facilitates the engagement of students with real-life problem owners such as city authorities, neighbourhood associations, and developers. However, when bound to the context of a specific course within a specific disciplinary field or master programme, the transdisciplinary ambitions of CBL are often difficult to emulate. This paper aims to discuss how higher education networks such as the ECIU (European Consortium of Innovative Universities) and the micro-credential scheme can be used to facilitate these transdisciplinary perspectives being incorporated into a specific course. The paper describes the rationale and learning approaches for a course in "Planning for Livables Cities", that is currently being developed as a CBL course, to be adopted to ECIU students. We reflect on the framing of learning outcomes, learning moments and assessment tools that can reflect, support and assess this transdisciplinary learning in a CBL context, while supporting planning students learn discipline-specific goals, and engage with the planning context of the case. We also describe challenges and limitations that we envision we will encounter when delivering this course, namely in examination requirements, and transversal individual and group learning. The paper contributes to discussions on methodological tools that can be adopted to planning education to generate critical, engaged, and empathic planners.

Speaker: Ana Mafalda Madureira (University of Twente)

14:20 Exploring AI and VR in Challenge-Based Learning: A Responsible Futuring Approach for Inclusive Co-Design

Challenge-based learning and responsible futuring approaches create empathic and collaborative learning opportunities by engaging students with real-world problem-solving through interdisciplinary, participatory methods. Challenge-based learning promotes experiential, problem-driven learning by engaging participants in real-world challenges. At the same time, responsible futuring ensures that envisioned solutions and future developments integrate social and ethical dimensions, promoting inclusive and sustainable urban spaces. These approaches align with the living lab concept, emphasising co-creation, experimentation, and real-world testing in collaboration with stakeholders. In response to the need for novel approaches in teaching and learning, we explored artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) as emerging tools that can equip future planning practitioners with the skills to address contemporary challenges, such as inclusive urban climate adaptation. In this context, we explored the effectiveness and usability of AI and VR in a responsible futuring workshop, assessing their impact on inclusive co-design processes. Specifically, we examined how these technologies support creative ideation, facilitate diverse perspectives, and contribute to designing climate-sensitive, inclusive blue and green urban spaces in a neighbourhood adjacent to our university campus.
Three groups of five students adopted the roles of diverse stakeholders, including an older adult with limited mobility, a child with a migrant background, a homeless person seeking stability, a low-income parent, and an urban planner focused on inclusion. The workshop followed four responsible futuring stages: Connect and Relate, Understand and Frame, Imagine and Ideate, and Reflect and Reframe. Each group used different tools: 1- The VR Group navigated existing situations during “Understand and Frame,” 2- The AI Group used UrbanistAI to visualise scenarios in “Imagine & Ideate,” and 3- The non-digital Group worked with plastic construction bricks and printed images.
Feedback from students, six observers, and three facilitators highlighted AI’s usefulness in refining designs but emphasised the need for greater user control and realism. VR enhanced spatial understanding, but students were too focused on learning to use the technology, which came at the expense of neighbourhood exploration. Additionally, the interplay between abstraction and realism emerged as a key consideration in the creative process. Observations suggested that more abstract, hands-on methods, such as plastic construction bricks, facilitated open-ended exploration and early-stage ideation, encouraging broad, divergent thinking. In contrast, AI-driven simulations provided a more structured and detailed approach, proving more useful in the later stages where refining and concretising solutions became the primary goal. The responsible futuring framework effectively facilitated diverse perspectives through personas, though limited time restricted deeper empathy and reflection. Students identified shared priorities, such as safety, accessibility, and social connection, while exploring potential conflict between personas.
Recommendations include extending time for familiarisation with tools and personas, incorporating real-world stakeholders, and improving the realism of AI representations. The workshop demonstrated how AI and VR can support empathic and collaborative learning and link to the living lab concept by addressing real-world challenges.

Speaker: Javier Martinez (University of Twente)

14:30 Project Management in Urban Development. Case Studies from the DREAMER and PM4U Projects

Urban development and spatial planning are complex processes that require interdisciplinary coordination, efficient resource allocation, and long-term strategic thinking [1-2]. This paper explores the critical importance of project management as a discipline in addressing the challenges inherent in urban development and spatial planning. The study emphasizes how project management methodologies contribute to achieving sustainable and inclusive urban growth by ensuring the effective integration of technical, social, and environmental considerations [3-5].
The research draws on insights and results from two ongoing projects: the DREAMER and the PM4U projects. Both initiatives highlight the transformative potential of project management in urban development and spatial planning. The DREAMER project focuses on empowering professionals and academics in project management for post-war recovery, clean energy, and digital transformation, while the PM4U project addresses the challenges of managing urban transformation projects in the EU, particularly in response to climate change and energy transitions.
Using a mixed-methods approach, the research analyzes case studies and best practices from these projects, alongside other urban initiatives such as infrastructure development, urban renewal, and cross-border planning. The findings demonstrate that applying structured project management techniques, such as stakeholder analysis, risk assessment, and time management, significantly improves project outcomes. Additionally, it highlights how project management tools facilitate collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including governments, private sector actors, and local communities [4].
A key focus of the study is the role of project management education, as demonstrated in the DREAMER and PM4U projects, in equipping professionals with the skills needed to navigate the complexities of urban development. The research identifies gaps in existing curricula and showcases how integrative frameworks, combining spatial planning and urban development principles, can better prepare future urban planners and project managers to address pressing global challenges such as climate change, population growth, and resource scarcity.
The study concludes that embedding project management into urban development and spatial planning practices is essential for creating sustainable, resilient, and inclusive cities. By showcasing the outcomes of the DREAMER and PM4U projects, this research underscores the value of innovative training programs and collaborative approaches in shaping the cities of tomorrow.

Speaker: Oleksii Yehorchenkov (SPECTRA Centre of Excellence EU at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava)

14:40 Post-Pandemic Higher Education: Spatial Transformations, Digital Shifts, and Sustainable Futures

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted educational systems worldwide, including planning education in higher education institutions (HEIs). This disruption presents an opportunity to critically evaluate how higher education planning curricula can adapt to address contemporary global challenges, including climate change, social inequities, territorial fragility, and migration. For instance, planning education must evolve to foster transformative skills and alternative imaginaries of urban living. This research explores the spatial reconfigurations and adaptive strategies of HEIs during the pandemic, with a focus on their implications for rethinking planning practices and pedagogies. Part of the National Research Project (PRIN) “Plastic or Elastic,” this study examines Italian universities through the lens of “spatial turn” and “transition studies,” exploring how crises can accelerate systemic change in both urban and academic contexts. It argues that the pandemic, by disrupting established spatial and organizational dynamics, provides an unprecedented opportunity to integrate resilience, equity, and sustainability into planning education.
The research starts from the hypothesis that the pandemic has generated significant spatial disruptions, forcing a re-evaluation of the functions and configurations of Italian academic environments. These changes are analysed as possible harbingers of a broader transition toward sustainable and equitable spatial practices. It intends to reach the following two-fold primary objectives: first, it tries to determine the extent of the reshaping of the pandemic on the spatial logics of HEIs; second, the strategic scenarios identifying how these changes can be used to inform public policies and urban transitions.
The methodology adopts a multi-phase design that pursues findings from various sources. The first phase included an extended literature review, mapping the spatial dynamics of the pandemic and recognizing main topics such as digitalization, gender equity, and student behaviour. The second phase are qualitative interviews with influential persons for HEIs, such as university rectors, general managers, faculty associations, and students, to also capture intimate narratives of spatial and organizational transformations brought by COVID-19 pandemic. A thematic analysis of these discussions reveals new practices, persisting challenges, and emerging opportunities for systemic change.
The findings highlight the complexities of spatial adaptation related to HEIs. Universities rapidly turned to online classrooms, hybrid teaching methodologies, and even redesigned some physical environments to ensure some continuity. But these adaptations also unearthed deeper systematic issues. For instance, the transition towards the digital environment introduced a speeding-up of innovations yet increased inequalities in access to technological resources, and challenged the true meaning of university and traditional teaching. In fact, whereas hybrid spaces were intended as solutions for upholding community engagement, it seems that they still could not replicate the relational aspects or experiential elements that characterize most traditional settings of academia.
The study brought to light critical areas of innovation and concern. Promotion of spatial transformations, outdoor spaces and smart campus concepts showed the potential of spatial flexibility in fostering resilience. However, the erosion of community ties due to physical isolation and over-reliance on digital interfaces has brought into focus the irreplaceable role that in-person interactions play in academic and social life. These findings call for an inclusive approach in the spatial and organizational planning of HEIs, with a focus on mental health, accessibility, and equity.
The contribution will present HEIs as potential key actors in the transition towards sustainable urban futures. In this respect, the study has outlined a framework through which HEIs can reconceptualize themselves as public spaces that could link the physical and digital realms and integrate innovative spatial practices with broader societal objectives. It means that redesigning academic environments for post-pandemic realities is just one aspect; there are also aspects involving universities as sites of urban experimentation and community engagement.

Speakers: Dr Federica Fava (Università Roma Tre), Dr Flavio Martella (Università Roma Tre), Prof. Giovanni Caudo (Università Roma Tre)

14:00 → 15:30 T_09 URBAN FUTURES: Narratives in planning-on circularity, sustainability

Convener: Varvara Toura

14:00 Reimagining the future of peri-urban spaces: planning narratives for the sustainability of these areas. The case study of “Stena tou Nestou” in Xanthi, Greece

In the last four decades and especially during the 21st century we observe a strong interest in discourses, strategies and norms regarding the form and functions of urban areas in a sustainable way (Michalina and al, 2021). Even though in documents of international organizations, such as the Agenda 2030, there is a strong commitment for the equal growth of urban areas despite their economic growth and their geographical position (UN, 2015), we note significant differences in the development of small and big urban areas, urban and rural areas as well as areas of the Global North and Global South (Nagendra and al, 2018). Considering the framework of the Sustainable Development Agenda and the need for equitable, inclusive and resilient communities, the paper tries to envisage the future of peri-urban spaces, that is to say the visions, tactics and models that lead to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of these areas. The purpose is to question the appearance of new planning policies for areas outside the cities’ limits, which are not fully urbanized and maintain the traces of their past (physical and social).
The research proposes an experimental approach in order to investigate the ways which potentially could lead to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the above areas. A critical point is to recommend planning methods and tools which could be used as narratives for the development of peri-urban areas that face either economic or social difficulties as economic growth and social equity are, together with environmental protection, the three pillars of sustainable development. The choice of the case study was based on the necessity to reflect and change old narratives and discourses in the planning processes for poor urban and peri-urban areas and to propose a safe and equitable living environment for the inhabitants of these areas. “Stena tou Nestou” (in English it could be translated as narrow pathway alongside Nestos River) is located near the city of Xanthi in the region of Thrace in Northern Greece, an area that maintains its physical and social characteristics since the 20th century and which is nowadays used as a space for leisure and sports. It is important to underline the particular characteristics of the region of Thrace as it is among the less developed at national (Greek) level, while at the same time the presence in the region of the Greek Muslim Community poses challenges regarding the just and peaceful transition towards a safe and equitable living environment for all despite their ethnic and cultural background.
The research method used was the descriptive-analytic. The descriptive method was used in order to define planning narratives for the development of peri-urban areas and relate it to previous studies in areas facing significant economic and social difficulties. The analytic method was used as a first step in order to develop later our strategy and model for the development of these areas. Through the above method we identified the reasons that led to economic decline and social injustice and made the necessary correlation between environmental sustainability, economic growth and social equity for the development of the area. In order to achieve these goals, we proposed a development scenario based on the internal strengths and external opportunities for the region of Thrace such as the presence of Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) and local enterprises. The study of a real-world setting and its particular characteristics revealed the necessity to consider planning in poor peri-urban areas as a transformative action which seeks to achieve sustainability goals through strategies and tools at different governance levels (national, regional, municipal) and in different sectors (economic, environmental, social).

Speaker: Mr Alexandros Mpantogias (School of Architecture, AUTH, Greece)

14:10 Innovating planning narratives of the periphery for a more inclusive urban future: The prison of Florence (Italy) as a teaser of transition through transformative actions

Prisons are a space of contemporary periphery neglected and stigmatised in many parts of the world and, in particular, in southern Europe and Italy (Vessella, 2017). Prison architectures are 'introverted' structures (Milhaud, 2017; Moran et Al., 2017); they are often situated in the middle of nowhere and isolated from infrastructural networks and urban and social metabolisms (Infussi, 2020). In this way, they contribute to the production of disconnected, inaccessible peripheries that appear as a patchwork of modern city rejects located in in-between areas - the Zwischenstadt (Sieverts, 2003). Clouded by the rhetoric of glossy urban regeneration, urban policies deliberately ignore the problems generated by these awkward structures in space and the enormous social and infrastructural impact that the activities in and around prisons generate in the urban fabric.
This paper addresses this issue and presents an ongoing project/process of peripheral regeneration that underlines the urgent need to rethink the centre-periphery divide/narrative and the relationship between prison and the city (which also implies restoring citizenship rights to prisoners, families, the prison police, and the population that rotates around the prison). The main goal is then to convert the area where the prisons of Florence exist into a peripheral centrality that triggers a process of social, economic, spatial and human regeneration.
Above all, the project offers an opportunity to rethink the periphery as a place of social, economic, and political rebirth. While doing so, it shows how powerful a different narrative of old problems (generated by destructive narratives and planning practices) is, such as periphery, peripheral prison areas, abandoned and vacant lands, etc.
The project/process is described under three lenses: (1) social inclusion in contexts of suffering, (2) spatial justice, and (3) territorial well-being which include urban health, care, and ecological conversion.
The methodology is based on participatory design and the social inclusion of institutional and non-institutional actors. The paper also decribes paper the institutional decision-making process for addressing and implementing the project.

Speaker: Camilla Perrone (University of Florence)

14:20 Circular narratives and transformative planning: rethinking wastelands

In the contemporary global context, the intensifying climate, environmental, and social crises, combined with unsustainable and linear development models, raise pressing questions about the transformative role of territorial planning. Historically, planning has predominantly been focused on managing urban growth and facilitating spatial expansion, aligning with the dominant economic frameworks of the 20th century. This approach, designed to prioritize quantitative over qualitative development demands, has led to intensive soil consumption and environmental degradation. As a result, fragmented urban fabrics emerged, characterized by discontinuous and poorly functional landscapes, contributing to the proliferation of so-called “wastelands”. These abandoned and marginalized spaces, the visible outcomes of structural inefficiencies and the lack of an integrated vision, embody both the failure of traditional planning narratives and the opportunity to rethink regeneration strategies through innovative approaches.
In this context, soil emerges as one of the keys and more strategical resources. Traditionally perceived as a static and passive substrate, soil – particularly within wastelands – can be reinterpreted as a dynamic component capable of catalyzing regenerative processes that intertwine ecological, economic, and social dimensions. Its multifunctionality establishes it as a foundation for rebalancing relationships between urban and natural systems, emphasizing the urgency of adopting approaches that recognize its strategic value. However, reimagining soil and wastelands as active resources requires a paradigm shift, moving beyond linear, sectoral narratives toward a more integrated and systemic vision. In this framework, circular economy (CE) and urban metabolism (UM) emerge as two complementary paradigms that can significantly contribute to territorial planning. While CE and UM have already demonstrated their potential in optimizing resource flows and fostering interconnected territorial dynamics, their integration into planning practices often remains fragmented, constrained by regulatory, cultural, and operational barriers.
This contribution presents a research that addresses the gap in integrating the principles of CE and UM can be embedded into planning practices to transform wastelands from marginalized areas into strategic nodes within a regenerative territorial system that fosters sustainability, innovation, and inclusivity.
In this perspective, the research develops along two main directions. The first focuses on a critical analysis of traditional planning narratives, highlighting their inherent limitations and proposing new interpretative models capable of addressing territorial complexity in an integrated, systemic, and circular way. This theoretical reflection seeks to overcome deep-rooted dichotomies between urban and rural, advocating for a type of planning that does not merely manage change but actively steers it toward meaningful transformation. The second direction, more practical in nature, involves the formulation of policy guidelines based on a comparative analysis of successful European case studies. Drawing on experiences in Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, the research identifies strategic levers and scalable tools adaptable to diverse territorial contexts, translating theoretical principles into concrete operational strategies.
Rethinking wastelands as strategic resources is not merely a response to pressing environmental and social urgencies; it is also a redefinition of planning itself as a catalyst for transformative change. By connecting innovative narratives with practical tools, this research demonstrates that integrating circular economy, urban metabolism, and circular soil management provides a viable pathway for advancing a regenerative model capable of addressing contemporary challenges. Embracing this new mindset allows for a redefinition of wastelands, not as a critical issue of past inefficiencies but as opportunities to build a fairer, more resilient, and sustainable future. Moreover, lessons drawn from the case studies confirm that transformative and multidimensional planning can not only address environmental and social crises but also generate territorial innovation, leveraging local specificities and linking them to a global vision.

Speaker: Elena Ferraioli (Università Iuav di Venezia)

14:30 Navigating circularity in urban planning: experimental narratives and practices in Brussels

For planning, and planners, a long-standing tension persists between technocratic governance and advocacy for the right to the city (Tasan-Kok et al., 2016). While planning power traditionally manifests through practical tools and legal instruments, its true influence often lies in the pre-implementation stages through narratives and visioning that shape urban futures. This dynamic becomes particularly intriguing when examining emerging narratives that struggle to achieve systemic change or a place within established planning systems, raising questions about planning's efficacy when dominant narratives face challenges or parallel narratives fail to accumulate regulatory power.

The circular economy (CE) presents a compelling case study of such narrative complexity. Having evolved beyond its origins as a business model concept, CE is increasingly recognized as a novel urban development paradigm aimed at closing material loops to strengthen local economies and social redistribution (Williams, 2021). However, its conceptualization reveals inherent contradictions: it simultaneously advocates for economic growth while promising social benefits, promotes inner-city re-industrialization and the protection of low-skilled labour, all while serving as a "'cleaner and greener' alternative to existing industries (Bassens et al., 2020). These contradictions thrive on the very ambiguity surrounding CE's definition and application, making it both difficult to oppose and challenging to implement at the urban scale.

This paper examines the circular economy narrative within the Brussels Capital Region (BCR), where urgent needs exist to rethink material consumption, waste management, and urban industrial employment. By analysing historical path-dependency, this study will trace the evolution of circular city agendas in Brussels through two complementary methodological approaches. First, through critical discourse analysis of policy documents (1980-present) spanning supranational, national, and regional levels. This includes examination of EU circularity frameworks, national economic strategies, and regional development plans, alongside strategic and regulatory land use plans. Through this analysis, I trace the institutional adaptation of CE strategies and their evolution from deindustrialization narratives to current circular city approaches. Second, building on previous cases of spatial experimentation in CE implementation (Baumgartner et al., 2024), interviews with urban planners and practitioners involved in Brussels' circular transition will be conducted to examine the practical challenges and opportunities in implementing CE principles within existing planning frameworks.

This research aims to contribute to our understanding of narrative mobilization, actor roles, and the operational efficiency of CE visions across strategic, temporary, and permanent regulatory contexts. The study will advance understanding of planning's role in emerging discourses, particularly in contexts of material scarcity and social inclusion. By highlighting the complex dynamics of transformative planning action, the paper offers critical reflections on the potential and limitations of circular economy strategies in urban settings.

Speaker: Jasmin Baumgartner (Vrije Ujiversiteit Brussel)

14:40 Thinking back from the tipping point: Institutional temporalities for climate action

The concept of ‘tipping points’ has been influential in the literature on the climate crisis. The earliest mention of the metaphor ‘tipping point’ was found in studies on racial segregation, where it referred to the factors that triggered the swift departure of the white majority from neighbourhoods in US cities during the 1950s. In the 2000s the use of the term surged significantly, particularly in the fields of climate science, environmental sciences, and ecology (Fischer, 2016). In the book ‘Tipping Point’, the concept of tipping points is related to small initial changes leading to a runaway process, that ultimately cause big transitions (Gladwell, 2001). Lenton in the context of environmental systems defines tipping points as conditions or situations, “where a small perturbation triggers a large response”. They could cause abrupt, system-wide changes that are challenging, significant and irreversible (Lenton, 2013). It is a type of threshold (Lenton et al., 2023).

The idea that systems (including the planet) may be close to a point of change where a small amount of force could cause a major transformation, is intuitive and powerful, especially in light of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, and the palpable advent of the ‘age of permanent crisis’ (Chakravarty, 2024). How should governments and institutions adapt their processes in view of the literature on tipping points? Building on the literature on climate and social tipping points, the study introduces the idea of an 'institutional tipping point'— the critical moment before which institutions must act to influence climate outcomes effectively.

The study reviews tipping point interpretations across domains like evolution, social, political, and ecological sciences, including frameworks by Lenton and Sterman. Drawing on insights from planning theory (Hopkins, 2001) and policy studies, it argues for proactive, strategic action by governments to intervene before natural systems reach irreversible thresholds. Emphasizing the importance of timely, coordinated policymaking, the study proposes a 'backcasting approach' that incorporates the lags that the institution might face, to determine necessary lead times for effective institutional responses.

Speaker: Ms Urooj Iqbal (School of Public Policy, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi)

14:50 Metropolitan narratives and planning transformation: The cases of Greater Paris and Casablanca

The metropolis is conceptualised through two contrasting paradigms: its attractiveness, stemming from its centrality within the global urban hierarchy, and its multiple crises—socio-spatial segregation, environmental degradation, urban service failures, and political fragmentation (Bassand, 2007). In the context of intensified interurban competition, metropolitan attractiveness is contingent upon a city’s ability to capture global economic flows and strengthen its standing on the international stage (Anttiroiko, 2015).
Therefore, branding and territorial positioning have emerged as strategic instruments for cultivating a distinctive and positive image of urban spaces by integrating heritage and modernity (Ingallina, 2007). Two fundamental dimensions underpin these endeavours: long-term planning, which ensures the sustainability of development strategies, and promotion, which encompasses communication efforts aimed at reinforcing a city's image (Carrillo Nuño, Vidales Astello and Lara Pacheco, 2019).
This paper investigates the evolution of territorial narratives in Greater Paris and Casablanca, examining how they have facilitated novel approaches to metropolitan planning and governance, thereby enhancing both cities’ attractiveness. Despite their distinct contexts, both metropolises face comparable challenges, including the need for global repositioning and adaptation to contemporary crises.
Paris is recognised as the world’s most attractive city (Euromonitor International, 2024). However, the metropolis faces persistent issues, including a housing crisis and a lack of territorial cohesion, contributing to continuous population decline (Insee, 2024). Framing strategies play a pivotal role in shaping planning policies in Greater Paris. In 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy introduced a transformational discourse, positioning Paris as a unified and sustainable global metropolis. To accelerate the metropolisation process, the project relied on a comprehensive communication strategy (Pagès, 2010). This narrative materialised through structural reforms, notably the creation of the Grand Paris Express—designed to enhance connectivity in peripheral areas—and the development of specialised economic clusters.
Casablanca is ranked as Africa's leading financial centre (Wardle and Mainelli, 2024). However, by the early 2000s, the city had experienced a decline in territorial attractiveness. The 2013 Royal Speech signalled a narrative shift that led to the Grand Casablanca Development Plan (2015–2020), which initiated a proactive governance approach and introduced novel financing mechanisms. This shift has resulted in significant infrastructure, mobility, and public facility projects, enhancing social cohesion and mitigating socio-spatial fragmentation. Concurrently, a territorial branding strategy was implemented, accompanied by cultural events aimed at reclaiming public spaces and green areas. These initiatives have contributed to shaping a renewed metropolitan identity.
This paper initially examines the role of territorial narratives in shaping planning and governance strategies to enhance metropolitan attractiveness in Greater Paris and Casablanca. Subsequently, it analyses how crises—frequently acting as catalysts—compel metropolises to redefine their policies and realign with emerging global trends. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated this shift, emphasising storylines centred on public health, liveability, and urban resilience. In this context, the paper explores whether Paris and Casablanca have adapted their strategies to address contemporary urban challenges exacerbated by the global health crisis.
The methodology employs a qualitative approach, using interviews with key decision-makers, institutional actors, and urban planning experts, alongside discourse analysis. The objective is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of how narratives influence metropolitan planning, assess their impact on territorial attractiveness, and determine whether they align with contemporary goals of inclusivity and resilience. Ultimately, the paper examines whether these evolving framings contribute to fostering more sustainable and equitable urban futures.

Speaker: Mrs Sara Benkirane (Mediations Laboratory, Sorbonne University)

15:30 → 16:00 Coffee Break

16:00 → 17:30 RT_01 CO-CREATING THE 15-MINUTE CITY

Convener: Prof. Piotr Lorens (Gdansk University of Technology)

16:00 CO-CREATING THE 15-MINUTE CITY - (Hosted within track 3: Mobility)

The concept of the 15-minute city has been widely discussed in literature and urban planning and design practice over the last few years. Emerging from the compact city idea, Carlos Moreno developed it further and transformed it into a more comprehensive vision. As a result, it caught the attention of researchers, local government leaders, and practitioners worldwide, with special attention paid to this in Europe.
The same applies to various approaches to public participation and the co-creation of contemporary cities. Coming from the original concepts emerging from the “ladder of participation”, they found their way to planning practice and have become some sort of a standard. In addition, the more developed concepts of co-creation of urban spaces have been developed.
However, there is still little experience in applying this co-creation philosophy to the process of shaping the compact, 15-minute city. In addition, there is also little connection between the process of shaping the 15-minute cities and employing the innovative tools, methods, and techniques associated with participation, including Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality based ones.
Within this session, there will be discussed issues in shaping the usage of these innovative tools, methods, and techniques associated with public participation in the process of shaping the 15-minute city and placemaking. In addition, the possibility of combining them with more traditional ones – including usage of the physical models and maps – will be discussed.
These presentations and follow-up discussions will be based on the preliminary results of the on-going Driving Urban Transition ENACT (Envisioning Neighbourhoods and Co-Creating Thriving Communities in the 15-Minute City) project based on four Urban Living Labs, organized in Trondheim, Gdansk, Valencia, and Oxford. The objectives of the project include:

1. To understand how co-creation methods and state of the art tools can be used in combination to achieve more inclusive, accessible, attractive and sustainable public spaces, streets and neighbourhoods.
2. To develop, test and validate physical and operational interventions that will influence people's ability to use active transport in (sub)urban areas within the context of four different Urban Living Labs (ULL).
3. To disseminate recommendations for realizing the 15mC and identify how barriers to their implementation can be overcome, to maximize transferability and scalability.

As a result, the proposed round table will allow discussion on the creation of the people-centered 15-minute city and how digital tools can be associated with stimulating and enabling public participation and co-creation of space and placemaking.

Speakers: Mrs Astrid Krisch (University of Oxford), Prof. Hangwelani Magidimisha (University Kwa Zulu Natal), Dr Jan Cudzik (Gdansk University of Technology), Prof. Lucyna Nyka (Gdansk University of Technology), Ms Nurgul Yardim Mericliler (Oxford Brookes University), Prof. Piotr Lorens (Gdansk University of Technology)

16:00 → 17:30 RT_04 RADICAL ALTERNATIVES TO CLIMATE URBANISM: TOWARDS SOCIALLY AND ECOLOGICALLY JUST CITIES

Convener: Neelakshi Joshi (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER))

16:00 Radical alternatives to climate urbanism: towards socially and ecologically just cities

Cities are critical sites for developing responses to climate change. However, popular climate change solutions in the city have not been successful in radically transforming the urban system. Celebrated climate change mitigations solutions like high-tech low-carbon buildings, electro-mobility and renewable energy remain materially intensive as well as socially exclusive. Similarly, adaptation efforts in cities largely address economically well-off areas, while increasing vulnerabilities for others. Cities continue to remain places of capital accumulation and unsustainability, creating inequalities within the city as well as beyond the city boundaries. While the critique of the mainstream idea of climate urbanism is now well established, open questions remain on alternatives that are socially and ecologically just.

Building on the theme of the Congress, "Planning as a Transformative Action in an Age of Planetary Crisis,", this roundtable adopts a critical approach to climate urbanism and re-centre social and ecological justice at the heart of the urban response. We would like to learn from both material and social practices drawing from, but not limited to, perspectives of justice (spatial, social and ecological), degrowth, urban political ecology, urban social movements, post-development that challenge as well as create alternative solutions for infrastructure, housing, energy, food, mobility and greening within and beyond the city boundary.

In conversation with the contributors, we will discuss:
a) Why is it necessary to to re-center social and ecological justice in the urban response to climate change?
b) What do alternative responses to building a just city look like?
c) How do these alternative responses interact with existing urban planning practices?
The contributors, experts in thinking of justice and climate action together, will broaden the understanding of climate urbanism that is not limited to reducing greenhouse gas emission through techno-fixes, rather dares to address the systemic and root causes of unsustainability and build their responses from the ground up. The roundtable will lay the foundation for a special issue on the topic in the journals Local Environment or npj Climate Action.

Speakers: Dr Julian Agyeman (Department Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, USA), Dr Ethemcan Turhan (Department of Spatial Planning and Environment, University of Groningen), Dr Neelakshi Joshi (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Dresden)

16:00 → 17:30 RT_09 INTEGRATING DIGITAL TRANSITION AND TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT: A CO-EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH

Conveners: Daniele Viarengo (DASTU Politecnico di Milano), Prof. Grazia Concilio (DASTU Politecnico di Milano), Zintis Hermansons (ESPON)

16:00 Integrating Digital Transition and Territorial Development: A Co-Evolutionary Approach

The concept of the digital divide was introduced and evolved in parallel with the development of the internet and, more broadly, the digital ecosystems that have shaped European societies over the past three decades. Several strands of research can be identified, each contributing to the evolution of this concept through complementary perspectives that have helped shape the multifaceted understanding attributed to the digital divide today. The digital divide has traditionally been understood and studied with a focus on individuals, social groups, or organizations. However, re-framing and interpreting this concept at a regional scale introduces a new set of challenges and opportunities for analysis. Much of this research is conducted at the national level, but such studies often fail to capture the complexity of regions as socio-institutional entities—a dimension that is typically better understood in studies focusing on nations or cities. Unlike nations or cities, regions require a more nuanced approach that considers their unique socio-economic, cultural, and institutional dynamics. This gap in research is particularly pressing, as the digital transition continues to transform how territorial and regional development is conceived and governed. The digital transition refers to the ongoing shift from traditional systems and practices to those driven by digital technologies. This process encompasses not only the adoption of digital tools but also broader transformations in economic structures, institutional arrangements, and social dynamics resulting from the integration of digital technologies into everyday life. Importantly, the digital transition unfolds differently across regions, sectors, individuals, companies, and public administrations, depending on varying local conditions and capabilities. While the concept of the digital divide can, to some extent, be conceived as decontextualized from specific geographical settings, the digital transition is always inherently tied to a specific territorial scale. The regional digital divide extends the concept of the digital divide to focus on disparities between regions or territories. These disparities encompass inequalities in access to digital technologies, the ability to utilize them effectively, and the socio-economic impacts of digitization. The way in which digital technologies are integrated into a particular region is shaped by the unique socio-economic and institutional characteristics of that region, making the digital transition a spatially contextualized process. This interplay highlights the need for approaches that integrate digital policies with territorial development strategies. Yet, planners often address these domains independently, leaving the digital policies to be set and implemented independently of territorial development. The main concerns: It is a shared vision that socio-economic development at the regional scale is consequent to the advancement of digital infrastructures and services, while the idea for a co-evolutionary vision would guarantee more efficient investments, equitable territorial attractiveness, and reduced territorial fragility. The roundtable aims at discussing how to develop research methodologies and policy approaches that can support such a co-evolutionary vision.

Speakers: Prof. Adam whittle (University College Dublin), Camilla Perrone (University of Florence), Prof. Oren Yiftachel (Ben Gurion University), Valeria Fedeli (Politecnico di Milano), valeria monno

16:00 → 17:30 RT_17 DEMONSTRATING THE APPLICATION OF DIGITAL TWINS IN URBAN PLANNING: ENSURING CITIZEN CENTRIC IMPACT

Conveners: Aoife Doyle (KPMG Ireland), Dr William Hynes (KPMG Future Analytics / University College Dublin, Ireland)

16:00 Demonstrating the Application of Digital Twins in Urban Planning: Ensuring Citizen Centric Impact

Digital Twin (DT) technology revolutionises urban and spatial planning, providing dynamic, real-time digital replicas of physical environments. This technology enables planners to simulate, analyse, and optimise urban spaces. By integrating data from various sources, such as models, sensors and IoT devices, DTs offer a comprehensive view of urban systems, facilitating informed decision-making.

Incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics, DTs can predict and maximise opportunities within cities, including areas of growth, locations for investment, and mitigate traffic congestion, pollution, and infrastructural damage. This AI synergy enhances the accuracy and efficiency of urban planning, ensuring sustainable and resilient cities.

This proposed roundtable session draws on lessons from multiple European Commission funded DT research projects from across Europe including BIPED (Building Intelligent Positive Energy Districts), TIPS4PED and Twin4Resilience.

Reflections from BIPED, funded under Horizon Europe, will demonstrate how DTs assist urban planners in navigating the energy transition and decarbonisation requirements within their city/urban environments. BIPED's ambition is to manage this transition by developing and scaling Positive Energy Districts (PEDs), a key building block in achieving city-wide climate neutrality, in the city of Aarhus, Denmark (and other cities in turn). At the core of the solution lies the advanced digital twin technology complete with AI-driven optimisation tools for better urban planning and citizen engagement.

TIPS4PED is a Horizon Europe project designed to showcase an Integrated Assessment Platform (IAP) that will help municipalities in the creation of PEDs. This platform will empower cities to make informed decisions by enabling the design, development, and efficient management of PEDs using DT technology. With an intuitive dashboard, users can easily visualise different scenarios and results. Furthermore, the TIPS4PED platform will incorporate AI-driven modules, designed to optimise the creation and management of PEDs, while also integrating smaller-scale management tools like Building Management Systems (BMS) to enhance overall performance.

Twin4Resilience (T4R), INTERREG North-West Europe co-funded project, brings together 14 partners from 6 European countries to explore the use of Local Digital Twin (LDT) for a wide variety of applications in urban areas. Moving away from technology-driven solutions, T4R focusses on wider uptake of LDTs through a jointly developed resilient implementation strategy comprising 4 transformative frameworks – technical design, governance, ethics/inclusion/democratisation, and training. Dublin, one of the pilot and frontrunner cities, will highlight various challenges and ethical dilemmas which need to be addressed before/during the implementation of LDT projects and use cases. It will also share best (data) governance practices for an inclusive and democratic approach to LDTs.

This roundtable will explore how applied methodologies facilitate the development of smart, sustainable societies by enabling precise modelling and simulation of urban environments. Our roundtable consisting of DT experts and urban/ spatial planners will explore how DTs can enable urban planners and other built environment specialists to predict and optimise energy usage, reduce emissions, and enhance the overall quality of urban life for the betterment of the citizens and the whole of society.

Speakers: Dr Ali Hainoun (Austrian Institute of Technology), Ms Benedetta Barchi (RINA Consulting), Dr Ivy Yang (Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC)), Mr John Sheils (KPMG Ireland), Dr Mani Dhingra (Dublin City Council), Dr Martin Traunmueller (Austrian Institute of Technology)

16:00 → 17:30 SS_02 DISCUSSING SPATIAL JUSTICE FROM/TOWARDS A SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: Part 3

Conveners: Alessia Franzese, Elena Bruno, Luca Nicoletto (Università Iuav di Venezia), Valeria Volpe

16:00 Pathways towards and interpretations of shared governance. Comparative notes on Brussels, Naples and Barcelona.

Focusing on Brussels, the research project WELCOMIN* aims to explore long-lasting forms of shared governance and ownership to overcome the fragile conditions of many civic initiatives legally framed as temporary occupations. The working hypothesis at the core of this project is that many of these, maintained by the communities for the communities, interweaving care practices for the human and the non-human, represent a welfare infrastructure towards what I define as ecological welfare, the word “ecological” being meant in the sense of the deep ecology (Naess, 1973).
During the first year of the research project, the hypothesis of shared governance has been applied to a few highly contested sites, whose future is debated between the opportunity of spontaneous regeneration of nature and wilderness on the one hand; and the need to address crucial issues such as developing strategic infrastructures or tackling the housing question on the other hand (Lenna 2024). A prospective, scenario-based approach using research-by-design to explore the potentials of shared governance has been combined with a comparative framework. The purpose of such a hybrid methodology is to support and complete the visionary component of the scenario approach with the pragmatic knowledge and the hands-on expertise of actors from other European cities well known in the literature and amongst practitioners for their innovative experiments of shared governance (Lenna 2025).
The paper aims to illustrate these research results, learning from the cities of Naples and Barcelona to identify both supportive and less favourable conditions for shared governance in Brussels while pointing out site-specific and political variations on the theme.

*WELCOMIN is the acronym for “Community Welfare Mixed Infrastructures. Reclaiming vacancy, federating capacities and empowering
communities towards an ecological welfare”, a project funded by the Brussels Capital Region research funding entity Innoviris, in the
framework of the Prospective research programme.

Speaker: Dr Verena Lenna (VUB)

16:10 Civic peri-urban: repositioning peri-urban urbanization in new forms of inter-generational co-ownership

Peri-urban territories are complex socio-spatial configurations that challenge the dichotomous theoretical categories of urban and rural inherited from urban theory. They represent the local-scale outcome of spatial restructuring processes that organically intertwine decentralization, deconcentration, and territorial dispersion. These phenomena are observable both in the distribution of functions, built densities, and population, as well as in the extractive processes that subordinate these spaces to infrastructures serving urban performance. This dynamic results in a space devoid of long-term co-evolutionary processes (landscape), where specificities have been dissolved within a few decades, and the ecological context has become an instrument of the provisional present.
The intricate geography of peri-urban areas is symptomatic of multipolar organization, where residual spaces are simultaneously a frontier to be shielded from further urbanization and a porous "ecotone" open to new forms of use and sociality.
The closure of the peri-urban realm to urban externalization and extractive phenomena necessitates a process aimed at redistributing rights through a negotiated space where urbanity acknowledges an ecological context beyond the immediacy of present needs. This process, co-created with local communities, seeks to overcome hierarchical and anthropocentric conceptions of justice, fostering intergenerational co-ownership founded on socio-ecological relationships. Such principles resonate with Article 9 of the Italian Constitution, which links environmental protection, biodiversity, and ecosystems with the rights of future generations. This shift requires rethinking the individualistic conception of space, the anthropogenic pressures, and the fragmentation of ecosystems. It calls for the recognition of collective rights based on shared practices and «living uses», which transcend the dualism between city and nature, as well as the perceived separation of society and the environment.
The concept of civic uses offers a valuable reference point, as it shares, in its original configuration, a functional character with the peri-urban fringe, often viewed as a space of performance. Contemporary legislation reframes this functional aspect by emphasizing ecological and environmental protection, thereby embedding intergenerational co-ownership within values of territorial inclusivity (Mangone, 2022).
Such closure, paradoxically, opens up the regenerative potential of peri-urban spaces, envisioning eco-public networks at a metropolitan scale as incubators for new urban civic spaces (Formato, 2021) and spatial assemblages capable of recovering «living uses» (Capone, 2016: 621). Reconstructing a public framework of civic and collective rights, practices, and spaces establishes a connection between landscape protection (e.g., Constitutional Court ruling 310/2006) and democratic participation in decision-making. This reflects a collective capital linking land ownership to the community (Di Genio, 2019: 127-140) and liberates peri-urban landscapes from any further stable development or exploitation.
This process of "re-landscaping" reimagines spaces where quantitative consumption has already occurred, reassembling what remains into qualitative relationships through spatial practices. These practices oppose the «speculative supremacy of the conceived» and ensure that the «technical activation» (Capone, 2020: 34) of regulatory frameworks does not flatten space into a mere commodity or consumable asset.

Speaker: Dr Nicola Fierro (Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II")

16:20 Public spaces in Rome: expanding the potential by reinterpreting old rules in a new framework

Fifteen years after the approval of Rome’s Master Plan, less than half of the designated green and public service areas are accessible. This is due to delays in land acquisition, management issues, the presence of incompatible uses, and the divestment of originally planned facilities. As a result, only one-third of urban areas meet the legally mandated provision of 18 m² of public space per inhabitant.

To address these long-standing issues, the Capitoline Administration has launched a dedicated program and enlisted university support for both its strategic framework and the development of operational tools.

Although designed for operational needs, the program has been conceived as a laboratory.
New territorial figures (Roma città-territorio e Roma 300 quartieri) illustrate how socio-ecological factors and proximity infrastructure can redefine the relationship between spatial justice principles, the vision of the city, and the layout of public spaces at the local level. A new monitoring and evaluation tool translates this new framework into project assessment and approval procedures.

After briefly outlining the current situation, aims, and contents of the program, the paper reflects on how the implemented mechanism can trigger new ways of thinking, mobilize social resources, and exploit the unique potential of Rome.

Speaker: Dr Mauro Baioni (Università degli studi Roma Tre)

16:30 Ecological Strategies for Historic Center of Lima: Camaná Linear Park

The Historic Center of Lima is an urban palimpsest that reflects the various stages of the city's growth. The initial orthogonal and regular grid, typical of hispanic cities, was altered during the 20th century by massive road widening projects that prioritized automobiles over pedestrians. This process led to an inadequate distribution of available urban space, as vehicular asphalt areas prevailed over vegetated zones and shaded spaces. This street configuration contributed to the generation of heat islands and temperature increases in the Historic Center compared to other areas of Lima with greater vegetation coverage. Furthermore, the expansion of vehicular areas accelerated the degradation of air quality, as evidenced by pollution levels that exceeded the maximum permissible limits established by the WHO.
To counteract these effects, the redesign of road widening projects is proposed, transforming them into pedestrian boulevards that function as green corridors while maintaining minimal vehicular areas. This strategy seeks to restore the historical, urban, and ecological value of this heritage zone. In this context, the Camaná Linear Park emerges as a flagship project to provide green infrastructure for the city: it proposes the pedestrianization of an underutilized vehicular space resulting from an incomplete road widening project extending across only three blocks. The intervention envisions renaturalizing the street and converting it into an ecological corridor that connects public spaces near the Rímac River with the ‘Parque de la Exposición’, one of Lima's most important green areas.
This proposal not only promotes the integration of the area's commercial dynamics but also contributes to the revaluation of historical heritage and the renaturalization of the Historic Center. Moreover, it will provide the city with essential ecosystem services, such as temperature regulation and biodiversity conservation.

Speaker: Mr Brandon Andía Concha (PROLIMA, Deputy Division of Planning, Management, Recovery, and Safeguarding of Lima's Cultural Heritage)

16:40 Nurturing More-than-human Relations in Contested Urban Spaces: Learning from Parco Terranostra

In Naples' periurban fringe, the case of Parco Terranostra in via Boccaccio challenges conventional urban planning approaches by revealing how spaces beyond institutional control can become laboratories for socio-ecological justice. At the heart of this experience lies a three-hectare former aviation fuel depot that became an unexpected laboratory for alternative forms of urban space. In 2015, the Terranostra collective declared the abandoned site a "self-managed liberated green area," initiating an experiment in ecological co-existence. Through years of mutual interaction and repair, new relationships emerged between human and more-than-human inhabitants, creating a spontaneous and vibrant ecosystem where multiple species participated in the space's transformation. However, when the Municipality of Casoria included the site in its EU regional funds proposal, these existing relationships faced erasure. Through persistent dialogue initiated by the collective and supported by the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II and the Urban Permanent Observatory on the Commons of Naples, a new "Regulation for the care and regeneration of urban common goods" was approved, recognizing both human and more-than-human communities as legitimate stakeholders through "civic and collective use". Yet, despite this achievement, the community of Terranostra ("our land") is presently “Senza Terra” (“landless”), as the site is still fenced off even after the completion of works, leaving its potential as a laboratory for multispecies governance unrealized.
The Parco Terranostra-Boccaccio experience points us toward a radical reimagining of public space through the lens of more-than-human commoning. While authorities weaponize contamination and security concerns to justify the erasure of existing socio-ecological relationships, treating these spaces as technical problems to be solved through standardized interventions, these spaces are not problems to be resolved but active places where socio-ecological conflicts are continuously negotiated and reworked. Rather than seeking conflict elimination, urban space should embrace and foster productive tension between different forms of life, recognizing daily practices of care and emotional connections as legitimate forms of stewardship. This situation challenges us to consider socio-ecological justice as a framework for recognizing the voice and the political agency of more-than-human actors in urban space-making, pushing us beyond anthropocentric models toward generative governance and design systems that can respond to emerging forms of ecological relationships.

Speaker: Ludovica Battista (Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II - Dipartimento di Architettura)

16:50 Water justice, scarcity and environmental flows. The case of Marseille

Marseille is situated in a dry region lacking water courses and groundwater reservoirs. Despite such scarcity, the city benefits of an abundant freshwater supply of the best quality. The Canal del Marseille is the 1800s infrastructure that allows this by extracting water from the Durance river – an artificial system replicated at a bigger scale and integrated by the Canal EDF, the Canal de Provence, and several storage basins.
The territorial hydraulic network is efficient and mostly composed of pressurized underground pipes which minimize leeks: it draws water from the river ecosystem and bypasses the surrounding landscapes for the benefit of anthropic consumption. Together with energy production, the system uses 80% of the Durance’s flow. While the distribution principles don’t normally cause conflicts between human consumers, the river doesn’t have a legal personality, lacking representation for its environmental flows needs – on which many ecosystems in a vast territory depend, like the étang de Berre wetland, endangered by the Canal EDF’s outlet, and the Rhone delta area.
The extractivist water ‘cycle’ of Marseille – where only 12% of the ground isn’t sealed and floods regularly saturate the drainage networks – ends into the sea, sometimes without treatment. Yet the presence of two water streams within the urban area can be an occasion for rethinking the city-water relationship: how can urban soils be transformed to support biodiversity?
While water bodies can paradoxically weaken their stand by achieving legal rights (O’Donnell 2018), a ‘political ecology of things’ perspective (Bennett 2010) may strengthen the value of all water flows, especially in the need of a new environmental justice for the city (Morizot 2024; ETH 2020) in a climate that is becoming drier (Bertrand 2023). Can a new awareness of urban water help recognise the global necessity (Latour 2015) of a new ecological balance with the larger territory?

Speaker: Mr Nicola Russolo (Università Iuav di Venezia & IUSS Pavia)

17:00 Ecopublica: a tool for socio-ecological emancipation

The paper proposes to explore the issue of spatial justice through the concept of the eco-public network, conceived as the intersection of spaces that integrate ecological and social values.
North-East Italy, the object of this analysis, is characterised by a recurrent tendency towards disconnection, with a growth model that has produced fragmentation and territorial, economic and environmental fragility. However, the wide meshes of this territory suggest new opportunities for enhancement, focusing on open space as a de-polarised ecological framework of variable intensity, which is activated and reorganised on the basis of multiple factors and conditions. This network involves on the one hand physical and spatial elements (urban and rural open spaces, open porosities in the urbanised area, slow mobility routes, collective infrastructures, community spaces), and on the other hand expectations and imaginaries that over time have defined ecological roles and values in relation to uses and practices.
Observing the eco-public network, with its uneven and plural movements, allows us to reflect on the very essence of the project and the need to recognise spaces, subjects and collaborations of potential transformation, as in the proposed case of the renaturation of the Stella River. Among the actors of change are human and non-human subjects that make it necessary to explore the topic of cohabitation, of new possible alliances and conflicts, including spatial ones. In this context, there emerges the need to promote what we might call ‘weak projects’: minor, open and processual projects that rely on a constantly changing framework, and that reflect the action of non-hierarchical and secondary subjects.
The spatial achievements that characterise these projects are often fragile, charged with emancipatory tensions, and subject to external pressures. However, recognising their potential allows us to test the circularity between prefiguration and exploration: past the time of the ‘grand urban project’, we are called upon to experiment with an open, possibilist and pragmatic attitude, where even different, secondary or vulnerable subjects are recognised as having the capacity for change and spatial rights at multiple scales.

Speakers: Ms Elisa Scattolin (Iuav University of Venice), Dr Michela Pace (Iuav University of Venice), Prof. Luca Velo (Iuav University of Venice)

16:00 → 17:30 SS_21 INNOVATING PLANNING EDUCATION IN THE AGE OF AI EMERGENCE

Convener: Siegfried Zhiqiang wu (Tongji University)

16:00 Pioneering Intelligent Design for Future Cities

The presentation highlighted a comprehensive framework encompassing intelligent diagnostics, simulations, configuration, and creative design. From enhancing water security and ecological resilience in Wuhan to optimizing spatial layouts and generating innovative urban features, the talk demonstrated how AI empowers urban development with precision, efficiency, and sustainability.

Wu detailed cutting-edge applications, such as AI-driven ecological network simulations to mitigate urban heat islands, intelligent land value forecasting, and the configuration of innovation-centric spaces. By leveraging over 10,000 AI tools across 12 urban design stages, the team exemplifies how AI is not only augmenting traditional design processes but shaping a new paradigm for intelligent, adaptive, and human-centric urban environments.

This visionary discourse underscores AI’s potential to craft smarter cities and invites global collaboration in the ongoing pursuit of future-ready urban design solutions.

Speaker: Prof. Siegfried Zhiqiang wu (Tongji University)

16:10 The age of Artificial Intelligence and education with humanism

The rapid development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) has radically transformed our conception of planning and what the planning profession can achieve. AI has enabled new, and in many cases more accurate, ways to make predictions, more efficient design modeling, and streamlined data gathering. When used appropriately, AI can contribute to more robust decision-making, revealing its vast potential as a tool capable of achieving outcomes that were previously unattainable or too resource-intensive to accomplish. For planning education, this presents a clear imperative: to teach students how to use AI to solve problems, emphasizing AI’s role as a tool.

However, the mission of planning educators goes beyond simply teaching students technical know-how. As John Dewey argued, education should be about helping students realize their potential—developing their capacity for situational problem-solving that aligns with their personal goals. To clarify the type of capacity we are referring to, it is helpful to invoke Aristotle’s typology from Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle differentiated between two types of wisdom: technical wisdom (techne), which focuses on using tools to achieve a specific end, and practical wisdom (phronesis), which is about determining the right ends and choosing the appropriate tools to use in a given situation.

Teaching students how to use AI to achieve specific goals clearly falls within the realm of technical wisdom (techne). Yet, the rise of AI also provides educators with the opportunity to foster the development of students’ practical wisdom (phronesis). The development of practical wisdom—making sound judgments about what is right in a given situation—has long been advocated as something best achieved through case-based pedagogy, as demonstrated in programs like those at Harvard Business School. In this context, AI creates new possibilities for more efficient, tailored case-based simulations that can meet the specific needs of planning curricula.

A central question, however, is whether AI-generated case studies can effectively simulate real-life situations. Drawing on Herbert Simon’s pragmatist ideas on simulation, this presentation argues that even if AI-generated cases are not perfectly realistic, they can still serve valuable pedagogical purposes if properly supervised by experienced educators and tailored to meet specific learning objectives. The emphasis on AI’s capacity to generate case studies is not intended to replace teaching students how to use AI but to complement it.

To strengthen planning as a professional discipline, it is essential to provide students with both the general professional knowledge required to use AI and the practical wisdom to make informed decisions in their professional and personal lives—whether or not AI is involved. This balanced approach will ensure that future planning graduate are not only skilled in using advanced tools like AI but are also capable of exercising judgment and making wise decisions in the increasingly complex real-world situations they will face.

Speaker: Mr Qingyuan Guo (London School of Economics)

16:20 Innovating Planning Education in the Age of AI Emergence

The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has strongly impacted various fields, including education, reshaping how students and educators approach knowledge creation and application in urban planning. In planning education, AI is increasingly being integrated into student work, from writing assignments to the visualization of future-oriented studio projects. While this presents vast opportunities, it also introduces critical challenges that educators must address proactively.
Instead of enforcing restrictive rules against AI use, educators could think of adopting open communication with students, encouraging them to critically evaluate the knowledge and outputs generated by AI tools. Teaching students how to identify biases, inaccuracies and limitations in AI-generated content equips them with the ability to use AI as a supportive resource rather than a sole authority. However, prevalent reliance on AI for tasks like writing poses the risk of diminishing essential skills such as literature reviewing, critical reasoning and effective communication. Moreover, the use of AI in visualization and depiction tools for studio projects has transformed how students convey their visions for future spaces in between scales. While these tools comparatively simplify the process of conveying ideas, educators must remain cautious about understanding the capabilities and limitations of such technologies. Lecturers play a fundamental role in guiding students to control these tools in ways that enhance creativity and critical thinking, ensuring that AI complements rather than replaces the intellectual consistency of planning processes.

Speaker: Dr Sıla Ceren Varış Husar (Slovak University of Technology)

16:30 Positive Energy Districts, Energy Communities and AI: Synergies, Contrasts, and Benefits for Urban Energy Systems and Areas

Urban energy systems are undergoing profound structural transformations driven by decarbonization policies, digitalization, and demands for more democratic and inclusive governance. In this context, Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) and Local Energy Communities (LEC) have emerged as key paradigms in the pursuit of climate-neutral cities. PEDs aim to generate more energy than they consume through spatially integrated design, technological efficiency, and centralized coordination at the district scale (Casamassima et al., 2022); (Kvasnica & Vaľková, 2022). In contrast, (Local) Energy Communities prioritize citizen empowerment, local ownership, and collective management of renewable energy resources, operating through decentralized, often bottom-up governance structures (Volpe et al., 2024).
At the same time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly embedded in urban energy planning and operations. AI tools are used to monitor, simulate and optimize energy flows, forecast consumption patterns, and support real-time decision-making (Han et al., 2023). These technological developments are not value-neutral: they reshape power dynamics, influence design processes and raise new ethical and regulatory challenges for planners.
This paper critically examines the tensions and complementarities between PEDs, Energy Communities, and AI systems. These converging trends are reshaping the competencies and roles required of urban planners, calling for an urgent rethinking of planning education. Traditional curricula often remain siloed, technocratic, and insufficiently responsive to the complexity of today’s urban energy landscape. There is a pressing need to equip future planners with new forms of literacy—energy literacy, digital literacy, and socio-technical systems thinking—that enable them to work across disciplines, engage with communities, and navigate uncertainty (Gondeck et al., 2024); (Kozlowska et al., 2024).
The contribution argues that integrating these paradigms into planning practices is not merely a technical update, but a paradigm shift in how planning itself is taught and practiced. Preparing planners to mediate between centralized and decentralized energy logics, to critically engage with AI tools, and to foster socially just transitions is essential to building sustainable, inclusive, and resilient urban futures.
This work is carried out within the European project DUT 4A4PEDs - DUT Joint Call 2023 - “MUR funding, application code DUT23_00117”.

Speaker: Dr Daniele Vettorato (Eurac Research)

16:40 Innovating Planning Education in the Age of AI: Bridging Technology and Urban Futures

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries and societies, the field of urban planning stands at a transformative crossroads. In this presentation, Paulo Silva will explore the integration of AI into planning education, emphasizing its potential to revolutionize both pedagogical approaches and practical applications. By addressing questions such as how planners can harness AI to tackle complex urban challenges and how educational institutions can prepare future professionals to engage critically and ethically with these technologies, Silva will outline a vision for a forward-thinking curriculum.

The talk will also highlight real-world examples and case studies where AI tools have been successfully incorporated into urban planning practices, demonstrating their implications for governance, sustainability, and community engagement. Attendees will gain insights into the skills and competencies needed in this rapidly evolving landscape, ensuring that planning education remains relevant and impactful in the age of AI.

Speaker: Paulo Silva (University of Aveiro, Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences)

16:00 → 17:30 SS_08 TRANSFORMATIVE PLANNING ACTIONS FROM THE SOUTH: NEGOTIATING THE PAST FOR ALTERNATIVE FUTURES

Convener: Dr Christine Mady (Aalto University)

16:00 Beyond Erasure: Alternative Understandings of Colonial Legacies in Urban and Rural Spaces

Colonial histories persist in contemporary urban and rural landscapes through processes of erasure, resistance, and re-imagining. This presentation examines case studies from several countries in the Global South. Cases from Mumbai, Argentina, Ecuador, Malaysia, and South Africa, reveal how communities contest the ongoing entanglements between coloniality and contemporary spatial transformations. Through oral histories, ethnographic insights, and spatial analysis, these cases uncover how infrastructure projects in Mumbai displace fisherwomen, undermining their traditional livelihoods. In Ecuador, urban resignification emerges as a strategy to reclaim colonial spaces, where communities actively resist state-led homogenization. In Argentina, contested urban commons expose the friction between neoliberal real estate development and the persistence of colonial power structures. Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur’s urban governance in Malaysia still reflects British colonial logic, deepening contemporary spatial injustices. In South Africa, the concept of (s)place offers a transformative framework to heal cognitive injustices, reintegrating and revaluing indigenous knowledge into rural development. These insights contribute to the global decolonial movement by highlighting how spatial struggles reflect broader fights for epistemic justice and self-determination. By centring local agency and alternative narratives, this presentation advocates for a decolonial praxis that dismantles colonial hierarchies, fosters community-led planning, and reclaims spaces as sites of resistance, belonging, and cultural continuity.

Speaker: Dr Kundani Makakavhule (University Of Pretoria)

16:10 Modern, Restorative, Sustainable? Examining Neo-colonial Urbanism and Commons in the Global South

Cities in the Global South are experiencing profound processes of urban renewal that, like to capitalism, need to be understood in their inherent dualities and tensions. These processes involve transformations that simultaneously produce and destroy, accumulate and dispossess, and oscillate between dominant narratives and dissident practices. This paper examines three neighbourhoods in the Argentinean cities of Córdoba, Resistencia, and Villa María, where urban development prioritises the production of capitalist value at the expense of diverse ways of life and the conflicts inherent in urban spaces. From a critical perspective, we explore modernisation in the Güemes neighbourhood, historical reparation in the Toba neighbourhood, and sustainability in the Ecobarrio, Villa María. Using a qualitative approach, we analyse the different characteristics of the urban transformations in each case through three dimensions: (a) neo-colonial urbanism as a manifestation of capital’s influence under varying socio-historical conditions; (b) political discourses where the state assumes diverse hegemonic roles to legitimise neighbourhood interventions; and (c) the production of urban commons as an everyday resistance tactic used by the inhabitants of the Global South. By critically engaging with these dimensions, we aim to deepen understanding of how urban renewal unfolds and is challenged in intermediate cities.

Speakers: Dr Ailen Suyai Pereyra (CONICET Córdoba - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina), Dr Cecilia Mercedes Quevedo (CONICET - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-Template QUEVEDO AND PEREYRA.pptx

16:20 Decolonial Strategies for Urban Greenery – Initiating Change in Urban Landscapes

Environmental degradation is a severe challenge in the rapidly expanding cities in the Global South. Amidst the uncontrolled urban growth in low- and middle-income countries, a tendency prevails to follow the same environmentally destructive pathways and mindsets that the wealthier colonial powers have laid out in the past. The greatest obstacle is the mindset of contemporary societies: lack of environmental awareness, and the continuous exploitation of both natural and human resources. For sustainable urban planning, avoiding colonial practices requires new approaches that raise awareness and local appreciation of the environment as an intrinsic cultural value, and support cultural resilience against external abuse.

This paper debates decolonial approaches for landscape architecture and urban planning to promote a balanced human-nature relationship and create new tools for Sustainability Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa. It investigates a case study named Kumasi Trees – Project of the Hearts, which aims at re-greening the Ashanti capital of Kumasi in Ghana, by evoking local engagement and ownership and exploring local knowledge as a means for decolonisation to rediscover environmental values and cultural identities.

The study draws upon cultural ecology as its theoretical framework to examine the impact of rapid urban expansion on urban green spaces, local resilience, and cultural identity. Adopting a decolonial approach, the research employs indigenous local knowledge (ILK) and cultural narratives to facilitate community-based ecological restoration and enhance environmental awareness. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the cultural context of the urban landscape in Kumasi, the study employs an archival study and ethnographic fieldwork. Subsequently, action research and participatory methods are employed to facilitate community engagement, with the objective of linking climate adaptation initiatives with the strengthening of cultural identity in the urban landscape.

The paper reflects practices of engagement in the framework of Decolonial Thought (DT), questioning the universality of Eurocentric thinking. It acknowledges multiple value systems and advopts alternative knowledge bases stemming from other cultures, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa. The research contributes to the discourse on landscape architecture, urban planning and ILK by advocating for place-based, culturally sensitive design solutions as a decolonial framework for sustainable urban
development.

Speaker: Meeri Pitkänen

16:00 → 17:30 T_01 POSTGROWTH URBANISM: CIRCULARITY

Conveners: Barbara Pizzo (Sapienza Università di Roma), EMRAH ALTINOK (Istanbul Bilgi University), Shefali Nayak (HafenCity Universität), Antonio Raciti (Department of Urban Planning and Community Development)

16:00 The Circular Economy of Cities and Regions: Towards a Critical Spatial Perspective

The circular economy (CE) has emerged as a sustainability prominent framework, garnering attention from scholars and policymakers and influencing the policies of cities and regions. However, urban and regional CE strategies tend to focus predominantly on ‘looping actions’ (see Williams, 2021), such as using waste as a resource and reducing resource consumption. This approach often neglects the socio-spatial preconditions and implications of ‘going circular.’ Growing criticism of the urban CE agenda highlights these shortcomings (Dąbrowski et al., 2024), noting that circular actions and strategies are not always sustainable (Taelman et al., 2020), can perpetuate the growth-based paradigm and spatial inequalities (Savini, 2024), and fail to fully exploit circularity’s potential to drive socially inclusive (Vanhuyse et al., 2022) and regenerative (Williams, 2023) transformations of cities and their hinterlands. This paper adds to these debates by shedding light on the interplay between spatial planning and CE strategies, emphasising how the spatial context influences—and is influenced by—CE interventions.

Drawing inspiration from Meerow and Newell’s (2016) critical analysis of urban resilience—another increasingly contested urban policy ‘buzzword’—we propose a critical perspective on the urban and regional circular economy. Specifically, we question: for whom, how, where, and why should cities and regions develop circular economy strategies? Posing these questions prompts a more critical approach to the ‘footloose’ concept of circular economy, especially when it is implicitly applied to spaces like cities or regions, which are far from being neutral backdrops for the implementation of such policies.

Studying a range of real-world examples of urban and regional circular policies and projects implemented in North-West European cities, we explore these questions and demonstrate how CE strategies are deeply embedded in spatial contexts and territorial governance arrangements, reflecting broader (often dominant) political and economic agendas. Our findings reveal the dual role of cities and regions as both starting points and contested arenas for implementing CE strategies. Successes and limitations of existing CE approaches are examined, highlighting how spatial planning practices can either mitigate or exacerbate the uneven distribution of the externalities of circular activities in urban regions.

By this, we contribute to the increasingly lively and politicised scholarly debates on the role of CE in spatial development, while calling for planners to adopt a politically aware, context-sensitive approach to designing and implementing circular economy policies.

Speaker: Dr Marcin Dąbrowski (Delft University of Technology)

16:10 Twisting the loop: 'Patchworking' local value regimes toward a circular economy

Over the past years, the concept of circularity has gained considerable momentum in spatial planning as part of the broader transition predicated upon resource efficiency, climate change mitigation and the promise of an economic makeover. With cities and regions envisaged as frontrunners of the circular transition, the turn to spatial planning came as a natural step in problematizing the role of local value retention and upscaling toward a circular economy. Both issues beg the question of what value regimes are desirable within emergent circular ecosystems, and whether those provide more spatially and environmentally just alternatives to the status quo. In this exploratory paper, I adopt a topological standpoint to reflect on the limitations and potentialities of circular-regenerative systems to propose an alternative view of upscaling as a patchworking process, whereby circular value regimes play a foundational role.

Speaker: Dr Iulian Barba Lata (Radboud University Nijmegen)

16:20 Toward New Circular Urban Economies: Regeneration Models for the Ecological Transition of Cities. European Cases and Initiatives.

At a time when climate change is showing its destructive force, with record high temperatures and environmental catastrophes, we need to look for an alternative approach to the current one that rethinks cities as living organisms and optimises processes rather than products, paying close attention to the management of urban flows so as to develop a more efficient urban metabolism.
In urban contexts, the linear management of resources (water, food, materials, energy) represents a development model that is no longer sustainable as it contributes significantly to aggravating environmental problems such as resource depletion, ecosystem degradation, biodiversity crisis and loss of natural capital.
It is possible to decouple economic growth from the use of resources and the environmental impacts they cause. This can be achieved by replacing the prevailing linear growth models with regenerative and circular models for the preservation and enrichment of urban ecosystems and biodiversity. To combat climate change and reverse the current linear development model, it is necessary to reconvert our production and consumption systems with appropriate economic, social, political and technological changes that go beyond conservation and restoration practices, in the direction of a paradigm shift in the way we produce, use and reuse products and resources (IPBES, 2019) moving from an anthropocentric to an ecosophical vision that shifts the focus from human beings to the ecosphere, integrating environmental, social and mental ecology for the creation of communities integrated with nature.

The article presents a scientific position with respect to the issues raised from an exhaustive screening of the scientific literature, technical policy reports, and research results at the European level, the paper maps and analyses demonstration projects of urban regeneration with a circular transition perspective that allows the definition of intervention scenarios marked by a renewed conception of urban planning characterised by the circularity of material and immaterial resource flows. The article discusses an alternative position in the debate on circular cities with the aim of integrating the themes of circularity, Nature-based solutions, climate change, well-being and health, and urban development to support both ecological balance and social equity.
The paper presents the theme of the Circular Urban Economy, which, through a pro-active approach, encourages cities to implement circular measures that address socio-economic inequalities, promote social cohesion and improve access to urban resources, services and green and blue spaces. To this end, the article explores urban transition processes according to the principles of regenerative design, reinforcing the role of nature and the recirculation of local resources to transform degraded urban areas into ecosystems that enhance biodiversity, contrast climate change and improve the well-being and health of citizens. The main aim is to clarify the role of architectural and urban design in the circular transition of cities. In particular, through the analysis of selected case studies, the paper identifies the effectiveness of urban practices in which circularity is developed beyond purely economic interactions and eco-efficiency parameters, helping to define the potential of a circular degrowth city centred on inclusiveness, social justice and reciprocity. Circularity is not meant to be the final goal, but rather a tool to create healthier, more inclusive and regenerative urban communities that rely on closed material cycles to reduce their environmental footprint.
The article allows us to extrapolate a catalogue of technological and spatial solutions to be implemented in experimental design applications to guide the planning and sustainable design of future cities.

Speaker: Dr Chiara Moretti (University of Florence, Department of Architecture)

16:30 Reconfiguring Underutilised Spaces: A Conceptual Framework for Advancing Spatial Circularity in London

The escalating challenges posed by resource depletion, urban sprawl, and socio-spatial fragmentation demand a rethinking of urban systems. While the circular economy (CE) has emerged as a paradigm to decouple economic growth from resource consumption, its urban applications often reduce circularity to technocratic resource management, neglecting the spatial and social intricacies of everyday life. This study critically synthesises the literature on local circularity, underutilised spaces, and circular design strategies, constructing a conceptual framework for understanding how underutilised spaces may serve as drivers of spatial circularity in cities, with a particular focus on London.
The review begins by interrogating the concept of local circularity, positioning it as a spatially grounded extension of CE. Local circularity represents a shift from macro-scale, resource-centric models to site-specific, community-embedded practices (Kocaturk and Hosseini, 2023). Unlike macro-level models dominated by material flows, local circularity emphasises neighbourhood-scale interventions that integrate spatial, material, and social dimensions. However, current scholarship and policy largely frame circularity through technical and systemic approaches, sidelining the socio-spatial and territorial implications critical to its realisation in everyday urban life. This review argues that local circularity is not merely an extension of CE principles but represents a profound reimagining of spatial resources at the local scale.
The second section interrogates the role of underutilised urban spaces as latent resources within the circular city. The second section focuses on underutilised spaces, conceptualising them not merely as voids or remnants of planning failures but as latent resources for enabling circular practices. Drawing on Carmona’s typology of urban spaces (Carmona, 2010) and subsequent studies, this research critically analyses how these spaces - negative, ambiguous, and residual - represent both the ‘dark side’ (Kevin Lynch, 1990) of urbanisation and an opportunity to renegotiate the spatial logic of cities (GLA, 2022). By integrating theories of latent potentiality and circular regeneration, the review underscores how these spaces could be leveraged to foster resource efficiency, social inclusion, and localised circularity.
The final section examines circular design strategies as an operational tool for reconfiguring urban space. Rooted in the principles of eliminate, regenerate, and circulate, circular design connects material flows with spatial configurations and social practices (EMF, 2021). Circular design is not merely an aesthetic or functional exercise; it is a boundary-spanning process that aligns socio-spatial practices with ecological imperatives. By advocating for a systemic, design-led approach, this research proposes that strategies such as adaptive reuse and temporary interventions can transform underutilised spaces into vibrant nodes of circularity.
Building on these reviews, this study proposes a conceptual framework for spatial circularity, structured around three interrelated components: (1) local circularity as the core, providing the socio-spatial foundation for integrating CE principles into urban contexts; (2) underutilised spaces as resources, reframing them as latent assets for circular practices; and (3) circular design as the operative mechanism, operationalising spatial circularity through tangible interventions. This framework synthesises diverse theoretical perspectives while offering a structured lens to guide future research and practice.
This study contributes to the discourse on circular cities by addressing the underexplored intersection of CE and urban spatiality. The proposed framework reconceptualises space as the critical interface linking material flows, governance systems, and everyday practices, embedding circularity within the socio-spatial fabric of urban environments (Williams, 2021). By addressing theoretical gaps, it provides a structured pathway for operationalising CE principles through spatial interventions, particularly in underutilised urban areas in London and beyond. Future research must critically engage with the empirical and contextual dimensions of this framework to validate its adaptability across diverse urban settings.

Speaker: Ms Zhejun Wang (University College London)

16:40 Toward Integrated Planning for Circular Development in Cities: Insights from Literature and Chinese Policy

The circular economy is increasingly regarded as a crucial strategy for mitigating resource scarcity and improving waste management in cities, becoming an important factor for urban and regional development. However, many implementation processes overlook an important aspect: the spatial dimension of circularity. Scholars have begun to advocate for “circular cities,” proposing frameworks that integrate economic, ecological, and social dimensions of circularity as part of spatial planning (Williams, 2021). Existing research neglects the challenges and values of marginalized populations, and frequently ignore to conceptualize the synergies among different factors of circular development. In addition, these research frameworks are primarily built upon Western experiences and perspectives, and there has been a notable lack of research drawing from Chinese cases, despite China's significant role in advancing the circular economy agenda. This study aims to address these gaps by rethinking Williams’ circular development framework, structured around three interrelated goals: resource looping, ecological regeneration, and adaptation actions.

First, through a comprehensive literature review, this study aims to refine the framework to highlight the necessity of recognizing and supporting vulnerable urban communities as part of adaptive actions (here revised as social adaptation), while conceptualizing how these three dimensions interconnect. Second, by conducting a thematic analysis of China’s official policy documents on circular development, the study identifies specific development objectives, implementation methods, and pathways for each of these three goals in the Chinese context and examine how these are designed and intend to steer planning practice. The analysis will consider policy framing and planning documents at both the national and city levels, using several Chinese cities as examples.

The results of this policy analysis will offer new insights on the existing circular development frameworks more broadly and also specifically in the Chinese context. Preliminary findings suggest that resource looping, one of the components of circular development, in China, places strong emphasis on industrial efficiency and eco-friendly production systems, while urban waste management—though a component—often remains disconnected from enterprise-led resource looping efforts. Meanwhile, ecological regeneration initiatives in China concentrate on agricultural restoration to compensate for decades of rapid urban expansion and protect farmland for food security. Although resource looping and ecological regeneration are relatively closely linked—primarily through eco-friendly technological upgrades, urban blue-green infrastructure, and organic waste treatment—social adaptation receives limited attention. Multi-functional circular infrastructure, accessible social services, and community-learning initiatives are largely siloed from the ecological and resource-looping agendas. These result in a fragmented policy environment that struggles to meet the specific needs of marginalized populations and undermines the broader goal of achieving sustainable and just urban transformations.

By conceptualizing how the three dimensions of circular development interact and complement one another within the policy goals, implementation pathways, and methods of circular development in the Chinese context, this study provides insights into pathways for promoting circularity through planning in the Chinese cities. It also provides insights for practitioners and policymakers seeking to advance post-growth urbanism by implementing integrated circular development strategies that balance ecological integrity and social equity.

Speaker: Ms Xinyu Lin (Department of Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology)

16:50 The Global Journey of Second-Hand Clothing: Key Actors and Local Dynamics

In recent decades, growing pressure on the planet's resources has sparked increasing concerns about sustainability and the need to mitigate the effects of human activities. To address these challenges, circular economy practices have emerged, focusing on reducing the over-exploitation of raw materials and extending the life cycle of products. The trade in second-hand clothing exemplifies this approach. Recently, this market has gained significant traction, particularly with the movement of garments from Global North countries to the Global South. In the GreenCCircuit project, we aim to explore how this global phenomenon unfolds and its local implications, using Mozambique and Mexico as case studies.

In this presentation, we will debate the specific contexts through which second-hand clothing emerges and develops in both countries, focusing on how second-hand items are mercantilized, even when their origins lie in charitable initiatives. Furthermore, we will share insights from our upcoming fieldwork in Maputo and Mexico City. Our preliminary findings reveal the intricate path that clothing takes from its initial entry into the cycle to its eventual placement in local second-hand markets. By examining these dynamics, we hope to deepen our understanding of the role that second-hand clothing plays in advancing sustainability and fostering circular economies across different contexts.

Speaker: Prof. Pedro Guimarães (Lisbon University)

16:00 → 17:30 T_10 THEORIES: Theories and theorizing II

Conveners: Binnur Oktem Ünsal (Mimar Sinan Guzel Sanatlar Universitesi), Jesse Fox (Tel Aviv University)

16:00 Dare to speak up when something is wrong: Scope of action, roles and feelings in the reflective narratives of Norwegian planning practitioners

Planning is a collective action, and planners work in increasingly more diverse interdisciplinary teams which involve both experts and non-experts. Learning is an essential component of such interdisciplinary collaborations. In this study, we focus on professional learning as an integral part of everyday planning practice and consider planners as storytellers of this practice (Watson, 2002). Drawing on the concept of “reflection-in-action” (Schön, 2017) and the methodological approach of the field of practical knowledge (Methi, 2023), this paper is built on the analysis of reflective narratives written and discussed by 15 Norwegian planners. Reflective narratives of professionals as a method to explore their practical knowledge have been rarely used in planning literature so far (see Bornemark, 2017 for an exception).

The planners, working both in Norwegian municipalities and private sector, were recruited through a professional network and university courses in continuing education in planning. The participants were asked to write down a situation from their work which had been challenging for them or which they could not easily forget. We used the submitted narratives as points of departure for three focus group discussions. The participants had an opportunity to present their narratives, ask questions to the stories of others and discuss topics emerging from the narratives.

The empirical material of the paper includes both the texts of the reflective narratives and the transcripts of the focus group discussions. We analysed the material qualitatively in an inductive manner. Our findings demonstrate the diversity of the roles planners play, dilemmas they deal with and emotions they experience. Participants reflected upon the scope of their action defined by the institutional and organisational structures. These structures have direct impact on learning: how and where it occurs and who learns from whom.

This paper also discusses the advantages and challenges of reflective narratives as a method to study planning practices. While this method allowed us to get access to deep and rich experiences of planning practitioners, it posed some requirements for the participants who should be willing to spend their time to write down some challenging professional episodes. We found, however, that reflexive narrative holds a pedagogical value for the participants as well and would like to develop such a research method into a didactical tool for continuing education courses in planning.

Speaker: Dr Pavel Grabalov (Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU))

16:10 Making Plans in a World of Uncertainty and Crisis

Over the past few decades, the role of and need for plans, as written and agreed documents, has been questioned or denied by many planning practitioners and theorists (Neuman 1998; Moroni 2023). Nevertheless, plans continue to be produced by organisations and governments at all spatial levels and to be used in addressing a wide range of complex urban and social futures.
All planning and plans occur in ongoing uncertainty. Uncertainty arises from the environment and from governance and planning processes (Abbott 2005). Because of climate change, global and local environmental systems are changing and breaking down and becoming more unpredictable. Wars, famines and refugee numbers are increasing and threatening global and local order and governance. We live in a world of uncertainty and crisis. In this context, this paper asserts the ongoing agency, role of, and need for plans. But the nature of planning and plans needs to change.
Friedmann (1987) notes that planning focusses on how knowledge is linked to actions. But what if planners assume they have knowledge that they do not have: what Christensen (1999) calls delusions of certainty. This paper reverses Friedmann’s emphasis and looks at how a lack of knowledge or uncertainty can be recognized in plan making and plans, how this can be linked to actions, and how this will change the nature of plans and planning practice.
There are many conceptions of planning and plans, including as: choosing the best future actions; reaching agreement about future actions; ongoing mutual learning; exploring scenarios and choosing contingent actions; seeking to achieve goals or a vision; informing and coordinating the actions of others; managing uncertainty; and creating frameworks to adapt to complex, self-organising systems. But plans have limitations, as Wildavsky’s well known 1973 critique of planning overreach notes. Plans need boundaries, timeframes and institutional arrangements and to be adaptive. This paper puts forward a new concept of plans that actively recognize, address and adapt to ongoing uncertainty.
Recognising uncertainty is iterative and is about identifying or creating an institutional context for complex problems that allows stakeholders to become aware of uncertainties in their various problem perceptions and to seek to address these. Making plans that are flexible and adaptable is not a new idea but there is increasing recognition of its importance and of new approaches, such as using codes and framework instruments.
Uncertainty about the future is ongoing and creates a need for planning and plans. Predictability is limited but the future is not indeterminate. The future can’t be predicted or controlled but plans can act continually to address and change the future towards goals and visions. Actions to recognise and address ongoing uncertainty need to become a critical and active component of plans. A plan is thus a dynamic tool to change the future.

Speaker: Dr John Abbott (University of Queensland, Australia)

16:20 Revisiting Pragmatism: how to make planning theory more relevant to professional practice

In planning as a professional discipline, the term ‘planning’ in Planning Theory carries a dual meaning – planning as a field of study and planning as a professional activity. In terms of planning as a field of study, the project of planning theory has made substantial progress, having developed an extremely diverse range of theories that interpret and evaluate planning as a phenomenon. However, when considering planning as a professional activity, planning theory has made unsatisfactory progress—evident in its marginal presence in planning practice and the persistent feeling among practitioners that planning theory is not relevant enough to their work (Klosterman, 2011).

This article examines four key propositions, primarily influenced by the pragmatist tradition, that claim to make planning theory more useful: 1) Contextualist approach: planning theory would be more useful if it provided a more nuanced theorization of planning context; 2) Behavioural approach: planning theory would be more useful if it offered a more realistic theorization of planning behaviour; 3) Phronetic approach: planning theory would be more useful if planning theorists/academics conducted research with enhanced practical wisdom (Flyvbjerg, 2009); 4) Praxis approach: planning theory would be more useful if it could translate abstract principles into concrete practical guidance.

While these approaches are indeed relevant, this article argues that they are far from sufficient for planning theory to gain more presence in professional practice. In response, the article revisits the literature on classic pragmatism. Through this re-examination, it argues that a key issue for current planning theory is its overly focused adoption of pragmatist ideas—primarily focusing on John Dewey’s emphasis on situational judgment and his pragmatist ethics of democracy, while underappreciating two critical ideas: 1) the pragmatist methodology (theory of inquiry) and its capacity to bridge the theoretical and practical worlds; 2) Charles Sanders Peirce’s emphasis on the fixation of belief through a community of inquiry.

The conclusion of this article suggests that the key mission to make planning theory more relevant to the professional world is to generate practical planning propositions that can be shared by the professional planning community. This should be achieved through the development of a pragmatist methodological theory that: 1) is case-driven; 2) is actor-centric; 3) produces research findings with generality that can be easily extrapolated to other contexts.

Speaker: Mr Qingyuan Guo (London School of Economics)

16:30 Rethinking Promethean planning: An epistemological enquiry of technoscientific-centrism in planning theories

Although scientific and technological innovation has been playing a crucial role in the evolution of urban planning as a professional practice and academic discipline, an overall critical assessment of the domination of technoscientific-centrism in the field of planning theories seems missing. Whilst the literature acknowledges that both scientific inquiry and technological innovation are crucially entangled with urbanization (Palmini, Cugurullo, 2023) – and have been so for centuries –, less attention has been paid to the correlation amongst technology (here understood as the force driving mankind interpretation of reality: Severino, 2021), scientific specialization (Pitari, 2019), and the consolidation of urban planning as a technical domain.
The hypothesis underlaying this study is that the mere disciplinary, 'academic' culture of planning is per se not sufficient in unpacking the ontological and epistemological implications underpinning technoscientific-centrism. To engage in such an enquiry, then, an incursion into the language of myth is much more promising in that it broadens the understanding of technology’s domination. In particular, the myth of Prometheus (Chiodo, 2020) provides a lens to reframe planning’s history as the attempt to pursue a true ‘science of prediction’ that, via specific techniques of computation, strives to establish control over future spatial arrangements of a given territory (Friedmann, 1987). Accordingly, the Promethean notion of urban planning draws upon Euclidian geometry (Davoudi, 2012) to foster a peculiar conception of space that ensures a virtual omniscience and, as the myth of Prometheus and Atlas suggest, is preparatory to the domination of human beings over the Earth. Such dominion could have only been achieved through a ‘technological’ view of space in relation to its possible manipulability (Sini, 1981). Forwarded into modernity thanks to Newtonian physics, such 'absolute' conception of space informed the rise of modern science and its utilization as a tool, in the hands of Western civilization, to establish full dominion over creation. An authentic design for conquest underlying the rise of Positivist spatiality and that, accordingly, played a crucial role in shaping the role of planners as ‘scientists’ and technical experts.
By unpacking the prominent features of Promethean planning, a post-Promethean perspective of planning theories and practices is here investigated. Hence, the study dives into the exploration of three key facets that, despite constituting Promethean planning pillars, if properly 'overturned' can set the foundation for a novel view of science and technology in contemporary planning practices. The first one of the above-mentioned key aspects is hyper-specialization: so long as compartmentalized knowledge production underlays planning academia, plan-making and urban policies will continue to be imbued with Promethean fashion (that is, with technoscientific-centrism). The second one, the unshakeable faith in technology, is matched with the return of scientism in planning decision-making – nowadays championed by technologists and ICT specialists. A step forward beyond technoscientific-centrism requires planners to recognize that technology is not neutral at all, rather it embodies an ideology (Habermas, 1972) – and, as such, it always pursues a paradigm of domination. Lastly, depoliticization is inherent to Promethean planning, which boosts a kind of technocratic, elite-driven approach to decision-making. To re-politicize planning practices, and overcome technoscientific-centrism, planners should rethink their role as ‘non-neutral’ experts and struggle for alternative theory-building scenarios.
Drawing upon literature review and a cross-disciplinary approach to the research topic, the paper unpacks the notion of technoscientific-centrism and calls for critically reconsidering planners' overconfidence in technology.

Speaker: Dr Ruggero Signoroni (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano)

16:40 Habermasian lifeworld re-considered: A conceptual tool to move beyond the dividing discourses

The post-foundational line of thought and the post-political critique that has come out of it provides the field of planning theory with a critical energy that it has long been in need of. In the framework of this critique, first the Habermasian communicative rationality is denounced for denigrating and rejecting of any manifestation of disagreement in the society in the name of democracy. The inherent consensus logic is harshly criticized for neutralizing conflict and antagonisms, which are seen as constitutive of social relations and as sources of innovation, a necessary dimension of democracy. Instead, agonistic pluralism is suggested by Mouffe (1999, 2005), through which antagonisms are transformed into agonism, and conflicts are regarded as productive and innovative, having a transformative and emancipatory potential. As a result of the influence of these debates on planning theory; the so-called communicative turn of the 1980s was superseded by an agonistic turn, while the classical process-outcome dichotomy turned into one between consensus and conflict. This time the scope of the discussions oriented more towards radical-agonistic democracy, than consensus orientation. This abstraction unfolded in reality as a challenge both in theory and in practice; how can we democratize and politicize urban planning? The new call from many planning theorists has been to embrace conflict rather than pursue consensus in planning processes (Tewdwrjones and Allmendinger, 1998; Hillier, 2003; Gunder and Hillier, 2004; Allmendinger and Haughton, 2012). The article is based on theoretical argumentation building on existing theory on communicative action, its critique, namely the consensus critique and on the repercussions of these discussions for planning theory. It argues that the ongoing conflict orientation in planning theory can be effective in enhancing and vitalizing the democratic potential of planning, only if it can better guide the planning action by eliminating its procedural and institutional ambiguities as well as its loose links with the reality of urban planning and policy making. This is necessary because contemporary planning requires, at the final resort, collective decision making and action that further necessitate rules, regulations, and division of responsibilities. Planning should embrace conflicts, explore disagreements, and for this purpose, be able to work with grassroots movements and activist groups. However, it has to be kept in mind that this endeavor is not freed from the need for communication and speech acts. In transforming antagonisms into agonism, in becoming adversaries but not enemies, people will need to communicate and interact. Furthermore, conflict orientation requires a sensitivity to avoid never ending conflict that might lead to chaotic situations exacerbating the multifaceted crises of today’s urban societies. In this respect, the article calls for a re-reading and re-evaluation of Habermasian communicative action theory and offers a framework for it. This framework goes beyond the incorporation of Habermasian ideals such as the force of better argument, ideal speech situation and the consensus-bringing force of argumentative speech, as most of the communicative planning theory as well as its critiques focus on. It rather offers a re-utilization of the Habermasian concept of lifeworld, both as a context-forming background of processes of reaching understanding and as an arena of conflicts triggered by its colonization by the system. Put differently, the article re-introduces and explores lifeworld as a conceptual tool to transcend the consensus-conflict dichotomy and to guide planning practice to create interfaces that bring together deliberative and agonistic practices, the radical action and consensus-seeking and showing that they are not mutually exclusive.

Speaker: Dr Esin Özdemir Ulutaş (İzmir Institute of Technology)

16:00 → 17:30 T_11 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: L3 - Digital Twins

Convener: Prof. Fatih Terzi (Istanbul Technical University)

16:00 Urban Digital Twins for Cities in Transition: A Literature Review on Current Applications and Future Perspectives

Cities in transition are urban environments undergoing profound transformations to address some of the most pressing global challenges, including climate change, socio-economic inequality, rapid urbanization, and the urgent need for sustainable development. These cities aim to become more resilient, inclusive, and environmentally conscious by reconfiguring their systems, structures, and governance.
Central to this process is the adoption of innovative technologies, such as Urban Digital Twins (UDTs), which enable more effective management, monitoring, and planning of urban systems.
The concept of Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) has emerged as a transformative tool for spatial planning and urban management, offering dynamic, real-time virtual representations of physical urban environments.
UDTs are dynamic, data-driven virtual replicas of physical urban environments, continuously updated with real-time data and capable of advanced simulations. By bridging physical and digital spaces, UDTs enhance urban planning through three primary functions: management, monitoring, and facilitation of planning processes.
In fact, UDTs enable the development of comprehensive reference frameworks, exploration of “what-if” scenarios to evaluate the potential impacts of policies or projects, and implementation of data-driven decision-making processes that account for socio-economic, environmental, and spatial dimensions.
Despite the numerous benefits, the deployment of UDTs faces several challenges, such as the high costs of implementation, data standardization issues, and also raises ethical concerns related to privacy and algorithmic bias. Data privacy is a significant issue, as the extensive data collection required for UDTs can lead to potential breaches of personal information. Addressing this requires robust data governance frameworks that ensure the protection of individual privacy while enabling data-driven urban innovation. These limitations are particularly pertinent for cities in transition, where resource constraints and the need for equitable access to technological solutions must be addressed.
The main purpose of this contribution is to investigate the thematic focus of UDTs applications in urban planning, identifying the fields currently addressed and those that could be tackled in the future. Additionally, the research explores the main criticisms and limitations of UDTs, including technical, ethical, and socio-economic challenges. By mapping these dimensions, the study seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the role UDTs play today and their potential for transformative urban planning in the context of the cities in transition.
This aim is pursued through a systematic literature review, leveraging academic databases and analyzing peer-reviewed studies published in recent years. Given the novelty of the topic, the literature review methodology ensures a thorough and critical examination of existing research, capturing the most up-to-date developments and insights, offering a robust foundation for understanding the state-of-the-art and future directions.
This research highlights opportunities for UDTs to support climate adaptation, foster social equity, and empower public participation. UDTs represent a promising technological advancement with the potential to transform spatial planning and urban management. By providing a comprehensive overview of their current applications and identifying future directions, this study contributes to the broader discourse on the role of digital innovation in transforming urban planning and fostering sustainable, resilient, and inclusive cities.
However, it is crucial to balance these opportunities with ethical considerations, ensuring that the deployment of UDTs fosters equitable and just urban development. As cities continue to navigate the complexities of urban transitions, the role of UDTs will undoubtedly become increasingly vital in shaping the future of urban planning.

Speaker: Pietro Legnani (IUAV)

16:10 Mobility Digital Twin for Public Transportation Planning: Addressing the Challenges of Depopulation and Aging

In the era of depopulation and aging, public transportation demand is undergoing profound changes. Urban planning strategies, such as the compact city model, have been proposed to address these challenges by concentrating population and services into denser urban areas (OECD, 2012). While these strategies aim to enhance sustainability and livability, they also alter the spatial distribution of residents, leading to shifts in public transportation demand. These dynamic changes underscore the need for more efficient and intelligent tools to support transportation planning. To address this need, this study develops a digital simulation tool that integrates high-precision mobility data with extensive open spatial datasets, enabling planners to evaluate and predict the costs and impacts of public transportation strategies quickly and affordably.
The tool addresses transportation challenges under depopulation and aging trends through two scenarios. The first scenario evaluates public transportation demand in compact urban centers, where population density is increasing due to compact city policies. We hypothesize that increasing bus service frequency encourages sustainable travel behavior and improves public transportation efficiency. Using GTFS data accessed via API, the tool enables users to edit bus timetables to simulate additional services. To estimate passenger demand, the tool integrates a Pseudo People Flow model (Kashiyama et al., 2024), particularly the activity generation and transportation mode choice module. This approach provides actionable insights into the effectiveness of increasing bus frequency in urban centers.
The second scenario addresses transportation challenges in local areas experiencing population decline and aging. In such areas, traditional bus services may become inefficient, and flexible on-demand transportation solutions offer a practical alternative (Fielbaum, Tirachini and Alonso-Mora, 2024). This scenario assumes that certain bus services can be reduced and replaced with on-demand transport options to better meet passenger demand, particularly benefiting older adults with limited mobility. Using the synthetic human mobility dataset, the tool identifies affected passengers and reallocates demand to the proposed on-demand system. Simulations compare revenue and cost outcomes between the current bus system and on-demand services, while customizable parameters allow for refined calculations tailored to local conditions.
Implemented as a web application, the tool can be used nationwide across Japan. Preliminary user tests demonstrate its potential to support public transportation planning by providing actionable insights into the financial and operational impacts. This research represents an innovative application of digital technologies in spatial planning, addressing the dual challenges of depopulation and aging populations. By combining high-precision mobility data with customizable simulation tools, the study contributes to the development of efficient, sustainable, and inclusive urban mobility systems. Future work will focus on expanding the tool’s capabilities and incorporating additional scenarios to enhance its applicability to diverse urban and regional contexts.

Speaker: Dr Jue Ma (The University of Tokyo)

16:20 Towards Drone-Based 3D City Information Modeling for Urban Analysis and Planning

This research addresses the challenges of 3D City Information Modelling using UAVs for data collection and processing. It presents an appropriate cost-efficient and scalable approach for generating high-resolution 3D urban models by integrating advanced photogrammetry and data-driven methods. The primary goal is to overcome barriers in data collection, processing, and model implementation, providing an adaptable approach for urban studies and related disciplines.

The research integrates a systematic review and bibliometric analysis using BSMS (Bibliometric Analysis, Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Storytelling) techniques. These methods were employed to identify critical gaps in CIM-related urban planning studies, provide a deeper understanding of trends, and synthesize insights from the existing body of work. By combining these findings with the practical UAV-based workflow, the research seeks to bridge theoretical and practical knowledge in CIM.

Using Istanbul's Emniyettepe Neighborhood as a case study, the research demonstrates UAV-based imaging techniques to capture detailed aerial and structural data. These data were processed to generate outputs such as Digital Surface Models (DSM), Digital Terrain Models (DTM), orthomosaics, and point cloud datasets, all of which offer precise spatial and structural information. These outputs form the basis of a comprehensive digital CIM model, which incorporates 3D mesh models and other datasets to support future analysis and applications. This model is envisioned to address urban challenges by offering an enhanced representation of built environments.

The study highlights the potential applications of UAV-based CIM in urban planning, particularly in improving data-driven decision-making and enhancing urban visualization. It underscores the transformative potential of CIM in fostering innovative, technology-driven urban planning methodologies.

The outputs of this study provide a foundation for researchers, planners, and policymakers to explore novel applications of CIM, driving advancements in sustainable urban development and evidence-based planning processes. The combination of systematic analysis, UAV-based data acquisition, and advanced processing methods offers valuable insights for both academic and practical advancements in the field.

Speaker: Mr Abdalrahman T. Y. Alashi (Istanbul Technical University, Turkey)

Towards Drone-Based 3D City Information Modeling for Urban Analysis and Planning-Presentation

16:30 3D Simulations of Urban Planning Regulations: Assessing Regulatory Impacts on Densification and Urban Expansion

Urban planning regulations are critical policy instruments for managing urban areas, influencing their sustainability, resilience, and equity. In the face of urban crises, such as expansion, housing shortages, and environmental degradation, these regulations can either promote compact, efficient development or contribute to unsustainable growth patterns. While emerging digital technologies, including 3D simulations and scenario-based analysis, present transformative opportunities for urban planning, many urban plans still rely on static 2D maps and PDF documents, which fail to capture the complexity and dynamism of urban systems.
This study develops a dynamic 3D simulation model to analyze the interplay of urban land-use planning regulations, focusing on their roles in densification and urban expansion. Using zoning maps and regulatory texts as input data, first, building regulations are extracted and classified from regulatory documents to simulate 3D buildings at Level of Detail 1 (LOD1). Developable zones are then subdivided into smaller parcels for future development. The classified regulations are applied to each parcel according to its specific zone. Recognizing that building regulations vary in the level of flexibility, multiple regulatory scenarios are simulated to model variations in building form. Finally, these scenarios will be assessed and discussed based on their impacts on densification of built volume and urban expansion.
Sisslerfeld, the largest contiguous development reserve in northwestern Switzerland, is selected as the case study due to its diverse zoning areas and development potential. This site includes diverse zones, including mixed-residential, residential, mixed-business, commercial, and industrial, each regulated by specific building parameters such as plot size, setbacks, Building Coverage Ratio (BCR), Floor Area Ratio (FAR), and building height. To analyze the impact of these regulations on urban form, three scenarios are defined: (1) Current trend of building, which follows existing practices by applying observed BCR and FAR patterns in similar zones. (2) Maximizing FAR and BCR, which evaluates vertical development potential by setting FAR and BCR to their maximum permissible levels and computing the corresponding building height. (3) Maximum volume, which explores the highest development potential by applying maximum values for BCR and building height, regardless of FAR constraints.
Scenario simulations and visualizations are performed at the building level within a 3D environment using ArcGIS Pro. The results of the first scenario reveal how current development preferences influence building dimension and urban form. The second scenario shows how prioritizing horizontal expansion affects building form and urban density. The third scenario demonstrates the potential for urban densification while highlighting possible conflicts with FAR limitations in real-world settings. In addition, comparisons between the scenarios will offer insights into how different regulations and their flexibility influence density of built volume and urban expansion.
This research highlights the transformative potential of computational tools and digital innovations in tackling urban management challenges. By integrating urban planning regulations, 3D modelling and scenario-based analysis, it demonstrates how planners can evaluate the effects of planning policies and navigate trade-offs between densification and urban expansion. These findings emphasize the potential of dynamic, technology-enabled decision-making frameworks to manage the complexities of urban planning and to develop pathways for adaptive and resilient cities in the face of planetary crises.

Speaker: Dr somaie Abolhasani (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL))

16:00 → 17:30 T_12 DISASTER-RESILIENT PLANNING: Governance, transition, and risk politics

Convener: Gloria Pessina (Politecnico di Milano)

16:00 Decentralisation as an Agent of Resilience? Evidence from Wartime Decision-Making and Planning in Ukraine

The spatial notion of resilience has recently been extended into urban and territorial dimensions, reflecting the perspective on cities as complex and multi-level entities driven by constantly changing and evolving flows and relations (Krueger et al., 2022; Schröder, 2022). The recent bibliometric analysis showcases the accelerated proliferation of “territorial resilience” in the planning literature over the last decade (Pascariu et al., 2023). However, the scholars state a lack of clear and feasible tools to transpose resilient-based theories into concrete planning measures and policies. The growing interest in territorial resilience is explained by the increased demand to instrumentalise uncertainty and preparedness for unanticipated shocks in spatial planning (Balducci, 2023; Balducci, 2020; Armondi et al., 2023). The key to this is often embedded pre-existing governance models and the historical interaction of communities and risks (Brunetta et al., 2019).
Yet, the available methodologies often fail to address these components while defining resilient-oriented strategies and policies. A review of the recent studies of territorial resilience showcases their general reliance on quantitative modelling based on a pre-determined set of parameters describing both the factors of resilience and the specific social-ecological features of the territory (Assumma et al., 2024; Assumma et al., 2019; Pilone et al., 2019; Suarez et al., 2016). Despite being presented as a “decision support system,” such studies can be difficult to understand and appropriate for planners and local authorities.
Scholars also note the lack of a relational perspective on resilience, emphasising the need to expand the biophysical origin of the concept to include the socio-economic and institutional aspects (Davoudi 2012; Allen et al., 2020). Vale (2014) found that the resilience research agenda should not just assess the design products but also consider the general power dynamic that enables new forms of development. In particular, in cases of sudden destruction followed by a protracted recovery period, it is important to reflect on the dominant groups for whose benefit the recovery storyline is constructed. Long (2021) warns of the emergence of “crisis capitalism” based on exploiting post-disaster debt finance disguised as sustainable development.
Allen et al. (2020, 477-479) list the limitations of available operationalisations of resilience in spatial planning and policy, ranging from the reliance on theoretical discussion from developed countries and ignoring context-specific factors to treating different types of shocks equally regardless of their origin, not differentiating between unexpected events, such as natural disaster, and contentious and unwanted, such as social upheaval or war. Applied to public actors, operationalising resilience may undermine their accountability for disasters (ibid., 483).
The presentation addresses the context of war-related crises in Ukraine, viewed as a complex security, socio-economic, and environmental disaster. It derives from the consensus in the literature concerning the positive role of decentralised local governance and collectivity in addressing the early stage of the war-related crises in Ukraine (Romanova & Umland 2024; Keudel & Huss 2024; OECD 2022). Based on the interviews with expert informants in two Ukrainian municipalities of Lviv and Sumy, it aims to critically explore the role of local governance and decision-making in generating regulations for post-disaster recovery. Based on qualitative coding, it also traces the evidence of their transfer to land use and strategic plans adopted by these municipalities in 2022-2025. Obtained findings are discussed within the debate on operationalising urban and territorial resilience in spatial planning.

Speaker: Mr Yegor Vlasenko (Laboratory of Urbanism (LAB-U), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL))

16:10 Balancing development and safety: spatial conflicts in Polish mountain region prone to flooding

Managing flood-prone areas requires an effective integration of environmental protection, urban development, and community safety. Spatial conflicts, arising from differing social, economic, and environmental interests, present a significant challenge in spatial planning processes. This research focuses on analyzing public perceptions and assessing the effectiveness of local authorities' actions in high-risk areas, such as the Kłodzko Valley, which experienced severe flooding in September 2024.
Based on qualitative interviews with local residents, the study identifies key barriers and tensions in spatial management, including a lack of trust in institutions, limitations in crisis communication, and insufficient consideration of community needs in planning decisions. The findings also highlight the critical role of public education and participatory decision-making as tools for mitigating conflicts and fostering more sustainable adaptation strategies.
This research significantly enhances understanding how spatial conflicts influence the effectiveness of flood risk management and what measures can support the development of more resilient and sustainable spatial structures. The findings provide a basis for local authorities and spatial planners to develop strategies that integrate environmental protection, community needs, and economic development while minimizing flood risks.

Speaker: Dr Anna Grochowska (University of Wrocław)

16:20 Industry 5.0 as a Tool For Strenghtening Urban Resilience Against Crises

Cities, which host more than half of the world’s population, play a significant role as centers of economic, social, and cultural activities. However, this density also turns cities into hubs of crises. Especially today, the changing climatic conditions further complicate the effects of current urban threats, increasing the vulnerability of components that make up the city, such as economic activities, public health, urban infrastructures, and the built environment, to urban crises (UNDP, 2021). In response to these crises, the concept of urban resilience has emerged since the 2000s. The concept is generally defined as “the capacity of people, particularly low-income, marginalized, and excluded groups living and working in cities, to survive and develop against urban risks” (ARUP & Rockefeller Foundation City Resilience Index, 2014).

When examining the development of today's cities, it can be seen that urban development and transformation have gone hand in hand with changes in production processes. Additionally, vulnerabilities in production activities, which are one of the fundamental functions of social life, have become one of the primary issues to be addressed in the context of urban resilience. Cities that experience the least loss in production organizations are generally those that have the capacity to return to normal operations in the shortest time (Balamir, 2012).

Global events such as the 2008 Economic Crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic have made it mandatory to rethink production processes. Such crises typically highlight the need to reconsider current production and urbanization models. In this context, a new urban model has emerged in which deindustrialization is reversed and the integration of industry back into urban areas is achieved. Industry 5.0 can be defined as the power to create a resilient system that strengthens human living capacity by making production respectful of the planet's boundaries and placing the well-being of industrial workers at the center of production processes, beyond work and growth, with the aim of achieving social goals (European Commission, 2021).

This study will examine the role of Industry 5.0 focused production processes in enhancing resilience against urban crises. In today's world, where cities are prominent due to their intense consumption and waste production, how can Industry 5.0 production methods transform urban metabolic processes, and how can this transformation increase urban resilience to crises? A new model proposal will be presented regarding how Industry 5.0 can create changes in physical space and urban metabolism, and the role of this model in ensuring resilience against crises will be discussed.

The study will focus on how the changes brought by Industry 5.0 production processes will transform urban metabolism, which is generally defined as the assessment of the amount of resources produced and consumed by urban systems, and how this transformation will strengthen resilience against urban crises.

In this context, the study will investigate how the production methods of Industry 5.0 will create patterns of land use and urban fabric in cities, what types of planning and design actions will emerge regarding energy, water, and waste flows, which are the components that constitute urban metabolism, and how these transformations will hold potential for crisis resilience. The study aims to discuss the potential of Industry 5.0 focused production processes to enhance urban resilience and contribute to the development of innovative strategies for crisis management.

Speaker: Mr Adnan Oğuzhan

16:30 Adaptive planning paradigms for resilient flood management: insights from Oslo and Copenhagen

In recent years, climate change has exacerbated pluvial flooding, and consequently, flood risk management has become a key priority for our cities and society (Rosenzweig et al., 2018). A paradigm shift from resistance to resilience-focused strategies is emerging, emphasising the need for cities to 'bounce forward' to new equilibria rather than returning to pre-flood normality (Hegger et al., 2016). This requires a shift from modernist, blueprint-based planning, which views space as static, to adaptive approaches that recognise cities as dynamic, complex systems (Davoudi, 2021). Adaptive planning links flows of resources, people and knowledge, and searching for novel practices. It prepares cities for uncertainty by treating space as a relational, socially constructed entity.

The two concepts of resilience and adaptive planning have long been discussed in the literature (Kato & Ahern, 2008; McClymont et al., 2020), however, little is known on practical approaches. For this reason, the aim of this study is threefold: (i) analysing how spatial strategies and plans have promoted resilient flood management strategies; (ii) examining whether current planning practices still apply a blueprint form of planning or have moved towards updated forms of adaptive planning; (iii) analysing the outcomes of local planning approaches including planning tools, stakeholder involvement, knowledge production, as well as related contextual conditions that enable or constrain those approaches.

The study uses a comparative case study approach by analysing Oslo (Norway), and Copenhagen (Denmark). The two capital cities are chosen considering their vulnerability to cloudburst events and extensive experience in resilient flood management. Qualitative data are collected through the analysis of nine spatial planning documents (that include the municipal master plans, stormwater/cloudburst strategies, and action plans) and ten interviews with key stakeholders, including municipal officials, professionals and academics (that were conducted between March and November 2024). Thematic content analysis is applied, with analytical codes aligned with the study's objectives.

Results show that, in both cities, spatial strategies and plans provide a framework to support resilient flood management practices. Nonetheless, the two cities have two very different approaches to planning for flood management. Oslo model is based on a conceptual framework, the Stormwater 3-Step Strategy, which horizontally integrates all planning tools related to stormwater management. This horizontal integration is reflected in the strong cooperation between different municipal agencies and in the role assigned to private initiatives. For this reason, the knowledge produced has an important communicative role. On the contrary, Copenhagen model is based on a spatial framework, the Cloudburst Plan, which identifies the physical measures to mitigate flooding. This spatial framework has been able to specify a programme of interventions that provide a top-down control of urban transformations (e.g., green streets, retention areas). The Cloudburst Plan consists of an expert-driven process in which several scenarios have been evaluated through a cost-benefit analysis. The findings reveal that this process has been able to achieve its objectives and promote a change in the way rainwater is managed throughout the city.

Furthermore, the study highlights the crucial role of spatial planning in supporting resilient flood management and coordinating policies and stakeholders. Contextual conditions significantly shape local planning approaches. To specify, in Oslo, since 2016, financial, regulatory and organisational constraints have led the municipality to take a steering role that relies on private initiatives guided by local norms. In Copenhagen, since the 2011 flood and the consequent political pressure, local and national reforms have empowered the municipality to implement measures directly.

The study contributes to the discourse on resilience and adaptive planning by bridging theory and practice. Adaptive planning needs to integrate technical evidence to inform decision making with adaptive processes to pragmatically address and learn from emerging challenges.

Speaker: Prof. Andrea Arcidiacono (Politecnico di Milano)

16:40 Disaster Risk Reduction and Spatial Planning in Albania, practice vs theory? how to bridge the gap!

Albania is one of the countries with a high level exposure and high level of vulnerability towards disasters. Over the years, several disasters (earthquake, flooding, wildfires) have had a great impact in lives and economic losses showing clear gaps in the system and the inability of the governance structures to be able to prevent or respond in time. Meanwhile, climate change is expected to exacerbate existing hazards making them more frequent and severe. In the last decade important reforms have occurred in spatial planning and disaster risk reduction, trying to bring a shift towards comprehensive and integrated planning and a shift focusing on risk rather than management of emergencies.
This paper focuses initially on a theoretical discussion in trying to understand the linkages and differences between spatial planning and planning for disaster risk reduction. The dimensions of complexity, wickedness and uncertainty are explored as key factors which affect theories of planning and planning practice. Afterwards the case study of Albania is discussed. The paper uses practical examples from projects developed in Albanian municipalities by the authors between 2019 (Lezha) and 2024 (Fier, Lushnje, Roskovec, Patos, Divjake and Mallakaster) to understand the limits of practice and legislation vis-a-vis theoretical discourse.

Speakers: Dr Ledio Allkja (POLIS University), Prof. Pantoleon Skayannis (POLIS University)

16:00 → 17:30 T_13 HOUSING AND SHELTER: Housing justice and equality

Convener: Wanlin Huang

16:00 Intersectionality and Urban Regeneration in Post-Crisis Athens, Greece

This research critically evaluates the post-pandemic urban development trajectories and design-led regeneration projects emerging in Athens, Greece, following the compounded financial and humanitarian crises of recent years. Focusing on the Municipality’s most socioeconomically marginalised communities, this study interrogates how urban regeneration initiatives intersect with issues of race, gender, class, and urban citizenship. Methodologically, it draws on a triangulation of document analysis, official spatial data, 62 in-depth semi-structured interviews, and critical discourse analysis of media and political speeches. Key findings expose the processes of displacement and dispossession that accompany many regeneration projects, rendering visible the lived experiences of communities frequently excluded from the sanitized discourses surrounding urban renewal. By foregrounding the voices and perspectives of those with intersectional identities, this research underscores the necessity of equitable and inclusive frameworks in urban governance.

Speaker: Ms Maria Ilia Kastrouni (University College London)

16:10 Collaborative Housing as a Tool for Reclaiming the Right to the City: Case Studies from France

The concept of 'collaborative housing' refers to various housing models that feature shared spaces or facilities designed for collaboration, resident solidarity, participation in the redevelopment or design processes, and internal governance based on collaboration (Vestbro, 2010a; Bresson and Labit, 2020; Fromm, 2012; Czischke and Huisman, 2018). In contrast to traditional housing, these communities center around diverse common areas, cultivating a distinct sense of belonging and mutual assistance (Arroyo et al, 2020). This characteristic has been especially vital during crises (Glass and Norris, 2023; Arroyo et al., 2021; Grellier, 2020).
Collaborative housing has gained significant attention as a potential response to ecological, social, and economic challenges facing contemporary urban environments across Europe. This model reshapes the conventional housing approach by highlighting cooperation, sustainability, and a harmonious balance between private and communal areas in the housing settlement. The literature also examines the potential for collaborative housing to serve as an alternative to conventional urban development strategies in Europe (Bresson and Tummers, 2014).
France has a rich history of community-driven and affordable housing initiatives that have adapted to social, economic, and political shifts. Both public and private efforts sought to improve poor housing conditions and promote social mobility, beginning with the Habitation Bon Marché (HBM) in 1889 and the Siegfried Act of 1894. However, collaborative housing in France traces its roots to the Castor movement, which emerged after World War II, with families working collectively to build homes in cities such as Pessac and Lyon (Bresson & Denèfle, 2015). The Self-Managed Grouped Habitat Movement (MHGA) further catalyzed the spread of collaborative housing models in the 1980s. Since the 2000s, collaborative housing has gained significant traction as a response to ecological, economic, and social challenges, with initiatives targeting not only the middle and upper classes but also marginalized groups such as low-income households, disabled individuals, and older adults (Bresson & Labit, 2020). The term “habitat participatif,” introduced in the 2014 ALUR law, encapsulates the participatory approach to housing that allows citizens to engage actively in the design and management of their living environments.
This presentation contends that these three collaborative housing examples successfully reclaim the right to the city. They do this by fostering social diversity, mutual support, social care, financial accessibility, and a democratic decision-making process within the housing units. They also strengthen community ties, participate to the local governance and support social movements at the neighbourhood level. This analysis employs a mixed-methods approach, incorporating a survey of 102 participants from 15 collaborative housing sites and qualitative research including personal interviews and focus group interviews in three collaborative housing settlements from France.
At the micro level, this paper illustrates how democratized governance in collaborative housing promotes inclusivity and alters everyday life through social care practices. At the neighborhood or city level, it examines how collaborative housing projects interact with their surrounding environment, emphasizing their contributions to local community life and social value creation. This includes fostering ties with neighborhood residents, engaging in local committees, and supporting cooperative economies. Residents become active participants not only within their own housing project but also in broader neighborhood governance, creating shared spaces, organizing community activities, and developing initiatives that enhance social cohesion and collective well-being. These efforts illustrate the dual impact of collaborative housing: strengthening internal community dynamics while also contributing to the social fabric and sustainability of the wider urban neighborhood.

In summary, this abstract emphasizes that collaborative housing in France is an efficient tool for reclaiming the right to the city by promoting social inclusion, sustainability, and community empowerment. These projects utilize participatory governance to improve internal dynamics and strengthen cohesion within the broader neighborhood.

Speaker: Prof. Gizem Aksümer (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University)

16:20 A Hierarchical Framework for Promoting Housing Justice and Social Equity through Adaptive Urban Design: A Case Study from Nanjing, China

As global urbanization transitions into the stock development stage, the renewal of aging communities has emerged as a critical strategy for addressing the housing crisis and enhancing urban functions. However, three core challenges persist in current practices: balancing historical preservation with modern adaptability, safeguarding the housing rights of vulnerable groups, and reconciling social equity with economic feasibility. These challenges underscore the limitations of traditional regeneration models in dynamic adaptability and responsiveness to diverse needs, necessitating an analytical framework and design strategy that integrates theoretical rigor with practical applicability to address the complexities and diverse demands of residential community renewal.
This study, grounded in distributive justice theory and participatory planning theory, proposes an adaptive design approach centered around a hierarchical framework. It explores how social equity and inclusive development can be achieved in urban regeneration through dynamic adjustment and policy coordination. The hierarchical framework in this study specifically refers to a multi-level analytical structure spanning from the city scale to community, public space, building, and internal space levels, thereby providing insight into the localized aspects of the housing crisis. The research employs a case study methodology combined with spatial analysis to examine how these levels interact to shape key issues in housing regeneration across three dimensions: the social dimension focuses on mechanisms for resettling and protecting the rights of disadvantaged groups; and the spatial dimension analyzes the tension between preserving neighborhood fabric and optimizing residential functions; the economic dimension examines the dynamic balance between renewal costs and benefit distribution.
The Xiaosongtao district in Nanjing, as a representative example of old community renewal in China, reflects the complexity and diversity of these issues, particularly with respect to low-income resident resettlement, neighborhood fabric preservation, and functional optimization. The study analyzes the Xiaosongtao project through a hierarchical framework, revealing the roles of planning strategies, spatial design, and multi-party collaboration in achieving housing equity and adaptive design. At the planning level, the project uses a ‘Retention, Remould, Demolition’ strategy to dynamically optimize the district's functions, balancing historical preservation with modern needs. In terms of spatial design, the project introduces efficient space concepts, optimizing small residential units' functionality through 3.6-meter ceiling heights and diverse housing types, while accommodating the diverse needs of residents with flexible, adjustable public space layouts. On the collaborative front, the project facilitates feedback and adjustments through a residents' council, personalized ‘one-household-one-policy’ resettlement plans, and dynamic coordination between local government and design teams.
The study's findings demonstrate that the hierarchical framework and adaptive design approach can effectively balance the protection of disadvantaged groups’ rights with the overarching goals of the project. Notably, the successful application of the ‘Retention, Remould, Demolition’ strategy illustrates the practical value of localized solutions in optimizing resource allocation, ensuring social equity, and fostering inclusive development. The Xiaosongtao project not only offers a resolution to complex housing disputes but also provides a replicable model and framework of tools for international research on housing equity and urban regeneration. Future urban regeneration initiatives should further strengthen resident participation mechanisms and multi-party collaboration, creating a more equitable and sustainable urban development trajectory through adaptive design and policy innovation.

Speaker: Ms 梦佳 仇

16:30 Access to housing in the ecological transition. The relation between policies for the ecological transition and housing inequalities in Italy

Climate change and the environmental crisis pose challenges that must be addressed in a rapid and decisive way. The green transition, significantly put forward by the European Green Deal, aims at facing such challenges through initiatives to make Europe climate neutral by 2050, boosting green growth, cutting pollution and creating green jobs. The green transition is expected to involve deep transformations towards sustainability and energy efficiency in multiple sectors of society and economy. While it has a strong focus on housing as one of the most climate-exposed and energy-consuming sectors, critical challenges have emerged as housing solutions that are ecologically more effective might be socially more exclusionary. Building on existing conceptual framework and on empirical data collected in the framework of the EU funded Horizon research “Rehousin: contextualized pathways to reduce housing inequalities in the green and digital transition”, the paper investigates the scope of existing housing inequalities in Italy and explores the possible effects of three policies linked to ecological transition – namely: densification, retrofitting and greening – on housing inequalities.
Italy is a homeownership dominated country with high and growing wealth inequality and more moderate-income inequality, featuring a shrinking population (due to low fertility and high outmigration only partly counterbalanced by foreign inflow). In the last forty years, despite a significant growth in the number of dwellings which outpaced the number of households (resulting in an increasing vacancy rate), housing prices grew substantially and access to housing became critical especially for households in the rental sector. In this period, the tenure composition has shifted in the recent period, with owner-occupation growing from 68% in 1991 to 77% in 2021 and rental tenure decreasing from 25% in 1991 to 17% in 2021. While poor households increasingly tend to live in rented dwellings, the share of public housing shrank from 5,8% in 1991 to 3,6% in 2021.
Housing costs tend to be a larger burden for poorer households residing in rental tenure, and more so in bigger cities than in intermediate and less dense areas. EU-SILC data show a decrease in the share of overburdened households in those categories, especially in recent years, which can be linked to the introduction of a minimum income scheme (Reddito di cittadinanza), a support instrument for households in need, which has meanwhile been abolished. While social housing policies were marginalized, a relatively large share of the housing stock is old in comparison to other EU countries – in 2011, 72% of the dwellings had been built before the 1980s, when minimum energy-efficiency rules were required by the building code – and important country-wide retrofitting policies were introduced. Additionally, some cities adopted plans and initiatives to densify the urban fabric and increase green infrastructures, e.g. through new park and forestation.
Our paper explores those policies and addresses potential synergies and conflicts between policies for the ecological transition and access to housing, and more in general relations with existing housing inequalities in Italy.

Speaker: Marco Peverini (DASTU - Politecnico di Milano)

16:00 → 17:30 T_14 ETHICS, VALUES AND PLANNING: Ethical Challenges of Innovation in Planning

Conveners: Dr Anita De Franco (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Polytechnic University of Milan), Prof. ERHAN KURTARIR (YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY)

16:00 New Intelligent Technologies and Questions of Privacy and Surveillance for the Homeless

As initiatives in recent years have emerged in both the public and private sector experimenting with new and increasingly intelligent technologies in the city, privacy has become an important topic of scholarly discussion. However, relatively few authors have focused exclusively on the particular toll these, especially AI-driven, technologies may take on the privacy of the homeless. Not only are the unhoused vulnerable by virtue of being impoverished, but when technologies are employed in public spaces, it may be impossible for them to escape their reach. Moreover, intelligent technologies are also now being implemented by homeless servicers, pitting a homeless person’s desire for privacy against their desire for help. This article attempts to move scholarly discussion about homelessness forward by analyzing how new and increasingly intelligent technologies alter the privacy landscape for the unhoused. It employs Helen Nissenbaum’s influential framework for privacy as “contextual integrity” to investigate changes to the privacy of the homeless in three relevant contexts. Nissenbaum’s theory asserts that, for every social context, certain information-sharing norms exist and privacy is violated when those norms are transgressed. Here, her framework is used to expose the way that new technologies alter the parameters of information-sharing norms in three contexts relevant to the unhoused – in public and collective spaces, when using personal technologies, and in spaces targeting the homeless. The main findings across contexts include changes to the privacy of the homeless resulting from the replacement of human actors with machines, the heightened power of machine-led inferences in their lives, increased access to their intimate and identifying information, and greater potential for data linkage. Next, the implications of such changes are discussed. Certain dangers are identified – a heightened risk of punishment and decreases in agency – while opportunities are also found – greater protection and increases in agency. Key debates about the merit of machines over humans, proportionality, and the role of consent and agency are explored in connection to the unique situation of the homeless. Finally, suggestions are made for possible ways to enhance the agency of the homeless with regard to their data collected by new and intelligent technologies.

Speaker: Brett Allen Slack (Politecnico di Milano)

16:10 Breaking through data monopolies: AI, open data, and transparency for just urban planning

In an era of global challenges and crises, multi-spatial and multi-temporal data have become essential for the effective monitoring of urban change and the evaluation of policy success across administrative boundaries. However, data monopolies—wherein commercial entities and selected institutions exercise exclusive control over access to critical geospatial datasets—impede transparency, public scrutiny, and equitable decision-making processes. Furthermore, while artificial intelligence (AI) has enhanced data analysis capabilities, it has also made it more opaque. Employing non-transparent and selective AI models, trained on proprietary and non-open datasets, risks introducing hidden biases into urban decision-making processes. This risk is especially acute in developing regions.

To counter this, European open data policies, such as the Open Data Directive (2019/1024) and the European Data Strategy, present a significant opportunity. By mandating the free availability of high-quality datasets (including Earth observation and geospatial data), these policies pave the way for transparent, peer-reviewed spatial research. Key institutions such as the European Space Agency (ESA), the Copernicus Programme, the European Data Portal and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) are at the forefront of this initiative, ensuring that urban analysis remains open, replicable, and publicly accountable.

In this context, this paper explores how AI-driven remote sensing technologies, open data policies, and peer-reviewed urban analytics can break through these monopolies and offer a more just and accountable approach to urban planning, i.e. an approach that prioritises equitable access to resources, transparency in decision-making, and inclusivity in urban governance. Crucially, this work challenges historical representations of urban form, often subjective, politically motivated, and shaped by selective narratives. In contrast to maps, master plans, and administrative definitions of cities, which are heavily influenced by power dynamics, AI-driven empirical geospatial data offers a more neutral, evidence-based approach to urban research. By treating geospatial data as a public good and ensuring rigorous peer review, this paper advocates for collaborative, transnational governance of urban analytics—embedding equity, accountability, and transparency as core principles of 21st-century urban planning.

Speaker: Mr Fabio Bayro Kaiser (RWTH Aachen University)

16:20 Hybrid Spaces and Planning: Exploring Just City Debates in the Digital Era

The paper aims at exploring how models of urban justice, which in the Twentieth century have been essentially based on the equal distribution in space of services and accessibility opportunities, can be imagined and redesigned in an era, in which inhabited spaces tend increasingly to be a complex mix between spaces in the digital and in the physical spheres, hybrid spaces or hybridscapes. Hybridscapes are formed by spaces located simultaneously across such spheres, and by the spatial and social implications they have at both individual and collective level. They concern different areas of urban and daily life, such as work, education, social relations, leisure, etc., and the understanding of themes of urban justice and citizenship has still to be fully explored in such hybrid spheres.
Cities and urban regions have been centre-stage in the debate about inequalities and social justice during the Twentieth century, and they still are today (Fainstein 2010), due to the extreme concentration, polarisation and acceleration they impose to social and economic phenomena. Meanwhile, the type of space(s) people inhabit has been changing with ever-growing speed: this makes such hybridscapes crucial, but very difficult to understand, deconstruct and analyse as complex and multi-layered socio-technical systems, as far as their implications in terms of social interaction, dynamics of inclusion and exclusion and forms of differentiation and inequality are concerned (Kitchin, Cardullo, Di Feliciantonio 2019; McKinnon, Burns, Fast 2023).
The understanding of themes of urban justice and citizenship, as well as the insurgent dimension of struggles for justice (Isin and Ruppert 2015) have still to be fully explored in such spheres. At the same time, while the smart city rhetoric is assuming a prominent position in urban debates, it ultimately concerns only a specific form of socio-technical arrangement, linked to government and control dimensions.
While many of the economic and social mechanisms contributing to the creation and reproduction of social and spatial inequalities are still at play today, even in an exacerbated form, the digitalisation of many spheres of urban life for citizens has implied further lines of fracture and further growing inequalities (McKinnon, Burns and Fast 2023). Thus, if we look at such spheres of contemporary urban life, issues concerning fairness and justice, equal access and the full deployment of citizenship rights can be seen as highly problematic: not only it becomes impossible to deal with already existing inequalities with the spatial tools experimented in the past, but hybridscapes imply completely new forms of differentiation and inequality that have to be newly named, identified, and tackled with a new vocabulary and with novel theoretical, analytical and policy tools.
The main objective of the paper is to reflect upon the possible paths to more just cities in the digital age, and on what concepts of justice, fairness, equality, and citizenship rights may mean in hybrid urban landscapes. To do so, the paper argues that new research aimed to identify new lines of inequality and possible paths to more just and fair urban environments is thus becoming a pressing need.

Speaker: Prof. Carolina Pacchi (Politecnico di Milano)

16:30 Psyche, telos and persona: discerning the voice of the planning discipline in an interdisciplinary age.

This paper presents an initial set of thoughts around the idea that professional disciplines – in the ways that they interact with each other (and how they act in the world generally) – can demonstrate many of the characteristics of a ‘personality’. Because planning almost invariably finds itself embedded in interdisciplinary, cross disciplinary and transdisciplinary environments (Davoudi, 2010) – with various degrees of success or effectiveness – an enquiry such as this may prove useful in framing how our discipline shows up and behaves in these arenas which by their nature are often contested, complex and ethically challenging (Campbell, 2006).

If we start with the idea that the persona of a discipline or profession – the way it presents itself to the world - can be explored in more depth (as a psychoanalyst might interact with a client) it may be possible to infer many of its other dimensions, analogous perhaps to ego stances, shadow influences and even its essential core (or ‘self’). By deliberately using Jungian concepts such as these (Jung & Jaffé, 1989), but without attempting a precise correlation with depth psychology, this allows us – for planning at least – to draw out some developmental principles about this relatively new profession including its foundational knowledge base, its ethical stance, its canonical core, its maturity as a discipline and ultimately how it speaks with its own essential, individuated voice.

Whilst many popular personality typologies (such as Myers-Briggs or the Enneagram) can assist managers, therapists and individuals to get a feel for how typical interactions and responses play out in real world behaviours, it is not inconceivable that some professions can be seen as more generally agreeable and empathetic than others (or for that matter more logic-driven, charismatic or inspiringly creative). Whilst it is interesting that Lewis Mumford showed early interest in this topic (Novak, 1995 pp. 184-185), an over-simplification needs to be avoided here especially if a useful lens is to be found for asserting disciplinary identity in these settings. For this reason the initial focus might usefully turn to the planning voice.

Given that the planning voice - loosely defined here as the voice of those who are steeped in the principles and ethos of town and country planning– has some role to play in key day to day decision-making processes about sustainable development, there is merit in trying to bring clarity to its role and purpose. How do members of the planning discipline articulate what it means and how do they advise decision-makers about it? When doing this, do they speak with a distinctive and authoritative voice? And are they listened to? What strategies do they use when they feel that their voice is not being heard? Are there times when this voice gets drowned out, sidelined or ignored? Does planning suppress its instincts or project its intrinsic reactions elsewhere in the face of power dynamics in the arena? On occasion, do archetypal figures (such as the scapegoat) emerge in these arenas?

We might also ask where planners draw their authority from? What is their nature of their formation as professionals? What is the epistemological and ethical basis for how they act? Are planners even aware of these influences in mundane, tricky settings? Given that the roots of modern planning can be found in such a range of different traditions (in the same way that an individual’s psyche is subject to parental influences), is it fully formed yet as mature discipline?

Based on these lines of inquiry, the paper considers possible ways in which the disciplinary personality of planning might be framed, constellated and explained.

Speaker: Brendan O'Sullivan (University College Cork)

16:00 → 17:30 T_15 PROPERTY MARKET ACTORS: Emerging Planning Institutions, Strategies, and Property Markets

Convener: Elvan Gülöksüz (Istanbul Technical University)

16:00 Undermining Planning in the Name of Housing: Portugal’s Shift to Real Estate-Driven Rural Sprawl

In December 2024, the Portuguese government approved Decree-Law 117/2024, allowing private housing developments on rural land with minimal restrictions and bureaucratic requirements, terminating the need for detailed plans or updates to existing municipal land use plans. The government asserts that this measure seeks to grant developers access to inexpensive land to reduce housing costs.

This legislative act is part of the 'Building Portugal' strategy, introduced to address the ongoing housing crisis. This is not new: in the 80’s, Portugal built up a “dual housing system” (Arbaci, 2007) fostering private housing promotion bolstered through state budget subsidized credit and thus leveraging economic development on the construction and banking sector. Portugal has now the 3rd highest ratio of houses per family in OECD (OECD, 2024). Following the subprime crisis, planning policies changed from sprawl and lack of planning to introducing new requirements towards compact city paradigms.
The policy that the government is now introducing seems a return to past dynamics, marking a significant distance from the housing and spatial planning policies that were being developed for a decade, sparking heated public debate.

This paper examines the ongoing policy shift, its public discourse, and the influence of narratives promoted by the real estate sector. We argue that, while the new legislation ostensibly addresses the housing crisis, its primary objective is to bolster the real estate sector as in the past. Faced with evolving market dynamics, the sector is now seeking to redirect investment toward new territories through a “spatial fix” (Harvey, 1982) on rural lands. The new policy framework seems designed to facilitate this goal.

The paper is structured in two main sections:

1. Two Contrasting Urbanization Cycles
The first section outlines preceding urbanization cycles and their underlying public policies.

The first cycle (1976–2008) featured rapid urban expansion driven by permissive planning, private development, homeownership incentives, and subsidized credit. This period profoundly shaped the territory but faced criticism for its unsustainability.

The Global Financial Crisis ended this dynamic, inducing legal reforms that shifted from expansion to urban renewal, from homeownership to rental markets, and from expansion to urban perimeters restriction.

This second cycle, prioritized urban renewal, particularly in central urban areas, targeting high-end markets and tourism. This approach attracted foreign investment and increased property values, contributing to accelerating gentrification and deepening the housing crisis. Post-2017 housing policies attempted to mitigate these challenges, promoting affordability while retained support for urban renewal, rental and compact city paradigms.

2. The Shift: Returning to Expansion
This section examines the recent policy shift, drawing on legislative analysis, GIS-based mapping of property market dynamics, public discourse and contestation analysis.

It argues that the new government policy aims at promoting a new urbanization cycle, returning to expansion and densification of low-density areas. Such policy reflects pressure from the real estate sector, which frames the housing crisis as a supply issue solvable through tax incentives, expedited licensing, and access to inexpensive land.

This narrative – and its massive presence in the media – is recent, and results from changes in property market dynamics: as property values in urban centers approach saturation and rising construction costs limit gains, developers are incentivized to target new territories with higher profit margins.

This paper concludes by positioning the Portuguese case within broader international debates on housing crises and planning paradigms. It reflects on the implications of prioritizing real estate sector interests, questions the sustainability of reverting to expansion as a solution to housing challenges, discusses the potential increase of impermeable area and threats to agricultural uses and ecological structures and highlights the risks of undermining spatial planning legitimacy through land use liberalization via exception mechanisms.

Speaker: Nuno Travasso (CEAU/FAUP)

16:10 Planning and its spatiotemporal traps: rethinking economic value capture and governing capital flows within the United States

This paper repositions planners as central actors in multi-scalar capital flow governance, moving beyond planning’s traditional focus on local value capture intervention within the United States. By exploring multi-scalar regulators – from national to local actors – and intra-national dynamics that shape capital flows, the paper highlights the limited spatiotemporal character of contemporary economic value capture instruments, drawing on a typology of these tax, fee, and land-based instruments. Ultimately, I call for planning scholars to reimagine planners as strategic urban governors responsible for safeguarding public interest goals and measures by coordinating multi-scalar regulatory responses to capital flows that assemble the built urban environment.

Speaker: Mr Andre Legarza (University of Amsterdam)

16:20 Taxing away land take? The potential for develoment taxation as a NNLT planning tool

The conversion of natural land into urbanized areas, commonly referred to as "land take," presents significant ecological, social, and economic challenges. While (supra)national-level regulatory reforms have received considerable attention as a strategy to curb land take, much less focus has been directed towards the local level. This is surprising, given that the responsibility for achieving the “no net land take” (NNLT) goal largely falls on municipalities. However, local governments often lack the planning resources required to address these goals effectively. Moreover, they face limited incentives to reduce land take, as they tend to rely on urban growth—and the associated surge of fiscal revenues —for financial stability.
National and regional regulatory frameworks may help address land take at broader scales, but they are less operable at the local governance level where NNLT goals are ultimately implemented. This prompts the need to explore alternative solutions. Fiscal tools, in particular, represent a promising yet underexplored approach in planning literature. While land value taxes have been extensively studied, other, distinctly local instruments, such as developer obligations and impact fees, remain largely overlooked in planning. These mechanisms offer potential advantages: they can address land take issues without requiring resource-intensive planning efforts, and they may also help realign local fiscal systems, reducing dependence on growth and providing new incentives for municipalities to limit urban expansion.
This study addresses this gap by investigating how local fiscal instruments in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, can be adapted into effective planning solutions to curb land take. It focuses in particular on the choices developers make in different tax regimes. Through in-depth interviews with developers and planning stakeholders, the study examines two key dimensions of development taxation: (a) its economic impacts and (b) its socio-political and legal feasibility and effectiveness as perceived by the respondents. Through these analyses, this research seeks to identify actionable strategies for municipalities to incorporate fiscal tools into land-use policies, offering scalable and cost-efficient alternatives to traditional regulatory approaches.

Speaker: Chris den Heijer (University of Antwerp)

16:30 Planning Transit-Oriented Development in Taipei City through the Assetization of MRT Development Zones

The financialization of urban development—particularly through conceptualizing volume as a medium of value production and extraction—has garnered significant attention in urban and regional studies. However, existing research often overlooks the critical role of real estate appraisers in enabling land value capture and the financialization of space. This paper contributes to the volumetric urbanism literature by critically examining how real estate valuation practices facilitate the development and assetization of MRT Development Zones as sites of transit-oriented development (TOD) in Taipei City.

By integrating assetization with a volumetric urbanism perspective, this paper advances our understanding of how real estate appraisers legitimize speculative valuation practices and align them with institutional planning frameworks for TOD. Methodologically, it employs a qualitative approach, combining in-depth interviews with real estate appraisers and urban planners, alongside case-study analyses of MRT Development Zones in Taipei City. The concept of assetization serves as the analytical lens through which valuation practices are interpreted, revealing how volumetric urban space is rendered, generated, and extracted as an asset class.

The central argument is that real estate valuation is a performative act that legitimizes market prices, stabilizes government-led regulatory frameworks for TOD policies, and fosters new dynamics of real estate investment. By demonstrating how volumes are valued, appraisers contribute to the assetization of MRT Development Zones, aligning them with neoliberal urban governance paradigms. This assetization reinforces TOD as a developmental paradigm, reshaping urban governance in speculative yet institutionalized ways.

Speaker: Prof. Cheng-Yi Lin (Department of Social and Regional Develoment, National Taipei University of Education, Taiwan.)

16:00 → 17:30 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (A): Experiencing public space

Conveners: Ebru Firidin (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), İdil Akyol Koçhan

16:00 Quests for Improving Visual Quality in Streets

Streets are one of the important public spaces of daily life (Jacobs, 1961). Visual quality is an important factor that determines the attractiveness of these spaces and represents a perceptual value that represents the visual experience resulting from street views (Qi et al., 2023). In urban perception studies, street views provide indicators that allow spatial quality to be evaluated from a human scale and make significant contributions to urban planning and design processes (Biliecki et al., 2021; Jiang et al., 2022).
Lothian (1999) suggests a mixed approach in which both objective and subjective paradigms are used together in evaluating the visual quality of the natural and built environment. The literature review reveals that mixed method approaches to the aesthetic environment are limited. Nasar (1998) examined the effects of street views on people by addressing psychological factors that include subjective evaluations in the evaluation of environmental perception.
It is stated in the literature that studies on the effects of different seasons on individuals' urban perceptions and aesthetic preferences provide important findings (Zhao et al., 2017; Kuper, 2020). Seasonal change of green spaces on the streets is an important component of landscape perception and aesthetic evaluation in studies on visual quality (Junge et al., 2015). How people perceive the aesthetic value of a green space depends on both the physical characteristics of the green space and the perceptual processes that these features evoke in the viewer (Daniel, 2001). However, it has been observed that comparative studies addressing seasonal differences are limited in studies evaluating visual quality through street images (Junge et al., 2015; Palang et al., 2007; Stobbelaar and Hendriks, 2007). In the detailed literature search conducted with the keyword "seasonal differences", a total of 131 sources were reached in the Web of Science (WoS) database. However, the deficiencies in existing research limit our ability to fully understand how human perception and aesthetic preferences are affected by different seasons. In contrast, comparative studies addressing seasonal differences are reported to provide important information on how they affect people's perceptions and aesthetic tastes (Zhao et al., 2017; Kuper, 2020).
This study aims to analyze the effects of seasonal changes on visual quality through street images in Mebusevleri Neighborhood, one of the planned neighborhoods of Ankara during the early Republican period. By comparatively examining street images from different seasonal periods, the elements that determine the visual quality of urban spaces will be revealed. Fractal analysis (Cooper et al., 2010) and image statistical analysis will be applied to objectively evaluate the visual qualities of the streets, and a survey will be applied to subjectively evaluate aesthetic taste through street images. The relationship between the quantitative data set obtained with fractal analysis and image statistical analysis and the survey results will be evaluated using the correlation method. The findings will provide important clues for improving the visual quality of streets and therefore cities. As a result, the study will contribute to the creation of higher quality urban public spaces by using the existing urban fabric as a laboratory based on past experiences.

Speaker: Ms Aygül Demir (Author 1)

16:10 Public Spaces as Catalysts for Spatial Identity: A Case Study of Slovenian Settlements

This research investigates how public spaces act as catalysts for the formation and evolution of spatial identity within the context of Slovenian settlements. Focusing on the dynamic interplay between historical and contemporary urban development, the study examines how the design, use and social significance of public spaces contribute to, and are influenced by, the nation's unique cultural identity.
Beyond the traditional focus on architectural styles, this research expands the scope to encompass the multi-layered influences of contemporary processes such as globalization and socio-economic transformations on the built environment, with a particular emphasis on how these forces have shaped the character and function of public spaces. Recognizing that public spaces can serve as powerful tools for strenghtening social inclusion, environmental sustainability and community resilience, this research explores how they can contribute to a more hopeful and equitable future for Slovenian settlements.
To achieve this, the research employs a multi-faceted methodological approach that combines rigorous quantitative analysis with qualitative insights. A key component is the "Mappi Method," a novel approach utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze spatial patterns in detail. By examining various settlement typologies ranging from small villages to large cities, the research focuses on analyzing key morphological characteristics, including building types, densities, street patterns, uses and distribution of greenary, to understand the interplay between the spatial identity and urban form defined by the characteristics of its public open spaces.
These in-depth analyses, complemented by in-situ observations, historical document analysis and interviews with locals, aim to identify the distinctive spatial signatures that characterize Slovenian settlements and to understand how public spaces contribute to these unique identities. Beyond mere description, the research delves into the underlying socio-economic, cultural and historical processes that have shaped the evolution of public spaces in Slovenian settlements. It investigates the interplay between local traditions, external influences and the impact of key historical events on the design, use and social significance of public spaces. By examining how these factors have interacted with the physical landscape and existing built environment, the research seeks to understand the complex forces that have shaped the character of public spaces and their role in establishing a strong sense of place within Slovenian settlements.
By identifying the essential role of public spaces in shaping Slovenian spatial identity, the research will provide valuable insights for spatial professionals in developing strategies for future urban development that prioritize the creation and revitalization of high-quality public spaces. The research findings will inform the development of evidence-based guidelines for sustainable urban development, with a particular focus on integrating the principles of inclusive and equitable public space design into national and local spatial planning policies.
By applying the innovative and widely applicable "Mappi Method" and the research framework developed in this study to other cultural contexts, the research aims to contribute to a more informed understanding of how public spaces, as integral components of the urban fabric, shape cultural identity. By emphasizing the critical role of public spaces in establishing a sense of place, has a clear human-centered approach while applying a morphological principle, thus offering a vision of hopeful urban futures where public spaces serve as catalysts for positive change.

Speaker: Dr Matej Niksic (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia)

16:20 Assessing Perceptual Differences Between Residents and Tourists in Urban Street Walking Environments: Towards a Balanced Public Space Design

Public spaces have always played a central role in shaping vibrant urban experiences. As the primary venues for residents’ daily public activities, city streets offer multiple functions, including commuting, leisure, socializing, and exercise (Hassen & Kaufman, 2016). High-quality street environments not only improve residents’ health and quality of life but also directly affect urban livability and community vitality (Hornyák et al., 2023). At the same time, streets serve as important urban tourism attractions (Qi et al., 2022; Chen et al., 2022). By walking through city streets, tourists immerse themselves in local visual landscapes and cultural atmospheres, interacting with the environment and enhancing their travel experience . Especially in the post-pandemic era, as global tourism recovers and “urban walking” gains popularity, the quality of street environments has become a critical factor influencing tourist experiences (UNWTO, 2024; Wu, 2023). Given that most journeys are on foot, further investigation into perceived walkability of the street environment is urgently needed.Existing research on street environment perception has predominantly focused on residents, particularly specific groups such as the elderly or children, with relatively limited attention to differences between tourists and residents in street environment evaluations. Moreover, traditional methods (e.g., questionnaires and walking diaries) are often time-consuming and labor-intensive, making large-scale urban applications challenging.This study develops an innovative approach to more broadly and accurately evaluate how urban street environments influence walking perceptions among residents and tourists, while also analyzing the similarities and differences in their perceptions. Subsequently, we explore key factors driving these perceptual discrepancies and propose design strategies and guidelines to enhance urban street walkability.This evaluation method consists of three steps. First, we use OpenStreetMap road network data and ArcGIS to generate street sampling points and obtain corresponding street-view images, forming a comprehensive base dataset. Second, we recruit volunteers to provide walkability ratings for a subset of these images, creating a training dataset to feed a random forest model that predicts walkability scores for all street images in the study area, accompanied by a spatial pattern analysis. Third, by applying image semantic segmentation, we extract street elements and integrate them with built environment features and perceived walkability scores using elastic regression, thereby identifying crucial factors influencing the differences in perceptions between residents and tourists.Considering factors such as residential density and tourist numbers, we select the Ming City District of Xi’an as our empirical study area. Enclosed by ancient city walls, this district functions both as a tourist destination (receiving 211,000 visitors over five days during holiday periods) and as a residential area of approximately 306,000 permanent inhabitants (as of 2022). This research is part of an ongoing project, and a comprehensive review of the data is still in progress. We anticipate that the findings will reveal significant differences in residents’ and tourists’ perceptions of walking environments and elucidate key factors contributing to these variations. By focusing on these perceptual differences, this study aims to highlight the complexity of dynamic urban flows and provide valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers. Ultimately, we seek to design inclusive and walkable public spaces that simultaneously satisfy residents’ needs and enhance the tourist experience.

Speakers: Ms Baoyue Kuang (Landscape Architecture of Kyungpook National University), Mr Hao Yang (Pusan National University), Prof. Taeyeol Jung (Department of Landscape Architecture, Kyungpook National University)

16:30 Small-scale actions increasing social interactions: Temporary interventions impact on citizens’ participation and use of public spaces

One of the central tasks of city public spaces is to provide settings for unplanned social encounters and interactions (Mehta, 2013). Access to interpersonal participation and encounters in public spaces affects citizens’ well-being (Toolis, 2017). Stevens notes, “It is in public open spaces that people are best able and most likely to engage with the social diversity gathered together in cities” (2007: 5).

However, critical theorists warn that public spaces may lose their open and democratic significance as meeting places (Bjerkeset, 2019). In their opinion, contemporary urban planning and design may limit democratic use of public spaces (e.g., Mitchell, 1995; Low, 2006) due to increased commercialization, commodification (Groth and Corijn, 2005) and privatization (Bergsli and Hanssen, 2017).

New and experimental planning efforts can counteract the fear of losing public life by allowing for future imagination and experimentation through tactile explorations in public spaces. Experimental planning practices can “create important openings in the rigid, formalized planning systems for greater flexibility and expedient change” (Hou, 2020: 118).

This paper explores temporary interventions as a form of experimental planning that can increase social interactions among diverse citizens through participation and use of public spaces. Temporary interventions can function as playful events that “encourage bystanders to join in, taking on a more active level of public engagement” (Stevens, 2007)
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Through in-depth interviews with planners and designers working with temporary interventions and ongoing participatory observations of public space interventions in Oslo, Norway, this paper investigates how these interventions affect citizens’ interactions in these spaces. The central question is how temporary interventions create opportunities for spontaneous and unplanned social encounters and interactions between strangers. As Goffman (1966: 124) states, “acquaintances in social situations require a reason not to interact, strangers require a reason to do so.”

The expected findings suggest that these interventions can stimulate encounters between strangers through participation in the moment and the short term. However, long-term interactions and use of these spaces depend on the interplay between the physical design’s temporary-permanent dimensions and the evolving social dynamics.

Speaker: Ms Lina Naoroz Bråten (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU))

16:40 Rethinking Urban Living Environments: Investigating the Influence of Built Environment Features on Physical Activity Levels – Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study in Ankara, Türkiye

Background Information and Relevance to the Track:
Urban planning and design processes have always incorporated the principles of healthy living and enhancing quality of life. In recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the connection between public health and urban planning has gained significant attention, complying with the Sustainable Development Goals. This has led to a growing focus on built environment (BE) epidemiology, supported by accumulated experience and evidence, calling for innovative and transformative actions to address emerging challenges.
BE epidemiologists seek to identify the pathways through which BE characteristics are associated with the prevalence of chronic diseases (Sarkar and Webster, 2017).
One pathway points to the physical features influencing individuals' geospatial behavior and environmental perception, affecting healthy habits assessed by PA levels and walkability. Physical inactivity is the fourth most significant risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide, contributing to approximately 3.2 million deaths; it can also influence the rates of diabetes and obesity [Ewing et al., 2014]. A city with a high level of walkability, cycling, and green spaces can reduce these rates.
Purpose:
Based on TÜBİTAK-funded research (2019-2023), our study aims to specify urban living environments' direct and indirect effects on individual health indicators, such as people’s physical and mental health perception, PA levels and selected chronic disease prevalences.
Method:
Our cross-sectional geospatial study involved 4015 residents of Ankara (aged 18-92). Data covered information on the residents' locations, demographic and socioeconomic statuses, health status, healthy lifestyle behaviors, and evaluations of urban living environments. BE variables included distance to urban amenities (parks, fast-food outlets, eateries, schools, local health centers, shopping centers) and street morphology (street connectivity and betweenness). We fitted linear models to assess relationships between these factors and health outcomes.
Findings:
We found a significant relationship between BE characteristics and health status, the prevalence of chronic diseases, and individuals' socio-economic statuses, PA levels, and obesity prevalence, assessed by Body Mass Index (BMI). For example, selected findings show that people with chronic diseases tend to use green areas for walking more than people without chronic diseases (59,8%, non-chronic disease %49,6; p>0,05) and also show that people with high BMI use parks more often, in particular during summer months. On the other hand, people with low BMI tend to walk to urban facilities, such as markets and food chain stores (94,4% and 89,9%; p<0,001). Availability and accessibility of green spaces significantly affect PA levels; people with high PA levels stated that they live close to a park (21,4% and 9,3%; p<0,001). Housing conditions also affected the results. People living in high-rises are less likely to use these parks than people living in low-rises (60,0% and 50,0%; p<0,001).
Interpretation:
Based on experience, our research merges public health with urban planning and design guidance to reflect on a new urban agenda. We conclude that compact urban forms with high walkability, street connectivity, centrality, and land use diversity support perceived health and PA levels and diminish chronic disease prevalence.
In particular, if an urban living environment has diverse urban facilities and higher connectivity, people are more likely to walk and be physically active. The evidence points to the value of mixed-land use and proximity to urban facilities. In our study, we explore the role of urban planning and design as a transformative tool to foster active living, equal access to urban facilities, and support high-quality, walkable, and equitable urban living environments.

Speaker: Prof. Burcu Halide Ozuduru (Gazi University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning)

AESOP-2025-BurcuOzuduru_HilalOzcebe_v2.pdf

16:50 How Sensory Environment and Playfulness Influence Cognitive Health of Older Adults: Planning Empathetic, Ability-Building and Inclusive Public Housing Neighbourhoods in Singapore

Providing opportunities for rich and meaningful interactions with physical and social environment is crucial for supporting the physical, psychological and social well-being of people of all ages, and particularly the vulnerable populations, such as older adults. Associated declines in sensory and cognitive capacities that occur as people age affect profoundly older adults’ quality of life and everyday functioning (Kwon et al., 2015). This paper outlines an interdisciplinary study that investigated the effects of sensory environment and playfulness on cognitive health of older adults living in densely built and populated public housing communities in Singapore.

Here, sensory environment refers to sensory richness of any physical setting and its capacity to trigger bodily, emotional and mental reactions in users and encourage interactions with space and among users. On the other hand, playfulness is a psychosocial and behavioural construct referring to a personality trait, which enables a person to translate any situation or activity as playful and enjoyable (Proyer et al., 2018; Van Vleet and Feeney, 2015). Our hypothesis was that sensory environment and playfulness are interrelated mechanisms that can affect cognitive health of older adults positively, including reducing depressive symptoms and slowing down cognitive decline. Moreover, we explored how users’ visual perception and viewing behaviour can further enrich our understanding of sensory environment and playfulness, and older adults’ interaction with their familiar built and social environment.

The study had two phases. In the first phase, we employed a cross-sectional survey and path analysis to investigate the potential effects of exposure to sensory environment and playfulness on health-related variables (self-rated memory, cognition) through intermediates (depressive symptoms, loneliness, at-homeness and neighbourhood cohesion), using available validated scales. We conducted surveys with 400 healthy adults aged 55 and above in 20 typical public housing neighbouroods in Singapore. In the second phase, which is the focus of this paper, we conducted a small mobile eye-tracking study, which involved naturalistic walks through the neighbourhood followed by interviews with 20 survey participants from 4 selected neighbourhoods.

Path analyses revealed that sensory environment and playfulness are important factors for cognitive health of older adults at both neighbourhood and individual levels. While no statistically significant direct associations were found between sensory environment and playfulness, statistically significant correlations indicate that both sensory environment and playfulness can improve cognitive health through increased neighbourhood cohesion, sense of at-homeness, and decreased loneliness and depression. The eye-tracking study further explained the level of multi-sensory interaction and the reasons behind such engagement with the familiar spaces, beyond visual attention. The results reaffirmed the need for better understanding of the mechanisms of multi-sensory engagements and playful behaviour towards better cognitive health, in order to inform planning of residential neighbourhood designs in high-density contexts that are healthful, ability-building, empathetic and inclusive.

Speaker: Dr Zdravko Trivic (Department of Architecture, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore)

17:00 Recreational Vitality Measurement and Enhancement Strategies for High-Speed Rail Hub Areas under the Station-City Integration Framework: A Case Study of Hongqiao Business District

Against the backdrop of global sustainable development, China has proposed the concept of "Station-City Integration," aiming to promote the functional integration of cities and high-speed rail (HSR) hub areas, attract foot traffic, and create new urban vitality centers. As a sub-center of Shanghai, the Hongqiao Business District serves as a high-level urban public activity center.

However, China's HSR hub areas are predominantly characterized by strong transportation attributes, which weaken their commercial and residential service appeal, and caused a core issue persists: despite their designation as new urban public activity centers, local residents exhibit low activity frequency, resulting in weak recreational vitality.

This study takes Hongqiao Business District as an example to explore the recreational vitality of HSR hub areas from the spatiotemporal behavior perspective of recreational populations, focusing on the urban contribution to foot traffic in these areas. Recreational populations are defined as those who stay within the district's public activity center for over one hour. By examining their spatiotemporal behavior characteristics, this study identifies recreational demands and provides targeted strategies for enhancing public activity facilities in HSR hub areas.

(1) Measurement of Recreational Vitality in Hongqiao Business District
By using mobile signal data, the study identifies the origin-destination distribution and spatiotemporal characteristics of the recreational population. The service area of public activities within the hub is delineated, and recreational vitality is measured. The recreational activity volume at each base station is calculated, weighted by the duration of stays—higher activity volumes indicate longer and more frequent stays.

(2) Recreational Characteristics and Influencing Mechanisms of Local Residents
The study identifies the resident population within the service area and analyzes their spatiotemporal behavior characteristics. A residential-recreational functional network is constructed, and the recreational vitality of public activity centers is measured as the dependent variable. Independent variables include land use, service facilities, spatial connections, and development intensity, derived from the strength and direction of network's edge. A regression model is built to analyze the formation and influencing mechanisms of the residential-recreational network.
Field surveys are conducted to investigate the travel and activity patterns of residents within the service area. Travel logs capture outdoor mobility information; Activity logs provide insights into indoor activities and multi-purpose trips; And time-use logs detail indoor activities and the "stages" constituting travel. Questionnaire surveys further refine the findings from big data analysis, enabling a more sophisticated study of residents' spatiotemporal behavior characteristics.

(3) Strategies for Enhancing Recreational Vitality in Hongqiao Business District
Perspective of Residents: Enhance the functional richness of high-speed rail hub areas to strengthen their core competitiveness as urban functional nodes. Optimize the provision of living service facilities within the high-speed rail hub areas to satisfy the diverse travel demands of local residents.
Perspective of Space: Promote integrated land-use development in and around high-speed rail hub areas, emphasizing three-dimensional development of public activity centers, both above and below ground. Additionally, establish a well-connected slow-traffic network to improve spatial organization.
Perspective of Connectivity: Enhance the public transport and pedestrian accessibility of high-speed rail hub areas and associated public activity centers, ensuring arrival and entry for residents.

This study analyzes the activity characteristics of residents in HSR hub areas from a spatiotemporal behavior perspective, investigates the influencing mechanisms of recreational vitality, and proposes strategies to enhance vitality from 3 dimensions: urban areas, station areas, and station-city areas. The findings enrich the theoretical framework of urban vitality studies, provide practical references for the development of public activity centers in HSR hub areas, and optimize the interaction between station and city. Ultimately, the study offers insights into the evolution of station-city relationships and contributes to the theoretical advancement of station-city integration.

Speaker: Mr Yifei Wang (Tongji University)

16:00 → 17:30 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (O): Social and Spatial Justice, Urban Transformation of Public Space

Conveners: Ebru Firidin (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), Maliheh Hashemi Tilenoi (Sorbonne Université)

16:00 Streetscape-Publicness Evolution and Spatial Justice: A Street View Analytics Approach

In recent years, street spaces have faced governance challenges characterized by dual disorders in both physical environment and social values, with the transition from traditional "growth-oriented" to "equity-oriented" development still encountering numerous obstacles. Existing studies have lacked systematic evaluation tools and tended to emphasize physical environment improvement while neglecting spatial equity, making it difficult to support refined governance decisions. Based on spatial justice theory, this study integrated street view imagery and deep learning technology to construct a coupling analysis framework for the evolution of street landscape perception and publicness transformation in Shanghai, China, exploring their dynamic evolutionary coupling patterns. The findings revealed that: (1) While street landscape perception showed an overall improving trend with significant spatial differentiation, with Shanghai's core areas displaying radial improvement patterns, publicness exhibited greater volatility, with central areas (particularly waterfront districts) even showing declining trends; (2) Five typical coupling modes were identified: "Synergistic Improvement" "Imbalanced Evolution Type I" "Imbalanced Evolution Type II" "Dual Recession" and "Stable Development" with 38.94% of streets found to be in non-benign evolutionary states, each type demonstrating differentiated spatial clustering characteristics; (3) Multi-level analysis across location-function-policy dimensions revealed that Shanghai's central urban areas tended to prioritize landscape improvement over publicness, while historic preservation districts faced challenges in maintaining public attributes. This study broke through the static research paradigm by constructing an AI-based street space evaluation system from a dynamic evolutionary perspective, providing theoretical foundation and practical pathways for advancing spatial renewal from mere aesthetic enhancement toward deeper social equity considerations in urban development worldwide.

Speaker: Ms Yiwen Tang (Tongji University)

16:10 A study on social equity and social justice performance of public resource planning under the background of urban social spatial polarization: A case study of Green View Index of streets in the central urban area of ​​Shanghai

The escalation of urban social spatial polarization heightened demands for public resource planning, particularly in achieving a balance both on social equity and justice performance. The evaluation of social performance within the realm of urban planning has undergone a progression from regional equality to social equality, and ultimately to social justice. The principle of social equity is predicated on the assumption that all social groups possess identical abilities and needs, thereby advocating for the equitable distribution of public resources. Conversely, the principle of social justice emphasizes the disparities in capabilities and needs among diverse groups, asserting that public resources should be preferentially allocated to disadvantaged populations to realize substantive equality.

This study employs the distribution of streets’ Green View Index (GVI) in the central urban area of Shanghai in 2022 as a case study to construct a framework for evaluating the social performance of street greening distribution. In assessing social equity performance, the Gini coefficient is utilized to gauge overall fairness, while the Lorenz curve facilitates an analysis of the congruence between population distribution and GVI. Additionally, location entropy is employed to elucidate the spatial configuration. In evaluating social justice performance, a share index is introduced to ascertain whether the green visibility rates accessible to specific age and income groups meet or exceed the average level of the resident population, supplemented by location entropy analysis to examine spatial distribution characteristics.

The findings reveal that the social equity performance of street GVI in Shanghai's central urban area resides within a relatively acceptable range, reflecting the positive outcomes of recent urban greening initiatives. However, while social justice performance is generally reasonable, it does not adequately favor disadvantaged groups. Furthermore, the spatial analysis of social equity and justice performance uncovers a notable degree of "spatial mismatch" between green visibility rates and population distribution, indicating that public resource allocation necessitates further optimization to effectively achieve the dual objectives of social equity and social justice. Consequently, this study advocates for the strategic optimization of greening resource distribution in planning, with a focus on areas predominantly inhabited by disadvantaged groups, while also emphasizing the importance of dynamic monitoring and adjustment of spatial alignment to systematically address issues of fairness and justice in public resource allocation.

Speaker: yihao zhang

16:20 Agile tactics for re-designing studio education: A participatory approach for design research

This study arises from an argumentation aimed at critically examining issues of disintegration and dissolution while exploring alternative models of spatial research practices that prioritize "inclusiveness" and "public engagement." In the face of contemporary challenges such as climate change, social inequality, and rapid urbanization, fostering urban resilience, sustainability, inclusivity, and aesthetics has become essential. These core values are championed by the New European Bauhaus (NEB), which emphasizes togetherness, aesthetics, and sustainability in reshaping our built environment. This triad of priorities necessitates the adoption of agile tactics for redesigning educational and research frameworks in the fields of architecture and urban design.
For the design process, Salama (1995) highlighted the participatory model, which he associated with "Community Design" or the "Action Research Approach." This model represents a significant evolution in traditional design practices, as it incorporates users and stakeholders into the decision-making process, thereby expanding the capacities and roles of designers, educators, and commissioners. The methodological framework emphasizes the integration of design ‘studio teaching’ with ‘research practices’ in architectural and urban design - process-driven and participatory approaches, in particular. How can educators, architects, and planners address challenges in the built environment by employing new agile tactics in the educational milieu? To what extent can architectural and urban design education, combined with design research, reveal innovative tactics for addressing environmental challenges within traditional built environments?
This study emphasizes a research process that integrates various tactics, combining the undergraduate design studio with insights from a European Union research project, entitled EHHUR. It encompasses the teaching methodologies associated with design activity which is framed as a form of research - adopting a paradigm of "design research" and "research by design" (Frayling, 1993). This study focuses on a third-year architectural design studio that explores the complexities of urban resilience in the traditional center of Izmir, a coastal metropolitan city in the Aegean region. The research examines how new agile tactics can integrate the core values of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) into design education, reshaping the educational process for Kemeraltı—a historic open bazaar added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2020.
This journey, which combines research and design, leverages the real-world context of the project sites and architectural program, positioning the design studio as a dynamic environment where diverse actors—students, stakeholders, and professionals—collaboratively negotiate agency and shape responsive urban design solutions. The redefined role of the third-year design studio lies in its function as a participatory milieu, facilitating meaningful interactions between student groups and multiple stakeholders, e.g. everyday users, shop owners, and craftsmen. Agile tactics, characterized by iterative cycles, adaptability, locality, and stakeholder collaboration, have structured both the studio's journey and its methodological framework. By integrating participatory processes, agile tactics, and real-world challenges into the design framework, the studio has served as a microcosm of urban decision-making. The final projects proposed a Culinary Arts Hub, conceptualized as a living laboratory for sustainability, innovation, and community engagement. Key design elements included generative structures, climate-responsive strategies, and community-oriented public spaces. By incorporating NEB principles alongside participatory design, energy-efficient tools, and resilience-building strategies—reinforced by expert-led seminars—this framework presents a replicable model for advancing sustainability and fostering agency in urban environments. Architectural and urban design studios can function as critical platforms for testing and implementing strategies that integrate design excellence with urban resilience.
This research offers a broader understanding of the interconnected processes of research and design within historic built environments, both in Türkiye and on a global scale.

Speaker: Mrs ZEYNEP DURMUŞ ARSAN (Assoc. Prof. Dr.)

16:30 Urban Street Space in Planning Transformation: Analyzing and Optimizing the Quality Differences between Subjective and Objective Perspectives – A Case Study of Xi'an

As the most common public space, urban street is not only an important carrier of people's daily activities, but also a direct reflection of the quality of urban environment and social inclusion. In the face of the multiple challenges of global climate change, resource crisis and social inequality, optimising the spatial quality of urban streets has become a key issue to enhance environmental sustainability, social inclusiveness and livability. However, most existing studies focus on the single dimension of objective environmental characteristics or subjective perception, ignoring the systematic differences between the two and their far-reaching impacts on spatial design and planning decisions. How to identify the differences between subjective and objective qualities in a scientific and quantitative way and formulate targeted optimisation strategies in the context of rapid urbanisation is still a key issue to be solved.
In this study, a spatial quality assessment framework based on multi-label classification is innovatively proposed by combining deep learning techniques and semantic analysis methods. Based on 110,988 street view images from the MIT Place Pulse dataset, the Microsoft Trueskill algorithm is used to quantify six subjective perception scores of streets, including safety, comfort, and richness; meanwhile, based on the Cityscapes dataset, the Mask2Former algorithm is used to semantically segment the objective features of the 28,662 streets in the downtown area of Xi'an. streets based on the Cityscapes dataset; meanwhile, the Mask2Former algorithm was used to semantically segment the objective features of 28,662 streets in Xi'an city centre, and 19 landscape element indicators were extracted from the four dimensions of safety, comfort, richness and convenience.
It was found that there are significant differences between subjective and objective street qualities in the urban centre of Xi'an. Green visibility, proportion of walking space and transparency of street interfaces have a significant effect on subjective comfort and richness, while deficiencies in objective indicators such as road surveillance and pedestrian accessibility in some areas lead to lower perceptions of safety and convenience. In addition, tourist attractions and amenity streets had significantly higher subjective ratings than traffic streets, and densely built-up areas had insufficient green visibility and sky visibility limiting comprehensive perceptions despite high accessibility.
Based on this, the study proposes recommendations to optimise the quality of streets, including improving green coverage and street richness, enhancing the design of pedestrian spaces, and improving the transparency and functional diversity of buildings along streets. Through quantitative analysis, the study reveals the key deviations and optimisation paths in the subjective and objective perspectives of street space, providing practical basis and theoretical insights for street planning and design in the context of rapid urbanisation, and helping to build a more inclusive and livable urban public space.

Speaker: Mr Mengde Zheng (Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology)

16:40 Transformation of the Public Space of a Post-Socialist City in Wartime in Ukraine Based on Fractal Urbanism

The article explores the functional and spatial transformation of public space in post-socialist cities of Ukraine in wartime, in particular, on the example of Poltava. The evolution of urban planning from the resource-centered approaches of the socialist period to modern inclusive and sustainable approaches is considered. Particular attention is paid to inclusiveness as a key aspect of transformation, which includes physical, cognitive and social inclusion. Challenges related to the adaptation of the urban environment to the needs of different population groups, including people with disabilities, veterans, and internally displaced persons, are analyzed. Examples of international projects aimed at developing an integrated urban environment are provided. The article emphasizes the importance of creating accessible, safe and comfortable urban spaces for all residents, which contributes to the overall well-being and sustainable development of communities.

Speaker: Prof. Vadim Vadimov (National University «Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic»)

16:50 Local planners’ views on public space vis-a-vis sustainability transitions: evidence from suburban locations in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area

This presentation examines the views of local planners towards the implications, challenges and barriers of (re)designing public spaces within the context of urban and ecological transitions in suburban and metropolitan areas.
Nowadays, the importance of public space is widely disseminated across academic research and policy-making, often emphasising its paramount contributions to sustainable development and the promotion of just and cohesive communities.
Public spaces play a crucial role in different aspects of sustainability - environmental, social and economic. Indeed, they can galvanise through design solutions for resource efficiency or nature-based solutions, supporting active mobility and socially inclusive development. Moreover, they can be pivotal in promoting sustainable behaviours and life choices beyond individual action. Along these lines, the recent crises highlighted the importance and need to adapt or design public spaces more suited to the new challenges. At the policy level, initiatives such as the European Ecological Pact or the New European Bauhaus define a framework for the sustainable transformation of urban environments and lifestyles. Public spaces are approached at a multi-dimensional capacity. Although the opportunities for change proposed by these approaches are evident, the development of city-wide local strategies must be developed with a place-based perspective. In other words, the specificity of different types of territories, their urban dynamics, existing public spaces and perspectives of local stakeholders should be considered vis-a-vis the broader debate on sustainability transition policies. This is particularly relevant in peripheral and suburban urban areas, where public spaces tend to have different configurations and dynamics than those of central or traditional areas, often lacking adequate ecological structures, collective facilities, and infrastructures.
To delve into this topic, we address the relation between urban transitions and suburban public space by accounting for how public authorities perceive and address the urban sustainability agenda locally, taking as a case-study examples from the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA).
This communication explores local planners' views on the future of cities, discussing:
(1) the perceived meanings of urban sustainability and challenges regarding public space;
(2) the integration of the concept in their planning practices;
(3) existing constraints and tensions experienced; and
(4) the progress and opportunities for innovation.

The study is based on qualitative data collected through a series of focus-group workshops with planners from different departments in two LMA municipalities, Odivelas and Almada. After processing this data through thematic qualitative analysis, the results will address the urban planners' interpretations of urban sustainability, its implications in public space design and management, and a critical view of the concept and agendas in suburban metropolitan territories. The study will contribute to a deeper understanding of how agendas for urban sustainability are understood, implemented, and adapted in complex suburban contexts, as well as how the particularities of the production of public space in different contexts impact the implementation of said strategies.
The work intends to contribute to the theoretical discussion regarding discourses on urban sustainability transitions, specifically by addressing the views of urban practitioners and confronting these with empirical findings on local public space adaptation measures.

Speaker: Ana Brandão (Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Centro de Estudos sobre a Mudança Socioeconómica e o Território (DINÂMIA’CET), Lisboa, Portugal.)

16:00 → 17:30 T_02 PLANNING AND LAW: Climate and Environmental Planning

Conveners: Paula Vale de Paula (CiTUA, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon), Sevkiye Sence TURK

16:00 Climate adaptation in multi-level legal and planning policy frameworks: using spatial justice to identify barriers to meaningful implementation

Coastlines and estuarine river edges are changing. With sea levels rising, and continued coastal protection increasingly being financially and practically unviable, increased thought is being given to managing a retreat from vulnerable areas along urban river edges and coasts and learning to live with water. Flooding, however, isn't just about waters rising. National and international laws, policies, economic frameworks and social processes produce and sustain unjust impacts from natural processes. Through decoupling the risk factors of hazard, exposure and vulnerability and applying a spatial justice methodological framework to coastal adaptation, the ethical, socio-economic and environmental challenges working with adapting to a changing climate can be better understood.

Working in the United Kingdom context this research seeks to understand how national, regional and local legal and planning governance, funding and land ownership frameworks enable or limit adaptation planning. Increasing this understanding allows for the implementation of adaptation pathways to be understood in their wider socio-spatial context. The planning and legal systems that apply to local and regional spatial decisions are often the locus for concept conflicts between present and future land uses. As the need to implement climate adaptation 'on the ground' increasing in urgency, understanding how this agenda can be supported by current legal, land ownership and planning policy frameworks is crucial for enabling resilient places for future generations.

This talk asks the question "why is climate adaptation so difficult to implement?". It works towards an answer by exploring the legal and policy frameworks, along with land ownership regimes, into which 'adaptation thinking' is being applied. With a focus on coastal adaptation, the challenges faced in contending with an increasingly (anthropogenically) hostile climate are grounded in legal theory, planning law, land ownership and overarching governance frameworks. The spatial justice lens is useful here in that it allows us to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges of implementing adaptation pathways.

This analysis of multi-level governance, across law, policy and land ownership, allows us to explore where adaptation has the power to enact change within current land management and planning frameworks. At which level of governance does adaptation need to be championed in order for implementation to occur? Where are the windows of opportunity, and where are the barriers for successful, inter-generationally just outcomes?

Speaker: Dr Kat Fradera (University of Glasgow)

16:10 The role of planning law in regulating urban ventilation: The case of Poland

In the face of the climate crisis, compact development is becoming a challenge to provide adequate urban ventilation. Dense, high intensity building development reduces wind velocity, leading to stagnation and accumulation of pollutants in the air and an increase in the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon (Poćwierz & Zielonko-Jung, 2021). In turn, air pollution and the UHI phenomenon negatively affect the quality of life of residents and the environment (Erell et.al., 2015). These phenomena also have a negative impact on human health. Every year, the number of people suffering from illnesses and dying due to higher temperatures and poor air quality increases worldwide (Banach, M. 2022; Shi L. et.al.2020).
This study analyses the legal instruments in force in Poland at different scales of city planning (micro, meso, macro) and their relevance to the effective management of urban ventilation. The changes in regulations over the last 20 years in Polish cities were compared in terms of their adaptation to the need for urban ventilation. Key areas for improvement were diagnosed. The results of the study highlight the need to develop consistent regulatory guidelines for a more sustainable and healthier urban environment.

Speaker: Ms Mariya-Veronika Mochulska (Gdansk University of Technology)

16:20 Exploring the Challenges of Integrating Nature-Based Solutions into Urban Planning Statutory Systems: A Case Study of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Under the dual challenges of climate change and urban sustainable development, Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) are one of the modern approaches to address environmental and social challenges. As an innovative strategy for urban sustainability, NbS has garnered widespread international attention (Nugent et al., 2015), and many countries have actively promoted its broad application. The Urban Nature Atlas (UNA) categorizes NbS based on the challenges faced by different regions and emphasizes the importance of bottom-up NbS implementation strategies. Also, in urban governance, uncertainties posed by climate change and the lack of site-specific governance strategies highlight the need for a comprehensive implementation framework (Castelo et al., 2023). Therefore, how to systematically and effectively incorporate NbS into urban planning statutory systems and practices remains a pressing topic in academic and practical fields.
In Taiwan, the "Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan" meeting was firstly held in 2022 and followed by the Executive Yuan approved the "National Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan (2023–2026)" in 2023. The NbS was officially announced as a key concept in climate change adaptation strategies (Shih, 2024). Despite strategies of ecological protection and disaster prevention have been compulsory contents in the current statutory plan by law, the systematic application of ecological foundations integrated with NbS remains insufficient (Chou et al., 2023).
Furthermore, the practical application of NbS in Taiwan faces challenges due to urban spatial heterogeneity and high-density development. The local applications of NbS remain controversial. Kaohsiung City, the second largest municipality in Taiwan, has actively sought to transition from a heavy-industrial city toward a vision of smart innovation and green sustainable development in recent years, presenting an excellent opportunity for the introduction of NbS.
The study focuses on Kaohsiung City's urban planning system, selecting three types of spatial areas facing distinct challenges: industrial transformation and emerging urban zones (e.g., Asia New Bay Area), existing ecological protection zones (e.g., Shoushan Conservation Area), and historical cultural landscape areas (e.g., Yancheng District). The research employs Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) combined with an NbS relevance matrix to quantify the current state of NbS applications in urban planning documents. Additionally, through international case comparisons, this study examines differences in policy frameworks, technological applications, and social benefits, evaluating the status of NbS applications in various spatial contexts in Kaohsiung's urban planning while analyzing the potential and deficiencies in its implementation.
The expected outcomes of this study include: (1) clarifying the current status and limitations of NbS applications across different urban planning areas in Kaohsiung; (2) proposing policy integration and suggesting possible planning regulations/ zoning codes for the current urban planning statutory system for delivering feasible NbS strategies to enhance Kaohsiung City's resilience and sustainability. These findings aim to serve as a policy and practical reference for other cities, contributing to the dual goals of climate adaptation and sustainable development.

Speaker: Ms YaZhen Cai (Department of Urban Planning, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan)

16:30 Suing Like a City: How plaintiff cities pursue climate litigation against the state and corporations

As in previous waves of public interest litigation (Morris 2016), plaintiff cities are turning to the courts in their efforts to seek climate justice against more powerful opponents. But can, and are, cities leading the way on climate justice? Here we analyse plaintiff city litigation with a climate-relevant purpose – what we call ‘city climate litigation’ – as the latest incarnation of an old strategic tool to pursue climate action and fairer, more effective climate governance (Swan 2018). We analyse 97 city climate litigation cases collected from international legal databases, with a focus on the unique city interests plaintiff cities seek to protect through litigation (Clopton and Shoked 2023). We summarise our review with key statistics and geographical trends (cf Setzer and Higham 2024). We then turn to discuss cities’ climate litigation strategies in more detail, including what challenges cities face and how cities contribute to broader climate litigation. Our analysis is divided in two based on the category of defendant: claims against the state and claims against ‘carbon major’ corporations. This reflects basic differences in the nature of cities’ legal claims against each type of defendant, as well as the different strategies and challenges used against each. We find that many city climate litigation cases remain pending before the courts. However, we demonstrate that cities led previous waves of climate litigation and currently lead many pending 'second wave' cases identified in the broader climate litigation literature (Setzer and Higham 2024). But how long will cities continue to lead the way on climate justice in the courts? We conclude with key cases to watch in the years ahead and some reflections on the limits of city climate litigation, based on historical dynamics in public interest litigation.

Speaker: Alexander Stanley (HafenCity Universität Hamburg)

16:00 → 17:30 T_03 MOBILITY (A): Research on big data and modelling

Convener: Metin Senbil (Gazi University)

16:00 GenAI Street Experiments: Introducing a Critical Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Urban Design Teaching

Street experiments are increasingly adopted as planning measures to help communities visualize “radically different arrangements of the urban mobility system”(Bertolini 2020). These interventions foster active mobility and public life through relatively short-term, low-resource, and small-scale spatial transformations that enable “here and now” changes to streetscapes. Despite their potential, such transformations often require significant spatial interventions, resources, and institutional and community support. Inadequate or unresponsive design remains a recognized barrier to their broader implementation (VanHoose 2023).
The recent rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools promises to disrupt how cities are planned and designed. Some of these tools aim to empower diverse stakeholders to “reinvent their streets” while creating “happier and healthier environments” (NL Netherlands 2025). For instance, certain tools visualize how adopting a cycling lifestyle or adding outdoor seating could transform a specific street. As educational exercises, GenAI tools offer opportunities to envision alternative futures. However, mobility injustice remains a pressing concern, underscoring the need for planners to critically engage with these technologies.
In this presentation, we draw on our experience designing and teaching a course focused on fostering critical skills for engaging with GenAI in urban design. Using relevant frameworks, we discuss how these tools can be integrated into planning education, emphasizing the need to analyze their outputs critically and understand their potential impacts on urban mobility and equity.

Speakers: Dr Caterina Villani (University College Dublin), Ms Toka Fahmy Abdelmutleb (University College Dublin)

16:10 Interpretable Spatial Machine Learning Insights into the Impact of Built Environment on Intercity Commuting

With the enhancement of intercity travel convenience and the effective sharing of urban public resources, commuting patterns have evolved beyond single-city boundaries, increasingly reflecting inter-regional mobility. Compared to intra-city commuting, intercity commuting is characterized by a larger spatiotemporal scope, longer commuting durations, and a greater reliance on transportation infrastructure. Consequently, the choice of intercity commuting is influenced not only by the physical distance between home and workplace and housing costs, but also by factors such as the level of economic development, the availability of public services, and the configuration of intercity transportation networks. Recent research has indicated that the built environment exerts a non-linear and spatially heterogeneous effect on intercity commuting distribution, revealing the complex interactions between these factors (Li and Niu, 2022). However, few studies have managed to address both two characteristics simultaneously.

The study focuses on Nanjing and Ma'anshan as case studies, two cities with a high degree of urban integration in China. The area is divided into 1,756 traffic analysis zones, with data from one month of cellphone signaling analyzed. Preliminary results reveal that, there is an uneven distribution of intercity commuting flows, with north-south commuting significantly surpassing east-west commuting in volume and a pronounced ‘center-to-center’ spatial distribution pattern. To further explore the impact of the built environment on intercity commuting, the study employs an interpretable spatial machine learning framework that combines the Geographically Weighted Random Forest (GWRF) model with SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis, uncovering the complex spatial factors influencing intercity commuting patterns.

The GWRF model effectively combines the spatial analysis capabilities of Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model with the predictive power of Random Forest (RF) model to better reveal the potential spatial heterogeneity and nonlinear effects of the variables, while SHAP enhances interpretability(Wu, Zhang and Xiang, 2024). Preliminary results show that employment density and public transportation coverage are the primary factors influencing the attractiveness of intercity commuting (with importance values of 16.34% and 14.47%, respectively). The workplaces of intercity commuters typically exhibit spatial agglomeration characteristics, with commuting attractiveness increasing sharply when employment density exceeds 4,500 jobs/km², demonstrating the nonlinear positive effect of employment density on commuting. Furthermore, since intercity commuters typically face longer travel distance, their demand for convenient transit transfers is higher (Bouzouina et al., 2021). However, the study also finds that the attractiveness of commuting plateaus when transit route density exceeds 106 routes/km², indicating a saturation effect of transit coverage and accessibility on intercity commuting. From the commuting generation perspective, land prices and educational resources emerge are the two critical influencing factors (with importance values of 19.56% and 13.62%, respectively). This suggests that when housing prices in large cities exceed the affordability threshold for intercity commuters, they tend to choose residence in neighboring cities, aligning with findings from previous studies (Chen, Ge and Pan, 2021). The strong positive relationship between educational resources and intercity commuting is attributed to the abundance of educational resources in Nanjing and proximity-based enrollment policies that attract residents from nearby cities.

Based on the above findings, the study proposes differentiated optimization strategies to enhance urban morphology and transportation layout, thereby improving intercity commuting efficiency. The results provide a theoretical foundation for optimizing urban design and transportation networks, as well as practical guidance for urban planning and transportation policy, particularly in the context of promoting the integration of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas, offering significant practical value.

Speaker: Mr Xinyu Lin (School of Architecture, Southeast University)

16:20 Assessing the Impact of Urban Rail Transit on Urban Vitality: A Big-Data-Based Approach

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) aims to guide urban development through rail transit, with rail transit stations serving as pivotal urban nodes for the concentration of people and urban activities. The opening of new rail transit lines can increase the attractiveness of the station areas by improving accessibility and fostering changes in land use and amenities, thereby enhancing urban vitality. While numerous studies have shown the impact of rail transit stations on travel behavior and property values, few have provided empirical evidence on the vitality changes in the station areas.
Employing a difference-in-differences (DID) modeling framework, we assess the impact of rail transit on the urban vitality of the station areas, using the opening of Shanghai Metro Line 15 as a natural experiment. The urban vitality is measured by the number of residents, workers, and visitors clustered in the station areas, along with the visiting frequency, duration of stay, and distances from the stations to the homes of visitors, using a large mobile signaling dataset from 2017 to 2021 in Shanghai. We define the treatment group as areas close to the metro stations (within 500 meters of the station) and the control group as areas further away from the stations (beyond 500 meters), ensuring that the closest station for both the treatment and control groups is a Line 15 station. We find that the opening of a new metro station can increase the overall population clustered, number of visitors, and their visiting frequency in the treatment areas, relative to the control areas. Despite an increase in the number of visits, the duration of stay of visitors per person in the treatment areas has decreased. Additionally, the visitors reside in areas more distant from the metro stations after the openning, suggesting a broader influence radius of the stations.
The rail transit effects on urban vitality show significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity. We adopt a Difference-in-Difference-in-Differences (DDD) model to investigate the spatial heterogeneity of the effects between interchange and non-interchange stations, as well as stations inside and outside the outer ring road of Shanghai. The results show that the interchange stations have significantly higher attractiveness to visitors and higher visiting frequency increase compared with normal stations. Compared to stations within the outer ring road, stations located outside the outer ring road attracted more residents and visitors from further distances. To explore temporal heterogeneity, we divided the study period into weekdays and weekends, conducting DID regression for both groups separately. The results revealed that, the rail transit effect in attracting more people, especially more visitors, is higher on weekdays than on weekends.
This study combines big data and DID analysis to assess the treatment effect of rail transit on urban vitality and uses several years of panel data to capture the dynamic changes in vitality. The research findings have significant policy implications for TOD and initiatives to enhance the overall livability and attractiveness of urban spaces.

Speaker: Ms Wenyu Lyu (Tongji University)

16:30 Urban freight mobility modes recognition classification and inclusive freight policy exploration based on truck trajectory data: A case study of Shanghai, China

The movement of goods is integral to the daily lives of households and the operations of businesses, influencing the development of cities. In high-density urban areas such as Shanghai, China, trucks serve as the primary agents of goods transportation, yet they confront strict constraints. Studying the behavior patterns of urban freight car flows can reduce costs and enhance efficiency within the freight transportation industry, thus promoting sustainable economic development. Moreover, it is an inevitable requirement for refining urban traffic management, improving road network operation efficiency, and constructing sustainable urban traffic models. In recent years, the availability of high-frequency tracking data for trucks has greatly improved, facilitating the study of truck flow laws and the excavation of truck activity patterns from a microscopic perspective. There is room for continuous improvement in the methodological system for processing and analyzing truck activity data, as well as in the construction of flow patterns and models.
Based on high-frequency GPS tracking data of heavy trucks in Shanghai, this study explores and identifies different patterns of urban freight flow, and proposes freight-friendly policies and planning suggestions for an inclusive, efficient, and sustainable urban transport system, aiming to build an inclusive, sustainable, and innovative freight-friendly urban transport system. Initially, the basic travel information of heavy trucks is accurately obtained by preprocessing the GPS data of a large number, which includes stop point identification and map matching. Subsequently, the temporal and spatial characteristics of truck travel are described in terms of duration, frequency, spatial distance, scope, and infrastructure usage. By integrating data on land use, enterprise registration points of interest (POIs), transportation hub areas of interest (AOIs), etc., the activity purposes of trucks are inferred, variable sets are established, and these variable sets are subjected to two-step clustering to conclude typical truck activity patterns.
According to the clustering results, the patterns can be classified into two main categories and five sub-categories: wholesale and retail goods transportation (intra-city short-distance wholesale and retail mode, inter-city short-distance wholesale and retail mode); and inter-city and short-haul freight (inter-city and short-haul transit mode, inter-city long-distance heavy industry mode, mixed short-haul logistics mode). These different modes exhibit significant differences in terms of various characteristics in time and space. Based on these findings, this study proposes targeted management suggestions. For instance, more detailed traffic requirements are suggested for short-distance wholesale and retail trucks within the city. Real-time monitoring of peak hours and areas prone to traffic congestion, combined with big data, is recommended, along with flexible traffic restrictions. To promote inclusiveness, appropriate toll subsidies should be provided for trucks with a mixed medium and short-distance logistics mode that are highly dependent on expressways.
The value of this study lies in the innovative use of freight-related data to explore freight mobility rules from a micro perspective. It points out the shortcomings of the current urban "one-size-fits-all" policy and the lack of consideration for the characteristics of different modes and needs in different periods within macro and general management and control. The research provides a scientific basis for the refined management of urban freight mobility and the construction of freight-friendly and sustainable urban transportation systems. In the future, urban mobility policies related to freight transport can be formulated and managed according to different freight modes, and an innovative, diversified and inclusive urban freight transport system can be built according to local conditions, promoting freight mobility to reduce costs, and fostering sustainable social and economic development. Additionally, the research integrates perspectives and thinking from urban planning, transportation, economic management, politics and other disciplines, providing referential ideas and methods for interdisciplinary and similar research and practice in other cities.

Speaker: Ms Jia Wei (Urban Mobility Institute, Tongji University, Shanghai, China)

16:40 Identifying intermediate territories through mobility patterns

Sustainability strategies in the mobility sector are often concentrated on large metropolitan hubs or on main transport corridors. On the one hand, in fact, cities have been a field of experimentation for a mobility model alternative to the car-centric one. On the other, resources and institutional efforts have been concentrated to create and strengthen direct connections between them, especially high-speed ones.
Italy is a clear example of that, and the result is that the non-core territories have been underrepresented in the policy agenda, in a country where large cities account for 32% of population. At the margins of the agenda have remained both the remote areas of the country, which do not intrinsically express sufficient mobility demand to be considered by policies of national scope, but also all those areas that make up the “In-between Italy” (from now on Italia di Mezzo), that sum up to 62% of Italian population. Usually, these areas are only considered as an extension of metropolitan commuting basins and with little functional autonomy. To the contrary, innovative and targeted policies would be necessary for these areas, since merely adapting on a smaller scale the strategies implemented in metropolitan territories has proven to be ineffective. The first fundamental step, however, is to identify these territories.
The aim of this paper is to present a methodology that can recognize, isolate and describe the possible Italia di Mezzo exclusively with data related to mobility demand. To build this methodology we relied on consistent and large-scale data, the ISTAT “origin-destination matrix of travel for work or study reasons” of 2011, that however deliberately but necessarily excludes other kinds of mobility, i.e. those linked to leisure, free time and the use of services in general.
First, the matrix data is processed to obtain some significant novel indicators that can allow a first convincing and consistent exploration of the different “Italies”. These indicators are presented and spatialized for all the municipalities, explaining all their qualities but also limits. They are grouped in three categories: flow indexes, dependency indexes and geographical indexes. Since these indexes alone are not able to present such a clear and uniform picture of the Italia di Mezzo from the point of view of commuting mobility, in the second part, through an incremental process, we proceed by composing these indexes and creating a tentative classification. In doing that, we define this Italia di Mezzo by exclusion, eliminating the metropolitan areas (basically metropolitan mobility poles and their commuting basins) and the more remote areas.
In the conclusions we discuss the main outcomes of the indexes and the classification operation, and we also build some possible interpretative considerations about what kind of Italian territories make up the Italia di Mezzo of commuting mobility. More specifically, their consistency in quantitative terms and their degree of homogeneity or possible sub-categorization, also considering the relation between their mobility demand and infrastructures supply.

The research is funded by the European Union - Next Generation EU, in the framework of the GRINS - Growing Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Project (GRINS PE00000018 – CUP D43C22003110001). The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for them.

Speaker: Federico De Angelis (POLITECNICO DI MILANO)

16:50 Socioeconomic Disparities in Daily Activity Spaces: Insights from Smartphone Mobility Data on Non-Commuting Trips

Urban mobility significantly shapes accessibility, equity, and social interaction in cities. While commuting patterns have been extensively studied, non-commuting mobility—such as travel for leisure, shopping, and social visits—remains underexplored despite its critical role in urban vibrancy and socioeconomic well-being. Socioeconomic status, including income, age, and gender, influences how individuals navigate urban spaces, and disparities in accessibility persist across demographic groups. Spatial inequities in non-commuting mobility can reinforce social exclusion and limit access to urban opportunities, particularly in a dense and complex city like Seoul. Existing research on urban mobility tends to prioritize commuting behaviors, overlooking the daily activity spaces that define the lived experience of different social groups. This study seeks to address this gap by examining how socioeconomic factors shape non-commuting mobility patterns in Seoul, focusing on activity space distance and destination diversity to provide insights into urban engagement beyond work-related travel.
Despite attention to mobility inequalities, there is limited research on how non-commuting mobility differs across income, age, and gender groups. Understanding who has greater access to mobility beyond work-related travel and which demographic groups face constraints in their daily movement remains an essential but insufficiently explored area of study. Additionally, previous research has largely overlooked the role of destination diversity in mobility studies, despite its implications for social interaction, economic opportunities, and urban vitality. A comprehensive understanding of activity space distance and destination diversity is crucial for identifying spatial inequities and formulating strategies for more inclusive urban mobility. This study aims to quantify the impact of socioeconomic factors on non-commuting mobility in Seoul by examining how income, age, and gender shape travel behavior across different time periods. Specifically, it investigates disparities in activity space distance and destination diversity among various socioeconomic groups and assesses whether lower-income individuals face mobility constraints that limit their access to diverse urban destinations.
Using large-scale mobility data from Seoul, this study uncovers significant socioeconomic disparities in non-commuting mobility patterns. Findings reveal that higher-income individuals tend to travel longer distances for leisure and social activities, whereas lower-income groups exhibit more constrained activity spaces, often limited to their immediate neighborhoods. These findings suggest that financial and time-related constraints may hinder lower-income individuals from accessing diverse urban destinations. Gender disparities are also evident, as women, particularly those in middle-age groups, demonstrate smaller activity spaces and lower destination diversity than men. This pattern may be attributed to safety concerns, caregiving responsibilities, or societal norms that shape women's mobility choices. Age also plays a significant role in mobility patterns; younger individuals exhibit greater destination diversity, suggesting higher spatial flexibility, whereas older adults have more restricted mobility and primarily visit familiar locations. These age-based differences raise concerns about accessibility in an aging society, emphasizing the need for age-friendly urban policies.
The results of this study highlight structural inequalities in urban mobility that limit access to economic, social, and recreational opportunities for disadvantaged groups. By shifting the focus from commuting to non-commuting travel patterns, this research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of urban mobility experiences and the role of socioeconomic factors in shaping them. The introduction of activity space distance and destination diversity as key metrics offers a nuanced perspective on spatial inequities in Seoul. The study underscores the need for targeted policies to promote equitable access to urban resources, particularly for lower-income, female, and elderly populations. Addressing these disparities requires planners and policymakers to consider interventions such as improved public transportation accessibility, enhanced safety measures, and urban design strategies that foster mobility equity.

Speaker: Omer Dogan (Hanyang University)

16:00 → 17:30 T_03 MOBILITY (B): Car usage, new technologies, future policies

Convener: Simon De Boeck (University of Antwerp)

16:00 Plugging into green mobility: public perceptions and barriers to V2G adoption

The global transition towards sustainable transportation systems is essential for mitigating the environmental and societal impacts of climate change. As a cornerstone of efforts to decarbonize the transport sector, electric vehicles (EVs) hold substantial potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve urban air quality, addressing critical global challenges. However, achieving widespread adoption of EVs is not without challenges, as unequal social and spatial access to these technologies remains a significant barrier in many regions. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology represents a transformative innovation in this context, offering the potential to align individual mobility needs with broader sustainability goals. Despite its promise, the successful implementation of V2G depends heavily on public acceptance. Current research on V2G is predominantly technical, focusing on energy systems, grid integration, and battery performance. However, public perceptions and acceptance of V2G remain rather underexplored. This knowledge gap presents a significant challenge, as public awareness, understanding, and acceptance are critical to driving adoption. Furthermore, existing studies on public perceptions of EVs and V2G are fragmented, employing diverse methodologies and often yielding inconsistent findings.
This study aims to conduct a systematic review of the existing literature on public perceptions and acceptance of EVs and V2G technology. By synthesising and critically analysing the current body of research, the study seeks to provide an updated and comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing public acceptance of V2G. A systematic search was conducted across the Scopus and Web of Science databases, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Manuscripts were screened using predefined inclusion criteria, and duplicates were managed with Rayyan software. Data extraction and coding were performed using MAXQDA, with its AI Assist functionality supporting thematic analysis.
The review included 17 manuscripts published between 2018 and 2024, with Europe, particularly the Nordic countries, leading contributions in this domain. Most studies focused on the benefits and challenges of V2G adoption, while motivations for its use received comparatively less attention. Private vehicle users, both EV and non-EV owners, were the most studied population group, with limited attention paid to institutional stakeholders and experts. Survey-based methods, particularly declared preference surveys, were the predominant data collection instruments, with sample sizes ranging from 306 participants at the local level to 5067 at the national level.
Findings show that V2G adoption is shaped by a combination of technical, economic, and behavioural factors. Key barriers include concerns about battery degradation, the limited range of EVs, and system complexity. These challenges are further compounded by spatial disparities, with urban residents prioritising infrastructure availability and rural residents focusing on range reliability. Trust in V2G technology also emerges as a critical issue, undermined by concerns over data security. Nevertheless, financial incentives such as subsidies and discounts, alongside strong personal commitments to sustainability, were identified as key drivers of acceptance and adoption.
These results highlight the critical need for evidence-based public policies that integrate technological innovation with public engagement and equity considerations. By addressing spatial and social disparities, policymakers can create conditions conducive to V2G adoption, fostering a more inclusive and sustainable energy transition. Additionally, this study provides a valuable foundation for future research and policy development, supporting the alignment of V2G technology with the needs of diverse communities and advancing global efforts to combat climate change.

Speaker: Prof. Gonçalo Santinha (University of Aveiro)

16:10 Interpretative challenges of car-dependency in peri-urban contexts. An experimental approach and policy implications

In recent years, the transition towards sustainable and inclusive urban mobility models has emerged as a crucial challenge, especially in territories where car use is deeply rooted to the point of evolving into a dependency. Urban agendas and policy have long sought to rethink the role of private vehicular mobility in daily commutes against such dependency, moving beyond an approach solely based on traffic regulation and infrastructure development. Notably, concepts such as “accessibility by proximity” (Levine et al, 2019), often linked to the X-minute city model, emphasize alternative mobility options, intermodality, and infomobility platforms as pivotal in reducing reliance on private vehicles.

Despite these efforts, a weakness lies in the limited ability of such policies to reshape consolidated habits and mobility practices, particularly in highly car-dependent social and spatial contexts. Among those, peri-urban and low-density areas emerge as territories where car dependency often stems from necessity rather than choice, driven by factors such as insufficient public transport, limited shared mobility options, and dispersed services. Effective interventions against car dependency in these areas require innovative solutions addressing both choice and necessity-driven car use, rooted in a comprehensive understanding of the underlying determinants of car dependency.

However, investigating car dependency involves recognizing it not merely as frequent car use but as a process (Goodwin, 1995) wherein car usage reshapes spatial-temporal practices while generating new ones. This dynamic nature necessitates integrated qualitative and quantitative approaches to examine its determinants, outcomes, and related behaviors. While substantial research has been conducted (e.g., Sierra Muñoz et al., 2024; Fransen & Boussauw, 2022; Baehler & Rérat, 2020), much of it relies on quantitative metrics, overlooking the contextual, multidimensional, and processual aspects of car dependency.

Assuming that car dependency is not merely ‘a combination of high car use, high provision for automobiles, and scattered low-density use’ (Newman and Kenworthy, 1989, p. 124), this paper emphasizes the need to examine this phenomenon by recognizing which practices are enabled by automobile use, in which spatial contexts and under which socio-spatial conditions (Mattioli et al., 2016), which subjective and objective perceptions are related to car use (Jeekel, 2013) and which conditions related to market distortions may reinforce car dependency (Litman, 2014).

The following key research questions emerge: how can the processual features of car dependency in peri-urban areas, shaped by socio-spatial factors, individual habits, and preferences, be effectively addressed? What integrated and scalable approaches can be employed to analyze car dependency's multidimensional characteristics in peri-urban contexts? How can this analysis inform innovative policies to promote non-car dependent mobility?

These questions are investigated in an Italian research project - RECAP (https://www.dastu.polimi.it/prin-recap/). The study, outlined in this paper, presents a transferable mixed-method approach to analyze car dependency determinants, outcomes and practices. The approach is tested in the Bassa Pianura Bergamasca (North Italy), a peri-urban area in Northern Italy marked by high car use due to settlement dispersion following large infrastructural and land use-related transformations. The results of the quantitative analysis of car dependency at the territorial scale combined with an accessibility assessment to daily services, reveal the diversity of situations within the same context, as well as correlations between settlement density, mixed-use development, service location, transportation availability. Building on these insights, the study conducts qualitative investigations at the local scale, involving stakeholders sharing their situated knowledge to discuss the feasibility of contextualized measures to promote intermodality and complementarity between private cars and other mobility options. This integrated methodology presented in the paper enhances understanding of the reasons behind car dependency in specific settlement conditions, offering a replicable framework to inform the design of targeted policy measures towards less car-dependent mobility in peri-urban areas.

Speakers: Dr Giovanni Lanza (Politecnico di Milano - DAStU), Dr Giulia Galbiati (Politecnico di Milano - DAStU)

16:20 Car dependence dynamics between spatial and individual factors: a quantitative methodology addressing regional challenges in Lombardy (Italy)

Car dependence, a prevalent barrier to sustainable and inclusive mobility, emerges from complex interactions between spatial and individual determinants ​(Mattioli et al., 2016)​. While the process that relates both has always been challenging, reducing car pervasive impacts is a key aim for achieving a smarter, safer and fairer transport system. This makes the assessment of car dependence a critical issue, which is being addressed by this research as a part of a broader PhD project. This larger study develops a comprehensive framework for car dependence by systematically reviewing literature and constructing a large dataset of related indicator, enabling further numerical analysis. Within this context, the present study integrates spatial and individual insights, which are not often combined inacademic approaches. It examinesthe results of an attitudes-and-perceptions survey categorized according to territorial car dependence levels emerging from spatial metrics. By means of a case study, this research focuses in Lombardy , Italy’s most populated and richest region, characterized by a heterogeneous territorial structure.

The spatial analysis represents the first stage of the study and builds over literature-established metrics ​(Sierra Muñoz et al., 2024)​ to depict the phenomenon: from cause-and-effect indicators associations, bivariate classifications provide clusters of different car dependence levels across a regional context. These are aligned with different spatial settlement characteristics, with increasing car dependence from dense urban areas towards suburban and rural contexts. These spatial categories form the foundation for integrating individual-level insights in a second stage, which additionally categorize survey respondents based on their car dependence self-perception. Together, these spatial and subjective dimensions offer a comprehensive framework to examine attitudes and perceptions of car dependence across diverse territorial clusters.

The results highlight significant heterogeneity within and across different car dependence spatial clusters: around a quarter of respondents’ self-perceived car dependence does not align with the spatial category of their residential area. The findings underscore the role of personal activities, particularly access to work in urban areas, as well as built environment perceptions and different attitudes towards use and impacts of the car. Surprisingly, respondents in suburban areas who do not feel dependent on cars often declare attachment to cars and less concern on their impacts. Conversely, their peers on rural clusters report higher car use together to dissatisfaction on its reliance. These findings illustrate how car dependence may enclose different meanings relating to space: from a practical necessity in some contexts to a deeper reliance on habitual or convenience-based car use, going further than simply feeling dependent.

The research challenges deterministic assumptions about car dependence based solely on socio-spatial factors. The nuanced interplay between spatial and personal dimensions of car dependence highlights the need for place-based approaches to studying the phenomenon. By recognizing the diverse drivers of car dependence in each context, tailored interventions can be developed to address the unique needs and rationales of each territory. For example, strategies for suburban areas might focus on reducing attachment to cars and overcoming its car-centered designs, while rural interventions might prioritize enhancing alternatives to reduce reliance.

This study contributes to broader discussions on reimagining mobility systems, providing deeper understanding of car dependence functioning across different territorial contexts. While car dependence sustains in a far-reaching and resilient automobility system ​(Urry, 2004)​, context-sensitive strategies represent an actionable way to mitigate it in a scalable manner. Integrating car dependence spatial and individual perspectives, as this research proposes, provides a way to bridge gaps and develop more accessible and fairer transport systems in the context of current mobility transitions.

Speaker: Mr Jaime Sierra Muñoz (Politecnico di Milano)

16:30 The role of the car in a post car society

The role of the car in a post car society
According to Ivan Illich in his book “Tools for Conviviality” (Illich 1973) each technical invention has its liberating effects, however, if not carefully managed, turns men into slaves of the same invention. The car is one of his favourite examples.
The original purpose of cars was (1) Leisure trips to the countryside for wealthy urbanites, and 2) supporting living /working in rural areas for farmers. In the 1950’s a democratization of the car lead to industrial production for a market instead of selected customers. Since then, instead of leisure trips or selective functional trips in industrialized countries the car has been used for ubiquitous, utilitarian trips like commuting and shopping, leading to the ‘cycle of car dependency’.
Although worldwide car use and ownership are rising, many governments currently are trying to shape conditions for a so called mobility transition, away from the car. However, the current ´system of automobility´, as described by Urry, (Urry 2004) is proving extremely resilient to change. This system is not sustainable, as it needs mass production of private (e) cars, damaging the environment on macro level, and destroying the urban fabric on micro level.
In this discussion paper, we explore if and how rethinking the role of the car, starting from its original qualities, can help unlock this situation.
Key questions are: What are the essential liberating qualities of the car? Can these be again put centre stage? And: Can they be sustainable?
Our findings show that, in line with the original purposes:
1) A first unique quality of automobility is the possibility of leisure or social trips over longer distances to peripheral locations. This is liberating in a positive way.
2) A second unique quality is the possibility of functional trips to locations and/or times beyond walking/cycling/public transport range, but also special purpose such as trips carrying bulky goods, trips carrying people not able to walk/cycle/ride public transport etc.
In the first category trips are mostly incidental. As incidental use is appropriate for sharing or renting, one feature of a sustainable automobility of the future could be the availability of renting systems for e-cars, for leisure or special trips. Renting instead of owning leads to more sustainability, as the demand for new produced private cars would drop dramatically.
In the second category trips are either incidental or daily. If people depend on the daily use of the car, renting is not very likely. However, as these daily trips are mostly individual, and covering relatively short distances, the present-day car is oversized and overpowered for this purpose. Downsizing of the car is possible. Variants of the microcar could fill this gap, leading to more sustainability, as the production and use of microcars seems to be less damaging for the environment and for the urban fabric.
The paper concludes that a in a post car society the car could play two positive and sustainable roles: A rental system for leisure purposes and special functional trips, and, in a downsized form, for the societal participation of those who are daily dependent on the use of a car. The paper ends with some reflections how policy could create the conditions for such a transition.
References
Illich, I. (1973). Tools for conviviality. London: Calder and Boyars.
Urry, J. (2004). The ‘system’ of automobility. Theory, culture & society, 21(4-5), 25-39.

Speaker: Dr jake wiersma (university of amsterdam)

16:40 The elephant in the room or how to live on Planet A in a post-car age

Car-oriented planning has not only shaped the built environment but has also profoundly influenced societal norms, normalising driving as the default mode of transportation. This pervasive narrative has led to well-documented consequences: sprawling effect, landscape fragmentation caused by urban infrastructure and transport network expansions, social isolation, limited public transport access, road rage, soil consumption, resource degradation, spatial injustice, a reinforced consumerist culture, air and noise pollution, and increased contributions to climate change, to cite but a few. The market and the powerful lobby of the automotive industry fuelled this narrative, inducing demand for car ownership and prioritising individual and spatially segregated mobility —car users could be considered as “flows of faceless ghostly machines” - rather than active participants in the urban fabric. The automotive sector's scale fosters state-industry-labour cooperation, promoting stability but risking to prioritise industrial and economic stability over transformative mobility policies.
This article explores how to challenge this entrenched narrative in the current political and socio-economic environment, shifting towards more equitable planning paradigms. Since the 1920s-30s, driving and car ubiquity in everyday life for potentially anyone on Earth led to complete car accessibility, higher speeds, longer distances, mobility-oriented planning and comfort over community, walkability and liveability. Yet, this mobility model is neither socially necessary nor inevitable, even if it has often seemed impossible to disrupt. Additionally, the car is not defined merely by its physical properties but by the broader systems of provision and the categories that enable and reinforce its use. These systems of frames create specific affordances that shape choices. This is particularly evident in parking policies, for instance, which have often been reactive and operational—addressing issues only when they arise in specific locations —rather than being integrated into a systemic transformation of the urban environment. Since the last century, concepts, theories, and models of human-oriented planning have been developed, leading to the consolidation of measures such as planning standards, pedestrianisation of downtowns, walking and cycling networks, the institutionalisation of the concept of piazza, Limited Traffic Zones (LTZs), regulations on noise and air pollution, and parking management strategies aimed at discouraging car use and gain revenues for maintenance or investment in other transport sectors. Governance improvements facilitated compact urban development, echoing the naturally pedestrian-friendly environments of pre-car historic cities.
However, the growth curve of global car ownership has not yet plateaued; road networks are still expanding, although ownership of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is declining. New spatial challenges, particularly for charging infrastructure, are required by the increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) — battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) - and all these types have different needs. Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are adapting to promote walking, cycling, and public transport, but “path dependence” continues to reproduce problems originally associated with ICEVs, now translated to EVs. For instance, while EVs eliminate tailpipe emissions, they do not fully address non-exhaust pollutants, and the additional weight of battery packs exacerbates emissions (PM2.5) from tyre and brake wear, an issue that remains largely unregulated. Additionally, governments are offering incentives, e.g. tax breaks, free parking, and LTZ exemptions, increasing their accessibility and maintaining the persistent mono-functionality of roads and streets as car-dominated spaces.
This research contributes to planning discourse by emphasising the critical role of narratives in shaping the built environment, moving beyond the rigid notion of physical determinism. It proposes an approach to challenging deeply ingrained assumptions and fostering more equitable systems by shifting societal norms and values. The final section presents holistic solutions integrating land-use planning with long-term mobility strategies, supported by robust regulatory frameworks and proactive public engagement.

Speaker: Ammj Traore (Politecnico di Torino)

16:50 From a linear infrastructure to a logistic operational landscape: the BreBeMi Motorway in Bergamo plateau

Over the past decades, rural areas have experienced significant transformations driven by changing consumption patterns and lifestyles. These shifts have led to new urbanization forms, rendering the traditional urban-rural distinction less relevant. Among other dynamics, scholars in geography and urban studies pointed out the evolution of peri-urban spaces as "operational landscapes" (Brenner & Schmid, 2013, 2014). These areas are crucial in contemporary urban systems, because they are essential facilities, and they allow resource extraction, waste management, and logistics.

Logistics, in particular, has undergone profound changes since the 1980s, spurred by industrial decentralization and globalization. These changes have redefined global production systems, reducing the importance of localized production in favour of globally connected logistics nodes (Tadini, 2013). This shift facilitates the global flow of goods (Cabodi, 2001) and has led to the clustering of logistics functions. Such clusters often create logistics landscapes. These landscapes can be classified into three types based on their proximity to production sites (first mile facilities), markets (last mile hubs), or global flow infrastructures (platforms).

The expansion of logistics landscapes, particularly in suburban areas, has introduced large-scale facilities that integrate production and distribution based on transport conditions. However, this growth raises environmental concerns, including soil sealing and increased traffic pollution, resulting in significant landscape transformations. Therefore, this evolution is not just a multiplication of functional elements but an active agent of reshaping landscapes (Armondi et al., 2024) and with the research author would like to grounding this issue.

This paper examines land-use transformations along motorway corridors resulting from enhanced accessibility. These transformations arise due to improved mobility and increased land value when new linear infrastructures are established in rural areas. The analysis addresses three research questions:

1. Does the infrastructure contribute to the transformation of rural/agrarian spaces into accessible linear systems?
2. How do corridors evolve over time under new territorial pressures?
3. How the shaping of an operational landscape differs from a merely juxtaposition or sprawl of logistic functions?

The study aims to increase awareness of the role and impact of logistics functions in urban studies, contributing to innovative approaches in territorial governance at local and regional levels. It seeks to move beyond traditional methods focused on traffic analysis and soil consumption, incorporating social and spatial dimensions into the evaluation of logistics. Recent researches (among others: Paris et al, 2024) suggests that logistics platforms can drive territorial transformation and development of fixed capital in peri-urban and rural areas. However, mitigating the negative effects of uncontrolled logistics expansion, such as sprawl, is essential to achieving these benefits.

The research centers on the A35 BreBeMi motorway in the southern Province of Bergamo, Italy. This area, characterized by a rural, low-density plateau, has seen the development of several logistics platforms in recent years. After the inauguration in 2015, the area has become a hub for logistics, with multiple new facilities concentrated within 265 km². This growth aligns with increased attention to environmental and landscape concerns and shifts in urban planning paradigms toward sustainable land management.

This research is part of the project "SEW Line: Socio-Ecological Way for a Holistic Mobility Infrastructure Planning in Periurban and Rural Landscapes" developed by the University of Padua, Bergamo and Roma Sapienza within the research program PRIN2022 PNRR M4C2 funded by European Union – NextGeneration EU (DD MUR n. 1409 del 14/09/2022).

Speaker: Edmondo Pietrangeli (Università degli Studi di Bergamo)

16:00 → 17:30 T_04 GOVERNANCE (A): Climate governance

Convener: Eva Purkarthofer (Aalto University)

16:00 Transformative planning or a vicious circle - cities running ahead or running alone?

The world becomes urban, the majority of people live in cities, and we speak of an ‘urban age’. Planning as transformative action, especially towards and in a future post-growth society, involves motivating and engaging urban imaginaries. While some of them remain hidden in urban theory and associated role perceptions of planners and policymakers, so do we see imaginaries driving cities to action. Supported by European and international frameworks, new models from research, or funding mechanisms, some cities seem to lead the discourse around core questions of the urban future. For post-growth planning, this could be the application of Kate Raworth’s doughnut economics in cities like Amsterdam, but also some local initiatives within URBACT. Beyond these examples, a wide range of networks mushrooms to foster local actions, participation, and democracy, such as the European Capital of Democracy.

Against much emphasis on ‘the urban’, cities as a spatial form occupy only a little part of our common space while their impact reaches way into its surroundings here now in the same way as elsewhere and in the future. Both from a spatial and a relational perspective, cities are not closed, but deeply intertwined with hinterlands, remote areas, and the systems necessary for their own existence and reproduction. They are more than a set of buildings: sites for democracy, places for active citizenship and opportunities for making and claiming rights. But what are the limits to making urban politics within the territorial limit of a city? We build this contribution on an interdisciplinary seminar series on the question “Where is Urban Politics?” in Groningen in 2024 and 2025, crossing boundaries between philosophy, urban politics, and spatial planning. We use post-growth thoughts to complement critical questions about how we can positively re-gain democracy and governance in cities while not leaving our common foundation beyond cities out of sight. Literally said, not running alone somewhere, but moving together collectively. What needs to change in the self-understanding of planners and city makers, to achieve this?

Speaker: Christian Lamker (University of Groningen)

16:10 Discourses of green transition challenging institutionalised spatialities of planning and governance

In Finland, the established institutional frameworks and practices of spatial governance have generated a fairly stable regional order of core-periphery relations. Now this order is being challenged by the green transition and associated new technologies and market opportunities. Areas formerly peripheral have emerged as new centres of attention for green investments. What are the institutional and practice implications of these shifts in regional economy to spatial governance, both at the national and local level? How is this development understood in the central government, and brought forward to guiding and incentivising regional development? How do local governments in affected regions react to these changes and navigate amidst them, in view of tapping into the scales, networks and institutional resources they bring forth?
Drawing on Discursive Institutionalism and Practice Theory, we conceptualise institutions as dynamic systems evolving through the interplay of ideas, norms, and policies. New ideas of spatial governance, e.g., related to the green transition, rarely institutionalise so as to replace former institutions, but rather generate a new institutional layer of spatial governance and lead to hybridisation of spatialities. By examining accounts of local and national planning interactions, we identify patterns of institutional and policy adaptation and spatial reconfiguration in accommodating to the green transition and related sustainability discourses. We contribute to spatial planning and governance research by offering conceptual tools to sort out the complex geographies of established and emerging spatial discourses in the era of green transition.

Speaker: Raine Mantysalo (Aalto University)

16:20 Similar Networks, Different Discourses: Comparing interpretive frameworks for climate adaptation in Dutch water and road infrastructure planning

Infrastructure networks face significant challenges due to climate change (Tavasszy et al., 2016). Road networks, in particular, are vulnerable to extreme weather events, potentially leading to disruptions such as flooding or subsidence, especially when multiple climate drivers interact and amplify each other (KNMI, 2023). Despite road infrastructure being recognized as critical infrastructure (OECD, 2019), climate adaptation in this sector remains underexplored (Tavasszy et al., 2016). By contrast, the water infrastructure sector in flood-prone European countries has prioritized climate adaptation on political and policy agendas, shifting towards integrated flood risk management (Restemeyer et al., 2024).
Although road and water infrastructure sectors are often managed by the same authorities (e.g. the Netherlands), cross-sectoral learning remains limited and difficult (Arts et al., 2016). These difficulties can potentially be explained due to differences in the policy paradigm in which both sectors operate. Hall (1993) described a policy paradigm as an interpretive framework of ideas that enables or constrains the way in which policy problems are perceived and how they should be governed, how policy goals are formulated and which policy instruments are used for attaining the formulated goals. Within this definition four interrelated components of policy paradigms can be found: an interpretive framework, policy objectives, an instrument logic and the role of governance institutions (Kern et al., 2014).
This study is focused on the interpretive frameworks of both the water and road infrastructure sector. Based on Hall’s (1993) conception of policy paradigms, we define the interpretive framework as a set of ideas and perspectives through which policymakers perceive, define, and address policy problems. This framework influences the selection of policy goals, the preferred instruments for attaining these goals and the role employed by governance institutions. Therefore, it enables and constrains the policy choices made within a prevailing policy paradigm (Hall, 1993; Capano and Howlett, 2024).
The aim of this study is to analyse the ideas, values and perspectives that shape the different climate adaptation discourses of water and road infrastructure providers in the Netherlands and to deepen our understanding of what constitutes an interpretive framework as part of policy paradigms. We deliberately focus on the Netherlands as both water and road infrastructure has received international acclaim and are considered advanced (Arts et al., 2016; OECD, 2014; WEF, 2019; Zevenbergen et al., 2013). To this end, we will employ a Q-methodology consisting of several steps (Busscher et al., 2022). First, we analyse policy documents from both the water and road infrastructure sector and select a series of statements. Second, we develop a matrix accommodating the statements using a 7 point Likert scale. After that, we conduct interviews with professionals from both sectors to fill out the Q-sort by letting respondents prioritize the statements. Finally, we analyse the data using Ken-Q-analysis software.
The expected outcomes of this Q-methodology analysis will provide insights into the different discourses or interpretive frameworks on climate adaptation within the water and road infrastructure sectors. By identifying distinct groups based on shared viewpoints, the study will reveal clusters of professionals who align with particular discourses. These groups may differ in their perceptions of climate risks, preferred adaptation strategies and the role of governance institutions in implementing adaptation measures. The findings will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of policy paradigms and highlight potential barriers and opportunities for cross-sectoral learning. Additionally, the study is expected to inform policymakers about the diversity of adaptation discourses within infrastructure sectors, offering pathways for fostering collaboration and integrating perspectives across policy domains. Ultimately, this research will deepen our understanding of the different discourses and interpretive frameworks guiding the transition to climate adaptive infrastructure networks.

Speaker: Cheyenne Raskeyn (University of Groningen)

16:30 A protocol to research climate adaptive governance systems for infrastructure and equity

Purpose:

This presentation presents a protocol, ideas and framework to advance knowledge and research about how built and social infrastructure has co-benefits for climate change and health equity. The focus is to identify the systemic conditions that support best practice governance behind planning and delivery of climate adaptive infrastructure to enable equity.

Background

There are urgent and critical gaps in knowledge about how to create institutional change necessary for developing climate-focused policies and programs that generate positive health and equity impacts (Haines et al., 2020, Heenan et al., 2023). The 2023 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report confirms with ‘high confidence’ that climate change is impacting ‘human health, livelihoods, and key infrastructure’ and these ‘impacts are concentrated amongst the economically and socially marginalised’(IPCC, 2023). The research protocol presented responds directly to IPCC’s recommendations to focus on local institutional responses to the climate crisis (IPCC, 2023). Equity requires a focus on climate justice and institutional transformation.

Innovation in the context of international advances

Infrastructure for climate adaptation and equity requires connections across sectors (Harris et al., 2020), and integration across planning, measurement and evaluation (Giles-Corti et al., 2021, Australian Council of Social Services, 2022). Climate action is nested in a multi-scaled complex system, with each level influencing another. The IPCC recommends, with ‘very high confidence’ that effective climate mitigation and adaptation combine government, civil society, and the private sector, prioritising risk reduction, equity and justice, integrating decision-making processes, finance and technology, and actions across governance levels, sectors, and timeframes (IPCC, 2023). ‘Governance’ dynamics are at the centre of institutional effectiveness (Sharma-Wallace et al., 2018). However, our prior research has revealed the tendency for policy sectors to work in separate sectoral silos that limits effective collaboration and holistic approaches necessary to address equity and risks institutional policy inertia that obstructs, rather than supports, action (Morrison and Van Den Nouwelant, 2020, Harris et al., 2020, Harris et al., 2022, Harris, 2022). From this scholarship we present a novel institutionally focused framework.

Methodology

The research advances knowledge about the working dynamics of complex systems involved in policy change mixing new institutionalism, realism, qualitative comparative analysis and systems analysis methodology. The protocol responds to recent scholarship (Byrne and Callaghan, 2022) connecting realist analysis with systems approaches to understand and explain the conditions and mechanisms involved in complex and messy interventions (Shearn et al., 2017, Fletcher et al., 2016, Koorts et al., 2021), including equity across different localities and population sub-groups (Fletcher et al., 2016). Our previous research has demonstrated the validity of mixing realism and institutional approaches to investigate policy systems (Harris, 2022). Here we add particpatory systems mapping to facilitate local policy action (Penn and Barbrook-Johnson, 2019).

Research design

The protocol has five phases. First builds evidence of multiple case studies (Yin, 2012). Second compares cases broadly for their similarities and identify the essential cross case findings, using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (Sager and Andereggen, 2012). Third uses these findings to develop a cross-case systems map. Fourth uses participatory systems design to build context specific systems responses to that evidence, based on the additional experience of local experts and policy makers. Fifth, across the research, is critical realist analysis using relevant theoretical insights to explain the data and provide a narrative explaining the systems maps.

The protocol provides future researchers with a comprehensive suite of methods and approaches to compare multiple case studies of climate adaptive governance and systems change in the face of the climate crisis.

Speakers: Prof. Nicky Morrison (WSU), Patrick Harris

16:40 Impacts of rapid policy changes on sustainable urban development: a dynamic assessment based on China's Urban Green Action and SDGs

Achieving sustainable urban development is a critical pathway for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Klopp and Petretta, 2017), and the implementation of effective and sustainable policies is essential to achieving this objective (Lowe et al., 2022). In this context, China has launched a series of the Urban Green Action (UGA) plans, such as the Eco-Garden City, the National Forest City, the Park City initiatives. These plans include a number of policies and corresponding indicator systems designed to provide nature-based solutions to the socio-environmental challenges associated with rapid urbanization (de Jong et al., 2016). However, research suggests that in China's top-down governance system, rapid policy changes are often key drivers of urban change and development (Jia et al., 2020). While previous studies have extensively explored the implementation effects of the China UGA policies (Zhang et al., 2021, Wang and Cheng, 2024), there remains a lack of in-depth analysis on whether rapid evolution of these policies impacts the long-term sustainability of SDGs.

To address this gap, the study examines the relationship between dynamic changes in UGA policies and sustainability urban development. Specifically, it evaluates the sustainability of these policies by analyzing their effects before and after implementation. The study focuses on addressing two key research questions: 1) Are there differences in SDGs-oriented sustainable urban development at different stages of UGA policy implementation? 2) To what extent can these differences be attributed to shifts in the three sub-three UGAs polices, namely the Eco-Garden City, the National Forest City action and the Park City initiatives?

Using Hangzhou City as a case study, this study quantitatively analyzes the impacts of the three sub-three UGAs on the SDGs across three implementation phases (2005-2009, 2013-2017, and 2019-2024). An indicator system aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN-SDGs) framework was constructed, featuring 21 indicators across three dimensions of economy, society and ecology. Propensity Score Matchin (PSM) and Difference-in-Difference (DID) models were employed to systematically assess how shifts in the sub-UGAs influenced the sustainable development of Hangzhou City.

The findings reveal the following: 1) Overall, Hangzhou’s coherence in sustainable development has improved significantly between 2005 and 2024, reflecting the positive role of the three sub-UGA policies in promoting the city's long-term development. 2) Notable improvements in social and ecological indicators were observed after 2008, suggesting a strong correlation between UGA policy shifts and progress towards the SDGs; 3) Although rapid changes in UGA policies have had complex impacts on long-term SDGs progress, the continuous improvement and enrichment of indicator systems have contributed to improvements in social indicators and the balanced development of economic and ecological dimensions.

The study reveals the dynamic relationship between policy changes and urban development, highlights the importance of developing coherent and long-term effective policies, and provides valuable insights for refining the implementation strategies of UGA plans to enhance urban sustainability.

Speaker: Ms Jingjing Li (Beijing Forestry University)

16:50 Governing climate adaptation: technical and institutional enablers from Bologna’s transformational case

This paper examines governance structures and institutional learning in urban transformation processes for climate change adaptation, focusing on Bologna’s experience within the European Urban Initiative. This program has funded 22 innovative projects across European cities, and Bologna’s TALEA is currently in the early stages of its journey, laying the foundation for future physical and social transformations of urban space.
The TALEA project addresses the pressing challenge of urban heat islands, a growing concern for Mediterranean cities facing increasing climate impacts. At its core, the project introduces the concept of “green cells”—100x100-meter interventions embedded within the dense urban fabric to integrate targeted greening solutions. These interventions aim not only to mitigate urban heat effects but also to strengthen overall urban resilience. However, the project’s significance goes beyond its technical aspects; it prioritizes a participatory and collaborative governance approach. Public authorities, research institutions, implementation partners, and local communities actively contribute to co-designing and co-creating these transformations, emphasizing an inclusive and sustainable vision for urban planning.
TALEA’s governance model is built on multi-level collaboration between local authorities, research institutions, and international city partners, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and best practices across borders. The project serves as a case study for transboundary planning and policy transfer, as partner cities in France, Romania, and Latvia engage in knowledge-sharing and explore the applicability of Bologna’s approach within their own urban contexts. This highlights the role of flexible governance structures and informal networks in advancing adaptation solutions beyond rigid institutional frameworks.
While urban greening has become a priority in European policies and national strategies, integrating these interventions into public and private urban transformation processes remains a challenge. Bologna’s experience illustrates the interplay between soft knowledge—such as governance processes, participatory co-design, and stakeholder collaboration—and hard knowledge, including the technical design and implementation of greening measures. Both dimensions are crucial for the success of transformative urban actions.
By examining the relationship between regulatory frameworks and participatory governance, this paper explores the enabling conditions and institutional barriers that shape the implementation of urban greening projects in dense Mediterranean cities. It raises key questions for broader European applicability: What lessons can Bologna’s early experiences offer to other cities embarking on similar initiatives? What challenges arise in the initial phases, and how can they be effectively addressed? What governance structures and innovative solutions can support cities in overcoming barriers and driving long-term urban transformation?
This paper contributes to the broader discussion on governance and institutional change in urban planning by exploring how multi-level collaboration, participatory governance, and transnational learning shape urban adaptation to climate challenges. By reflecting on these dynamics, it seeks to deepen our understanding of governance mechanisms that can accelerate sustainable urban transitions across Europe.

Speaker: Dr Vittore Negretto (Iuav University of Venice)

16:00 → 17:30 T_04 GOVERNANCE (B): Sectoral governance

Convener: Nataliia Yehorchenkova (Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava)

16:00 Multilevel Governance for Urban Water Resilience, the case of the Water as Leverage (WaL) Programme

Enhancing urban water resilience is a key challenge for climate change adaptation. Cities worldwide are implementing strategies to address increasing threats such as flooding, drought, and water scarcity. These efforts depend on local community engagement, alignment with national policies, and financial support from international donors. At the same time, national governments and donors rely on cities for the implementation of these strategies. These interdependencies, fundamental to polycentric governance, require effective coordination among governmental and non-governmental actors. Coordination in multilevel governance balances top-down, state-centric approaches with bottom-up, governance-focused models. While top-down approaches emphasize hierarchy, bottom-up approaches highlight local, networked solutions. Striking a balance between input legitimacy (participation) and output legitimacy (effectiveness) is essential. Bottom-up models promote innovation and scalability, which are key for addressing complex environmental issues like urban water resilience. Furthermore, the institutional settings and structures within which multilevel governance processes operate are crucial, as they shape the interactions and decision-making processes across different levels of government and stakeholders, influencing the overall effectiveness of resilience strategies.
Building on Dieperink et al. (2018), who identified six key mechanisms for multilevel governance coordination—(1) policy entrepreneurship, (2) bridging concepts, (3) clarity about rules, (4) financial resources/funding, (5) governmental hierarchy, and (6) coordinating bodies—this paper first develops a typology of actionable strategies that stakeholders in urban water resilience initiatives can apply to improve coordination across government levels. Secondly, the use of such strategies in the Water as Leverage (WaL) programme is discussed. Launched in 2017 by Henk Ovink, then the Special Envoy for Water Affairs of the Netherlands – and drawing inspiration from the Rebuild by Design competition developed in response to Hurricane Sandy’s devastating impact on the U.S. Eastern coast, Water as Leverage (WaL) tackles water and climate challenges with innovative and inclusive solutions. The first WaL programme for Resilient Cities Asia has expanded globally with initiatives in Cartagena (Colombia), the Wadden Sea (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands), Nakuru (Kenya), and ongoing projects in India, Indonesia, and Thailand. This paper zooms in on the WaL projects in Cartagena and Chennai. It is shown that WaL developed strategies to bridge the gap between local users and donor agencies, and secure funding throughout the project cycle. WaL advocates early procurement strategies, pilot projects, and workshops to manage financial risks. As an example, in Cartagena, the WaL team engaged funding agencies from the outset. Representatives from Invest International were included in the Advisory Board to ensure that projects met investment criteria. By aligning local projects with funding agency requirements from the start, the WaL team secured funding and support. This early collaboration facilitated the design of projects that met financial and policy criteria, fostering collaboration through local design and policy-finance workshops. In Chennai, water challenges were addressed through pilot projects using Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), moving beyond traditional siloed approaches. Collaboration between local actors and international experts fostered shared understanding, cross-scale connections, and innovation. These pilots provided proof of concept and insights, catalysing upscaling efforts, sustaining the WaL movement’s momentum, and inspiring further achievements.
While the WaL programme has contributed to advancing multilevel governance for urban water resilience, findings indicate that the process is ongoing and complex. Enhancing multilevel governance is a challenging and iterative process. However, the coordination mechanisms and strategies outlined in this paper can serve as a resource for stakeholders involved in urban water resilience initiatives, offering inspiration and practical guidance for improving multilevel coordination.

Speaker: Corinne Vitale (Radboud University)

16:10 Transit Fragmentation as a Governance Challenge: Comparing Formal & Informal Institutions Facilitating or Hindering Cross-Agency Transit Coordination in the US & Europe.

Longstanding institutional fragmentation of public transport services leads to service gaps, poor coordination and discourages ridership. The current conversations about service adaptation are shining a light on long-standing transport institutional challenges like fragmentation, inconsistent fare structures & financing and lack of coverage. In many cities, there are multiple operators, private and public, multiple cities, counties, tendering agreements and funding systems in place. Governance shapes the frequency of transfers and their difficulty, affecting ridership (Miller et al., 2005; Walker, 2012). This includes the existence and ease of cross-operator ticketing (Buehler et al., 2017), schedule coordination, terminal and app sharing, and data coordination (Rivasplata, 2012).

This paper examines cases in Europe and the US chosen to represent different transit governance models, and conducts in-depth qualitative interview and document analysis to identify how the level of government at which public transport is funded impacts transit agencies’ ability to coordinate services. This paper looks at two metro regions in Europe and two in the US, with one region on each continent being locally governed & funded and one region governed and funded at a higher level of government (e.g. regional, federal state, or national). For each case, we interview agency CEOS or staff responsible for service planning to understand how their funding and governance structure help or hinder their ability to coordinate services.

We also examine a combination of annual reports, policy documents, tax collection information, fare policies and interagency agreements/ MOUs, in order to understand the link between governance and service outcomes like coverage and trip time to work. The interviews highlight the challenges of integrating services under each governance model, focusing especially on the degree of local autonomy in decision making. We focus in particular on how funding sources supporting public transport affect interagency agreements; coordination of tickets, schedules and routes. This work adds detail to the literature of transport governance, building off of previous literature documenting the range of regional transport governing structures (Weinreich & Skuzinski, 2021), measuring levels of fragmention (Skuzinski et al., 2022 & 2023), and studying how governing structures developed over time (Weinreich & Bonakdar, 2020).

Findings focus on the role of higher levels of government in helping support services (or hinder them), the power that local transit agencies have to improve service or barriers to doing this, and formal or informal institutions local transit agencies have created to coordinate services independent of higher levels of government.

Speaker: Dr David Weinreich (University of Bergen)

16:20 Governance for Bioeconomy Planning across Territorial Boundaries

This paper explores governance frameworks and transferable policy innovations within the European bioeconomy planning context, drawing insights from Germany, France, and Belgium to address planning challenges for developing the bioeconomy in counties with slow development such as Ireland. It situates the bioeconomy as a transformative regional planning concept requiring multi-level governance, transboundary collaboration, and inclusive institutional mechanisms to foster sustainability and regional equity. Key governance dimensions are identified, including multi-level coordination, participatory governance, and reflexive science-policy interfaces. German innovations, such as the National Research Strategy Bioeconomy 2030, highlight the importance of balanced funding models that combine long-term institutional stability with adaptive project-specific investments. France’s participatory frameworks and Belgium’s cluster-based initiatives further emphasise the need for inclusive stakeholder engagement and regional adaptability. These approaches inform the potential for regions to develop Bioeconomy Hubs, fostering cross-sectoral innovation clusters and living labs as platforms for localised experimentation. The paper focuses on critical themes such as equitable resource management, socio-economic inclusivity, and environmental sustainability in regional planning. France’s cascading biomass use principle and Belgium’s circular economy integration offer replicable models to harmonise regional planning for economic development in coordination with ecological preservation. Regional planning systems, in Ireland as elsewhere, must incorporate bioeconomy governance frameworks to address land-use conflicts, support small enterprises, and ensure robust public-private partnerships to drive innovation while mitigating socio-environmental trade-offs. By aligning with EU priorities, leveraging transnational collaborations, and embedding reflexive and participatory governance practices, regional planning can create a bioeconomy that transcends traditional administrative silos and territorial boundaries. This study demonstrates how the interplay of institutions, actors, and ideas can enable transformative governance to better position regions with slower development as leaders in sustainable bioeconomic planning, providing valuable insights for planning disciplines worldwide.

Speaker: Dr Jon Paul Faulkner (University College Dublin Ireland)

16:30 Towards Integrated Water Governance in Indonesia: Harmonizing Local and Transboundary Solutions

Water plays a crucial role in sustaining life, maintaining ecosystems, and facilitating economic progress. Nevertheless, its management presents complex challenges in the face of growing demands and environmental changes. Effective water governance is essential for enhancing resilience and ensuring the sustainable management of water resources. The mismanagement or overexploitation leads to the depletion of essential freshwater supplies, thereby leaving communities and ecosystems vulnerable to shortages. Furthermore, excessive extraction and improper waste disposal potentially degrade water quality, harm aquatic habitats, and disrupt the natural equilibrium of ecosystems. Coastal cities face particularly complex water management challenges due to the confluence of climate change impacts, rapid urbanization, and significant land subsidence. For example, Indonesian coastal cities such as Jakarta, Pekalongan, Semarang, and Demak confront an array of escalating water-related problems, including persistent flooding, water shortages, deteriorating infrastructure, and socio-economic disruptions. According to the data from National Disaster Management Agency, floods become the most frequent disaster in 2024. However, water management initiatives are often compromised by fragmented governance structures and constrained authority at various administrative levels, leading to inefficiencies and overlaps in roles and responsibilities. The complexity of governance is further exacerbated by transboundary dynamics. A case in point is the flooding experienced in Semarang City, which is partially attributed to the Garang River's flow originating in the upstream regions of Semarang Regency. Consequently, mitigating flood-related issues in Semarang City requires collaborative efforts with stakeholders from Semarang Regency. As water disregards administrative boundaries, managerial decisions transcend administrative borders, introducing additional layers of intricacy to the existing challenges.
Addressing these multifaceted challenges requires transformative approaches to water governance that integrate technical, social, and financial dimensions. This research examines the dynamics of water governance in Indonesia, focusing on the roles and interplay of various stakeholders across different hierarchical levels. Employing a qualitative approach, the research incorporates policy reviews and in-depth interviews with representatives from governmental bodies, private enterprises, community-based organizations, and academic institutions. The study identifies critical gaps in governance, including overlapping responsibilities, insufficient coordination between vertical (national to local) and horizontal (cross-sectoral) stakeholders, over-reliance on external actors, and financing mechanism. These systemic issues constrain the ability of local governments and stakeholders to implement integrated and sustainable water management practices effectively.
The findings reveal a highly complex network of stakeholders with overlapping mandates and competing priorities, often resulting in fragmented urban water governance. While national and regional governments play central roles in policy formulation and resource allocation, local governments and community groups frequently lack the capacity to implement integrated solutions. Additionally, at all levels, stakeholders in Indonesia tend to prioritize short-term profitability over long-term resilience. These challenges emphasize the urgent need for multi-stakeholder platforms that can foster collaboration, enhance accountability, and build adaptive capacity to address the impacts of climate change and rapid urbanization. Lessons drawn from the Indonesia case provide valuable insights into enhancing water management systems, ensuring they are resilient, inclusive, and adaptive to the evolving needs. This research contributes to a better understanding of stakeholder dynamics in water-related urban development, offering actionable insights for fostering more equitable and sustainable governance frameworks in Indonesia’s coastal cities.

Speaker: Ms Retno Sari Dewi (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Universitas Diponegoro)

16:40 Productive Cities Down Under?: The contested governance of industrial land and the challenge of planning for urban industry in Australia

In this research we explore how urban planners negotiate and respond to changing industry and land use governance contexts. We seek to better understand if and how planning systems adapt in response to emerging and ongoing urban challenges. Our focus is on urban industrial land use planning and the role of planners in shaping productive city futures oriented toward reintegrating manufacturing into the city (European Commission 2020).

Pandemic-era supply chain disruptions, climate threats, and geopolitical insecurity have engendered massive federal investments in reshoring manufacturing and growing local production across the globe through programs such as the European Commission’s Green Deal Industrial Plan and the Australian Government’s A Future Made in Australia (Middleton 2024). Yet in cities with competitive land markets, the rezoning and redevelopment of industrial areas to other uses has dramatically reduced industrial land supply and created hyper-competitive industrial property markets that threaten these investments (Ferm, 2023; Grodach, 2022). There is growing interest in promoting advanced, digitized manufacturing integrated in cities, yet this often overshadows the ongoing need for basic industrial services that enable cities to function. Moreover, industrial firms increasingly defy traditional categories, blurring the line between production and service functions. All of these factors complicate traditional industrial land use separation and containment strategies.

In this context, we focus on how planners in Australia’s three largest cities- Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney- implement policy narratives and ideas around industrial land and activity. We examine the ways in which planning professionals conceptualize and manage changing industry, how they imagine and plan for the needs of current and future industrial land, and explore practitioner narratives on industrial land protection, innovation, and transition. We then contrast this to industrial firm experiences with the planning system. We focus in particular on smaller, low impact firms that may be integrated into urban areas under productive city mandates to understand how they navigate contemporary industrial governance settings, planning imaginaries and regulatory contexts. The analysis reveals a variety of often competing ideas within and between local and regional governments and between planners and firms around the nature of industrial land. Findings highlight the tensions and challenges of implementing productive city mandates due to governance frameworks and regulatory processes, enterprise needs, and property market realities.

Speaker: Prof. Carl Grodach (Monash University)

16:50 Before and after the pandemic period: 'Trade districts' in Lombardy and governance of urban and territorial services

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected trade in Italy, highlighting structural weaknesses and catalyzing significant changes in the production and distribution sectors. This aspect emerges prominently in Lombardy, the epicenter in Europe of the health and economic crises.
During this period (2019-2022) the Regional Council of Lombardy has drafted and approved the Multi-Year Programme for the Development of the Commercial Sector-PPSSC, as a policy framework document for the retail trade network in Lombardy. This document provides the fundamental components for the advancement of fixed location retail trade, with particular reference to diverse sales structures, while introducing regulatory measures and proactive policies aimed at rebalancing and integrating the various forms of distribution. The Programme has been outlined and structured by feeding on a debate, which has involved institutions, economic and territorial actors, and that has taken on the transformations of lifestyles and purchasing habits that have emerged with the pandemic crisis, placing the quality of city and territorial living at its core.
The PPSSC identifies six territorial areas of commerce in Lombardy, recognising different conditions of population density and opportunities for integrating the commercial function into the network of services: from metropolitan and urban polarities to mountainous or plain inland areas (suffering from demographic decline and commercial desertification), with intermediate areas made up of medium-density urbanised contexts interdependent with the main urban systems.
Based on the contents of the Monitoring Plan (drawn up as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment procedure and approved together with the Programme), this research aims to analyse the main trends in the commercial sector that have affected Lombardy before and after the pandemic crisis, and especially to examine the extent to which the pandemic event represented a temporary crisis or, conversely, the beginning of a transition towards new structures and new trends in the commercial sector.
In particular, the research aims to develop the potential role of the "commercial districts" in this transition, promoted as "innovative territorial enhancement methods to promote commerce as an effective aggregation factor capable of activating economic, social and cultural dynamics".
Two distinct types of District have been defined:
- Urban Trade Districts are established on the territory of a single municipality or part of it;
- Diffuse Districts of Inter-Municipal Relevance are established/settled on the territory of several municipalities.
The mission of the districts is to stimulate and innovate urban commerce, thereby fostering a balance between the various commercial formats. Attractiveness and competitiveness are supported by a unitary direction that, through public-private partnerships, municipalities, enterprises and other local stakeholders, promotes the development of cities and territories, thanks to the pursuit of a shared strategic and investment vision.
It is therefore recommended that commercial districts be tasked with interpreting the two extremes a demand (post Covid) that presents a distinct privileged adherence between the two formulas of the Urban Trade Districts and the Diffuse Districts of Inter-Municipal Relevance:
- a redefinition of commerce in urban areas, based on an emerging focus on the theme of proximity (the obvious reference is to the debate on the 15-Minute City) and on responding to the dynamics of commercial organisation and shopping, increasingly characterised by the digital transition;
- a restructuring of the network of commercial services in inland/low-density areas, identifying on the one hand the synergies of neighborhood establishments with the network of citizenship services, and on the other hand the opportunities for complementarity between the (profitable) retail parks established urban and metropolitan areas and the fragile commercial network of inner areas.

Speaker: Dr Elettra Barbieri (University of Bergamo)

16:00 → 17:30 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (A): Justice, Inclusion and Diversity in Climate Action

Convener: Osman Balaban (Middle East Technical University)

16:00 Migrants’ housing energy commons in Thessaloniki

Up until recently, significant studies have been published on the living conditions of migrants in Greece, notably in state-run camps (Tazzioli 2024), rented apartments from UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) programs (Kourachanis, 2022) and self-managed housing squats (Tsavdaroglou and Kaika 2022). However, the issue of energy in relation to migrants’ housing appears to have been overlooked until now. Yet, energy infrastructure and energy as a social relation are critical to the daily lives of migrants and the sustainability of their houses. Concomitantly, despite several studies (Bouzarovski 2014; Chatzikonstantinou et al. 2022) on households’ energy access, energy poverty and the transition to renewable energy systems in the European and Greek contexts, the energy needs and infrastructures of the migrant population remained under-researched. The few studies published on the energy needs, infrastructures and practices of migrants concern countries outside Europe pointing to a significant research gap or “darkness” (Rosenberg-Jansen, 2025), regarding the energy conditions, needs and activities of migrants in European countries. This paper addresses this research gap. Migrants’ energy needs have not yet been examined, and there is no knowledge of their practices and infrastructures, which are often based on relationships of mutual support, care, and solidarity.
In this context we introduce the concept of “migrants’ housing energy commons” to highlight the self-organised ways, the commoning practices and shared infrastructures that migrants invent and construct to navigate and cope with the energy landscape they encounter in their places of arrival. We approach energy as a social relationship, whose lack results in energy poverty and deprivation but that may also acquire a transformative aspect in migrants’ personal lifecourses and trajectories through collective actions. At the same time, we take into account approaches related to energy commons (Bauwens et al. 2024;), migrants housing commons (Tsavdaroglou and Kaika 2022) and migrants’ infrastructures (Meeus et al. 2019), to develop a framework for examining the self-constructed and self-managed housing energy infrastructural practices of migrants.
The paper focuses on the case of migrants who face homelessness in Thessaloniki (Greece) and seek abandoned buildings like the wall houses in the area of Upper Town as a housing solution. The paper underscores the collective ways in which migrants repair, build, sustain and use energy as a means of covering heating, cooling, insulation, cooking and communication needs and shows that the housing commoning practices and the infrastructuring energy practices are also a means of mutual care, community building and rebuilding life trajectories.

Speaker: Dr Charalampos Tsavdaroglou (University of Amsterdam)

16:10 Receiving Communities During COVID-19: Lessons for Climate Migration

Increasing climate impacts motivate migration across the globe (United Nations Network on Migration 2024). Although climate-induced migration is projected to impact US communities, literature on the numbers, locational choices of the movers, and implications for receiving communities is scarce. This study, focuses on recent population mobility towards rural areas in Northeast (NE) Region in the United States and explores whether climate-induced migration is evident in rural NE. Based on the recent population mobility in the area, this research also uncovers what infrastructure-related and socioeconomic outcomes can be expected in receiving communities, if climate-induced migration pushes populations towards rural (inland) Northeast, as suggested by projections(see for example Robinson et al. 2020). It presents on-the-ground data derived from focus group participants (n=27)—local housing experts in hotspots, i.e., 22 rural counties of NE which experienced the highest relative numbers of in-movers between 2016-2020. The findings of this study revealed that movements were mainly driven by socioeconomic and technological changes, catalyzed by COVID-19 that pushed urbanites towards rural areas. Although communities received a limited number of newcomers from climate-impacted areas, climate was not a major motivation for movers. The influx created significant challenges for housing market, physical and social infrastructure, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. COVID experience opened a window of opportunity to prepare communities for just and sustainable outcomes of future mobilities driven by hazards of many kinds. It highlighted the need to understand uncertainties—e.g., timing and amount of climate migration, by focusing on the longer horizon. Receiving communities can achieve desirable outcomes if they integrate climate migration into their plans and address existing challenges to attainable/affordable housing supply, while also enhancing climate resilience, and the integration of newcomers into host communities.

Speaker: Dr Omur Damla Kuru (University of Utah)

16:20 Addressing Climate Equity Through Community Engagement on Virginia’s Eastern Shore

Rural coastal communities are highly dependent on natural resources, making them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This is especially evident in the Eastern Shore of Virginia (ESVA), a hotspot for accelerated climate impacts, including rising sea levels, coastal and inland flooding, and groundwater salinization. These environmental pressures threaten local agriculture, infrastructure, and community livelihoods, particularly in rural and underserved regions. Exacerbating these issues are social and geographical isolation, limited access to scientific information, and the fragmented nature of local decision-making, which often prioritizes short-term solutions over sustainable, equitable adaptation strategies.

To address these challenges, the ESVA Climate Equity Project, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Coastline and People (CoPe) program, has developed a participatory engagement framework that integrates local knowledge with scientific research to build community-driven climate resilience strategies.

Community engagement is foundational to this work, with activities designed to center diverse voices, particularly those from historically underserved populations. A 12-member Community Advisory Committee (CAC), inclusive of local leaders, guides the project. Broader outreach strategies—such as workshops, interviews, and focus groups—ensure inclusive participation, amplifying community concerns and integrating lived experiences into tool development. These efforts have deepened local understanding of climate risks and fostered trust, enabling effective collaboration between stakeholders.

This paper explores the outcomes of the ESVA Climate Equity Workshops and institutional stakeholder interviews. The workshops adopt an open-house format to foster dialogue between the scientific community and local stakeholders. With participation from 60-80 community members per event, the workshops cover critical topics such as sea-level rise, septic system management, and the regional climate timeline. A key outcome has been the identification of community desires for deeper, more sustained conversations about climate solutions. By employing interactive tools and tailored presentations, the workshops serve as a platform for amplifying diverse voices and addressing localized climate impacts. The institutional interviews with community organizations and service providers highlight their perspectives on the challenges, needs, and opportunities associated with climate equity and resilience. These insights provide a detailed look at the region’s climate priorities, including water management, sea-level rise, housing, infrastructure, public health, and more.

Key findings reveal that collaborative engagement not only improves the community’s understanding of climate risks but also enhances trust and collective action. The participatory model underscores the importance of integrating environmental justice principles with innovative urban planning solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate impacts.

This paper contributes to the discussion on addressing the planetary crisis at the local level, with a specific focus on environmental justice and inclusive urban policies. By sharing lessons from the ESVA Climate Equity Project, this study aims to inform and inspire similar initiatives in other vulnerable coastal communities. The results emphasize the potential for community engagement to drive equitable and climate-resilient urban development, aligning with the broader goals of sustainable and inclusive urban transformation.

Speaker: Ozlem Edizel Tasci (Senior Associate & Proposal Writer, UVA)

16:30 Trade-offs in Urban Planning: Insights from Coordinating Green Space Preservation and Affordable Housing in Vienna

The global climate crisis exacerbates local environmental challenges, such as human losses, negative health impacts, and loss of biodiversity. Cities in particular are highly prone to the negative impacts of a warmer climate. While cities are highly attractive to individuals, they lack of green and blue spaces, and often have high levels of social vulnerability. In response to these challenges, the question lies how we can improve our individual and societal resilience. Nature-based solutions (NbS), such as the construction or preservation of large green spaces, green roofs, tiny forest, ponds etc., are an essential solution for cities. Especially, NbS are very attractive for different actors as they can provide various ecosystem services such as cooling corridors, improved individual well-being, and biodiversity, and are often no-regret solutions, often showing a positive cost-benefit ratio compared to grey solutions such as air conditioning. Yet, increasing urbanization and housing development are putting pressure on large-scale NbS, especially historic greenbelts. At the same time, the global housing affordability crisis continues to make the construction of affordable housing a priority. Under these prevailing economic conditions, planning for affordable housing seems to be limited to peripheral, undeveloped areas where land prices are moderate and in public hand. As a result, land-use conflicts and trade-offs in urban planning are emerging over whether to protect large, biodiverse green areas or build affordable and social housing. This study examines the case of Vienna, analyzing current perceptions, trade-offs and approaches to coordinating the competing goals of green space preservation and the provision of affordable housing. The results are based on a policy analysis of greening, planning and housing policy documents, as well as expert interviews with 20 actors from city politics and administration. Preliminary results indicate that increasing density and further provision of green spaces are perceived as potential solutions. Others, however, see trade-offs between these planning solutions as inevitable and claim they remain a challenge to policy coordination. Currently, the city’s climate adaptation policy prioritizes densely built-up, overheated inner-city areas for implementing small-scale NbS, while simultaneously aiming to preserve large green areas on the outskirts to prevent further soil sealing. Despite these efforts, the city has less capacity to prioritize an affordable densification of the inner-city private housing market. Instead, Vienna’s urban development target areas allocate public land on the outskirts of the city for new social housing. Yet, the majority of actors do not perceive trade-offs between green space preservation and affordable housing because they only practice in one of the two jurisdictions. This case study highlights the importance of coordinating planning policies and their respective trade-offs to address local environmental challenges effectively.

Speaker: Mr Mark Scherner (BOKU University Vienna)

16:40 Integrating equity in adaptation planning: identifying and prioritizing projects for the biggest impact

Climate change and urbanization are intensifying heat stress risks, threatening public health and liveability (Böcker & Thorsson, 2014; Ebi et al., 2021; IPCC, 2022). Rising temperatures disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, including those with limited mobility, low incomes, or health conditions (Ellena, Breil, & Soriani, 2020; Gronlund, 2014; Reid et al., 2009; Voelkel et al., 2018). Local governments tasked with equitable implementation often struggle to translate national, regional, and local policy ambitions into impactful adaptation projects (Ende et al., 2022). Despite the EU’s commitment to prioritize vulnerable populations in adaptation, implementation of equitable planning processes remains limited (Birkmann et al., 2020; ETC/CCA-LULUCF, 2023).
Conventional heat adaptation planning focuses narrowly on hazard indicators like Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET), often ignoring the socio-economic, health, and demographic factors that shape vulnerability (Ellena, Breil, & Soriani, 2020). This narrow approach overlooks the compounded challenges faced by marginalized communities, whose vulnerabilities result from intersecting social, economic, and environmental factors (Harlan et al., 2006; Kang, Park, & Jang, 2024). While mainstreaming supports effective adaptation (Biesbroek, 2021), municipal silos and sectoral planning hinder integrated solutions, necessitating a transdisciplinary framework incorporating diverse risk indicators, policy guidance, and stakeholder collaboration (Frans et al., 2016). By dismantling silos and fostering co-creation, this approach ensures equitable and effective adaptation planning grounded in practical realities.
Cool Cities, an EU Interreg NSR project, develops a framework for heat stress adaptation that encompasses short-, mid-, and long-term planning horizons. The approach incorporates diverse indicators—meteorological, environmental, socio-economic, health, and demographic—to ensure equitable outcomes and prioritize projects for marginalized populations. Eight partner municipalities from five EU countries serve as testing grounds to empirically validate the approach across diverse political and governance contexts, yet facing comparable heat-related threats. Effective adaptation relies on (policy) integration across sectors. This study fosters transdisciplinary collaboration, by engaging municipal stakeholders to optimize co-benefits and synergies, prioritizing locations where heat and related challenges are addressed integrally. Ultimately, the project aims to bridge the implementation gap by promoting actionable, equitable, and streamlined adaptation planning practices.
This study adopts a data-driven methodology to design "cool networks"—city-wide network of thermally comfortable locations and slow-traffic routes, consisting of pedestrian and cycling pathways. A GIS-based thermal comfort assessment is conducted using high-resolution PET maps to identify and optimize these networks. Through a zonal histogram,100x100-meter grid cells are evaluated to determine their compliance with thermal comfort thresholds. Primary slow traffic routes, are overlaid onto this grid to map existing cool networks and identify gaps. A GIS-based risk assessment is then conducted integrating hazard indicators (e.g., PET), exposure metrics (e.g., population density), and vulnerability indicators (e.g., health conditions, socio-economic status). This approach establishes a long-term vision for a cool network, and identifies areas where adaptation interventions are most urgently needed or likely to yield the greatest impact.
To ensure prioritization is inclusive, equitable, and context-sensitive, the process incorporates a policy scan and participatory framework. Co-creation sessions, utilizing, Multi-Criteria Analysis with municipal stakeholders, including planners, designers, engineers, and other urban professionals, are facilitated to prioritize projects by combining qualitative insights with quantitative data. Institutional knowledge ensures that local expertise, governance structures, and practical considerations are integrated into decision-making.
This research offers planners a replicable, equity-focused framework for addressing heat challenges through cool network planning. Combining GIS-based risk assessments, policy scans, and co-creation, it ensures adaptation strategies are data-driven, context-sensitive, and inclusive. By prioritizing projects transparently based on feasibility, equity, and impact, the framework integrates heat resilience with mobility planning, emphasizes vulnerable populations, and supports broader sustainability goals like active transportation and biodiversity. This approach advances the EU’s commitment to equitable climate resilience, fostering thermally comfortable, accessible, and socially equitable cities.

Speaker: Stephanie Erwin (Amsterdam University of Applied Science)

16:50 Feminization of Energy Poverty in China: Contrasting Urban and Rural Experiences

Promoting gender equality and access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy are two pivotal components of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations. Specifically, SDG7 calls for reducing dependence on biomass materials (carbon-based fuel like wood, leaves, straw, cow dung, coal, etc.) as the main source of cooking fuel. Energy poverty is considered to have a woman’s face (Sánchez, Fernández and Peiró, 2020). Earlier studies have revealed that the use of biomass in cooking imposes time, health, and environmental costs on households (Bukari, Broermann and Okai, 2021), with such costs often falling on women due to their traditional roles. Furthermore, geographical inequalities in energy poverty further intensify these gendered burdens, particularly the urban-rural disparity.

According to Zhang et al. (2019), approximately 48.98% of Chinese households are still experiencing energy poverty, with over 400 million Chinese individuals relying on traditional biomass and coal for cooking. The challenge is even more serious in terms of energy disparity. More than 75% of rural households primarily used coal and firewood as fuel sources (i.e., 17.1% and 58.6% with coal and biomass respectively), while 8.2% and 36.1% of households in urban and township areas used solid fuels for cooking (Lu et al., 2022). These facts indicate that the urban-rural disparity in energy poverty is still a pressing issue in China. Undoubtedly, gender inequality in the context of energy poverty is also a critical issue in China. This issue is particularly associated with the Chinese Confucian culture (Li et al., 2023), which has long emphasized traditional gender roles and hierarchical social structures. This cultural framework continues to influence contemporary societal norms, limiting women’s access to energy resources and involvement in energy-related decisions, particularly in rural areas (Tang et al., 2020). As such, households influenced by Confucian culture tend to exhibit gender bias and are more likely to experience energy poverty. Therefore, promoting gender equality in energy poverty requires not only an economic solution but also a deep understanding of the cultural norms that shaped gendered access to energy. In this, it calls for a need for a comprehensive understanding of energy poverty as both a gendered and spatially embedded issue.

This paper employs a mixed-methods approach, which combines quantitative analysis of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) database with qualitative semi-structure interviews to capture the multi-dimensional features of energy poverty. Quantitative findings reveal rural women are disproportionately affected by energy poverty due to limited infrastructure, restricted economic opportunities, and lower education level, leading to an overreliance on biomass and other polluting fuels. Building on these findings, the qualitative analysis delves deeper into the underlying social and cultural factors that exacerbate these disparities. It shows how traditional Confucian culture norms influence the domestic roles of females related to energy poverty, such as family status, and overall well-being. Consequently, the qualitative research uncovers systematic marginalization of women in energy planning and policy-making processes, emphasizing the cultural and structural barriers that constrain their agency and perpetuate energy poverty. Together, these findings underscore the multi-dimensional characteristics of energy poverty in China and the importance of addressing both structural inequalities and cultural norms in crafting equitable energy policies.

By examining the lived experiences of women in urban and rural China, this paper helps to see the deep-rooted cultural standards and structural obstacles that aggravate energy disparities. It emphasizes the urgency of transformative strategies that go beyond mere technical fixes, advocating for gender-sensitive policies, inclusive decision-making systems, and culturally informed interventions to address systematic inequalities. By integrating ecological sustainability with social and spatial justice, this paper contributes to the broader pursuit of equitable and resilient societies.

Speaker: Dr Jing Wu (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University)

16:00 → 17:30 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (B): Health Impacts of Climate Change on Cities and Communties

Convener: Xiaolin Lao (University College Dublin)

16:00 Urban heat islands assessment for building city resilience: a novel approach

Europe is recognised as the fastest-warming continent where the temperatures are rising twice compared to the global average rate and the summer of 2024 was the hottest (C3S, 2024) causing a negative impact on people´s health, city functions, nature and economy (Aboulnaga et al., 2024; Tong et al., 2021). Thus, areas with urban heat islands (UHI), as the most vulnerable areas to heat waves in cities, became a core topic addressed by the Be Ready project, co-financed by the INTERREG Danube Programme (Be Ready, 2024). The project's main aim is to jointly develop strategies for improving climate change preparedness and resilience of 10 involved cities in the project.
Oke (2011) defined UHI as a relative warmth of the city compared to the surrounding rural areas. This phenomenon is caused by the capacities, especially construction materials of storing and releasing heat energy from the sun into the urban climate (Prashad, 2015). Mapping critical areas within inner cities is essential for developing effective urban strategies. While researchers have developed methodologies for assessing cities in terms of UHIs, these approaches often focus solely on the physical aspects of the built environment, and they do not encompass a broader range of factors. To address this gap, the Be Ready project has developed a novel, comprehensive method for assessing UHIs. This new assessment tool integrates multiple dimensions which are beyond the physical environment, making it applicable to other cities and providing a more holistic understanding of urban heat dynamics.
The Be Ready risk assessment tool encompasses four key elements: the exposure of buildings and surroundings, the sensitivity of equipment and materials, the identification of risk groups among city residents, and the preparedness and adaptive capacity of cities. This comprehensive approach was implemented in ten cities across the Danube region, including Chisinau (Moldova), Galati (Romania), Heviz (Hungary), Kranj (Slovenia), Niš (Serbia), Podgorica (Montenegro), Ratibor (Czech Republic), Sofia (Bulgaria), Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Varaždin (Croatia). These cities applied the methodological framework to assess urban areas vulnerable to the negative effects of UHIs, identifying critical areas that require attention in the development of climate change strategies. The study aims to evaluate the level of city preparedness for UHIs and to identify the critical factors influencing the assessment across different urban contexts.
This paper aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of UHIs, elucidating their causes and the negative effects that must be addressed in urban climate adaptation strategies. Assessment tools are instrumental for city authorities, local decision-makers, urban planners, and climate experts in identifying critical zones within cities, and vulnerable risk groups, and in formulating policies and strategies tailored to the specificities of each city and its micro-locations. The implementation of the Be Ready risk assessment tool presents an opportunity for cities to enhance their resilience and foster further development adaptable to climate change challenges, incorporating other risk factors associated with the adverse effects of this.

Speaker: Mrs Barbara Mušič (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia)

16:10 Towards a better integration of urban agriculture into urban planning for healthier cities. Results from a systematic review

Integrating health issues into planning and urban development is becoming urgent (UN-Habitat and WHO; 2023) in this context of concurrent crises and climate change. It is about understanding how to minimize the exposure of populations to risk factors (pollutants, social isolation, etc.) while maximizing exposure to protective factors (practice of physical activities, access to green spaces, food security etc.). Through its multifunctionality and diversity, urban agriculture is likely to act on several health determinants (well-being, physical activity, diversified diet, job creation) (Audate et al., 2019) by responding to major challenges (food supply, sustainable development, social cohesion) as well as climate change challenges (urban heat island, food insecurity) of contemporary cities (Pradhan et al., 2024).
This contribution aims to gain an understanding of the academic literature which explores the links between planning, health and urban agriculture. In order to do this, we undertake a systematic review of the literature based on PICO protocol (Eriksen and Frandsen, 2018) including peer-reviewed articles demonstrating that urban agriculture has one or more effects on human health or its determinants using qualitative and/or quantitative analyses. We have selected scientific articles published in English up to December 2024 and referenced by PubMed and ScienceDirect. Starting from an in-depth reading of 98 articles selected out of the 1026 identified, some findings could be addressed to planning. Almost two-thirds of the articles were published since the covid health crisis, showing how these topics have had a renewed interest. Most of the studies report case studies revealing concentration on studies set in certain geographical areas (United States and Europe) or concerning few forms of urban agriculture (family and community gardens).
Ours first results show that urban agriculture is a practice that can contribute significantly to urban sustainability and population well-being, but also lead to some risks that should not be underestimated. We observed that the risk factors (pollutants, social isolation, exclusion, etc.) and protective factors (physical activity, healthy eating) associated with urban agriculture vary according to the forms (family or shared gardens, peri-urban farms, indoor farms, etc.), the levels of influence (individuals, households, neighborhoods), the types of actors (communities, project leaders, city dwellers, socio-economic partners), the spatial scales (plots, projects, neighborhoods, territories) and temporal scales (project design, implementation, operation). Our literature review also illustrates the prominence of certain approaches and determinants of health (pollution, food supply, nature-based solution), in contrast to others subjects and population (urban agriculture mobilizations, disadvantaged groups) that are more original, but less studied (gentrification, environmental justice).
Finally, based on those results we operate a first attempt to associate the constitutive elements of urban agriculture (types, scale, actors, etc.) with the determinants of health to provide planning guidance. We will also be able to show at which scales it seems more relevant to develop policies to promote urban agriculture.

Speaker: Dr Giulia Giacche (INRAE)

16:20 Unraveling the mechanisms of extreme heat on urban mobility resilience: a cycling perspective

Global climate change has led to an increase in extreme heat events, affecting urban mobility, particularly bike-sharing systems, which are crucial for sustainable urban development. Although the built environment has a considerable influence on bike-sharing usage, there is limited research on its impact on urban mobility resilience (UMR) of bike-sharing. This study investigates the effect of extreme heat on UMR in Shanghai's urban center, utilizing machine learning techniques, specifically the LightGBM model, SHAP explainability model, and Bayesian parameter optimization. The research explores how the built environment and other factors shape UMR under extreme heat conditions.
A novel quantitative method was developed to measure UMR, using the ratio of bike usage during extreme heat to normal conditions in a spatial unit. The model demonstrated significant explanatory power, with R² values of 73.5% on weekdays and 63.7% on weekends, reliably explaining UMR variations in bike-sharing systems. The results indicate that extreme heat has a more severe negative effect on UMR during weekends, as weekend trips are more leisure-oriented and thus more vulnerable to heat. Additionally, UMR in peripheral urban areas is lower compared to the city center, with high UMR areas in the city center showing a clustered distribution.
In terms of mechanisms, the study found followings: (1) Development intensity and land use diversity have a positive impact on UMR, especially on weekdays. For example, increasing building density (from 0 to 0.3) significantly boosts UMR by nearly 0.1. Similarly, increasing floor area ratio and building height on weekdays also leads to substantial improvements in UMR; (2) The importance of a well-developed public transportation network and infrastructure is emphasized. Proximity to metro stations (within 1,000-1,500 meters) enhances UMR, and bus stop density plays a crucial role in increasing resilience; (3) The reasonable concentration of population and economic activity is vital for enhancing UMR, particularly on weekends. Population density positively affects resilience up to a threshold of 20,000 people per km2, beyond which the impact diminishes. Economic agglomeration on weekends contributes more than 0.2 to resilience, while a reasonable population concentration increases resilience by over 0.05.
The study challenges some conventional views. Increasing road density does not always enhance resilience. In fact, higher road density can reduce UMR by up to 0.1 on weekdays. Similarly, while greening is often considered beneficial, it can lower UMR by up to 0.15 on weekends, indicating the need for more nuanced urban planning approaches.
From a policy perspective, the study offers several key recommendations. High-density development areas, such as commercial and residential zones, tend to show higher UMR under extreme heat, suggesting that promoting moderate high-density development in urban centers is a viable strategy. However, it must be balanced with careful attention to green space optimization and microclimate design. Transportation planners should focus not only on increasing road density but also on ensuring the accessibility of public transportation systems, particularly integrating high-density development areas within a reasonable distance of transportation hubs. Special cycling paths and slow-moving transportation networks should be developed to encourage bike-sharing, reduce barriers to cycling, and improve overall urban mobility resilience. Additionally, urban planning should prioritize functional diversity through mixing land use and the population and economy should be moderately agglomerated.
In conclusion, this research provides a comprehensive framework for assessing and enhancing UMR under extreme heat conditions. The study offers valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers, providing a robust tool for improving UMR in the context of climate change.

Speakers: Dr Zeyin Chen (Tongji University), Dr Siying Li (Tongji University)

16:30 Quantifying Wet-Heat Stress in Chinese Cities: A Unified Framework for Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Urban Moisture Island (UMI) Analysis Using Ensemble Learning

As global climate change accelerates, cities worldwide are increasingly affected by wet-heat stress (WHS), driven by the combined effects of Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and Urban Moisture Islands (UMI). Human perception of the thermal environment depends on both temperature and humidity. While UHI has been extensively studied, research on UMI remains limited, and few studies have integrated both phenomena into a unified analysis. Given that urban built environments (UBE) are key factors influencing these effects, understanding how different built environment characteristics contribute to WHS is crucial for developing effective urban planning strategies. This study fills the research gap by introducing a novel joint analysis framework that simultaneously assesses UHI and UMI dynamics in Chinese urban agglomerations. It also examines the combined effects of three key built environment dimensions—physical morphology, natural characteristics, and development indicators—on these phenomena.
The objective of this study is to quantify the spatial distribution of UHI and UMI across 1,635 urban agglomerations in China during the summer months of 2020 (June, July, and August). Utilizing high-resolution satellite data and an advanced machine learning approach integrating the LightGBM model with the SHAP algorithm, we assess the contributions of UBE to WHS. All associated models achieved R-squared values greater than 0.9, indicating robust representations of the contributions and marginal effects of different UBE dimensions on urban WHS. Through this approach, we gain novel insights into the complex interplay between UHI, UMI, and urban environmental factors.
The results reveal that approximately 28.9% of urban areas experience concurrent UHI and UMI stress, with these effects being more pronounced in warm climatic zones and in cities categorized as Super Cities (populations over 5 million). This study identifies five major insights into the UBE’s role in WHS: (1) Urban greening alleviates WHS, particularly in larger cities, effectively lowering UHI without substantially raising UMI. This finding addresses concerns from previous studies that vegetation may increase air humidity through evapotranspiration, potentially exacerbating WHS and offsetting cooling benefits. (2) Both high building density (BD) and impervious surface ratios (IR) concurrently intensify UHI and UMI, indicating that controlling their upper thresholds is crucial for mitigating combined WHS. (3) Once building height (BH) exceeds 10–12 meters, improved urban ventilation reduces both UHI and UMI, with this effect growing stronger in larger cities. (4) High albedo surfaces, such as glass curtain walls, exacerbate WHS by reflecting and concentrating solar radiation in localized areas, particularly in large cities. (5) Urban development indicators, including Night-Time Lights and Population Density, significantly increase UHI while inhibiting UMI, with this impact intensifying as city size grows.
The study’s findings offer actionable recommendations for urban planning, emphasizing the promotion of urban greening, particularly in larger cities, through innovative measures like rooftop and vertical greening to effectively utilize limited urban space and increase green coverage. It advocates for optimizing building morphology by regulating BD and IR and adjusting BH to enhance urban ventilation, thereby alleviating both UHI and UMI. Additionally, managing surface albedo through the selection of appropriate materials can mitigate WHS. Moreover, rapid urban development should strategically balance high economic growth with sustainable planning practices, maintaining economic vitality while mitigating UHI and UMI.
In conclusion, this study underscores the importance of addressing both UHI and UMI comprehensively in sustainable city design. It calls for a shift in urban planning that not only targets heat mitigation but also accounts for moisture dynamics, offering a holistic approach to enhancing urban resilience against climate change. The proposed framework serves as a robust tool for policymakers to make informed decisions aimed at reducing the impacts of WHS.

Speaker: Tao Wu (Tongji University)

16:40 The Impact of Urban Compactness on the Urban Heat Island Effect - Evidence from 119 Cities in China

In recent years, the ongoing phenomenon of global warming and the frequent occurrence of extreme and unusual weather events have posed significant challenges to the human living environment and public health. Among these challenges, the issue of the urban heat environment has garnered particular attention, as evidenced by the prominence of the urban heat island(UHI) effect in research and discourse. The urban spatial morphology is indicative of the patterns of human production and living activities. These activities can exert an influence on the spatial configuration of land cover and land use, thereby affecting the intensity of the UHI effect(Xian et al., 2021). Existing studies have predominantly focused on the influence of urban micro-region morphology on local climate(Yang et al., 2021), employing district morphology as the primary driver to explain the urban thermal environment. The spatial clustering of thermal clusters (compact hot areas) has been shown to significantly increase the intensity of UHI(Atri et al., 2021). The compact city concept, which is prevalent in China, has further intensified the agglomeration of human activities within cities, resulting in larger urban thermal clusters. Therefore, it is crucial to explore the impact of urban compact morphology on UHI from a more macro perspective. However, there is a lack of compactness-focused explorations in existing studies, and how UHI responds to various urban compactness patterns remains poorly understood. In this study, we selected 119 cities across six major urban agglomerations in China as our research sites. We employed the city clustering algorithm to delineate the urban cluster boundaries and determined the UHI footprint based on the spillover effect of UHI(Liu et al., 2020), to evaluate and analyse the intensity and the spatial distribution characteristics of average SUHI of July in 2014, 2020, 2023 and 2023. Furthermore, urban compactness was measured in terms of the centrality, Landscape Shape Index (LSI), Aggregation Index(AI) and cohesion of urban cluster, the centrality of population and the centrality of green space. By employing two regression models, Random Forest and Geographical Weighted Random Forest, and the Shapley Additive Explanation method, the drivers of SUHI and their spatial heterogeneity were analyzed. The study has the following main findings: (1) The average SUHI exhibited a relatively smooth change in each urban agglomeration during the study period, while their spatial distributions reflected distinct climate-driven patterns, and the SUHI of cities in the subtropical zone was significantly higher than that in other regions; (2) Except for the centrality of population and the LSI and cohesion of urban cluster, the remainder of the urban compactness indicators have significant impacts on SUHI. The increase in AI of urban cluster will evidently enhance SUHI, while the increase in centrality of urban cluster and green space can effectively alleviate SUHI, but the alleviation effect will diminished once a threshold value is exceeded. (3) The result demonstrates substantial spatial heterogeneity in the relationship between urban compactness indicators and SUHI. The AI and centrality of urban cluster in the southwestern cities have a stronger enhancement effect on SUHI, the centrality of green space in the central cities has a stronger mitigating effect on SUHI, and all indicators in the eastern cities have a weaker effect on SUHI. The results provide effective targeted heat-adaptive compact development strategies for cities in different regions.

Speaker: Mr Minghao Zuo (Tianjin University)

16:50 Integrating Heat Resilience into Urban Planning: Lessons from Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce Influence on the NSW Planning System

The intensifying impacts of climate change have underscored the need for effective governance and long-term planning to ensure heat resilience in urban environments. Greater Sydney, with its exposure to extreme heat events, presents a compelling case study in the challenges and opportunities of integrating heat resilience into urban planning. Heatwaves have long been under-recognised in planning legislation, with a fragmented approach across Greater Sydney’s thirty-three Local Government Areas, often leaving heat management to ad-hoc responses rather than systematic, long-term planning (WSROC 2022).
This paper explores the role of the Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce, a multistakeholder alliance, in advocating for legislative responses to embed heat resilience into urban planning policies and frameworks (2023). Heat resilience refers to the ability of urban environments to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of extreme heat, ensuring the protection of public health, infrastructure, and vulnerable communities. This includes measures like urban cooling strategies, green spaces, and building designs that reduce heat exposure. Using evolutionary governance theory, this research examines how governance structures and planning systems evolve—or fail to evolve—in response to climate risks such as heat. Evolutionary governance theory highlights the dynamic, non-linear interactions between institutions, actors, and policy, and the role of path dependencies in shaping governance adaptations (Birchall et al., 2021).
The paper argues that the efforts of the Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce have been crucial in bringing heat resilience to the forefront of urban planning discussions, specifically in advocating for stronger legislative frameworks. Despite the importance of addressing heat resilience, there are significant barriers to embedding this issue within planning legislation, such as conflicting economic priorities and political inertia. Developers, for instance, often resist the implementation of stronger planning controls, while political and economic pressures limit the development of robust statutory frameworks.
Achieving meaningful and lasting progress requires embedding heat resilience within statutory planning controls, ensuring that governance mechanisms are institutionalised and sustainable over the long term. This paper underscores the importance of critical junctures—moments when political, economic, or social conditions create opportunities for significant governance change. These junctures can align stakeholder interests, overcome resistance, and push forward stronger legislative frameworks for long-term urban planning. However, entrenched interests and path dependencies often hinder the implementation of enduring change. The lessons from Greater Sydney’s experience offer valuable insights for other jurisdictions aiming to integrate climate resilience into urban planning legislation.

Speaker: NIcky Morrison (Western Sydney University)

17:00 Reintroduction of health impact assessment in Bulgarian city planning – why and how?

Background: Bulgaria has established practices in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), yet the integration of applied Health Impact Assessment (HIA) research findings is limited or absent in the practice of urban planning, governance and development. This has led to poorly informed planning and decision making in recent years. Meanwhile, keeping the low quality of the urban environment in terms of pollution and associated health risks (Dzhambov et al., 2023; Dzhambov et al, 2024; Khomenko, 2024), ultimately affects citizens’ quality of life. To overcome existing shortcomings in the process of urban planning and governance, there is a need for improved health-awareness through health-oriented planning and decision support tools at city and sub-city level.

Aim: The paper’s two major aims are to answer the questions of why there is a pressing need for reintroduction of advanced HIA in the Bulgarian spatial planning system and how this can be accomplished carefully without excessive regulatory burden to city authorities, planning and design experts, (re)developers and citizens.

Methods: Drawing on experience from one pilot and three research projects, conducted in major Bulgarian cities, this paper proposes a framework for reintroducing and improving the quality of evidence-based Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) in the country. The study offers valuable insights, combining three approaches:

1. A comparative analysis of international regulations and the current
   state of health impact assessment practices at the urban level in
   Bulgaria; An overview of urban environment - public health
   interactions and exposure patterns across Bulgaria's five largest
   cities, with a particular focus on Sofia, highlighting key exposures
   such as air, noise, and light pollution, alongside the
   characteristics of green spaces and their accessibility; A
   conceptual reframing of approaches to address urban environmental
   pressures and develop balanced strategies for creating healthier
   urban environments in Bulgaria in the near future.

Results:
The comparative analysis of regulations regarding HIA is represented by an unfolding matrix of procedural and substantive issues. As part of the broader city HIA landscape, specific gaps in application are outlined in relation to the Bulgarian urban planning and design and the parallel urban environmental and health protection systems.
The overview of the interactions between urban environment and public health as well as the mapping and modeling of exposure patterns clarifies the current data and knowledge base thus systemizing and overlaying the available evidence.
The conceptual vision for the ways of reframing and simplifying the existing policies, regulations, tools, and measures is attempting to respond to the tensions between urban development and health protection, showing a path that can safeguard wellbeing of Bulgarian city dwellers.

Conclusions: We aim to stimulate a discussion on the key principles for healthy and sustainable development of the urban living environment as well as the health support system in decision making affecting urban development, planning and design. That system can benefit from a set of tools and interlinkages including qualitative and quantitative assessment of the expected impact, from planned development and regeneration, on public health in terms of morbidity, mortality and well-being, as well as associated socio-economic burden.

Speaker: Dr Angel Burov (Health and Quality of Life in a Green and Sustainable Environment Research Group, Strategic Research and Innovation Program for the Development of MU - Plovdiv, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Environmental Health Division, Research Institute at Medical University of Plovdiv, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture, University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia, Bulgaria.)

16:00 → 17:30 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (A): Cultures, Heritage, and Glocalizations

Conveners: Evangelia Athanasiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Tihomir Viderman (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

16:00 Exploring the heritage - transnational nexus: Disassembling the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome

Heritage cities undergo continuous forms of transformation – resulting from urban growth, destruction, gentrification, mass tourism, etc. Over the last several decades, there has been an increasing insertion of star architecture designed projects within sensitive heritage contexts (Cominelli & Jacquot, 2020). These transnational projects both benefit from the correlation with heritage sites while simultaneously transforming the imaginaries, experiences, and authenticity of these contexts (Van Oers, 2006). International conservation doctrines by no means forbid such projects, but rather emphasize the need for continued growth and evolution of historic cities through projects which respond to the contemporary values of their time (Lardinois, Arato Gonçalves, Matarese, & Macdonald, 2015). While initial research has been conducted on some of these projects, such as the Kunsthaus Graz (Dreher, Alaily-Mattar, & Thierstein, 2020) or the Acropolis Museum (Gravari-Barbas, 2020), there has overall been limited reflection on the heritage – transnational nexus which emerge within these scenarios.

This paper responds to this research gap by exploring the case of the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome. The Ara Pacis Museum represents the first new building in the historic city centre of Rome since WW2. Designed by Richard Meier from 1995 to 2006, the project’s development has been highly contentious, due in large part to the role of the transnational star architect. Part of an ongoing research project, this paper unpacks the complex layers of the project’s design and development within an incredibly sensitive heritage context. Assemblage theory is used to decipher the role of various human and non-human actors in generating a new socio-material assemblage within the centre of Rome. While Edensor (2011) has implemented this methodology to highlight the agency of material elements within historic structures, it has not been used to decipher the overlapping heritage layers generated within a transnational project located in a heritage site. The research reveals the multiple tangible and intangible heritage understandings and interpretations connected to the site to identify those which informed the museum’s development and those which were overlooked. It also reframes the position of the star architect in relation to the other human and non-human actors as part of the wider socio-material assemblage to provide new understandings of the project and its long-term urban effects.

Speaker: Dr Zachary M. Jones (Politecnico di Milano)

16:10 Locating transnational projects and UNESCO World Heritage: Diffusion, features, and types of projects located within sites, buffer zones, and nearby

Cultural heritage has gained importance in distinguishing cities and places in the competition for attracting international visitors. In the last decades, this prompted new projects to make historic sites more appealing, accessible, and functional to tourists. While a certain degree of novelty – e.g. new projects for historic buildings, museums and heritage areas – proved to be attractive, it can also risk oversimplifying cultural contents to promote tourism and commodifying heritage places (Gravari-Barbas and Renard-Delautre, 2016).

In particular, transnational actors, such as star architects, have contributed significantly to these trends (Ponzini, 2020). In the transformations of heritage-rich sites, international organizations such as UNESCO and internationally renowned architectural firms emerge as the obvious protagonists, since these projects generally need high-level technical expertise, specialized interventions and powerful narratives to gain legitimacy, especially in potentially controversial situations. A survey by Cominelli and Jacquot (2020) identified more than 400 projects across Europe designed by transnational firms and located within UNESCO-listed sites in the 1990-2015 period. However, little is known about the diffusion, features, and types of projects located in and near to such heritage sites, especially beyond Europe.

This paper aims to advance the state of the art by conducting a series of mapping and analytical exercises to uncover new insights into the interaction between transnational projects and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. First, it explores the geographies of projects designed by globally prominent transnational firms in UNESCO WHS and their buffer zones between 1990 and 2023. The analysis is based on an original GIS database with comprised of more than 5,000 transnational projects (Ponzini and Manfredini, 2017) overlayed with the UNESCO WHS database containing over 1200 sites. Using a 2km radius, derived from the maximum determined diameter of existing listed urban sites, the study identify over 200 projects in vicinity of WHS sites. Subsequent investigation and cross-checking reveal a diverse set of projects located directly within the World Heritage Sites, their Buffer Zones, as well as outside of listed areas, even if, in some instances, they fall beyond (but nearby) the designated boundaries. The analysis indicates that nearly three times more of the projects were completed after the site was listed as UNESCO, revealing that the heritage listing did not necessarily have an impact of reducing urban development.

This data will be thoroughly analyzed to identify patterns and trends in how these projects interact with their surroundings. A set of examples will be presented to narrate the different types identified to expand the discussion on how the ways these projects connect or disconnect with their heritage contexts. Finally, the paper will highlight key gaps and open questions regarding transnational architectural and urban projects in heritage areas, outlining directions for future research to be developed.

Speakers: Prof. Davide Ponzini (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano), Dr Zachary Jones (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano), Dr Anita Martinelli (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano)

16:20 Urban Heritage and transnational networks in the case of Municipio Station in Naples, Italy

Over the last decades, many historic cities have experienced major transformation as a way to improve urban infrastructure to facilitate the flow of goods, people and ideas, generating the environment of citizens' everyday life (Larkin, 2013). Among the strategies to better position the city worldwide, there are the expansion of metro lines and the involvement of high-profile architects (Augé, 1995), the so-called star-architects, which, in many institutional contexts, are brought by commercial dynamics for branding the image of a city through new architectural ‘objects’ (Alaily-Mattar, Ponzini & Thierstein, 2020). In particular, when acting on heritage-rich urban contexts it is often required great innovation and flexibility, due to the high levels of difficulty involved in the realisation of new infrastructure and considering the potential archaeological heritage beneath such sites. As a consequence, it is often required to introduce new methods of working and investigating in the integration of architectural interventions in the urban space (Lambertucci, 2016).
The case of Municipio metro station in Naples is part of the newly constructed metro line 1, also defined as the “Three A Metro Line” (Art, Architecture, Archaeology) and, being designed in the heart of Naples by the two Portuguese Pritskzer Prices A. Siza Vieira and E. Souto De Moura, acts as a forerunner in Italy. Dated back at the end of the ‘90s and partially inaugurated in 2015, it represents an example not only for the innovative techniques that have been developed, but also for facing contingencies that have influenced the order of events, changing the stakeholders dynamics and generating, in turn, solutions of extraordinary uniqueness. Furthermore, the project defines a profound transformation of one of the city's most representative public spaces (Piazza Municipio) and is the result of a refined cultural approach. Despite the sensibility of the archistars to the heritage-rich urban area, the development of the project has had to deal with on-site contextual issues, linked to the daily life of the city.
With this paper, the authors decided to analyse the case of Municipio Station reconstructing the complex network of actors - including experts, state bodies, local and international conservation organisations, companies and researchers – which have been involved in the realisation of the station and the square. Adopting the perspective of assemblage theory (Deleuze & Guattari, 1976; McFarlane, 2011), the study also includes non-human agents, recognizing their significant role in shaping outcomes, as they “participate as near-equals in life on earth” (Lieto & Beauregard, 2015), actively contributing to and influencing the dynamic network. Archaeology, now showcased within the station and in the still-under construction archaeological park, has fostered significant interactions, shaping the creation of new expertise and influencing urban policies. Viewed as an agent in public space and a public good that requires careful consideration in urban planning and policies (Dodson, 2009), infrastructure, likewise, can be understood as a part of “extended material assemblages” that produce tangible effects and shape social dynamics (Harvey et al., 2016).

This socio-material infrastructure enables an examination of the ‘everyday articulations’ between bodies, objects and spaces, resulting in accomplished and complex trajectories (Robinson, 2023). Through the analysis of specific events – presented as vignettes -, the authors provide process insights on single interventions, revealing interferences that emerge in the intersection of various agents and actors. By incorporating reports, field surveys, interviews, archival visits, and an ongoing effort to comprehend the transnational assemblage as a network of relationships, the study aims to initiate a reflection on the impact evaluation of the urban policies on the city and its heritage, highlighting how it is necessary to complement the technical strategy with a cultural approach.

Speakers: Mrs Anita Martinelli (Polytechnic University of Milan), Mrs Sveva Ventre (University of Naples Federico II)

16:30 Heritage privatization in Venice: public-private interests in the conversion of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi into a luxury store

In recent years, cultural heritage has become a favored resource in real-estate dynamics, particularly in historic cities. Privatization, deeply rooted in processes of financialization of urban policy, has indeed exploited the real-estate value embedded in such assets, not infrequently leading to speculative mechanisms, as well as social exclusion. The interaction of public and private actors is shaped by specific policy and regulatory frameworks that, in different national and local contexts, seek to harness social values from these market interventions.
Reflections on this topic are particularly enriching when considering the city of Venice in North-Eastern Italy, a heritage-rich context subject, in recent years, to selling state-owned properties – such as buildings and even the remote smaller islands of the lagoon – to foster global investments and touristification.
This contribution explores how different actors (public authorities, private developers, transnational architects, and civil society) interact and negotiate, by specifically reflecting on the conversion of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi into a major luxury store. This case is particularly illustrative of the way public and private actors have interacted, in the last years, to foster urban transformations in the lagoon city. Built in the early 1500s and once an important commercial hub between the Republic of Venice and German traders, it was heavily altered during the 1920s and 1930s in successive conservation projects aimed at transforming it into the headquarters of Poste Italiane (mail service). Such a public function was held until 2009, when the Municipality of Venice sold the building to Edizione Srl, a financial and real-estate company of the global fashion brand Benetton. Amidst the uncertainties of the European crisis of 2007 and of the global financial crisis of 2008, Fondaco rapidly became an emblem of the heritage-driven privatization affecting Venice in the past 20 years.
The formal agreements that followed its alienation, the changing from public to private function, and the architectural transformations proposed by Rem Koolhaas’ office (OMA), expose the convergence and contraposition of interests among public and private actors, national and transnational. We portray this process in detail, analyzing the documents related to the approval of OMA’s design, the agreements made between the Municipality and Edizione, as well as the press releases of the period 2010-2016.
In this process, transnational actors such as OMA and the DFS Group (in charge of the commercial management of the Fondaco) stretched the foreseeable limits of such interactions in the interplay of capital, urban planning and heritage – nonetheless with interests of their own. Furthermore, individual actors in charge of such organizations were put at the forefront as they advocated for mutually favorable (but not necessarily well-balanced) public-private partnerships. These partnerships highlight a “regulation through agreements” that increasingly challenges the Venetian urban governance. They aim to find a balance between attracting capital to foster growth in a rapidly depopulating and ageing city, while at the same time maintaining some kind of public access to them.
As dissonant voices grew, the political outcomes were questioned by techno-administrative instances, and the actor network constellation, including non-human agents, generated significant consequences that substantially affected the intervention proposed and finally built between 2014 and 2016. The analysis also considers the recent news announcing the failure of the commercial enterprise after less than 10 years of activity, and the closure of Fondaco scheduled for the first semester of 2025.
Eventually, the case of Fondaco helps understand the mechanisms of property regulation in Venice, at the same time allowing for a more general reflection on similar dynamics within heritage-rich contexts.

Speakers: Prof. Matteo Basso (University Iuav of Venice), Prof. Anna Marson (University Iuav of Venice), Dr Marco Minozzo (University Iuav of Venice), Prof. Carla Tedesco (University Iuav of Venice)

16:40 Manufacturing Heritage for Piazza Garibaldi in Naples (Italy)

In 2013, the star architect responsible for the new subway station in Naples’ Piazza Garibaldi declared that he was “a little jealous of the other metro sites [in Naples], where there are some ruins, where there are some traces of history.” Preliminary archaeological surveys had revealed, in the architect’s words, an underground space “that history hadn’t taken over yet.” The shared understanding between the architect, municipal officials, and engineers leading the project was that Piazza Garibaldi and its underground lacked elements that could be valued as archaeological, architectural, or intangible heritage. Moreover, because of its immediate vicinity to the central railway station, Piazza Garibaldi has long been a contested and socially diverse space, home to migrant residents and urban cultures that are overwhelmingly devalued in the mainstream media and public opinion.
In a context marked by both the absence of heritage-worthy historical traces and the presence of stigmatized urban cultures, the architect made a bold claim: he posited that his design firm must “create“ its “own traces of history.” This paper begins with this curious idea—the creation of historical traces—, to shed light on aspects that influence much of heritage-related planning praxis but are often ignored: the unquestioned presumptions about what counts (or not) as heritage; the practices and agents through which heritage is actually imagined, contested, and materialized; and the ways in which such manufactured heritages interact with and further transforms their context.
To answer these questions, we examine the case of Piazza Garibaldi. Its perceived lack of heritage-worthy elements is often attributed to its location. Before the 1840s and the construction of the old central railway station (which would be demolished a century later), the site of the piazza lay outside Naples, in an area of agricultural wetlands that stretched beyond the city’s medieval fortifications. Today, Piazza Garibaldi is situated between the new 1950s railway station and Naples’ densely urbanized, three-millennia-old historical center. In the early 2000s, the normative limits of the historical center and of zones of archeological interests were expanded, eventually including Piazza Garibaldi. While the 1950s railway station remained excluded from these designations, it was nevertheless listed as a noteworthy example of post-war modernist architecture.
Despite this partial inclusion in the city’s formal heritage, Piazza Garibaldi continues to be regarded by planners, architects, and city officials as outside the core of Naples’ historical and cultural identity. Drawing on recent heritage and planning literature influenced by assemblage thinking, we argue that in historically and socially contested places like Piazza Garibaldi, heritage-worthy elements are best understood as “relational objects” (Lieto, 2018). This perspective allows us to consider the open-ended “reassembling [of] bodies, techniques, technologies, materials, values, temporalities, and spaces” as the process by which invented heritage is made a reality (Harrison et al., 2020:6).
To demonstrate how this approach can guide more contextually sensitive planning practice, we draw on ethnographic research methods to examine the empirical processes by which urban heritage was invoked, interpreted, and manufactured during the design and construction of the new subway station at Piazza Garibaldi. First, we explore how the architect paid homage to the modernist railway station, offering a concrete example of how historical traces and heritage-worthy elements are created. Second, we investigate the decade-long controversy surrounding the imagined and contested nature of Piazza Garibaldi’s “authentic” market activities. This dispute involved city officials, architects, migrant residents, and users who sought to assert their urban cultures on their own terms, alongside a range of practices and material agents. Finally, we consider how the heritage thus manufactured interacted with the socio-spatial configuration of Piazza Garibaldi, reshaping its urban context.

Speakers: Dr Capucine Tournilhac (Dipartimento di Architettura - Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II), Dr Bruna Vendemmia (Dipartimento di Architettura - Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II), Prof. Laura Lieto (Dipartimento di Architettura - Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)

16:00 → 17:30 T_07 INCLUSION (A): Migration, segregation and development II

Convener: duygu Cihanger Ribeiro (Middle East Technical University)

16:00 The Economic Benefits of Gender Equality: A Case Study from Europe

This research explores how gender equality shapes economic growth in Europe by focusing on the Gender Equality Index (GEI) as a key measure. Using the E3ME econometric model, it examines how reducing the gender pay gap, encouraging women’s participation in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and promoting equal job opportunities contribute to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and employment rates across different regions. Comparing the economic impacts of different levels of gender equality, the study closely examines the 27 EU member states. Also, it includes Special Economic Models to find practical options for enhancing growth potential in regions with high potential.

Research shows that areas with better gender equality scores have better economic growth and more jobs and areas with continuing inequality have economic problems. The study shows that gender equality is not only a hugely desirable goal for society but also an important element in increasing economic growth, considerably contributing to the long-term strength and resilience of regions.

Speaker: Katkanok Suta (Pusan National University)

16:10 Gender-Responsive Approaches in Post-Disaster Temporary Settlement Planning: Insights from Malatya and Adıyaman

The earthquakes that struck southeastern Turkey on February 6, 2023, caused widespread destruction and displaced hundreds of thousands of people to temporary shelters. This study examines the applicability of the design criteria developed for the UN Women Turkey Gender-Responsive Settlement Model (GRSM).

The research evaluates temporary shelter areas in earthquake-affected cities in southeastern Turkey using a checklist based on the guiding principles of GRSM. This pilot study encompasses Adıyaman and Malatya. During the evaluation, it was determined that the guidelines need modification, as intermediate scales of assessment beyond simple yes/no responses are necessary both administratively and practically.

The study employs various data collection methods, including online surveys, field observations, unstructured interviews, and an expert consultation workshop, with content analysis applied to the gathered data. The findings will aid in developing new settlement design criteria and principles that are sensitive to local needs and prioritize gender equality.

The design criteria established by the GRSM address critical issues such as safety, accessibility, access to social services, women's participation in decision-making processes, and economic opportunities. The aim is to guide local governments and authorities in supporting sustainable settlement planning in post-disaster contexts. The cases of Malatya and Adıyaman will serve as valuable pilot models for localizing gender-responsive settlement planning.

Speaker: Dr Melis Oğuz Çevik

16:20 Inequalities in Public Cultural Facility Distribution: A Comparative Analysis Across Demographic Groups in Wenzhou, China

The concept of “equalization of basic public services” has gained increasing attention in China, alongside the public's growing aspirations for a better life. However, significant challenges remain in addressing imbalances and inadequacies in public service, particularly in terms of regional, urban-rural, and demographic disparities(Xu et al., 2022). Aligning public service distribution with demographics is crucial for achieving equity. While several studies have analyzed the spatial distribution of basic public facilities such as green spaces(Yang et al., 2022), hospitals(Gao et al., 2021), and elderly care facilities(Liu et al., 2024), research on public cultural facilities is limited. As globalization progresses, cultural resources are crucial for preserving local identity. Cultural equity has emerged as a key indicator of social development, demanding urgent attention to the rights of vulnerable groups in terms of cultural access(Fan and Hou, 2021).

This study addresses the gap in the literature by analyzing the spatial distribution of public cultural facilities in Wenzhou, focusing on equity in distribution, service availability, and supply-demand alignment. Kernel density analysis, service coverage calculations, 2SFCA (Gaussian-based Two-Step Floating Catchment Area) model, Pearson correlation, Spatial Autocorrelation analysis, and Spatial Lag Regression Model are used to explore disparities in facility access among floating populations, youth, and the elderly. The findings reveal imbalances in distribution, with central urban areas having better facility coverage than surrounding and mountainous regions. Facility distribution correlates with demographic characteristics: regions with higher concentrations of floating populations and youth generally have more facilities, while areas with larger elderly populations have fewer. Furthermore, facility accessibility is generally poor, with no clear correlation with demographic characteristics, showing a random spatial distribution. In terms of supply-demand alignment, only one sub-district meets high demand and supply. Key contributing factors to these inequities include Wenzhou’s historical development patterns, inadequate facility sizing, and the neglect of elderly populations in planning. The paper proposes three optimization strategies: (1) enhancing facility accessibility by integrating them with other public services, (2) offering targeted cultural services in areas with high demand and low supply to address demographic-specific needs, and (3) leveraging facility locational advantages to engage the floating population and promote their integration into local communities.

This study highlights the significance of equalizing public cultural services to promote social harmony and stability. It emphasizes that the allocation of public cultural facilities should be aligned with population growth patterns and demographic characteristics.

Speaker: Ms JiaQian Zhang (Southeast University)

#1049 Inequalities in Public Cultural Facility Distribution.pdf

16:30 Multiculturality in Lisbon: Migration, Integration Policies, and Urban Space

Since migration is an urban reality, many cities are unavoidably associated with the politics of multiculturalism. However, multiculturalism refers to a variety of incomplete and everchanging political strategies and processes in different countries, calling for a rethinking of the social and spatial integration of immigrants and new ways to live together for urban planners and designers. In contemporary Portugal, where over 8% of the population is comprised of foreign nationals, reaching approximately 11% in the capital city of Lisbon, the multifaceted concept of inclusion brings out unique challenges. While Lisbon has a rich multicultural history, the city is confronted with the imperative of transforming into an inclusive space that embraces diversity. To face these challenges, Lisbon recognizes its complex socio-cultural realm and aims to achieve high standards for a city for all. For instance, in the European Council’s intercultural city index (ICC), Lisbon had the first spot in 2014 and 2018 with its good innovative practices to integrate different cultures. Also, in the 2023-2027 report “Main Development Strategies” of the Lisbon City Council, there are policies indicating a participatory city underlining the citizen participation (participatory budgeting, local citizen council) and provision of open data. However, from a spatial integration perspective, the integration methods and their results, especially in public space and everyday life practices are open for a closer analysis.

Traditionally in theory and practice, integration policies focus on key aspects such as employment, housing, education, health, citizenship rights and overcoming language barriers. In Lisbon, too, policies and innovative technologies are utilized to ease migrants’ integration into the bureaucratic 'system'. However, when it is about the integration of (less-privileged) migrants to urban space, where principles of social and spatial justice must be actively considered, there seem to be gaps or deficiencies in existing research and ongoing initiatives. For instance, in a recent urban regeneration program in the historical Mouraria neighborhood at the city center, the multiculturality of the area is advertised with the slogan “visiting the world without leaving Lisbon” and followed by several urban interventions from public space regenerations to city-scale events. Despite contributing to the area's touristic attractions, these methods neither precisely address nor solve the socio-spatial needs of the foreign populations living there. Today, there are several examples of participatory design activities for public space requalifications. Still, not all the dimensions of spatial justice such as distributive, recognitional and procedural aspects are met. Moreover, as xenophobic policies persist, public spaces predominantly used by migrants have increasingly become the targets of hostile actions and police controls sparking significant public backlash and highlighting the growing urgency of this issue.

This study aims to critically analyze the ‘multiculturality’ of Lisbon and the presence of spatial integration policies for migrants in the city by examining policy documents and strategy reports. For this, case studies of recent participatory public space design projects (such as Martim Moniz Square and Almirante Reis Avenue) will be consulted to see whether integration policies are used solely as a tool to promote city’s image or as an aim to achieve inclusion, while also questioning the possible role of urbanists, planners and designers in these processes. The final objective is to open the nuanced differences between spatial integration and inclusion into urban planning and design. First findings suggest a focus on design of spaces rather than on processes, which might compromise the success of public spaces in terms of stimulating multiculturality. Additionally, the final remarks aim to reflect on the potential role of practitioners and researchers in shaping urban spaces that promote inclusivity meeting the socio-spatial needs of diverse populations.

Speaker: duygu Cihanger Ribeiro (Middle East Technical University)

16:40 Mapping inequalities within Southern European cities: cognitive tools and policy perspectives

Over the last twenty years, inequalities within cities have started to grab increasing attention among scientists and policymakers (Nijman and Wei, 2020). In fact, evidence suggests that cities across the world are again witnessing growing socio-spatial disparities due to new driving forces for urban development, often deriving from uncontrolled global processes (OECD, 2018). The reason of this trend must be associated to the impact of the crises that have repeatably affected urban economies in the last decades (from the 2007-8 financial crash to the Covid-19 pandemic), but also to the limited effectiveness of public policies in securing a more equal distribution of opportunities and welfare, even in the developed countries. From a policy perspective, Southern European cities are characterized by additional complexity (Knieling and Othengrafen, 2016), given the overall fragility of local authorities in regulating development, and the growing disaffection for the public domain manifested by wide social strata.

In this context, the paper provides a preliminary account of a research project (funded by the Italian Ministry of University) that seeks to create new cognitive tools to understand the spatial patterns of inequalities within Southern European cities. Complemented by case studies led into four large cities of that family (Lisbon, Barcelona, Marseille, and Athens), the project is primarily addressed to create a geographical representation of the spatial inequalities emerging within the two largest urban areas of Southern Italy: Naples and Palermo. For these cities, an ‘Atlas of Urban Inequalities’ has been implemented with the help of small-scale indicators belonging to different domains, including income distribution, state of housing, access to basic services and amenities, environmental risks.

The paper illustrates: first, some key features of the Atlas, with a focus on the way indicators have been selected and turned into spatial representations; secondly, with the help of key maps of the two cities, it illustrates the different – sometimes contradictory – forms urban inequalities can take across time and space. The work concludes with a critical reflection about how such a mapping exercise can help bridging the gap between knowledge and action, the policy question that will be approached by the research team in further steps of the project.

Speakers: Dr Marco Ingrassia (University of Palermo - Department of Architecture), Prof. Ignazio Vinci (University of Palermo - Department of Architecture), Prof. Francesco Lo Piccolo (University of Palermo - Department of Architecture)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-INGRASSIA.pptx

16:50 Urban Form and Social Exclusion: A Spatial Perspective on Residential Segregation in Czech Cities

Urban residential segregation is a widely studied concept, broadly defined as the spatial separation of social and economic groups within cities. This phenomenon stems from historical, economic, political, and cultural factors, varying in form across different regions (Dadashpoor & Keshavarzi, 2024). Generally, it manifests in two ways: the concentration of affluent residents in gated communities and marginalising disadvantaged populations into socially excluded areas. Social segregation aggravates social inequalities, deteriorates living conditions, and hinders integration and social mobility (Musterd, 2020). All of these challenges also highlight the issue of spatial segregation in Czech planning practice.

Residential segregation is often analysed through concentrations of residents sharing similar sociodemographic characteristics (Sýkora, 2015). However, it also has distinct spatial patterns that differ worldwide. While segregation is often more visible in urban areas, it does not happen exclusively in cities. In the Czech Republic, "socially excluded locality" refers to isolated residential areas inhabited by economically disadvantaged groups, though its definition remains fluid and difficult to pin down (Toušek et al., 2018).

Over the past few decades, various approaches have been proposed by architects and urban planners looking for a link between the built environment and the socio-economic characteristics of the inhabitants. These include linking configurational theories (Vaughan et al., 2005), the topological properties of the street network (Knaap & Rey, 2024) and the composition and importance of public space (Madanipour, 2011).

This paper proposes a framework for examining urban segregation through the lens of spatial connectivity and accessibility of the built environment within the Czech context. The pivotal research question examines whether the accessibility of local amenities, public transportation, and the connectivity of the urban structure influence the level of residential segregation in three Czech regional cities.

The analysis uses a quantitative, descriptive approach to a case study of three comparable cities in the Czech Republic. A key methodology that the research builds on is the identification of localities with a high concentration of socially excluded residents based on available data on recipients of the subsistence allowance (Sýkora, 2015).
This article examines the relationship between socio-economic marginalisation and spatial disadvantage in urban settlements, with a particular focus on accessibility and physical urban form. It also includes the concept of spatial justice, which refers to equal access to services, resources, and opportunities (Soja, 2010).

The analysis of the local amenities and public transport accessibility within the whole settlement is carried out based on the standard and methodology applicable to the conditions of spatial planning in the Czech Republic. The aim is to determine whether socioeconomically excluded inhabitants have limited access to key amenities and whether they are located in less accessible areas regarding transport services. This information provides an essential insight into the spatial disadvantage of the localities.

A detailed description of the urban fabric is performed using configurational theories and methods. Connectivity will be assessed using two main groups of metrics: network metrics and morphological metrics. Network metrics evaluate the ability of urban networks to facilitate human movement. The morphological metrics evaluate the extent to which the urban form restricts movement (Feliciotti, Romice and Porta, 2016; Dovey, Pafka and Ristic, 2017). The resulting aggregated data will be analysed using regression modelling to assess the relationship between spatial characteristics and the concentration of socially excluded residents.

The results contribute to a deeper understanding of the connection of urban form with social segregation and could provide valuable inputs in the search for inclusion-oriented policy tools.

Speaker: Pavlína Suchá (Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU))

17:00 Access to Sanitation in Informal Settlements of Jakarta

The research investigates the accessibility of sanitation facilities in slum areas, specifically focusing on Kampung Muka in North Jakarta. The study is motivated by the recognition that adequate sanitation is a fundamental human right and essential for public health, as emphasized by the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Despite global attention to sanitation issues, a significant portion of the population remains without access to proper facilities, leading to severe health consequences, particularly among children. This study employs a qualitative approach to explore the disparities in sanitation access among low-income urban communities. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and direct observations, involving residents of Kampung Muka, which represents a typical slum environment in Jakarta. The findings reveal that while there has been an increase in households with private toilets, a substantial number of families still lack access to basic sanitation. The research identifies two main issues contributing to this situation: a focus on physical infrastructure without addressing social dimensions and inadequate measurement criteria for sanitation access. The results indicate that many residents rely on on-site sanitation systems, such as septic tanks, which are often poorly constructed and maintained. The study highlights the importance of not only providing physical facilities but also understanding the socio-economic factors that influence sanitation practices. It concludes that improving sanitation access requires a comprehensive approach that includes education on hygiene practices and community engagement to address the underlying social barriers faced by marginalized populations. In summary, this research underscores the necessity of recognizing sanitation as a complex issue intertwined with social justice and public health, advocating for inclusive policies that ensure equitable access to sanitation for all residents in urban slums.

Speaker: Dr Vita Elysia (Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia)

16:00 → 17:30 T_08 EDUCATION AND SKILLS: Transformative learning and gamification

Convener: Dafni Riga (Politecnico di Milano)

16:00 Sismopoli, playing cities in risk

The limited attention of public policies and local administrations to risk management, combined with the lack of awareness among civil society, has led major international organizations to recommend innovative and effective communication strategies to engage communities in the critical issues shaping our cities, in order to encourage interest in the spaces we live in every day and to promote a culture of prevention.
Discussing risk management in the specific field of urban and territorial planning is a complex issue that involves multiple actors, various disciplines, and different interests of civil society on the central issues shaping our cities, in both ordinary and extraordinary territorial governance. Topic that are hardly addressed in scientific education, both in schools and in the broader context of civil society.
Despite Italy being one of the countries with the highest seismic risk in Europe, both proactive policies for reducing urban seismic risk and initiatives aimed at promoting risk education are still weak. Serious games are now widely recognized as valuable tools in education, particularly in fostering and encouraging citizen participation in environmental and territorial matters.
This contribution introduces "Sismopoli”, a laboratory set on a serious game, focused on seismic risk reduction from an urban perspective, as a tool to make complex issues more manageable and understandable. The game experience is part of a broader educational experience aimed at stimulating knowledge processes looking at the territory as a common good, where risk reduction is a crucial component. The goal of the study is to contribute to the debate by exploring how game-based learning methodology can influence community awareness processes on priority issues in urban contexts.

Speaker: Dr Margherita Giuffrè (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria CNR-IGAG)

16:10 The Role of Scenario-Based Design in Spatial Design Processes

This study explores the use of scenario-based design in spatial design projects and its contribution to the design process. In today's world, where uncertainties about the future are increasing, the impacts of dynamics such as the climate crisis, rapid urbanization, and technological transformation on spatial planning and design are becoming increasingly unpredictable. In this context, scenario-based design fosters creative thinking in urban design and helps develop human-centered approaches, allowing the design process to be guided in a more flexible and innovative manner.

Rationale and Methodology
Traditional urban design processes often rely on existing situation analyses and linear planning approaches. However, considering the significant role of dynamic variables and multi-actor processes in spatial planning, there is a need for more flexible and innovative approaches to address future challenges. At this point, scenario-based design enables the integration of spatial decisions at different scales, offering opportunities for generating creative solutions.
In the workshop conducted as part of this study, participants envisioned the future spatial dynamics using the scenario-based design method. They transitioned from abstract concepts to concrete design proposals, thus experiencing creative problem-solving processes. The workshop brought together students from architecture and urban and regional planning programs, allowing them to explore macro/micro-scale relationships and interdisciplinary interactions through this method.
The workshop focused on the coastal areas of Istanbul as the study site. Participants developed scenarios about the future of selected parts of Istanbul's coastline, incorporating spatial data and scientifically plausible narratives.
Throughout the workshop, daily surveys aimed at understanding the process were conducted, and a more comprehensive survey at the end of the workshop collected participants' evaluations of the method used.

Findings and Evaluation
During the workshop, participants noted that scenario-based design enhanced their spatial perception, guided their decision-making processes, and provided a common ground for individuals from different backgrounds to think collaboratively. Additionally, it was observed that this method improved the understanding of future uncertainties and helped develop more comprehensive perspectives in urban design decisions.
In conclusion, scenario-based design is recognized as an effective tool that enhances both creative and analytical thinking skills in urban design. Rather than focusing solely on defining existing problems and potentials, this method promotes the anticipation of future uncertainties and the development of design processes through creative thinking. The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating this method into design education and professional practice. Conducted with students and faculty members from various universities in the country offering education in architecture and urban design, this study aims to contribute to the development of a collaborative educational program and the implementation of new tools supporting design processes on a broader platform.

Speakers: Dr Bahar Aksel (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Dept. of City and Regional Planning), Dr Melih Birik (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), ahmetcan alpan (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University)

16:20 Reimagining urban futures through speculative fiction: nurturing hope and resilience in planning education

Planning has a major role in shaping the imaginaries of hopeful and resilient futures. In a world increasingly defined by polycrises, planning is confronted with the urgency for transformative thinking. Despite acknowledging the need for just and sustainable futures (Elmqvist, 2018), planning visions often remain technocentric or dystopian, maintaining the myth of human-nature separation and perpetuating a narrow reactive perspective on futures. Speculative fiction, a genre defined by centering the imaginative over the literal, goes beyond techno-centered survivalism by revealing the limitations of traditional imaginaries (Bina et al. 2020). Speculative fiction has a unique capacity to provoke deep engagement with complex uncertainties, redefining present problems through possible futures, finding alternatives to traditional – sometimes unconscious – societal structures, offering planning education possibilities for imagining futures that are unbound by the constraints of the present. Imagination as such is thereby understood as a cornerstone of transformative education.

Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship, this paper situates speculative fiction as a means of reconceptualizing resilience through narratives that challenge the reductive binaries of human and non-human, urban and ecological, instead embracing relational and systemic thinking. Central to this is the framing of speculative fiction as a collaborate act of world-building. Unlike traditional planning exercises, which often prioritize immediate problem-solving, speculative fiction encourages students to craft long-term, transformative visions. Incorporating speculative fiction into planning education offers a path toward realizing not only the potential of students but also the transformative possibilities of the field itself (Pereira et al. 2019).

The aim of this paper is to explore the potential of speculative fiction as a transformative tool for planning education, enabling students and educators to imagine positive and hopeful futures that are rooted in interconnectedness and resilience. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Finnish university-level planning educators, the paper explores how speculative storytelling can inspire planning education, fostering a capacity for imagination and creative engagement with the uncertainties and complexities of possible futures. The preliminary findings suggest that by inviting students to envision alternative futures, speculative fiction fosters not only a capacity for critical reflection but also a proactive ethos rooted in hope and resilience. By integrating speculative fiction into planning education, students are encouraged to move beyond the limitations of current paradigms. They are invited to consider futures where resilience is intertwined with justice, where diversity is not merely tolerated but celebrated. However, the implementation of speculative fiction is not straightforward, as the field is still strongly embracing the use of more evidence-based and analytical methods.

Speakers: Dr Hossam Hewidy (Aalto University), Dr Susa Eräranta (Aalto University)

16:30 Educating urban planners in the era of the Anthropocene requires transformative pedagogies: Learner-Centred Pedagogy (LCP) applied in a theoretical Urbanism module in a Greek university

In the era of the Anthropocene, faced as we are with the harsh realities of global issues, including the collapse of ecosystems and climate breakdown, the need for a transformation of planning education and pedagogies is more urgent that ever (Frank & da Rosa-Pires 2021). In our rapidly changing world, in which cities play a central role for the sustainability of the planet, a different learning landscape is required, one that will promote critical thinking and focus on emotional competences and not merely on knowledge (Wisser 2018). Pedagogy is the discourse with which one needs to engage in order both to teach intelligently and make sense of teaching, as it encompasses both the act of teaching and its contingent theories and debates (Alexander 2009).
Especially in the case of urban planning, educators need to understand pedagogy as a deeply civic, political and moral practice (Lamb & Vodicka 2021). Based on solid evidence from cognitive theories of learning, education experts, inspired by the field of Adult Education, highlight the power of transformative pedagogies to induce change (Mezirow 1997). In past decades, and since 2010 integrated in the Bologna declaration (European Higher Education Area, n.d.), Learner-Centred Pedagogy (LCP) has been much discussed as an educational approach that places the student at the centre of the learning process, as opposed to traditional, teacher-centred education in which learners are perceived as passive receivers of information from the teacher (Bremner et al 2022). LCP focuses on students’ needs and uses educational tools for making the lesson more engaging, enhancing students’ self-confidence and collaborative skills, with expected outcomes that include increased retention of the content and life-long learning developed by the student. The rationale for implementing LCP in university teaching is three-fold (Schweisfurth, 2015): a) ‘economic’, as LCP better prepares students for the demands of a changing world; b) ‘cognitive’, as students learn more with LCP is implemented, rather than with traditional teaching; and c) ‘emancipatory’, giving students agency and responsibility, and advancing critical thinking, as they see knowledge as less fixed. University teachers, however, at least in countries such as Greece, are not required to be knowledgeable of pedagogy or be trained as adult educators. Good teaching is not intuitive but is the outcome of acquiring basic knowledge of how learning takes place, grounded on latest findings of cognitive science, and of conquering educational techniques that will enhance students’ engagement, desire to learn, and promote deep learning. Concurrently, this type of experiential learning and action pedagogies are valuable for education for sustainable development (Moore 2005). This paper presents a case of teaching a theoretical course on human-centred urbanism in a School of Planning in a Greek university using Learner-Centred Pedagogy (LCP), a module which was submitted as a candidate for the 2024 AESOP Excellence in Teaching Award. The concept, syllabus and teaching techniques are presented in parallel to an analysis of students’ comments in the evaluation of the course. This case study shows the transformative power of using LCP for promoting deep learning and preparing students for the complex, ‘wicked’ problems of contemporary urbanism. It argues that planning education has much to win when educators efficiently use experiential learning pedagogies and active, collaborative learning tools; when learners are exposed to real-world problems; and when classroom environment permits dialogue and exchange.

Speaker: Prof. GARYFALLIA KATSAVOUNIDOU (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

16:00 → 17:30 T_09 URBAN FUTURES: Narratives and futuring-specific themes

Convener: PM Ache (Radboud University)

16:00 Spatial - Temporal Evolution and Planning Strategies of Population and Construction Land in China's Shrinking County - level Cities

Population and construction land are the two most critical elements in the urbanization process. Their coordinated development is vital to the level and quality of urbanization. Studying the changes in population and construction land during urbanization is conducive to promoting the rational use of resources and sustainable development. With the increasing domestic and global macroeconomic downward pressure, changes in population structure, and industrial transfer, the unilateral growth of cities is no longer the only model of urban development. Cities have entered the post-growth era, and the phenomenon of urban shrinkage is common in both Western and Chinese cities. However, the evolution characteristics of population and construction land in China's urban contraction phenomenon have particularities different from those in Western developed countries, and they also face different development issues.

On the one hand, unlike the urban contraction phenomenon in Western developed countries that occurs in the mature stage of urban development, China's urban contraction phenomenon takes place during the rapid development cycle of urbanization. In recent years, the slowdown in China's urbanization growth rate will further exacerbate the urban contraction phenomenon. The transfer and mobility of the population continuously affect the allocation efficiency of urban construction resources. On the other hand, compared with the "double contraction" of population and construction land in Western developed countries, China more widely exists the contradiction of population contraction and construction land growth. The paradox of population loss and spatial expansion coexistence is an urgent problem to be solved in China's urbanization process. How the population-construction land in contracting cities changes, the degree of their disharmony, and the influencing factors are the main research questions of this research.

Therefore, this research first clarifies the uniqueness of China's contracting cities compared to the West. Then, it takes the county-level cities with contraction phenomena in China as the research objects, selects three time sections of 2000, 2010, and 2020, and deeply analyzes the spatial characteristics of the evolution of population and construction land. It uses the decoupling model to analyze the degree of development coordination, summarizes the coordination types and development trends of the human-land relationship in contracting cities, and analyzes the mechanism of action and influencing factors using the driving force-pressure-response model.

The research findings show that China's contracting county-level cities exhibit uneven regional distribution and different degrees of contraction. According to the decoupling model of human-land relationship and the characteristics of urban development, contracting cities can be classified into four types: resource depletion, environmental fragility, industrial transformation, and the suction effect around megacities. The city's own location and natural conditions, national institutional policies such as the household registration system and land policies, and local differentiated implementations such as economic development and facility support are the main factors causing the contradiction between population and construction land in contracting cities.

Based on identifying the spatial pattern of the evolution of population and construction land in China's contracting county-level cities, this study analyzes the degree of coordinated development and influencing factors of population and construction land. It proposes differentiated planning strategies for county-level regions with different types of contraction contradictions. This research has theoretical and practical significance for the efficient use of land resources in contracting cities during the post-growth stage, maintaining urban vitality, and promoting sustainable urban development. It also provides a certain reference for other developing countries in the process of urbanization worldwide.

Speaker: Ms Weiping Cao (Tongji University)

16:10 Other Smartness: Experimental Praxis of Smart Cities in India

Smart cities are a new paradigm of urban developmental transformation in the 21st Century for cities across the world. There is no universally agreed conceptualization or definition of the notion of Smartness and Smart cities, and cities around the world have developed their operational models of Smartness at the intersection of urban planning, technology-based transformations - primarily digital, municipal service delivery, policy, and governance, eventually shaping the design of the built environment at all levels. Smart Cities with an emphasis on resource optimization, renewable energy, reduction of pollution, and real-time planning have the potential to become key drivers for addressing complex urban challenges and environmental sustainability (Komninos, 2020). However, to address these challenges there is a need for urban actors to move beyond the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) dominant approach and smart cities should engage with sustainability and community-centric issues (Praharaj and Han, 2019).

Smart Cities Mission in India has been a unique experimental policy endeavour that has disrupted conventional planning approaches in the post-independence scenario. It brought a radical shift in the paradigm creating space for multidisciplinary praxis with initiatives such as the Place-making marathon, Nurturing Neighbourhoods, Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs), Freedom to Walk Cycle Run, etc. This has been instrumental in not only addressing the issues in bigger metropolitan cities but also in smaller cities across diverse geographies making it an unprecedented space for transformative action for even smaller cities to define their unique visions and priorities and not necessarily follow the developmental pathways of the bigger cities. This can be defined as the ‘Other Smartness’ an approach departing from the digitalization of urban systems which has been often associated with the idea of ‘Smart Cities’. This has been a key first step towards achieving socio-environmentally just and equitable futures.

The purpose of this research thus, is to bring to light the shift in urban planning, policy and governance paradigms brought about by the Smart Cities Mission, in India, comprising experimental transformative praxis as an enabler of change within conventional institutional structures. The existing literature elaborates on the conceptualizations, keyword analysis, and varied engagements of Smart Cities, however, there is a significant gap in community-centric narratives, on-ground actions and people’s perceptions. The author being formerly an advisor working with the national government shall bring insights from the field experiences bridging the scales of national policy formulation, city-level planning, neighbourhood and on-ground action in 100 cities across India. The key findings are; community-centric planning as an outcome of an inter-scalar process, ethno-development through policy, Jugaadness and frugal innovation as smartness.

Speaker: Mr Nikhil Sanjay Shah (DAStU, Politecnico di Milano, IT & the Bartlett DPU, UCL, UK)

16:20 Building Scenarios for Future Communities: Empirical Insights from China

In the wake of advancements in information and intelligent technologies, urban development has transitioned into an era marked by heightened levels of intelligence and modernisation. Academics are now grappling with two fundamental questions: what will future communities resemble, and how can existing communities be progressively transformed to embody these futuristic ideals? Globally, countries are undertaking pioneering construction practices aimed at developing future communities, such as the Quayside Project Cancellation in Canada and Toyota's 'Woven City' in Japan. Within China, a multitude of cities have responded by formulating policies specifically for future communities and executing numerous construction projects. A prime example is Shanghai’s 'Jiading Ideal Land', which stands as a completed, emblematic project that heralds a novel paradigm in real estate development. This paper aims to investigate the construction and development of future communities within the distinct socio-economic landscape of China. By conducting a textual analysis of pertinent policies and construction cases, this study articulates four principal scenarios for future community development: green living environments, low-carbon sustainability, smart technological integration, and vibrant societal engagement. Each scenario is preliminarily framed and thoroughly examined through detailed descriptions, theoretical explanations, case studies, and a compilation of technology lists derived from over a hundred instances. Additionally, drawing on field investigations and in-depth interviews conducted at Shanghai's 'Jiading Ideal Land', the paper offers empirical insights into China's approach to building future communities. This encompasses: ① The collaborative models between governmental bodies and enterprises, which concentrate on strategic top-level design, investment frameworks, and policy research. ② The proposition of planning theories centred around the '1+N+X' model exemplified by the 'Jiading Ideal Land'. ③ An exploration of the technological spectrum employed in future communities. ④ An examination of supply chain systems, including comparative analyses of distinctive suppliers and their products. ⑤ The establishment of evaluation systems designed to gauge customer perception and validate assessment criteria.Ultimately, this study seeks to provide valuable reference material for policymakers and practitioners, informing the formulation of effective policies and strategies for the development of future communities.

Speaker: Dr Zhiqiang Si (Tsinghua University)

16:30 Urban Future Imaginaries: how is nature framed in planning policies across urban areas in Europe, Latin America and North America?

Urban planning is traditionally concerned with envisioning urban futures across different temporal horizons, scales, and value systems. ‘Official imaginaries’ refer to narratives and discourses in policy and planning documents, such as strategic plans, masterplans, and sustainability policies, which shape official discourses directly or indirectly. In urban planning, they reflect dominant ideas about the relationship between humans, nature, and technology – they are not neutral but reflect, define and legitimize specific visions of urban futures (Jasanoff, 2015; Matheney et al., 2024). These imaginaries, materialized in different plans and strategies, have been guiding models and critiques in urban planning, helping planners to conceptualize what cities could or should be, reflecting both local social, economic and political priorities and global policy agendas. For example, several cities, especially large urban centers, are increasingly seeking to (re)brand themselves as desirable “smart”, “green” or “creative” cities, reflecting visions of global competitiveness and economic growth, while at the same time appealing to sustainability discourses (Lindner & Meissner, 2019). In light of the need to build transformative change in a world in constant transformation and with interconnected crises, old and new narratives around the integration of nature in cities and, ultimately, human-nature relationships, have increasingly gained space in debates about urban futures through concepts such as garden cities, green infrastructure, and nature-based solutions, to name a few. Central to this transformative vision are the imaginaries embodied in urban planning policies, which define how nature is valued, integrated and imagined in the cities of the future. However, the concept of ‘nature’ in urban planning often lacks explicit definition (de Oliveira, 2025). Different meanings and values of nature shape the way planning policies articulate future urban imaginaries, influencing not only the relationship between humans and nature, but also the inclusiveness and the equity of proposed transformations and their transformative potential.

This study, part of the NATURESCAPES project, examines the imaginaries embedded in urban policy documents such as strategic plans, master plans, and sustainability strategies, and analyzes how they frame nature’s role in urban futures. Through comparative analysis of eight Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) in Europe, Latin America, and North America, this research investigates how these imaginaries have evolved over two decades. Employing semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, it explores the narratives that policies use to prioritize certain values of nature while marginalizing others. Our analytical framework examines these official imaginaries based on a typology that addresses the values and meanings attributed to urban nature and human-nature relations, building upon the IPBES Values Assessment (IPBES, 2022) in which three specific values of nature are identified: intrinsic, relational, and instrumental (“nature for nature”, “nature as culture”, and “nature for society”, respectively) (Mansur et al., 2022). We explore dimensions of justice and agency by highlighting which and whose values are discussed in literatures relating to values of urban nature, and the potential for other-than-human perspectives to contribute to shifting worldviews to enable transformative change. Given the potential of imaginaries to stimulate innovation in urban planning, our findings highlight the different conditions under which contrasting future imaginaries in official planning narratives lead to maintaining the status quo, or, contrarily, to challenging entrenched norms, integrating diverse values, and guiding transformative actions.

Speaker: Andresa Ledo Marques (University of Lisbon)

16:40 Encountering the Inevitable: Territorial Narratives as a form of resistance to Urban Mega Projects

Since the 2010s, Urban Mega Projects (UMPs) have become the dominant mode of Istanbul’s spatial development, driving expansion into its northern territories. The clustered scheme of UMPs - including the Northern Marmara Highway, Istanbul Airport, Kanal İstanbul, and New Istanbul - represents not only mega-scale spatial interventions but also an unprecedented transformation in speed, scope, and production methods. These projects have been widely debated and contested in public discourse, as well as in legislative and planning contexts. However, discussions surrounding UMPs remain shaped by deterministic narratives that frame them as either inevitable advancements or outright failures. This binary discourse reduces urban futures to a singular, linear trajectory and, more critically, fails to account for the transitional and evolving conditions currently unfolding in these territories.

Drawing on Lauermann’s (2018) longitudinal perspective of mega-urbanism and Elden’s (2013) conceptualization of territory as a process rather than a fixed entity, the study situates the UMPs within broader territorial logics, demonstrating how these megaprojects inscribe state authority onto landscapes while restructuring socio-spatial relations.

Employing a longue durée perspective, we investigate Istanbul’s mega-urbanization and its temporalities, tracing the interrelations between human activity, natural processes, infrastructures, and urban development through cartographic timelines. These narratives reveal a multi-layered landscape in perpetual flux: from terra incognita and rural peripheries to extractive landscapes shaped by coal and sand mining, from the deposition of moloz (demolition debris) and dolgu (landfill) to the accelerated territorial reconfigurations of today and the speculative geographies of tomorrow.

Utilizing cartographic methods with archival and spatial analysis - drawing on historical maps, planning documents, and geospatial data- mapping becomes both a research tool and a narrative device. Rather than treating maps as static representations of space, this approach embraces their capacity to reveal hidden temporalities, contradictions, and spatial discontinuities within Istanbul’s northern territories and its relationship with the city.

These shifting materialities and boundaries expose the ongoing remaking of northern Istanbul, challenging dominant narratives that present UMPs as linear, irreversible progressions. Instead, territory emerges as a dynamic palimpsest, where past, present, and potential futures are continuously inscribed and erased.

As Throgmorton (1996) argues, planning operates as a form of “persuasive storytelling.” - where narratives guide urban futures and influence policy decisions. By tracing the territorial reconfiguration of Northern Istanbul over extended temporalities, this study constructs an alternative counter-narrative that reveals UMPs as neither monolithic nor inevitable but rather contingent, contested, and embedded within historical cycles of urbanization. Through a longitudinal, narrative-based methodology, it challenges deterministic framings of UMP-led development and advocates for more equitable and ecologically responsive approaches toward the future.

Speaker: Ms Elif Simge Fettahoğlu Ozgen (Munich Technical University, Istanbul Technical University)

16:50 The fictional municipality of "Zwirgberg" as a model for spatial planning in rural Rhineland-Palatinate

Demographic change, the climate crisis, digitalisation and the change in mobility are among the topics that pose new challenges for local authorities. In particular the rural areas of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate must adapt to changing conditions and develop sustainable development paths. The aim of the research project "Kommune 2050" is to develop a data- and GIS-supported model municipality - the fictitious community "Zwirgberg". This model serves as an experimental planning tool to analyse spatial structures, develop future scenarios and transferable solutions for real municipalities.

The project examines sustainability in municipalities by analyzing spatial, functional, and socio-economic factors relevant for rural areas. The aim is to analyse the interactions between settlement structure, infrastructure and demographic development on the basis of data, to develop a digital model of a fictitious "cross-sectional municipality" and to derive from this a model vision of the future for municipalities. To achieve this, a three-stage methodology was developed:

1. Analysis of existing municipalities

The first step was to profile eleven selected municipalities.The aim of this step was to get an overall picture of the municipalities. In a second step, the area distribution of the municipalities was examined and categorised in order to group comparable or similar structures. The third and final step of the analysis was to create 'building blocks' that would serve as the basis for the construction of the fictitious municipality based on the standards of the previously analysed municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate.

2. Development of the model municiplity "Zwirgberg

The aim of the subsequent design phase was to work out the actual state of a fictitious municipality.The findings of the first phase formed the backbone of this process, and the fictitious municipality of Zwirgberg was constructed by first developing two types of municipality from basic designs using improvised sketches, and then combining them into one type of municipality.
With the help of analog sketches, the individual layers were digitised using GIS, so that in the end the basic structure of the municipality was available (consisting of water structures, forest areas, agriculture, meadow areas, viticulture and settlement areas). In a further step, the relationships within the settlement areas were analysed, from which the individual local communities of the fictitious municipality were constructed from fragments of real local communities.

3. Scenario planning and future visions
Based on current trends, the results of a Zukunftswerkstatt and the existing potential of today's Zwirgberg, three visions for the future of Zwirgberg in 2050 were developed. None of the visions stands alone; they are all interlinked and interdependent. In the future visions 'Net-zero tourism', 'Climate-positive Zwirgberg' and 'Connected community' there are core building blocks that can be implemented with the help of the tools developed.The cross-cutting themes of digitalisation and mobility are present in all three visions.

The development of "Zwirgberg" shows that a combination of analytical, digital and creative planning methods leads to particularly differentiated results. The combination of GIS-based modelling with hands-on methods such as sketching and scenario analysis allowed for an iterative refinement of the results. This approach identified municipalities' key characteristics and future development potential. This approach provides an innovative way of linking data-based planning processes with strategic vision.

The "Kommune 2050" project thus also provides valuable impetus for municipal development planning. It shows that GIS-based digital models provide a sound basis for future planning processes and enable realistic scenarios. "Zwirgberg" functions as a digital laboratory for spatial planning, systematically testing development strategies. The project's GIS-based approach strengthens data-driven planning and strategic foresight for municipalities.

Speaker: Katharina Mayer (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)

17:30 → 18:00 Coffee Break

18:00 → 19:30 General Assembly: Young Academics

20:30 → 23:30 YA Social Event

Wednesday 9 July

08:15 → 09:00 Registration

09:00 → 10:30 Keynote Speakers

09:00 After Green Growth: Satiation As the Strategic Impulse for Spatial Planning

Green growth is currently the dominant paradigm in spatial planning. This approach equates living standards with economic wealth and assumes that technological innovation can reconcile the increase of financial wealth with ecological targets. However, it is increasingly evident that green growth fails to achieve social and ecological objectives. Today, growth aggravates, rather than preventing, unprecedented levels of global inequality and ecological destruction.
Spatial planning has long been aware of these issues but has not changed course. Instead, it has confined itself, with limited success, to managing green growth. Planning promotes green, nature-based, circular, and smart innovations, to create economic resources to be then captured for social purposes. So far, however, this approach has failed to make essential services and spatial qualities more accessible or affordable. It has also fallen short of sustainability targets.
Instead, it has trapped planners in an endless cycle of fostering economic competitiveness on the one hand, while seeking to mitigate the negative social and environmental impacts of this process on the other. To address worsening affordability and ecological crises, planning tends to further increase the transfer of public wealth into private hands.
The talk will begin by exposing the limits of planning for green growth. It will demonstrate that the expansion of urban centers relies on the exhaustion of land and labor, both in affluent and in poorer regions. This has intensified the power divides between rich and poor, urban and rural, imperial core and periphery. Simultaneously, it has trapped planning in a vicious cycle of growth promotion and green management, which is increasingly difficult to navigate.
Next, the talk will introduce a new planning paradigm, which prioritizes satiation: the fulfillment of essential needs through the provision of essential services. Satiation refers to expanding essential services for the many by intentionally reducing excessive wealth and environmentally harmful activities. The focus on meeting needs can foster just and regenerative relationships between urban areas and their global hinterlands. Satiation is the core of both postgrowth and degrowth critiques of current economies.
The talk underlines that the need for satiation has gained momentum in planning and argues that planners have the tools already to bring this impulse to life. An increasing number of planning scholars and practitioners are aware of the limitations of their existing frameworks and toolkits. What is lacking, however, is the public and political support required to embrace an alternative planning paradigm: a strategic impulse. The talk will address this strategic challenge and explore pathways for institutional change that build on existing practices to create planning futures that overcome the limitations and impasses of green growth.

Speaker: Federico Savini (University of Amsterdam)

09:30 The green transition challenge. Social and environmental inequalities in housing

In the last decades, we witnessed the development of a relatively new line of research on the role of welfare policies addressing the social consequences of the ecological crisis and of the green transition. Concepts such as sustainable welfare, just transition, or and eco-social justice, have been used to portray the challenges ahead and the need for a paradigm shift. The urgency to challenge the current unsustainable growth model went parallel to the need to explore and investigate how welfare policies should address societal needs within ecological limits and planetary boundaries. The presentation will explore this relationship addressing housing and environmental policies and their entanglements.

Speaker: Yuri Kazepov

10:30 → 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 → 12:30 RT_22 LIVING WITH WATER AT THE TIME OF MULTI-RISK CONDITIONS

Conveners: Denis Maragno (University Iuav of Venice), Paolo De Martino (TU Delft/IUAV)

11:00 Living with water at the time of multi-risk conditions

The interconnected risks faced by water cities—such as river basins, deltas, lagoons and coastal landscapes—require integrated approaches that transcend traditional planning methods and administrative boundaries. These areas, marked by ecological fragility and social vulnerability, are emblematic of the need for multi-risk and multi-scale adaptation strategies. Accelerating climate change exacerbates existing geological, hydrological, and environmental hazards, while anthropogenic pressures amplify the challenges, creating additional layers of complex to deal with risks. Despite decades of effort, the reliance on outdated planning frameworks and insufficient localized knowledge has hindered policymakers from effectively addressing these risks. This gap has led to unsustainable urban growth, escalating social inequalities, and intensifying environmental threats. A rethinking of urban metabolism and governance models is essential to foster circular development and future resilient scenarios. This contribution proposes a transformative methodology, developed within the PNRR-financed MIRACLE project , which integrates multi-risk analysis, vulnerability mapping, and scenario development into experimental urban laboratories. By leveraging tools such as community engagement, gaming, and artificial intelligence (AI), these laboratories foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders to co-design adaptive strategies. We invite contributions that address the complexities of multi-risk conditions, focusing on innovative frameworks that integrate spatial, social, and technological solutions. How can water cities adapt to evolving hydrological risks while promoting inclusivity and ecological balance? Contributions may explore methodologies, case studies, or governance models to advance knowledge and practice in multi-risk planning.

Speakers: Prof. Carola Hein (TU DELFT), Prof. Tom Daamen (TU DELFT), Dr Alankrita Sarkar (Deltametropool), Dr Elena Ferraioli (IUAV), Dr Carlo Federico Dall'Omo (IUAV), Dr Bruna Vendemmia (DiARC)

11:00 → 12:30 RT_26 AESOP QUALITY RECOGNITION (QR) PROGRAMME: A EUROPEAN PLANNING EDUCATION PLATFORM FOR TRANSFORMATIVE REFLECTIONS, LEARNING AND ACTION

Conveners: Juliana Martins (Bartlett School of Planning, University College London), Tijana Dabovic (University of Belgrade Faculty of Geography)

11:00 AESOP Quality Recognition (QR) Programme: A European Planning Education Platform for Transformative Reflections, Learning and Action

The AESOP Quality Recognition (QR) Programme was initiated in 2006 after reflections on the needed transformations of planning programmes under changing requirements, and often challenging conditions for the planning profession and academia. After years of efforts invested by many colleagues and working groups, the Programme moved in 2015 from its Pilot Phase into the Standard Phase in 2019 following the main intention: AESOP will offer member schools its institutional support by certifying recognised qualities of fostering the European dimension in planning education programmes, as well as in nurturing a certain planning specialisation/distinctiveness within their national and regional context (Lo Piccolo, 2017; Galland and Chettiparamb, 2020).

Emerging from previous rounds of evaluations and consultations, the AESOP Excellence in Education Board (EEB) was officially established in 2017 and was assigned to develop further the QR Programme. In 2020/2021, the QR Mission, Ethos, Timeline and Criteria (AESOP QR, 2024) were defined to enable peer-to-peer sharing and mutual learning concerning the programme's curriculum identity, contents, settings and pedagogies, championing programmes’ best practices, and fostering an ethic of quality enhancement amongst the programmes’ staff.

The work “among peers” is two-fold: on the one hand, applicants and assessors (assigned EEB members) exchange their recognitions of the planning programme’s adherence to the criteria, and on the other, assessors reflect, identify and integrate into the QR Programme qualities emerging from the previous assessments. This way we are continuously framing and sharing recognised qualities of planning education needed to prepare future professionals and scholars to address global and local multidimensional challenges and opportunities in constantly changing spaces and places.

The purpose of the Round Table is to discuss how the QR programme can guide and inspire joint reflections, learning and action needed for the planning programmes transformation in Europe and beyond, now and in the future.

Past and potential QR applicants and several EEB members/assessors, as speakers of the Round Table will discuss:
● The mission and ethos of the QR programme;
● How the QR Application form and Timeline guide the interactions among the programme representatives and between EEB assessors and applicants towards the recognised quality of a planning programme? How is the process seen as "transformative" from the side of the applicants? How is it seen from the side of EEB assessors?
● How is sharing the QR documents, reports and articles, with the organisation of the QR events at the AESOP HoS meetings and Congresses fostering future transformations of planning programmes and how can it be developed further?

In a general sense, by revealing speakers’ motivations, reflections, learning experiences and actions, we aim to open the discussion on the merits of QR to the AESOP community and to explore its existing and possible transformations as the European Platform for enhancing the quality of planning education.

Speakers: Prof. Ben Clifford (University College London), Prof. Marco Picone (University of Palermo), Dr Adrianna Czarnecka (Warsaw University of Technology), Dr Patrick Witte (Utrecht University), Prof. Anna Kaczorowska (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Prof. Yiğit Evren (Yildiz University), Dr Doruk Özügül (Yildiz University)

11:00 → 12:30 SS_14 TRANSFORMING STREETS FOR LIVEABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY THROUGH EXPERIMENTATION AND PARTICIPATION

Conveners: Gunnar Grandel (TU Wien), Prof. Imge Akcakaya Waite (Istanbul Technical University), Imre Keserü (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Lluis Martinez

11:00 Multi-stakeholder perspective in participatory street experiments

Participatory and inclusive urban mobility schemes have been rising as a significant trend in response to various challenges that arise in street transformations, such as political, financial and regulatory obstacles. The multiplicity and diversity of stakeholders that influence and that are influenced by planning and design decisions are important factors to take into account when devising these schemes (Bertolini, 2020). A multi-stakeholder perspective in participatory street experiment processes involves engaging a diverse range of individuals and groups in the planning, design, and evaluation of urban interventions (Beyazıt et al., 2023). This includes residents, local businesses, government agencies, urban planners, and advocacy groups, each offering unique insights and priorities. By considering varying needs and values, the approach fosters collaboration and ensures that solutions are equitable, inclusive, and context-sensitive. It encourages dialogue, addresses conflicts, and promotes collective ownership, leading to more effective and sustainable outcomes (Healey, 2006). Such a perspective strengthens community engagement and enhances the likelihood of long-term success in street transformation projects.

Working closely with local administrations and other local stakeholders in Istanbul, Turkey, and Klagenfurt, Austria, ACCTRA focuses on street experiments as an opportunity to engage stakeholders and generate evidence on both the impact and acceptance of measures. This creates the basis to support political decision-making in favor of street transformations, inform planning processes for permanent implementation, and foster institutional learning processes to adapt processes and better deal with conflicts over transformations. In the Istanbul case of ACCTRA, relevant stakeholder groups specifically involve residents who integrate active transportation modes into their everyday lives, those who are affected by these modes, and those who operate them, among others. Stakeholder mapping outcomes provided input for tailored planning and design of the street experiment. In order to get the stakeholder input, an on-site participatory stakeholder workshop was held, integrating an interactive urban walk and other engagement methods.

Consequently, this study narrates two processes of ACCTRA’s Istanbul case: First, the stakeholder analysis and mapping that incorporated idiosyncratic power dynamics of the decision-making process. Second, the participatory multi-stakeholder workshop, its outcomes, and how these outcomes informed the micromobility street experiment decisions and implementation in Maltepe. The results highlight the lessons and recommendations derived from the case study and how they can be applied to future street experiments that strive to be transformative, participatory, and widely accepted by all relevant stakeholders.

Speaker: Prof. Imge Akcakaya Waite (Istanbul Technical University)

11:10 Achieving transformation through involvement and evidence? Reflecting street experiments’ impact on planning processes

As the climate crisis accelerates, a mobility transition is urgently needed, tackling car dependency (Banister, 2008, IPCC, 2023, p. 103) and fostering a broader shift from ‘space for traffic’ to ‘space for people’ (Bertolini, 2023). However, the implementation of projects reallocating public space for sustainable transportation, climate adaptation measures, and social life is often challenging, facing significant political resistance, financial limitations or regulatory obstacles. As traditional planning approaches have recurrently struggled to achieve the hoped-for effects, there has been a shift towards experimental approaches in the last decade: In practice, approaches like parklets, summer streets, pop-up bike lanes, or superblocks have spread globally, especially accelerated by the pandemic. In academia, “street experiments” (Bertolini, 2020) has become an umbrella term for the phenomenon and fuelled an expansive body of literature.

At the heart of these developments is an understanding that short-term interventions can be a lever for long-term change. This includes the expectation that their temporary nature allows for testing more radical ideas without the effort and cost of traditional infrastructure projects (Meinherz and Fritz, 2023), that they can enable learning processes about implementation and impacts, strengthening transformative capacities (Kinigadner et al., 2024), or that they help increase social acceptance of more far-reaching interventions, because they are flexible and reversible, allow for participation and make potential benefits tangible (Stevens et al., 2024). However, the understanding of how and under which conditions street experiments can lead to transformation is still limited.

Therefore, this presentation explores the interrelations between experiments‘ ability to generate specific knowledge and the expectation of experiments to increase acceptance for transformation, drawing on results from the project ACCTRA (Evidence and Acceptance – from Experiments to Transformation). Working closely together with municipalities, the project supports the implementation of street experiments in Istanbul and Klagenfurt, Austria. In the project, participation and stakeholder involvement processes on the one hand, and data-driven analyses and evaluation of the experiment on the other, are interlinked.

Focusing on the case of Klagenfurt, the involvement process will be presented, including stakeholder analysis, communication, and on-site participation during the experiment, to discuss the opportunities and limitations of engaging a broader public and key stakeholders for street transformations with experiments. Second, the evaluation methodology and results will be outlined to compare different kinds of knowledge, such as data about the impacts of measures, acceptability or resistance, or the lived experience of users, and their relevance for different actors such as politicians, municipal officials, planners, or media. Third, the processes initiated by the street experiment are traced, discussing the interplay of involvement and evaluation, and reflecting on the role of researchers in transformation processes.

Speaker: Mr Gunnar Grandel (MOVE, TU Wien)

11:20 Narrative-based approaches to street transformation

Street transformations are often complex processes that must navigate diverse perspectives and competing interests, making consensus-building both essential and challenging. Narrative-based approaches, such as storytelling and role-playing, offer a powerful means to bridge these gaps by fostering empathy, promoting reflective thinking, and enabling a shared understanding of different viewpoints. In the StreetForum project, we developed, tested and evaluated three narrative-driven tools aimed at engaging stakeholders in Brussels, Istanbul, Stockholm, and Vienna in 2024.
These tools – Stakeholder personas, Storytelling game and Rich pictures.talk – encouraged participants to reflect on their lived experiences, share them with others and walk in someone else’s shoes. While they demonstrated great potential to support street transformations, their use was not without obstacles. Participants’ familiarity with the street, time constraints, and the varying cultural and social contexts significantly influenced the tools’ effectiveness.
This presentation will introduce these StreetForum tools, their development process and their impact assessment, reflecting on the benefits and challenges of using them. It will provide recommendations on how to best use narrative-driven tools, such as ensuring flexibility and accessibility to different stakeholder needs and cultural settings.

Speakers: Dr Lluis Martinez, Mrs Lotte Luykx (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

11:30 Playful approaches to street transformation

Gameful participation with tangible objects and collaborative design games introduce innovative ways of engaging stakeholders in urban development. Design games are playful and facilitate structured idea creation by securing collaboration. They contain physical materials and clear rules, driving discussions and insights. A specific example is the “StreetForum Design Game” where players collaboratively design shared urban spaces at street level. First envisioned as an analog board game, in the subsequent versions, the StreetForum developed further, adding Augmented Reality (AR) features and a fully digital version on the MIRO platform. Such a flexible format – from fully analog to hybrid, analog-digital – allows for very diverse groups of participants to access and engage in the game. While sharing a common perspective, the game actually empowers the residents and planners with improved sensitivity regarding the real urban needs, tackling the challenges of that community.

Meanwhile, “MoBil” – another StreetForum tool developed – makes urban space dynamic and multifunctional for playing, learning, meeting, and creating diverse activities. This collaborative process promotes long-term co-creation and end-user involvement and allows communities to develop a space that would grow with them. It is also envisioned that the project will turn into one of the global models in leading urban design, sharing methods and design in an open-source tool with the aim of diffusing innovation and adaptability on an international scale. Together, these both tools show that participatory design and gamified collaboration can drive impactful and sustainable urban development.

This topic is a unique opportunity to discuss the nexus of play, design, and urban development. The discussion of novel applications of gameful participation and tangible objects will provide insight into how structured, interactive tools like design games foster collaboration and creativity among stakeholders. The “StreetForum Design Game” provides a strong case study in which such methods translate abstract challenges into concrete, shared experiences that empower both residents and planners. From the analog board game to a hybrid model with the integration of digital and analog aspects and embedding AR, it shows in one go how adaptable and inclusive these approaches are meant to be. The same goes for the tool “MoBil”, which truly opens an avenue for co-creative processes to redefine urban space – not as static entities, but as living, dynamic ones that evolve in congruence with needs. These dialogues around these tools not only underline their potential for changing the course of urban planning but also call for versioning with scalability, effectiveness, and position regarding their role and approach as open-source models for global adaptation. This debate has the potential to create new concepts and expand the vision on sustainable participative urban development.

Speaker: Prof. Hilda Tellioglu (TU Wien)

11:40 Translating street experiments into policy change: Tactical micromobility transformation in Istanbul

Street experiments are highly effective tools for increasing the efficiency of decision-making and planning processes. They allow citizens to gain experience related to the implementation, provide feedback, and offer an opportunity to observe how projects function in real life and help identify and minimize unforeseen issues at the “experiment” phase before the actual implementation. Additionally, citizen feedback contributes to aligning projects more closely with societal needs and fosters a participatory approach in the planning process.

Maltepe Municipality is a local government with extensive experience in street experiments. Previously, the municipality carried out participatory tactical urbanism projects in various areas focusing on different concepts1. This time, under the ACCTRA project, a new street experiment has been designed with a focus on micro mobility.

Micromobility modes, such as e-scooters and bicycles, have the potential to expand the catchment area of public transportation (PT) stations. To that end, this street experiment leverages the popularity and increased use of micromobility vehicles, and integrates micromobility to a PT station via an Exclusive Micromobility Lane (EML) on a local feeder street to strengthen multimodal connectivity. The EML lane was designed to connect an existing bicycle lane to a Light Rail Service Station located in Maltepe, and act as an additional feeder mode for micromobility vehicles that ensure safe and comfortable connection to the selected PT station.

Project area was selected due to various its advantages such as flat surface, access to public transport, the residents’ experience from previous street experiments, participation culture of local people and access to an existing bicycle route. The project offers an invaluable opportunity to make an evidence based and participatory decision-making process with the collaboration of governmental bodies and academic institutions.

In addition, as part of the ACCTRA project an online survey was administered to investigate travelers’ mode choice decisions in Istanbul and the potential impact of EMLs. The survey collected data from 1,000 residents of Istanbul regarding their current travel behavior, perceptions of various micromobility modes, and preferences through stated choice (SC) experiments. These SC experiments provided a robust framework to analyze travelers' preferences across different transportation options and to estimate the impact of EMLs on mode choice. SC experiments included two primary types of journeys: solo car trips and multimodal PT trips, which combined an access/pre-transport segment with the PT journey itself. Each participant was presented with six choice scenarios, each featuring four distinct transportation mode options: solo car, bus-train, e-scooter-train, and walking-train. The survey data were analyzed using a mixed logit model to assess the influence of various trip attributes, such as cost, travel time, comfort, and the availability of an EML on PT station accessibility. The results provide insights into the role of micromobility in enhancing PT accessibility and shaping mode choice preferences.

Speakers: Mr Bahadır Keşan (Maltepe Belediyesi), Mr Bekir Bartın (Özyeğin Üniversitesi)

11:50 Transforming urban spaces: The role of play and recreation in creating a thriving Istanbul

PLAY ISTANBUL initiative’s comprehensive approach encompasses a range of strategies and projects, the major one being the establishment of an official department called Play and Recreation Chieftaincy which has been charged with the responsibility of monitoring and implementing the initiative's vision. The overarching vision emphasises the significance of people's well-being and access to play as a fundamental pillar in building a more liveable and flourishing Istanbul. This ambitious undertaking has been brought to life through a concerted effort by a diverse network comprising locals, children, institutions, and NGOs. The initiative has been designed to foster a more liveable urban environment, by applying six major criteria, namely creativity, sustainability, accessibility, safety, innovation and inclusivity in creating and renewing play and recreation infrastructure. The initiative's approach encompasses a range of strategies and projects, including participatory design and production workshops, inclusive play and tactical strategies, open dialogue sessions and pedestrianisation games with stakeholders. The initiative has led to the establishment of numerous pop-up playgrounds and unstructured play services, extending beyond neighbourhoods in Istanbul with limited accessibility to green spaces and recreation services, even in post-disaster contexts following the earthquake. The presentation will provide an overview of the actions taken to achieve inclusive spatial design goals in Istanbul.

Speakers: Mrs Cigdem Cakar (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality), Mrs Merve Akdag (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality)

11:00 → 12:30 SS_03 REPOPULATING LEFT-BEHIND TERRITORIES: POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND EMERGING PATHWAY

Conveners: Loris Servillo (Politecnico di Torino), Mauro Fontana (Politecnico di Torino)

11:00 Infrastructuring repopulation. Regeneration of left-behind territories and construction of new housing practice.

The more the regenerative projects and experiments of paths of epopulation of the left-behind territories and mountainous areas advance, the more a fact emerges forcefully: the concrete difficulty of welcoming and accommodating, transforming them into inhabitants, the various people who today, in Italy, seem to express a growing demand for mountains.

This finding that emerges from the experiences taking place in the territories severely contradicts what has always been a powerful discursive element in favor of regeneration projects in left-behind territories: the existence of a considerable housing stock that is highly available and favorable - by quantitative size, economic value, etc. - for implementing revitalization and repopulation policies.
Instead, in Italy, all experiences in the field show how the conditions of technological and qualitative backwardness of the existing stock the difficulties in finding housing units on the rental market make this issue today a priority concerning policies on left-behind territories in recent years, traditionally focused on the triad health, schooling, mobility.
Many realities in the Alps and Apennines where regeneration pathways are underway show attempts to build neo-inhabitable conditions through the "autarkic" construction of housing and welfare services for neo- population. However, it is clear that these virtuous actions characterized by "do it yourself" are not sufficient to build real and effective widespread action to support potential neo-housing processes.

Our research is positioned within this challenging framework. It aims to address issues regarding housing possibilities and models suitable for repopulation dynamics, both in terms of policies and projects for sustainable rents and possible public action at the local and national scale for the activation of projects that take into account at the same time housing, employment and access to culture and community-making needs.

Speaker: Mauro Fontana (Politecnico di Torino)

11:10 Social Infrastructures for Repopulation: Learning from ‘School Zones’ in England

Across diverse sized cities in England, School Zones are a new way to plan for districts centred on securing the next generation’s well-being in disadvantaged areas. This paper teases out lessons for repopulation from social infrastructures, which is demonstrated by such zones around public educational facilities in England. The paper builds on a recent study of ‘School Superzones’ in London (Natarajan, 2025) as well as concepts of social infrastructures to generate alternative forms of value for declining places (Tomaney et al., 2024). School Zones step up to the lack of delivery on maintaining long-term community wellbeing (Natarajan et al., 2020), and harnesses community capitals inherent in educational facilities through local partnerships. These offer non-growth dependent value generation and support place attachment, with generation of local social value and place-based liveability. As such, in respect of population-challenged areas of Europe, School Zones have great potential. Drawing on research in targeted districts in Brighton, Birmingham and London, the emerging outcomes of School Zones will be explored, including insights from those involved in partnerships around these initiatives, i.e. stakeholders from civil society, local businesses and government actors. Analysis centres on the question: how might School Zones pre-figure means to long-term thriving communities that do not rely purely on the logics of capital investment or growth?

Speaker: Dr Lucy Natarajan (Bartlett School of Planning, UCL)

11:20 Navigating (Im)mobility and alternative development in Left Behind Areas: Insights from Valle di Viù, Italy

Human mobility has been investigated as a key factor in the challenges faced by left-behind areas (LBAs), yet its actual capacity to drive sustainable development remains underexplored. This study critically examines the case of Valle di Viù, a mountain area in the Turin Metropolitan Area, Italy, to explore the limitations, contradictions, and potential of relying on human mobility to address the problems of depopulation, ageing demographics, decaying infrastructure, and an overarching sense of left-behindness in mountain areas.
While inward mobility present opportunities for revitalization — for instance through the return of former residents and the attraction of newcomers — structural challenges persist. Residents often experience social isolation, infrastructure exists in precarious and intermittent forms, community resources are stretched thin, and local economies struggle to accommodate new residents or retain existing populations.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with key players and individuals conducted in Valle di Viù, this study examines the perceptions and livelihood practices of (im)mobile people across various life domains to understand micro-strategies for coping with peripherality. It also analyses policies and projects addressing LBAs at different scales and their impacts on specific local contexts. The analysis focuses on three specific dimensions: first, conventional development strategies primarily linked to infrastructure provision; second, non-conventional strategies emphasizing well-being, quality of life, local identity, and place attachment; and third, (im)mobility dynamics that consider not only in- and out-mobility but also recognize immobility as a critical component of local development.
Preliminary findings suggest that mobility-driven development should be associated to the removal of structural barriers to reduce the risk of exacerbating disparities. This underscores the need for systemic policies and place-based actions to ensure equitable access to resources and opportunities. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of nuanced, context-sensitive approaches to address the underlying causes of marginalization in LBAs.

Speaker: Astrid Safina (Sapienza Università di Roma)

11:30 Attempting coproduction, (strategically) misunderstanding coproduction, failing coproduction? Motivations, positionalities, challenges and (concrete) experiences in coproduction processes on left-behind places in Lombardy, Italy

The newly emerging housing question is widely considered to be exclusively affecting large metropolitan regions. This is also true for Italy, where Milan – and its metropolitan region – have become the hotspot of a housing supply and affordability crisis that does not seem to mitigate in anyway. However, many peripheral areas in the region of Lombardy are experiencing high stress in their ability to answer housing demand.
Forms of loosely defined coproduction are widespread in area-based, integrated policies in the European space. National and regional governments – as well as local ones – increasingly recur to the mobilisation of external actors to define and implement strategies, both to confront a crisis of legitimacy that affects the political system and its executive apparatuses while exercising governance “at a distance” and to mine more profound and more extensive knowledge deposited with the social organisation. These processes are especially evident in large metropolitan areas, but they are making themselves more and more visible in rural or peripheral urban environments, i.e., left-behind places. National institutional design, governance, and participation legacies matter significantly in Europe. However, we can say that Such contexts are less used to this kind of exercise; therefore, reflecting on the conditions and challenges of their implementation there is of utmost scientific interest.
The paper intends to address this issue by presenting a long-term, comprehensive coproduction exercise conducted since 2022 by a working group of planners, geographers, sociologists and architects of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, in the framework of an agreement with the regional government of Lombardy. The agreement – framed as a coproduction accord between regional technical apparatuses and a research institution – is aimed at supporting regional offices and local actors in the design and implementation of area-based integrated strategies involving 14 areas deemed left-behind places. The group engaged in sustained exchanges with regional officers and in the organisation of local workshops with over 1400 participants. What forms of knowledge and labour are involved in the coproduction of place-based policy and their implications for the understanding of professionals and policy-makers? 2. What new organisational modes and institutional forms are emerging for the coproduction of place-based policy and the relative implications for researchers, universities and funders? 3. how does the coproduction of place-based policy relate to ideas and movements for foundational and everyday economies, just transition, degrowth, postextractivism and regenerative economies?

Speaker: Dr Sara Caramaschi (DAStU Politecnico di Milano)

11:40 Revitalizing the Po Valley’s margins: challenges, strategies and future prospects

Among Italy’s many "middle lands," the Po Valley’s lower plains (Bassa Padana) remain one of the least studied. This area, stretching across Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto, has long been perceived as marginal and economically depressed. However, recent years have seen profound transformations reshaping its spatial structure, socioeconomic fabric, and collective identity.
The Bassa Padana represents a vital yet fragile agricultural heartland. Its highly mechanized agro-industrial system, intensive livestock farming, and historically abundant water resources are now facing severe environmental challenges, including water scarcity, soil degradation, and climate change pressures. Urbanization remains limited, with small towns dotting the landscape, while industrial sectors such as mechatronics, biomedical, and household appliances concentrate in the more dynamic western areas.
This contribution critically examines the area’s evolving dynamics. On one hand, processes of marginalization, demographic decline, and economic downturn exacerbate a sense of isolation. On the other, territorial development initiatives focus on revitalizing local heritage, fostering new economies, and integrating diverse cultural influences. The interplay between sustainability-driven local projects and the pressures of agro-industrial and logistics expansion raises key questions about the region’s future.
The contribution also invites reflection on the risks and opportunities of the area’s development model in the face of climate and social change.

Speaker: Dr Sara Caramaschi (DAStU Politecnico di Milano)

11:00 → 12:30 T_01 POSTGROWTH URBANISM: ECOSOCIAL CRISIS, CLIMATIC ADAPTATION & RESILIENCE

Conveners: Barbara Pizzo (Sapienza Università di Roma), EMRAH ALTINOK (Istanbul Bilgi University), Shefali Nayak (HafenCity Universität), Maria Kaika (University of Amsterdam)

11:00 Perceptual Encounters with the Urbanization of Nature

At a time when the ecological destructiveness of urbanization and its contribution to environmental problems is widely recognized in mainstream discourse, Urban Political Ecology (UPE) offers a crucial critique of urban design and planning. UPE challenges these practices to align with agendas prioritizing social equity. Even ecological urbanists, despite focusing on sustainability, face critiques highlighting how ecological metaphors in urban design can perpetuate discriminatory urban development processes (Tzaninis et al., 2023; Gandy, 2015; Kaika, 2014). On the other side, critical spatial practices—often employing artistic metaphors, analogies, and narratives—offer tools to generate critical perspectives on the socio-ecological impacts of capitalist urbanization. These practices contribute to alternative urban imaginaries by engaging with cognitive, emotional, embodied, and aesthetic forms of knowledge and affect. UPE scholarship increasingly embraces these approaches, drawing insights from race, gender, and sexuality studies, as well as postcolonial, indigenous, feminist, and queer theories (Heynen, 2018; Loftus, 2019).
This presentation takes a collaboratively driven video-narrative project, Symbiosis, undertaken by me with two colleagues from diverse disciplinary backgrounds as a case to discuss the value of situated everyday knowledge with the understanding of contemporary patterns of urbanity. The project explores and documents Kayseri’s urban landscape through nomadic fieldwork around its volcanic, mountain-shaped terrain. While the project narrates our encounters and perceptual experiences with the mountainous landscape, this presentation examines the learnings and outcomes of the project through a UPE framework. This approach enables us to ask for an understanding of the city’s urbanization that moves beyond human-centric imaginaries, incorporating regional dynamics essential to deciphering urban patterns.
Through this lens, the presentation connects sensory and experiential knowledge to questions of metabolic relations between urban settlements and uneven flows of capital, as well as more-than-human ecological processes. By decomposing its perceptual art-based explorations through the lens of a new vocabulary of planetary urbanization, the project addresses the interplay between urban economic and political dimensions—such as unsustainable real estate development and the practices of profit-driven energy companies—and the dynamic yet increasingly vulnerable terrestrial environment of Erciyes, Kayseri's iconic volcanic mountain.
By employing perceptual and art-based explorations, the project as a case exemplifying how sensory engagement with the urban landscape can deepen our understanding of urbanization's socio-ecological implications and this presentation invites urbanists to interpret and value novel metaphors, analogies, and narratives emerging from critical spatial practices, exploring their potential to meaningfully inform urban planning and design practices.

Speaker: Dr Güzin Yeliz Kahya (Erciyes University)

11:10 Navigating Regional Gaps, Cohesion Policy, and Geostrategic Security: Balancing Estonia's Urban System

The paper explores regional gap scenarios balancing society-economy-environment domains amidst escalating uncertainties. The study exemplifies multiscale peripherisation of Estonia at EU external borders, with a strong impact on the urban system of depopulation, green deal, and the geostrategic security agenda. The latter has still been understated and remote in regional and cohesion research and policy support despite ongoing tensions. Also, the importance of governing with intent is becoming the mainstream, with an understanding of the anticipated impacts of new strategies, business models, services, for example, remote work, digitalisation and platformisation (Oldbury and Isaksson 2023).
The study analyses the aggregate impacts of the scenarios on Estonia's territorial development and cohesion, including impacts on economic development, social well-being, cultural prosperity, land use, environmental sustainability, as well as defence and security. Based on the key axis of regional gap-balance, four scenarios are set: A. Metropolisation, B. Dispersed regionalisation, C. Small cities, and D. Growing by immigration, which all include sprawling, dispersed, and compact sub-scenarios. The scenarios are assessed on their impact on resource needs, consumption changes, and environmental pressures at six types of urban regions in their core, suburban hinterland, and rural hinterland. Four scenarios are compared by land take, housing stock, infrastructure requirements, industrial and logistics estates, retail and services, and home-work, home-services mobility. The causal chains, key drivers, and triggers of shrinkage and the regional gap, as well as the key policy packages and regional support to make the scenarios a future outcome, are elaborated.
Since the 1990s, there has been a massive depopulation of many regions across Estonia, with urban growth supported by neoliberal planning and agglomeration increasingly shifting to the Tallinn metropolitan region. Regional polarisation shapes new residential, job, business, and service geographies driven by a rescaled urban system and agglomeration economics. Degrowth has multiple hidden and blurred territorial features amplified by fuzzy multilocality and networked if classic surveys and indicators are applied.
Population trends continue to change significantly and potentially disrupt the structure of Estonia's urban system. Population projections for 2050 forecast that the majority of local authorities would see their populations decrease by more than a quarter, while 9 local authorities could experience a decrease of more than half. For Estonia as a whole, metropolisation (A) amplifies regional imbalances. The regional gap and peripheralisation manifest as economic and social inequalities. Regionalisation (B) is executed at the expense of hinterland counties and small cities. The small city scenario (C) preserves the historic county-based urban system, keeping and revitalising regional balances. Small cities also retain their vitality, and rurality is preserved with regional specialisation and optimal diversification.
As a controversial outcome of regional shrinkage, depopulation and degrowth may increase energy consumption, carbon footprint, infrastructure, and service costs. Supporting left-behind regions can alleviate population exodus and further metropolisation but requires massive and very precise policy intervention. Additionally, as an isolated international agenda, the radical policy for national security and regional resilience shifts requires significant trade-offs in cohesion and regional policy, supported by emerging planning discourses.
A new security and cohesion relationship with civic transparency should be positioned as a core element of regional planning, facilitating a shift away from a reactive, crisis response stance (Hunter, 2023). The basis for the strategic choices guiding the future urban system should be defined in the national spatial plan "Estonia 2050," aiming to define the territorial conditions for sustainability and a high-quality living environment throughout Estonia. The emphasis tends to highlight the ‘left-behind’ risks of re-regionalisation, with modelling, designing, and delivering multiple complex transitions for territorial cohesion, with integrity and an increasingly strong security dimension.

Speaker: Dr Antti Roose (University of Tartu)

11:20 Restoring socio-ecological balance in City-Port Areas. A conceptual framework for a circular and sustainable regeneration of coastal wastescapes integrating Nature-Based Solutions

Research context
City-Port Areas (CPA) can be defined as multi-risk exposed environments characterized by high-complexity (Hein, 2016, 2018, 2023) and facing diverse intertwined challenges related to overlapping environmental, natural and anthropic risks. They are the first to experience the impact of climate change, being affected by resource scarcity and linear urban metabolism processes, showing difficulties to grow within socio-ecological limits and ecosystem boundaries. These challenges, that characterize the capacity of today’s CPA to be future proof, are interconnected to the problems related to the supply of energy and materials, and to the availability of land for agricultural purposes and further developments.
Land in CPA is a scarce resource if connected to linear and thus unfunctional urban and territorial metabolisms as well as to unsustainable processes of growth. However, CPA are prone to become hot spots and hubs of innovation and incubators for circular solutions based e.g. on mitigation and adaptation measures (AIVP, 2018, 2021) and on regeneration processes through nature-based solutions (NbS) applied in the context of wastescapes (Amenta and van Timmeren, 2018).

Conceptual and methodological framework
To understand how to implement a transition towards circularity and sustainability for CPA, this contribution presents the methodological approach of the research SPArTaCHus (financed within the framework: “Programma per il Finanziamento della Ricerca di Ateneo FRA 2022”, of the University of Naples Federico II, Corresponding proponent: Libera Amenta).
SPArTaCHus proposes a mixed method that combines insights from urban ecology, urban metabolism, ecological urbanism, and more-than-human perspectives for the regeneration of their wastescapes, understood as a system of underused or abandoned territories crossed by resource flows. To define circular strategies for alternative scenarios to cope with the intertwined contemporary challenges of CPA, this research emphasizes the urgent need to strike a balance between environmental goals, social equity and justice.
SPArTaCHus interprets CPA as promoters of circular and sustainable prosperity in equilibrium with nature through the adaptive management of their natural habitats. Being transitional landscapes, CPA both face ever-changing challenges from e.g., port activities, and offer a rich socio-cultural environment. Understanding the complex dynamics of CPA informs a path toward circularity, that can reconnect people, spaces, flows, economies, and ecologies.

Project’s ambition
Research on City-Port Areas allows to move from local to global and back, understanding ports as knots (Lobo-Guerrero & Stobbe 2016), towards the multidisciplinary, multiscale and integrated concept of territorial metabolism (Grulois, et al. 2018). In this way, it is possible to focus on the mutual relationships between human activities, resource use and the effect of these activities on the built and natural environment, including the countryside, for boosting a sustainable and different kind of growth, and looking for design-driven strategies for implementing innovation in urban and social agendas (IABR, 2014). Implementing circular urban metabolism and economy principles can help create regenerative territories that operate within the planet's safe and just limits.
Understanding that CPA are characterized by land scarcity and large amount of wastescapes, the project aims to set design and planning guidelines for a regenerative approach by working on soil resources that are often degraded, polluted or abandoned due to many factors, among which port-related activities which concluded their lifecycle. Wastescapes in CPA can be seen as the result of a linear process of an unequal growth, as the port and the city follow different logics and planning time. This contribution critically examines how NbS can tackle the complex multi-risk challenges faced by CPA, using Rotterdam as a case study to highlight both the opportunities and challenges associated with circular transitions.

Speaker: Prof. Libera Amenta (DiARC, Univesity of Naples Federico II)

11:30 Imagining the Post-. Can Multispecies Urbanism be a Track for Radical Change? The case of Brussels

As we globally experience a daily hyper-acceleration of multiple crises and with 2024 being the first recorded year of the Earth's average temperature crossing the 1,5 °C boundary set by the Paris Agreement, the inadequacy of such global strategies has been unequivocally recognized. In the face of this stagnant situation, the change of the capitalist system is increasingly recognized as the condition sine qua non for starting to think seriously about a way out of the socioecological catastrophe, as even an equitable degrowth is incompatible with capitalism (Kohei, 2024). Scholars are foregrounding a variety of alternative paths for a post-capitalistic and post-growth world, supporting a pluriversal range of possibilities rooted in the local cultures and economies, arriving mostly – but not only – from Indigenous or marginal communities of the Global South (Demaria and Kothari, 2017).
In this framework, Multispecies thinking has emerged in the West as a refusal of the Euro-Atlantic thought and an alternative for making worlds and kin in our era (Haraway, 2015). Nurtured by a strong core of critical theory in the environmental humanities, particularly critical eco-feminism, with the guidance of Indigenous philosophies and a decolonial approach, Multispecies is asking us to radically reconsider our relation with other living beings and matters, putting their needs at the front alongside ours. Being substantially different from other ecological discourses and the traditional planning approach that relies on conservation and protection, the focus is not on “leaving alone” the environment and other living beings to be able to thrive, but rather on multispecies entanglements and on learning how to live together (Houston et al., 2018). Moreover, recognizing the interconnectedness between oppressions under the system of the capital, the aim is to look after an idea of justice encompassing diverse human and more-than-human subjectivities (Winter, 2022), able to reunite different struggling in a common fight for emancipation.
My research tries to understand the implications of such an approach in Urbanism. What does it mean to fight for the emancipation of the living in spatial terms? Which are the main spaces of friction in the western city? Which technical practices can we mobilize? What tools do we have to change, and what pre-conception and attitudes of the discipline do we have to abandon? Where are the main obstacles in the European planning system to adopting such an approach?
To start addressing these questions I discuss the case study of the city of Brussels, where a long tradition in urban ecology, re-cycle/up-cycle, and metabolism (Grulois, Tosi and Crosas Armengol, 2018) is today accompanied by a flourishing of tentative multispecies urban practices, that involve active citizens, administrations, university students, researchers, and professional practitioners. Through fieldwork and interviews, I map the emergence of these novel practices as well as their potential and struggles in being realized. I underline the scope, the tools, the objectives, and the imaginaries that drive these projects. Finally, I critically question whether these strategies could imagine and steer a radical change for a post-growth urban era, as the ambition the theory set.

Speaker: Dr Anastasia Battani (Iuav University of Venice, Doctoral School of Project Cultures, Urbanism)

11:40 Collaboration Beyond Growth? Possibilities for Innovative Adaptive Governance in Metro-Boston

In the face of climate change, planning scholars and practitioners have challenged “conventional growth-driven development models” (track 1: post-growth urbanism) and opened the search for adaptation planning practices that could foreground planning futures beyond growth. In this attempt, stakeholder collaboration across public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic sectors has become critical for any innovative adaptation planning initiative. Such assumption has brought scholars to reflect on the meaning of innovative governance institutions capable of generating innovative governance infrastructures to address problems through coordinated efforts (Vella et al., 2016) In the search for solutions beyond growth, such coordinated efforts have been seen as the panacea for “good planning” in the face of the crisis.
In this paper, I am interested in questioning this assumption by examining how climate adaptation stakeholders in Metro Boston collaborate to advance an adaptation agenda that could innovate adaptation planning toward development models beyond growth.
Metro Boston has been the breeding ground for adaptation initiatives that, while highly collaborative in nature, never deeply questioned an overall agenda still focused on physical development and economic growth. Adaptation projects are often either not implemented or fail to be adaptive when adaptation agendas take priority (Markus & Savini, 2016), the fiscalization of land use has contributed to non-adaptive coastal development, despite extensive research warning about the severe impacts of rising sea levels (Shi & Varuzzo, 2020), and, finally, the risks most concerning to socially vulnerable individuals, particularly along racial lines, are frequently overlooked in mainstream resilience strategies (Martin, 2015).
The paper discusses how governance infrastructures shape themselves around power clusters, which prevent collaborating actors from achieving innovative planning agendas and coalitions and keep advancing initiatives driven by a growth rationale. Breaching power clusters’ long-term coalitions is key in determining diverse and more effective collaborative conditions among urban actors and, hence, advancing new models of urban development beyond growth.

Bibliography

Markus, M., & Savini, F. (2016). The implementation deficits of adaptation and mitigation: green buildings and water security in Amsterdam and Boston. Planning Theory and Practice, 17(4), 497–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2016.1210666

Martin, S. A. (2015). A framework to understand the relationship between social factors that reduce resilience in cities: Application to the City of Boston. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 12, 53–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2014.12.001

Shi, L., & Varuzzo, A. M. (2020). Surging seas, rising fiscal stress: Exploring municipal fiscal vulnerability to climate change. Cities, 100, 102658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102658

Vella, K., Butler, W. H., Sipe, N., Chapin, T., & Murley, J. (2016). Voluntary Collaboration for Adaptive Governance: The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 36(3), 363–376. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X16659700

Speaker: Dr Antonio Raciti (Department of Urban Planning and Community Development)

11:00 → 12:30 T_10 THEORIES: ulture, complexity and participation

Conveners: Franziska Sielker (TU Wien), Luke Juday (Technische Universität Wien (Vienna University of Technology))

11:00 «Communities of disagreement» in planning

**The paper is more of a reflection than a conclusive answer to the question “Should planning and politics converge around the concept of “communities of disagreement”?
The field of planning, both in theory and practice, often has consensus building as a guiding inspiration for its normative theoretical and practical development. Politics, on the other hand, is an activity characterized by disagreement and competition over ideology, values, what is legitimate knowledge and what are good planning solutions. In politics, the aim can often be to cultivate disagreement and dividing lines, more than to find consensus.
Since we in the planning field today are concerned with giving politics and politicians the leading position that normative planning theories and planning legislation say they should have, the planning field must to a greater extent recognize and make room for the need for politics/politicians to highlight disagreement, also in planning processes. Only then will planning become a tool for both political governance and an activity to strengthen democracy.
In this paper, we will present some main positions in the field of planning theory regarding handling professional and political disagreements. We will then introduce the concept «communities of disagreement», as it is defined and discussed in the book Uenighetsfellesskap: blikk på demokratisk samhandling. (Iversen 2014) (Communities of disagreement: perspectives on democratic interaction – own translation).
Iversen argues that the term can refer to a group of people who gather around a common theme, problem or goal, but have different or conflicting views on how this theme, problem or goal should be handled (Iversen 2014). People share problems and discussion arenas, but we share values to a much lesser extent. Our democratic communities are often communities of disagreement, meaning that agreement is far from a necessary condition for functioning communities. Iversen is concerned with various ways to normalize and make disagreement harmless, including disagreements over values, so that in the future we individually and collectively become better at living with all this disagreement.
This is far from new reflections within the field of planning, including within communicative and collaborative planning. However, we as planners notice that Iversen claims that his concept marks a difference to Habermas. Iversen disagrees with Habermas in his view of rationality. Habermas argues for freedom of power in a public conversation because the best arguments will then prevail. This is not necessarily the starting point in a community of disagreement” (Iversen 2014:138). Within communities of disagreement, the arguments for open, free, real discussions are more that more voices provide a greater diversity of ideas, more innovative thinking.
Iversen therefore draws on Chantal Mouffe's theory of political leadership and agonistic politics (Mouffe 2000 and 2005, in Iversen 2014:145 -156). This is an approach to planning that has recently emerged as a critique of, and an alternative to, communicative planning theory. The agonistic perspective recognizes that conflict is an inevitable part of democracy. Thus, the idea that the goal of democracy is to achieve consensus between members of society is rejected. On the contrary, disagreement is something like an inherent necessity in a vibrant, engaging democracy. In an agonistic model, both for politics and planning, the conflicting parties recognize each other as legitimate, even if they disagree. They accept common premises and procedures for political struggle and for planning discussions, which enables a more constructive form of conflict and increases the likelihood of innovative thinking.
We will conclude the paper with some reflections on how the use of the term – with its theoretical anchoring – can contribute to recognizing political disagreement as a necessary, and often creative, element in planning
**

Speaker: Aksel Hagen (University of Inland Norway)

ah AESOP 25 Community of disagreement.pptx

Aksel Hagen AESOP 25 - 8 min presentasjon.docx

11:10 Attitudes, Actions and Artifacts: Re-Conceptualizing Spatial Planning as Cultural Practice

This paper examines spatial planning as a cultural practice, conceptualizing it as an interplay between attitudes, actions, and artifacts. Spatial planning is not merely a technical, political, or communicative activity, but rather a complex cultural practice influenced by shared societal norms, values, and practices that evolve over time. This study adopts a meaning-oriented and praxeological perspective of culture (Reckwitz 2002), emphasizing the dual dimensions of planning: its substantive character, encompassing collective norms, values, and beliefs, and its procedural aspects, involving planning practices, decision-making processes, and social interactions.
The paper explores a paradigmatic shift towards a "cultural turn" in planning theory, advocating for a relational understanding of planning cultures that integrates discourse and practice.

Recent empirical studies highlight the heterogeneity of planning cultures across national, regional, and local levels, emphasizing their dependence on socio-political contexts and the interrelation of structural and procedural elements. Utilizing models such as the Culturalized Planning Model (CPM; Knieling/Othengrafen 2009), the paper delineates the influence of societal and planning discourses on tangible planning artifacts, including planning policies and documents, as well as corresponding physical results of planning, such as spatial patterns of the built environment.

A literature review of recent empirical studies highlights the role of planning cultures in shaping different

a) National planning practices (e. g. Li et al. 2020)
b) Regional and local planning practices (e. g. Pukarthofer et al. 2021) as well as
c) Relational understandings of national and local planning cultures and practices (e. g. Patiwael et al. 2022)

Based on the literature review a relational framework is developed, that links substantive and procedural dimensions through shared systems of meaning, incorporating the

a) societal discourse that shapes norms and values
b) the planning discourse that informs specific practices, and the
c) artifacts resulting from these interactions.

This integrated model captures the variations of planning, emphasizing their emergence, evolution, and contextual variations.

The study acknowledges the challenges posed by the complexity and diversity of planning cultures. Despite methodological difficulties in operationalizing and empirically analyzing cultural dimensions, the concept holds significant promise for enriching planning research. By bridging theoretical and practical knowledge, the relational approach enhances our understanding of why planning practices vary across contexts and how they are shaped by cultural differences.

Future research is encouraged to adopt interdisciplinary methods and refined analytical models, emphasizing the interconnections between discourse, practice, and artifacts. This methodological advancement holds the potential to shed light on the cultural underpinnings of planning practices, offering researchers deeper insights into their evolution and the possibility of adaptation in diverse spatial and temporal contexts. In conclusion, the study positions planning as an inherently cultural endeavor, underscoring its pivotal role in the social construction of space.

Speaker: Dr Martin Sondermann

11:20 A transformation of planning? Grasping planning-cultural change through socio-material practices

The need for social-ecological transformation is beyond question. The relevance of spatial planning in shaping this transformation is equally undisputed (cf. Hofmeister & Warner, 2021 among others). However, we still know little about whether planning for transformations also involves a substantial transformation of planning itself (cf. Schreiber et al., 2023, for one of the few exceptions). In my contribution, I outline an approach to scrutinize indications of a transformation of planning.

I start from the argument of sustainability sciences and transformation research that profound transformation ultimately implies cultural change (cf. Meadows, 1997; Abson et al., 2016). This points to planning cultures as a fruitful perspective for grasping fundamental transformations of planning. As planning-cultural change can be deemed “too abstract for closure” (Alexander, 2015: 91), I turn to practices as a more immediate, tangible expression of planning cultures (cf. Alexander, 2015; Levin-Keitel & Sondermann, 2017; Othengrafen & Levin-Keitel,2019 for a similar approach). To grasp a change of planning practices conceptually, I draw on the concept of Transformative Social Innovation [TSI] (Pel et al., 2020).

I show that there are significant congruencies between notions of planning culture and TSI. Social innovation generally describes a reconfiguration in the socio-material relation between actors, ideas, objects, and activities (Pel et al., 2020) that are aimed at better addressing a societal issue than previous configurations did (Moulaert, 2013). If we similarly define planning as a social process of actors combining ideas, objects and resources to intervene in space (cf. Knieling & Othengrafen, 2016), we can interpret the transformation of planning as a process of social innovation and, through this lens, view it as changes in four types of socio-material practices: (1) a change of planning activities, (2) new forms of organizing (in) planning, (3) new ways of imagining societal and spatial futures, and (4) a change in learning and knowing.

I apply this lens tentatively to explore a potential transformation of planning in the context of the on-going “green transition”. I outline discernable changes of practice that indicate planning-cultural transformation, and end with an outlook on what can be considered further necessary planning-cultural transformations for realizing social-ecological transformation.

Literature:
Abson, D. J., Fischer, J., Leventon, J., Newig, J., Schomerus, T., Vilsmaier, U., ... & Lang, D. J. (2017) Leverage points for sustainability transformation. Ambio, 46, 30-39.
Alexander, E. R. (2016) There is no planning – only planning practices: Notes for spatial planning theories. Planning theory, 15(1), 91-103.
Hofmeister, S., Warner, B., & Ott, Z. (eds.) (2021) Nachhaltige Raumentwicklung für die große Transformation – Herausforderungen, Barrieren und Perspektiven für Raumwissenschaften und Raumplanung (Forschungsberichte der ARL, 15). Hannover: Verlag der ARL.
Levin-Keitel, M., & Sondermann, M. (2017). Räumliches Planen in Wissenschaft und Praxis–von „Mind the Gap “zu „Finding Gaps “. Raumforschung und Raumordnung-Spatial Research and Planning, 75, 1-5.
Meadows, D. (1997) Places to Intervene in a System. Whole Earth, 91(1), 78-84.
Moulaert, F. (ed.) (2013) The international handbook on social innovation: collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Othengrafen, F., & Levin-Keitel, M. (2019). Planners between the chairs: How planners (do not) adapt to transformative practices. Urban Planning, 4(4), 111-138.
Pel, B., Haxeltine, A., Avelino, F., Dumitru, A., Kemp, R., Bauler, T., ... & Jørgensen, M. S. (2020) Towards a theory of transformative social innovation: A relational framework and 12 propositions. Research Policy, 49(8), 104080.
Schreiber, F., Fokdal, J., & Ley, A. (2023) A Catalyst for Innovation? A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing the Potential of Urban Experiments to Transform Urban Planning Practices. Planning Theory & Practice, 24(2), 224-241.

Speaker: Johannes Suitner (TU Wien, Institute of Spatial Planning, Research Unit Urban and Regional Research)

11:30 Investigating communicative planning in the fine grain: Integrating discourse and practice theories for the analysis of participatory justice

Germany is currently experiencing a wave of large-scale urban expansion projects (Hesse 2021), driven by a growing demand for housing and an ongoing shortage of developable land within city centres. These new suburban developments are being promoted as models of sustainability and participatory, inclusive planning. However, in terms of participatory justice (cf. Blue et al. 2019), it is not only important which ideas and notions of participation are produced in the respective discourses, but also who participates and is heard in planning processes. Document analyses and interviews (Howarth 2005) can only provide limited information about this.

For several years, therefore, attempts have been made to study planning ethnographically (Abram & Weszkalnys 2011). This approach aims to provide insights into marginalisation (Verloo 2023), tacit knowledge and the role of material objects (Rydin & Natarajan 2016). It corresponds with the 'practice turn' (Behagel et al. 2019), which has also been adopted in planning studies. However, few scholars have attempted to combine discourse analytical and praxeological approaches in empirical planning research (Leibenath 2025 in press).

The aim of this paper is, first, to clarify what practices are, how praxeological planning research can be conceptualised, and how it relates to more discourse-focused approaches (Schröder & Leibenath 2025). To this end, the 'praxeological square of cultural analysis' (Reckwitz 2016) is proposed as a heuristic . Secondly, a concrete research design and some exemplary results on participation processes related to large-scale urban expansion projects in Berlin are presented. And thirdly, the challenges of such an analytical approach and ways of dealing with them are identified. The study is part of an ongoing research project that is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under the grant number 466529662.

References
Abram, S. & Weszkalnys, G. (2011) Introduction: Anthropologies of planning—Temporality, imagination, and ethnography. Focaal, 2011 (61), pp. 3-18.
Behagel, J. H. et al. (2019) Beyond argumentation: a practice-based approach to environmental policy. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 21 (5), pp. 479-491.
Blue, G. et al. (2019) Justice as parity of participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, 85 (3), pp. 363-376.
Hesse, M. (2021) Urban expansion re-visited. pnd – rethinking planning, 2021 (1).
Howarth, D. (2005) Applying discourse theory: The method of articulation. In: Howarth, D. & Torfing, J. (eds.) Discourse Theory in European Politics. Identity, Policy and Governance. Houndmills, Basingstoke.
Leibenath, M. (2025 in press) Beteiligungsgerechtigkeit in landschaftsbezogenen Planungsprozessen praxeologisch und ethnographisch erforschen. In: Gailing, L., et al. (eds.) Landschaftsgerechtigkeit: Gerechte und ungerechte Landschaften in der Transformation. Bielefeld: Transcript.
Reckwitz, A. (2016) Die »neue Kultursoziologie« und das praxeologische Quadrat der Kulturanalyse. In: Reckwitz, A. (eds.) Kreativität und soziale Praxis: Studien zur Sozial- und Gesellschaftstheorie. Bielefeld: Transcript.
Rydin, Y. & Natarajan, L. (2016) The materiality of public participation: the case of community consultation on spatial planning for north Northamptonshire, England. Local Environment, 21 (10), pp. 1243-1251.
Schröder, S. & Leibenath, M. (2025) Insisting on not being addressed in that way: Ideology, subjection and agency in the context of spatial planning. Planning Theory, 24 (1), pp. 43-63.
Verloo, N. (2023) Ignoring people: The micro-politics of misrecognition in participatory governance. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 41 (7), pp. 1474-1491.

Speaker: Prof. Markus Leibenath (University of Kassel)

11:40 Acceleration or participation: Return to rational planning?

The urgency of the climate crisis and ambitious political aims towards climate neutrality are increasing the pressure to accelerate projects for the post-fossil transformation. In Germany, this particularly affects energy transition projects, such as wind power and photovoltaic systems, whose acceleration is justified by an “overwhelming public interest” in planning. In contrast, environmental protection associations criticize the acceleration because it entails a restriction of environmental assessments and participation rights. While the lesson learned from the conflict over the Stuttgart 21 project a decade ago was to expand public participation, today in the context of the acceleration debate participation is often seen as a delay of transformative projects. The paper therefore addresses conflicts between acceleration and participation in the planning of projects in the context of post-fossil transformation (Skjølsvold/Coenen 2021).
In an empirical part, the results of a case study on the location of the Gigafactory Tesla in Berlin-Brandenburg are presented (Kühn 2023). This is the largest industrial project in Germany for the production of electric cars with a post-fossil drive. Tesla has declared the acceleration of the energy and mobility transition as the company's mission to protect the global climate. Under pressure from Tesla, the factory was completed in a record time of about two years. This high pace was only made possible by numerous preliminary approvals before the final approval. The Tesla case shows that the acceleration of the approval and planning processes was accompanied by an exclusion of proofing location alternatives, democratic deficits in informal public participation and unresolved conflicts regarding regional water resources.
In the final part, the article draws some lessons from the case for planning theory. It turns out that the approach of communicative planning (Healey 1992) with the claim of finding consensus through participation within a deliberative democracy has its limits due to the time pressure and conflicts in post-fossil transformation. In the context of the current acceleration debate, there are increasing signs for a return to rational planning. In this mode of planning, technocratic experts determine the public interest, participation is only used at the lowest level of information and decisions are made by representative democracy (Meyerson/Banfield 1955). This mode corresponds to the emergence of new forms of technocratic management (Raco/Savini 2019). With such a rational planning approach, transformative projects are legitimized by climate crises and easier to push through against resistance from civil society. Finally, the article discusses the alternative approach of agonistic planning (Bäcklund/Mäntysalo 2010), which aims to tame conflicts through a higher level of participation within a radical democracy.

Speaker: Dr Manfred Kühn

11:50 Temporality and strategic spatial planning – Towards an analysis of the Emscher restoration process beyond path dependence

To critically reflect and theorize on politics, strategy, power, and conflict in spatial planning, more attention towards time and temporality is needed (Hutter, Wiechmann et al. 2024). Various research streams have taken up issues of temporality, for instance, research on path dependence (Sorensen 2023) based on „Historical Institutionalism (HI)“ (Mahoney et al. 2016). Our contribution aims to expand this kind of planning research and, therefore, moves beyond path dependence, especially with regard to strategic spatial planning.

Path dependence can be understood – very generally – as the determination of the present and future by the historical past (in the sense of "history matters"). HI proposes a specific understanding of path dependence and – in contrast to this – of gradual change (see Mahoney et al. 2016 on temporality in causal analysis, Mahoney 2021 for a summary): Path dependence refers to a relatively short "critical juncture" in the context of antecedent conditions and, in comparison to the juncture, a longer duration of stabilizing the path that has been chosen during the critical juncture (Sorensen 2023, p. 934). Gradual change, in contrast, encompasses a series of limited (or incremental) changes without referring to junctures and reactive sequences (or increasing returns). Gradual change may have transformative effects ("Transformative gradual change", Mahoney 2021, p. 260).

We use the distinction between path dependence and gradual change to analyse regional strategy development for the Emscher restoration process. The Emscher is a small river in the Ruhr area in Germany. In a large-scale environmental and infrastructure project, between 1991 and 2021 it was converted from an open sewer into a near-natural watercourse that improved the environment and urban quality of life.

Intermediate empirical results of a chronological event analysis illustrate theoretical arguments. Event analysis includes an extensive document analysis and in-depth interviews with policy makers and planning practitioners. A model of regional strategy formation (Wiechmann 2008) guides data analysis. We discuss the extent to which path dependence explains sub-processes of strategy development for the Emscher restoration process, but the regional strategy process as a whole may better correspond to gradual change.

Theoretical argumentation and empirical illustration lead to the suggestion that critical approaches to the current state of planning theories need to address the complexity of time and temporality beyond the straightforward clock-time view of temporal variation (linear, objective time) and also beyond path dependence. This includes the possibility that paths may be created (Garud et al. 2010), which holds especially for truly processual work on strategic spatial planning. Case studies designed for this purpose enable a systematic investigation of change and thus a deeper understanding of planning itself.

Speakers: Dr Gerard Hutter (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), Dresden, Germany), Prof. Thorsten Wiechmann (TU Dortmund)

11:00 → 12:30 T_11 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: L4 - Geodesign

Convener: Prof. Fatih Terzi (Istanbul Technical University)

11:00 The digital transformation of planning: how data and algorithms are changing spatial planning practice

The field of spatial planning is currently experiencing a profound shift driven by technological advancements, known as the digital transformation of planning. This transformative process has the potential to reshape the very essence of planning practice and the way it delivers fundamental values, including equity, social justice, transparency, and efficiency (Hersperger et al., 2022). Despite documented awareness of digital transformation in the planning community, there is a lack of knowledge that could support practitioners in navigating this transformative journey and guide researchers in analyzing the digitalization of planning. Eminent scholars point out that the digital transformation is largely technology-driven (Kitchin et al., 2021; Boland et al., 2021). This raises questions about the nature of digital planning and the extent to which planning should become computationally codified and automated and ultimately develop into a post-political practice. These questions will become more pressing as the political pressure to adopt digital technologies intensifies. The necessary foundations for approaching them are lacking, as most research to date has focused on the development of new technological tools and digital data including planning support systems, digital-co-production platforms, digital plan data and methods in urban analytics. The restructuring of relationships within planning practice resulting from the complex interplay between digital technology and people has however been neglected. With this research we are contributing towards closing this gap.
To understand the digital transformation of planning, a focus on what happens in planning practice – what planners do – is warranted. Only a close look at individual actions in practice can reveal the distinct changes associated with the gradual, slow, and ongoing digitalization that planning is experiencing (Christmann and Schinagl, 2023). However, planning practice is poorly understood, mostly because of a lack of theories as well as a paucity of empirical research, leaving the daily routines and practices of planners largely unexplored (Forester, 2023). There are many ways to break down the complexity of planning practice for analysis. Since it is expected that the effects of digitalization will be particularly prominent in the technologically mediated interaction between public officials and citizens and in evidence-based decision-making, we pursue a breakdown toward this. Thus, and drawing from literature on the planning-technology nexus, on digital technologies and data, and on spatial planning practice, we propose four interrelated core concepts of planning practice in which digitalization manifests itself, i.e., encounter, discretion, representation and domain integration. Encounters relate to the interaction between citizens and public officials that are increasingly mediated through digital portals. Discretion denotes the degrees of freedom planners experience in micro-level decision-making that can be affected using digital tools and algorithms in decision support. The representation of plans and environments refers to means that change from analog forms to increasingly complex digital ones, including city information models and virtual reality experiences, with issues regarding standardization and data analytics, among others. Domain integration highlights the increasing emphasis on integrating different environmental and social policy concerns within coherent spatial frameworks and domain specific data, involving technology-supported evidence-based planning, often in planning support systems and data analytics. We outline an interdisciplinary research approach currently conducted with the support of an SNSF Advanced Grant to understand how digitalization changes planning practice in these core concepts. The aim is to develop a theoretical model that will explain how the use of digital technologies in daily practice alter actor’s relationships, planning processes and outcomes. We expect that this will contribute towards effectively and critically supporting the digital transformation of spatial planning.

Speaker: Prof. Anna M. Hersperger (Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL)

11:10 Geodesign for climate neutrality: contributing to Regional Climate Adaptation Strategies in Italy.

Global mainstream policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation identify local green transition as a key component for achieving global objectives. The success of adaptation strategies depends on the active and continuous involvement of stakeholders, including national, regional, international organizations, private sectors, and civil society (Howarth et al. 2024). These stakeholders, who operate within a territorial context, influence decisions and are influenced by them (Hemmati et al. 2012).
In practice, climate adaptation is not the primary objective of regional planning (Ford et al. 2011). Developing adaptation plans is a complex task both in terms of information processing and the process itself. The consequences of climate change are uncertain, multi-scale, multi-sectoral, and controversial (Howe et al. 2019). Although the adaptation process involves stakeholders with diverse expertise to build robust knowledge frameworks, spatial information plays a role in the strategic design (Wilson 2006).
This research, funded in the GD_CURE Italian National Research Project, contributes methodologically and operationally to the development of a Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, focusing on the Basilicata Region case study. The study contextualizes global climate objectives at the local scale, in alignment with the governance frameworks defined by the Italian National Climate Adaptation Strategy (SNAC). Through a participatory process that enhances territorial governance in a co-design perspective, the research defines tools to support the decision-making process and the operational implementation of adaptation and climate mitigation measures at the regional scale. The workshop applies the Geodesign method, using a structured and iterative process to support decision-making. Geodesign adopts a systems-based approach to analyze inter-systemic interactions across different spatial and temporal scales (Steinitz 2012). This multidisciplinary approach is crucial for overcoming silo-mentality traditionally found between government, industry, academia, and communities (Campagna et al. 2016) (Pettit et al. 2019). Furthermore, the iterative framework of Geodesign provides a flexible tool to address the challenges posed by climate change (Steinitz et al. 2023).
The study presents a preliminary selection and evaluation of actions compatible with the territorial characteristics of Basilicata, referring to the eight systems defined by the IGC Global challenge (Steinitz et al. 2023). These actions were analyzed by identifying climate benefits, performance indicators, implementation cost, and the scale of implementation. Moreover, the importance of defining the budget and allocating resources, promoted by structural funds used to finance projects and interventions in European regions, was emphasized focusing on effective resource allocation criteria (Casas and Scorza 2016).
The goal of the workshop was to provide an open platform to policymakers, public authorities, academics, and territorial professionals, promoting strategic innovations in the green transition of urban and regional areas. This approach facilitated the construction of a shared strategic framework, useful for mapping and consolidating resource allocation toward concrete, targeted actions for climate adaptation and mitigation (Barr 2010). The workshop involved young researchers in climate governance, master's students in environmental engineering, technical representatives from major administrations, professionals in territorial disciplines, and nonprofit organizations active in the regional context. Participants highlighted the usefulness of innovative tools developed, emphasizing the effectiveness of the "learning by doing" approach.
This research highlights how Geodesign, is an useful decision support tool in climate adaptation at the regional level. Integrating spatial analysis, participatory governance, and strategic vision enables the contextualization of global climate objectives at the local scale. Geodesign offers policymakers a robust operational framework for developing resilient and sustainable plans, addressing climate challenges in an integrated and coherent manner. Moreover, the study emphasizes the importance of open platforms and the adoption of local policies, creating a scalable model for other regions aligning their climate actions with international commitments.
Acknowledgment: PRIN PNRR funding “GeoDesign for Climate URban nEutrality (GD-CURE)”, CUP: F53D23010840001.

Speakers: Simone Corrado (University of Basilicata), Prof. Francesco Scorza (University of Basilicata)

11:20 Geodesign as a Framework for the Green Transition of University Campuses: Case Studies from University College Dublin and Aarhus University

The transition toward sustainable, climate-resilient urban environments is one of the critical challenges of the 21st century. University campuses, as microcosms of urban systems, present unique opportunities to prototype and evaluate innovative approaches for the green transition. As hubs of education, research, and community engagement, university campuses are ideally positioned to explore integrative solutions that align with global climate action goals and promote environmental stewardship. This paper investigates the potential of Geodesign as a participatory, data-driven framework for transforming campus spaces to align with sustainability and climate goals.
This study, framed within the EU Horizon 2020 PROBONO project, explores the implementation of Geodesign methods at two university campuses—University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland and Aarhus University (AU) in Denmark—highlighting the critical role of stakeholder engagement and innovative tools in collaborative design. Both workshops utilised tools such as Cartospot.com, ArcGIS StoryMap, and Geodesignhub.com to support participatory surveys, collaborative mapping, geospatial analysis, and stakeholder negotiations. At UCD, the geodesign workshop titled “Common Ground: Campus, Community, and Climate” focused on campus edge transformations by engaging local community members, city officials, and architecture students. Although an academic exercise, the Geodesign activities served as a reflective passage, enabling participants to rethink and refine design visions for the campus, aligning with the new UCD strategy to 2030 “Breaking Boundaries”. Workshop outcomes informed the design studio work, where undergraduate students were tasked with designing climate pavilions addressing challenges such as campus permeability, housing, and climate resilience.
At AU, the one-day Geodesign workshop titled “AU Viborg Campus Transformation” aimed to support local PROBONO partners in the transformation of the Research Centre Foulum into the AU Viborg Campus. The workshop involved researchers, educators, and community representatives in collaboratively mapping stories and values of the current research centre and strategy development for the new campus. The workshop produced actionable strategies to enhance biodiversity, transportation, and energy efficiency while preserving heritage inside the research centre.
Together, these workshops demonstrated the effectiveness of digital tools and stakeholder engagement in delivering impactful design solutions, with UCD’s process providing a reflective framework to reimagine the campus and AU’s offering a structured, intensive approach for sustainable transition. By comparing these case studies, this paper identifies best practices and transferable insights for deploying Geodesign in campus contexts. The findings underscore the efficacy of participatory frameworks in aligning academic institutions with global climate action objectives, positioning university campuses as exemplars of the green transition. Through the synthesis of pedagogical innovation, stakeholder collaboration, and technological tools, Geodesign emerges as a transformative methodology for addressing spatial, social, and environmental challenges in academia and beyond.

Speaker: Dr Chiara Cocco (University College Dublin)

11:30 Supporting collaborative scenario-building in land use and transport planning: An evaluation of the SIM4PLAN tool.

Existing planning support systems (PSS) have yet to fully address the challenge of integrating land use and transport (LUT) planning through collaborative scenario-building (te Brömmelstroet & Bertolini, 2008, 2010). Despite their potential, most PSS suffer from critical limitations, including insufficient LUT integration, lack of collaborative features, reliance on technical expertise, and an inability to capture essential spatial patterns (te Brömmelstroet, 2013; Champlin et al., 2019; Pelzer, 2017; Russo et al., 2018). These shortcomings reduce their effectiveness in early-stage planning, where strategic alignment, stakeholder engagement, and scenario development are most impactful.
This study introduces and evaluates SIM4PLAN, a PSS prototype designed to enhance scenario simulation and analysis in the early phases of LUT planning. The tool features an intuitive, multi-user platform that enables diverse stakeholders to collaborate at different usability levels, ranging from predefined scenarios to fully customisable simulations. It also employs a Vectorial Cellular Automata (VCA) model at the cadastral parcel level, improving the realism and interpretability of spatial impacts on LUT interactions. The prototype was empirically assessed through two experimental workshops—one engaging the public and the other involving policymakers and practitioners. Using a combination of questionnaires and observational analysis, the study evaluated SIM4PLAN’s user interface, usability, and practical value in a real case study of the Henares Corridor region (Madrid, Spain).
Results highlight the tool’s accessibility and collaborative potential as key strengths. Unlike conventional PSS, which are often designed for technical experts, SIM4PLAN’s modular structure accommodates varying levels of user experience, making it accessible to both professionals and non-experts. This approach fosters greater public awareness and engagement while facilitating dialogue and consensus-building among policymakers and practitioners, thereby improving LUT integration in strategic planning. However, opportunities for improvement remain. Workshop feedback identified three key areas for further development: (1) Transparency, where enhanced documentation and visual aids could improve user confidence in simulation outputs; (2) Scenario Interpretation, where additional evaluation methods could help balance competing priorities, such as economic growth versus environmental sustainability; and (3) Adaptability, where customisation features would allow integration of local policies and regulations to reflect real-world planning constraints more accurately.
In conclusion, this study highlights SIM4PLAN’s potential to enhance collaborative and scenario-driven LUT planning by making complex spatial simulations more accessible and inclusive. While its user-centric design fosters engagement among diverse stakeholders, ongoing refinement is necessary to address key challenges related to transparency, scenario interpretation, and adaptability. Future efforts should focus on scaling its application and expanding its evaluation framework through iterative testing and real-world case studies to fully realise its impact. By doing so, SIM4PLAN can evolve into a robust and widely applicable strategic resource for integrated LUT planning.

Speaker: Dr Julio A. Soria-Lara (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)

11:40 A multiscale spatial approach to Climate Planning

Climate planning is commonly understood as consisting in two main components: adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation deals with anticipating adverse climate effects and plan actions for minimising adverse impacts. Mitigation focuses on minimising climate change impacts by reducing the balance of Green House Gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, either by reducing emissions and by enhancing the capacity of natural systems of sequestrating carbon. While climate adaptation is mostly local and urgent for enhancing urban systems resilience in the short term, mitigation addresses a global phenomenon and accordingly should be treated based on globally and locally coordinated efforts. The spatial dimension of planning is of utmost relevance in both cases, and the two type of planning should be coordinated (Howarth and Robinson, 2024). Nevertheless, while local short-term adaptation is better understood (UN-Habitat, 2014) and applied, climate mitigation planning is less understood and practiced and local endeavours may have little effect without global coordination. In this sense, this contribution proposes the application of geodesign methods and tools to address multi-scale collaborative climate spatial planning. Results of on-going research include the construction of a global-local spatial database, the creation of web-based interactive planning support tools and impact models, and the experimentation of multi-stakeholder’s strategic collaborative climate planning workshops at the regional (i.e. Sardinia, Italy), national (i.e. Italy), supra-national (i.e. the Mediterranean) level. The results of the research shed light on the relationships among multi-scale climate planning aiming at understanding to what extent the methodology and relevant enabling technologies can provide support for a global governance for climate mitigation planning.

Speaker: Prof. Michele Campagna (University of Cagliari | DICAAR)

11:50 Advanced Quantification of Urban Complexity and Adaptive Capacity: Sub-Fractal Analysis and Spatial Statistics in İzmir

This study focuses on urban complexity and adaptive capacity, employing sub-fractal analysis, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and spatial statistical tools to investigate interactions between urban expansion and planning strategies. By examining the case of İzmir, the research traces the temporal evolution of urban complexity and evaluates the influence of major planning interventions enacted between 1955 and 2012.
Fractal analysis serves as the core methodological approach, adept at quantifying the irregular and fragmented morphologies characteristic of urban systems. This study utilized digitized historical topographic maps of İzmir to reconstruct the city’s transportation networks and assess their hierarchical organization. These findings, combined with GIS-based spatial statistical methods like hot-spot analysis, provide a detailed perspective on the spatial variability of urban growth. The results illuminate how specific planning interventions, such as the establishment of transportation corridors and the promotion of mixed-use developments, have significantly shaped urban complexity.
The study extends these analytical approaches by conducting a longitudinal comparison of urban dynamics over several decades. This expanded temporal lens reveals not only the immediate impacts of planning interventions but also their cascading effects on urban form and function. By employing advanced fractal metrics, the research elucidates how the morphology of urban systems evolves in response to policy-driven structural changes, highlighting critical thresholds where adaptive capacity is either bolstered or compromised.
Pivotal contribution of this research is the conceptualization of the Adaptation Capacity Range (ACR), an innovative metric designed to measure an urban system’s resilience and its ability to maintain essential functions while adapting to disruptive changes. The ACR framework provides planners with actionable insights by linking measures of complexity to systemic resilience, offering a data-driven foundation for formulating sustainable planning strategies. This metric also identifies critical thresholds, beyond which urban systems face heightened risks of functional collapse, underscoring the necessity for strategic, evidence-based interventions to enhance adaptability.
In addition to ACR metric, study develops a suite of complementary indicators that quantify key dimensions of urban resilience, including network connectivity, land-use diversity, and spatial equity. These indicators collectively offer a nuanced understanding of the factors that underpin adaptive capacity, enabling a more granular analysis of how planning decisions influence urban systems. For instance, the research examines the spatial distribution of critical infrastructure and its relationship to both local and systemic resilience, providing new insights into the interplay between urban form and function.
The study addresses the unintended consequences of planning decisions, revealing instances where interventions constrained complexity or diminished adaptability. By identifying these challenges, the research emphasizes the importance of adopting holistic, forward-thinking approaches to urban planning that mitigate potential vulnerabilities. For example, the research demonstrates how certain land-use allocations, while optimizing for short-term growth, inadvertently create rigidity in the urban fabric that undermines long-term resilience.
This work situates itself within the broader discourse on urban studies, advancing theoretical and methodological frameworks for assessing urban complexity and resilience. The insights derived from İzmir’s case study contribute to a replicable model for other urban contexts, highlighting the interplay between strategic planning and the dynamic evolution of urban systems. Moreover, the findings align with global imperatives to design sustainable and resilient urban environments.
In conclusion, the case of İzmir demonstrates how advanced analytical methods can be harnessed to reveal nuanced insights into urban complexity and resilience. By combining fractal analysis with spatial statistics and GIS technologies, the research presents a comprehensive methodology for evaluating the adaptive capacity of urban systems. This integrative approach positions the study as a significant contribution to the field of urban studies, offering both theoretical advancements and practical implications for shaping sustainable, resilient, and adaptive cities in the face of rapid global change.

Speaker: Prof. EMİNE YETİŞKUL ŞENBİL (Middle East Technical University)

AESOP-2025ADVANCED QUANTIFICATION OF URBAN COMPLEXITY & ADAPTIVE CAPACITY.pdf

AESOP790_2025ADVANCED QUANTIFICATION OF URBAN COMPLEXITY & ADAPTIVE CAPACITY.pptx

11:00 → 12:30 T_12 DISASTER-RESILIENT PLANNING: From shock to strategy: longterm resilience

Convener: Dr Meltem ŞENOL BALABAN (Middle East Technical University)

11:00 What Are the Obstacles in the Recovery Process Considering the Role of Actors? The Case of the Kahramanmaraş Earthquake in Turkey

Turkey has been significantly affected by earthquakes throughout its history. However, awareness and institutional responses to disasters underwent a major turning point after the 1999 Marmara earthquake, particularly as the country's main economic hub was impacted. More recently, on February 6, 2023, the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes struck eleven provinces in southeastern Turkey, causing major disruptions to the socio-economic structure of the region. Each province and urban-rural area within the affected region displayed distinct characteristics, and therefore, the earthquake’s impact has varied.
The earthquake-affected region has diverse socio-economic and spatial structures. Gaziantep, Adıyaman, and Kilis are strong in industry and trade, while Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, and Osmaniye are more focused on agriculture and energy. Malatya and Elazığ balance among the sectors of mining, agriculture, and industry, whereas Şanlıurfa and Diyarbakır are transitioning from agriculture to industry and services. Unemployment is lower in Gaziantep, but higher in Hatay and Kahramanmaraş. Migration is significant in Gaziantep, Hatay, and Şanlıurfa, while Gaziantep benefits from a strong transport network, and Hatay is strategically positioned for maritime trade. The earthquakes affected 13.9 million people, forcing 3.3 million to relocate (Sağıroğlu et al., 2023). Economic losses exceeded $87 billion (TÜRKONFED, 2023), critical infrastructure suffered severe damage, and unemployment rose above 20% (Artantaş & Gürsoy, 2024). The destruction also disrupted regional supply chains and exacerbated socio-economic vulnerabilities.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the post-earthquake recovery process in the provinces impacted by the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes, taking into account both short-term and long-term recovery perspectives. Through a systematic review of research articles, institutional reports, and local news sources, the study identifies actions, challenges, and impact levels, while examining the varying degrees of disaster-impact across provinces. Similarities and differences are highlighted using content analysis.
In this context, the recovery processes of heavily affected provinces, such as Adıyaman, Hatay, and Kahramanmaraş, will be compared with those of less affected areas, assessing how regional differences influence policy-making. This approach will contribute to the development of region-specific strategies and a better understanding of lessons learned from previous experiences. Additionally, an analysis of stakeholders will be conducted to examine the roles of various actors in the recovery process. Government institutions play a key role in the recovery process, focusing primarily on reconstruction, economic recovery, and resource allocation. However, the involvement of local governments, the private sector, NGOs, and international organizations is also crucial. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provided both immediate and long-term assistance, organized community-based solidarity initiatives, and facilitated neighborhood outreach efforts. Whereas international organizations contributed significantly to the recovery process by providing both financial and technical support. However, the roles of these various stakeholders have not been fully analyzed. Therefore, the findings of this study aim to offer new insights into the actors involved and the power dynamics at play, providing a clearer understanding of the obstacles to recovery in the affected areas.

Speakers: Gözde İdil Özcan (Istanbul Technical University), Selenay Çelik (Istanbul Technical University)

11:10 Rebuilding Resilient Cities and Communities in Southeastern Türkiye: Relation Between Urban Planning and Data Governance

The February 2023 earthquakes devastated southeastern Türkiye, with Adıyaman and Hatay provinces suffering extensive destruction. Beyond the immediate challenges of reconstruction, the disaster underscored the need for resilience-oriented urban and regional governance systems capable of addressing long-term vulnerabilities. This research presents the Resilient Cities and Communities (RCC) Project, initiated by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, as a governance-driven approach to post-disaster recovery. Anchored in the “Build Back Better” principles, the Project integrates digitalisation, inclusive stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based planning to strengthen local municipalities’ capacity for sustainable reconstruction and long-term resilience.
The purpose of this research is twofold: to demonstrate how governance innovations, grounded in institutional learning and multi-level collaboration, can transform post-disaster recovery into an opportunity for sustainable urban and regional development; and to explore the mechanisms through which cross-boundary governance enables resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability in complex post-disaster contexts. This study will also highlight the importance and the strong relationship between urban planning and urban data governance through experience sharing.
The principal results of the Project’s interventions in both Adıyaman and Hatay highlight the effectiveness of cross-boundary governance in addressing multi-scalar challenges during post-disaster recovery. A key outcome was the enhancement of technical capacity through the deployment of open-source urban information systems (UIS), tailored to the specific needs of the municipalities. These systems significantly improved data-driven decision-making, enabling local authorities to identify priority areas for reconstruction and implement sustainable solutions based on comprehensive data analysis. Additionally, the human capital development component of the project proved crucial, as targeted training initiatives equipped municipal staff and relevant stakeholders with the necessary skills to navigate the complexities of post-disaster recovery effectively. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation, these programs not only enhanced the municipalities' capacity to manage the immediate recovery efforts but also ensured they were better prepared to adapt to future challenges. The networking and cooperation aspect of the Project further strengthened these outcomes, facilitating active knowledge exchange among various stakeholders, including municipalities, communities, and international partners. This collaborative approach supported the resolution of generative conflicts and encouraged institutional learning, which, in turn, contributed to the development of more responsive governance structures, capable of adapting and evolving in response to ongoing challenges.
The Project underscores the transformative potential of governance innovations in post-disaster contexts, demonstrating how responsive and adaptive approaches can address complex challenges. A critical conclusion drawn from the project is the importance of responsive governance, which fosters institutional learning and cross-sectoral collaboration. By creating "soft spaces" that transcend traditional administrative boundaries, the project enabled flexible solutions tailored to the unique needs of affected regions. Additionally, the integration of digital transformation emerged as a powerful catalyst for resilience, with urban information systems bridging data gaps, optimizing resource allocation, and facilitating evidence-based decision-making in both Adıyaman and Hatay. The project also highlighted the centrality of sustainability as a guiding principle, ensuring that economic, social, and environmental considerations were embedded into all reconstruction efforts. This approach addressed immediate recovery needs while laying a foundation for long-term resilience. Furthermore, the emphasis on community engagement proved essential in aligning reconstruction initiatives with the needs and priorities of affected populations. By fostering inclusive participation, the project reinforced principles of equity and upheld the "right to the city" for all residents. Together, these findings contribute to the broader discourse on governance and planning by offering a replicable model for addressing the multi-dimensional challenges of post-disaster recovery. The Project illustrates the powerful interconnection of institutions, actors, and ideas, demonstrating how innovative governance practices can lead to resilient, inclusive, and sustainable urban and regional development.

Speaker: Yağmur Hancıoğlu

11:20 Post-Disaster Population Mobility: Considerations for the February 2023 Earthquakes in Türkiye

The increasing frequency, intensity, and global impact of natural disasters in recent years has heightened the urgency for effective disaster management and recovery strategies. Among these disasters, earthquakes are particularly concerning due to their potentially devastating and unpredictable consequences, which can result in substantial loss of life and property on a global scale. Examining approximately 100 major earthquakes worldwide since 1900 reveals that 93% of global deaths from natural disasters are attributable to earthquakes, underscoring their profound global significance. Türkiye, situated in a seismically active region, faces elevated earthquake risk. This was tragically illustrated by two major earthquakes measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale that struck Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023, within a span of just nine hours. These unprecedented events claimed more than 50,000 lives and deeply affected 13.5 million people in 11 cities, including Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Adana, Gaziantep, Kilis, Osmaniye, Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa, Malatya, Diyarbakır, and Elazığ. Consequently, a significant portion of the affected population was forced to seek refuge in other regions, exacerbating the socio-economic and infrastructural challenges in the aftermath of the disaster. In this context, post-disaster population mobility emerges as a critical coping strategy to address the basic needs of affected communities. Such mobility encompasses different patterns, including temporary and permanent displacement, relocation, and return. A comprehensive understanding of the spatial and socio-economic factors driving these movements is crucial to accelerate recovery processes and inform resilience-oriented policies. Despite its importance, a significant knowledge gap exists regarding the relationship between mobility and social, economic, and environmental indicators, particularly in Türkiye, using post-earthquake human mobility data and analysis.
This study aims to analyze the spatial and socio-economic characteristics of population flows following the February 6, 2023, earthquakes. Its specific objectives are threefold: (1) to identify the attractive triggers influencing population movement, (2) to emphasize the importance of incorporating post-disaster mobility into recovery strategies, and (3) to provide a comprehensive understanding of the relationships between post-disaster mobility and social, economic, and environmental indicators. The analysis focuses on the cities receiving population flows from the earthquake-affected regions and examines economic (GDP per capita, house prices/rents, unemployment rates, sectoral employment distribution), demographic/social (education level, age groups, population density, urbanization rate), and environmental (earthquake risk level, distance to the earthquake zone, climate classification, average temperature, annual rainfall, and sunshine duration) characteristics. A Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model was employed to analyze the spatial distribution and attractive triggers of population flows.
The findings reveal significant empirical relationships between population mobility and specific socio-economic and environmental indicators, providing valuable insights into post-disaster mobility dynamics. Population flows were found to be concentrated in neighboring cities where the destruction was less severe, rather than in western cities. This highlights the need for targeted economic, social, and infrastructural interventions in these regions to guide recovery efforts and inform adaptive policies. The study further demonstrates that unplanned relocation to disaster-prone areas can exacerbate social inequalities, both within the affected regions and in the destination areas. Challenges related to employment, labor market integration, and social adaptation in these new environments contribute to deepening socio-economic disparities. The study’s contribution to post-disaster process modeling emphasizes the importance of equitable and inclusive policies to mitigate rather than exacerbate these inequalities. Moreover, the study underscores the necessity of formulating policies that consider the long-term impacts of post-disaster mobility to ensure a more resilient and sustainable recovery process. By addressing these critical dimensions, the research provides a robust framework for developing adaptive strategies that promote resilience and inclusivity in the face of future disasters.

Speaker: Tuğba Kütük (Gazi University)

11:30 INVESTIGATION OF EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE IN TERMS OF DIFFERENT LAND COVERS: 2023 KAHRAMANMARAŞ EARTHQUAKES

On February 6, 2023, Turkey experienced two major earthquakes, the first of 7.7 Mw and the second of 7.6 Mw, 8 hours apart. The epicenter of the earthquakes was Kahramanmaraş province. Along with this province, 10 other provinces were affected by these earthquakes, more than 50 thousand people lost their lives and approximately 40 thousand buildings collapsed.
Such a major disaster reveals the importance of studies on earthquakes and earthquake damage. Earthquakes and earthquake damage have been the subject of investigation by many fields of science. There are different studies such as examining ground characteristics, examining earthquake damage at the building scale, determining earthquake damage by remote sensing, and examining earthquake damage in terms of built environment and natural environment components.
However, within the framework of such a major natural disaster characterized as “the disaster of the century”, it is seen that studies on the damage caused by the earthquake in terms of different land covers such as built environment, forest area, agricultural area in the whole of the earthquake impact area are limited in the literature. In this respect, this study aims to analyze the damage caused by the Kahramanmaraş earthquake in terms of different land covers.
The question of the study is “does earthquake damage differ in different land cover types?”.
Two data sets were used in the study. The first data set is land cover. Land cover data for the year 2022 was taken from Esri Living Atlas application. This data created by the remote sensing method consists of water, forest, flooded vegetation, crops, built area, bare ground, snow/ice, and rangeland land covers.
The second data set is the regional damage proxy map. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This map detects the change in the surface by comparing the satellite images before and after the earthquake and shows these areas as damaged areas. Damage proxy map is used in many studies for rapid damage assessment after disasters. The scope of the study was determined within the boundaries of the damage proxy map. This area is approximately 58 km².
These two data were superposed in geographic information system and earthquake damage rate was calculated for different land cover types.
According to the findings of the study, the damage rate is 3% in forest areas, 5% in agricultural areas and 14% in the built environment. In addition, the damage rate is 34% in bare ground, where there is no vegetation, and 29% in rangeland. It is thought that the higher damage rate in the built environment compared to agricultural and forest areas is due to human intervention and settlements that are not earthquake-resistant. The high damage rate in the bare ground and rangeland is also related to landslides and erosion as secondary disasters after the earthquakes.
In addition to the fact that earthquake damage is largely evaluated through the built environment and policies are developed accordingly, this study reveals that earthquake damage is also important outside the built area. Although it is important that the study addresses earthquake damage in a broad framework, it needs to be supported by lower-scale studies in land cover detail.

Speaker: Mr Adem Sakarya (Yildiz Technical University)

11:40 Resilience in Public Utilities: Management Strategies to Mitigate the Impact of External Shocks

We investigate effective management strategies for public utilities to mitigate the impact of various external shocks, including disasters, pandemics and financial crises. For public utilities such as transport, energy, water supply and telecommunications, ensuring the stability of their services during emergencies is a critical issue, as their services are essential infrastructure for society. While previous studies have examined resilience in general private enterprises (e.g. Dimitriadis, 2021; Iftikhar et al., 2021: Mao et al., 2023), there is a lack of research in public utilities. The management of public utilities differs from that of general private firms because, as providers of essential services, public utilities are subject to strong social pressure and government intervention to ensure stable service provision. In fact, in emergencies, the recovery of social infrastructure is necessary for the recovery of citizens and general businesses affected by the external shock. Therefore, the resilience of public utilities is critical to the stability of an entire community, and cooperation with government, communities and citizens is particularly important as possible strategies to respond to emergencies in public utilities.

As emergencies with different characteristics require different preparedness and response strategies, we compare three types of emergencies according to the degree of predictability of the recovery process: natural disasters, pandemics, and financial crises. For example, the recovery process for natural disasters is relatively predictable based on past experience, while pandemics are relatively difficult to predict. This means that preparedness plays a critical role in disasters, while ex-post response can be an important strategy in pandemics. While previous studies have focused on a single specific type of emergency, such as financial crises (e.g. Erkens et al., 2012) and COVID-19 (e.g. Mao et al., 2023), generalisation by comparing different types of external shocks has not been sufficiently explored.

Therefore, we construct an empirical model that considers different types of emergencies in the same framework. The empirical analysis is conducted using a dataset of 28 railway operators in Japan from 2005 to 2022, which includes the occurrence of significant events for each type of emergency: the Great East Japan Earthquake, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2008 financial crisis. According to Essuman et al. (2020), resilience can be defined as the ability to absorb shocks and recover from disruptions. Based on this, we assume that the preparedness for absorbing shocks can be addressed by proactive measures and the recovery by post-response measures. Therefore, our variables related to possible management strategies include managerial preparedness (e.g. slack resources, risk diversification, and diversified funding), managerial response (e.g. raising funds for recovery), stakeholder preparedness (e.g. governance through government intervention and mutual support mechanisms between operators) and stakeholder response (e.g. government support and social support). Our analysis examines the impact of these strategies on the resilience of operators, measured by the inverse of the deviation of output performance from that of the previous three years.

The preliminary analysis shows that organisational slack and diversification contribute to recovery from external shocks, while the use of short-term debt has a negative effect on recovery. Shareholdings by managers, the state, banks and foreign companies generally have no significant impact on resilience. However, the concentrated structure of shareholdings has a negative impact on the recovery.

Our study identifies strategies that significantly contribute to the resilience of public utilities for three types of emergencies. We therefore provide practical implications for mitigating risks and recovering from shocks affecting social infrastructure. While we focus on the railway industry, our implications can be applied to other public utilities with similar characteristics that provide essential services. The details of the study will be discussed at the conference.

Speaker: Prof. Eri Nakamura (Kobe University)

11:50 Relationship between Urbanization Policies and Seismic Vulnerability in Small-Scale Cities: 2023 Earthquakes in Turkey and the Case of İslahiye

The main reasons for natural events turning into disasters in Turkey are that most cities are located in earthquake-prone areas, the building stock in those cities is constructed in a seismically unsafe manner, urban development occurs in geologically risky areas, and the production of non-resilient structures cannot be prevented. Researchers and practitioners focusing on resilience mostly concentrate on building quality, soil stability, and strategies for urban reconstruction and resilient redevelopment. In contrast, there are relatively fewer studies examining the extent to which the spatial development of cities increases risks and contributes to resilience. It can be argued that a multi-scale spatial perspective, considering construction conditions, could serve as a foundation for enhancing the earthquake resilience of cities. In this context, the present study analytically discusses the impact of urbanization policies and urban development decisions on seismic vulnerability. The paper includes findings from an ongoing TÜBİTAK-supported research project.

The 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes caused widespread destruction in multiple settlements along the fault line. This situation provides a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between the destruction experienced in these settlements and urbanization policies and urban development decisions. Within the scope of the present study, the role of urban development processes in the destruction caused by the earthquake in İslahiye, which had an urban population of around 35,000 before the earthquake, is addressed. The historical development phases of İslahiye are documented through aerial photographs, and patterns of earthquake-induced destruction are mapped using GIS. The collected data, combined with development plans, geological reports, and field observations, aim to reveal the urbanization policies and practices underlying seismic vulnerability in small-scale cities through the example of İslahiye.

Speaker: Dr Bülent Batuman (Bilkent University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_13 HOUSING AND SHELTER: Housing, planning, and policy I

Convener: Elif Alkay (Prof. Dr,, Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Urban and Regional Planning)

11:00 The Social Reflections of Neoliberal Policies, Planning Legislation, and Housing in the Istanbul Metropolitan Area

According to Lefebvre (2013), the prioritization of exchange value in urban space forms the basis of urban injustice and inequality. Under the influence of neoliberal policies, housing has transformed from a basic need for shelter into an investment, prestige, and rent-generating commodity. The 2000s, as a period when neoliberal policies became spatialized, marked a time of significant changes in Turkey's planning legislation and restructuring of planning institutions (Alkay, 2020). During this period, comprehensive regulations were made in planning legislation to facilitate real estate investments, construction processes, and the supply of land to market actors. Significant powers and opportunities were given to central institutions, and the planning process was centralized. Especially after 2010, centralization increased and local governments were made passive (Balaban, 2012).
The aim of the study is to examine the social reflections of the legal regulations made in the planning legislation in the 2000s, when neoliberal policies became spatial and the new government pursued a construction and housing-based economic policy, in the Istanbul Metropolitan Area through case studies. The study, based on a document analysis of the 22-year period between 2002 and 2024, is structured in two phases. In the first phase, the regulations made between 2002-2010 and 2010-2024 are examined in detail. In the second phase, literature research based on field studies in the Istanbul Metropolitan Area are examined.
The legal regulations made in the process have led to urban transformation practices and new housing projects that have become tools for generating and sharing rents in urban areas, and this has brought about social problems such as social segregation, exclusion, displacement, polarization, gentrification and the reproduction of poverty. These processes have resulted in violations of housing and urban rights (Bülbül-Akın & Türkün, 2019 ; Doğru, 2021; Kaplan, 2017) After the year 2000, both the new housing supply and interventions in existing housing areas have caused the fragmentation of urban space among different income groups, spatial segregation, and an increase in urban crime.The typology of the land and housing produced has also played a significant role in the socio-spatial separation based on economic accessibility to housing. The trend in housing production targeting middle and upper-income groups in Istanbul, based on large land parcels, generally favors closed, secure, high-rise housing complexes. The features and location choices of these housing projects change living styles and socio-cultural structures, creating tangible barriers that separate society based on purchasing power. In gated communities and high-rise buildings, people are isolated from the street and each other, leading to alienation. As a result, the concepts of neighborhood culture and community have almost disappeared in Istanbul, except for its older settlements (Çınar-Erdüzgün & Çizmeci-Yöreş, 2019; Kılıç & Ayataç, 2019; Sönmez, 2019). Housing issues have become an increasingly significant problem not only for vulnerable groups such as low-income households, students, and refugees, but also for middle classes, who are the foundation of strong and sustainable economic growth and social welfare. The quality of housing and life is declining for many segments of society (Ayhan, 2019).

Speaker: Ms Elifsu Şahin

11:10 The politics of housing informalisation

Many Southern European countries are characterised by a variety of inhabitation practices that, despite their extreme phenomenological diversity, can all be labelled as expressions of informality/illegality: the construction of unauthorised housing units by the middle class, informal inhabitation practices by marginalised or racialized subjects, the illegitimate occupation of public housing units. Around these practices, a series of public norms, policies and actions have been set up over the years. In some countries like Italy, these measures, despite being factually independent, nevertheless contribute to shape a precise politics, centred on the selective exploitation, guided mainly by politically mediated rationales, of the tolerance-repression binomial. Thanks to this politics, housing illegality/informality is made electorally, socially and economically productive and, at the same time, even when it is the subject of repressive campaigns, it is continually produced and reproduced. This happens because it is an extraordinary resource that allows a myriad of political, economic and bureaucratic actors to extract significant benefits. The present contribution analyses this politics of housing informalisation in Italy, highlighting its four main forms (i.e. selective social legitimisation; ethnic-based stigmatisation; judicial and administrative dislocation; preservation of grey areas) and stressing its epistemological value for a broader understanding of urban informality.

Speaker: Prof. Francesco Chiodelli (Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, University of Turin)

11:20 Keeping it Real: Reconciling Housing Pressures and Economic Character in the Heart of the European City.

A defining planning challenge for contemporary European cities is the housing provision and affordability crisis. City planners are compelled to increase the delivery of dwellings, while addressing concerns about affordability, project viability, and functional complementarity through mixed-use developments. Moreover, in the context of climate crisis, these ambitions are accompanied by concerns over how to best achieve a “humane” form of urban density which addresses liveability, prosperity and environmental considerations.
This complex planning challenge is especially acute in second tier, restructuring cities, where there is an economic imperative to attract and retain young households and talent as part of their competitive and prosperity policy agendas, while strengthening the existing economic base and resident’s needs.
Tackling this can entail difficult decision-making involving the prioritisation of certain policy objectives and balancing various planning interventions. . One such conundrum is how to retain and nurture the kind of small business base which typically flourishes in centrally-located, yet often marginally-invested in, areas of the city. These business activity concentrations often serve as contributors to the distinctiveness of cities as well as important seedbeds of economic innovation. Yet they are located where opportunity and market pressure for new housing is most acute.
The challenge of reconciling these priorities – “keeping it real” – is explored here through comparative case study research involving second tier cities Birmingham (UK) and Rotterdam (Netherlands) and their experience in managing change in central station urban regeneration areas. These second tier cities face similar planning cultural context and the challenges mentioned above, with the station areas Digbeth (Birmingham) and Schiekadeblok (Rotterdam) as cases in point. Both regeneration sites with established fine-grain local entrepreneurial and cultural economies, experience market pressure to accommodate high density housing due to their vicinity to high speed rail station investments and improved connectivity resulting in contested pro-preservation versus pro-development visions for the area.
This study explores the implications of the use of planning tools, policies, and powers on the decision-making and actions by key actors in two urban transformation areas. It addresses the following question: how do actors make decisions about the integration of planning challenges in mixed-use urban station areas balancing established local economies with housing development pressure. It considers understanding and framing decision-making processes around retaining often scrappy business space , (re-)integrating these functions into new developments, by using density and development processes as a mechanism for innovation – all through lens of the cities’ planning histories, cultures and governance contexts.

Speaker: Dr Austin Barber (University of Birmingham)

11:30 Who governs housing policies? The challenges of housing governance between administrative decentralization and new forms of territorial governance in Europe

This paper analyzes the transformations of housing policy governance in Europe, with a focus on the redefinition of housing responsibilities and the role of the actors involved. The focus is on the comparison between Italy and France, two countries that, albeit at different times and in different ways, detect processes of decentralization and (re)structuring of housing governance.

From a political point of view, administrative decentralization has been a defining trend in the evolution of Western European welfare states since the 1970s (Kazepov, 2010). In Italy, constitutional reforms transferred housing policy from the central government to regional authorities, granting decision-making autonomy but also leading to reduced public housing investment and greater challenges for vulnerable populations (Bricocoli & Cucca, 2014; Storto, 2018). France, despite some recent delays due to political instability in the government, is likely to follow a similar trajectory as part of its broader “administrative simplification” policy agenda, in which housing decentralization is included. The French case is particularly interesting: although it is characterized by a highly centralized political architecture, it has experienced two waves of administrative decentralization since the 1980s, which were nevertheless considered “incomplete” and “partial” (Quilichini, 2001; Driant, 2015; Gimat, 2017); So far, these reforms have never directly affected housing policies, which has remained a state competence. The new prospect of decentralization reform could thus represent a historic crossroads for French housing policies, traditionally robust but considered “ineffective” by the government (Daoulas, 2023) due to the complex multiscalarity of governance and a housing crisis that counts 4 million “mal-logés” (Fondation Abbé-Pierre, 2024).

Through a literature review the initiation of a series of interviews with housing stakeholders in Italy and France, the paper aims to explore housing governance through two aspects. On the one hand, it provides a systematic reading of housing governance in Italy and France, clarifying the legal concept of “administrative decentralization,” and analyzing both its political promotion and its effects on housing policy management.
On the other, it explores an alternative model emerging in the French academic and professional debate: the “territorialization” of housing policy. This approach, more flexible than traditional administrative decentralization, would imply a constant dialogue between the state and local actors, introducing a constraint of “obligation to results” rather than a mere “possibility of results” (Quilichini, 2006) as in the case of administrative decentralization. Examination of this planning policy could open up scenarios on the applicability of this housing policy governance tool in other European contexts.

References:

Bricocoli, M. & Cucca, R. (2014), Social mix and housing policy: Local effects of a misleading rhetoric. The case of Milan, in "Urban Studies". Urban Studies.

Daoulas, J-B. (2023) ‘Réforme de la Constitution : Emmanuel Macron loin du grand soir’, Libération, 4 October 2023. Available at: https://www.liberation.fr/politique/reforme-de-la-constitution-emmanuel-macron-loin-du-grand-soir-20231004_J2JFPHU6ARFXXGL3L2NGAALQQU/ (Accessed: 31 Jan 2025).

Driant, J-C. (2015), Les politiques du logement en France. La Documentation française.

Fondation Abbé-Pierre (2024), 29e rapport sur l'état du mal-logement en France 2024. [Online] available at https://www.fondation-abbe-pierre.fr/actualites/29e-rapport-sur-letat-du-mal-logement-en-france-2024.

Gimat, M. (2017), Thèse : Matthieu Gimat. Produire le logement social. Hausse de la construction, changements institutionnels et mutations de l'intervention publique en faveur des HLM (2004-2014). Géographie. Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne ; UMR Géographie-Cités, 2017.

Kazepov, Y. (ed.) (2010) Rescaling Social Policies, Farnham: Ashgate. La Repubblica (2010a) Manovra, via libera del Consiglio dei Ministri, newspaper article, 25 May.

Quilichini, P. (2001), Logement social et décentralisation, LGDJ, Bibliothèque de droit public. Paris.

Quilichini, P. (2006), La territorialisation de la politique de l'habitat. RDSS. Revue de droit sanitaire et social, 2006, 03, pp.419.

Storto, Giancarlo. La casa abbandonata: Il racconto delle politiche abitative dal piano decennale ai programmi per le periferie. Rome: Officina Edizioni, 2018.

Speaker: Mr Pietro Battaglini (Politecnico di Torino)

11:40 From Housing Crisis to Housing Solutions: Municipal Planning Strategies and Regulatory Frameworks in Braga's Social Housing Sector

The evolution of social housing in Braga, city located in Portugal, presents a compelling case study of how medium-sized European cities navigate housing challenges amid rapid urban growth and market pressures. This paper results of a collaboration between academics and the municipality and examines the trajectory and current state of social housing in Braga over the past three decades (1974-2024), revealing how urban planning decisions, policy frameworks, and market dynamics have shaped the city's housing landscape. Despite experiencing population growth rates exceeding both national and regional averages since 2001, Braga's social housing stock remains limited, comprising just 1,2% of the city's 88.623 dwellings - notably below Portugal's national average of 3%.

The analysis identifies three distinct periods that have defined Braga's social housing development. The first period (1974-2000) was characterized by rapid urbanization and the construction of social housing neighbourhoods. While these developments responded to urgent housing needs, their peripheral locations and inadequate integration with urban infrastructure created conditions for social exclusion. This period demonstrates how spatial planning decisions can inadvertently reinforce socio-economic segregation, a challenge that continues to impact urban cohesion today.

The second period (2000-2008) marked an institutional shift with the creation of BragaHabit, the municipal housing company, in 1999, and emphasized urban rehabilitation through programs such as PROHABITA, although these efforts coincided with a real estate boom that complicated affordable housing initiatives. The subsequent period (2008-2017) witnessed intensifying gentrification pressures, particularly in the historic centre, highlighting the tensions between urban revitalization and social inclusion.

Currently, Braga faces unprecedented challenges in its housing sector. Market pressures have driven rental prices above 400 euros in many areas, contributing to spatial displacement of middle and low-income residents from central areas. The severity of the situation is reflected in a dramatic 373% increase in social housing applications between 2021 and 2023, from 81 to 383 applicants. This surge occurs against a backdrop of persistent challenges in existing social housing estates, where physical degradation and social stigmatization continue despite municipal intervention through programs like the Integrated Action Plan for Disadvantaged Communities (PAICD).

Looking forward, Braga's municipal authorities have outlined ambitious plans to address these challenges, targeting the construction of 700 new housing units annually to accommodate projected demographic growth beyond 200,000 residents in the coming decade. The strategy emphasizes rehabilitation of existing stock, particularly within designated Urban Rehabilitation Areas, leveraging national programs such as First Right and the National Fund for the Rehabilitation of Built-Structures. Notably, the municipality is pursuing innovative approaches, including private sector partnerships to expand affordable housing opportunities and the implementation of compensatory equalization mechanisms in the Municipal Master Plan to ensure more equitable urban development.

The research is integrated in DASH project (Deliver sAfe and Social Housing) financed by Marie Curie Staff Exchange program, which aims to generate new ideas to promote more sustainable and safer housing, and how to convert these new ideas into concrete housing products, processes and/or services. This project seeks to gain a holistic understanding of social housing systems and, by analysing legal frameworks, prices, accessibility, ownership and financing models, aims to develop innovative and sustainable housing solutions.

This paper contributes to urban planning discourse by demonstrating how historical planning decisions, institutional frameworks, and market forces interact to shape housing outcomes in growing medium-sized cities. It highlights the critical importance of integrating social housing initiatives with broader urban planning strategies, particularly in contexts of rapid growth and market pressure. The Braga case offers valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers grappling with similar challenges in medium-sized European cities, emphasizing the need for comprehensive approaches that balance physical rehabilitation, social inclusion, and market dynamics.

Speakers: Inês Calor (Planning Division of the Municipality of Braga), Filipa Leite (Planning Division of the Municipality of Braga)

11:00 → 12:30 T_14 ETHICS, VALUES AND PLANNING: Urban Geography and Institutional Ethics

Conveners: Brett Allen Slack, Busra Ince

11:00 Geographies of commitment and voluntariness: Socio-spatial and normative structures of religion-based intentional communities

This study explores analytically and critically perspective religion-based intentional communities in contemporary contexts as geographies of voluntary segregation and commitment. These religious communal settings intentionally formed by individuals seeking to freely and collectively practice their religion. They purposefully create self-segrageted closed entities where religious practices and identities can be preserved. Such communities often formed based on the specialized rules of a particular religion, sect, congregation, or religious movement frequently adopting a stance that challenges mainstream societal norms (i.e., secularizaiton, modernizaiton). They offer a distinctive model of rule-based entities where the religious principles governing communal living practices have often defined by sacred prescript.

Through empirical evidence from diverse religious traditions, this research aims to first understand the dynamics of the normative and organizational structures shaped by the prescribed and pre-consensused religious principles, and then analyze their reflections in spatial configurations and land-use characteristics. The research investigates how fundamentalist religious motivations shape the socio-spatial characteristics of these communities through an analysis of empirical data derived from religioun-based intentional communities (i.e., Bruderhof communities, religious kibbutzs, sufi settlements) across diverse geographical contexts and teachings. Specifically, it examines the interplay between the normative and organizational frameworks of religious-based intentional communities and the dynamics of spatial organization. Furthermore, the study comparatively analyzes how diverse religious teachings influence spatial production and explores the similarities and differences among these communities. By adopting an interdiciplinaty and multiscalar perspective, this study suggests that normative and spatial characteristics are two central forces shaping the dynamics of religious communal living. It aims to expand the limited body of knowledge on contemporary religion-based intentional communities and to integrate this subject into the urban planning agenda.

Speaker: Büşra İnce

11:10 Common Good as an Enduring Value in the Contemporary City Space

Background
In the contemporary context of the discipline of urban planning in research and design, as well as in professional engineering practice of shaping urban spaces there is an unspoken questioning of paradigm. What is a good space, how to evaluate its quality and functioning? Various methods are being elaborated to describe and quantify spatial qualities or poor features. The globalised world in the XX and XXI century provides “travelling” concepts. Amongst many others: 15 minutes city (chrono urbanism), creative class priority as motor of economic growth, revitalisation of post-industrial zones (up to the degree of styling new constructions as “lofts”), walkable and cycling priority, sustainable and eco-friendly concepts, social occupations and temporary management (governance), augmented - hyper connected smart city. As for measuring the urban phenomena: Space Syntax, quantitative GIS mapping methods, etc. are applied, and new are elaborated with the help of programming and Artificial Intelligence technologies.

Scope
All of the above listed ideas and approaches encounter limitations in meeting and addressing the complexity of urban and suburban spaces. Apart from cognitive theoretical frameworks and hard data there are fluid social aspects. Common Good concept (Moroni, 2024) travels in time and space across cultures and geographical regions, remaining actual and being constantly updated by representatives of diverse disciplines. The aim of the study is linked to the presentation of the concept of the Common Good as the lecture grid of contemporary cities.

Research Question
The author reminds the potential of the reflection on Common Good, allowing to organize observations and perceptions around communal sharing. This framework (Ostrom, 1990). allows us to describe, research and analyse given spaces in the light of its users, legal regulations, cultural habits and customary uses as well as physical features and bases for use (Bollier, 2016). Proposed approach operationalizes public and professional debates, led in the search of new adaptive solutions for changing social and climate circumstances.

Study Method
The literature review, scientific discussion survey and participation was backed with the studies on chosen cases of the interventions in urban space in European geographical context, with the special emphasis on central Europe (with its’ post-socialist organisational and spatial background).

Results
The value-oriented approach to studying cities through the lens on Common Good (Koszewska, 2024). emphasizing the role of the wider society might be adapted to post-growth, anti-systemics as well as institutional, traditional or conservatory politico-economical or philosophical orientations. Its adaptability and flexibility proves the rich and culturally rooted value, despite changing societal convictions and circumstances.

Discussion
The theoretical interdisciplinary research on urban spaces is a complex study material, requiring in-depth physical data collection and cultural knowledge. Though all results might remain controversial, which is an added value to the research work (aiming for social utility), i.e. awakening its audience to self-reflection, asking questions about possible future models of adaptive urban development. The remaining of it might contribute to the upholding of spatial and social justice in an age of cultural, economic, war migration and climate crisis.

Speaker: Dr Joanna Maria Koszewska (Sorbonne University Paris, WULS Warsaw)

11:20 Futureproof new towns: lessons in flexibility and indeterminacy

This paper will present emerging findings from new research, commissioned by the Royal Town Planning Institute (UK), on flexibility and indeterminacy in new town planning around the world. The research has been timed so that its publication coincides with the UK Government’s announcement of locations for a new generation of new towns in England.

New towns are characterised as large, multi-functional developments, situated on previously undeveloped land, at some distance from existing settlements. Locations and scales are usually determined as part of larger regional or national development plans. New town planning is therefore an inherently multi-scalar governance activity, responding to challenges and needs facing existing communities. Increasingly, new town planning involves international networks of policy, practice, finance and diplomacy. It also operates as a device for alignment between interests, and serves as a media and communications tool for the production of political communities and constituencies. This in turn is a means to attracting interest, investment and commitment from politicians, businesses, workers and residents.

The mid-20th century international high watermark of new town and new city planning (Peiser & Forsyth 2021). As well as greater internationalisation, much has changed since that point, including concerns around community participation, regeneration, heritage, context, and flexibility. By the 1970s, many of the first generation of new towns in Britain were felt to have aged poorly – the ethos of their planning was seen as having been proscriptive and deterministic – locking a particular moment of time into the spatial form of a community. At the same time, interest in systems theory and cybernetics was on the rise; such approaches were pioneered by theorists such as Melvin Webber (Hall 1996). This resulted in the philosophy behind the UK’s last, largest and arguably most successful new town, Milton Keynes.

Unlike previous new towns, Milton Keynes was planned explicitly planned with flexibility in mind amidst awareness of the pluralisation of the concept of the public interest. The architect-planning firm which drew up the original Plan for Milton Keynes, Llewelyn-Davies and Partners, was acclaimed for bringing modernism to hospital design. Milton Keynes was therefore planned like a modern hospital expanded to the scale of a city – around a wide, decentralised, extensible grid layout. (Llewelyn-Davies 1972). This grid became a kind of public commitment to the future, or a ‘platform’, or set of rules, within which development would take place. This represented a shift in the form and relationships of urban governance, foreshadowing planning under neoliberalism.

Today’s major policy concerns include widespread political change, climate resilience and geopolitical fragmentation; the question of planning for an indeterminate and uncertain future is as relevant as ever. This paper will convey findings from a variety of international cases – present-day and recent new town endeavours – which explore varied attempts to incorporate uncertainty. The paper will conclude by reflecting on continuity and change in the ethos of planning between the 1960s moment of the pluralisation of planning, and the present-day moment characterised by a media age of ‘visioning’ and policy appetite for discrete urban neighbourhood creation.

Hall, Peter (1996) “Revisiting the Nonplace Urban Realm: Have We Come Full Circle?” International Planning Studies 1, no. 1: 7–15.
Llewelyn-Davies, Richard (1972) “Changing Goals in Design: The Milton Keynes Example.” In New Towns: The British Experience, 102–16. London: Charles Knight & Co.
Peiser, R., & Forsyth, A. (Eds.). (2021). “New towns for the twenty-first century: a guide to planned communities worldwide.” University of Pennsylvania Press.

Speakers: Dr Daniel Slade (Royal Town Planning Institute), Dr David Mountain (Royal Town Planning Institute)

11:30 Revisiting subsidiarity: Not only administrative decentralization but also multidimensional polycentrism

The discussion on “territorial governance” has gained traction in the last decade, and it has been relaunched recently as a consequence of the problems created for institutions by the Covid-19 pandemic. The issue of territorial governance is particularly important because it invites us to revisit certain traditional ideas concerning institutions, their tasks, and the scale and level of intervention. In this regard, a central and crucial concept is that of “subsidiarity”. The concept of “subsidiarity” is widely used both in the academic literature (including urban and regional studies) and in the public debate, as well as in directives and laws. This paper critically revisits the ideal of subsidiarity, with reference to both vertical subsidiarity and horizontal subsidiarity. As will be demonstrated, the ideal of subsidiarity can prove decisive for new forms of territorial governance. However, this will only happen if subsidiarity is understood in a truly innovative sense; that is, placing the emphasis (i) (not solely on vertical subsidiarity but, also) on horizontal subsidiarity, and not interpreting the latter (ii) only from a perspective of solidarity, or (iii) only as a services issue, or (iv) only as a form of action agreed and coordinated with public authorities. The point is that, while promoting vertical subsidiarity merely requires “administrative decentralization” (namely, the transfer of certain decision-making powers from the higher institutional levels to the lower ones: for instance, from the national level to the regional and municipal ones), promoting horizontal subsidiarity requires a more radical revision of current national, regional and urban realities in a direction characterised by what can be called “multidimensional polycentrism”.

Speaker: Stefano Moroni

11:00 → 12:30 T_15 PROPERTY MARKET ACTORS: Relational Dynamics among Property Market Actors

Convener: Elvan Gülöksüz (Istanbul Technical University)

11:00 Role of property-market intelligence channels in urban governance networks

This study offers a novel perspective on how market-intelligence channels shape property markets and influence alliances between public and private actors in urban governance. I argue that property actors, particularly investors, form knowledge coalitions through these channels, not only to navigate markets but also to shape regulatory frameworks in urban development. Adopting a strategic-relational approach, this study analyzes the institutional infrastructure of property markets as a dynamic system shaped by interactions among social and economic actors. Beyond marketing and lobbying, property actors leverage market intelligence, comprising locational analysis, socioeconomic data, policy forecasts, land-use regulations, and planning strategies, to establish governance norms and negotiate with public policymakers. This process strengthens their influence within knowledge-based governance networks. Empirical evidence from Amsterdam’s property market was gathered through extensive desk research, mapping market-intelligence channels, and identifying key actors. Additionally, interviews with major market participants provide deeper insights into the role of intelligence networks in urban governance.

• This is a published paper. Please see "Taşan-Kok, T. (2024). Navigating the city: Role of property-market intelligence channels in urban governance networks. European Urban and Regional Studies, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/09697764241266411"

Speaker: Prof. Tuna Tasan-Kok (University of Amsterdam)

11:10 Emotional work in relation to residential property investments and tenants – experiences from Finland

Housing has become marketized and to a variegated extent financialized even within traditional welfare states in Northern Europe. Within the Finnish housing landscape private landlordism is on the rise and state support also emphasizes the changing stance towards market responsibility to provide housing. Private landlords are subsidized both through tax benefits as well as indirectly through housing allowances paid to tenants. Within this contexts, private renting is often represented as a rational choice both from the perspective of the landlord and the tenant. At the same time small flats as a new buy-to-let type has also been introduced by Finnish developers. Within this context we study and interpret the perceptions of private landlords on their investment. To which extent are private landlords driven by incentives from the state to invest in the housing market? How do they choose the homes they invest in terms of quality of living? How do they set the rents? In the light of these questions, how can we understand the relationship of the landlord towards the tenant? More precisely are flats merely an investment, or are there also emotional work done in relations to the property, and the tenant? We analyze on the one hand policy and commercial narratives around the production of the private landlord, and on the other, interviews with landlords within the Helsinki metropolitan region.

Speaker: Dr Johanna Lilius (Aalto)

11:20 Characterizing the Black developer industry in Detroit: Challenges compared to other developers

Pockets of residential and commercial development have sprouted in Detroit since the bankruptcy of 2013. Some of these are visible and sizeable developments and they have been completed by established, large well-capitalized, White developers. However, there has always been and still is a smaller constituent of Black developers. Not much is known about these Black developers.

The paper aims to establish a primarily qualitative, understanding of African American developers in Detroit. While we expect to learn enough from this exploratory work to support tentative policy suggestions, the primary objective of this paper is to understand the factors that hinder the ability of African American developers to succeed and how they approach development differently from White developers.

Our approach to obtaining data is interviews with developers. A reporter from Crains Detroit helped in making initial connections with developers. We also reached out to industry groups and a recommendation from a community group that has been engaging with developers. From these contacts, we used snowball referrals to speak to other developers. We interviewed 14 developers, nine Black and five White. We stopped our interviews when further interviews yielded no new information relevant to our research. After completing our analysis of the interviews, we interviewed an additional Black and White developer to confirm that our findings from the initial 14 interviews remained the same.

We present three major findings:

1. Black developers gain expertise from public service or private sector experience, whereas White developers enter through legacy connections to entrepreneurship, or direct connections to legacy real estate developers, or happenstance indirect real estate connections.

None of the Black developers we spoke with came with family connections to real estate, wealth, or upper middle-class parentage. In every instance, the nine Black developers we spoke with took a circuitous route to the business, building experience working for local elected officials, as public servants, as employees of other developers, in the banking sector, or some combination of these experiences, and leveraged these experiences to launch their businesses. On the other hand, White developers entered the industry through a traditional route of social capital. Four of the white developers came from upper-class backgrounds of either business or professional lineage. One entered the business through happenstance interaction with wealthy investors.

1. Bias in financing and incentives remains a challenge for Black developers.

Based on previous research about Black entrepreneurship, we expected that Black developers would face more constraints with respect to obtaining financing. Our research bore this out. Eight of the nine expressed frustration obtaining financing from banks, and never being sure whether it was because of the color of their skin. On the other hand, the White developers had access to financing whether through banks or investors.

1. All developers seek profits, but Black developers are more likely to link their work to community.

All developers we spoke to seek profits, but for all the Black developers this was accompanied by an interest in the betterment of communities in Detroit. This interest in communities was not shared by White developers. A representative quote from a Black developer is: “Many of us are Detroiters … we are active in our neighborhoods”. While White developers spoke about the potential to have a positive impact on the city or a neighborhood, their responses also focused on individual accomplishments of themselves.

In summary, our findings are part of a larger academic literature about the challenges that Black entrepreneurs face. Our findings point to the need to provide a more level playing field for Black developers in Detroit.

Speaker: Rayman Mohamed

11:30 A procedural approach to negotiated developer obligations: The case of Istanbul

Negotiated developer obligations (NDOs) are a common tool in both discretionary and regulatory planning systems around the world. NDOs have been a popular land value capture method that local authorities with increasingly constrained resources have found useful. They prove to be an interesting tool in the planning profession on the basis that they not only provide parties with a platform to negotiate and reach consensus but also require the actors involved (particularly planners) to duly consider market dynamics. Research studies to date have presented striking findings about the purpose of NDOs, the nature and scope of NDOs, the consequences of the provisions in NDOs as well as the favorable and adverse outcomes of NDOs. NDO negotiations also involve complex interactions between different actors as parties negotiate to deliver benefits to society in exchange for development rights. In this respect, this study adopts a process-oriented perspective rather than a purpose- or output-oriented approach in an effort to reveal the details of the NDO negotiation process as well as the interactions between actors. Especially in countries like Turkey, where negotiated planning agreements are not found in the de jure legislation, adopting a procedural approach to NDOs and examining the actors involved in negotiations as well as the interactions between them offer critical insights about NDOs.

The study focuses on Istanbul in Turkey, where the regulatory de jure planning legislation has acquired a hybrid character due to the market-oriented de facto planning practice. Findings from interviews with 40 respondents who work in Istanbul are presented. Interviews were conducted with actors that represent 6 different groups (urban planners who work in the public sector, developer representatives or consultants, lawyers, bureaucrats, politicians, and academicians) who were/are either directly or indirectly involved in the making of NDOs in Istanbul.

The findings of the study reveal that NDOs in Turkey are made through two different pathways: conditional donations and unconditional donations. During negotiations, senior managers and legal teams have the greatest influence both in the local authority and the real-estate development companies. These actors also greatly interact with each other. Planners who are involved in the process as consultants/facilitators may also have a significant impact. In contrast, other technical staff, departments of the central government and NGOs have limited influence and a low level of interaction. In addition, given that NDOs are one of the key tools for the operation of the de facto hybrid planning system in Turkey, the relationships between the actors during NDO-making shifts back and forth between the ever-shifting boundaries between the formal and informal.

Speaker: Dr Fatma Belgin Gumru (Antalya Muratpasa Municipality)

11:40 Social Network Actors in Farmland Market: Comparative Case Study between Japan and Scotland

This study explores the interactions between land policy and the social network of farmland markets and inform the design of future land policies in Scotland and Japan where dynamic land pattern changes can be observed (Hashiguchi, 2014; Combe et al., 2020). Specifically, it aims to understand how social networks and government institutions work in the market, based on the theoretical framework drawn from New Economic Sociology (NES) (Granovetter, 2017) and New Institutional Economics (NIE) (Williamson, 2013). For this, Qualitative Social Network Analysis (Hollstein, 2011; Scott, 2017) is conducted as following steps in one local community selected in each country, in order to examine the function of trust which represents the NES position and the government support which reflects the NIE position as the market channels. Moreover, the contribution of brokers among actors (Burt, 2005) as well as their impacts on Transaction Costs (TCs) (Ciaian et al., 2012) are described.

Step1) Mapping the entire social network of a farmland market through structured interviews (e.g. Who are the landowners/tenants?, Where do the landowners/tenants live?, Are there intermediary agents?)
Step2) Tracing the connections between actors using Multiple Choice Questions (e.g. Relationship: Relative, Neighbour, Friend or acquaintance, Business associate, Land advertised., How to make contact: In person, Local events, Government support., Reason why transact the land: Price or rent, Obligation, Trust, Reputation, Government support.)
Step3) Understanding the role of brokers and their contribution to TCs, with in-depth interviews (e.g. What are the advantages you offer compared to direct transactions? etc.)

The main results are as follows: 1) Despite of a large difference in the numbers of actors involved due to the different size of the land parcels, with approximately 10 actors in the Scottish case and more than 40 actors in the Japanese case, there are similarities in the nature of farmland markets where land is transacted mainly among relatives, neighbours and friends in and around the local community through direct personal contacts. Also, “Trust” is chosen as one of the main reasons underlying the transactions in both countries, although it is selected more often in Japan than in Scotland, where “Price” is also important.
2) Regarding brokers, there are similarities in the function of public institutions but also notable differences in the types of private broker operating in each country. In spite of the considerable differences that large private agents work in Scotland whereas individual landowners function as private brokers in Japan, both work in tightly knit communities and build close relationships with farmers and landowners to obtain information about the land.
3) When it comes to the impacts on TCs, farmers and landowners find that direct transactions can reduce implementation costs in both countries, whereas transactions intermediated by private brokers can reduce search costs especially in Scotland. In addition, transactions intermediated by governmental institutions could reduce negotiation costs by functioning as an independent intermediary between parties.

To conclude, it is clear that farmland markets are embedded in the social networks that exist within and around a local community and trust among network helps to ensure that the personal connections between actors in local markets become the channels for many land transactions in both countries. Especially, trusted brokers play a key role in the market to reduce the TCs. Policy makers need to understand the importance of human relationships in farmland markets and engage with stakeholders. Government involvement in, and interaction with, existing social networks in farmland markets could make an important contribution to deliver the land policy goals.

Speaker: Dr Yumi Kato Isaka (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan)

AESOP-09072025-Oral-Presentation-Yumi+Kato.pptx

11:00 → 12:30 T_16 FOOD: Land, agroecological urbanism, urban-rural interfaces

Convener: Dr Zeynep Özçam (İzmir Institute of Technology)

11:00 The Paris sustainable agri-food strategy: the role of public lands and the rural-urban linkages.

The Paris sustainable agri-food strategy: the role of public lands and the rural-urban linkages.

Since 2008, the City of Paris has been working on a food policy for the procurement of public canteens, urban agriculture and open-air markets. This food strategy has recently been extended to the Seine basin, with the support of AgriParis Seine. Based on a cooperative and interterritorial model, this food strategy goes beyond the central place Parisian model and questions the role of rural stakeholders in the food governance. The paper is based on the work of a Doctoral student involved in the City of Paris. Using the case of public land, it will show how Paris is reclaiming its public land inside and outside of the administrative boundary for agri-food projects, drawing on the experiences of other stakeholders in the agri-food system. Food public land could be understood as all the land that hosts each step of the food supply chain : land for production, land for storage, land for cleaning and peeling, land for transformation or cooking. The methodological framework which is based on land databases and interviews will be presented, along with two results. The first will be related to the public farmland : inherited from social and environmental hygienist polices, Paris is rediscovering its potential to accommodate and contribute to the food strategy, rather than a financial value. The second will focus on the land responsibility involved in the trade-offs between the cooperative food policy and the public land management.

Baysse-Lainé, Adrien, Perrin, Coline (2018) How can alternative farmland management styles favour local food supply? A case study in the Larzac (France). Land Use Policy, Mediterranean Farm & Land; Land systems Dynamics, 75, pp.746-756. https://hal.science/hal-01862317/

Billen, Gilles, Garnier, Josette and Barles, Sabine (2012) History of the urban environmental imprint: introduction to a multidisciplinary approach to the long-term relationships between Western cities and their hinterland. Regional Environmental Change, 12(2), pp. 249-253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0298-1

Bognon, Sabine (2015) Nourrir Paris : trajectoire de l’approvisionnement alimentaire de la métropole capitale, de la fin de l’Ancien Régime à nos jours. Géocarrefour, 90(2).https://hal.science/hal-01395053v1

Daviron, B., Perrin, C. and Soulard, C.-T. (2019) History of urban food policy in Europe, from the ancient city to the industrial city. In Brand, C., Bricas, N., Conare, D., Daviron, B., Debru, J., Michel, L. and Soulard, C.-T. (eds.) Designing urban food policies: concepts and approaches. Springer International Publishing, pp. 144. Urban Agriculture (Springer). https://hal-02791637

Darly, Ségolène and Torre, André (2013) Conflicts over farmland uses and the dynamics of "agri-urban" localities in the Greater Paris Region: An empirical analysis based on daily regional press and field interviews. Land Use Policy, 33, pp. 90-99.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2012.12.014

Horst, Megan, McClintock, Nathan and Hoey, Lesli (2017) The Intersection of Planning, Urban Agriculture, and Food Justice: A Review of the Literature. Journal of the American Planning Association, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2017.1305786

Rato, H., Girardin, M., Poulot, M., (2025 - à paraître), Les PAT franciliens et l’échelle métropolitaine : nouveau dispositif, réarticulations entre dispositifs, nouveaux design territoriaux. In Bonnefoy S., Margetic C., Les chemins des projets alimentaires territoriaux, PUR

Pothukuchi, Kameshwari and Kaufman, Jerome L. (1999) Placing the food system on the urban agenda: The role of municipal institutions in food systems planning. Agriculture and Human Values, 16, pp. 213–224. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007558805953

Speaker: Mrs Mazarine Girardin (Lab'URBA / LAVUE)

11:10 Reclaiming the Peri-Urban Commons: Agroecology as a Pathway to Just and Sustainable Food Systems in Vicenza

At the threshold between city and countryside, peri-urban spaces embody a complex interplay of tensions and possibilities. These territories, caught between land speculation, environmental degradation, and urban expansion, are also sites where alternative food futures are being envisioned. The case of Carpaneda, Vicenza (Italy) exemplifies this duality. Here, a grassroots movement—Assemblea per Cascina Carpaneda Bene Comune—has been reclaiming an abandoned public farmhouse and its surrounding land as a peri-urban agroecological commons. Their vision is to transform Carpaneda into a House for Agroecology, a place where food, knowledge, and social justice converge, laying the groundwork for a future Agricultural Park for the City of Vicenza.
The Assemblea per Cascina Carpaneda Bene Comune emerged in 2023, building on a process initiated in 2020 by the local activist group CVA – Comunità Vicentina per l’Agroecologia (CVA). In response to municipal plans to sell off Cascina Carpaneda and its adjoining land, CVA mobilized to oppose privatization and advocate for its recognition as a common, recognizing its ecological, agricultural, and social value. Over the following years, their efforts sparked broader interest and engagement, drawing in citizens, farmers, researchers, and local residents. This growing movement eventually led to the formation of the Assemblea per Cascina Carpaneda Bene Comune in 2023, consolidating the collective struggle to reclaim and protect the area. Since then, the Assemblea has woven a network of alliances, linking farmers, ecological organizations, and urban movements, while engaging in public actions, institutional negotiations, and collective knowledge production. Their approach extends beyond resistance; it is an affirmative reimagining of urban-rural relations, grounded in biodiversity conservation, agroecological practices, and community-led governance.
In 2024, to reinforce this vision and contribute to the Carpaneda Ecofestival, the Assemblea—together with La Piccionaia—joined forces with local and international researchers to launch CARPINO (CARPaneda for INclusion and Observation of biodiversity changes). CARPINO is a transdisciplinary citizen science initiative, designed to co-produce knowledge and support the movement’s demands for land protection and commons-based governance. Funded by the HorizonEU project IMPETUS, the project bridges scientific inquiry, oral history, and artistic practice, forming a collective experiment in socio-ecological transformation.
Through a science camp, CARPINO applies participatory research to assess soil health, biodiversity, and water quality, generating community-owned environmental data to inform advocacy efforts. The school of oral history amplifies the voices of the human inhabitants of the area, directly impacted by the marginalization process that affected the Carpaneda area, documenting their relationships with the land and its transformations. Meanwhile, the artistic laboratory engages participants in creative explorations of human-nature entanglements, fostering deep connections and new imaginaries for the site’s future.
Beyond knowledge production, CARPINO is a tool for political mobilization, strengthening alliances between grassroots movements, scholars, and policymakers. By positioning agroecology as both a scientific practice and a socio-political movement, it challenges hegemonic urbanization patterns and advocates for commons-based governance models that resist land speculation and industrial expansion. Ultimately, CARPINO contributes to territorial food sovereignty, reclaiming peri-urban spaces as key sites of ecological resilience, social justice, and food system transformation.
This contribution situates agroecology as a counter-hegemonic planning tool, one that reconfigures urban-rural relations through bottom-up governance, participatory planning, and the recognition of food as a vehicle for socio-ecological justice. By examining the case of Carpaneda, it explores how peri-urban agro-ecological corridors, city-region food systems, and collective land stewardship can serve as models for more just and sustainable urban futures.

Speakers: Mrs Cristina Catalanotti (Università Iuav di Venezia), Mrs Chiara Spadaro (Università di Padova), Mr Davide Primucci (Comunità Vicentina per l'Agroecologia), Mrs Francesca Strano

11:20 Agroecological rewilding to create new urban food environments

Agroecological rewilding can be understood as the integration of productive food plants into everyday landscapes to reinstate the latent, ancient understanding of the provenance of food, medicine, fibres and energy sources (Jin et al., under review). The deliberate collocation of the terms ‘agroecology’ and ‘rewilding’ is employed to stimulate an inquiry on the conceptual boundaries of agriculture and environmental management, creating opportunities for meaningful engagement with ecological processes through the incidental cultivation, preparation and consumption of food. Hawkes et al. (2015) describe food environments as consisting of everyday nudges that influence consumer food choices to shape dietary habits and preferences; on this basis, it is argued that agroecological rewilding has important potential to contribute towards creating healthier food environments that benefit urban populations. Downs et. al. (2020) define food environments as “the consumer interface with the food system that encompasses the availability, affordability, convenience, promotion and quality, and sustainability of foods and beverages in wild, cultivated, and built spaces that are influenced by the socio-cultural and political environment and ecosystems within which they are embedded.” While the distinction between built and natural environments is critical, I would question the division between ‘wild’ and ‘cultivated’, arguing that practices such as agroecological rewilding exist at the intersection of both, particularly in urban settings.

In this study, I investigate three projects in Australia, North America and the UK that demonstrate the practice of agroecological rewilding to understand their capacity to influence local food environments. The projects are first analysed according to the four key criteria for assessing agroecological rewilding initiatives—site context, growing systems, people and culture, and adaptive capacity—as previously proposed by Jin et al. (under review), who argue that the success of an initiative lies in the balance of these criteria. The projects are then further assessed on the characteristics of their food environment according to the framework proposed by Downs et. al. (2020) which include measures of availability, affordability, convenience, promotion and quality, and sustainability. Findings reveal that agroecological rewilding has significant potential to directly enhance local food security and promote biodiversity in urban settings. However, challenges such as limited land access, inadequate policy support, and entrenched normative behaviours must be addressed to effectively scale and sustain these practices.

Findings from this study point to the need for future work in this area to measure the longer-term impact of such initiatives. Specifically, longitudinal studies are needed to assess how these practices and initiatives influences local urban food environments, including the effects on food access, dietary behaviours, and community engagement over time. Since the case studies are situated in specific urban and cultural contexts, this may limit the broader applicability of the findings. Future research may also focus on overcoming scalability issues so that initiatives can transition from standalone projects to commonplace practices across diverse contexts. Despite the challenges outlined, agroecological rewilding offers an important pathway with the capacity to facilitate much needed reimagining of urban food environments that better foster the health and wellbeing of both people and the planet.

Speaker: Lu Jin (The University of Queensland)

11:30 Planning for living soils - Contributions from spatial planning to landscape agroecology through land management

Soils are pivotal to multiple environmental processes and services, including carbon sequestration, water buffering, biodiversity, and food production. Yet they remain marginalized in planning practices, which, if they do, predominantly focus on erosion control and avoiding soil sealing. In the age of "wicked problems", the need for innovative and systemic approaches, i.e. a nexus approach, is ever greater.

This research applies such a lens. It explores how spatial planning can address living soil issues in agroecosystems, a critical yet underprioritized issue in Flanders, with an emphasis on the capacity of planning to transcend policy silos, land-use boundaries and spatial scales. The study investigates possible planning instruments that can leverage public land ownership and existing land management strategies to contribute to the transition towards sustainable agroecosystems and the development of landscape agroecology. More specifically, the focus is on public land management and land acquisition policies for nature and water related policy objectives. The ongoing retirement wave in the agricultural sector presents a unique opportunity to grant access and long-term security on public land to farmers, enabling them to adopt regenerative practices and ensuring both ecological and economic viability. These possible transitions are also related to broader challenges and policy objectives such as water management, biodiversity and climate resilience, connecting farm-level interventions to regional planning objectives. This way, the study seeks to develop pathways in which these goals also entail a future for farmers, rather than the continuation of separate policy silos that only increase the struggle for land?

The research is conducted and put to practice on the level of a pilot area in the ‘Flemish Westhoek’, but findings will be tested against the broader scope of the Flemish agricultural sector throughout different regions.

Speaker: Mr Glenn Willems (Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO))

11:40 Wine production and its dark side: the impacts of the “vineyard rush” in North-Eastern Italy

In some territories, food systems characterised by highly competitive agricultural productions (as for instance grape and wine) have favoured – over the last years – a cascading local development process, projecting premier wine-regions into a global market. Supported by pro-growth local and national agendas, these territories – often referred to as agro-industrial – represent, to all intents and purposes, areas of specialised and intensive production, whose economies call for strong drives towards innovation, optimisation, and almost always outright exploitation in the use of resources. Policy agendas, however, often clash with the impacts that these dynamics generate. Market-led intensive agricultural productions, indeed, often pay very little attention to the socio-ecological impacts triggered by the so-called “monocultures”.
In recent years, the Veneto Region (North-Eastern Italy) has become the most relevant Italian Region in terms of wine production and exports. This result is mainly due to the increasing international demand for the Prosecco sparkling wine, that has undoubtedly contributed to Italy’s positioning among European Union Member States and other Countries. However, the “vineyard rush” affecting the Region has also led to several consequences in terms of land-use and landscape modifications, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and public health issues connected to the massive use of chemicals by wine-growers. This situation is also exacerbated by an intense social conflict that has spread throughout the territory.
This contribution makes public some of the results of a study conducted by the author in the last years, with the aim of mapping and assessing the spatial changes related to the intensification of wine-growing in Veneto. From a theoretical perspective, it seeks to draw new perspectives and connections between vineyard sprawl and land-use change, two categories whose links are still rarely investigated today within the spatial planning field. Empirical evidence derives from a cluster analysis performed to group Veneto Region’s Municipalities according to the different spatial patterns and trends of such a recent vineyard expansion. Specifically, through multivariate statistical methods (Principal Components Analysis and K-means clustering), five clusters of Municipalities were recognised in terms of geographical, demographic, urban characteristics, the spread of the surface under vines, and its consequences as regards the loss of biodiversity and the land-use substitution effect (namely the conversion of other crops and the progressive removal of natural habitats): i) hilly territories of the historical production areas with consolidated wine-growing specialisation; ii) flat rururban territories with a high density of vineyards and significant environmental impacts; iii) flat agricultural territories subject to the recent dynamics of vineyard sprawl; iv) flat urbanised territories with low diffusion of vineyards; and v) mountainous territories subject to recent dynamics of viticultural colonisation. Beyond quantitative data, a set of maps, satellite photos and evocative pictures will also be presented to help readers – especially those who are not familiar with these places and this phenomenon – better understand the pace and scale of the ongoing spatial transformations affecting the Region.
This study may be significant for two main reasons. On the one hand, research results seek to advance the planning scholarly research that deals with the land-use modifications associated with the spatial and economic intensification of intensive agriculture such as wine-growing. On the other hand, they provide a detailed overview of the territorial impacts generated by the wine economy in Veneto, according to different clusters of Municipalities. This knowledge can be used by policymakers at the regional scale to better design policies aimed at governing vineyard sprawl and promoting more sustainable (and just) viticultural practices, as well as enhancing the quality of life of citizens.

Speaker: Prof. Matteo Basso (University Iuav of Venice)

11:00 → 12:30 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (A): Historical and cultural perspectives

Conveners: Karina Landman (University of Pretoria), Matej Niksic (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia)

11:00 Mapping, evaluating and planning historic public spaces in small towns: Borgarnes, Iceland, as a case study.

As part of the European project “Human Cities-SMOTIES: Creative Works with Small and Remote Places,” Alternance Architecture and Urban Planning, in collaboration with the Faculty of Planning and Design at the Agricultural University of Iceland, conducted a project on historic public spaces in the small town of Borgarnes, Iceland.
Titled “Sögutorgin” (Historic Squares), it aimed to design a preliminary plan to enhance historic public spaces in the town's oldest district. In recent decades, this area had been affected by the relocation of activities to a new town center along the country’s main road. Today, the historic city center contains many abandoned or temporarily used buildings. It also suffers from a lack of quality public spaces, most of which are currently poorly planned or designed for cars.
The overall objective of "Sögutorgin" was to contribute to the revitalization of the old town through the enhancement of historic public spaces. It also aimed to test and develop methods for mapping, evaluating, and planning historic public spaces in collaboration with local communities.
For the sustainable regeneration of small towns, developing public spaces is crucial, and heritage is undoubtedly an asset. Research on sense of place and place attachment shows how strongly people connect with heritage, which in turn enhances the livability of communities. Moreover, studies on cultural tourism and urban regeneration emphasize the economic value of heritage. Therefore, improving historic public spaces is a valuable strategy for developing the quality of life in small towns.
Undertaken between 2021 and 2024, the project progressed through several stages, from site analysis to the preliminary design of public spaces. It involved collaboration among specialists in the human sciences (history and environmental psychology), planning, and urban design. The project employed methods from these disciplines and fostered continuous dialogue between researchers in the human sciences and designers, ensuring a seamless connection between site analysis and design.
Initially, the team conducted research to map historic public spaces and identify those with significant development potential. Methods from urban morphology and urban design (concept of Imageability), along with a sensitive map created by the residents' association in 2021, were used to map these spaces and identify those conducive to a positive sense of place. Several public spaces were highlighted for their historical and environmental significance, the presence of key activities, and their importance to the local community.
The selected public spaces were then assessed to identify areas for improvement. The evaluation involved field surveys to analyze users behavior patterns and the quality of the spaces (Quality Criteria Index), as well as surveys to gather insights on how the local community experienced them and what were their expectations.
Finally, the team undertook the preliminary design of these public spaces with the active participation of residents and other stakeholders. Several information meetings, exhibitions, co-design workshops and one-on-one meetings were organized to engage the local population in the creative process and ensure that the preliminary design was grounded in the community’s values.
The interdisciplinary approach and the use of mixed methods for mapping, evaluating, and designing historic public spaces are promising. Regarding those used for public participation, the results indicate that they have been successful in several ways. For example, the 3D presentation played a crucial role in improving participants' understanding of the plan, and it also made them feel more involved in shaping its underlying assumptions. Furthermore, the participants expressed their willingness to support other planning projects using a similar participatory process. On the other hand, the results also show that there is still room to bring together disparate interest groups and expand their opportunities to contribute to the design of public spaces.

Speaker: Dr Astrid Lelarge (Agricultural University of Iceland)

11:10 Visual Perception of Universal Design Interventions for World Heritage Sites: Case of Istanbul Historic Peninsula

Universal Design is focusing on the seven principles addressed by Story, Mueller and Mace (1998) in North Carolina State University Center for Universal Design, for enhancement of inclusivity for various fields and scopes of design. Some of those principles are; principles of perceptible information, simple and intuitive use and size and space for approach and use, especially need enhancements that are aimed to be visibly highly noticeable, can be used intuitively or self-directing the audience for the utilization. To achieve these, some interventions are generally made through physical space for added visibility and attention. In many scenarios those interventions for inclusive design are taken as part of the design process and creatively reflected as a part of the public space eventually. However, when it comes to historic or urban heritage sites the visual unity and coherence of the heritage value comes from this unique nature of the heritage landscape itself; therefore potentially the addition of highly visible indicators or cues for universal design might be contradicting with the idea of the nature of interventions for these areas. The core tension of this study is focusing on the question of conflicting nature between inclusive urban design applications and interventions and the conservation purposes of the World Heritage Site where the minimum intervention especially the interventions resulting in the alterations of the landscape of the site and the overall visual perception of the site and/or its outstanding universal value. Focusing on this conflict, this study aims to find possible answers to the questions of “is it possible to apply universal design principles of urban design projects of public spaces in Urban Conservation Areas?” and if so “How to enhance the visual perception of the inclusive design indicators for a public space with an urban heritage value; especially for the World Heritage Sites without causing disturbance on the value of the site?”. While maintaining the main emphasis on universal design principles, how site-specific urban design solutions can apply and how they will be perceived by the users of public space is the scope of this research. Methodology of the research is consisting of two parts; first, in depth interviews with users of public spaces located in World Heritage Site of Istanbul Historic Peninsula will be conducted and second a survey with over-100 participants will take place; investigating the responses of the participants on the scenic depictions of World Heritage Site and Public Spaces and Landscapes within case study area, including variations of universal design applications. Results aim to discuss and find out the possible parameters for universal design tools specifically of heritage sites.

Speaker: BUSE CEREN ENER (YILDIZ TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ - İSTANBUL BEYKENT ÜNİVERSİTESİ)

11:20 Exploring Meanings and Experiences of Public Spaces: Topic Modeling Insights from Museum Gazhane

Public spaces have always constituted a fundamental component of urban life, providing a platform for social interaction, cultural expression, and the formation of collective identity. They function as both material and symbolic environments for community activities, serving as sites where individuals construct and share meanings through their experiences. This study focuses on the symbolic and experiential meanings of public spaces by examining how Museum Gazhane -historically known as Hasanpasa Gasworks- is perceived and interpreted by its users.
Museum Gazhane stands out as a critical case due to its transformation from an industrial heritage site into a vibrant public space, the challenges and opportunities of preserving historical significance while addressing contemporary urban needs. The conservation and restoration of the Hasanpasa Gasworks which is one of the important industrial heritages of Istanbul, initiated as a neighborhood-based collective movement, evolved over time under the influence of several institutional actors. The site has been refunctionalized as ‘culture-art-oriented living space’ and reintroduced to public use under the name 'Museum Gazhane' by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) in 2021. The evolution of Museum Gazhane from a grassroots-driven initiative to a municipally-led project highlights the dynamic interplay between community efforts and institutional interventions in shaping symbolic and experiential meanings of public spaces.
The study employs a dataset of 3,025 Google Maps user reviews, collected via the Google Maps Reviews API (2021–2024), to examine predominant topics representing user perceptions of Museum Gazhane. These user-generated reviews provide valuable insights into the perceived quality, user satisfaction, and symbolic meanings of the site within a societal context. Using text mining and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, the analysis identifies five dominant themes, including the site's historical significance, its transformation process, and its multifaceted roles as a public space. Further qualitative interpretations of the LDA topics reveal how individual and collective experiences contribute to shaping the symbolic meanings attributed to Museum Gazhane.
The findings draw attention to the potential of insights derived from user reviews to inform the design and management of public spaces, providing valuable input for navigating the complex challenge of balancing the multifaceted roles of public spaces with contemporary urban demands. Museum Gazhane is recognized by its users as a multifaceted public space, with user perception of the space is characterized by a multilayered structure.
Beyond its empirical findings, this study presents an innovative methodological approach to the analysis of user-generated data by integrating analytical and qualitative methods. Through the examination of Google Maps user reviews, it offers a robust framework for uncovering the complex dynamics of public spaces and understanding how public perceptions intersect with broader societal discourses. This dual contribution significantly enhances both theoretical understanding and practical applications in urban studies.

Speaker: Sezen Türkoğlu (Izmir Institute of Technology)

11:30 Fostering Multicultural Integration in Transforming Context: Community Participatory Museum as a Bridge

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, a significant number of South Korean immigrants and enterprises have moved to Qingdao, forming an economic and community network marked by distinct South Korean cultural characteristics. This phenomenon has resulted in a "parallel adaptation" model, which, while maintaining ethnic cultural boundaries, has hindered interactions with local residents and led to accumulated tensions and misunderstandings(Li, 2022). Around the time of the 2008 global financial crisis, the mass exodus of South Korean enterprises caused economic losses that further aggravated local residents' dissatisfaction with the Korean community. Subsequently, as labor costs in Qingdao continued to rise, many South Korean businesses relocated, leading to a steady decline in the Korean community. This intensification of cultural divides and conflicts has rendered the "parallel adaptation" model unsustainable, necessitating a transition to a cultural adaptation model(Jang, 2012; Zhou and Tang, 2023) .

Most Korean residential enclaves in Qingdao were developed around the early 2000s, and their public activity spaces are typically limited to narrow, unadorned sidewalks, scattered stone tables and benches, or small open spaces in front of shops(Chen and Fang, 2024). These spaces are insufficient for promoting cross-cultural exchanges. To explore the role of public spaces in improving intercultural interactions, this study adopts the theoretical framework of cultural adaptation and examines a transitioning Korean residential enclave in central Qingdao using a mixed-methods approach.

Before conducting fieldwork, a literature review was performed using keywords such as "Qingdao," "Koreans," "transnational migration," "cultural adaptation," "internationalized community," and "public space." The aim was to investigate the role of public spaces in enhancing social interactions within cross-cultural communities. GIS spatial analysis was employed to identify cultural resources within the community, and behavioral observations were conducted to document residents’ use of public spaces at different times of the day. Additionally, questionnaires and structured interviews were utilized to gather residents’ perceptions of the community environment and their spatial preferences. The PLS-SEM model was then applied to analyze the effects of spatial environments and activity programs on cross-cultural interactions(Fornell and Bookstein, 1982; Jo et al., 2018).

The findings reveal that multifunctional, inclusive, and highly interactive public space designs can significantly improve the quality of interactions between cultural groups, fostering community integration while preserving cultural identity through social engagement. Based on these findings, the study proposes alternative strategies centered on narrative design and community participation. Drawing inspiration from the TV series Reply 1988, iconic scenes were reinterpreted and combined with community needs to create 12 multifunctional spaces, including shared kitchens, craft workshops, and venues for cultural and artistic activities. The study also recommends establishing a "community participatory museum" and implementing acupuncture-style urban interventions along streets to rebuild neighborhood relationships in mixed Chinese-Korean communities. These strategies aim to serve as a reference for transforming the cultural adaptation model in similar communities.

Speaker: Ms Xinhang Yan (Tongji University)

AESOP中韩.pptx

11:40 The transformative power of art in public space: designing for inclusion and well-being

Historically, public spaces have been central to civic life, fostering social interaction, cultural exchange, and collective expression. However, due to the increasing social inequalities, growing urban populations, and public health challenges, the importance of well-designed public spaces become even more evident. When thoughtfully created and activated, these spaces can serve as beacons of possibility, showcasing how community-driven planning and creativity can contribute to healthier, more sustainable cities.
This paper delves into the significant role that public art plays in building social cohesion and enhancing mental and physical well-being. More than mere aesthetic enhancements, artistic and design interventions, specifically public art installations and design elements integrated into sidewalks, and urban furniture such as benches or bus stops, can reshape urban experiences. They can inspire movement and interaction, making the public space more accessible, engaging, and restorative. This research explores how art and design can combat social isolation, nurture a sense of belonging, and promote mental and physical well-being in rapidly urbanizing environments.
The study employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating visual analysis, literature reviews, and case studies of inspiring global examples. For instance, Superkilen in Copenhagen showcases multicultural artistic elements that encourage movement and interaction. In Montreal, Musical Swings invites both physical activity and social engagement. Meanwhile, The Loop in Chicago transforms walking into a captivating artistic journey, while the Teeter-Totter Wall at the U.S.-Mexico border turns a politically charged space into a site of connection. Additionally, Rirkrit Tiravanija’s Healing Pavilion in New York’s Times Square illustrates how public art can offer moments of reflection and restoration amidst the urban hustle.
To assess the impact of public art on stress levels, physical health, and community connectivity, this research includes surveys and interviews with artists and public space users. By synthesizing these insights, the study aims to provide actionable recommendations for urban planners and community organizations striving to design public spaces that are inclusive and promote health.

Speaker: Ms Natalia Bursiewicz (University of the National Education Commission, Krakow)

11:50 Enhancing urban resilience: the role of open spaces in mitigating Urban heat islands

Open spaces inner cities are having a crucial role in reducing the negative effects of urban heat islands (UHIs) in cities, creating conditions for easier sustainable commuting people inner cities. Green areas, such as parks, urban forests in cities are providing cooling effects and help to lower the temperature in urban climate by providing shade and facilitating evapotranspiration (Gherri, 2024). High vegetation in open areas inner cities improve the quality of air by absorbing pollutant and releasing oxygen and at the same time enhance urban biodiversity enabling ecological balance for improving healthier urban environment (Yuan, 2024).
Europe is the continent experiencing the most rapid warming, with temperatures increasing at twice the global average rate. The summer of 2024 was recorded as the hottest on record, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S, 2024), resulting in detrimental effects on public health, urban functionality, natural ecosystems, and the economy (Heaviside et al., 2017; Karimi et al., 2023; Ramly et al., 2024).
Recognizing that European cities are among the most vulnerable to the UHI's negative effects, 19 partners including 10 cities from 12 countries of the Danube microregion to jointly develop solutions for reducing the negative effects of the UHI through the Be Ready project co-financed by the INTERREG Danube Programme (Be Ready, 2024). The main aim of the project is to collaboratively co-develop strategies to enhance climate change preparedness and resilience of 10 participating cities, Chisinau (Moldova), Galati (Romania), Heviz (Hungary), Kranj (Slovenia), Niš (Serbia), Podgorica (Montenegro), Ratibor (Czech Republic), Sofia (Bulgaria), Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Varaždin (Croatia).
The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is a well-documented phenomenon wherein urban areas experience elevated temperatures relative to their rural surroundings (Oke, 2011). Urbanisation processes were leading toward loss of pervious areas and increasing build-up and impervious areas. Different construction materials have higher capacities of absorbing heat compared to natural materials end emitting it into the urban climate, especially during the night, and contributing conditions to the UHI.
The lack of holistic methods and tools for assessing urban areas vulnerable to the UHI negative effects was leading scientific partners involved in the Be Ready project (BOKU, UIRS, STUBA and Science and Technology Park Niš) to develop a methodological approach and an assessment tool easy to use for cities on different levels, city, district and neighbourhood level from different aspects. One of the aspects is devoted to the build environment with surrounding. Urban form, green urban spaces and vegetation were two criteria proposed for assessing the urban environment allowing to identify risk zones inner cities including open spaces. The paper aims to identify opportunities and barriers of existing data for the risk assessment, drivers of the UHI on open spaces and opportunities for developing strategies and interventions for reducing UHI negative effects.
The results of the assessment will contribute understanding to the role and potentials of open spaces to mitigate UHI negative effects, enabling better urban planning, policy development, strategies, development and efficient implementation of interventions in cities.
Acknowledgement: The contribution was developed and financially supported by the international project Be Ready, co-financed by the INTERREG Danube programme (2024-2030) running from 2024 till 2026.

Speaker: Mrs Barbara Mušič (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia)

11:00 → 12:30 T_18 TOURISM: PLURALITY IN TOURISM ACTIVITIES AND SPECIAL INTEREST FORMS OF TOURISM

Conveners: Prof. Alex Deffner (Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece), Prof. Ferhan Gezici (Istanbul Technical University)

11:00 City Branding, Urban Tourism, Urban Planning: Interrelationship Through Research Focusing on Governance in Greece

This paper explores the intricate relationship between city branding/ marketing, urban tourism and urban planning, emphasizing the need for effective collaboration between practitioners and academics in the context of Greek cities. Despite the potential benefits, tensions often arise between city branding strategies and urban development policies.

Research Purpose: The research aims to understand the challenges and successes of implementing city branding/ marketing strategies (incorporating tourism) within urban planning frameworks in Greece, highlighting the gaps between theory and practice.

Methodology: To bring new light to research done in previous years, a meta-analytical approach was implemented in selected research that has been conducted by the Laboratory of Tourism Planning, Research and Policy, Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, utilizing case studies from two medium-sized cities, Larissa and Kozani, and the centre of Athens. Participants included local officials, stakeholders, and community members, who were consulted mainly through the Goal Oriented Project Planning (GOPP) procedure in Larissa and Kozani. In these cities, a mixed-methods research design was employed. Athens was a more complex case in which interviews were mostly applied.

Principal Results: Findings reveal that local governance structures in Greece struggle to adapt to modern branding tools, leading to non-implemented plans (‘autonomous’ city marketing plans in Larissa and Kozani, as well as a new type of urban plan, the Integrated Urban Intervention Plan (SOAP) for the centre of Athens) and a lack of strategic clarity. Larissa and Kozani’s collaborative approach with the municipality yielded more comprehensive insights into community needs, while Athens faced challenges due to a more top-down strategy.

Major Conclusions: The study underscores the necessity of effective governance and multi-stakeholder engagement in enhancing city branding and urban tourism efforts. It suggests that urban planning can benefit significantly from city branding/ marketing principles, advocating for a shift towards a more inclusive and adaptive governance structure in Greek cities. Furthermore, the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in city branding, urban tourism, and urban planning dilemmas, particularly linked to urban governance, is an exciting prospect, including problems that must be explored.

Speaker: Prof. Alex Deffner (Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Greece)

11:10 Tourism-led regeneration strategies in left-behind regions: healing therapy or end-of-life care?

Tourism-led regeneration is emerging as a widespread strategy to bring some economic resources to left-behind places. While many cities across the world are dealing with the consequences of over-tourism and increased rates of short-term lettings (e.g., increased house prices, inflation of consumer costs and wider clashes between residents and visitors or the seasonal population of these touristic hotspots), tourism is seen as the potential “healing therapy” solution for many declining regions and towns. However, is betting on another extractive economic activity, such as tourism, really a sustainable path for regeneration in left-behind places?
In the UK, seaside resort towns have served as a landmark example of how tourism can create economic lock-ins and as such they have been defined as a British “Salt Fringe”, in analogy with the American “Rust Belt”.
In many cases, branding strategies to attract tourism in these areas are anchored on the very same industrial past of these locations or the landscape opportunities offered by their liminal geographies (e.g., mountain and rural areas or even coastal ones). But is this a positive way of incorporating the past legacy or just another way of fuelling feelings of nostalgia and discontent? This paper explores a selection of left-behind places where tourism has been used as the main strategy to revive the local economy and the connected spatial imaginaries evoked to establish whether signs of healing have appeared or whether this was rather an end-of-life care measure.

Speaker: Dr Stefania Fiorentino (University of Cambridge)

11:20 The messy interplay between forces of resistance and forces for change in territorial transitions: A case study of an Alpine ski resort

For decades, emphatic calls for adaptation to climate impacts due to human-caused global warming have been rarely heeded in practice. A daily read of any reliable news source demonstrates that adaptation measures to confront climate impacts are inadequate, if existent. In parallel, climate change adaptation in the planning literature has mainly focused on policy reforms and infrastructure revisions to implement adaptation practices and resilience. On the one hand, since Rittel and Webber (1973) introduced the concept of a ‘wicked problem,’ planning scholarship has excelled at dissecting and understanding the complicated context of built environments and intersecting processes at play. On the other hand, because planning tends to remain ‘future-focused’ and normative, planning scholarship may miss the broader temporal settings critical to understanding the fabric of forces in motion that resist change.
To better understand the temporal dynamics of territorial transitions, we present a framework to identify inertial forces as a way to investigate the interplay between resisting and transforming forces within a territorial context. We adopt the Franco-concept of a territoire as multi-scalar in the material, institutional, and ideal dimensions (Pachoud et al., 2022). The material dimension encompasses the spatial extent of the biophysical matter and the built environment, including infrastructure. Concepts such as ‘path dependency’ (Haasnoot et al., 2020) allow us to consider how planning decisions and long-term infrastructure investments reshape the surrounding territory while remaining ‘fixed’ (Brochet et al., 2025). The institutional dimension includes the territorial actors and the rules and norms that guide their practices. New institutional economics theory offers a way to analyze the role of ‘transaction costs’ in shaping these governance and institutional arrangements (Shahab, 2022). Finally, the ideal dimension refers to all that contributes to the territorial actors’ imaginaries, including their identities, cultural values, and attachments to the territory. Though completely immaterial, imaginaries have a consequential role in shaping territories (Hommes et al., 2022); the ways in which they persist or evolve plays a critical part in the capacity of actors to envisage territorial futures.
We mobilize this framework in the context of a medium-sized, mid-mountain ski resort community in the French Alps, Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse. Located north of Grenoble, tourism for this community started to develop in the early 20th century, becoming a ski resort village in the 1950s with major re-investments in the 1980-90s. Today, the local community has embraced a collective planning effort to confront their climate realities and economic pressures linked to the uncertainty of ski operations. This case study highlights the coexistence, and at times, strong opposition between forces of resistance and transformation; it also demonstrates the importance of collective planning to evolve actors’ imaginaries about transitions before conflict-minimizing adaptive actions can be implemented.

Speaker: Mrs Aida Arik (Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, LESSEM)

11:30 Exploring the Politics of Gastronomy Tourism and Gentrification Nexus: Gastro-Driven Development and Peri-Urban Geographical Change in the case of Urla Izmir

The relationship between gastronomy tourism and urban/rural transformations has become a planetary phenomenon, mostly studied within the circles of sustainable tourism (Crespi-Vallbona, et. al., 2017; Gezici, 2006), urban geography (Kowalczyk & Derek, 2020), planning and city branding (Booysen and du Rand, 2019; Deffner, et. al., 2019) particularly at the intersection of deepening gentrification, and exacerbated socio-spatial inequalities. The ways in which gastronomy tourism influences gentrification and reverse migration in peri-urban geographies—spaces blending urban and rural characteristics—remain underexplored. This study critically elaborates the mutually constitutive relations amongst gastronomy tourism, gentrification, and reverse migration, by concentrating on the peri-urban geographical context of Urla, Turkiye, as a case study.
Urla district, in the Aegean metropolitan city of Izmir, has undergone significant socio-spatial and socio-economic transformations in the last two decades, driven by the concomitant rise of gastronomy tourism, reverse migration and property-led gentrification. Michelin-starred restaurants, luxury wineries, countryside hotels and gated-luxury villas have emerged as both the symbolic and material spatial reflections of this change. We argue that there is a deep rooted and constitutive relation amongst gastronomy tourism, gentrification and peri-urban geographical transformation, that is defined as “gastro-driven gentrification” in our study, a phenomenon in which gastronomy tourism becomes a catalyst for gentrification processes, reshaping extended urban geographies at planetary scale. Reverse migration fuels these dramatic processes, stimulating the gentrified peri-urban transformations, introducing new socio-economic dynamics and further complicating the forms of socio-spatial injustices.
Through elaborating a critical cultural political economy perspective, the research investigates whether gastronomy tourism acts as a driver of gentrification and reverse migration in Urla and explores how these intricated, and mutually constitutive processes transform peri-urban geography. The study draws on mixed-methods research, including qualitative approaches such as in-depth interviews with local stakeholders (residents, policymakers, and business owners), participant observations, and content analysis of the related media materials. Quantitative methods include spatial analysis of land use changes, demographic shifts, and economic data related to the rise of gastronomy tourism in Urla. This approach allows for a comprehensive understanding of the socio-economic and spatial dimensions of gastro-driven gentrification.
Preliminary findings indicate that gastronomy tourism has skyrocketed property values, triggered cultural commodification, and the displacement of long-term residents, dramatically transforming the socio-cultural fabric of Urla. Reverse migration has further intensified and fueled these changes, as affluent urban residents seeking lifestyle migration often prioritize the consumption-oriented amenities introduced by gastronomy tourism over the preservation of local identity and practices. The peri-urban geography has also significantly changed within this transformation process. While these developments generate economic development and brand recognition for Urla, they also highlight critical tensions between tourism-driven development, socio-spatial injustice, and environmental sustainability.
The findings of research have potentials to make contributions in understanding the socio-spatial implications of gastronomy tourism within the broader framework of peri-urban transformations. Locating Urla’s transformation within the context of planetary crises and unsustainable tourism development, the study will also provide a ground to key debates on how sustainable forms of tourism could become a locomotive in climate resilient, environmentally sustainable, and socio-spatially just cities (Gezici & Salihoğlu, 2016). By addressing these issues, the study provides insights into how gastronomy tourism impacts peri-urban transformations and highlights the potential of place-based planning practices to mitigate the negative impacts of unsustainable tourism. It emphasizes the need for sustainable tourism planning to prioritize environmental sustainability, cultural authenticity, and socio-spatial justice, offering lessons that extend beyond Urla to other peri-urban regions facing similar challenges.

Speaker: Mr Sadullah Aksoy (İzmir Institute of Technology)

11:40 Medical Tourism and Urban Planning: Addressing Socioeconomic and Environmental Opportunities and challenges in Istanbul

The prompt growth of medical tourism (MT) due to globalization has significantly impacted urban infrastructure, socioeconomic order, and environmental sustainability in host cities. Istanbul, a significant destination for international MT, serves an illustrative case study for analyzing this phenomenon. This study investigates how MT expansion affects urban planning, emphasizing the opportunities and challenges it poses for equitable development, social inequities, and urban sustainability.
This research uses a mixed methods approach to examine the relationship between MT and urban planning. The methodology leverages Social Impact Assessment (SIA) as a central framework to examine the multidimensional impacts of MT counting economic, social and environmental dimensions. SIA allows for a systematic analysis and evaluation including access to healthcare, housing affordability, cultural integrity, and community cohesion. Through SIA, this research will identify and evaluates both tangible and intangible outcomes, shedding light on how the prioritization of MT infrastructure effects local population.
To ensure a comprehensive understanding of the subject data collection integrate qualitative and quantitate methods. Primary data includes semi-structured interviews with stockholders, including healthcare providers, medical tourism companies, and urban planners as well as focus groups. Quantitative data will be collected through surveys directed at locals, documentation and literature on socioeconomic changes, healthcare accessibility, and housing affordability. A spatial analysis and comparison will be completed on the distribution and density of MT infrastructure across Istanbul, focused on three areas: high-density (Şişli), medium density (Maslak), and low-density (Beylikdüzü). This study analyzes differences in healthcare access, transportation networks, and accommodation facilities for these districts.
The initial findings indicate a dual impact of MT urban planning in Istanbul. On the one hand, MT produces considerable economic advantages, such as job creation, investment, and improvements in healthcare infrastructure. These advantages position Istanbul as a competitive global hub for MT, enhancing innovation and increasing its international reputation. On the other hand, the prioritization of MT infrastructure results in the diversion away from public healthcare, creating inequities for residents, increasing property values due to tourism demand, increasing housing affordability challenges, displacing low-income populations and escalating gentrification. Furthermore, environmental concerns emerge as a critical dimension of the MT’s impacts. Increased tourism activity contributes to congestion in the roads, waste generation, and impact on natural resources. Theses problems highlight the necessity of developing sustainable planning strategies to balance economic growth with the preservation of the environment.
The study will address broader issues relevant to urban planning and tourism management, by look-in at destinations like Istanbul, that are most vulnerable to the pressure of MT, and how planning procedures might incorporate MT and sustainable tourism concepts. It will explore innovative approaches to minimize consequences of excessive tourism, like implementing green infrastructure, encouraging resource-efficient development, and encouraging cooperation between local communities. The full conference article will report the preliminary results of the study, presenting a detailed analysis of Istanbul’s MT infrastructure and its socioeconomic impacts.
By fostering dialogue on the critical issues, this study aims to equip decision-makers with the tools to create cities that balance the demands of tourism with the needs of their inhabitants. It encourages comprehensive urban design, fair resource allocation, and long-term viability of cities that rely heavily on tourism via the theoretical understanding of MT’s role in urban transformation and provide practical recommendations for policymakers and urban planners. It emphasizes the necessity for a paradigm shift in tourism planning transitioning from focusing on economic benefits to prioritizing sustainability, social equity, and urban resilience.

Speaker: Ms Maryam Marzbani (PhD Candidate)

11:50 Exploring tourism trends through transportation O/D data

Until now, tourism statistics data have been limited to metrics such as the number of visitors to attractions, international tourist card sales, and the number of inbound and outbound tourists. However, recently, the advent of Origin-Destination (O/D) data in the South Korean Capital Region for tourism-related population movements have begun to be provided, it has become possible to analyze tourist mobility patterns at a micro-spatial scale and identify temporal tourism trends that were previously unattainable. Therefore, this study aims to overcome the limitations of traditional tourism research, which has primarily relied on surveys and qualitative methods, by utilizing tourist O/D (Origin-Destination) data extracted from urban datasets, this research conducts a quantitative and empirical analysis to explore these novel dimensions of tourism dynamics.

First, the study examine tourism flows and patterns from multiple perspectives by conducting gravity modeling and network analysis sing O/D data from South Korea. The gravity model generates a matrix to quantify the scale of inter-regional tourism flows, and then the structural relationships (connectivity, centrality, and betweenness) and patterns within these flows are visually identifies through network analysis. Additionally, the spatiotemporal panel analysis is conduct to uncover the temporal and spatial trends of tourism flows and causal relationships. Through these analysis processes, this study aims to comprehensively understand the tourism flows, spatio-temporal patterns and trends, and inter-regional connectivity.

The study integrates theoretical frameworks specifically the theory of tourist destination attributes, central place theory, and gravity models. As such, it employs gravity model analysis, network analysis (including centrality analysis), and spatiotemporal panel analysis. The study replaces qualitative variables commonly used in traditional tourism research with quantifiable variables for empirical evaluation. The dependent variable is the movement volume of international tourist. Key independent variables include destination choice attributes categorized as cultural factors (tourism facilities, historical and cultural resources, and festivals), natural factors (green spaces and waterfront areas), service factors (accommodation facilities and convenience stores), accessibility factors (public transportation density and proximity to airports), and
prices factors (average price of goods or services at destination). Control variables include climatic characteristics (maximum temperature, diurnal temperature range, snowfall, and precipitation), demographic characteristics (gender and age of tourists), temporal characteristics (seasons, holidays, and weekends), and land use characteristics (developed commercial districts, local markets, traditional markets, and designated tourism zones).

This study found that, first, gravity model analysis identified regions with high and low tourism density. Second, network analysis assessed the centrality of regions frequently visited by international tourists, such as tourism central areas (degree centrality and eigenvector centrality) and tourism transfer areas (betweenness centrality). Visualizations further revealed regions with high and low inter-regional connectivity. Lastly, through spatiotemporal panel analysis, the study uncovered the spatiotemporal factors influencing international tourist movements and evaluated the spillover effects of tourist movements from specific regions to neighboring areas.

The significance of this study lies in overcoming the limitations of prior tourism research, which predominantly relied on qualitative or survey-based methods, by quantitatively analyzing objectively measured tourist movement patterns and flows. Specifically, this study utilizes O/D data to provide analytical and visual finding into the movement patterns of international tourists. These findings will provide actionable policy insights for enhancing international tourist activities by identifying which the destinations preferred by international tourists and to identify the attractive factors of these destinations.

Speaker: Dr Seong-A Seren Kim (Seoul National University)

11:00 → 12:30 T_02 PLANNING AND LAW: Special Planning Regimes and Developmental Regulations

Convener: Mohammad Reza Tavangar (University College Dublin)

11:00 Soil Consumption and Logistics Hubs: Castel San Giovanni, the Milan Logistic Region’s Gateway to Emilia-Romagna

The establishment of logistics platforms in medium-to-small-sized municipalities has increasingly contributed to soil consumption, significantly impacting northern Italy in recent years and generating notable side effects. This issue is particularly evident in the province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, which hosts a cross-border logistics network of major European significance, known as the Milan Logistic Region. This research examines the implications of this phenomenon through an in-depth study of the Logistic Park in Castel San Giovanni, one of the largest logistics hubs in northern Italy. Castel San Giovanni is a small town with fewer than 15,000 inhabitants, yet it has undergone significant transformations due to the expansion of logistics infrastructure.

The paper investigates the development of the Logistic Park as a case study to assess the impact of Emilia-Romagna’s Regional Law No. 24/2017 on soil consumption. This legislation serves as a key example of how large-scale transformations have been regulated in recent years, particularly in light of the European directive targeting zero land take by 2050. The analysis traces the legislative process and the origins of the logistics hub, which evolved through a series of approvals outside the main urban planning framework. This fragmented approach has resulted in a settlement that is poorly integrated into the pre-existing urban fabric.

By examining the development of the logistics hub and its broader impacts, the research ultimately proposes measures to reinforce the provincial green network. These include rethinking the role of private stakeholders in ecological and environmental compensation agreements, positioning the logistics hub as an opportunity to foster sustainability. Finally, the paper reflects on the feasibility of steering the hub’s evolution towards greater sustainability, adaptation, and resilience—key imperatives in addressing contemporary urban and environmental challenges. The case study highlights the risks associated with fragmented planning processes, which often prioritise private interests and rapid implementation over integrated, long-term strategies for the common good.

Speaker: Ms Margherita Emilia Re (Politecnico di Milano (IT) - Zhejiang University (CN))

11:10 The Rule of law in the planning system – a view on the Global South

Planning systems can be described as an amalgamation of legal structures, power relations, governance dynamics, and undoubtedly, a network of various actors affecting the form and function of the built environment. Planning systems are the main instrument with which governments control and manage development. For many planning practitioners and theorists in the Global North, considering planning systems as legal structures often suggests that a well-defined framework with foreseeable outcomes guides the governance of urban development. However, many studies and considerable evidence from practice show that in many countries of the Global South, the legal structure of planning systems demonstrates entirely different mechanisms – often leading to unanticipated outcomes. As understanding the intricacies of power relations in planning systems of the Global South is becoming an enigma for planning theorists and practitioners, significant efforts have been made to conceptualise these contexts by “seeing from the South” (see e.g. Wattson, 2009; Roy, 2005). Describing such planning environments as conflicting rationalities is merely one perspective towards Southern, top-down, informality-dominated, uncertain, and poorly governed planning systems.
In line with current enquiries on Southern planning systems, this paper focuses on one of their substantial aspects, which outlines a factual legal landscape of such planning systems: the rule of law. The rule of law provides a contextually realistic picture of the extent to which the planning system is managed by laws and regulations, in addition to providing theorists and practitioners with an a priori perception of the planning legal setting. In this respect, this article investigates the Iranian planning system by highlighting examples from real-world projects and planning events to present its particularities and illustrate how different degrees of rule of law (RoL) affect the power dynamics and consequently the outcomes of planning processes. To evaluate the Iranian planning system in terms of RoL, a thin definition (Rodriguez, 2010) of RoL has been employed to avoid value judgments and generalizations of Northern institutional and fundamental values, which are often equated to universal definitions of substantial RoL (Versteeg & Ginsburg, 2017). The findings of the research suggest that most planning systems in the global South are greatly defined by weak rule of law, and therefore, non-legal authority, and other informal types of power, are the main avenues of practicing power for those involved in the planning process. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the Global South and offers valuable insights for policymakers, planners, and researchers interested in promoting equitable and sustainable development in these regions. The paper concludes with recommendations for adapting the planning system to the weak rule of law in the South.

Speaker: Dr Mohammad Reza Tavangar (University College Dublin)

11:20 The relationship between urban planning and crisis management from the perspective of legal instruments in Poland.

Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters, exacerbated by factors such as dense populations, inadequate infrastructure and unplanned development. Such disasters can have devastating consequences, including loss of life, economic disruption, and social upheaval. Recognizing the critical importance of urban resilience, experts and scholars stress the need for strategic planning and the development of sound emergency shelter systems (Zhu et al., 2023) for the safety and sustainable development of cities and enhancement of disaster management (Wei et al., 2020). These shelters should serve as vital lifelines, providing refuge, essential services, and a sense of security to the affected populations. As emergency planning determines the conditions of shelter for those displaced by an emergency, it also influences the design of everyday urban spaces. The process of formulating an emergency plan is similar and parallel to urban and regional planning. Unfortunately, the two disciplines are seldom sufficiently linked and exchanged, yet they have much in common. This study examines the critical role of urban emergency shelters in the overall urban system, providing an expertise of the legal instruments in Polish crisis management from local and supra-local perspectives and their relevance for effective urban planning in multi-risk situations. The Crisis Management Act describes the activity of public administration bodies as part of the management of national security. Despite many years of legislation in the field, the system has been defragmented due to the lack of relevant regulations. It also considers protective facilities and buildings and their condition in Polish cities, which has been severely neglected for decades. At the same time, the newly introduced Civil Protection and Civil Defence Act imposes new tasks on civil protection authorities to improve prevention and preparedness for possible incidents. Therefore, documents related to emergency situations at national, regional and local level over the last 20 years have been compared in terms of their contribution to spatial planning and building law. Key issues have been diagnosed based on the conditions and limitations identified. The results of the study highlight the need to improve the relationship between urban and emergency planning for non-emergency and emergency wellbeing and place-making in the urban fabric by introducing provisions (in the form of relevant regulations in spatial law) that specify detailed rules for the planning, design and distribution of emergency services.

Speaker: Ms Aleksandra Karpińska (Gdansk University of Technology)

11:30 Local governments’ strategies of linking affordable housing with urban village redevelopment in China: Reallocating property rights

Linking affordable housing with urban redevelopment has emerged as an approach to promoting housing affordability in cities facing fiscal constraints. Drawing on the case of China, the research explores why and how local authorities use innovative strategies to secure affordable housing through urban village redevelopment. By conceptualizing the implementation of innovative instruments as a process of gradual institutional change in property rights regimes, the research has three key findings. First, struggles to balance political tasks of affordable housing provision and land constraints drove local authorities to experiments innovative strategies. Second, the innovative strategies reallocated a bundle of property rights among local governments, urban villagers and developers in urban village redevelopment. Third, the distributional effects of the strategies hinder the institutionalization potential. The research contributes to deepening the understanding of institutional change and highlights the distributional implications of property rights regimes. Besides, it offers insights into local governments’ agency in urban governance.

Speaker: Dr Jinshuo Wang (Israel Institute of Technology)

11:40 Comparison of Retrofitting and Urban Renewal Processes in terms of Transaction Costs and Value Increase Effects: Case Study in Kadıköy

Urban areas face interconnected crises, including natural disasters, environmental issues, extreme climate changes, social and spatial inequalities, and displaced communities. Growth-oriented development models exacerbate these challenges by undermining ecological balance, social justice, and resilience. In Istanbul, a city with high earthquake risk and similar vulnerabilities, the need for earthquake-resistant housing is a pressing concern. However, renewal or retrofitting processes for existing buildings pose significant challenges for individuals and institutions alike.
Istanbul’s location near active fault lines places it at serious risk of earthquakes. A large portion of its building stock was constructed before the 1999 Marmara Earthquake, rendering much of it non-compliant with modern seismic standards. This problem is compounded by the rapid and unplanned urbanization during earlier decades, often without proper engineering oversight. Consequently, it is critical to make Istanbul’s buildings earthquake-resistant as quickly as possible.
The October 23, 2023 report by the Commission on Public Works, Reconstruction, Transportation, and Tourism highlights the urgency of this issue. According to the report, approximately six million houses across Turkey are at risk, with two million independent sections requiring immediate transformation. Since the enactment of Law No. 6306 in 2012, only 2.2 million independent units have been transformed, accounting for just one-quarter of the urgent need. The persistent disaster risks not only exacerbate physical vulnerabilities but also deepen social and economic inequalities. Low-income groups face significant barriers to accessing safe housing due to high costs and limited post-disaster response capacities. Addressing these risks in Istanbul requires inclusive and sustainable solutions that cater to both individual and societal needs.
This study examines the economic sustainability of urban renewal and retrofitting processes and their implications for spatial justice. It compares transaction costs and value increments associated with two housing projects in Kadıköy District, a hub for urban renewal and retrofitting in Istanbul. These projects were selected from non-conservation areas under the local spatial plan. The analysis spans the entire process, from initial decision-making to administrative procedures and implementation. Transaction costs, including time and monetary expenses for each step, are calculated. Furthermore, the study assesses changes in housing prices before and after renewal or retrofitting in the same locations.
Transaction cost theory offers a lens to analyze the expenses incurred during economic decision-making processes due to information asymmetry, bureaucratic barriers, negotiation challenges, and implementation difficulties. This theory is particularly relevant for understanding the complexities of urban renewal projects, where interactions between individuals, institutions, and public authorities play a pivotal role. Transaction costs extend beyond direct monetary expenses to include time, labor, and administrative efforts. Factors such as lengthy decision-making processes, collaboration with local authorities, and complex legal requirements significantly influence these costs. Understanding and addressing transaction costs is essential for developing policies and strategies that enhance economic sustainability and spatial justice.
The findings of this study are expected to highlight the differences in transaction costs between retrofitting and demolition-reconstruction methods and analyze how these differences impact housing value increases. While demolition and reconstruction projects typically involve higher transaction costs, they may result in greater market value appreciation than retrofitting. Conversely, retrofitting is anticipated to offer a more sustainable approach with lower transaction costs.
This study not only compares economic value and transaction costs but also underscores the importance of re-evaluating spatial planning processes through the lenses of justice, accessibility, and ecological sustainability. Given Istanbul’s earthquake risk and economic constraints, the results provide valuable insights into how spatial planning can function as a transformative tool in times of crisis.

Speakers: Dr Nuray Çolak Tatlı (https://www.mesken.org.tr/en/), Dr Sezen Tarakçı

11:00 → 12:30 T_03 MOBILITY (A): Bikeability and Micromobility

Convener: Akkelies Van Nes (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences)

11:00 Off the Beaten Track: Uncovering Rural Voices in the Conflict over the Future of Cycling in Bavaria

As societies strive for sustainability, the mobility transition emerges as one of the most pressing challenges of spatial planning, influencing not only transportation networks but also the interconnected systems of energy, housing, and social infrastructures. This presentation addresses the challenge of achieving a socio-ecological mobility transition that considers diverse spatial structures. Whereas urban areas often receive more attention in sustainable mobility policies, rural regions in the European Union remain largely underserved, with a "near-total absence of specific policy for mobility" (Flipo et al., 2023, p. 136). As a result, rural areas continue to be heavily reliant on cars, which impacts both social equity and environmental sustainability (Flipo et al., 2023; Székely and Novotný, 2022; Vitale Brovarone and Cotella, 2020). Despite the important role of civil society actors in mobility transition conflicts (Frantzeskaki et al., 2016), existing research often overlooks rural contexts. Many rural stakeholders feel excluded from decision-making in climate and energy policies (Zilles and Marg, 2023). At the same time, the conflict lines are much more complex than a simple urban-rural divide (Fienitz and Siebert, 2021). This presentation argues that rural areas require more focused attention, given the distinct civil society dynamics, for example regarding the role of volunteering, informal political activities, and personal relationships in rural mobility struggles.

A qualitative case study of the conflict over cycling conditions in the southern German federal state of Bavaria (2017-2023) provides insights into the role of rural stakeholders in mobility transition conflicts. This case study explores the escalation of the conflict following the formation of a broad civil society alliance advocating for a Bavarian Cycling Law. Unlike other German initiatives, this campaign actively involved rural regions, recognising that over half of Bavaria’s population lives in rural areas. Based on expert interviews, media coverage, documents, and field visits, the study identifies several key characteristics of the conflict in rural contexts:

• Conflict context: The debate over cycling conditions in Bavaria is deeply embedded in the broader political discourse on achieving equal living conditions between rural and urban areas.
• Conflict objects: In contrast to urban cycling debates, rural conflicts primarily centred around issues like the acquisition of agricultural land for intermunicipal cycle paths, nature conservation concerns, and the conflicting needs of everyday and tourist cyclists.
• Conflict actors: Key stakeholders in rural areas include farmers' associations, which are crucial for resolving conflicts, yet their involvement in cycling mobility debates has been limited.
• Conflict dynamics: The mobilisation for the Bavarian Cycling Referendum in 2023 was strategically timed before the state elections, limiting the time for signature collection in rural areas. This short timeframe was challenging for rural counties lacking established civil society networks, where more time was needed to build support.
• Conflict modes: In rural regions, personal relationships play a significant role in communication, and the success of mobilisations often depends on committed individuals, as it is difficult to mobilise the public around issues such as cycling. At the same time, the effect of greater networking and capacity building in civil society can be seen - in some cases, but not everywhere - in the mobilisation for the Cycling Referendum in Bavaria.

Coming from a background of spatial planning research and applying the conceptual approach of a multi-level analysis of spatially embedded conflicts, I contribute new perspectives to mobility research. The empirical findings contribute to a better understanding of mobility transition conflicts and the role of civil society actors in rural areas and thus have broader implications beyond the areas studied.

Speaker: Ms Anna Loffing (University of Vienna, Austria)

11:10 Assessing Urban Mobility Resilience: The Combined Impact of Physical and Socio-Economic Systems on Bike-Sharing in Extreme Heat

Global climate change has led to an increase in extreme heat events, which significantly impacts urban mobility, particularly bike-sharing systems. While considerable research has focused on the effects of the physical environment on urban mobility resilience (UMR), few studies have addressed the socio-economic impacts, and even fewer have examined the combined influence of both systems. This study explores the comprehensive effects of the physical environment and socio-economic systems on the UMR of bike-sharing in Shanghai during extreme heat events, using machine learning and an unbiased data-driven approach known as Accumulated Local Effects (ALE).
The study introduces a novel method to quantify UMR by calculating the ratio of bike usage during heat to normal usage in a given spatial unit. A range of physical and socio-economic factors are incorporated into the analysis. Methodologically, LightGBM models are applied to assess UMR in relation to physical and socio-economic systems separately, followed by an integrated model that combines both systems to analyze their joint impact on UMR. The study not only explores the numerical relationships but also examines the spatial distribution patterns of UMR. Results show that the integrated model provides stronger explanatory power, revealing significant coupling between the physical and socio-economic systems in determining UMR.
Key findings include: (1) Resident class significantly impacts UMR of bike-sharing. Affluent residents, who often live in areas with ample greenery and larger housing units, are less reliant on bike-sharing during extreme heat, preferring more comfortable transport modes such as private cars. Conversely, less affluent residents, especially those in areas with low economic activity and high building density, depend more on bike-sharing, even during extreme heat. (2) High-quality and accessible consumption areas positively influence UMR. Areas with high consumption quality, such as popular restaurants, attract more cycling trips even in extreme heat. Urban sub-centers, with their abundant job opportunities and short travel distances, further support high UMR, particularly on hot weekdays, underscoring the role of economic consumption in enhancing urban mobility resilience. (3) Functional facilities, particularly large buildings in densely populated areas, boost UMR by encouraging cycling during heat events. However, old urban areas often suffer from inadequate bike-sharing infrastructure and poor accessibility, which undermine resilience, especially under extreme heat. In areas with high public transport density, competition between bike-sharing and other transport modes may arise, as people tend to opt for walking or public transport in extreme heat. (4) Adequate public spaces play a crucial role in mitigating high urban temperatures, promoting cycling in hot conditions, and enhancing UMR. Parks and well-developed public transport systems are especially beneficial for affluent residents in supporting cycling on weekends. Furthermore, public spaces with cultural or historical significance, such as those in downtown areas, can stimulate bike-sharing usage, benefiting both residents and tourists through accessible, leisure-oriented spaces. (5) Population density plays a crucial role in enhancing UMR. In area with low-rise buildings and larger rental areas, increased population density can promote resilience by fostering a neighborhood atmosphere, which encourages higher bike-sharing usage, particularly on weekends.
To improve UMR, the study suggests enhancing cycling infrastructure, including bike lanes and easily accessible bike-sharing stations, and integrating the bike-sharing system into the broader public mobility network. Urban planning should focus on the balanced distribution of high-quality consumption areas, green spaces, and multifunctional spaces, while optimizing connectivity between cultural hubs and considering building morphology to mitigate heat and enhance comfort. Special attention should be given to regenerating infrastructure in older downtown areas and promoting sustainable mobility in affluent areas. This research provides new insights into the complex mechanisms that influence UMR and offers valuable recommendations for urban governance and climate adaptation strategies.

Speakers: Dr Zeyin Chen (Tongji University), Dr Siying Li (Tsinghua University)

11:20 Beyond the ride: A bike along study on infrastructural factors and determinants influencing the docked bike-sharing experience

Context: Cycling for transportation is increasingly recognised as a core strategy to combat the climate emergency, particularly in urban environments. Over the past few years, bike-sharing services have evolved from novel experiments to integral components of urban transportation networks, offering a flexible and valuable opportunity to attract new users to cycling and promote sustainable mobility as an alternative to traditional modes of transport (Eren & Uz, 2020; Shaheen et al., 2020; Teixeira et al., 2020). These systems, which differ from private bicycles in their shared use, have reshaped the urban landscape by providing a convenient, low-cost transportation option. Their unique dynamics of access, community use, strategic locations, coverage areas, and technological integration present distinct experiences and challenges that clearly differentiate them from private bicycle use, while maintaining the physical form of bicycles (S. Ji et al., 2024). However, the rapid growth in the use of these schemes has exposed critical gaps, such as insufficient cycling infrastructure, system saturation, or poor integration with other transport modes, which continue to hinder their full potential.
Purpose/Methods: By using a mobile methodology, we interviewed 17 docked bike-sharing users in Barcelona to obtain in-depth and context-sensitive information about the environmental factors influencing their perceptions and experiences (Van Cauwenberg et al., 2018). Researchers and participants embarked on a videorecorded cycle trip, during which bike-along interviews were conducted to explore how infrastructure and spatial dimensions shaped riders' experiences. The data was analysed using a dual approach: an inductive content analysis combining thematic analysis of participants’ narratives and video-based observations of their embodied interactions with the urban environment. This comprehensive methodology led to the development of a model encompassing eight key environmental themes, capturing both the subjective experiences of riders and the spatial dynamics shaping their trips.
Results: Our findings reveal that traffic safety - modulated by cycling infrastructure and network connectivity- strongly influences how users of shared bicycles perceive urban spaces. Consistent with previous studies participants in our study exhibited a preference for designated and wide cycling space, ideally separated from motorised traffic, particularly on narrow streets with heavy and speeding traffic. Furthermore, participants reported that features specific to shared bicycles, such as their design and maintenance, notably shaped their riding experience. Beyond the act of cycling itself, our analysis also highlights the importance of often-overlooked stages, such as the bike pick-up and return processes. These moments present spatial and accessibility challenges that could limit the consolidation and expansion of bike-sharing schemes. While larger station capacities are generally associated with improved service access, our findings highlight significant supply shortages during peak demand at high-capacity stations, particularly near major mobility hubs. However, the significance of docked stations in the overall bike-sharing experience extends beyond station capacity and turnover ratios. In particular, the design of the stations emerged as another critical dimension influencing user satisfaction and safety perceptions. Participants expressed concerns about stations located in close proximity to motorised traffic, which were perceived as unsafe; and stations on sidewalks, which were viewed as inconvenient for pedestrians.
Conclusions: This study contributes to ongoing discussions around rethinking urban transport systems to prioritise equity, accessibility, and sustainability. Our findings reveal that subjective safety perceptions, influenced by infrastructure and bicycle design, are as important as objective safety outcomes. Policies should prioritise improving safety on routes identified by bike-sharing users as unsafe, focusing on consistent cycling paths, dedicated infrastructures, and addressing complex traffic challenges. Features like poor signage and confusing.

Speaker: Mr Oriol Roig Costa (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

11:30 Why Cycle Through Rain and Wind? A retrospective exploration of behaviors, attitudes, and habits.

While there is a global push towards active mobility, many regions encounter challenges in achieving successful transformative action. Nonetheless, intriguing exceptions exist, such as in the Netherlands, where individuals adopt active modes like cycling despite adverse weather conditions. This phenomenon suggests that travel decisions are not merely considered decision but also habitual travel choices.

This study utilizes Cognitive Dissonance Theory to examine the complex interplay between attitudes and behaviors that drive individuals in the Netherlands to cycle in challenging weather. The analysis focuses on the attitudes of individuals who hold a positive disposition towards cycling in adverse conditions, highlighting the social and cultural factors that reinforce this attitude. It also examines those who, despite holding negative attitudes, continue to bike frequently in poor weather, revealing the presence of attitude-behavior dissonance and the reasons for the lack of behavioral change. This indicates that people often seek to reduce cognitive effort and decision-making pressure by relying on ingrained routines.

The research uncovers nuanced self-justifications and the ways in which ingrained habits outweigh discomfort, influenced by socio-cultural factors such as cultural symbols, peer pressure, social norms, social media signals, shared values, and habitual behaviors formed during upbringing. These findings emphasize the need to shift the focus of active mobility promotion beyond physical infrastructure, advocating for strategies that are adaptable to local conditions and cultural contexts rather than replicating a single-country or single-culture development model.

Speaker: Ms Ran Zhang (University of Amsterdam)

11:40 Framing micromobility in Flanders (Belgium): an exploratory discourse analysis

The current discourse around mobility transition sits on a spectrum that stretches between decarbonization objectives and inclusionary agendas. As a result, scholarship has argued for a just and equitable transition towards low-carbon modes (Martens, 2017; Sheller, 2018; Schwanen, 2021). In this transition narrative, micromobility is promoted as a sustainable means of transport for short trips. Micromobility can be defined as a class of personal transport vehicles with limited speed, dimensions and capacity (International Transport Forum, 2020). Compared to carbon-based mobility, it offers public health benefits, a carbon emission and air pollution reduction, a potential redistribution of public space and advancements in liveability agendas in general (Cupples and Ridley, 2008; Pucher and Buehler, 2017). An equitable transition towards low-carbon mobility does not only rely on technical innovations, but also on shifts in socially constructed practices and representations (Glachant and Behrendt, 2024). Micromobility is framed and discursively constructed through media representation and communication by policymakers, lobby groups and other organisations. Popular media plays a significant role in presenting mobility transitions to a wider audience. In Flanders (Belgium), as well as in other urbanised parts of the Global North, the introduction of new forms of micromobility, including electrically assisted and shared ones, led to the formation of multiple narratives, either legitimising or delegitimising their existence and use (Petzer, Wieczorek and Verbong, 2020). This paper is therefore structured around three main research questions: 1) How is micromobility framed in popular media? 2) What main discursive narratives can be distinguished? 3) What differences between the narratives of different types of micromobility can be identified? To achieve this, a discourse analysis of articles from mainstream newspapers and media portals published in the Dutch speaking press in Belgium is performed using the Nexis Uni database (Hajer, van den Brink and Metze, 2006; Fairclough, 2013). Articles published between January 2018 and December 2024 are considered because in this period, the rapid introduction of new shared micromobility agents and the growing market share for electrically assisted bicycles led to a spike in popular media coverage. All news outlets target to the Dutch speaking community in Belgium are taken into account to make sure contrasting ideological and political views are included in the analysis. The hypothesis is that e-scooters are perceived in a more negative light than regular bicycles, with a strong emphasis on safety concerns, both for users and their surroundings, as well as the impact on public spaces and the use of bike lanes. It appears that e-scooter users are less positively framed in the media compared to cyclists, which may lead to stricter regulation, reduced allocation of urban space for their use, or even the stigmatisation of their users.

Speaker: Ward Van Hemeledonck (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

11:50 Data-driven prioritising of pedestrian-oriented infrastructure: A framework for resources allocation

Pedestrian-friendly cities are crucial for sustainable urban development, as they prioritise walkability through safe, accessible, and appealing environments that promote healthier lifestyles and reduce reliance on motorised transport. These cities enhance social cohesion, economic activity, and public health by fostering active transportation modes and creating more liveable neighbourhoods. Achieving these outcomes requires a comprehensive understanding of pedestrian behaviour, including movement patterns and influencing factors. Pedestrian-oriented urban strategies contribute to improving health and safety by reducing vehicle-related accidents (Mendzina & Vugule, 2020a; Singhal, 2018; Varsha et al., 2023a), promoting social inclusion and equity (Eledeisy, 2023), and advancing sustainability by prioritising environmentally friendly transport modes (Handy, 2020). Increasingly, governments align these strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals (Singhal, 2018; Jeong et al., 2023; United Nations, n.d.) through effective policies that emphasise pedestrian mobility in public spaces (Reyes-Norambuena et al., 2024). In this context, data-driven analysis of pedestrian movement is vital for improving urban safety, planning, and economic performance, enabling resource prioritisation for impactful micro-level infrastructure improvements.
This paper directly addresses the critical gap in the current application of pedestrian data to strategically guide investment decisions in urban infrastructure. It investigates how data-driven insights can be effectively harnessed to prioritise resource allocation towards historically underserved areas, thereby promoting equity and fostering social justice. Specifically, this research tackles key questions, including: How can granular pedestrian data be used to identify and prioritize areas requiring investment in pedestrian infrastructure? How can such data inform resource allocation decisions to maximise impact? And how well does existing pedestrian infrastructure currently align with observed usage patterns? To address these pressing questions, this study leverages the power of integrated data analysis, combining pedestrian activity data gathered from Wi-Fi sensors with detailed geospatial data on existing pedestrian infrastructure within Loughborough town centre.
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the spatial dynamics of pedestrian movement and infrastructural needs, we classified our analysis into four distinct categories: Underutilised Areas, characterized by high pedestrian traffic coupled with inadequate infrastructure; Neglected Areas, demonstrating low pedestrian activity and a corresponding lack of suitable infrastructure; Effective Support Zones, exhibiting both high pedestrian traffic and robust, well-maintained infrastructure; and Overburdened Areas, struggling with high pedestrian volume that significantly outstrips the capacity of the existing infrastructure. This nuanced classification powerfully demonstrates the superiority of our data-driven analytical framework over traditional, less informed methods. By offering a precise and comprehensive evaluation of the relationship between pedestrian movement and infrastructural provision, this research reveals strategic opportunities to address spatial inequities and foster the creation of more inclusive and equitable urban environments. Specifically, the findings enable the development of targeted and evidence-based resource allocation plans to improve pedestrian infrastructure, focusing particular attention on underserved and overburdened areas. Ultimately, this data-driven approach promotes more equitable, sustainable, and pedestrian-friendly urban environments, leading to demonstrably fairer spatial outcomes and significantly enhanced urban planning decisions.
Keywords: Inclusive Cities, Spatial Equity, Data-Driven Decision Making, Pedestrian Activity, Pedestrian-Oriented Infrastructure.

Speakers: Mr Mohamed shamroukh (School of Architecture, Building & Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, UK. Department of Geography and GIS, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.), Dr Asya Natapov (School of Architecture, Building & Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, UK)

11:00 → 12:30 T_03 MOBILITY (B): Inclusive and socially just mobility I

Convener: Hulya Gilbert

11:00 “I travel because I want to be well”: How daily travel contributes to older adults’ quality of life in Canada

Remaining independent, active, healthy, and mobile is essential for older adults’ quality of life (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2010). However, older people’s ability to maintain their well-being as they age relies on a range of material and social factors (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2010). Research and practice have long focused on developing and implementing quality of life indicators with the goal of centering well-being in decision making (Abou-Zeid, 2009; De Vos et al., 2013; Ettema et al., 2011; Nordbakke & Schwanen, 2014). Tools and methods evaluating people’s subjective well-being have become increasingly popular in the past decades (e.g., Diener et al. (1985); Diener et al. (2010)), and travel is explored as one of the many dimensions that make up this evaluation of well-being (De Vos et al., 2013). This study uses the Aging in Place Survey to examine the factors influencing older adults’ evaluation of the contribution of daily travel on their quality of life in Canada using a mixed-methods approach. The Aging in Place survey is an online bilingual survey conducted by the Transportation Research at McGill (TRAM) group. The survey gathers information on the travel needs and experiences of older adults (65 years and older) across six metropolitan regions in Canada, including Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Halifax, Victoria, and Saskatoon. Multiple recruitment strategies were employed to ensure a large and representative sample as proposed by Dillman et al. (2014). Flyers were distributed at senior and community centers, the survey was advertised on social media and using senior center mailing lists, team members gave newspaper and radio interviews, and additional respondent recruitment was done through Léger, a market research and analytics company specialized in public opinion surveys. Data collection was completed in Winter 2023. The ordered probit model (N = 2,342) for agreement with daily travel contributing positively to their quality of life shows that agreement was higher among older adults who use public transit frequently, enjoy travelling independently, live in walkable areas, and are satisfied with their lives and physical health. In-depth interviews (N = 56) corroborate these quantitative findings and reveal additional considerations such as the importance of walking for mental and physical health, as well as the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults’ travel-related quality of life. In addition to supportive physical and social environments, ensuring adequate transport options are available for their essential needs, leisure activities and the simple pleasure of travelling is key in enhancing older adults’ quality of life now and as they age. The findings improve our grasp of older adults’ conceptualization of their travel’s impact on their quality of life. Though many of the quantitative and qualitative results echo each other, the thematic analysis adds important nuance to the probit model findings and uncovers new dimensions of older adults’ daily travel and associated well-being, supporting the value of using mixed methods to address complex concepts. The results of this study could be of interest to policy makers and community leaders wanting to address the well-being of older adults.

Speakers: Ahmed El-Geneidy, Prof. Jonas De Vos, Ms Meredith Alousi-Jones

11:10 Queer Mobilities: Experiences of Liveability in Barcelona and Implications for Urban Planning

Planning liveable cities involves acknowledging that experiences in the public space are shaped by oppressions and privileges, such as those associated with gender and sexuality. By adopting a feminist and queer perspective, we investigate how sexual diversity affects mobility and, consequently, the access to the city and the well-being of LGBTIQ+ people. Central to this work is the participatory process involving 22 non-binary people and lesbian and bisexual women living in Barcelona.
Through in-depth interviews with people from the LGBTIQ+ community, we asked participants how they feel when walking through the city and what should change for them to feel better. In addition, interviewees drew a ReliefMap, a tool that captures their emotions in different routes and how these feelings intertwine with their unique combination of identities (gender, sexuality, racialisation and age).
Results reveal the emotional journeys of navigating the city as queer, shaped by intersecting oppressions -misogyny, lesbophobia, transphobia or racism- that influence their sense of safety and belonging. Despite experiences of disorientation and fear, participants also identified moments of joy and liberation, particularly when ‘straight’ paths were disregarded. Their insights suggest concrete pathways to ‘queer’ cities in order to build places of greater comfort, visibility and care.
This study, focused on queer wayfinding and place-making, emphasizes the importance of participatory decision-making processes in urban planning. We contribute to the field by understanding of how LGBTIQ+ people navigate cities, often by uncovering new paths and senses of belonging, and propose directions to make their lives more liveable.

Speaker: Mx Jerònia Cubells (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

11:20 Exploring children's active commuting to school and associated social inequalities

Driven mainly by the international decline in walking rates and the recognised health benefits of social and physical activity, research into children's active commuting to and from school has expanded rapidly in recent years. However, the role of parents' backgrounds, socioeconomic conditions, and perceptions of the neighbourhood environment in determining children's active commuting to and from school is not fully understood. We aim to summarise research on determinants and health consequences of children's active commuting to school. We used mixed methods in a sequential approach, starting with an online survey and then interviews with school directors and workshops with parents. The results emphasise the importance of previous cultural and personal experiences, parents' expectations, and their day-to-day lives. Recent social changes, such as housing access, declining birth rates, safety perceptions and increasing after-school activities, may change parental attitudes towards their children's mode of school travel over time. To improve walking to and from school, we believe that new co-creative approaches involving children and parents, stakeholders from health, urban planning and schools are needed to overcome these tendencies and prevent future inequalities.

Speaker: Dr Catarina Cadima (Research Centre for Territory, Transports and Environment (CITTA), University of Porto, Portugal)

11:30 Can On-Demand Transit Systems provide equitable public mobility services? A comparative study in two continents

Sustainable mobility is intrinsically linked to the concept of spatial justice, which refers to the equitable distribution of resources, services, and access, often considered a fundamental human right (Soja 2010). Transport justice is vital to spatial justice, focusing on designing and developing equitable transport systems (Martens 2017). To attain sustainable mobility and transport justice, intensive work on new and innovative mobility solutions is ongoing worldwide. On-demand transit has shown great promise for improving flexibility and accessibility in public transport (Alonso-Gonzalez 2018). Today, on-demand solutions are a key component of future public mobility, where digital applications and seamless digital interfaces contribute to new opportunities for providing on-demand transit. Research, however, argues that there is often a lack of evaluation and follow-up of different initiatives and mobility solutions conducted in various contexts (Berg 2017, Stjernborg and Nilsson 2018). While on-demand transit is proven to increase transit accessibility significantly, its impact on transit equity and equality has been rarely addressed (Hwang, et al. 2024). This study aims to examine, compare, and learn from two On-Demand Transit solutions deployed in different urban and rural contexts on two continents: MARTA Reach in Atlanta and Plusresa in the region of Skåne in southern Sweden.

MARTA Reach was a six-month pilot of an On-Demand Multimodal Public Transit System (ODMTS) in Atlanta that began on March 1, 2022. The aim was to improve accessibility to jobs, healthcare, and healthy food while fostering an equitable and accessible transit system. MARTA Reach combined on-demand vehicles to serve the first/last miles, with high-frequency rail or bus routes to transport commuters on dense, congested corridors. Funded by an NSF CIVIC grant, MARTA Reach was a collaboration between researchers at Georgia Tech and the Metropolitan Atlanta Transit Authority (MARTA). MARTA operated the pilot by arranging for the shuttle fleet and drivers. The researchers at Georgia Tech developed the software technology and the user applications and maintained the backend server. The pilot program was deployed in four zones within Atlanta having distinct demographic characteristics to understand how the benefits of ODTMS would reach a diverse group of transit users.

Plusresa, which started in March 2021 in the region of Skåne, was conceived to provide public transportation for people living in rural areas. Skåne is the southernmost Swedish county, whose county town is Malmö, which is also the third largest city in Sweden. In 2021, Skåne had about 1.4 million inhabitants, with a population density of 124 inhabitants per square kilometer. The population is unevenly distributed, with the largest proportion living in the south-western part of Skåne. North-eastern Skåne, which is the focus of this study, is often noted for its natural resources and sparser habitation geography. The objective of Plusresa was to connect rural areas with major traffic routes with a focus on commuting for work and study, as well as leisure travel for a functional everyday life.

By taking advantage of experiences and reflections on the two solutions, this study aims to contribute to knowledge and strengthen the conditions for innovation within sustainable mobility. The evaluation will particularly focus on issues such as its impact on transit equity and equality, its potential for reducing social and spatial inequalities, and an assess how the needs and preferences of actual users were met. Methods include collection and analysis of documents and other material, interviews with stakeholders and other key persons involved in the two initiatives, and site visits.

Speaker: Prof. Subhro Guhathakurta (Georgia Tech)

11:40 Spatial and social justice “on the street” and “beyond the streets”: reflections on Barcelona’s superblocks

In the context of multiple and overlapping crises at a global level (e.g., ecological and climate change, socioeconomic crises, pandemics, wars), urban space has emerged as a place for experimentation with processes of transformation of city models, of how to live in and move through the city. Many cities have undertaken mobility-related experiments to promote a transition that, by limiting the use of cars in certain areas or neighborhoods, serve to free up and recover public spaces, allocating them to more diversified uses (walking, cycling, etc.) and activities (crossing, passing through, but also meeting and socializing).
Since 2016, Barcelona has also embarked on this path and the municipal government, through the super blocks model (superilles in Catalan, supermanzanas in Spanish), has developed and gradually expanded an experiment of tactical urbanism aimed at reducing traffic in certain neighborhoods of the city by creating zones with preferential pedestrian use. The explicit aim of the project is to recover public space and improve the air quality and health of the population. The super-blocks experiment, which started in the Poble Nou neighborhood and over the years has evolved and been extended to other areas of the city, has triggered opposing reactions and has been the subject of political and recently even legal struggles.
Starting as a theoretical premise from the debates and literatures on spatial justice the right to the city and the concepts of just streets, and considering the super blocks model as an experiment, also political, of constructing a model of mobility and of experiencing public space in a different way, this paper aims to investigate two issues:
First, it analyses the impact “on the street”, of the different versions and practical developments of the superblock model in terms of distributive justice intended as redesigning street spaces to serve all users – walkers, cyclists, public transport, and drivers.
Second, looking “beyond the streets”, it considers the possible side effects of the superblock model with particular attention on housing precarization and gentrification of the areas involved, and on the city as a whole. Through this twofold analysis we suggest that the experiments to build/develop more “just streets” – as the superblocks in Barcelona – should not consider “just the streets” and look beyond the streets to prevent the risks of rising housing costs – and therefore housing precarity – and gentrification.

Speaker: Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone

11:50 Travel Characteristic of Elderly People in Towns of Shanghai Metropolitan Area: An Urban-Rural Mobility Network Analysis

With the worsening of low fertility and ageing in China, the proportion of elderly people is gradually increasing, and the government is placing greater emphasis on addressing the social needs of the elderly. In the Shanghai metropolitan area, Shanghai is the first city in China to experience population ageing, with the highest degree. Some cities, such as Nantong, have also entered a severely ageing society. The travel needs of the elderly are increasing, so building an age-friendly and inclusive society has become a key focus in urban planning.

Current research on the travel behaviour characteristics of elderly people mostly concentrated in cities, with less attention paid to rural elderly people. In towns that serve as a link between urban and rural areas, due to the frequent out-migration of young labour forces, there is a large number of elderly people left behind. The elderly in these areas face more complex geographical, social and transportation conditions when travelling. Compared with cities that are rich in various resources, the elderly in towns deserve more attention, which is also an aspect that should be taken into account in building an inclusive society. With the development of mobile signalling data, it has become possible to analyze the travel characteristics of rural elderly people, which also provides a basis for the government to allocate urban and rural resources and build elderly-friendly towns rationally.

This study employed network analysis methods, integrating mobile signalling and traffic travel survey data. By constructing urban-rural and rural-rural population mobility networks, it deeply explored the spatial distribution characteristics of the travel frequency, distance, duration, and destinations of the elderly aged 65 and above in rural areas during their daily lives. It also investigated the relationship between these features and towns' economic and social development and summarised the main influencing factors. The research found that the elderly's travel mainly focuses on short-distance and regular daily life needs, such as medical visits, shopping, and visiting family and friends. In towns, elderly people's mobility is more limited, with a small travel radius and low frequency. However, for some elderly people with specific medical needs or whose children live in urban areas, the frequency of cross-regional travel has increased. In terms of travel modes, rural elderly people generally rely on public transportation, with less use of private cars, and this is closely related to their age and health conditions. Regarding influencing factors, this study analyzed the impact of economic conditions, transportation facilities, and social support on the travel of the elderly. In towns with higher economic levels, the travel frequency and range of the elderly are relatively larger. However, elderly people in less developed towns face problems such as inconvenient transportation and limited medical resources, which makes their travel more dependent on social support and family care. The differences in travel patterns among different towns also reflect the quality of life gap among the elderly in different regions and suggest that in future urban planning, more attention should be paid to the travel needs of the elderly in towns and the areas at the urban-rural interface.

This study provides a clearer understanding of the spatial mobility and cross-regional interaction of elderly people's travel, revealing the special needs and behavioural patterns of the elderly group in towns. The travel characteristics of elderly people in towns are influenced by multiple factors and show complex spatial distribution and social network effects. In the future, the government should carry out differentiated planning according to the characteristics of the elderly groups in different regions to build an inclusive society and cope with the challenges of ageing.

Speaker: Ms Ge Wan (College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Tongji University, Shanghai, China)

11:00 → 12:30 T_04 GOVERNANCE (A): Transnational and cross-border planning

Convener: Simin Yan (Institute of Geography, Heidelberg University & Institute of Urban Development, Kassel University)

11:00 Establishing the foundations for a Transnational Network for Integrated Spatial Planning. Preliminary efforts and insights

Planning cities and communities is a rather complex matter, encompassing different dimensions and aspects (urban, transport, environmental, etc.). The traditional approaches dealt with these aspects in isolation, thus ignoring interdisciplinary effects and interactions. In contrast, recent approaches prioritise integrated solutions that holistically deal with urban space. To that end, there is a compelling need to promote initiatives that bring “Integrated Planning” to the forefront. In this context, this study aspires to establish the foundations for fostering an Integrated Network that brings together various stakeholders including individuals and organisations/associations. This network will be a conglomerate of local communities comprising diverse members (policy, academia, civic society and planners) that will cooperate and share knowledge. Herein, Integrated Planning is defined as a concept entailing Urban, Mobility, Participatory and Evidence-based planning and “integration” is envisioned under a threefold framework: a) Discipline-based, b) Method-based and c) Role-based.
However, when it comes to establishing such a holistic and diverse network, a robust conceptual framework outlining the organisational model and the basic principles should be developed. Furthermore, successful and active networks necessitate “room” for allowing their members interact and exchange experiences and insights. Finally, a transnational, cross-cultural and cross-sectoral community shall be based on a participatory learning approach, fostering inclusivity and strong bonds between the members. Bearing upon those key points, this presentation will focus on the activities performed to articulate a coherent Charter entailing the vision, mission, and strategic objectives of this Network. More specifically, this Charter will detail the governance structure, roles, and responsibilities of various stakeholders, and establish clear protocols for decision-making processes. Next, this presentation will also demonstrate the “Virtual Knowledge Hub” consisting of a Wiki-Repository and an Open Learning Platform that is addressed to multiple target groups such as academics, students, learners, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, local administrators, etc. Last but not least, there will be a brief description of the Participatory approach guide, a step-by-step guide with material and resources that will horizontally run all activities of the Network, to promote inclusion and democratic participation in all Network’s activities and especially in the knowledge co-creation and sharing process.
Through establishing a robust conceptual and organisational framework, this research study will lay the proper ground for a Transnational Network for Integrated Spatial Planning destined to promote “Integrated Planning”. Apparently, this endeavour represents the first attempt to establish such a network, clearly oriented toward fostering “Integrated Planning”. Although challenging, this initiative would be very crucial for all aspects of planning, i.e., research projects, planning schemes, educational activities, and civic engagement, going beyond traditional approaches and embracing a new planning culture. This Network is expected to be a platform for intermingling different voices related to planning and a game-changer towards sustainability and inclusivity.

Speaker: Mr Yannis Paraskevopoulos (Department of Geography and Regional Planning, National Technical University of Athens)

202050709_InPlaLabs@AESOP2025_v4.pdf

202050709_InPlaLabs@AESOP2025_v4.pptx

11:10 Territorial Governance across borders – the Example of the Greater Region

Spatial planning, understood as “measures [taken] to develop models of a desirable, ideal state of the space and to create the conditions for its realization” (Turowski, 2005, p. 894) traditionally stops at the national border, its scope of action and the competences of spatial planners are legally bound to a nation state and its planning system. However, more and more cross-border functional soft spaces have developed across national borders. Furthermore, exercising political decisions with territorial implications in the vicinity of national borders often influences the neighbouring country’s territory. Cross-border cooperation and territorial cohesion are actively promoted and supported by the European Union (EU) (e.g., by financial incentives offered by the Interreg programme). To contribute to the EU’s objectives and be more efficient it is necessary to apply a place-based approach of territorial governance as defined by Van Well and Schmitt (2015, 211f.) to functional places that span across national borders. The increasing need to harmonize and coordinate spatial development in border areas is particularly relevant against the backdrop of increasing interdependencies in the above mentioned cross-border functional areas. Several cross-border regions, e.g., the Greater Region SaarLorLux +, have attempted to supplement and coordinate national policies and programmes of neighbouring countries with cross-border spatial development concepts to contribute to a more efficient spatial development (cf. Bechtold et al., 2020). Cross-border cooperation in the domain of spatial development encompasses a multitude of stakeholders and institutions from various policy sectors and territorial specificities. A complex and ambitious project – even more so than a similar process within a single nation state – it needs to be coordinated through territorial governance. Thus, this difficult task is both time-consuming and costly (Caesar and Pallagst, 2018, p. 24; Nienaber, 2018, p. 175). It is likely that different national planning cultures clash during the coordination and development of policy processes (cf. Caesar and Evrard, 2020). In addition to explicit elements, like individual spatial planning systems and legal regulations, planning cultures comprise many implicit elements such as societal values that are difficult to grasp and address but strongly influence spatial planning practice and territorial governance across borders.
This contribution highlights territorial governance in the context of cross-border spatial development. Firstly, the concept of territorial governance is contextualised in the cross-border setting based on scientific literature. Particularly, the European Union’s (EU) conceptual understanding of functional areas, cross-border interdependencies and the place-based approach are illuminating the need for spatial planning and territorial governance across-borders. This is accompanied by examples from the Greater Region SaarLorLux +. This cross-border region, also known as Großregion/ Grande Region encompasses territories of France, Belgium and Germany as well as the country of Luxembourg. Secondly, the authors dig deeper into the reasons for and characteristics of territorial governance when applied in a cross-border context. These remarks are proved with examples of the Greater Region that started its coordination attempts several years ago and recently finalized a spatial development concept. The last section concludes with a definition of territorial governance across borders and discusses its significance and challenges to come up with ideas to overcome them at the end.

Speakers: Dr Beate Caesar (University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU)), Prof. Karina Pallagst (University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU))

11:20 Coastal Governance in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: A comparative analysis of Spatial Planning Systems and Integrated Coastal Zone Management implementation

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is an essential tool for ensuring sustainability and effective governance in coastal areas, particularly in regions facing high anthropogenic pressure and environmental vulnerabilities and uncertainties such as the Adriatic-Ionian Region. However, the implementation of its principles and recommendations still shows great difficulties.

This study conducts a preliminary comparative analysis of coastal planning systems in seven Adriatic-Ionian countries—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia—within the framework of the ICZM Protocol in the Mediterranean.

The research aims to explore how the selected countries have engaged with the Protocol, analyzing both ratification status and subsequent actions. Through a comparison of national responses—whether through direct Protocol implementation or alternative coastal management strategies—the study reveals patterns of convergence and divergence in coastal policy approaches. This comparative analysis yields insights into effective coastal governance practices across the Adriatic-Ionian Region.

The study employs a comparative methodology based on seven case studies, providing a tentative evaluation of policy documents, legal frameworks, and spatial planning instruments related to coastal zone management. It also examines the key actors and stakeholders involved in decision-making processes, emphasizing their role in shaping coastal governance.

The preliminary findings highlight the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable integrated coastal management in the Adriatic-Ionian Region, contributing to the broader discourse on coastal governance and the influence of international legal frameworks on national policy development. The study also provides recommendations for future research and reflects on the prospects for greater integration and coordination among coastal planning systems in the Adriatic-Ionian Region.

Speaker: Giulia Motta Zanin (Polytechnic University of Bari)

11:30 Cross-Border Data Management: Enhancing Collaboration and Sustainable Development in Border Regions

Border regions, often characterized by unique socio-economic dynamics and shared governance challenges, require robust data management systems to foster cross-border collaboration and sustainable development. This research investigates the purpose and implementation of data management practices in border regions of different countries, focusing on their potential to address cross-border challenges and leverage opportunities for growth.
The study adopts a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative analysis of governance frameworks with quantitative assessment of spatial, demographic, and socio-economic datasets from selected border regions. Key objectives include identifying barriers to data sharing, understanding the impact of legal and technical discrepancies, and exploring innovative solutions to enhance data interoperability and standardization.
Principal results reveal significant challenges in data management stemming from disparities in legal systems, technological infrastructure, and data governance policies. These factors hinder efficient data sharing and joint decision-making among cross-border stakeholders. However, case studies demonstrate that emerging technologies, such as geographic information systems, blockchain, and big data analytics, can bridge these gaps by enabling integrated data platforms. Stakeholder engagement and capacity-building initiatives were found to play a crucial role in overcoming institutional and technical barriers.
Analysis of recent research underscores the relevance of data management to cross-border governance. Xue et al. (2024) emphasize the importance of cross-border interactions in advancing sustainable development, highlighting the role of collaborative data management in achieving global sustainability goals. Krüger et al. (2024) propose a framework for cross-border governance, identifying critical factors such as institutional alignment and shared data systems, which support this research’s focus on governance improvement. Kurowska-Pysz et al. (2018) examine sustainable planning strategies for cross-border cooperation, advocating for enhanced spatial data integration and collaboration between border cities. Leibenath (2008) offers theoretical insights into the gaps in cross-border governance and spatial development, underscoring the need for robust data-sharing protocols and interoperable technologies to bridge these divides.
The research concludes that effective data management in border regions not only facilitates sustainable development but also strengthens governance by enabling informed policymaking, efficient resource allocation, and enhanced social cohesion. Recommendations include the development of standardized data-sharing protocols, investment in interoperable technologies, and the establishment of cross-border data governance frameworks. These measures are essential for transforming data into a strategic asset for border region development and integration.

Speaker: Dr Oleksii Yehorchenkov (SPECTRA Centre of Excellence EU at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava)

11:40 Patterns of establishing and conducting cross-border cooperation: Insights from Poland's borderlands

Border areas exhibit unique characteristics in the formation of cooperative relationships, influenced by the interplay of international and national conditions at central, regional, and local levels. Additionally, the existence of the border as a barrier in many dimensions, including spatial, economic, socio-cultural, plays a very strong role. Under these conditions, the initiation and subsequent continuation of cooperation are critical elements. The purpose of the study was to identify patterns (paths) in establishing and maintaining relations as well as formulating the scope of joint projects undertaken within the framework of cross-border cooperation. Specific objectives included identifying approaches to forming project consortia, defining the project scope, understanding the rationale for continuing joint activities, and identifying the characteristics of an 'ideal' cooperation partner. This study is embedded in the cooperation studies pursued in the context of cross-border multi-level governance. The results obtained are intended to support the governance policies of cross-border areas and the exploitation of their potentials.
The spatial scope of the analysis covered all land borders of Poland, including the internal borders of the EU and the Schengen Zone (with Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, and Lithuania) and the external ones (with Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia), which are excellent examples of bordering and debordering processes. Additionally, the studied borderlands, understood as areas on both sides of the Polish border, are characterized by great diversity due to environmental, economic, and cultural features.
Mix Method Approach was used. Thus, a two-stage exploratory sequential research design included quantitative data analysis of 1577 cross-border projects and 2307 organizations that implemented them as well as 26 in-depth interviews with selected entities (using content analysis). Projects implemented under the European Territorial Cooperation 2007-2013, the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument 2007-2013, Interreg 2014-2020 and the European Neighborhood Instrument 2014-2020 were taken into account.

Speaker: Sylwia Dołzbłasz (University of Wrocław)

11:50 Beyond Formal Structures: The Role of Institutionalised Support Centres in Cross-border Cooperation Governance in Italy

The European Union has witnessed a significant evolution in cross-border cooperation governance in recent years, encompassing various institutional mechanisms and arrangements. Interreg programs, Macroregional strategies, the b-solutions project, and more complex institutional cooperation structures such as Euroregions and European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) demonstrate that the territorial collaboration landscape has become increasingly articulated and mature. With its strategic geographical position, Italy participates in numerous cross-border initiatives along its Alpine and maritime borders, highlighting the growing importance of institutionalized cooperation frameworks.
While research has extensively analysed formal cooperation structures and their legal frameworks, the role of support organizations and informal networks in facilitating cross-border cooperation remains understudied. These entities, including cross-border information centres, civil society organizations, and advisory bodies, operate as binational or multinational non-profit organizations. They are characterized by their cross-border focus, institutionalized nature, and advisory function supporting the Four Freedoms of the European Single Market, serving as vital intermediaries between different levels of territorial governance.
This paper examines the interaction between formal cooperation structures and support institutions in Italian cross-border regions through a multidisciplinary approach, combining a taxonomic analysis of existing realities in the national case with specific case studies. The research investigates how these organizations support cross-border cooperation in three key areas: strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and administrative and cultural barrier reduction. The study explores the contribution of various institutions, including Euradria in the Italian Slovenian context, ARGE ALP in the Alpine area, the TEIN network, and research centers such as Eurac and Informest.
The findings reveal that support organizations are crucial facilitators for successful cross-border cooperation, particularly in providing information, technical assistance, and stakeholder coordination. The analysis of Italian cases demonstrates their significant contribution to overcoming administrative, cultural, and operational barriers that often hinder cross-border initiatives. Furthermore, the research highlights how these organizations enhance EU cohesion policy implementation by providing specialized expertise and facilitating multilevel governance processes. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of cross-border governance mechanisms beyond more formal and institutional frameworks. It provides evidence-based recommendations for strengthening the institutional framework of cross-border cooperation, ultimately improving the effectiveness of European territorial integration.

Speaker: Dr Marco Del Fiore (Politecnico di Torino)

12:00 Introducing a Method for Measuring the Geographic Boundaries and Advantageous Potential Functions of the Wuhan-Xianning Cross-Border Urban Cooperation Zone ——An Investigation of an Emerging Regional Unit in the Adjacent Areas Between Chinese Cities

With the rollout of China's national strategy promoting metropolitan area integration, a plethora of urban planning practices spanning administrative boundaries are flourishing across the country, sparking considerable academic interest in a novel type of intercity adjacent regional unit—which we designate as "cross-border urban cooperation zones." The main contribution of this paper lies in addressing the gap in existing literature regarding methodologies for delineating the geographical scope and boundaries of cross-border urban cooperation zones and forecasting their potential advantageous functions. Using Wuhan, the largest metropolis in central China, and its neighboring city of Xianning as a case study, the research leverages land-use data, corporate data, socio-economic data, mobile phone signaling data, and transportation data. By employing social network analysis, GIS spatial analysis and spatial statistics, as well as landscape pattern index methods, the paper not only devises a "four-dimensional, three-step" framework for identifying the geographical scope and boundaries of cross-border urban cooperation zones but also formulates a calculation method for assessing their potential advantageous functions, rooted in potential indicators, evaluation matrices, and advantage indices. Through these methodologies, the study successfully outlines a 384.8 square kilometer Wuhan-Xianning cross-border cooperation zone, analyzes the divergent land-use growth patterns and population dynamics on either side of the administrative boundary, portrays the natural environmental features of a major lake straddling the two cities, unveils the spatial distribution of manufacturing zones, residential areas, cultural and tourism spaces, and agricultural/forestry lands within the cooperation zone, and highlights the road and railway infrastructure of the cross-border cooperation zone situated at a pivotal node of a regional transportation corridor. Additionally, the paper forecasts the region's most promising future functions in terms of ecological landscape, technological innovation, and healthcare and wellness services. Consequently, the paper conceives a comprehensive spatial planning blueprint for the sustainable development of the region, emphasizing the pivotal roles of ecological connectivity, clustering of scientific research and industries, and the enhancement of healthcare and sports facilities. The research findings will be partially incorporated into the implementation of the upcoming version of Wuhan metropolitan area's territorial spatial planning.

Speaker: Prof. Zhuoran SHAN (School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

11:00 → 12:30 T_04 GOVERNANCE (B): Participation and inclusion

Convener: Mehmet Penpecioglu (Izmir Institute of Technology)

11:00 Innercity redevelopment - processes, instruments and stakeholders in German cities (insights from the research accompanying the federal program)

The federal program “Sustainable inner cities and centers” supports measures in 218 municipalities across Germany in large cities, medium-sized and small towns and rural communities. The aim of the program is to support cities and municipalities in overcoming acute and structural problems (“desertification”) in city centers, town centers and district centers by (further) developing them into multifunctional, resilient and cooperative places as places of identification for the municipality. The range of topics that the municipalities focus on with their projects is accordingly very diverse. It ranges from work, housing, education, leisure and social issues to urban development, open spaces and green areas, and digitalization. In addition, many municipalities are involved in strategy development, participation formats and cooperation in the form of establishing and strengthening (new) stakeholder constellations. The presentation presents selected findings from the research accompanying the federal program. The developments between the initial situation and the end of funding (approx. 4 years), success factors, obstacles and special features can be presented from the database, which records and evaluates indicators, the exchange at the network meetings with the municipalities and the visits to the municipalities with interviews with the key players.
Two overarching themes emerge: A central key to strengthening city centers and town centers lies in a balanced mix and diversity of uses. It has been shown that particularly diverse centers with an attractive mix of consumer-oriented and non-consumer-oriented locations react to structural change in a crisis-proof and resilient manner. Accordingly, city centers and town centers are now being used by many local authorities as test areas and real laboratories to counteract a possible one-sided usage structure, increase the quality of stay and length of stay and spread the sense of responsibility across many shoulders. Against this backdrop, “third places” and the cultural and creative industries are becoming increasingly important as drivers of (inner) urban development. What almost all activities have in common is that they want to generate added value from the diversity of uses, which benefits all stakeholders and ensures a vibrant city center or a lively center with a high quality of stay for the citizens. Those responsible have realized that inner city development is a joint task and that a new building and planning culture is needed to implement the numerous ideas and achieve the objectives: involving all stakeholders, the already established inner city players as well as new groups that have rarely been represented in inner city development to date. Volunteers, multipliers and advocates as well as steering instruments such as city center management were key players in this process.
From an urban planning and open space perspective, the highly sealed inner cities also need to become green, healthy and climate-resilient against the backdrop of climate change, demographic change and the mobility transition - this is being tackled in the municipalities.

Speakers: Alexandra Hessmann (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Prof. Silke Weidner (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

11:10 Co-Creating Just Energy Transitions with Vulnerable Communities: Lessons from Local and Regional Energy and Regeneration Policies

The success of energy transitions depends not only on technological advancements and funding mechanisms but also on the ability of local and regional policies to effectively engage communities. Just energy transition requires special attention to disadvantaged communities’ needs and capacities for transformation.

Despite increasing policy attention, marginalised neighbourhoods often face systemic barriers to participation, limiting their influence on decision-making and access to the benefits of energy and revitalisation initiatives. This paper examines how urban governance, stakeholder engagement strategies, and funding frameworks can foster more inclusive transitions by empowering underrepresented communities.

Using an in-depth case study of Wroclaw (a city which, on one hand, struggles with immense pollution and has an aspiration to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 as one of the EU’s Mission Cities, on the other), supplemented by insights from other European cities, this research explores different practices of community participation in energy transition and urban regeneration. It focuses on how local governments, civil society, and private actors co-develop solutions with residents in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The study employs a qualitative comparative approach, combining policy analysis, interviews with key stakeholders (municipal authorities, NGOs, and community groups), and spatial mapping of neighbourhood transformation.

Findings reveal that while multiple funding streams support energy and revitalisation projects, they often fail to reach those most in need due to bureaucratic complexities, lack of community awareness, and insufficient participatory mechanisms. The paper argues for a governance model that prioritises inclusive co-creation, knowledge transfer, and long-term stakeholder collaboration. Building on theories of energy justice (Jenkins et al., 2016), participatory urban governance (Healey, 1998), and social innovation in sustainability transitions (Avelino et al., 2019), the study proposes a framework for strengthening multi-level governance and grassroots involvement in policy implementation.

The research contributes to the discourse on inclusive urban transitions by highlighting best practices and challenges from European cities. It offers policy recommendations to enhance the role of disadvantaged communities in shaping local and regional sustainability agendas.

Speaker: Dr Kasia Piskorek (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology)

11:20 Community infrastructure in regional Australia: the impact of community hubs and recreational facilities on social connection, place attachment, and resilience

This research explores the role and social value of community infrastructure (McShane, 2006; McShane & Coffey, 2022) in regional Victoria, Australia in fostering social connections and place attachment, enhancing community resilience, and promoting psychological well-being. While facilities such as community hubs and recreational facilities serve as vital hubs for social cohesion, their governance models significantly shape their accessibility, inclusivity, and purpose. Urban planners must critically evaluate these spaces beyond their role as public facilities, acknowledging their potential to perpetuate social inequalities or foster community resilience depending on their ownership and operational frameworks. This exploration highlights the need for nuanced planning approaches to balance community needs with governance complexities. It compares community infrastructure facilities operated by not-for-profit organisations, developers, and councils in Torquay and Armstrong Creek in Geelong, with the view for potential expansion to other locations and types of infrastructure.

The study has two main viewpoints: assessing the effectiveness of specific community infrastructure facilities in building social connections among community members and exploring whether social connection was considered as an outcome in the planning and design of these facilities. The research examines facilities delivered by not-for-profit organisations, developers, and a local government. It begins with community recreational facilities in Torquay operated by a not-for-profit model operated by Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV), then compares it with a developer built and operated community centre in Armstrong Creek built by Villawood Properties using a body corporate model, and a council model in the same local government area of City of Greater Geelong. The findings could inform government policy on community infrastructure in growth areas and regional contexts.

The research employs case study methods involving context analysis of the facilities to understand their design and context, semi-structured interviews with community members who use the facilities, and interviews with RACV, Villawood, and council staff (architects, designers, urban planners, and community planners). The interviews explore the levels of social connection developed using the facilities and analyse the importance of these facilities in facilitating this outcome. Additionally, the research analyses the different business models and considerations used by the various community infrastructure providers and explores whether social connection was an explicit outcome in the planning and design of the facilities, considering any implications for policy to improve outcomes.

This research investigates the relationship between community infrastructure, social connection, psychological well-being, and resilience, offering evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and planners. It emphasises the importance of social outcomes in designing and planning such facilities, advocating for investment to strengthen social cohesion and resilience across regional, urban, and growth areas. The comparative approach provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of various strategies, with potential applications in diverse geographic contexts, including urban transformation settings. Additionally, the study highlights the critical role of governance and operational frameworks in ensuring equitable access and inclusivity in community infrastructure.

This study, therefore, not only highlights the significance of community infrastructure in regional Australia but also provides a framework adaptable to other regions and countries, contributing to global discussions on urban planning and community development.

Speaker: Dr Suzanne Barker (Monash University)

11:30 The Forgotten Refugees: Reframing Urbanization and Governance in Shagarab Camps, Eastern Sudan

Refugee camps are established to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced populations (UNHCRa, 2022) and originally are intended as temporary spaces until durable solutions—repatriation, local integration, or resettlement—are achieved (UNHCRb, 2022). However, over time, many transform into protracted settlements, undergoing significant changes (Turner, 2015). The complex realities of prolonged displacement and settlement are often overlooked, as governance frameworks and planning approaches remain rooted in their original temporary designation (Agier, 2002; Jansen, 2018). Increasingly, scholars argue that such protracted camps develop urban-like characteristics, emphasizing the need to reframe refugee camps as dynamic urban spaces that require innovative and adaptive governance strategies (Dalal, 2015; Dalal, 2022; Oyler, 2024).
Within this context, this research investigates the potential for refugee camps to evolve into urban spaces and examines governance strategies, using the Shagarab camps in Eastern Sudan as a case study. Established in 1984, the camps hosted over 60,000 refugees—primarily from Eritrea—by 2022, with numbers increasing to nearly 75,000 by 2024 (UNHCR, 2022; 2024). Despite their long history, academic research on the development and governance of these camps remains limited. This study addresses this gap by analyzing their transformation and governance dynamics.
To address the research aim, I first developed a conceptual framework based on existing studies on camp urbanization, incorporating the concepts of the "Virtual City," "Camp City," and "Accidental City" (Montclos & Kagwanja, 2000; Agier, 2002; Jansen, 2018). This framework examines the social, spatial, and economic transformations within the camp. Second, I analyzed the stakeholders and influencers involved in camp governance to evaluate whether existing governance frameworks effectively manage the camps.
Employing a qualitative case study approach, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 government officials, NGO workers, and refugee workers, along with structured interviews with 20 households. These interviews were further supplemented by participant observation, offering deeper insights into daily life, governance practices, and camp dynamics. Data collection occurred during two visits in June 2022.
The findings reveal that the Shagarab camps exhibit clear signs of urbanization. Refugees have formed enduring communities that surpass the population size of nearby towns and meet national urban agglomeration criteria. Temporary emergency tents have been replaced with durable shelters, vibrant marketplaces serve as trading hubs for surrounding areas, and refugees have diversified their livelihoods. Despite limited infrastructure, the camps demonstrate a level of development that compares favorably with their neighboring regions. This research, therefore, conceptualizes refugees as active agents of change and resilience, driven by their adaptability and determination to thrive, rather than as passive victims of displacement.
While the Shagarab camps exhibit clear signs of urbanization, their governance remains rooted in temporary frameworks. At the national level, refugees face restrictive policies, including mandatory camp residence, which undermine their potential for self-reliance. In 2019, Sudan pledged at the Global Refugee Forum to integrate refugees into national systems and promote self-reliance, but economic and political instability in the country continue to hinder implementation.
Similarly, despite UNHCR’s Development Assistance for Refugees (DAR) (UNHCR, 2005) initiative, which promotes development-based approaches, decisions by the Sudanese representative (COR9) and UNHCR remain temporary. Services are planned under the assumption of eventual camp closure or refugee repatriation, limiting investment in permanent infrastructure and long-term solutions for self-reliance.
This study critiques the "permanent temporary" state of refugees, where their contributions to urbanization—economic, social, and spatial—are unsupported by governance structures that enable integration. It emphasizes the urgent need for governance frameworks and policies to shift from temporary humanitarian responses to development-focused approaches that address the realities of prolonged displacement and meet refugees' long-term needs.

Speaker: Ms Hiba Karam

11:40 Shaping Age-Friendly Communities: Towards More Inclusive Participation of Older Adults in Neighbourhood Planning

Population ageing is one of the major challenges facing cities today. As life expectancy continues to rise faster than healthy life expectancy, it poses challenges for the built environment in supporting older adults' lives. Driven by the growing importance of social ecological and gerontological theories on how the environments significantly influence older adults’ health, mobility, and social engagement—and considering the challenges faced by this demographic—several strategies and policies, particularly the World Health Organisation’s Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (WHO AFCCs) initiative, have been implemented to address the specific needs of older adults (Lawton and Nahemow, 1973; Lui et al., 2009).

The AFCCs initiative has generated a global response, raising awareness among planners of the potential for involving older adults in urban planning and community regeneration strategies (Buffel et al., 2014). While the physical environment and outdoor spaces are recognised as core areas in the AFCCs' eight dimensions, much of the relevant literature appears in gerontology and health policy journals rather than urban planning and design publications, highlighting the need for further research into spatial interventions (Salmistu and Kotval, 2023).

In recent years, planning discourse has shifted significantly from a top-down approach to a more communicative style. This shift emphasises the importance of including diverse voices in planning processes to create inclusive environments for all age groups. Active participation of older adults in community planning is essential, not only to improve their quality of life but also to safeguard their rights in urban spaces and foster age-friendly environments. However, research on age-friendly community planning remains insufficient, particularly in varied local contexts (Atkins, 2019).

In the UK, Neighbourhood Planning (NP), introduced by the Localism Act 2011 as a collaborative, community-level planning initiative, offers older residents opportunities to influence local planning discussions and promote more inclusive and age-friendly outcomes. However, ensuring the meaningful inclusion of older adults in NP faces considerable challenges. These arise from demographic, individual, and community environmental factors affecting older people’s social participation (Townsend, Chen and Wuthrich, 2021) and barriers inherent in the NP participation process itself (Brookfield, 2017). Despite these challenges, the factors influencing older adults’ participation in NP and strategies for improvement remain underexplored.

This research aims to identify and categorise the factors that influence older adults’ (aged 65 and above) participation in NP and to explore innovative and inclusive engagement approaches to encourage their involvement. It adopts a mixed-methods approach, incorporating quantitative data from surveys and qualitative data from interviews conducted at two levels: nationally across England and through a case study in Leeds.

Findings reveal how personal level factors, community level factors, and NP process-related factors influence older adults’ participation. Key factors include health and age-related constraints, socio-economic conditions, attitudes towards ageing, trust in the planning system, and challenges in planning competence and coordination, etc.

Additionally, innovative strategies to encourage older adults’ participation in NP are explored. These include the use of artist impressions and exhibitions to simplify planning concepts, creative outreach methods such as art projects and multilingual engagement, and trust-building activities. Community engagement officers played a pivotal role in implementing these approaches to involve marginalised groups, including older adults and culturally diverse residents.

By identifying barriers and proposing inclusive practices, this study contributes to fostering a more age-friendly planning participation process, enabling older adults to actively participate in shaping their community environments.

Speaker: Ms Xinyue Dong (The University of Manchester)

11:50 Participatory Urban Planning for Sustainable Urban Regeneration: Insights from a Case Study in Korea

Participatory urban planning has emerged as an essential approach to addressing urban decline and fostering sustainable development. This study examines South Korea’s Majeon Urban Regeneration Special Program, implemented in Majeon Village, Geumsan County, as a case study to assess the effectiveness and limitations of participatory planning in the Korean context. By analyzing planning and implementation processes, this research aims to derive insights applicable to both South Korea and broader international urban planning practices.
The study employed qualitative research methods, including collaborative workshops and focus group interviews (FGIs) with key stakeholders such as local residents, municipal authorities, public institutions, urban planning experts, and a local university. The results demonstrate that participatory planning in South Korea can generate democratic and context-specific urban design proposals by employing a phased approach and clearly defined stakeholder roles. Collaboration with a local university significantly improved the feasibility and quality of design proposals, while community engagement fostered social capital and economic revitalization. However, critical challenges were identified, including weak institutional support, inconsistent citizen engagement in later phases, and insufficient implementation strategies.
To contextualize the Korean case within a global framework, this study compares the Majeon Urban Regeneration Special Program with international participatory planning models, including Germany’s Integrated Urban Development Concept (ISEK), Japan’s Machizukuri, and the Community-Based Planning framework in the United States. Germany’s ISEK model highlights the necessity of institutionalized participatory planning, where local governments facilitate early citizen engagement while ensuring professional expertise in later stages. Japan’s Machizukuri model underscores the role of sustained community cooperation, fostering long-term resident involvement through locally embedded governance structures. The U.S. Community-Based Planning framework demonstrates the benefits of tailored, bottom-up approaches that integrate local knowledge into urban design.
The comparative analysis suggests that while South Korea’s participatory planning approach has demonstrated strengths in democratic decision-making and collaborative design, it requires stronger institutional backing to ensure long-term sustainability. The study recommends policy measures such as legal frameworks that mandate citizen participation from the early planning stages, localized support networks to enhance community engagement, and standardized models for university-community collaboration. Additionally, the establishment of sustainable resident councils, similar to Japan’s Machizukuri, could provide a mechanism for ongoing citizen involvement beyond the initial planning phases.
This research contributes to the global urban planning discourse by emphasizing the need for context-specific participatory planning frameworks that balance top-down institutional support with bottom-up community engagement. By strengthening the implementation mechanisms of participatory urban regeneration, South Korea can enhance the effectiveness of its urban renewal policies while offering insights applicable to other socio-cultural contexts worldwide.

Speaker: Dr Jiah Lee (Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy)

11:00 → 12:30 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (A): GHG Emissions and Climate Mitigation in Cities

Convener: Francesco Musco (Iuav University of Venice)

11:00 Analysis of the relationship between changes in greenhouse gas impacts due to changes in urban form in sub-regions of Korea

Urban forms change as a result of economic growth and transformations aimed at maximizing economic and social benefits. In this context, the role and importance of cities that incorporate the concept of sustainable development as practical solutions to enhance the social and physical value of regions have been emphasized. As interest in sustainable and carbon-neutral cities grows due to the climate crisis, the demand for sustainable urban forms has increased. This highlights the need for growth and changes in urban spatial structures from an environmental perspective. It is therefore necessary to examine the impacts of these changes to identify environmentally favorable urban transformations. A review of previous studies reveals that understanding urban forms requires analytical methods that consider spatial similarities and interactions through density clustering and dispersion patterns among regions. However, existing methods for identifying urban centrality and measuring urban forms often fail to adequately explain spatial interactions and autocorrelation.
Moreover, most studies analyzing the effects of urban forms on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have focused on emissions from specific sectors as dependent variables. However, it is critical to examine the impacts of urban form changes on total energy consumption and GHG emissions. Therefore, there is a need for research that comprehensively investigates the structural and emission characteristics of cities using total regional emissions as the dependent variable, rather than emissions from specific sectors. The primary objective of this study is to examine the environmental impacts of monocentric and polycentric transformations in urban forms. Specifically, this study aims to measure urban form changes and analyze their effects on GHG emissions. The study utilizes employment data as the basis for spatial analysis to identify urban centers. To ensure detailed analysis, individual index values were used to assess urban forms and determine the degree of polycentricity. Subsequently, spatial panel regression analysis was conducted to measure the impacts of urban form changes on GHG emissions. The results of this study propose effective and efficient urban spatial structures from an environmental improvement perspective. These findings provide insights into desirable directions for environmentally-conscious urban development and management.

Speaker: Mr SANGWON OH (Department of Urban Engineering, Pusan National University)

11:10 Zero carbon, some nuisance: Exploring the viewpoints of heat pump owners and their neighbors in Groningen, Netherlands

The domestic use of natural gas for heating is the prevalent option in the Netherlands. However, heat pumps will be mandatory in most Dutch households by 2026. Therefore, insights are needed in how citizens perceive this technology, by taking into account various societal, technological, economic, environmental, and political aspects. Our research offers a systematic investigation of the multiple viewpoints of heat pump users and their neighbors in Groningen, northern Netherlands. Using Q-methodology, we identified three distinct but interrelated and shared viewpoints: the realistic users, the hesitant neighbors and the enthusiastic advocates. All three shared viewpoints incorporate social influence and cognitive considerations, with the positive environmental impacts of heat pumps being highlighted in unison. Cognitive considerations relate mainly to technical and economic concerns. Social influence considerations often hint at the necessity of making prior agreements with the neighbors. We argue that the findings of this study can support policymakers toward the development of an integrated heat transition strategy.

Speaker: Dr Ethemcan Turhan (University of Groningen)

11:20 Spatio-temporal evolution and influencing factors of urban carbon emission efficiency in six major urban agglomerations in China

Global warming has become one of the major challenges facing the world today, and the effective control of carbon emissions as a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions is particularly critical.As a major country in charge, the Chinese government proposed at the 75th United Nations General Assembly that carbon dioxide emissions should aim to peak by 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, demonstrating China's determination to actively address climate change. Nevertheless, in contrast to the absolute carbon emission reduction achieved by developed countries, China's current coal-based energy consumption structure is challenging to swiftly modify. Consequently, enhancing GDP-related energy efficiency has emerged as a viable option for achieving energy savings and emissions reduction. Concurrently, as the strategic support and growth pole of China's future economic development, population and industry will continue to concentrate in urban agglomerations, and it is of great importance to effectively improve urban carbon emission efficiency and build low-carbon cities to achieve the dual-carbon goal. The six major urban agglomerations in China selected for the present study are as follows: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Chengdu-Chongqing, and the Central Plains urban agglomerations. Firstly, a carbon emission estimation model was constructed based on XGBoost machine learning with Bayesian optimization, and the carbon emissions of 119 cities from 2014 to 2023 were measured. Secondly, the super-efficient SBM model was employed to measure the carbon emission efficiency, taking into account the undesirable outputs. The different characteristics of urban agglomerations in terms of their carbon emission efficiency and spatial agglomeration characteristics were then analysed. The cities were also classified into megacities, metropolis and large cities to compare the differences in carbon emission efficiency between different types of cities. The STIRPAT model was then constructed, with five indicators: population density, industrial structure, economic development, energy intensity and scientific and technological innovation, were selected as influencing factors. These factors were analysed to determine their impact on different types of cities. The results are as follows: (1) The accuracy of the carbon emission estimation model reaches 96.2%; the total carbon emissions of each urban agglomeration show an increasing trend, and the growth rate decreases after 2022, among which the total carbon emissions of the urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration decrease in 2023. (2) The average carbon emission efficiency of the six major urban agglomerations shows a downward and then upward trend, with a U-shaped dynamic development during the study period. (3) The regional differences in carbon emission efficiency of the six major urban agglomerations show an increasing trend, and there are obvious spatial clustering characteristics, and the carbon emission efficiency of each type of city shows the difference characteristics of "megacities > large cities > metropolis". (4) Economic development and scientific and technological innovation have obvious promoting effects on carbon emission efficiency, and population density has a two-way promoting and inhibiting effect. Based on the conclusions of the study, appropriate emission reduction policies are proposed for different urban agglomerations and cities.

Speaker: Ms Muhan Li (School of Architecture, Tianjin University)

11:30 Post carbon cities: Reducing GHG emissions using campuses as a decentralizing energy system

As the global community intensifies efforts to mitigate climate change, the role of urban areas in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has become increasingly critical. This paper explores the potential of university campuses to serve as decentralized energy systems that contribute to GHG reduction. Campuses, with their diverse energy demands and capacity for innovation, present unique opportunities for implementing sustainable energy solutions. By leveraging renewable energy sources, energy efficiency measures, and smart grid technologies, campuses can transition from traditional energy consumers to proactive energy producers and managers.

This study examines Torino campuses as decentralized energy systems. The findings suggest that campuses can play a pivotal role in the broader transition to post-carbon cities, serving as microcosms of sustainable urban development. The paper concludes with policy recommendations and strategies for scaling up these efforts, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between academic institutions, local governments, and the private sector in achieving long-term sustainability goals.

Speaker: Mr Hashem Alsibai (Politecnico di Torino)

11:40 Deep Learning-Based Building Energy Consumption Prediction Model Considering Occupant Density Using Mobile Network Big Data: A Case Study of Seoul

In today's world, the rapidly increasing urban population and the corresponding rise in energy demand have made optimizing energy consumption in buildings a critical issue for urban planners and policymakers. Traditional energy consumption prediction models typically focus on static building features and environmental factors, yet they may not fully capture the influence of population density in the surrounding area. However, the relationship between building design, urban form, and energy consumption is complex, with user behavior playing a decisive role in energy consumption patterns (Holden & Norland, 2005). This study aims to overcome the limitations of traditional models by incorporating user density data into energy consumption prediction models through machine learning techniques, providing more accurate predictions for various building types across Seoul.
The research analyzes hourly mobile user data from 50m x 50m grid areas across Seoul to investigate the impact of fluctuations in occupant density on energy consumption. Using data from 2013 to 2023, the study integrates real-time occupant density data alongside static building features and environmental conditions into energy prediction models to improve prediction accuracy. The research proposes an activity-based building classification, recognizing the differences in usage patterns across various building types. For instance, energy consumption in residential buildings tends to increase during nighttime hours, indicating a correlation with the nighttime population. In contrast, energy consumption in commercial buildings peaks during working hours, reflecting their dependence on daytime activities. Public buildings, on the other hand, exhibit varying occupant density profiles throughout the day. These diverse density patterns are expected to contribute to more accurate energy consumption predictions.
The dataset used in the study not only reflects changes in user density throughout the day but also enables more precise predictions of building usage types and energy consumption profiles. This approach goes beyond traditional models to achieve higher accuracy in energy consumption predictions. Notably, a similar study by Diao et al. (2017) demonstrated that incorporating occupant density data significantly improved energy prediction models. In this context, the research highlights that traditional land use classifications may lead to inaccuracies in energy prediction models due to the dynamic nature of urban activities. By offering an activity-based classification system, this research proposes a more advanced method for understanding and optimizing energy consumption in urban areas. This approach aligns with Santos et al.'s (2019) work on utilizing urban mobility data in energy prediction models.
The research methodology includes the use of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks for time-series forecasting and Cluster Analysis for activity-based building classification. Additionally, regression models will be employed for statistical analysis to isolate the impact of user density on energy consumption and understand the relationships between variables. These analyses will provide a more detailed evaluation of factors such as building age, type, and environmental conditions on energy consumption.
The findings from this study are expected to contribute to more efficient and targeted urban energy planning and policies. Accurately analyzing the impact of fluctuations in occupant density on energy consumption can provide a significant advantage in developing energy-saving strategies. Integrating dynamic human activities and user density data into energy prediction models offers an innovative approach to deep learning-based urban energy optimization. This method can enhance the efficient management of energy distribution systems and support the development of sustainable energy policies in cities.

Speaker: Ms Havva Elmali (Chung-Ang University)

11:50 Accounting Beyond Boundaries: Exploring consumption-based carbon approaches in Paris and Gothenburg

As cities increasingly commit to achieving carbon neutrality, they engage in greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories to measure their emissions. These inventories are typically guided by international frameworks, such as the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC), and primarily rely on production-based accounting (PBCA). This approach focuses on emissions produced within the city boundaries. However, a growing body of literature highlights the limitations of PBCA, emphasizing that it captures only a partial view of urban emissions (Lombardi et al., 2017; Millward-Hopkins et al., 2017). These scholars support a shift towards consumption-based carbon accounting (CBCA), which considers emissions embedded in goods and services consumed within cities, regardless of their production location.

This transition is deemed critical mostly for Western cities, where production-based emissions are declining while consumption-based emissions are projected to increase (Harris et al., 2020; Sudmant et al., 2018). Furthermore, production-based mitigation efforts might be offset by the rise in consumption emissions (Millward-Hopkins et al., 2017). Overall, CBCA is considered to offer a more comprehensive and equitable framework for addressing urban GHG emissions, incentivizing the adoption of policies that promote less carbon-intensive consumption and the reduction of carbon leakage processes (Grasso, 2016). In policy circles, international networks such as C40 are increasingly acknowledging the role of cities in global consumption emissions and advocating for their reduction.

However, existing studies predominantly address methodological issues, such as data collection and calculation techniques (Yin et al., 2022), and research on the governance and political dimensions of CBCA at the city level remains scarce. Research in this area has primarily been conducted at the national level (Grasso, 2016), leaving a critical gap in understanding the local governance conditions to account for and tackle consumption-based emissions. Therefore, this article aims to address that gap by investigating the governance and political conditions necessary for developing CBCA in cities, using Paris and Gothenburg as case studies. Both cities have established ambitious consumption-based emissions targets and corresponding strategies to address them.

The research employs a mixed-method approach, combining desk research, qualitative analysis of cities’ official documents, and in-depth interviews with city officials. Preliminary findings reveal several key governance factors driving the adoption of a CBCA. First, national-scale institutions, including research organizations and government agencies, play a pivotal role by providing cities with data, standards, and methodologies. Despite some methodological struggles, these contributions enhance the legitimacy of urban efforts to address consumption-based emissions. Second, the cases demonstrate a high awareness among policymakers about the embodied emissions associated with urban consumption and their global impacts. This awareness is, in part, linked to a historic commitment to climate mitigation. Third, embedding numerical consumption-based targets within climate plans, along with the development of sector-specific roadmaps, are critical enablers to ensure the accounting and tackling of these emissions in the long term. To do so, the development of partnerships with the local private sector emerges as a key strategy to tackling emissions which are outside of municipal jurisdiction.

The study provides a valuable insight into the governance conditions required for CBCA implementation and highlights the best practices from leading cities. These findings can inform the development of CBCA approaches in cities and support institutions such as international city networks.

Speaker: Eloise Deshayes (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya)

11:00 → 12:30 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (B): Energy Transition for a Better Climate

Convener: Osman Balaban (Middle East Technical University)

11:00 Energy Hubs Under Transformation and the Implications for Spatial Planning: The Case of Ravenna, Italy

This contribution arises from the ongoing research project HyperSCAPES: Extreme Infrastructure Projects and New Forms of Urbanity in the Anthropocene, and the MSCA project Integrating Energy and Logistics Hubs: Sustainable Infrastructure Development in Second-tier Mediterranean Ports, both conducted at the Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, Politecnico di Torino. The study investigates the redefinition of spaces, environments, and economies following major European and national investments in energy and logistics infrastructures, with a particular focus on the ports of the Adriatic region.

The EU has allocated 256 million euros to upgrade the Adriatic port infrastructures (Bodewig 2020), and national policies, such as Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), have provided additional resources to accelerate their development (Twrdy and Zanne 2020; Catalano et al. 2022). While most investments prior to 2022 cantered on logistics and commerce, the Russian-Ukrainian War has shifted priorities toward energy infrastructure (Berisha 2023). Current strategies emphasise upgrading networks and facilities, diversifying production and supply systems, and accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources (Falcone et al. 2021). These initiatives have spurred a wave of infrastructural projects, driving significant transformations in both inland and maritime spaces. Drawing upon the case of Ravenna, this contribution examines how changes in energy supply and the transition to renewable sources are reshaping long-established industrial sites into novel energy hubs, and the implications these transformations pose for spatial planning.

The port-city of Ravenna, located in northern Italy, provides a compelling context for this investigation. The port was founded by Enrico Mattei in the 1950s as the centre for offshore gas extraction in the Adriatic Sea. Under the impetus of European and national energy policies, the Port Authority, in partnership with local stakeholders, established a Renewable Energy Community in 2022, that is, an association of public bodies and enterprises to self- produce and manage renewable energy using the existing public grid. Within this framework, the projects underway are acting on three fronts. First, the optimization of the gas supply chain with a new one-billion-euro LNG terminal is planned for the end of this year. Second, the production of renewable energy with one billion euros to build two 300-MWe offshore wind farms, a 100-MWe floating solar farm, and a 50-MWe energy storage facility. Finally, the third goal is the reclamation of industrial sites and the development of carbon capture storage capabilities. ENI has designated a 45-hectare disused industrial site for a solar farm, and another 23-hectare area for soil bio-recovery and industrial waste management; while its one-billion-euro Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project plans to stock CO2 in depleted offshore gas fields. These initiatives are designed to establish Ravenna as the largest green energy hub in the Mediterranean. However, they also carry significant implications for the surrounding environment. The projects alter maritime ecology, reshape the urban landscape with new functions, and introduce complex interactions between energy production, urban uses, and environmental conservation. Moreover, these transformations are taking place in a fragile region: the Adriatic Sea is heavily polluted, and Ravenna has suffered severe flooding in the past two years.

By analysing the energy projects in Ravenna, this paper reflects on three critical issues: 1) The spatialization of EU green energy policies and funding; 2) The emergence of new energy landscapes and their environmental impacts; 3) How local stakeholders address the environmental controversies surrounding these energy projects. These reflections aim to contribute to the discussion of alternative planning approaches and methods for achieving a more sustainable integration of energy infrastructure into the existing landscape.

Speaker: Dr Leonardo Ramondetti (Politecnico di Torino, Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning)

11:10 Retracing Critical Energy Fictions with Youth through a Comparative Analysis of Community-Based Interventions

In recent years, human and more-than-human histories twine together in creating the Anthropocene, and scholars need to learn to notice more of the threads in these knots (Gan and Tsing, 2018). To address these unseen threads, participatory approaches involving pluriversal (Escobar, 2018) stakeholders in the planning process are crucial (Kambunga et al., 2024). Neglecting the essential role of youth (Nilsson, 2024) in shaping these dynamics is another unnoticed thread. This study explores community-based interventions that utilize participatory design approaches to engage youth and other stakeholders in reimagining one particular human / more-than-human relationship, namely around the issue of energy production and consumption (Murto et al., 2018).
Critical fictions have emerged as a powerful participatory tool for thought-provoking exploration and reframing existing knowledge on ecological issues such as energy production and consumption. At the side of co-creating alternative futures, these interventions address systemic inequalities and promote social justice, particularly in diverse geographies. The 'Greta Thunberg effect' has demonstrated the potential of youth participation in shaping policy discussions around climate change (Haugseth et al., 2022).
This study examines five case studies of community-based interventions by (1) Architecture Workroom Brussels, BE, (2) La Pile, BE, (3) Transisthor, BE, and (4) Architecture for All, TR, (5) Center for Spatial Justice, TR. All of which employed critical fiction strategies to engage stakeholders in their projects. Three of the projects explicitly focused on the potential of energy transitions.
The comparative analysis draws upon principles of participatory design, highlighting the significance of youth participation and critical fictions in different contexts. The paper surveys how the critical fiction approaches behind the five projects can foster creative thinking, promote ecological awareness, and address environmental issues. By inspecting how the five approaches help to retrace the complex interplay between youth and more-than-humans, this study offers (i) novel perspectives on energy systems that can inform planners, NGO practices and (local) authorities and (ii) a framework that helps these actors to codesign Critical Fictions for participatory processes with youth.
This research traverses to a growing body of work emphasizing (i) comparing frameworks for evaluating the effectiveness of community-based interventions using participatory design approaches, (ii) highlighting the importance of narrative framing in shaping stakeholder perceptions and behaviors, and (iii) underlining the importance of co-creation in addressing systemic inequalities and promoting social justice.

Speaker: Asli Kolbas (Hasselt University)

11:20 Holistic Energy Resilience Assessment for Advancing Green and Just Energy Transition (Case Study: Semarang City, Indonesia)

Energy resilience is crucial for mitigating the effects of climate change, urbanization, and natural disasters, as well as ensuring the continuity of urban life. A resilient energy system demonstrates the capacity to recover rapidly from shocks and stresses, thereby minimising downtime and mitigating the socio-economic impacts of disruptions. As urban populations expand, ensuring reliable and resilient energy infrastructure becomes increasingly vital. In Semarang, Indonesia, where the population is experiencing rapid growth accompanied by rising numbers of households and escalating economic activities, the demand for energy is simultaneously increasing, putting significant pressure on the existing energy infrastructure. Furthermore, the city's dependence on non-renewable energy sources, such as fossil-based sources, has raised concerns regarding environmental sustainability and long-term energy security.
The importance of energy resilience in cities cannot be overstated, especially in the face of climate change's increasing impacts. Semarang City is vulnerable to various disruptions, including extreme weather events and hydrometeorological disasters such as floods, landslides, and high winds that can damage critical energy infrastructure and disrupt supply chains. Moreover, the interdependence of urban systems exacerbates the ripple effects of energy disruptions. Addressing these multifaceted challenges requires a holistic energy resilience assessment. A holistic energy resilience assessment aims to outline the Semarang City energy landscape and identify opportunities for improvement to enhance sustainability, energy efficiency, and energy security.
The research adopted the City Energy Resilience Framework (CERF) initiated by R-Cities through the Urban Power Profile Program. The CERF guides cities in applying a resilience perspective to the energy system and in working towards their overall energy transition and urban resilience goals. A holistic assessment covers four dimensions including people, governance, resources, and system to identify opportunities for building capacity and redundancy in their energy systems. The participatory process through a series of data collection and analysis processes involving cross-sectoral stakeholders leads to a comprehensive assessment of energy resilience.
The assessment of CERF goals is deemed highly critical for the robustness of Semarang's power system and its interconnected urban infrastructure. Governance initiatives emerged as a significant focus, reflecting the need for transparent, inclusive, and coordinated regulatory processes. Similarly, the importance of consumer-friendly financing solutions, comprehensive disaster management plans, and inclusive electrification strategies for universal access were stressed. These areas ensure that energy resilience efforts are equitable and benefit all community members, particularly the vulnerable and historically underserved populations.
This research highlighted the need for a structured approach to strengthen the city’s energy resilience, focusing on sustainability, inclusiveness, and preparedness for future challenges. To achieve these goals, five key strategies have been identified as priorities for advancing Semarang’s energy resilience covers scaling up the renewable energy initiatives, setting the energy priorities, strengthening stakeholder engagement, enhancing intergovernmental collaboration, and developing alternative energy solutions for disaster preparedness. This research contributes to a better understanding of enery resilience assessment toward advancing green and just energy transition for sustainable development.

Speaker: Mrs Mega Anggraeni (Center for Urban and Regional Resilience Research (CURE), Universitas Diponegoro)

11:30 Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) as a Climate-Resilient Solution for Social Housing

Climate change significantly impacts urban areas, intensifying extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and storms, which strain infrastructure, compromise housing, and threaten public health and livelihoods. Cities also contribute approximately 70% of global CO₂ emissions, mainly from transportation and buildings (IPCC, 2022). Addressing these challenges requires integrated strategies to reduce emissions, enhance resilience, and promote sustainable urban development.
Global frameworks such as the Paris Agreement drive nations to develop Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), outlining specific emissions reductions and climate actions. Similarly, regional initiatives like the European Green Deal and Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) aim to decarbonize urban areas through integrated approaches, including Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs), Net-Zero Energy Districts (NZEDs), and Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) (Sassenou et al., 2024). These strategies focus on scaling solutions from individual buildings to entire neighborhoods, integrating energy efficiency, renewable energy, and retrofitting to achieve carbon neutrality and net-positive energy performance (Albert-Seifried et al., 2022). PEDs also provide solutions for both new developments and the revitalization of vulnerable urban areas, fostering resilience and sustainability.
Among urban areas, social housing neighborhoods with low socioeconomic status (SES) are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to aging infrastructure, inadequate public and green spaces, and poor energy efficiency (OECD, 2022; Snep et al., 2023). These challenges amplify social and health inequities, requiring inclusive, climate-adaptive strategies to ensure equitable sustainability.
This study explores the potential of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) to address urban sustainability and climate adaptation challenges in social housing neighborhoods. This study adopts a holistic approach by integrating buildings, public spaces, and green areas into climate-resilient, carbon-neutral frameworks. Using case studies from Portugal, it combines Nature-based Solutions (NbS) with technological and social innovations to evaluate how Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) enhance urban resilience, promote social equity, and align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The findings highlight that locally adapted PEDs can serve as scalable and equitable models for sustainable urban development, providing transformative pathways toward achieving global sustainability objectives.

Speaker: Dr Paulo Silva (ID+, Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences, University of Aveiro, Portugal)

11:40 Seeking a possible Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) location choice from a local context, a case study in Tainan City, Taiwan

In response to the global trend of transitioning from carbon reduction to achieving net-zero emissions, the transformation of energy systems must simultaneously address challenges across social, economic, technological, and environmental dimensions. European countries have realised that relying solely on individual buildings, such as Zero Energy Building (ZEB) and Net Zero Energy Building (Net ZEB), is insufficient for effectively managing and efficiently utilising renewable energy on the district scale. As a result, they have begun to shift towards district-scale zero-energy or even positive-energy transformation pathways. By coordinating renewable energy at district and cross-district scales, overall energy efficiency can be better achieved. However, from the urban planning perspective, energy transition has been rarely taken into account when making land use plans due to the deployment of renewable energy varies significantly across different regions. Also, energy consumption differs greatly based on factors such as land use types and building typologies. Current research primarily focuses on identifying suitable locations for individual renewable energy sources.
Therefore, the importance of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) lies in their ability to comprehensively plan multifaceted relationships such as renewable energy production and land use patterns in different regions (Erkinai et al., 2022). The European SET-Plan (Strategic Energy Technology Plan) has set a goal of establishing 100 PEDs across the EU by 2025, with 23 sites or laboratories across 13 countries as of the end of 2023 (Haase et al., 2024). As Europe is still in the early stages of this transition, there is no clear definition of the key impact indicators for assessing the potential locations and defining spatial boundaries of PEDs. From the current cases, it is obvious that developing localised evaluation methods tailored to specific local conditions is essential.

As an island, Taiwan views the development of renewable energy efficiency as one of the most critical strategies for achieving a net-zero path. This study will first review previous literature about indicators related to PEDs in order to understand the energy production potential and energy consumption in different regions. Energy production potential may include indicators such as potential locations for solar power as well as urban development factors like new development areas or transformation areas, and the current state of energy infrastructure, including pipelines and power grids. Energy consumption may cover factors such as the distribution and proportion of various land use types, population density, and current electricity consumption patterns. In the second phase, Tainan City in Taiwan will be selected as the research area. Since 2011, the Tainan City Government has been the top one city for promoting solar photovoltaic installations. Considering its well-preparedness for renewable energy development, Tainan demonstrates greater potential for promoting PEDs. Based on the local contexts of Tainan City, an appropriate evaluation framework for PEDs will be developed. Finally, a spatial analysis is performed on a map that identifies the most suitable administrative districts to implement PEDs. The results of this study can serve as a strategic guideline for prioritising micro-scale priority areas. Furthermore, the findings can assist Taiwan and even the Asia-Pacific region in formulating effective spatial planning strategies for energy transition.

Speaker: Ms YI HSUAN SHEN (Department of Urban Planning, NCKU)

Seeking a possible Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) location choice from a local context, a case study in Tainan City, Taiwan.pdf

11:00 → 12:30 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (A): Cultures, Heritage, and Risks

Conveners: Dr Christine Mady (Aalto University), Louwrens Botha (Eindhoven University of Technology)

11:00 The heritage-climate change nexus: towards a values-based adaptive planning response

Climate disruption is already affecting cultural heritage sites and anticipated climate change stressors will increasingly intensify the vulnerability of cultural landscapes (Sesana et al., 2021). This includes the impact of extreme weather events, including flooding, landslides, wildfire risks and drought, alongside longer term impacts relating to loss of landscape character due to shifting climatic conditions (e.g. loss of indigenous vegetation, new invasive species).
The relationship between climate change and heritage conservation is often discussed in terms of its physical impacts. However, the vulnerability and adaptation of intangible heritage, such as cultural practices, traditions, place attachment and community knowledge, remain largely overlooked, creating a significant research gap. In this paper, we explore the heritage-climate change nexus in relation to social values and cultural practices in the context of heritage-rich landscapes. Drawing on Harvey and Perry (2015), we contend that while heritage management is present-centred, it also involves a future-orientated processing of tangible and intangible sense of the past i.e. judgments concerning what is to be protected for future generations. This approach rejects the traditional view that heritage conservation carries a treasured past into a well-understood future. Instead, due to the climate emergency, heritage management should embrace loss, alternative forms of knowledge and uncertain futures.
Drawing on preliminary fieldwork in the Wicklow Mountains National Park (Ireland), we explore this relationship between tangible and intangible heritage within the context of climate change, arguing for a shift towards adaptive conservation and responsible heritage loss management through a values-based framework, which in turn requires alternative planning approaches to cultural heritage management. This includes greater use of participatory planning and stakeholder engagement as a means of understanding multiple socio-cultural values relating to heritage landscapes, capturing the interconnection between cultural practices and landscape management, and exploring heritage value through people’s experiences and not simply professional (and technical) measurement. Moreover, a heritage lens provides a critical framing device to shift landscape management from a ‘preserve and protect’ approach towards a more dynamic exploration of loss and change, fostering adaptive conservation within a climate emergency.

Speaker: Dr Elgar Kamjou (University College Dublin)

11:10 Exploring Synergies between Built Heritage and Climate Discourses in Urban Transformation: A Scoping Review

Urban transformation addresses the evolving needs of present and future cities while inherently being shaped by elements of the past, particularly urban heritage. The field of “urban heritage” has been traditionally studied from a conservation and restoration perspective, focusing on materiality and the preservation of building fabric. However, this notion was challenged in 2011 by The “Recommendations on Historic Urban Landscape” by UNESCO, that called for viewing heritage tenets as catalysts for sustainable development rather than barriers. This paper therefore performs a scoping review to explore what transformation really means in the context of preserving urban heritage while also ensuring it contributes to sustainable development. While many pathways to “sustainable development” exist, this study particularly focuses on climate adaptation of urban areas.

To begin with, the study synthesizes and elaborates on different perspectives of “transformation” in the field of urban heritage, such as, conservation, restoration, transition, and revitalization, and how these narratives have evolved since 2011. Thereafter, the study intersects this informed understanding of “heritage-led urban transformation” with climate discourses in urban planning to highlight potential synergies and conflicts arising from this nexus.

The methodology employs a systematic and iterative process, involving keyword searches and manual abstract screening to compile a body of knowledge informing the three urban themes investigated in this study- transformation, heritage, and climate adaptation. Scientific articles extracted from SCOPUS and grey literature, such as reports from international organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations World Heritage Centre, and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), form the basis of literature screened during the scoping review. The method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is employed to triangulate existing narratives and achieve the study’s aims. The result is a collation of synergies and conflicts between built heritage and climate discourses in urban transformation, and its implications in practice. These are mapped using the three dimensions of the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape Approach: natural, built, and socio-cultural.

Speaker: Bhuvana Nanaiah (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

11:20 Exploring Policy Frameworks for Cultural Heritage in Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management: A Cross-Case Comparison

Climate change adaptation strategies require a spectrum of actions, from incremental adjustments to transformative changes in societal systems. Transformation involves shifting the foundational attributes of these systems, such as value systems, regulations, financial institutions, and technologies (IPCC, 2012, p. 4). However, despite its potential, transformative climate governance faces significant challenges in implementation, often remaining secondary to business-as-usual interests and traditional policy approaches. There is an urgent need for paradigm shifts within institutional and organizational structures prioritizing climate action across scales and sectors.
The AGREE (Advancing Cultural Heritage Governance for Resilient Climate Adaptation) project focuses on governance frameworks and investigates the role of policy portfolios in facilitating and implementing transformative change (Hurlimann, 2024). This paper explores the intersections of cultural heritage conceptualizations, climate adaptation policies, and Climate Risk Management (CRM) across three European case studies: Kingston upon Hull (UK), Lillehammer (Norway), and Turin (Italy). Using Guzman and Daily's (2021) conceptual framework for Policy Integration analysis, the study examines how cultural heritage is understood and operationalized and how these understandings enable or hinder synergies across governance sectors at national and local levels, with flooding as a common climate risk exacerbated by climate change.
The paper also investigates the potential of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) concept to drive transformative policy and planning, aligning heritage conservation with broader societal and climate adaptation goals. Findings highlight the importance of vertical and horizontal policy coherence in integrating heritage conservation into sustainable and equitable climate adaptation practices. By exploring the intersection of cultural heritage management and climate adaptation in policy portfolios, the research contributes to identifying ways to not only respond to climate change but also unlock the potential of broader governmental sectors to transform their practices for sustainable societal development. Preliminary results suggest several key policy recommendations: enhancing integration by aligning fragmented planning processes, bridging gaps between strategic frameworks and operational decisions, and identifying entry points for transformative change through a shift from reactive to proactive risk management approaches. The AGREE project illustrates how coordinated efforts can leverage cultural heritage as an asset for sustainability and resilience in urban contexts.

Speaker: Dr Paloma Guzman (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research)

11:30 Silent evidence. On nuclear mounds, craters and caves

Dealing with the heritage of the Manhattan Project does not simply mean expressing one’s position as being against or in favor of nuclear weapons or nuclear energy for civil use. Either we like it or not, and whether we accept it or not, the Trinity test held on July 16, 1945, ushered humankind into a new era.
This proposal focuses on three sites – the Niagara Falls Storage Site, NY, the Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas, NV, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, near Carlsbad, NM – where the ground still shows the scars of atomic testing and where nuclear waste is stored, shielded by artificial mounds or in deep underground caves. Sites that following the categorization proposed by Alois Riegl in his fundamental text on the cult of monuments would be defined as unintentional monuments. Following the fact that the nuclear waste will remain active for thousands of years, Riegl’s notion of age-value is pushed to its limit, evoking a future so distant that our limited sense of time as human beings can barely grasp it.
The mounds, craters and caves that punctuate these sites, along with others dispersed both through the US and other countries that experienced nuclear testing and activity, testify of the great sacrifices that were inflicted upon territories that, realistically, will never return to their original condition. In the case of sites associated with the Manhattan Project and its legacy, aesthetic considerations remain in the background, considering that many of these landscapes are hostile or deadly to forms of life, and will continue to be for millennia to come.
Considering the kind of impasse we are at today when it comes to dealing with atomic energy’s byproducts, we might agree with Jacques Derrida’s identification of nuclear energy as the most extreme pharmakon, a type of substance that can both injure and be a remedy; we must not forget the contributions of nuclear medicine and the diagnostic abilities it affords. At the same time, as philosopher Guenther Anders pointed out in his groundbreaking works, we must recognize that we live in a society in which the threats generated by scientific development and technological innovation cannot be managed confidently, for it is now capable of exposing us to unprecedentedly large-scale and enduring environmental-pollution phenomena. In this respect, one need only call to mind the Three Miles Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, as well as the Manhattan Project’s own dangerous legacy at sites such as Hanford, WA.
In the meantime, mounds, craters and caves that punctuate the US landscape in sites as the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, the Nevada Test Site and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant stand as silent evidence of the new era opened by the discovery of atomic power.

Speaker: Dr Ludovico Centis (Università degli Studi di Trieste)

11:40 Digital platforms, regulatory planning and heritisation: Airbnb and new practices of heritage in the medina of Tunis (2011 to 2024)

The present intervention explores the different ways in which the heritisation of the old city of Tunis has continued since the Tunisian revolution of 2011. It focuses on the ways in which the historic urban fabric has been the object of discourse and practice by urban planners, architects and tourism entrepreneurs, the latter category comprising individuals and businesses ranging from the highly professional to the amateur. We believe that this last category plays an increasingly important role in heritage development. Since the 1980s, the medina has been subject to a specific town planning code that the municipality was able to enforce fairly effectively until 2011. A major programme of works carried out before that year enhanced the historic aesthetics of an entire sector of the central medina; similar operations continued in the early 2010s. A municipal programme to improve private housing continued over the same period.
A new tool entered the houses of the medina in 2013: Airbnb. Until the arrival of this platform - and the authorities’ new tolerant attitude towards seasonal rentals, severely restricted until the 2011 revolution - new players were able to enter the tourist accommodation market. Today, Airbnb-related activity might be considered the main force in heritage-related development in a context where the state is unable to fund the restoration of the main monuments or fully apply the provisos of the planning code. Certain private actors, closely involved in holiday rentals and particularly adept at communication via digital platforms, are positioning themselves as key players in heritage conservation.
In this context of weakened official urban planning, this paper explores how the digital accommodation platform is used by various groups partaking of heritage discourse in the old town of Tunis. What does Airbnb tell us about these actors and their vision of heritage, how does the platform effect power dynamics within the Medina? Is it possible to think of Airbnb as a tool foregrounding multiple visions of heritage? Leaving aside the repercussions of the platform on the urban property market, can it be seen to have an emancipatory dimension in the context of the Medina of Tunis?
To answer these various questions, our paper proposes an analysis of the interplay of the actors operating within the discourses of heritisation of the historic centre of Tunis. This analysis is underpinned by a key socio-political and cultural event: the 2011 revolution and its many repercussions.

Speaker: Prof. Justin McGuinness (LACNAD / INALCO / AUP)

11:00 → 12:30 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (O): Culture, Heritage, and Meaning

Conveners: Anita Martinelli (Politecnico di Milano), Tihomir Viderman (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Dr Zeynep Gunay (Istanbul Technical University)

11:00 The Sacred Mountain of Gargano: Urban Culture and Sacred Landscapes

The Gargano promontory, located in Puglia, south of Italy, is a distinctive territory, punctuated by an extraordinary concentration of sacred sites that have profoundly shaped its cultural and landscape identity over centuries. Referred to as the "Sacred Mountain," it epitomizes the transformative interaction between cultural heritage and natural landscapes, influencing not only the physical terrain but also social and spiritual dynamics. This research examines the sanctuaries of Gargano—including San Matteo and Santa Maria di Stignano in San Marco in Lamis, San Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo, San Michele Arcangelo and Santa Maria di Pulsano in Monte Sant’Angelo, the Holy Trinity in Mattinata, and Santa Maria di Tremiti— as focal nodes in a living cultural landscape.

Employing a multidisciplinary approach that integrates archival research, historical cartography, and field surveys, this study explores how the sacralization of the Gargano landscape has given rise to forms of lived heritage deeply intertwined with its geographic and historical contexts. The sanctuaries and pilgrimage routes are analyzed as cultural infrastructures that mediate between tradition and innovation, fostering a territorial resilience capable of addressing contemporary challenges such as environmental degradation, the abandonment of local religious practices, and the pressures of overtourism.

Gargano emerges as a living palimpsest a cultural landscape that is not merely a repository of historical memory but an adaptive, evolving space capable of regeneration. This research highlights the risks posed by the loss of authenticity and proposes an integrated valorization strategy that balances contemporary needs with the preservation of these sites' spiritual and cultural essence. By examining the interplay between architectural forms, natural settings, and human narratives, the study identifies operational pathways for the sustainable management of Gargano’s sacred heritage.

Through a comparative analysis of the sanctuaries, the research aims to outline actionable solutions for enhancing conservation, accessibility, and social regeneration. Ultimately, it seeks to safeguard the transformative power of these sacred sites as enduring expressions of a harmonious synthesis between nature and culture, ensuring their relevance and vitality for future generations.

Speaker: Dr Giuseppe Fraddosio (Università degli studi Aldo Moro)

11:10 Fixing Collective Memory: embracing Designer-Led Regeneration practice of Historic Community

Over the past decades, large-scale urban construction has conflicted with collective memory, causing the decline of urban collective memory, especially in China. This trend of decline is manifested in the hollowing out of historic communities, mono-functionality, and spatial homogenization after regeneration (Chu, Xie and Chang, 2019). However, current perspectives dealing with these problems primarily focus on citizens, governments and markets, each of which has its limitations (Chen, Ye and Liu, 2023; Wang, Zhang and Wu, 2022). Relatively little attention has been paid to designers’ perspective. To fill this gap, we choose the Tongxing community in Chongqing, China, which has a history of more than 400 years, as a typical case study. To revitalize this community, a team of urban designers organized a series of activities to address the decline of collective memory, which is an emerging and significant pattern of historic community regeneration. Based on this, we investigate the impact of designer-led regeneration practices on the collective memory of historic community and the challenges encountered during regeneration.
Designers are crucial to the regeneration process of historic community. On one hand, as hands-on practitioners of place regeneration, they usually possess a comprehensive understanding of the natural, historical, and cultural context of the historic community before the practice. On the other hand, designers usually negotiate with relevant stakeholders and play a role of coordinator, who strive to explore the regeneration potential of historic community and meet the needs and demands of multiple stakeholders.
To this end, we start from conceptualizing collective memory in historic community, which refers to the shared memories of members concerning past events within a certain community. It emphasizes common experiences, cultural identity, and the dynamic transmission of the memory within a social group (Halbwachs, 2020; Connerton, 1989; Türkoğlu and Günay, 2018). In this way, we build a conceptual framework of collective memory, classifying it into three aspects, communicative memory, cultural memory, and media memory (Assmann and Czaplicka, 1995; Neiger, Mayers and Zandberg, 2011; Van Dijck, 2007).
On the basis, we first analyze the spatialization of these collective memories in the Tongxing community. Second, we summarize designer-led regeneration practices through field research and interviews. Third, we organize workshops involving different groups of people to analyze the impact of these designer-led regeneration practices on the collective memory of the Tongxing community, and their significance and future potential. Finally, we assess the practical challenges faced by the designer team through return visits and interviews.
In Tongxing community, collective memory is mainly reflected in public spaces, iconic nodes, and monumental sites. We classify designer-led regeneration practices into three categories: environmental beautification, cultural inheritance, and community building. These designer-led regeneration practices have had a significant impact on collective memory. Regarding communicative memory, they have facilitated communication within and outside the community. Regarding cultural memory, they have strengthened residents’ sense of identity. Regarding media memory, they have expanded the external influence of the Tongxing community. Additionally, regarding spatial improvement, they enhance the environment quality of residents’ life and the vitality of the space. Designer-led regeneration practices have effectively addressed the decline in community cultural activities, weakened communication, and spatial decay. More importantly, they have revitalized residents’ mindset, offering valuable insights for future spontaneous community building. Nonetheless, the designer team also faced challenges such as difficulties in securing funding, and conflicts with the local government’s preservation guidelines. Our study reveals a new paradigm for driving the development of historic spaces and urban transformation, which contributes to the reshaping of the collective memory of the area and provides suggestions for urban regeneration and heritage conservation practices in contemporary China as well as in international contexts.

Speaker: Mr Changsheng Zhang (College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Southwest University, Chongqing, China)

11:20 Drawn City: the effects of women’s graffiti in public spaces of Rio and Barcelona through cartography

Graffiti, as a transformative element of the contemporary urban landscape, plays an important role in the consolidation of cultures and identities. Despite its relevance, the graffiti scene is predominantly male, and women face difficulties in being accepted in this field (Pabón-Colón, 2018), reflecting the oppressions of the patriarchal system (Federici, 2017). Consequently, feminist struggles emerge for greater participation of women in urban development (Muxí, 2018). However, can a graffiti made by a woman transform the landscape of a city's public space? The study investigates how graffiti created by women can transform public space, focusing on two neighborhood: the Santo Cristo of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the Poblenou in Barcelona, Spain, both analyzed in 2024. These areas were chosen for their significant concentration of female interventions and for a significant cultural and artistic activity.
The research adopts an interdisciplinary approach, involving Urbanism, Art History, Geography and Design, and uses critical cartography (Cosgrove, 1989) as the basis for mapping female graffiti. The aim is to understand the symbolic impacts of these manifestations on public space, highlighting graffiti as part of the graphic landscape (Till, 2014) and a global artistic phenomenon with local specificities. Furthermore, the research seeks to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and methodological advancement in urban art studies. The central hypothesis is that historical urban sites, are preferred locations for female graffiti artists because they offer visibility and freedom of expression.
The methodology consists of five stages. First, female graffiti artists are identified through social networks and contacts with artists. Then, field visits are made to document the interventions, capturing photographs of the graffiti and analyzing their symbolic and material dimensions, as well as their relationship with the local environment. Subsequently, the collected data is digitally mapped to create georeferenced databases and maps that explore new dimensions of graffiti in the landscape. This data is refined to include information such as authorship, themes and location, and is presented in graphs. Finally, the results are shared with society through scientific dissemination, promoting discussion about the importance of female graffiti.
Preliminary results show that in the Santo Cristo, 23 pieces of graffiti by 12 female artists were identified, while in Poblenou, 7 pieces by 7 artists were found. The interventions are often located on metal gates of shops and near squares and cultural centers, emphasizing their ephemerality and their connection with the liveliness of these spaces. The most common themes include signatures, gender and politics, demonstrating graffiti as an act of resistance by the female artists.
The study also highlights the importance of mapping as a way to legitimize the presence of women in the urban art scene and the construction of the cultural landscape. The methodology employed proved to be effective and replicable in different cities and contexts, allowing for a comparative analysis of urban artistic manifestations. Graffiti, treated as an international phenomenon, reveals how female interventions address global themes that reinforce their presence and struggles for rights.
It is concluded that graffiti created by women is a powerful tool for resistance and transformation. By occupying public space with their interventions, female graffiti artists not only mark their existence but also strengthen the feminist struggles for the right to the city. Despite the barriers faced, their voices resonate on issues of cultural and political relevance, contributing to the creation of a symbolic and graphic landscape that engages with identities and cultures. Thus, the study reaffirms the impact of female graffiti on the urban space, highlighting its relevance as artistic expression and resistance in a global context.

Speaker: Diana Amorim dos Santos da Silva (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)

11:30 Research on Cultural Adaptation Mechanisms of the Duku Heritage Corridor Based on Heritage Ecosystems

The Duku Heritage Corridor is known as “China’s Most Beautiful Highway” ,represents the the essence of the Tianshan World Heritage Scenic Byway. The 14th Five-Year cultural development Plan from China’s central government emphasizes the importance of systematically protecting and utilizing historical and cultural heritage. This policy highlights the need for holistic strategies to integrate heritage conservation with sustainable development. Cultural adaptability plays an important role in achieving this balance by fostering harmony between cultural heritage and ecosystems. Through the creation of adaptive landscapes, integrating “ecological restoration - health restoration - cultural restoration - economic restoration”, it is possible to ensure both preservation and sustainable use of heritage corridors. The Duku Heritage Corridor erves as a valuable case study for exploring how these principles can be implemented effectively. This study aims to clarify the educational value of the Duku Heritage Corridor by identifying its key landscape characteristics and heritage elements. It also considers subjective factors such as the public’s demand for recreation, behavioural patterns and perceptual experiences. By analysing the “production space”; “living space”; and “ecological space” along the corridor, the research provides insights into how these spaces can coexist and support each other. To support this analysis, advanced methods such as digital footprint and user-generated content (UGC) from social media are utilized to capture and evaluate public interactions with the heritage corridor. The findings inform the development of a culturally adaptive management model that can guide route planning, infrastructure design, and conservation strategies. Ultimately, the proposed model offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the unique cultural and natural heritage of the Duku Heritage Corridor. It provides actionable recommendations for promoting the sustainable development of urban and rural heritage areas while enhancing their educational value.

Speaker: Dr YANQI CHEN (School of Architecture, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-537.pptx

11:40 The Manifestation of Patterns and the Reconstruction of Meaning: The Reproduction of Spatial Patterns and Role Interpretation Along Xi'an's Historical Urban Axis

Cities with rich historical layers, such as Xi'an, continuously face a persistent tension between urban renewal and heritage conservation. This conflict may find resolution in the integration of archaeological sites into contemporary urban life, fostering both preservation and adaptive reuse. However, in the context of rapid economic growth, many historical areas are subjected to transformations driven by urban renewal, resulting in the erosion of historical continuity.（Pezzetti,2019）The fragmentation of historical traces in these cities has led to the loss of systematic readability, while the reconstruction of meaning for key historical sites has often been limited to superficial forms of individual buildings along prominent historical axes, with less consideration for the larger spatial organization that once supported urban life.（Pezzetti and Liu,2019）

Xi'an, as a representative example of historical cities, illustrates how architectural relics, embedded within the broader urban fabric, contribute to the value of individual buildings.( Miu,1990) This study focuses on the evolution of historical spaces along three main axes within the city’s structure. By analyzing several districts that continue to preserve and renew these historical axes, the research examines urban renewal projects in these areas and their impact on the overall historical configuration. It highlights the influence of these historical patterns on urban space and explores how these areas continue to play vital roles in contemporary urban environments. The research places particular emphasis on the continuity of spatial patterns that reflect traditional urban life, understood as a deep structure that preserves the memory of the city, and investigates their potential for identity reconstruction within the rapidly changing urban landscape.

This study positions conservation and urban renewal as two complementary actions driven by the same intellectual framework (Rogers and Ernesto,1958) , It explores how these actions can ensure the preservation of historical axes and spatial patterns, while also allowing for their integration into the current urban fabric, enabling the transmission of cultural meaning through urban life. Lastly, the study addresses the crisis of cultural identity in post-growth Chinese cities and examines the potential for creating new cultural spaces within the urban environment. By reconstructing public spaces through the lens of historical urban patterns, this research suggests that public spaces can serve as tools for re-reading and rewriting the city's history（Gennaro，2018）,transforming a state of cultural silence into an active process of uncovering and interpreting the city's historical structure.

Speaker: Dr Xinfei Li (Xi 'an University of Architecture and Technology)

11:50 Cultural heritage as an urban welfare infrastructure for sustainable, safe and inclusive territorial development

The issue of enhancing cultural heritage increasingly intersects with the significant challenges of contemporary society - climate change, depletion of non-renewable resources, social inequalities, and the crisis of the welfare State - all of which are leading to significant changes in the socio-economic and spatial models of territories. Over the last decade, the concept of Cultural Heritage (CH) has undergone a paradigm shift, focusing more on its social implications and human interactions as part of “territorial cultural systems” (Nigro, 2007), key resource for making cities and human settlements “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” (Agenda 2030). In this perspective, heritage becomes an active resource that creates new meeting spaces, community hubs, and places of social inclusion, essential for identity processes linked to integrated enhancement projects.
In line with this idea, the European Year of Cultural Heritage has positioned cultural heritage as a resource for the future, putting local communities at the centre, promoting accessibility and supporting public development (COM, 2018). An important role is being recognised for culture in urban welfare policies, which requires a multidisciplinary approach to conceptualise heritage as a public good and local identity (Biehl, 2015). This vision highlights the systemic and relational nature of the concept of heritage as a common good (Leoni, 2020). It is therefore essential to manage and plan the transformation of cities, promoting a different growth model based on existing heritage, and on the centrality of open public space as possible widespread network of use and accessibility.
This paper presents a study carried out by the DiARC-UNINA group, developed within the WP4 - Spoke 1 of the PE5 CHANGES research project "Cultural Heritage Active Innovation for Next-Gen Sustainable Society", entitled "Strategies4Changes". The article reflects on the importance and role of cultural heritage as a catalyst for services and urbanity in a new welfare system through public space understood as an active resource for the sustainable development of territories and the improvement of quality of life. The case study focuses on the Campi Flegrei area, a fragile and endangered landscape, where rampant land consumption has led to a gradual depletion of territorial resources. The uncontrolled growth of urban areas in restricted and high-risk zones has disfigured the landscape and even contributed to reducing the quality of the living environment and the attractiveness of the places. “Landscapes of Ordinary” characterized in part by a spontaneous settlement fabric that sacrifices the 'space between things' and a public dimension of living marked by introversion, monofunctionality and degradation. This condition requires a new approach to housing, starting with a renewed relationship with the key resources of the territory - the cultural heritage - for the definition of a new welfare system.
The research outlines a study methodology aimed at developing guidelines for urban planning, articulated through the definition of interpretative frameworks that address the relationship between cultural heritage and welfare, identifying three different dimensions: (i) cultural heritage and illegal settlements, in the absence of institutional control; (ii) cultural heritage and public heritage, in the absence of well-being and spatial quality, as a result of processes of privatisation and fragmentation of public spaces; (iii) cultural heritage and abandonment, in the absence of maintenance and management. These critical issues form the basis of a reflection that supports the concept of cultural heritage as a new form of welfare, based on a relationship of stewardship, recognition and interdependence between heritage and communities as a co-produced outcome of collective action. This perspective is based on a proximity approach - micro-neighbourhood units - characterised by homogeneity in terms of cultural heritage and services, where the presence of a community dimension can be recognised.

Speaker: Maria Simioli (University of Naples "Federico II")

11:00 → 12:30 T_07 INCLUSION (A): Intersectionality, knowledge production and rights I

Convener: Ersi (Varsami) Zafeiriou (DLGS, IOER, TU Dresden)

11:00 Navigating Host Cities as Muslim Women Refugees; the role and potential of socio- spatial Integration

Muslim women refugees, particularly those from conflict-affected regions such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia, face unique and intersecting barriers related to gender, religion, ethnicity, and refugee status. These challenges significantly impact their spatial integration in host cities, shaping their perceptions of belonging and access to resources within urban environments. The visibility of religious attire, such as hijabs, often subjects these women to surveillance, discrimination, and harassment, limiting their mobility and access to essential services, and further hindering their ability to engage with the host society​(Husain, 2019; Casey, 2018; Galonnier, 2015)​.

While the formal refugee status under international law defines a refugee as someone who has fled their home country due to a well-founded fear of persecution, this research takes a broader, more inclusive approach, focusing on women with refugee-like experiences. These women may not always meet the strict legal definition of a refugee, yet their lived experiences of displacement, trauma, and exclusion are similar to those of formally recognized refugees. As highlighted in recent scholarship, the rigid legal framework often overlooks individuals whose circumstances do not fit neatly within the refugee category but who still require protection and support ​(Parekh, 2020)​. Many Muslim women, for instance, arrive in host countries on spouse or dependent visas, yet their experiences of forced migration mirror those of refugees. They face many of the same challenges—economic hardship, social isolation, and limited access to services—despite lacking formal refugee status.

This study, centered on Bristol, UK, examines how socio-spatial elements of the built environment—such as housing, transportation, public spaces, and access to services—impact the integration experiences of Muslim women refugees and those with refugee-like experiences. By prioritizing the lived experiences of these women over formal definitions of refugee status, the research amplifies their voices through qualitative methods, including feminist grounded theory, focus groups, and photovoice. Therefore, the research offers participants a powerful means to document and express their daily lives, shedding light on experiences of exclusion, resilience, and the complexities of navigating urban spaces as marginalized individuals ​(McClean et al., 2019; Harper, 2015; Bignante, 2010)​.

Through thematic analysis, the study will identify key social and spatial barriers these women face, while also uncovering opportunities for integration and empowerment. It will explore how intersecting identities—such as religion, gender, ethnicity, and refugee status—shape these women’s experiences of space, belonging, and mobility within the urban environment ​(Muhanna-Matar, 2022; Yuval-Davis, 2006; Ruddick, 1996; Crenshaw, 1991)​. Furthermore, the research will investigate how these women navigate systemic barriers to social inclusion, negotiate their identities within a host society, and face challenges in accessing vital services.

By identifying the socio-spatial challenges and opportunities for inclusion, the study will provide practical recommendations for urban planning and policy adjustments to better address the needs of Muslim women refugees and those with refugee-like experiences. These recommendations will aim to enhance their sense of belonging, foster social inclusion, and improve their access to resources, creating more equitable and welcoming urban spaces.

Ultimately, this research aspires to inform inclusive urban planning practices that recognize the complex, intersecting needs of Muslim women refugees. It will contribute to the development of urban environments where these women can navigate spaces with safety and dignity, access resources equitably, and rebuild their lives with autonomy and resilience.

Speaker: Ms Reem Elnady (University of West of England- UWE Bristol)

11:10 What do we mean when we talk about feminist urban planning?

According to feminist theorists (Federici, 2017, 2019; Hollanda, 2018; Kern, 2019; Lugones, 2020) and scholars from urban disciplines (Col·lectiu Punt 6, 2019; Falú, 2020; Hayden, 1980; Horelli, 2017; Horelli and Damyanovic, 2019; Huning et al., 2019; Tavares, 2015), the structure and design of our cities exclude women due to highly unequal societal and non-representative power structures, as the social, political, and economic context that shape our urban planning reproduces hegemonic and hierarchical masculinities. The feminist perspective questions the placement of the male figure as the main paradigm of collective representation (Kern, 2019; Perez, 2019). The inequalities between males' and females' representativeness are perpetuated and legitimized through urban configuration, planning, and management (Muxí, 2019; Tavares, 2015). The feminist perspective on urban planning calls for a fundamental shift in values, challenging the universalist approach.
As bell hooks (2015, p.1) states, “feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression". Within this framework, a feminist and intersectional approach to urban planning adopts a critical stance, aiming to promote equal opportunities in accessing and experiencing urban spaces. Feminism requires a re-evaluation of urban priorities through diverse variables, perspectives, and lived experiences, and raises the question of how urban planning may benefit certain groups while harming others (Muxí, 2019).
Feminist urban planning studies imply improving access to the city for all, regardless of their socio-cultural characteristics and often argue that “planning that benefits women also benefits everyone” (e.g. Horelli, 2017; Kern, 2019; Muxí, 2022). This argument is frequently used to demonstrate the broader societal significance of feminist research and to emphasise the necessity of feminist urban planning. However, if feminist urban planning aims to achieve outcomes that benefit everyone, is it meaningful to pursue feminist research to identify universally beneficial planning strategies rather than directly researching planning that advantages all? When we talk about feminist urban planning, what exactly are we discussing? How does it differ from good urban planning? To answer these questions, we will review relevant research publications to identify the trends and findings in feminist urban planning studies. The results will be compared with the criteria and indicators for comprehensive urban planning and spatial development developed by Horelli and Damyanovic (2019) to highlight the unique contributions of feminist planning research.
A literature search was conducted on Scopus and Web of Science with the search string: (TITLE-ABS-KEY ("feminism" OR "feminist" OR "gender equality" OR "gender-sensitive" OR "gendered spaces" OR "intersectionality")) AND (TITLE-ABS-KEY ("urban planning" OR "city planning" OR "urban design" OR "urban development" OR "public space" OR "urban policy")). In total, 1677 documents were retrieved from the two platforms. After duplicate deletion and non-English literature exclusion, 1096 potential documents are retained. Later, we will screen, categorise, and analyse the selected ones. The analysis of the selected literature consists of two parts: quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. First, the selected literature will be categorized based on publication time, geo-cultural context, research themes, methods, and formats. The coded data will then be utilized for quantitative analysis to identify historical trends in methodologies and research subjects within the field. For qualitative analysis, abductive coding based on the criteria and indicators proposed by Horelli and Damyanovic will be applied to the content of the literature to construct an epistemological model of feminist urban planning. By examining the selected literature, this study seeks to uncover the evolving narratives, frameworks, and analytical tools that shape discussions on feminist urban planning. The findings will highlight emerging trends, conceptual approaches, criteria, and indicators, offering insights into how feminist perspectives improve urban planning studies.

Speakers: Mx Phâmela Alves (Aalto University), Mr Xunran Tan (Aalto University)

11:20 Class polarization and housing accessibility for migrants in the Zurich urban area

Migration flows are becoming increasingly polarized in many cities worldwide, widening the gap between vulnerable and privileged migrants and, more broadly, sharpening class differences in our cities. This division is particularly evident in highly attractive and economically competitive cities like Zurich, where the polarization of the migration configuration is becoming evident in the social geography of the urban area and in access inequalities to the housing market.

Migration and mobility studies have long uncovered that definitions and categorization of migrants/natives and foreigners/nationals are class-specific (Castles, 2010; Çaglar, 2017) and that global mobility, not unlike other global phenomena, is unequal (Söderström et al., 2013) and can be characterized both by privileges and vulnerabilities. Some authors have, therefore, pointed out the necessity to look at privileged and unprivileged migration as a continuum (Cranston and Duplan, 2022) as their interrelations have been made evident e.g., in the job market. However, to deepen and expand this argument, the urban rental housing segment still needs further investigation.

In this paper, the concept of ‘migrant’ is understood as a socio-political construct (Glick Schiller and Salazar, 2013; Wyss and Dahinden, 2022) where the border regimes of the nation-states regulate and decide who is a migrant in opposition to who is a national (Scheel and Tazzioli, 2022). In the housing market, more specifically, it is often based on individual characteristics that migrant representations and perceptions are made – sometimes regardless of the residents’ actual migratory background – like legal status, race, language, religion, or cultural norms (Semprebon et al., 2022). Among these characteristics are also indicators of economic status, such as income, profession, education level, and, more broadly, class (Ibid.).

This study challenges the assumption that all migrants face the same disadvantages and discriminations in the housing market and instead seeks to introduce a more nuanced, class-oriented analysis. Specifically, it examines how class - understood through an intersectional framework - shapes housing access for both lower- and upper-class migrant groups in the Zurich urban area. Given Zurich’s strong economic competitiveness, its increasing socioeconomic polarization, and the severity of its housing crisis, understanding the mechanisms that influence housing access is crucial.

More precisely, we ask: What are the main mechanisms in the housing access process for lower- and upper-class migrants? To answer this research question, we conducted twenty-four in-depth qualitative interviews with stakeholders and users of urban housing in Zurich to: first, study the housing access process (housing search, home viewing, application procedure, selection process, property allocation, and final access); second, look at both the human (landlords, real estates, intermediaries) and digital factors (platforms, documentation, background checks); third, understand their impact in terms of housing accessibility (housing affordability, housing and neighborhood quality and location, housing trajectories and security) for migrants by class.

Our key finding is that class – at the intersection with the migratory background - plays a prominent role in shaping human and digital interactions throughout the housing access process. Specifically, economic conditions – such as income, title, profession, and employer – significantly influence the extent to which migrants’ applications are selected and their housing needs - in economic, social, and spatial terms - are met.

Why does money count the most in housing accessibility for the migrant population in the Zurich metropolitan area? We believe it is because of political responsibilities: 1. because of economic development strategies meant to attract and facilitate upper-class migrants; 2. because of profit-oriented logic in the provision and allocation of housing that privileges upper-class migrants; 3. because of inadequate provision of affordable and accessible housing for lower-class migrants.

Speaker: Mrs Beatrice Meloni (DASTU, Politecnico di Milano)

11:30 Urban Environmentalism and the Political Ecologies of Waste in India: Narratives of Inclusion of Informal Waste Workers in the Formalised Waste Infrastructures from Patna

Indian cities are transitioning towards more modernist, techno-managerial, and capital-intensive approaches to understanding and managing urban ecologies under national flagship programs such as the ‘Clean India Mission-Urban’ and the ‘Smart Cities Mission.’ While these transitions are deemed normative pathways for achieving ‘sustainable development’ and addressing the ‘polycrisis’ cities are facing, they often depoliticise urban environmentalism by reducing complex socio-ecological issues to mere technological fixes. These technocratic imaginaries and practices primarily cater to the normative imaginations of the urban bourgeoisie and, at times, become violent and exclusionary for the urban labouring poor (Baviskar, 2018; Sharma, 2022). One such intervention is formalising municipal solid waste management systems to eradicate manual waste handling and scientifically managing it instead. Despite informal waste workers’ crucial, effective and efficient contributions to waste metabolisms and reproducing the desired city(scapes), their knowledge, labour and socio-spatial practices are delegitimised, their questions, claims and contestations are rendered invisible from urban ecological imaginations, and they scarcely get featured in urban (environmental) planning scholarship.

My PhD project critically and carefully examines these infrastructural transitions and their implications on the labour, livelihoods, and lives of (in)formal waste workers in Patna, India. Theoretically grounding my research in the heterodox field of situated and embodied Urban Political Ecology (Truelove, 2011; Lawhon, Ernstson and Silver, 2014; Doshi, 2017), and drawing on the work of Simone (2004), Graham and McFarlane (2014), and Fredericks (2018), who approach and understand infrastructures as ‘peopled’, ‘lived’, and ‘(em)bodied’, I employed multi-sited ethnography of waste infrastructures as my methodology to engage with the lived realities of people, places, and practices examining how these ‘in-transition micro-geographies’ are embodied, contested, and navigated by the (in)formal workers in their everyday lives.

In this paper, I present my preliminary findings, arguing how informal waste workers are subject to elitist and casted urban sensibilities, imaginaries, infrastructures and practices, which, although fetishise and benefit from their cheap, dirty, exploitative, and precarious labour, continue to dispossess them of their labour and livelihoods and deny their claims to city-zenship. Foregrounding their everyday labour and lives, my research critically examines how informal waste workers embody, contest and navigate the changing waste infrastructures, drawing on their intersectional identities, social relations and subjectivities and using the precarious temporality of waste infrastructures to their advantage.

This research aims to contribute to the understanding of informality as a critical analytic site to understand better how, in this ‘polycrisis’, informal workers contest and navigate uneven, unjust, uncertain, and unfree urban ecologies in their everyday lives. These uneven embodiments, contestations and navigations of urban infrastructural transitions and their situated and relational understandings foregrounded in the everyday lived realities open new avenues for theorising diverse urbanisms of/from the Global South, which are socio-spatially rooted, ecologically aware, and politically engaged. These would also help raise and engage with wider political claims around urban inclusion, socio-ecological justice, city-zenship and ‘the right to city(life)’, which David Harvey (2003), Colin McFarlane (2024) and several others have convincingly argued for.

Speaker: Mr Rahul Raj (University of Sheffield)

11:40 Just smart? A Preliminary Study on the correlation of Smart City Infrastructure and Gentrification

In response to increasingly complex urban development challenges, reports from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2024) and Asian Development Bank (ADB, 2020) indicate that smart cities are one approach to addressing rapid urbanization. Through applying science and technology to improve the quality of life, it is considered to optimize the allocation of resources and overall competitiveness. At the same time, the smart city strategies emphasize on people-centred concept to achieve inclusive and sustainable development. Some studies mention that smart city initiatives attract external labor forces, resulting in local rent increases and displacement of low-income groups. There is limited literature on how smart infrastructure affects real estate prices and possible impacts on social equity.
However, like all urban environment improvement policies, similar issues arise including areas with upgraded infrastructure triggered real estate values increase, attracting high-income groups and real estate investors to further result in unaffordability. This may indirectly displace low-income groups or original residents, known as gentrification. Previous studies on drivers of gentrification include the development of parks and green spaces, urban renewal projects, mass transit station constructions, and disaster prevention improvements. Literature on smart gentrification focuses on digital and virtual aspects of participation.
This research focuses on administrative districts Qianzhen and Lingya Districts in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, as case studies to examine whether smart city infrastructure investments lead to possible gentrification, analyzing potential factors and correlations. First, the literature review analyzes types of gentrification and contexts. It defines the scope of smart city infrastructure types (such as smart transportation), examining the most common facility types and their coverage rates in these districts. Second, the hedonic property value method and multivariate analysis examine correlations between smart city infrastructure coverage factors, added benefit indicators, and gentrification indicators. The analysis results will explain how smart cities affect spatial equity, providing research recommendations for policy formulation to achieve inclusivity and sustainability in future development and resource investment.

Speaker: Ms SIN-YU WANG (Department of Urban Planning, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan)

11:50 Which development role for civic organisations? Insights from Sicily, Southern Italy

Despite decades of debate, policies, efforts and funding dedicated to territorial cohesion within the EU, the quest for ‘development’ in long-term lagging regions is still an ongoing and largely open dilemma; a dilemma that has become even more dramatic due to the changing socio-ecological dynamics as well as the neoliberal evolution of society, economics, and politics.

This paper contributes to the very long-term debate on planning for development in lagging regions in the EU, drawing from research conducted on Sicily (Saija & Li Destri 2022), arguing the need to reconceptualize the relationship between institutions and civil society in order to develop effective development strategies.

For years planning scholars have debated on the importance of looking at planning as an endeavor engaging not just institutional decision-makers supported by trained professionals, but also the civil society (Friedmann 2011). In this perspective, the relationship between civil society and institutions has been explored through a great variety of interpretive frameworks, mostly located within a spectrum that goes from harsh conflict to peaceful collaboration. Overall, such a large body of planning literature suggests that there is not an ideal type of desirable, effective, or productive civics-institution relationship. What is not predefined might depend on each context's unique characteristics, evolve over time, and encompass the full spectrum of possibilities in response to specific circumstances. In other words, while planning scholarship has focused on the nature and the desired characteristics of the relationship, and on how the two nodes – institutions on the one side and civic society on the other – should/can/shouldn’t relate with each other, less attention has been dedicated to the specific traits – if any – that characterize each of the nodes so that they can establish a fruitful relationship with each other, whatever fruitful might mean in a certain context.

The search for those traits can draw from the work of the Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito (2019), whose concept of instituting paradigm pushes planning scholars to ask (Li Destri & Saija 2023): what are the traits of an instituting civics, namely a civil society that is likely to collect, organize, and express collective demands that can be strategically used to push institutions and pursue development in the face of the contemporary socio-ecological crisis? How are these traits developed?

To explore these questions, we discuss some preliminary findings of the PRIN research project Resisting: Reconnecting Social Innovation with Institutions in Urban Planning funded as a PRIN by the Italian Ministry for Research, which investigates the dynamics of civic action and instituting processes across three Italian regions, from north to south: Piedmont, Veneto, and Sicily.
In this contribution, we focus on Sicily, examining the distinctive characteristics of a variety of civic organizations, in search for instituting traits. Analysis of data collected through archival research and qualitative methods (mapping and interviews) has shown significant differences between ‘instituting’ capacities by, on one end, well-established third-sector organizations operating primarily as service providers and, on the other, grassroots insurgent initiatives. The paper argues the importance of advancing our understanding of these differences as a crucial element that should help identify effective and more equitable development strategies.

Speaker: Laura Saija (Università degli Studi di Catania)

Saija_red.pptx

12:00 SOCIAL MOBILIZATION AND ITS CAPACITY TO TRANSFORM HOUSING POLICIES: THE SPANISH CASE SINCE 2009.

Although the right to housing has been part of the Spanish Constitution since 1976, over 1 million families have been evicted from their homes since Spain's property market crashed in 2008. Face of the housing emergency and the political inaction, in 2009 a social movement emerge, The Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH) and in 2017 the tenants' union, both with the aim to stop the evictions and change the national housing policy. After decades of struggle, in 2023 the first national housing law is approved. This research work analyses, through an analytical framework, the evolution since 2009 of the movement fighting for the right to housing and its capacity to transform public policies and in particular the legislative framework, in the Spanish context. The results show, on the one hand, the organizational capacity of these movements and the flexibility of these social organizations to adapt to the changing situation of the housing emergency of the country. On the other hand, they show that these organizations have been able to transcend individual demands and acquire a collective dimension, that is, they have not only been able to respond in the short term to individual emergency situations but also to influence, in the medium and long term, the cultural, media and political spheres in terms of housing. Finally, the work shows that guaranteeing the right to housing for all people implies breaking with the subordination of the use value of housing to its exchange value.

It is hoped that this research work can contribute to other marginalized groups identifying and making visible the collective dimension of their struggles and finding the strength and resources to promote initiatives capable of influencing public decision-making processes.

Speaker: Prof. Eva Álvarez de Andrés (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)

11:00 → 12:30 T_08 EDUCATION AND SKILLS: Studio-based learning, interdisciplinarity and partnerships

Convener: Andrea Frank (University of Birmingham)

11:00 Epistemological Uncertainties in Planning Education: The Transformative Role of Studio Pedagogy

Planning education faces a persistent challenge: equipping planners with the knowledge and skills to navigate an increasingly uncertain and complex world. The discipline's boundaries remain fluid (Myers and Banerjee, 2005), and its intellectual foundations are interdisciplinary and ever-evolving (Davoudi, 2009). This complexity makes planning difficult to define, but it also fosters versatility, flexibility, and creativity. As Ferreira, Sykes and Batey (2009) metaphorically describe it, planning theory resembles the mythical multi-headed creature, the Hydra, in that it lacks a single dominant paradigm and is made up of multiple paradigms that coexist.The evolving nature of planning theory raises critical questions: What knowledge areas should the planning discipline prioritize? How can educators prepare students to deal with the social, environmental, and ethical uncertainties of contemporary urban challenges? Davoudi & Pendlebury (2010, s. 638) identify three key areas: (1) space as the core object of inquiry; (2) the nature of integrative knowledge; and (3) the interface between knowledge and action.
Kunzmann (1985, p. 442) states that planning education has been in crisis since its inception and will continue to be so, but that this should not be seen as a weakness. This paper also considers uncertainty as an inherent feature of planning education and argues that it can be a source of strength rather than a limitation when managed strategically. The need to address epistemological uncertainty necessitates an adaptive and dynamic pedagogical approach that reflects the complexity of planning itself. This study explores the following research question: How can studio pedagogy be used as a transformative learning environment to equip planning students with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate contemporary socio-spatial challenges and epistemological uncertainties in planning education? In line with this question, the research will employ reflexive and situated learning methods.
This paper argues that studio pedagogy is a critical tool in equipping students with the necessary skills to respond to contemporary urban challenges. The evolution of studio pedagogy has been shaped by broader paradigm shifts in planning education. In response to urban issues of the late 1960s and early 1970s, planning adopted a social science orientation, expanding the definition of 'studio' as a pedagogical approach (Wetmore and Heumann, 1988). This shift is described by Baum (1997) as a 'hidden curriculum' that transformed practice-oriented teaching. By the late 1990s and early 2000s—what Anacker (2024) refers to as the fourth era of planning—the studio once again became a subject of planning education research, reflecting a renewed interest in practice-based education and studio-based learning. We argue that two key dynamics triggered the return of the studio in planning schools: (1) The Rise of Neoliberalism and the Importance of Space and (2) Ecological Thresholds and Social Inequalities. The strength of studio pedagogy lies not only in its capacity as a medium in which theoretical knowledge is transmitted and practice is learnt, but also in its capacity to encourage students to question the way they think when making ethical and political decisions.
By repositioning studio pedagogy as a transformative learning environment, this study contributes to the debate on how planning education can better respond to contemporary socio-spatial challenges. We believe that a pedagogical transformation that goes beyond theoretical teaching and actively prepares students for the uncertainties and ethical complexities of professional planning practice is essential.

Speaker: Mrs Begüm Eser (Istanbul Technical University)

Eser-Koramaz_AESOP-2025-Full-Paper.docx

11:10 Horizontality in practice: an illusion or a horizon for international cooperation workshops?

This proposal aims to provide a specific answer to the question posed in Track 8: Is it possible for the planning practices and pedagogies derived from developed geographies to become responsive to the planning experiences of the entire world?

This methodological and empirical contribution is based on feedback from an international cooperation workshop in urban planning that has been bringing together French and Tunisian partners in the city of Sfax for the past twelve years (2012-2024). This studio, set up at the Université Grenoble Alpes, aims to get students, teachers, universities and local partners from both countries to work together as horizontally as possible on a wide range of urban issues: rehabilitation of the old town, traditional houses and orchards on the outskirts, maintaining urban agriculture, the place of rural dwellers, children and migrants in the city, accessibility of public space for people with disabilities, daily mobility for residents, the link between the train station and the city, etc.

We speculate that it is possible to move towards a form of adaptation to local planning experiences by rethinking the teaching and cooperative postures of French teachers and students (exchange rather than transfer of skills, work over time, co-construction) and by profoundly and incrementally modifying pedagogical engineering. The serial nature of the studio over a long period of time and the co-construction of work topics between teachers have resulted in workshops that are less prescriptive and more processual and shared. Some studios took the time to explore a little-documented urban phenomenon (year 1), to problematize it (year 2) and then to network local stakeholders so that they could take over. These studios have transformed the perspectives of French students, and have sometimes led to thesis work by PhD students from both countries.

The result, however, is never fully satisfactory, as horizontality is only a distant horizon. Significant differences remain between partners in terms of investment capacity and curriculum. Reciprocity of experience, although a principle, is rarely effective, and the geopolitical context between the two countries often catches up with the studios.

Speaker: Prof. Jean-Michel ROUX (Université Bordeaux Montaigne)

11:20 Agents of Change: Redefining Urban Design Education Through Action and Agency - How studio-based learning, student agency, and taking an active stance equips future planners to address real-world challenges

In light of the urgent environmental, social, economic, and political challenges of our time, urban design and planning education must evolve to equip future practitioners with transformative skills. This paper presents a pedagogical approach that foregrounds student agency, interdisciplinary engagement, and systemic thinking to prepare them for the complexities and urgencies of real-world challenges. This approach requires students to take an active stance, and choose their roles and ways of engagement. Drawing on extensive teaching experiences at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Utah, as well as advisory roles in TUM’s Urbanism Graduate Program, we critically reflect on our methodologies and advocate for a studio-based learning model that empowers students as proactive agents of change.

A key feature of this approach is the emphasis on student agency from the very beginning of the semester. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their education by designing their own projects and reaching out to actors outside academia even before the studio formally begins. In the open call, we emphasize urgencies and encourage positionalities towards contemporary crises, positioning educators and students as peers facing shared global challenges. Rather than preconceived questions, scales, and sites, we provide a framework for discussion and idea development. During the studio, we establish and maintain a non-hierarchical and collaborative learning environment, and encourage the students to shape their studio proactively.

A distinctive element of this framework is its focus on fostering social entrepreneurship among planning students, inspiring them to create “spin-off stories”—projects that extend their academic work into practical, impactful solutions. By grounding the studio in real-world connections from the outset, we ensure that students develop actionable strategies in collaboration with diverse stakeholders, bridging the gap between academia and practice.

Through case studies and outcomes derived from our urban design research studios, we illustrate how this pedagogical approach prepares students to become influential contributors to sustainable and equitable urban development. By integrating social entrepreneurship and fostering student agency, we emphasize the importance of creating educational environments that transcend technical knowledge, enabling students to actively shape their education and develop a critical stance in addressing global challenges.
This contribution adds to the evolving discourse on planning education, highlighting the urgent need for curricula that nurture a generation of planners prepared to lead transformative urban initiatives and actively co-create a just, resilient, and inclusive world.

Speakers: Mr Daniel Zwangsleitner (University of Utah, Munich Technical University), Ms Elif Simge Fettahoglu-Ozgen (Munich Technical University)

11:30 Strengthening Interdisciplinary Cooperation in Planning Education

This project, conducted in 2023–2024 with funding from the Universities' Cooperation Fund, organized by the Minister of Universities, Industry, and Innovation in Iceland, focuses on strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration in planning education. The initiative examines the educational offerings and potential collaboration models among Icelandic universities—Agricultural University of Iceland (LbhÍ), University of Iceland (HÍ), Reykjavík University (HR), and Iceland University of the Arts (LHÍ)—to enhance synergies, improve the quality of the M.Sc. program in planning at LbhÍ, and foster efficient interdisciplinary discourse.

The need for this analysis is particularly relevant in Iceland due to its small population, limited student numbers, and relatively few academic staff. These factors pose challenges in maintaining the competitiveness of planning education with international programs. Moreover, the geographical distribution of planning-related disciplines across different universities complicates collaboration. Recognizing planning as an inherently interdisciplinary field, drawing from natural sciences, social sciences, and architecture, this project seeks to address these challenges systematically.

A steering group was established, comprising representatives from the participating universities and various academic disciplines related to planning. Through their discussions, a foundation was laid for identifying common ground and viable collaboration models.

The project was divided into four main components:
1. Reviewing competency criteria for planning professionals, guided by AESOP’s educational qualification criteria and Icelandic local conditions.
2. Analyzing current educational offerings to identify opportunities to strengthen the M.Sc. program in planning.
3. Exploring how planning-related topics could be incorporated into other academic programs and how undergraduate students could be better prepared for pursuing an M.Sc. in planning.
4. Developing and assessing potential models for interdisciplinary collaboration among partner universities.

The project emphasized the role of teaching formats and methods in structuring collaborative efforts. Studio-based learning and project work, particularly in collaboration with design disciplines like architecture and landscape architecture, were identified as key approaches. For other disciplines, seminar-based formats were deemed effective. Interdisciplinary courses allow students from diverse academic backgrounds to attend shared lectures, work on joint projects, and engage in collaborative reflection, fostering the exchange of insights and broader perspectives.

The results highlighted the primary benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration:
1. Applying knowledge from various fields to real-world planning practice.
2. Offering courses in specialized planning topics.
3. Promoting interdisciplinary discussions to improve learning outcomes and the development of planning criteria.
4. Encouraging reflection on one's academic field through dialogue and practical application.
By increasing the number of students in otherwise small fields, the project creates a foundation for richer communication and a broader perspective in planning education.

Speaker: Prof. Harpa Stefansdottir (Agricultural University of Iceland)

11:40 “Worlding” as a Pedagogical Approach in Basic Design Studio

The Basic Design Studio in Urban and Regional Planning education is designed as a means of developing creative thinking and spatial perception by considering design in the context of conceptual relationships. In this process, it is aimed to develop students' spatial thinking skills by deepening the basic components of design from an interdisciplinary field such as planning/architecture/art/philosophy/sociology. Human-induced environmental disasters along with global climate change, which we see the impact of from daily life to macro level planning decisions, require us to put innovative approaches to urban life on our agenda. From streets to urban infrastructures, it is important to adopt visionary approaches to urban planning that are more equitable, sustainable, resilient and developed in dialog. In this context, the basic design education developed through art and design disciplines has been reconstructed for urban planning students within the scope of the studio and transformed into a pedagogical framework that enables them to increase their spatial literacy, develop creative problem solving skills, gain collaborative practice and think critically about urban constructs.

Starting from the point and expanding towards the city, the basic design education process includes not only two-dimensional and three-dimensional productions on objects, concepts, events and facts, time, and space but also performances and new media productions. In this context, urban spaces become a part of the studio and turn into productions such as drawing, mapping, model, installation, video, performance together with qualitative and quantitative spatial research methods. This process, together with basic design education, strengthens students' perception of space and the city, while at the same time developing their critical thinking along with creative production techniques. In this context, during the studio process, students are expected to make productions in line with basic design principles, while at the same time they are expected to develop speculations about the temporal-spatial arrangements we live in with the words/concepts given to them. Referring to Donna Haraway's (1997) concept of “worlding”, this article aims to produce new narratives, question existing categories, and explore ways to achieve the current transformation through both discursive and spatial practices.

Within the scope of the study, the research modules developed in the basic design studio between 2022-2025 on the themes of “nomadism” (2022-2023), “utopia/dystopia” (2023-2024), “symbiosis” (2024-2025) will be explained as a case study. The conceptual construction of these study modules goes through research and design processes that mediate the questioning of the possibility of another world. Here, first of all, it is aimed to shake the canonical discursive-spatial configuration in studies ranging from fictional literary narratives to research on local communities. Then a storybook is written in collaboration with a human-non-human character to construct a new narrative of place. With this new narrative, people, animals, plants, objects, various natural phenomena, etc. mediate the production of place. As an important part of this process, designing wearable structures or prosthetics related to the scenarios they have created. A collaborative object in the narrative, as a prosthesis integrated into the human body, rejoins the existing world as a “cyborg” (Haraway, 1985). This process continues with the reproduction of an alternative spatial narrative of a specific urban area in Istanbul, accompanied by models and performances.

This methodology offers an urban space-oriented design process that encourages students to engage critically-creatively with the built environment. Through the case study, this paper situates “worlding” as a pedagogical model for the possibility of other worlds within creative production processes, while at the same time emphasizing the creative and critical potential of basic design. Finally, an evaluation is presented on the potential of this methodology to reshape the relationship between design education and urban planning practices.

Speakers: Ms Elif Hant (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), Gizem Parlak (MSGSÜ), ahmetcan alpan (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), kevser ismet üstündağ (mimar sinan fine arts university)

11:50 Industry-Academia Partnerships in Cross-Border Innovation: A Case Study of Future Workforce Initiatives

There is a pressing need to reassess, innovate and improve educational frameworks to prepare a future-ready workforce reflecting on the escalating global challenges. In pris contribution, we examine the pivotal role of industry-academia partnerships in fostering innovation in cross-border areas in the EU, focusing on initiatives designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to address multiple emerging socio-economic and environmental issues. Drawing from the Twin City Future Innovation Manufacturing Hub project (supported by Interreg Slovakia-Austria), a collaborative endeavor between Slovakia and Austria, this study explores how joint efforts between educational institutions and industries can lead to the development of innovative educational programs aiming to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application and ensuring that graduates are well-prepared to contribute effectively in their professional fields. We delve into the design and implementation of educational initiatives in Vienna-Bratislava cross-border area that integrate cutting-edge technologies and pedagogical approaches on elementary, high school, university and lifelong level. Besides highlighting best practices, we identify key factors that contribute to successful collaboration between academic institutions and industry partners. Furthermore, the contribution addresses the challenges encountered in aligning diverse educational systems and industry expectations across borders. It proposes strategies to overcome these obstacles, emphasizing the importance of adaptable curricula, continuous engagement of stakeholders and related parties and the cultivation of a culture that values innovation and lifelong learning. In this contribution, we aim to contribute to the discourse on planning education by providing empirical evidence and practical insights into how industry-academia partnerships can serve as catalysts for educational transformation as part of industry 4.0 transformation and just green transformation. We underscore the necessity for educational programs to evolve in response to global challenges, advocating for collaborative approaches that transcend national boundaries and disciplinary silos.

Speaker: Prof. Milan Husar (Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava)

11:00 → 12:30 T_09 URBAN FUTURES: Futuring in planning-conceptual dimensions

Convener: PM Ache (Radboud University)

11:00 Aspiration and reality: Experiences and reflexions on the initiation, emergence and implementation of urban (and regional) futures

Transformative visons and sustainability foresight are discussed as a key factor of urban capacities for sustainability transformation (Wolfram 2016). It is not only the transition management approach that assumes that, following a systemic analysis of the initial situation, a long-term vision of wellbeing while respecting planetary boundaries is required in order to derive the necessary strategies and measures for the here and now (Loorbach 2010). Even if the results are astonishingly similar in terms of content and visual language - happy faces, lots of urban green, lots of bicycles, lots of wind turbines - the development processes, the spatial and institutional context and the effects in planning processes are very different and we know little about them.

I will present and critically reflect on two visioning processes for decarbonisation at different institutional and spatial scales. One is a process in the context of coal phase-out, energy transition and structural change at the regional level, the other a process in the course of urban climate neutrality endeavours at the local level. Both examples are characterised by contextual conditions that are – so the assumption – rather hostile to sustainability transformation: Structural weakness, shrinking dynamics, brain drain and capacity reduction in the past, negative transformation experiences in the course of deindustrialisation and socio-political upheavals.

On the basis of process monitoring I identify key factors in the initiation and emergence process of urban and regional futures as well as for implementation in urban development and structural policy, where the question of implementation is the most difficult. When is a vision implemented? If transformation pathways are described in order to relate the status quo to the future? If milestones are identified to set manageable goals? If experiments are initiated that break with standard practices? If the decision-makers have been involved in the vision development process and have identified with the vision?

Speaker: Prof. Robert Knippschild (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development & Dresden University of Technology)

11:10 Integrated futures work in spatial planning

Current megatrends such as urbanization, climate and biodiversity crises, and environmental pollution demand humanity to transform its accustomed ways of operating. Responding to these phenomena requires a sustainability transition and transformative change, through which we move to comprehensively sustainable mode of operation in all areas of society. The extent and depth of these changes increase uncertainty and discontinuity on future development across all sectors of society, including planning. However, planning has historically emphasized deterministic evidence-based comprehensive planning aimed at defining a single desired future. Furthermore, the future awareness and orientation of actors involved in the development of the built environment is often lacking, and long-term or indirect impacts are not sufficiently considered in decision-making. As a result of weak future awareness, the ability to respond to uncertainty, changing conditions, and various potential development trajectories is insufficient.

If planning is to address the challenges and increasing uncertainty of our time, there needs to be a shift to a more innovative and transformative approach that creates new paths and is prepared for several uncertain futures. The tools for creating transformative new paths include, for example, explorative scenario planning and strategies for creating resilient and adaptive plans. However, the use of futures methods as part of planning is still a relatively new topic, and the related case studies and theoretical literature are limited. Furthermore, futures work is usually utilized by conducting individual foresight processes among professional stakeholders to provide supplementary knowledge to the planning process. The risk of this approach is that the impact of futures work remains low and no institutional learning occurs.

To answer these challenges and to generate transformative action, it is necessary to develop futures work as a continuous, organizationally integrated activity. This requires a futures orientated planning culture, integrating the use of futures tools and knowledge across organization, and cross-sectoral knowledge sharing. Futures work integration has been studied in futures studies, strategic management, and innovation research. However, the research field is still fragmented, as the focus of research has mainly been on individual foresight processes. Furthermore, research on planning-related applications appears to be altogether absent. The aim of this research is to investigate how futures work and knowledge is currently utilized in planning and to illustrate how they could be integrated as a continuous activity into planning practices and processes. To achieve the aim, two cases are examined that consider the scales of the city, region, and state: 1) the development process of the Tripla commercial center and transport hub located in Pasila, Helsinki and 2) the development process of the system for monitoring and anticipating urban and regional development in Finland.

The research is qualitative and utilizes varied material such as policy documents, scenario and workshop materials, survey results, and interviews. The analysis of the data is conducted as qualitative content analysis. The research primarily falls under the strategic planning field and the associated scenario planning discourse. Through the futures perspective, the research also has strong connections to futures studies. The contribution of the study is three-fold. First, the study offers knowledge on how futures work and knowledge are being utilized, thus contributing to the discourse on the use of futures methods in planning. Second, the study illustrates how futures work can be integrated into planning practice and processes and what factors inhibit integration, a topic that has not been addressed. Thus, the study generates novel understanding on how futures capabilities of planning practice can be systematically developed. Third, the study bridges futures studies and strategic spatial planning research in a novel way, contributing to the emerging body of literature on integrated futures work from planning perspective.

Speaker: Mikko Airikkala (Aalto University)

11:20 NEAR AND DISTANT FUTURES: PATH DEPENDECY VS DISRUPTION IN SPATIAL IMAGINARIES OF THE FUTURE OF ANCIENT CITIES

This contribution lies on a relational understanding of spatial imaginaries as collective understandings of socio-spatial practices produced through political struggles over the conceptions, perceptions and lived experiences of place (Davoudi, 2018). As an expression of power relations, the need to negotiate different and conflicting spatial imaginaries has emerged in recent planning practices (Haughton & Allmendinger 2015; Crawford 2018, Lingua 2022).
Moreover, the efficacy of spatial imaginaries lies in their institutionalisation. This term is widely used in social theory to refer to the process of embedding concepts, social roles, values or modes of behaviour within an organisation, social system, or society as a whole (Waterout, 2008). In strategic spatial planning, the institutionalisation of spatial imaginaries covers their capacity to travel across significant institutional sites of urban and regional governance. Whitin these processes, spatial imaginaries are subject to processes of creation and destruction: they can be replaced by a new imaginary that has gained primacy in the meantime and, in some cases, they can later be re-appropriated and reenergized, even in transfigured forms. However, this reading of the “evolution” or “involution” of competing and “winning vs losing” spatial imaginaries does not take into account the kind of futures they envision.
In this contribution, we put into tension the proposal of Augustin et al. (2019) to distinguish between “near” and “distant” futures with Sorensen’ reading of path dependency (2014). The dichotomy near/distant seems to be quite promising in terms of connecting spatial imaginaries to different images of futures, where distance is not a matter of merely extending the time horizon, but points to qualitatively different processes of envisioning the future and orienting action, even toward disruption in path dependencies
By referring to different experiences of envisioning the future of the City of Florence after the pandemic, we will provide an excursus on the relation among path dependencies and future thinking in cities with an ancient past, and we will discuss how spatial imaginaries that envision a distant future have different features than those that envisage a near future, whereas distance refers to how close or critical a future is to contingent experience and social convention and expectations.

Speaker: Valeria Lingua (University of Florence, Department of Architecture)

11:30 Back to the Future. How to Co-produce with Imaginaries?

The paper digs deep into a case, from the perspective of the project-director of actual developments on the former mine-site in Beringen, a medium-sized city in Flanders (Belgium). Description and evaluation of a work-in-progress serve critical reflection and a proposal for an enriched approach.
Klee’s ‘Angelus Novus’ captures the inevitable drive of progress, looking into the past, turning his back to the future. While producing huge piles of trash, a strong wind from paradise blows him into the unknown. A similar situation is intrinsic to spatial planning. Planners cannot ‘see’ the future behind their back, but have to deal with that while doing their best to correct misfits and to meet demands for a better environment. The knowledge needed to do so is built up from past experiences and a critical attitude towards the present trash. And yet, changing the actual world with the future in mind urges for ‘futuring’: investigating potential futures, seeing with the eye of imagination. This eye-magination is envisioning alternative situations, by projecting innovative ideas into the future, while testing those together with participating actors, and sending the fruits of this confrontation back into potential futures. Planners move forth and back between the known present and an uncertain future while scanning, assessing and testing a spectrum of qualities.
However, spatial planners and designers never work alone. Many diverse stakeholders need to be informed, mobilized and activated until they are motivated to invest their knowledge, creativity, time, money, and other valuable resources. Collaboration is a major prerequisite within a planning situation which includes, besides analysis, research and design, also operational aspects such as action programs, communication, and implementation. Thus, co-producing a ‘common future’ implies imagination to be shared.
In the case of Beringen, coherence and coordination were crucial aspects of the common future pursued for an old mining site. To envision those aims, multiple generative metaphors were mobilized by a ‘quality platform’ set up by the local government. Seeing ‘mine-landscape as beacon’, ‘projects as ships’, and ‘designing as wayfaring’ tried to collectively coin a common point on the horizon, the need for coordinated ‘turns’ of each ship’s orientation, and their complicated trajectories to be explored. ‘Ecology’, ‘meshwork’, and ‘correspondence’ served as tacit metaphors for the ‘quality platform’ during its endeavour to direct the common imagination. Together, these metaphors helped to modulate and grasp the ‘planning ecology’ at work.
After four years of practice, an evaluation is made. The wayfaring-ambition of the involved quadruple helix (public-private-partnership, city government, social actors, external experts) lost track. Maybe partly due to the metaphorical flou artistique, the beacon loomed up as a rather foggy silhouette. Probably the ‘content’ of the pursued mine-landscape was not addressed in a sufficiently tangible way. The motivation to hark ‘back to the future’ is growing. Implied questions are: What kind of ‘imaginary’ (an imagined representation of the future) can help to make the beacon stand out of the fog? How to construct a performative shared perspective on the world, that spurs a commonly supported goal-orientation and enables common practices? According to the ‘quality platform’, the future might be backed up by a ‘thought-image’, based on an elaboration of the concept ‘mine-landscape’. Gradually such thought-image is being developed by enriching ‘mine-landscape’ in a threefold way: a logo (mijn|land|schap), a perspective (being, seeing, caring), and a figure (eidetic map).

Speaker: Prof. Jan Schreurs (KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Dept. Architecture)

11:40 How imaginative design and experiential scenario’s informed Dutch strategic planning: the crucial case of Netherlands Now as Design (1987)

Spatial planning scholars have long emphasized the need for future-oriented and strategic thinking in planning practice (e.g. Couclelis, 2005). Spatial planning requires a future-oriented approach now more than ever, given the growing challenges of climate change and the transformations needed across multiple sectors to achieve sustainability goals. In this paper, I examine how imaginative design and experiential futuring contribute to strategic and long-term planning, focusing on the case of ‘Netherlands Now as Design’ (NND). Drawing on planning theory and science and technology studies, I explore how techniques of futuring help co-produce shared images of the future, paying specific attention to the dramaturgy of this futuring intervention (Hajer & Pelzer, 2018).
While calls for imagination are now increasingly made, our understanding of how imagination works in planning and design processes is still limited. More specifically, we lack a detailed understanding of how imaginative interventions in planning and design processes can be effectively staged. In that context, it is instructive to analyse the lead up to the Fourth Memorandum on Strategic Planning in the Netherlands (1988). This is widely seen as one of the most successful memoranda in Dutch spatial planning (Salewski, 2012), marking an approach that by and large still informs spatial planning in the Netherlands.
NND was a five-year design-led exploration of future scenarios for the Netherlands in 2050, culminating in a major public exhibition with 30,000 visitors. By employing speculative design, it countered spatial short-termism, broke through ‘a crisis of the imagination’, and broadened perspectives on alternative futures. I identify three key ways NND influenced Dutch planning: (1) fostering a coalition of designers, planners, and academics who shaped planning for decades, (2) informing the Fourth Memorandum on Strategic Planning (1988), and (3) demonstrating how spatial design can engage the public and make abstract planning issues more tangible. Ultimately, this case highlights how design interventions can shape long-term strategic planning.

Speaker: Ms Saskia Naafs (Utrecht University)

11:50 Foresight as an instrument for Regional Development. The case of Thessaly (Greece)

The successive crises of recent years have shaped an environment of uncertainty that tends to constitute a new permanent reality. At the same time, the radical changes that Artificial Intelligence will bring to the entire social process will create a highly competitive economic field. In this new situation, Greek Regions are called upon to transform the methods of developmental policy and to completely reconstruct their structures. Anticipation, participation and visioning are crucial elements that can contribute to the development of the Region’s strategic intelligence in order to cope with the present and future challenges.

Adopting Foresight (OECD, 2021) can provide early warnings of challenges and opportunities, as well as the ability to study the present big picture. It enables Regions to identify and prioritize critical areas of intervention, allocate development resources effectively and make informed decisions based on comprehensive analysis. Cultivates collective intelligence, enhances strategic thinking and incorporates views and opinions of local actors and citizens. Creates the conditions for the alignment of regional development with knowledge (Foray, 2004) and mission economy (Mazzucato, 2021).

Moreover, it is worth noting that European Committee of the Regions, in a relevant opinion in October 2023, states that local and regional authorities (LRAs), as well as other local bodies and citizens -especially young people- should play a primary role in the practice of Foresight, thus actively contributing to the choices that will determine their future.

The aim of our research is how the Region of Thessaly can adopt Foresight as a method for Regional Development. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews with key informants, representatives of the quadruple helix, we attempt to determine which of the parameters of Regional Foresight are already covered by the Region of Thessaly and which are not. The qualitative analysis of the responses is based on the methodology of Grounded Theory (Glaser and Strauss, 2017) and seeks to develop a coherent, effective and applicable framework for Regional Foresight. We will present some initial findings of our ongoing research.

Speaker: Mr Akis kalamaras (University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece)

12:30 → 14:00 Lunch Break

12:45 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: NEW TECHNOLOGIES & PLANNING

Convener: Michele Campagna (University of Cagliari)

12:45 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: OTHER TG's UPON REQUEST

12:45 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: PLANNING EDUCATION

Convener: Andrea Frank (University of Birmingham)

12:45 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: PLANNING, LAW AND PROPERTY RIGHTS - PLPR

12:45 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: PUBLIC SPACES AND URBAN CULTURES (Brown Bag Lunch open to public)

Convener: Tihomir Viderman (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

12:45 → 14:00 AESOP THEMATIC GROUPS (TG) EVENTS: RURAL PLANNING

Convener: Menelaos Gkartzios (Newcastle University and Izmir Institute of Technology)

12:45 → 14:00 JOURNAL: EUROPEAN PLANNING STUDIES (time to be confirmed)

Convener: Dominic Stead (Aalto University)

12:45 → 14:00 RT_29 ‘CONVERSATIONS IN PLANNING THEORY AND PRACTICE’: A COLLABORATIVE E-PUBLICATION BY AESOP’S YOUNG ACADEMIC NETWORK

Conveners: Francesca Dal Cin (CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa), Mario Paris (Università degli Studi di Bergamo - DISA)

12:45 ‘CONVERSATIONS IN PLANNING THEORY AND PRACTICE’: A COLLABORATIVE E-PUBLICATION BY AESOP’S YOUNG ACADEMIC NETWORK

The Conversations-in-Planning YA-AESOP booklet series, an initiative of AESOP’s Young Academics (YA) network, foster meaningful dialogues between scholars on theories, concepts, ideas, and practices in spatial planning. This series provides an interactive platform for YAs to develop their academic and intellectual skills through an intergenerational knowledge share. Each issue delves into the evolution of planning approaches, draw lessons from experiences practitioners, and encourages reflection on the future of the discipline.

The roundtable focuses on four key objectives:
1. Promoting the editorial project Introducing the booklet series while addressing the challenges and opportunities of this bottom-up, collaborative initiative. This project emphasizes discussion and learning through active engagement within the scientific community.
2. Discussing the cultural significance Highlighting the project’s outcomes and identifying new directions, including potential contributors, relevant topics, and compelling case studies for future issues.
3. Presenting the latest booklet Showcasing In the Mirror of Urban Landscapes: Sharing Experiences and Grounding, authored by Prof. De las Rivas, Ana Ruiz Varona, and Federico Camerin.
4. Introducing the special issue "European Planning Contexts" Announcing the second special issue in the series’ new format, following Planning Practices and Theories from the Global South (2021). This edition will address critical topics such as climate change, housing challenges, and feminist cities; featuring contributions from both experienced scholars and young academics.

The roundtable aims to foster open discussion by engaging contributors, participants, and the audience, enriching the dialogue on the discipline’s core challenges and innovations.

Speakers: Ana Ruiz-Varona (Universidad San Jorge), Federico Camerin (University of Valladolid), Francesca Dal Cin (CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa), Juan Luis de las Rivas Sanz (University of Valladolid), Lena Greinke (Leibniz University Hanover, Institute of Environmental Planning), Mario Paris (Università degli Studi di Bergamo - DISA), Qingyuan Guo (London School of Economics)

12:45 → 14:00 SS_23 POSITIONING ISTANBUL IN THE ERA OF MULTIPLE CRISES VISION 2050 ACTION PLAN: FROM VULNERABILITY TO RESILIENCE

Conveners: H. Tarık Şengül (Middle East Technical University & Coordinator of Istanbul Plan 2050), Hatice Kurşuncu

14:00 → 16:00 General Assembly: AESOP

14:00 → 15:30 T_11 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES (O): Emerging Technologies

Convener: Merve Deniz Tak (İstanbul University)

14:00 A Novel Large Language Model Approach for Streetscape Perceptual Analysis in Shanghai

Street perception encompassed multiple layers, from basic visual elements to complex cognitive interpretation. While traditional urban perception studies primarily focused on visual features, they often overlooked the deeper, multidimensional aspects of perception. This research introduced a novel unsupervised multi-feature integration framework for analyzing streetscape change perception, combining multimodal large language models with deep learning techniques. The framework enabled intelligent analysis of Shanghai's streetscape evolution patterns through an automated process of training data generation, model development, and model application. Our results demonstrated that ChatGPT's evaluation of streetscape transformation extended beyond simple visual changes to encompass complex urban dynamics. The model exhibited sophisticated analytical capabilities by incorporating both socioeconomic factors, such as commercial vitality, and physical transformations, including construction and renovation activities, in assessing environmental quality changes. The study made significant methodological contributions by establishing an intelligent, reproducible framework for dynamic streetscape evaluation. Furthermore, it uncovered fundamental patterns in metropolitan streetscape evolution, providing valuable insights for informed urban renewal policy-making.

Speaker: Ms Yiwen Tang (Tongji University)

14:10 Gamifying Participatory Design: A Digital Platform for Urban Renewal in Gangxia Urban Village, Shenzhen

The rapid industrialization and urbanization in China have transformed rural landscapes into urban areas, giving rise to urban villages. Shenzhen, with over 1,000 urban villages housing approximately 7 million permanent residents and migrants, presents a unique context for studying these transitional spaces. Gangxia, located in the heart of Shenzhen, serves as an exemplary case to explore the intersection of social complexity, policy shifts, and digital innovation in urban renewal.

This study focuses on the design and implementation of a gamified digital platform tailored for Gangxia Urban Village. The platform aims to engage diverse social groups, including migrant workers, landlords, and government stakeholders, in participatory urban planning. Through a gamification approach, residents are encouraged to contribute their insights, voice concerns, and collaborate on community development initiatives. The platform integrates elements such as interactive feedback systems, reward-based participation, and scenario simulations to foster active involvement and enhance communication among stakeholders.

The research adopts a qualitative methodology, incorporating a literature review, in-depth analysis of Gangxia’s socio-economic and policy context, and semi-structured interviews with residents and policymakers. The findings highlight the pressing need for digital tools that address the unique challenges of informal urban areas while bridging the digital divide.

By proposing a gamified workflow for participatory planning, this study illustrates the potential of digital participatory design to enhance inclusivity and efficiency in urban renewal. It emphasizes the importance of tailoring technological solutions to local contexts and creating engagement strategies that resonate with diverse community groups. This research contributes to the broader discourse on the role of emerging technologies, such as gamification and artificial intelligence, in fostering resilient, inclusive, and sustainable urban environments.

Speaker: Yangyang PAN (School of Design, The Hongkong Polytechnic University)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation.pptx

14:20 The Study on the Measurement and Enhancement Strategies of Urban Street Space Quality Based on Street View Images: A Case Study of Streets in the Central Urban Area of Xi'an

Identifying the spatial quality characteristics of urban streets is the key to realize scientific planning and effective management of urban streets. It provides the basis for the optimization of urban spatial layout and promotes the intelligent and sustainable development of cities. However, previous studies are mostly limited to some neighborhoods and lack a systematic analysis of street quality in large-scale urban areas. Therefore, this study integrates the spatial pattern data and streetscape image data of the main urban area of Xi'an, constructs a quantitative database of street spatial quality, and establishes a measurement system from the dual dimensions of objective physical space and subjective perception. The system covers eight indicators, including pavement feasibility, motorized traffic influence, road surveillance, sky visibility, green visibility, street interface transparency, street interface richness, and pedestrian accessibility, to achieve a large-scale assessment of the spatial quality of streets in the main urban area of Xi'an.
The results of the study show that: (1) the spatial quality of streets in the main urban area of Xi'an is characterized by a “high in the center - low in the periphery” circle distribution, and high-quality streets and low-quality streets have significant clustering characteristics. (2) There are complex interactions and spatial spillover effects among various elements of street spatial quality. For example, the improvement of road surveillance can enhance walking safety, promote walking trips, reduce the dependence on motorized vehicles, and thus alleviate traffic congestion and environmental pollution. (3) The street quality assessment results based on the two-dimensional measurement system are more consistent with the field research perception evaluation (Kappa=0.72) and significantly better than the single objective indicator model (Kappa=0.53), indicating that the integration of subjective and objective dimensions can improve the accuracy of identification. (4) Optimizing the spatial quality of streets requires a multidimensional synergistic strategy, including enriching the functions of street interfaces, strengthening the design of road surveillance and lighting, and improving greening and pedestrian facilities.
By quantitatively analyzing the differences in street spatial quality in Xi'an, the research results can provide scientific references for urban street planning, functional positioning and management, and provide a reference for the development of spatial quality improvement strategies in other cities.

Speaker: Mr mengde zheng (Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology)

14:30 Spatiotemporal perception of disasters based on social media data in the context of climate change: A case study of Shanghai

The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events has brought serious impacts on cities under the background of climate change. For example, the increasingly frequent typhoon will cause strong wind disaster and extreme rainstorm disaster with the characteristics of rapid change and high uncertainty. These disasters cannot be responded quickly with the traditional methods of disaster prevention and mitigation planning such as improving defense standards and formulating disasters prevention plans. Therefore, it is urgent to explore more adaptive planning methods to meet climate change challenges and realize climate resilience. In recent years, urban residents publish real-time disaster information through social media, which can be identified and analyzed to provide timely information to support decision-making for disaster response.
Based on this situation, this paper selects Shanghai as the study area, takes Typhoon "Pulasan" and Typhoon "Bebinca" as an example (these typhoons consecutively influence Shanghai from September 14 2024 to September 22, 2024), and conducts disaster perception analysis based on the disaster information published on Sina microblog (one of the most famous social media in China). Firstly, this paper collects the text data of Sina microblog during the disaster, identifies the disaster information from the text, and analyzes disaster theme of public concern with the topic model of the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Secondly, this paper calculates the public perception level, and evaluates the public emotion tendency and the public emotion intensity during the disaster based on the sentiment dictionary of China National Knowledge Infrastructure (HowNet). Thirdly, it analyzes the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the public perception level and the public emotion intensity.
The results are as follow: (1) 2734 pieces of disaster information are identified, and the disaster themes are mainly divided into three categories, including disaster disruption to daily activities, disaster-affected locations, and post-disaster public space; (2) In terms of time dimension, the distribution of the public perception and the emotional intensity presents obvious double peak characteristics. In detail, the public perception during Typhoon "Bebinca" is higher than that during Typhoon "Pulasan", while the negative emotional intensity during Typhoon "Bebinca" is lower than that during Typhoon "Pulasan". Meanwhile, the peak of the emotional intensity lags behind the peak of the public perception; (3) In terms of space dimension, the distribution of the public perception (Moran I=0.053, z=7.769, p=0) and the negative emotional intensity (Moran I=0.045, z=3.842, p=0) present obvious clustering characteristics, while the distribution of the positive emotional intensity (Moran I=0.016, z=1.301, p=0.193) presents random distribution characteristics. Furthermore, the public perception hotspots are distributed in the southern coastal area of Shanghai while the negative emotion hotspots are mainly concentrated within the middle ring road of Shanghai, which shows the spatial distribution differentiation between the public perception hotspots and the negative emotion hotspots.
To summarize, the public pays more attention to the disaster impact on public facilities and public spaces. Additionally, there is different disaster impact on urban residents in different areas, resulting in spatiotemporal differences between the public perception hotspots and emotion hotspots. Accordingly, corresponding planning strategies are proposed from three perspectives, including integrating disaster perception results into spatial risk assessment, optimizing emergency response based on the public perception analysis, and taking the distribution characteristics of the public emotion intensity as decision-making support for post-disaster recovery.
The significance of this paper is to explore the application of big data technology and social media in responding to climate change challenges, so as to provide a reference for the integration of new technologies into resilient urban planning.

Speaker: Dr Yun Ling (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University)

14:40 The Role of Urban Diversity in Shaping Spatiotemporal Vitality: Evidence from Shanghai

Urban vitality, as a key indicator of urban development, has long been a central concern in urban planning. Jacobs suggests that 24-hour human activity is the foundation of vitality, and urban diversity is the key factor in shaping this vitality (Jacobs, 1989). Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of urban vitality and the role of diversity is crucial for enhancing vitality, fostering economic prosperity, and improving residents' well-being.
This study conducts an empirical analysis of Shanghai to explore the relationship between diversity across different dimensions and block-scale vitality. Existing research suggests that vitality distribution is influenced by urban morphology(Li et al., 2022). However, most studies focus on static urban vitality analysis, lacking an in-depth exploration of its spatiotemporal dynamics. This study aims to address the gap by exploring the temporal and spatial dimensions of vitality through a multi-faceted analysis. It specifically focuses on two key questions: how urban diversity relates to spatiotemporal vitality patterns, and to what extent different dimensions of diversity influence vitality.
This study employs multi-source data to measure urban diversity indicators and spatiotemporal vitality. Building upon an extension and scale adaptation of Jacobs' classic theory, the research dissects diversity into three dimensions: demographic, urban form, and functional diversity. To analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of vitality, Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) clustering is applied, effectively capturing temporal relationships and similarities in vitality (Petitjean, Ketterlin and Gançarski, 2011). Additionally, nonlinear machine learning methods are used to quantify the relationship between diversity indicators and vitality stability, identifying key indicators and their thresholds that influence vitality.
The results indicate a complex nonlinear relationship between diversity characteristics across different dimensions and spatiotemporal vitality. Overall, increased diversity contributes to maintaining high vitality, consistent with classical theory. The study also finds that functional diversity exhibits a threshold effect, with varying threshold characteristics observed across different urban zones in Shanghai.
This study validates Jacobs' classical theory, and incorporating the temporal dimension and providing a quantitative analysis of influence thresholds. It not only provides empirical support for the classical theory in the context of modern urban planning but also advances the theoretical understanding of the shift in urban planning from subjective design to scientific analysis.The findings lay a theoretical foundation for the balanced allocation of resources and the optimization of urban spatial structure, thereby contributing to the development of vibrant, diverse, and sustainable urban environments.

Speaker: Jiayu Xu (Tongji University)

14:50 Agent-Based Decision Support Platform for University Campus Dining Space Management: A Case Study from Tongji University, Shanghai, China

Introduction
In the era of smart campus development, emerging technologies such as AI and digital twins have revolutionized educational systems, yet public space management remains reliant on traditional, experience-driven approaches. This gap is evident in critical areas like campus dining spaces, where imbalanced utilization and inefficient resource allocation persist due to insufficient integration of big data and intelligent technologies. Focusing on Tongji University—a high-density urban campus in Shanghai—this study addresses these challenges by developing an agent-based simulation platform to optimize dining space management. Leveraging multi-source data, including 6.3 million campus smart card (CSC) records, geospatial information, and survey responses, we construct a decision-support framework that combines large language models (LLMs) with spatiotemporal behavior analysis to predict user behavior and evaluate management strategies.
Approach and Methodology
The research integrates heterogeneous datasets from May 2023, covering seven campus dining halls, CSC transaction logs (capturing spatiotemporal trajectories at restaurants, classrooms, and gates), class schedules, and individual attributes (e.g., gender, major). A novel LLM-driven agent framework is designed to simulate dining choices, comprising five modules:

1. Agent Attributes: Defines individual characteristics (e.g., academic role, schedule).
2. Long-Term Memory: Stores campus environmental data and personal dining history.
3. Pathfinding Tool: Employs Dijkstra’s algorithm for route optimization.
4. Real-Time Context Inputs: Integrates dynamic variables (e.g., updated schedules, crowding alerts).
5. Decision Outputs: Generates dining choices and navigational paths.

The model is trained on 20 days of CSC data, validated against a one-day test set and traditional discrete choice models (DCM). Scenarios including staggered class dismissals, real-time crowding information provision, and comprehensive dining quality upgrades (e.g., improved meal variety, service efficiency, and ambient conditions) are simulated to assess spatial utilization efficiency.
Results
The LLM-based agent achieved an 85% accuracy in predicting dining choices, outperforming DCM (76%). Scenario analyses revealed that combining staggered class dismissals with real-time crowding information provision reduced peak-hour congestion by 28% and average wait times by 12 minutes. Meanwhile, comprehensive dining quality upgrades decreased the maximum disparity in space utilization across dining halls from 51% to 27%, promoting equitable spatial distribution. These results demonstrate the framework’s capacity to address both temporal crowding and spatial imbalance.
Discussion and Conclusion
This study advances urban spatial governance by embedding LLMs into agent-based modeling, enabling the simulation of complex human-environment interactions under multidimensional constraints (e.g., schedules, preferences, spatial layouts). Unlike static DCM approaches limited to linear variable relationships, the proposed framework dynamically adapts to contextual changes, incorporates memory-driven learning, and processes heterogeneous data streams—aligning closely with the nonlinear, adaptive nature of human decision-making. By translating granular behavioral predictions into actionable strategies, the platform bridges the gap between data-driven insights and spatial management, fostering resilient, user-centric campus environments.
The methodology offers scalable applications for urban public spaces, including commercial hubs and transit nodes, where balancing efficiency and equity remains a challenge. Future work will integrate real-time IoT data streams and participatory stakeholder feedback to enhance adaptability. This research underscores the transformative potential of AI-augmented decision-support systems in achieving evidence-based, inclusive urban governance—a critical step toward building smarter, more responsive cities.

Speaker: Ms Xinlan Luo (Tongji University)

15:00 Speaking as a river - Introducing multispecies role-playing games for urban sustainability planning

Severe social-ecological crises on earth are intensifying, leading, among other things, to the destruction of biodiversity and habitats of all living beings. Behind these crises lies a deeply rooted anthropocentric world view, in which humans perceive themselves not only as separate from, but also as superior to the rest of nature (O'Brien et al., 2024). The same applies to urban and regional planning, which has traditionally been committed to designing cities for human needs. Increasingly, however, this imperative is being questioned and more-than-human approaches to spatial planning are being advocated in order to break away from anthropocentric thinking and open up new avenues for alternative imaginaries (Bush and Doyon, 2023).
Role-playing as a serious game is an established method in planning education, where students learn, practise and reflect on taking on roles and representing others (Olesen, 2018). Role-playing allows participants to consciously step out of their own perspective, take on other points of view and act as proxies in a fictional world of play. However, role-playing games mostly reflect anthropocentric planning practices, as the games mainly take human interests into account (Castellazzi, Hakkarainen and Raymond, 2024; Istrate and Hamel, 2023). In contrast, the voices of the more-than-human world are increasingly being staged at the interface between art, activism and education using playful methods (Sachs Olsen, 2022). In this context, the question arises as to how role-playing can be used to develop and practise a more-than-human perspective and ways of thinking in the sense of a transformative skill (Chen and Martin, 2015). We therefore explore how role-playing as a method can create a safe and reflective space in which more-than-human voices are included in urban sustainability planning. Four different role-playing game designs were developed and tested based on the relational ethics of a human-nature partnership (Artmann, 2023). The participants were encouraged to question anthropocentrism in a what-if world in which more-than-human actors had their say in a planning scenario and a thriving life for all living beings in the city was sought.
Our paper will first illustrate and reflect on the overall game development process by describing the main features of the four role-play designs, and the possibilities for integrating more-than human voices and the intersections with urban planning. Second, we present the results of a directed content analysis of the role-play designs using multispecies justice as an analytical framework. Building on this, we share our insights on how aspects of recognition, participation, capabilities and distribution can be shaped for just urban planning in the scripted environment of a role-playing game. To further explore the potential of multispecies role-playing games, we discuss their future use in the education of planners, its use as a participatory planning practice and its role as a research method. In doing so, we consider the opportunities and challenges of using the method to better include more than human voices in urban sustainability planning.

Speakers: Mr Philip Harms, Dr Neelakshi Joshi

16:00 → 16:30 Coffee Break

16:30 → 18:00 RT_03 RETHINKING DEMOCRATIC URBAN PLANNING: REFLECTING ON EQUITABLE AND ETHICAL APPROACHES FOR THE MULTI-CRISIS ERA

Conveners: Ana Peric (University College Dublin), Prof. ERHAN KURTARIR (YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY), Marco Pütz (Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL)

16:30 Rethinking Democratic Urban Planning: Reflecting on Equitable and Ethical Approaches for the Multi-Crisis Era

Despite a growing number of urban policies promoting multi-sectoral cooperation, robust theoretical foundations on collaboration, justice, and social inclusion, and emerging co-production, co-creation, and co-design approaches, adverse global political and economic trends continue to erode democracy in urban development. This erosion manifests in poor policy implementation, the critique of collaborative planning as a smokescreen for unilateral decision-making, and the sporadic rather than systemic application of cooperative planning practices.

This roundtable examines the erosion of democracy in urban development as a critical challenge in the context of the multi-crisis era of the society, marked by climate change, economic instability, social inequality, and political polarization. A core consequence of this erosion is the contested legitimacy of urban planning. Instead of serving as a tool to protect the public interest, contemporary urban planning increasingly struggles against populist and authoritarian political regimes, as well as neoliberal economic pressures. Thus, we will explore the concepts and methods of democratic urban planning aimed at rebuilding public trust and reinvigorating planning as an essential tool for equitable and ethical urban development.

The discussion will address the following questions:
1. How can we comprehensively assess democratic urban planning across Europe, considering varied historical paths, planning traditions, and the interplay between global trends and local dynamics? Which stakeholders are essential to enabling democratic urban planning, and how can their roles be strengthened?
2. To what extent do various planning policies and practices emerge as democratic when examined through the lenses of formal planning frameworks (institutions and instruments) as well as cultural norms deeply embedded in society? How can we ensure that these frameworks and norms align with principles of justice, inclusion, and equity? How can we localise and operationalise the general frameworks?
3. How can we facilitate knowledge transfer across diverse social spheres? How can academic insights be translated into democratic planning principles, how can these professional tenets be integrated into citizens’ daily lives, and how can deliberative planning tools become embedded in administrative and procedural frameworks to improve democratic urban planning?
4. What lessons can be learnt from comparing democratic and non-democratic approaches to urban planning, and how can ethical codes of urban planning ensure accountability in decision-making processes? How can ethical principles guide the transformation of urban planning practices globally, drawing on European experience?

By convening scholars and practitioners from diverse academic, cultural, and professional backgrounds, this roundtable will identify key barriers to implementing democratic and ethical principles in urban planning. It will also explore how lessons learned from Europe can contribute a global agenda for equitable and sustainable urban development. The discussion will emphasise the need for new practical methodologies of urban planning to combat corruption, ensure inclusive planning, and rebuild public trust in planning institutions. Ultimately, this roundtable aims to open a path toward meaningful transformation by fostering dialogue, sharing best practices, and developing actionable recommendations for democratic urban planning in an increasingly interconnected and crisis-prone world.

Speakers: Prof. Erblin Berisha (Politecnico di Torino), Dr İdil Akyol Koçhan (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), Dr Linda Fox-Rogers (University College Dublin), Prof. Marco Cremaschi (Sciences Po), Prof. Milan Husar (Slovak University of Technology), Dr Savaş Zafer Şahin (Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University), Prof. Sofia Morgado (University of Lisbon)

16:30 → 18:00 RT_06 LEARNING THROUGH INSTITUTING.IMPACTS OF CIVIC ACTION ON INSTITUTIONS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PUBLIC VALUE IN PLANNING

Conveners: Elena Ostanel, Nadia Caruso (Politecnico di Torino)

16:30 Learning through instituting. Impacts of civic action on institutions and the potential for the production of public value in planning

There has long been a debate on whether and how civic action can contribute to redefining the role and functioning of institutions. Institutional change is not merely a rational or regulatory process; it is a path of trial and error. This process can lead to changes not only in the set of rules, procedures and methods of labor division in a given organization but also in the actual system of power, affecting relationships of conflicting interests that drive institutional dynamics (De Leonadis, 2024).
Institutions can be seen as both cognitive and practical routines, embodied in the habitus of social agents, guiding their action along already marked paths shaped by the flow of past actions. They are therefore often taken for granted as they are, so much so that their inertia very often leads to an impoverishment of the cognitive repertoire of the actors themselves who compose it. However, this does not mean that they cannot change (Ibidem, 2024).
Institutions are supra-individual units of analysis, with properties that cannot be reduced to the aggregation of individual motives or interests (Powell, Di Maggio, 1991). Processes of learning and change strongly depends on the nature of institutions, which are products of intentional human action. This action does not occur in a vacuum, but it is immersed – anchored or embedded – in a socially and culturally structured field. Social ties, regulatory technologies, moral considerations, material objects and places influence how institutions and decision making processes occur (Lieto, 2013).
Focusing on institutional learning and change do not mean to shifting attention away from civic action. On the contrary, the potential for learning and change within institutions heavily relies on how civic action is organized, shaped, and infused with competencies and visions.
Despite for years, planning scholars have focused on the relationship between civil society and institutions (Friedmann, 2011) – ranging from collaboration (Healey, 1997; Forester, 1999) to harsh conflict (Huxley and Yiftachel, 2000; Miraftab & Wills, 2005), from coproduction (Albrechts, 2013; Balducci, Mäntysalo, 2013; Watson, 2014; Ostanel, 2024) to agonism (Mouffe, 2005; Purcell, 2008) – we think it is time for a step forward.
Based on these premises, this roundtable aims to understand the preconditions, mechanisms, and outcomes of learning processes within what have been defined as ‘instituting processes’ (Esposito, 2021; 2022; Li Destri Nicosia & Saija, 2023), emphasizing the various impacts of civic action on the body of institutions and discussing the real potential for driving institutional change and the production of public value.
We seek scholars and researchers who aim to join us and discuss these main issues.
- How institutions of different kinds and at different levels can ‘learn’ in the field of urban transformations being confronted with civic action?
- What are the outcomes of this process of change in the institutional body, thus considered not only a procedural fact but a very complex environment made by routines, cultures, competencies, instruments and decision-making processes? What’s the outcome on the production of public value?
- How is the potential learning relation organized and shaped and how possible routines or instruments be seen as facilitators/translators?
This roundtable is organized in the framework of the Project of National Interest PNRR 2022 RESISTING - REconnecting Social innovation with InSTitutions in urban plannING.

Speakers: Prof. Eva Álvarez de Andrés (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), Alessandro Balducci (Politecnico di Milano), Angela Barbanente (Politecnico di Bari), Massimo Bricocoli (Politecnico di Milano), Chandrima Mukhopadhyay (UN-Habitat India), Laura Saija (Università di Catania), Pablo Sendra (The Bartlett School of Planning), Loris Servillo (Politecnico di Torino)

16:30 → 18:00 RT_12 BEYOND THE PROCESS: DIFFICULTIES FOR THEORISATION WITHIN PLANNING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Conveners: Christopher Maidment (University of Reading), Martin Sondermann (ARL – Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association)

16:30 BEYOND THE PROCESS: DIFFICULTIES FOR THEORISATION WITHIN PLANNING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE – (Hosted within track 10: Theories)

This roundtable brings together contributors to the ARL Working Group; ‘Beyond the Process – Finding common ground for a discussion on planning’s substantial foundation’, to discuss the difficulties associated with grasping a common theoretical foundation for spatial planning.
Spatial planning activities often struggle for legitimacy in the face of populist politics, neoliberal forces and moves towards automation and digitisation, exacerbated by their often lacklustre contributions to addressing multiple crises (e.g. environmental, housing, economic etc.). Consequently, a lack of substantial theoretical foundation can be framed as undermining the discipline’s continued existence; without a substantial foundation how do we effectively communicate the positive contribution made by spatial planning and those that practice it in the face of such powerful forces? How do we communicate the importance of spatial planning to those who might be interested in practicing it in the future?

Reflecting on the importance of theory in educating future planners, John Forester writes about the normative role of planning theory:
“I take the task of planning theory only in part to do justice to the experience of contemporary planners facing the uncertainties, conflicts and political complexities they confront. But planning theory should do more: it should address possibilities for still better planning, possible directions for innovative work, avenues toward greater social welfare and lesser exploitation and domination, avenues toward lesser environmental degradation and toward more beautiful human environments. I take the challenge of planning theory to be not simply de‐constructive, exposing false promises and self‐serving rhetoric of ideologues, for example, but reconstructive, informing possibilities for human and environmental betterment.”
(Forester, 2007, p.242)

Yet, the starting assertion for the roundtable is that our body of planning theories has become overly focused on procedural approaches, whilst being, simultaneously, often impracticable for practitioners and belying a lack of agreement amongst academics about what constitutes a substantial foundation for spatial planning. Starting from this premise, each contributor will discuss their perspective on the ‘sore spots’ of planning theory:
- What is missing or lacking from our current constellation of planning theory?
- Which aspects of spatial planning require further attention in planning theory?
- What theoretical approaches can move us away from the tensions between theories of planning focused on substance and procedure?
Ultimately, the roundtable aims to stimulate discussion around the state of contemporary planning theory and consider whether a common theoretical foundation for planning is possible or desirable.

Speakers: Christopher Maidment (University of Reading), Martin Sondermann (ARL – Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association)

16:30 → 18:00 RT_20 AESOP-INDIA PLANNING EXCHANGE: TOWARDS GLOBAL NORTH-SOUTH RELATION IN KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION

Conveners: Chandrima Mukhopadhyay (UN-Habitat India), Qingyuan Guo (London School of Economics)

16:30 AESOP-India Planning Exchange: Towards Global North-South relation in knowledge production

The roundtable is proposed at the background of the AESOP International PhD Workshop in India in 2026. In the past, AESOP members have advocated for learning about planning education and practices from countries/continents beyond the boundary of Europe, and especially from the Global South and East countries. One of the main aims of forming the Global South and East thematic group was that the budding planners of AESOP has a lot to learn from the complexity of the Global S&E countries. The international workshop is a step towards that direction with innovative pedagogy. The focus of the workshop will be on the proposed eleven industrial and economic corridors in India. While such corridors are not always about planning, in Indian context, these corridors are the catalyst for rapid urbanisation, economic development, and are strategic and spatial planning tools. With this background, we will frame our discussion around the following questions:
a. Why India is a significant location for such an international workshop from an urban and regional planning perspective? (Chandrima Mukhopadhyay, Coordinator of Global S&E Thematic group)
b. An in-depth explanation of Indian planning practices (and urbanisation process); (Sandip Chakravorty, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad)
c. The legacy of hosting an international workshop for AESOP and YA; (YA CT member- name TBC)
d. The importance of bringing multiple international development organisations on board to collaborate; (Chandrima/Bruce Stiftel, Georgia Institute of Technology, US)
e. What is the implication of the workshop for the Global North- South relationship in terms of knowledge production about south, research grants, publications about southern urban issues in international high-impact journals etc? (Bruce Stiftel & Oren Yiftachel, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beersheba & Honorary Professor at UCL)
The discussion could conclude with a presentation on the format of the workshop including pedagogy, and locations.

Speakers: Chandrima Mukhopadhyay, Qingyuan Guo (London School of Economics), Prof. Bruce Stiftel (Georgia Institute of Technology (Retired)), LUCY NATARAJAN (UCL), Surajit Chakravarty (School of Public Policy, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi), Oren Yiftachel (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Retired))

16:30 → 18:00 SS_01 PLANNING FOR JUST ENERGY TRANSITION

Conveners: Enza Lissandrello (Aalborg University), Laura Grassini

16:30 Urban Regeneration-Energy Transition Nexus. Challenges from Multidimensional and Place-Based Approaches to Energy Justice

Urban strategies for energy transitions have been largely driven by the decarbonisation imperative in response to global concerns for climate change. Mainstream research, with its emphasis on the development potential of renewables, energy balances, energy efficiency and financial models, as well as international policies supporting the replication potential of specific transition components (see e.g. the EU Renovation Wave for energy efficiency at building level), both emphasise a technocratic and market-driven approach. However, this framing tends to oversimplify the intricacies of urban dynamics and the significance of social, institutional and cultural factors interwoven with technological and market dimensions of energy transition.
A growing body of research has begun to shed light on the dark sides of the diffusion of low-carbon innovations (Ertelt and Carlborg, 2024). Several contributions have emerged, highlighting energy injustices associated with the prevailing energy transition paradigm while advocating for a human-centred approach (Jenkins et al., 2018). The concept of energy justice, with its multidimensional and intersectional features, has emerged as a theoretical, methodological, and empirical tool to both highlight these concerns and suggest new conceptual frameworks to support energy transition (Walker and Day, 2012; Amorim-Maia et al., 2022).
These issues are beginning to resonate in the planning debate, with questions being raised about how planning can contribute to the energy transition while fostering transformative changes and equity (Scott, 2022). Whilst the relationship between spatial and energy planning at the city scale has been criticised for the adoption of a top-down and normative approach, the neighbourhood context is increasingly recognised as a promising scale for transition, although this is still largely interpreted from a functionalist perspective (De Pascali and Bagaini, 2019).
The present paper focuses on integrated urban regeneration initiatives in disadvantaged neighbourhoods with the aim to highlight their contribution for a just energy transition. The transformative potential of these initiatives for achieving just transitions can be attributed to several factors: their place-based focus and the search for context-specific and integrated solutions; the attention paid to collective practices and place-making dynamics, which can reveal new solution spaces; the promotion of situated learning of energy practices, which serves to overcome a simplistic analysis of energy demands and needs; and the understanding of multiple drivers of energy vulnerabilities, which supports the possibility of operationalising the multifaceted features of energy justice.
The analysis is carried out through a combination of theoretical investigation and multiple case studies, and contemplates the prospect of suggesting a transformative agenda to strengthen the urban regeneration-energy transition nexus from the perspective of energy justice.

Speaker: Dr Laura Grassini (Politecnico di Bari, DICATECh)

16:40 Planning for A Just Urban Energy Transition: A Phronetic Approach

The energy transition has become a crucial issue in recent years, particularly regarding urban sustainability. However, current academic and practical discussions often emphasise management perspectives and technical expertise within a political context shaped by historical and contemporary practices. This paper explores a planning perspective essential for a just urban energy transition, focusing on deliberative planning processes, the evolution of values, and the practical judgment informed by the reflections of planning professionals.
The objective is to develop a planning perspective largely overlooked in discussions about a just urban energy transition. This lack of focus has resulted in various unaddressed challenges, particularly regarding the dynamic interaction between the socio-spatial development of urban environments and the energy transition. This interaction involves critical issues such as energy efficiency, flexibility, and production. The connection between urban and energy sectors is becoming increasingly important for planning future urban energy transitions. Although there have been advancements in both areas, adopting a planning perspective can enhance our understanding of how energy transitions can be stimulated through urban processes, practices, and transformations.
A significant question from this planning perspective is how we can move beyond the simplistic dichotomy of fossil fuels versus renewable energy and the distinction between clean and dirty urban energy transitions. There is a pressing need to develop new methodologies that address the complexities of urban processes. Patsy Healey's concept that futures are 'path contingent' rather than strictly 'path dependent' emphasises the importance of examining specific experiences and their relevance in various contexts rather than adhering only to generalised universal principles.
Through three contemporary Danish case studies, this research analyses reflective practices related to urban energy transition processes. The case studies involve co-creation processes in renewable energy planning, planning for energy communities, and developing positive-energy districts at the neighbourhood level in three diverse Danish contexts. Being often quoted for its advanced progression in the energy transition, the Danish cases offer valuable examples on how national frames and expert knowledge work in the urban context uncovering emerging power dynamics, conflicts, and resistances. By examining metaphors, learning processes, and necessary adjustments to planning routines, the research focuses on how reflection significantly influence how planning professionals develop narratives for just urban energy transitions while also considering urban transformation processes and the importance of public participation. Exploring ongoing projects and processes of urban energy transitions critical aspects emerge in relation to enhancing social sustainability and social justice. These considerations raise essential issues for urban energy transition processes and the power dynamics that affect democratic urban energy planning practices. The presentation concludes by advocating for a renewed interest in a 'phronetic' planning approach to encourage and incorporate practical wisdom into practitioners' work to foster the critical reflexivity needed for urban energy transition planning processes while also addressing the ethical implications related to social justice issues. Key considerations include existing governance structures, regulatory frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and strategic negotiations. The findings from this analysis enhance urban energy transition strategies by bridging critical insights from planning theory and practice into existing STS and transition management approaches.

Speaker: Dr Enza Lissandrello (Aalborg University)

16:50 Energy Justice in Underprivileged Neighbourhoods: Reimagining Energy Transitions Through Community Storytelling

Achieving fair and inclusive urban energy transitions is a pressing societal challenge, particularly in the context of the ongoing climate and energy crisis. These transitions extend beyond technical upgrades or infrastructural changes; they necessitate a rethinking of social relations, governance models and economic structures. While concepts and frameworks such as Energy Communities and Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) emphasize the neighbourhood scale and integrated transformations of energy systems and living conditions, recent research highlights that energy injustices often remain underaddressed. In particular, there are fundamental challenges in addressing complex and interrelated injustices in underprivileged inner-city neighbourhoods. Residents of these neighborhoods frequently face energy injustices due to high costs and limited access to renewable energy services.Moreover, structural injustices undermine engagement for collective action and diminish community cooperation (McNamara et al., 2013), depriving inhabitants of the necessary resources and opportunities to develop their capabilities (Gaupp et al., 2023). These factors can act as barriers for collective energy transformations.
In response, energy justice has gained increasing attention in recent years, emphasizing the need for fair distribution of benefits and burdens in energy production and consumption, inclusive public participation in energy decision-making, and the recognition of diverse perspectives rooted in social, cultural, ethnic, racial, and gender differences (Feenstra & Özerol, 2021). While energy justice provides a valuable analytical framework for institutional processes and policy discourse, it predominantly emphasizes individual responsibility and rights-based approaches to justice (Damgaard et al., 2022).
Scholars and practitioners have called for more inclusive, creative, and participatory approaches to broaden voices and visions in energy futures, engaging more directly with everyday lived experiences. Recently, storytelling has been increasingly recognized as a useful tool for envisioning just energy futures, particularly in its ability to engage diverse voices such as policymakers, community members, activists, and other groups of population directly affected by energy decisions (Dahlgren et al., 2024; Moezzi et al., 2017). Storytelling offers a way to uncover experiences, practices, emotions, and meanings associated with energy, leading to a deeper appreciation of its sociotechnical nature (Staddon, 2017). It also ignites people’s imagination and broadens perspectives on future possibilities (Hajer & Versteeg, 2019) and has the potential to unite people and strengthen community processes (Sol Cueva, 2025). Thus, methods focusing on narrative approaches can allow researchers to pose alternative questions, focus on neglected issues, and include marginalized perspectives.
This contribution explores the potential of storytelling and narrative mapping methods as a means to engage with everyday experiences of energy vulnerability and diverse community perspectives on energy systems and transitions. Moreover, we explore how storytelling can be deployed to bridge the gap between local needs and experiences and governmental and institutional stakeholders. Drawing on feminist theories of care and care ethics, we aim to explore how storytelling can challenge the individualistic framing of energy concerns, and can serve as a powerful tool for democratizing energy transition discourses by revealing how energy is deeply interwoven with everyday practices, emotions, and aspirations. To do so we draw on empirical work conducted in a neighbourhood in Ghent, Belgium, exploring different ways to build collective storylines based on how individuals and community organisations encounter energy in their daily lives and how they assess its role in shaping their lived experiences (Smith & High, 2017). Moreover, we reflect on the potential to increase energy literacy and foster collective action.

Speaker: Lena Verlooy (Ghent University)

17:00 Pathways to Just Energy Transitions in Post-Conflict Ukrainian Cities

Achieving just energy transition in post-conflict Ukrainian cities requires addressing multiple layers of transformation. As Ukraine moves toward EU membership, aligning its energy transition with EU climate and energy policies is essential for joining related programmes and fostering inclusive and resilient urban development (Energy Community, 2024). This transition goes beyond decarbonisation, aiming to ensure that the benefits and burdens of energy reforms are distributed equitably, preventing social exclusion and energy poverty (Bouzarovski and Simcock, 2017). More importantly, developing comprehensive strategies for post-war redevelopment is essential to ensuring a coordinated and effective reconstruction process, mitigating disruptions, and facilitating sustainable recovery (Lukash and Namoniuk, 2024).

Ukraine is currently facing numerous challenges. The course of the war and its potential outcomes, especially in light of recent geopolitical developments, have made the situation increasingly difficult. However, when focusing specifically on the energy transition, it becomes evident that addressing these challenges through targeted reforms and preparing adequate strategies can support more resilient urban development and alignment with EU standards (European Commission Joint Research Centre, 2025).

Consequently, in addition to providing an overview of the Ukrainian context, this study firstly draws on the experiences of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to illustrate how post-socialist states navigated urban transitions during their EU accession. It also examines the challenges they currently encounter in moving towards carbon neutrality, aligning policies with EU frameworks, and addressing regional inequalities (Dąbrowski and Piskorek, 2018). Nevertheless, it appears evident that lacking targeted policies may disrupt the transition process, leading to uneven benefits and the continuation of energy poverty (Bouzarovski and Simcock, 2017).

Therefore, to support their efforts, the EU has integrated Ukraine into several dedicated funding mechanisms and policy frameworks, including Horizon Europe, the European Green Deal, and the Energy Community Treaty (Energy Community, 2024). These initiatives promote infrastructure modernisation, renewable energy deployment, capacity building, and participatory planning. They also encourage stakeholder engagement and the development of governance frameworks to strengthen Ukraine's alignment with EU sustainability goals.

Secondly, the research examines how projects such as U_CAN (or SUN4Ukraine), through partnerships with the Cities Mission – Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities (CNSC), can facilitate Ukraine's journey towards carbon neutrality. These collaborations foster knowledge exchange, promote good practices, drive innovation, and support co-developed decarbonisation strategies tailored to the needs of war-affected urban areas. A critical element of this transition is addressing the needs and factors which significantly affect disadvantaged areas. It necessitates the development of appropriate recovery frameworks to aid post-conflict redevelopment, building on Ukrainian potential, ensuring affordable and resilient access to clean energy, enhancing energy efficiency, and supporting community-owned renewable projects (Lukash and Namoniuk, 2024). Strengthening local governance and planning can also assist municipalities in devising tailored solutions while remaining aligned with national and EU policies (Dąbrowski and Piskorek, 2018).

Finally, the study presented in this paper discusses how spatial planning systems can navigate the challenges of integrating spatial justice into energy transition strategies amid the complexities of war-affected urban areas. It offers actionable insights for Ukrainian policymakers and planners striving to align energy transitions with EU standards with support from the Mission Cities (European Commission Joint Research Centre, 2025).

Speaker: Dr Kasia Piskorek (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology)

17:10 Positive Energy Districts as an Urban Project: Representation, Redistribution and Scale in Cureghem's Just Energy Transition

In recent years, numerous energy transition projects on the scale of the neighbourhood have emerged, along with a range of concepts and programmes to stimulate, support, streamline, mainstream or assess these. Many of these initiatives intend to achieve their ambitions through a meticulously engineered combination of technical and social interventions. When confronted with real-world heterogeneous urban arrangements, their implementation often turns out more challenging or less effective than anticipated (Gohari et al., 2024; Karvonen et al., forthcoming; Rutherford and Coutard, 2014).

The PED4ALL project (JPI Urban Europe, PED Call II) has studied possible pathways for just energy transitions in Cureghem, one of the most socio-economically vulnerable and culturally diverse neighbourhoods of the Brussels Capital Region. Co-directed by local residents and organisations, a conversation on everyday energy practices was initiated. This resulted in a rich understanding of the needs, opportunities and challenges concerning renewable energy in the neighbourhood. Beyond financial and technical considerations, this conversation also emphasized the importance of social and cultural realities in shaping renewable energy transitions in Cureghem.

Building on these insights, energy transition strategies for the neighbourhood were co-developed. These strategies strike a careful balance between multiple tensions affecting the neighbourhood’s energy transition: The institutional framework of energy transition programmes facing a neighbourhood characterized by fragmentation, diversity, informality and constant change; the dilemma of promoting the energy transition by putting emphasis on its financial profits for building owners or by focussing on the improvement of living conditions for residents; a focus on individual households versus the already present, but at times unconventional collective dynamics concerning energy practices and their potential for renewable energy.

Although these tensions are particularly pronounced in Cureghem, they reflect broader dynamics that are prone to be found in other urban settings. By framing energy transition as an urban project rather than solely as socio-technical infrastructure (Castán Broto and Robin, 2020), this paper offers critical insights into planning for just energy transitions. It highlights how urban processes can integrate spatial justice principles, ensuring that energy transitions address representation, redistribution, and scale in equitable and context-specific ways.

Speaker: Dr Dieter Bruggeman (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

17:20 Sacrifice zones of the EU’s just energy transition in transport – The case of Jadar - Serbian rural, biodiverse and lithium rich region

The rise in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and pollution since the 1960s is causing a global climate crisis. Some parts of the world have stepped up their efforts to transition from carbon-based to renewable energy sources in the last decade(s). While the use of renewable energy sources is increasing, GHG emissions are reaching record highs with no evidence that they have peaked. Similarly, transport is responsible for around one-sixth of global fossil fuel emissions and is experiencing exponential growth in many, but not all, parts of the world. Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered the key technology for decarbonising road transport. Their production and sales are also increasing in many, but not all, parts of the world.
The EU has a number of acts and documents guiding the EU's energy transition and the functioning of the internal market, e.g. the Critical Raw Materials Act. The EU laws defend the interests of its citizens and ensure that all potentially affected stakeholders have a say in the process (European Commission, 2023a; 2023b). In addition, the EU's Territorial Agenda 2030 calls for strengthening the territorial dimension of sectoral policies and aims to promote an inclusive and sustainable future for all places.
What are the contradictions of planning “just energy transition” in the EU?
First and foremost, no territorial entity controls its climate. Lower GHG emissions and improved environmental conditions only in the EU will not stabilise its climate. Secondly, Fressoz (2024) claims that there is no energy transition. The primary energy sources do not replace each other. Rather, they fuel each other's exploitation, along with the exploitation of raw materials, especially under the imperative of competitive, uninterrupted economic growth. While some countries are deploying more EVs and managing to reduce GHG emissions, the production of EVs pollutes areas where the needed raw materials are extracted. Moreover, the EU considers justice for stakeholders only within its borders.
Where are these contradictions manifested?
The protracted EU integration process has turned the Western Balkans countries into EU candidates but also stabilitocracies. Stabilitocracy in Serbia means that the country is ruled by a (semi-)authoritarian regime supported by the EU. The regime can ensure a certain degree of regional stability and fulfil the interests of powerful foreign governments while deteriorating internal democracy and increasing its wealth. Lithium, which is (currently) the main material in EV batteries, is on the EU “critical raw material” list, and while its presence has been identified in several EU countries (most notably Germany), the Serbian agricultural and biodiverse region, Jadar has been chosen by the company Rio Tinto for its exploitation. At that moment, Jadar became a “sacrifice zone” of the EU “just energy transition”. Moreover, spatial planning for lithium mining has since been an instrument to legitimise the ruling party’s narrative of unimaginable national economic growth, for Rio Tinto’s interest to profit from lithium exploitation, the interest of the German “green” EV industry to get cheap lithium while restricting its access to the Chinese EV industry, and the interest of EU citizens to feel climate-friendly while driving EU-made EVs.
In Serbia, this “sacrifice” and the proven negative effects of lithium mining have provoked the resistance of the local stakeholders, who are supported by the majority of the people in Serbia. Questions for this occasion are: If the EU continues to plan its “just energy transition” under these conditions, are citizens and planners from the EU agreeing to permanently ruin the environment and wellbeing of people outside the EU? Are the borders of the EU states the true boundaries of its citizens' and planners’ dignity and sense of spatial justice?

Speaker: Prof. Tijana Dabovic (University of Belgrade Faculty of Geography)

17:30 Fostering Local Inclusive Energy Transitions Through Innovation Communities

Innovation Communities (ICs) provide a dynamic framework for embedding the energy transition in society, fostering broader engagement and accelerating progress towards climate goals. These communities empower participants by cultivating a sense of collective efficacy, trust in collaboration and community, and by creating networks and activating different resources (knowledge, know-how, infrastructure, financial resources...). Building an innovation community for climate action is not only about technological progress, but also about cultivating a sense of agency among participants. Through shared experiences of transformation, individuals and organisations become more aware of their ability to contribute to sustainability goals. The participatory nature of such a community ensures that solutions emerge from a wide range of perspectives, fostering trust and long-term commitment. In addition, an IC supports the well-being of its members by creating an environment where collaboration leads to tangible change, reinforcing the idea that democratic processes can drive effective climate action. A key challenge is to strike a balance between providing support structures and encouraging individual responsibility and creativity. Addressing this balance is essential to unleashing the full potential of innovation communities in advancing inclusive and sustainable energy transitions.

This presentation is based on the project "Strengthening and Consolidation of Innovation Communities to Implement the Recommendations of the Climate Citizens' Council of the Freiburg Region". (Innovation Campus Sustainability ICN) The project facilitates and accompanies cooperation between civil society, science, politics and business to promote an inclusive energy transition. The initiative came from civil society within the framework of the Climate Citizens' Council of the Freiburg Region:
- How can the energy transition be made more inclusive and actively shaped by a broader segment of society?
- What can innovation communities contribute to the implementation of a sustainable energy transition?
- How can these communities enhance the social sustainability of cities in terms of democracy, community and participation?
As part of a Seed Money project, the primary research focus is on exploratory process analysis. This includes
- Identifying potential opportunities and barriers in the development of an IC.
- Analysing key factors that influence the effectiveness of the community in achieving climate goals.
- Examining the self-efficacy and well-being of participants, particularly in the context of the energy transition.

By systematically exploring these issues, the project aims to provide a basis for future large-scale IC initiatives that integrate climate action with democratic transformation.
The presentation will introduce the idea and background of Innovation Communities, the project design and the main results of the accompanying scientific research.

Speaker: Pia Laborgne (KIT)

16:30 → 18:00 SS_18 SMART CITY AS A TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACH? CONCEPTUALIZING DIGITAL TOOLS IN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT IN A CONTEXT OF AGEING

Conveners: Annette Spellerberg, Karina Pallagst (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)

16:30 Smart cities and transformative action: Conceptualizing smart cities for an ageing society in the Japanese planning culture

Today, all over the world many cities are applying smart solutions, and position themselves as Smart Cities, but how are Smart Cities conceptualized in different planning cultures? Spatial planning systems are based upon different institutional and cultural conditions. While these may present comparable features, these planning systems were designed to operate in distinct cultural, normative and spatial situations (Pallagst 2010). Research by Sorensen (2015) suggests that planning cultures might change when faced with “critical junctures of institutional change and innovation in planning systems” (Sorensen 2015). One of these critical junctures might be the context of digitalization. In order to conceptualize planning cultures and digitalization, the authors suggested a research frame involving digitalization in the facets and layers of planning culture (Pauly and Pallagst 2023). The research on changing planning cultures in view of digitalization is a novel field, and - in general - implementing Smart Cities already might have initiated changes in planning cultures, which is one of the main hypotheses of this paper.
When looking at the Japanese planning culture, the planning system is highly centralized with a focus on economic development and market orientation (Martinez-Fernandez et al. 2016; Pallagst et al. 2018). Plans, programs and policies are developed on national level, and the implementation appears to be strictly top down. Moreover, the Japanese planning culture is challenged by several societal transitions. In particular preparing for disasters and for demographic change and the path towards an ageing society have longstanding impact on policy-making in Japan. For this reason, the planning cultural context needs to involve societal aspects such as the aspect of ageing.
Yet how are smart cities conceptualized in the Japanese planning culture, what are the main drivers and goals, who are the main actors, and which policies are at hand? And – given the societal context of demographic change and ageing in Japan – how is the aspect of ageing taken into consideration in the concept of smart cites in Japan?
This presentation will shed light on conceptualizing smart cities in the Japanese planning culture. Starting with a brief introduction to the concept planning cultures with a special emphasis on Japan, it will present cases of smart cities in Japan, trying to answer the questions outlined above.

Speaker: Prof. Karina Pallagst (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau; Faculty of Spatial and Environmental Planning)

16:40 Utilisation and evaluation of activity opportunities by baby boomers. Challenges in rural, suburban and urban areas

The baby boomer cohort, which makes up around a quarter of Germany's population, is gradually retiring. Individual time budgets are changing radically as a result; activities that were previously assigned to ‘recreation’ and ‘leisure’ (e.g. active sports, shopping, excursions) determine everyday behaviour and mobility. Additionally, the advancing digitalisation of almost all areas of life is opening up new opportunities in urban and rural areas, changing everyday practices and spatial relationships, e.g. through platform-economy, booking services and e-commerce (Parker, et al. 2016). At the same time, it can be assumed that hobbies and activities will be retained during the transition to retirement and adaptation to the new phase of life (Kohli, Künemund 2000). In municipalities, the ageing population and digitalisation pose new challenges. Comparatively little is known about the assessment of activities, neighbourhoods and communities by baby boomers and the consequences for local stakeholders.
This article focuses on the following questions: Which municipal services are used by baby boomers and how are they evaluated? How do babyboomers deal with digital services and tools? What socio-structural and spatial differences are evident and can population groups with a high level of dissatisfaction be identified? The aim of the article is to analyse what action is required to improve the participation of baby boomers in different settlement areas.
The data basis is a representative survey of 50- to 75-year-olds, conducted by the Department of Urban Sociology in 2022 as part of the project ‘Ageing Smart - designing spaces intelligently’ in seven municipalities (rural, suburban, urban) in three federal states (see www.ageing-smart; funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung).
Literature:
Kohli, M.; Künemund, H. (Hrsg.) 2000: Die zweite Lebenshälfte. Gesellschaftliche Lage und Partizipation im Spiegel des Alters-Survey, Opladen: Leske+Budrich.
Parker, G.; Van Alstyne, M. V.; Choudary, S. P. (2016): Platform revolution: how network markets are transforming the economy – and how to make them work for you. New York: W.W. Norton.

Speaker: Prof. Annette Spellerberg

16:50 Decision support systems as a tool for better comprehensive planning

Planning tools are becoming increasingly digital (e.g. Bielik et al., 2021; Streich, 2011). But there are still several gaps between analysis tools (mainly with GIS, but also CAD) and design tools (mainly with visualization programs or CAD). At the same time, demographic and other social data as well as spatial data are increasingly differentiated and available at different scales (e.g. Liao et al., 2018; Statistisches Bundesamt, 2022). For this reason, it is important to create a comprehensive planning tool, in our case a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS), in which the various data and planning tools merge with one another.
One of the aims of spatial planning is to best meet the needs of different population groups and to promote a high quality of life. To do this, planners need to have a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the existing situation and local demand trends. There are already several software applications that can be used to perform insightful analyses of different topics such as population development (e.g. SPSS, R, GIS), infrastructure facilities (e.g. GIS, AutoCAD, InfraWorks) or building typologies (e.g. GIS, UrbanSim, Revit). However, they are often complicated to use, expensive or difficult to configure individually.
This article examines the requirements that local authorities and planners place on a SDSS, as well as its capabilities and limitations. Based on the results of the literature review, the analysis of different use cases and the results of requirements workshops in the model communities as part of the Ageing Smart research project, a number of insights have been gained, e.g. on the consequences of demographic change for social infrastructures. The Ageing Smart project is funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation.
An analysis of different applications such as the geographic information systems QGis and ArcGIS Pro or decision support systems such as DaviPlan shows, that the range of possible applications is very broad and that the way they are used varies. For example, more expensive applications often already include basic data such as settlement structures and transport networks, usually in good quality. Free applications usually require users to import this data themselves.
In addition, integrated urban development concepts are not prepared in such a way that the results can be easily integrated into a SDSS. However, in many cases this could be changed by making minor adjustments during the preparation process. A standardized approach to the “basic data equipment” of municipalities would also be extremely important. In the case study of the city of Mannheim, we analyzed, how analysis tools, planning instruments and design concepts could better fit together in the future – to create a comprehensive and effective planning tool for city administrations and decision-makers.
The use of decision support systems is essential for a good, needs-based planning. However, users need to be aware that using them is not enough. They serve as a tool for planners to prepare decisions that can then be evaluated by committees and citizens. In the future, such systems will become much more important for a comprehensive and integrated urban development.

Speakers: Prof. Detlef Kurth (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau), Ms Corinna Schittenhelm (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)

17:00 Smart regions in an ageing society - new challenges for spatial planning in relation to healthcare

The issue of healthcare has become a more important topic for spatial sciences and spatial planning in recent years, not only due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but also due to an increasing shortage of skilled labour. In addition to various approaches to preventive health protection and health promotion, it is also increasingly about ensuring equal living conditions and basic outpatient care for the population in all regions.
This article presents the development and status of a digital decision support system for political decision-makers at local and supra-local level for outpatient healthcare, which was developed as a component of a more complex decision support system in the project ‘Ageing Smart - designing spaces intelligently’ funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung (see www.ageing-smart; funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung). It includes (1) a data-supported analysis of the existing situation / initial situation (development and structure of the population including the household structure and forecasts, existing healthcare provision and forecasts), (2) a dynamic, intermodal accessibility analysis of healthcare facilities, (Stiewing et al. (3) a survey of the affected population on the healthcare situation (here using the example of baby boomers in four model municipalities) and (4) a collection of possible analogue and digital options for action and, hopefully in the future, the possibility of visualising the effects of these in order to be able to discuss and assess different scenarios for action.
The decision support system should also contribute to supporting smart, data- and fact-based planning and political decisions in times of increasingly ‘alternative’ facts and opinion-based politics (cf. Wiechmann et.al 2024). It also represents an approach to positioning spatial planning more strongly as an actor in this field (cf. ARL 2023) and to qualifying participation processes through a good database and simple visualisations of solution approaches.

Speakers: Dr Kirsten Mangels (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau), Mr Marvin Stiewing (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)

17:10 Identifying climate-active green spaces with the help of artificial intelligence

Man-made climate change is leading to an increase in average air temperatures. This has a particular impact on densely populated and sealed urban areas by intensifying the urban heat island effect. An important instrument for adapting the associated temperature changes is the development, preservation and establishment of green spaces in urban areas. The creation of a green space mapping system is essential for the inventory and further development of green spaces. However, the heterogeneity and diffuse distribution of green spaces in the spatial context make mapping them considerably more difficult. It is necessary to define the concept of green spaces. Subsequently, with reference to the challenge of a complete mapping of all green spaces on site, the extent to which such areas can be identified, delimited from each other and recognised as locally climate-active with the help of artificial intelligence can be investigated.
The initial definition of green spaces is carried out at a general level due to the heterogeneous nature and characteristics of the areas. Various scientific demarcations are used for this purpose. Based on this, they can be categorised as grass or shrub areas, water areas, large shrub areas and vegetation-free ground areas as well as existing trees. The defined green spaces are analysed using a pre-trained deep learning model to identify the general land cover.
The application of this pre-trained deep learning algorithm can identify green areas based on the general land cover. The best values are achieved for inner-city locations. However, the green areas located outside the built structures are often incorrectly delineated due to their nature and labelled as water areas, so that the pre-trained model achieves an overall accuracy of 46%. After assessing the results, the deep learning algorithm is to be retrained to potentially improve the model. Re-training the pre-trained deep learning model using transfer learning leads to a general improvement in overall accuracy to 78%. In this case, the retrained model has a higher level of detail in the assessment of out-of-town green spaces - inner-urban green spaces are identified more poorly compared to the pre-trained model. A subsequent combination of the modelling of the pre-trained and the post-trained deep learning algorithm leads to an overall accuracy of 86%.
Based on this, the climate activity of the green spaces is determined with the help of combination modelling. This is characterised by the potential cooling capacity of the identified green spaces using the proportion of shade, the ground surface and the absolute area size. The green spaces with low climate activity can be found in the heavily compacted and sealed inner-urban locations. With an increase in unsealed areas, the absolute area size and thus the climate activity increases from an initial cooling capacity of less than 1 K in heavily sealed areas to > 3 K in unsealed areas outside the settlement, which then also have a transfer effect beyond the actual green space due to the high cooling capacity.

Speaker: Mr Pierre Müller (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)

17:20 Ageing smart: A DSS for municipal health planning in an ageing society

In recent years, the field of spatial science and spatial planning has seen a resurgence of interest in health-related issues. This development can be partly attributed to the impact of the pandemic and the ongoing demographic shifts, leading to a growing lack of skilled labour (see ARL 2023, p.14). This has long since ceased to be just about preventative health protection (keyword: health-related resilience) and the creation of health-promoting structures in line with the ‘Health in all Policies’ (HiAP) strategy. HiAP aims to integrate health as a societal responsibility across all policy domains, encompassing the provision of health infrastructures as a foundation for public health and health-related equality of living conditions. Although this approach is still in its infancy in Germany (Köckler and Geene 2022), there is an increasing focus on providing the population with healthcare infrastructure close to home and in line with their needs as a task of public services of general interest (ARL 2023, p.14). This commitment is further underscored by the most recent draft bill on fortifying healthcare provisions at the municipal level (GVSG), which, in its current iteration, outlines a pronounced expansion of municipal involvement in outpatient healthcare. Despite subsequent refinements in the legislative process, the issue of empowering local authorities to play a more active role in shaping healthcare at the local level remains salient. The question, therefore, is how local authorities can effectively fulfil this potential role.

Given this background, this contribution discusses a structured collection of possible municipal options for actively shaping healthcare provision, which was developed as part of a more complex DSS as part of the ‘Ageing Smart - Smart structured areas’ project funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation (see www.ageing-smart.de). Building on the analysis and problem definition, the solution-orientated provision of possible options for action in the DSS represents the second step in decision support in the area of healthcare. The aim of this is to safeguard the status quo and avoid qualitative losses in healthcare provision as well as to avoid the threat of an increase in scale in the provision of services combined with a deterioration in accessibility. The options for action provided answer questions about different ‘interventions’ with corresponding recommendations for decision support and, if necessary, alternative futures as a consequence. In addition to the planning administration and municipal decision-makers, the addressees are also the providers of medical services. The DSS thus enables local authorities to recognise and evaluate options for action in the areas of healthcare, mobility, health promotion and prevention, and to implement them within the framework of various roles. The DSS is therefore not only a tool for data exploration, but also an instrument for actively finding and shaping solutions for existing or foreseeable gaps in care. The analysis and further development of healthcare provision can serve as a model for infrastructure development as a whole.

Speaker: Marvin Stiewing (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)

16:30 → 18:00 T_01 POSTGROWTH URBANISM: URBAN-RURAL & REGIONAL DYNAMICS

Conveners: Barbara Pizzo (Sapienza Università di Roma), EMRAH ALTINOK (Istanbul Bilgi University), Shefali Nayak (HafenCity Universität)

16:45 Planning the Great Acceleration: Contributions of planning theory, ideology, and implementation to planetary transformation and social-ecological decline

In the years and decades following WWII, global energy and resource consumption were unleased on a hitherto unseen scale. The fields of earth system science, history, and planetary health continue to grapple with the causes and consequences of this ‘Great Acceleration’ – a proposed entry point into the Anthropocene. For its part, the profession of planning is yet struggling to put into an appropriate context its distinct and historically contingent contributions to this transformative period of planetary socio-ecological change. As a result, the profession also continues to misunderstand its present role in the spread of climate catastrophes, the collapse of global biodiversity, and the sharpening of wealth and health inequities.

This paper takes its cue from recent trends in research that are ‘globalizing’ perspectives on the processes of suburbanization and the distinct suburbanisms these processes produce. We explore spatial and temporal scale as necessary, conjoint lenses for articulating key contributions of planning to the Great Acceleration. Moving beyond the prototypical model of the metropolitan North American city, we present a story that links the industrial structure of a burgeoning hinterland region to the reproduction of a northern suburbanism tailor built for Canada’s resource dependent communities during the Great Acceleration.

Taking Prince George, British Columbia, Canada as an illustrative case, we draw on archival sources and spatial analysis of historical subdivision data. These streams of analysis allow us to track and explicate how dominant planning theories were deployed between 1946 and 1981 to both rationalize and accommodate urban expansion within British Columbia’s northern capital.

Through the application of Garden City planning and the Neighbourhood Unit, Prince George took on a spatial and built form not unlike those seen in suburbanisms across North America. This included the use of these planning norms to expedite the preparation and sale of lands by the most economically efficient means available. As early as the 1950s the efficiency of the Neighbourhood Unit underpinned a massive expansion of suburban growth into previously undeveloped areas. In the 1970s, a Garden City inspired growth plan rationalized a municipal boundary expansion that all but ensured an unsustainable future for the city.

Unlike regions established earlier in Eastern Canada, the northern suburbanism pursued in Prince George served additional, distinct rhetorical purpose. As part of Canada’s ongoing settler colonial project, civic boosterism drew from planning theory the concepts of safety, orderliness, and domesticity to sell a suburban ideal that would help attract the labour needs of a booming forest economy. Well beyond the footprint of the city proper, suburbanization propagated widespread ecological destruction across a region larger than France by ensuring the labour needs of an expanding extractive industry were in rich supply.

By exploring municipal-state coalitions in the use of Crown Land Grants to finance the outward expansion of development, our work illustrates novel financial mechanisms underpinning processes of suburbanization. Beyond this, we illustrate how a northern suburbanism that was used to attract westward European settlement became an enduring contribution to the Great Acceleration. During this era, planning theory, planning practice, and planning practitioners were active champions of the unquestioned pro-growth ideology the fueled the global expansion of energy and resource use. The social-ecological consequences of this pursuit are now apparent at all scales.

Speakers: Dr Mark Groulx (University of Northern British Columbia), Dr Tara Clapp (University of Northern British Columbia)

16:55 Degrowth’s identity problem: the regional politics of Vienna’s ‘breadbasket’

The article investigates how (bio-)regional identity mediates the rearrangement of urban-rural relations in the planning of sustainable regional economies. It researches the issue of identity within the emergent field of degrowth urban and planning studies. Degrowth scholarship largely neglect the issue of identity and can be accused to run the risk of co-option by far-right ideologies. Drawing on post-structuralist regionalism, we argue that (bio)regions and their identities are contested, power-laden constructs rather than fixed entities. The paper focuses on the city-region of Vienna, and in the ‘operational landscape’ of Marchfeld as a case study. We examine how place-based identity is constructed by the actors involved to mediate the conflicts over city and rural areas around issues of agroecology, sand extraction, and the bioeconomy. The paper advocates for a more critical research on identity issues in degrowth research and its analysis in the construction of regional scales.

Speaker: Ms Johanna Waldenberger (University of Amsterdam)

17:05 Emerging conflicts between infrastructure-based development strategies and post-growth tendencies. The case of transport acceleration projects in the Salento region, Italy

The present research investigates the relationship between transport acceleration projects and growth-based development strategies and subsequently compares these with the emergence of opposing trends in the possibility of post-growth urbanism.
The rhetoric surrounding the effects of infrastructure on territorial development has long been a subject of debate among scholars (Plassard, 1990; Barrè, 1997;). Despite scholars repeatedly clarifying that there is no direct correlation between infrastructure and its structuring effects (Plassard, 1990), political decisions have nevertheless defined strategic development projects through an infrastructure-based approach (Offner, 1993; Givoni, 2006).
Over time, infrastructure policies have shifted their focus from the introduction of new infrastructure to the reduction of distances and travel times. This transition can be understood as part of a broader phenomenon of transport acceleration, which is itself part of a larger current that also encompasses a social dimension (Rosa, 2015). It gave rises to an imaginary in which the ever-increasing speed is associated with an idea of progress (Tomlinson, 2007). Acceleration of transport led to a hierarchisation and polarisation of space (Battiau, 1998; Mazzeo, 2012). This resulted in a 'dualised' territory (Ollivro, 2000), where the primary economic activities are concentrated near the poles and points of access to the network (Monzón et al, 2013).
In Italy, the development of a ‘dualised’ territory has resulted in the affirmation of marginalised areas. These areas have been the focus of some strategies aimed at reducing the gaps with the central poles, which have also involved infrastructure projects (UVAL, 2014). The overarching objective of these initiatives was to stimulate economic development by facilitating faster connections with primary metropolitan hubs. In order to ascertain the efficacy of these projects, it is essential to consider existing research that has identified a common thread in the affirmation of non-mechanical cause and effect relationships, emphasising the need to consider the context, pre-existing dynamics and in-place strategies (Offner, 1994; Barré, 1997).
The primary objective of the research is to investigate the consequences of accelerating infrastructure projects, analysing the relationship with other levels of planning and growth-based strategies. In addition, the possibility for post-growth territorial development are investigated.
The case study that has been identified pertains to the southern Salento area. In this context, the phenomenon of transport acceleration was expressed through projects aimed at extending the road section of existing infrastructures. The topography of South Salento is characterised by a considerable distance from the primary hubs of service provision. In this area, an extension of an existing road, which runs north-south through the territory, has been planned. Over time, the infrastructure area has experienced contrasting trends. On the one hand, there has been a development of commercial and productive activities, with the road regarded as a strategic axis for the development of the territory. Conversely, there has been a propensity to preserve and enhance the distinctive characteristics of the landscape through the development of slow mobility practices, a different imaginary based on slowness and de-growth. This necessitates an investigation into the potential scenarios that might emerge in the wake of the road transformation project.
In the first the research analyses the relationship between the project, pre-existing trends, and the strategies. This component aimed to predict the effects at an urban planning level. A second part of the study involved the confrontation of alternative trends with the definition of the margins within which a de-growth spatial development could take place.
The results of the study indicated concrete possibilities for the development of an alternative territorial vision; however, the study concluded that a major role is played by local actors.

Speaker: Dr Gloria Toma (Polytechnic University of Bari)

17:15 RURAL TRANSFORMATION AS A RESULT OF COUNTER-URBANIZATION DURING AND AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROCESS IN İZMİR-SEFERİHİSAR

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reshaped urban and rural dynamics, challenging the conventional urban growth paradigm and accelerating counter-urbanization. This shift has profound implications for postgrowth urbanism, which advocates for an alternative to growth-driven urban development, emphasizing ecological balance, sustainability, and social equity. Counter-urbanization, initially conceptualized by Berry (1976), refers to the demographic movement from urban to rural areas, often driven by environmental concerns, affordability, and changing work conditions (Walmsley et al., 1998). The pandemic-induced transformation, particularly in Mediterranean cities such as İzmir, Turkey, has led to a reconfiguration of spatial and socio-economic structures in rural areas, requiring a critical examination of its long-term consequences (Vinci et al., 2022).

This study investigates the rural transformation in Seferihisar, a peripheral district of İzmir that experienced one of the highest population growth rates in the post-pandemic period (TURKSTAT, 2023). The research employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative demographic and economic data with qualitative insights from planning policies and community responses. The findings highlight three major transformations:

Spatial Transformation: Increased housing demand, rising land prices, and changing land use have led to rural gentrification, whereby wealthier urbanites displace traditional rural populations (Stockdale, 2010). This process alters the built environment, impacting agricultural land use and accelerating commodification. The redistribution of population also intensifies urban sprawl, leading to a hybrid rural-urban landscape that disrupts existing ecological systems (Nelson et al., 2010).
Socio-Economic Transformation: The influx of higher-income populations has contributed to the restructuring of rural economies. The shift from agriculture-based livelihoods to service-oriented economic activities fosters disparities between long-term rural residents and new arrivals. Rural gentrification in Seferihisar manifests through a change in occupational structures, increasing the cost of living and social tensions between different socio-economic groups (Rojo-Mendoza et al., 2022).
Governance and Sustainability Challenges: Counter-urbanization presents governance challenges, as rural municipalities struggle to provide adequate infrastructure and services to an expanding population. Policy gaps in rural planning contribute to unregulated construction, inefficient land use, and environmental degradation. The lack of a strategic framework for sustainable rural development threatens the long-term viability of counter-urbanization as a resilient postgrowth model (Rezvani, 2007).
The findings of this study suggest that counter-urbanization in Seferihisar reflects broader tensions in postgrowth urbanism, revealing the need for innovative rural planning strategies. Current rural transformations are largely market-driven, favoring economic growth at the expense of environmental and social equity. Alternative models, such as cooperative housing, participatory land-use planning, and circular rural economies, could mitigate the negative consequences of counter-urbanization while fostering sustainable rural futures.

This research contributes to the growing discourse on post-pandemic urban-rural transitions, providing insights into the governance, economic, and ecological dimensions of counter-urbanization. By integrating principles of postgrowth urbanism, policymakers and planners can adopt context-sensitive strategies that balance economic opportunity with environmental stewardship and social inclusion. Addressing the challenges of counter-urbanization requires a decentralized, community-driven planning approach that prioritizes adaptive resilience, resource-efficient land management, and inclusive rural policies. The lessons from Seferihisar can inform broader debates on rethinking urbanization and reimagining sustainable rural development in a post-pandemic world.

Speaker: Mrs Özge Ekinci (Research Assistant)

17:25 Alto Medio Sannio inner area between marginality, latent place knowledge and territorial heritage

This contribution raises a reflection on the planning of the so-called inner areas, in which depopulation, emigration, social and productive rarefaction, abandonment of the land, are distinctive phenomena. Shaping a new role for inner areas requires forms of community and the arising of new subjectivities that rely on forms of direct democracy (Magnaghi, 2020), reconstructing the places of living and promoting the synergic connection between local economies (Bruni, Zamagni, 2015). The authors analyze the first results of the ongoing PRIN (Research Project of Significant National Interest) project “RE-PLACE. REframing PLace-based Approach through the Cultural Ecosystem services of inner areas”. It aims to strengthen the role of local communities in building "place knowledge" and territorial heritage also through the innovative lens of Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), which represent non-material and/or socio-ecological benefits that people gain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, aesthetic experiences, and cultural and educational values (Chan et al., 2012; Andersson et al., 2015). The project investigates three Italian inner areas (Alta Marmilla and Gennargentu - Mandrolisai in Sardinia, Alto Medio Sannio in Molise, Madonie in Sicily,) and promotes a multi-scalar approach, based on co-evolutionary approaches between human settlement and the environment, and oriented to understand and maximize the resilience of marginalized territories, to build alliances and collaborative processes and to promote place-making developed by communities.
This approach implies the need to support the (re)discovery of ancient and new forms of local knowledge which allow the continuous adaptation to the mutability of environmental contexts and whose loss undermines the effectiveness of interventions implemented in more recent times. It also encourages the establishment of new relations between human societies and non-human environmental elements that allow the continuous generation of innovative local knowledge (De Bonis, Ottaviano, 2023).
The impact between the growth of "place awareness" of local communities and the identity characteristics of the heritage make possible to produce "territorial added value" (Magnaghi, Dematteis 2018) based on visions, strategies and tools and on new forms of self-government of territorial commons, namely place-specific values ​​and resources, sedimented over time. In detail, the contribution focuses on the case study of Alto Medio Sannio inner area, made up of 33 small (of which many have less than 1,000 inhabitants) municipalities between the provinces of Isernia and Campobasso, on the border with Abruzzo region. The research path is designed to support the expression of the autonomous local development practices based on the continuous reproduction of territorial heritage. It is intended to capture the critical issues of some ongoing experiences in the area which are aimed at reducing the fragility of marginalized contexts, also identifying the ineffectiveness of the tools that until today have perpetuated the gap and the poor integration of these contexts.
Particular attention will be dedicated to a very popular and current topic in these areas: the planning of “tratturi system” (territorial system of sheep tracks), ancient transhumance routes which today are considered important elements of the territorial heritage to be valorised. These elements, from a multifunctional perspective, are considered by the authors to be latent resources for sustainable development that takes into account the benefits that ecosystems provide to the inhabitants of the area.

Speaker: Dr Francesca Giangrande (University of Molise)

17:35 Post-Growth Paradigms Underpinning the Socio-Technical Transformation of Services: An Analysis of Three Municipal Planning Strategies in the Atlantic Region

The development of urban infrastructures and services has historically followed a growth-oriented, path-dependent model, particularly in medium- and small-sized municipalities in peripheral European regions (Kirkpatrick & Smith, 2011; Næss, 2006). This trajectory, often reinforced by structural and economic changes linked to European Union integration, faces increasing challenges from environmental, social, and financial crises (Schneider et al., 2010; Jackson, 2009). These crises necessitate rethinking planning frameworks to address the unique constraints of medium-sized municipalities, often overlooked in favour of metropolitan and capital cities.

Post-growth and degrowth scholarship (Kallis, 2018) offers alternative approaches, emphasizing the need to decouple urban development from economic growth. While this research explores pathways for infrastructure transformation, particularly in housing, transport, and networked services (Savini & Bossuyt, 2022; Durrant et al., 2023), most studies focus on large cities (Demaria et al., 2013; Cerrada Morato, 2024). Consequently, the dynamics of medium-sized municipalities, including their ability to adopt and implement post-growth principles, remain underexplored (Cerrada Morato, 2025). Addressing this gap, our study examines the intersection of post-growth paradigms and the planning tools used to drive socio-technical transformations in these contexts.

Using a socio-technical lens (Geels, 2005), we analyze three medium-sized municipalities in a peripheral European region undergoing service transformation. Each municipality operates under a distinct post-growth paradigm, providing insights into how these paradigms influence the design and implementation of transformation strategies. Our findings reveal that opportunities for socio-technical innovation and adaptation are deeply tied to the guiding post-growth paradigm, highlighting the importance of context-sensitive approaches.

Bringing conceptual clarity to the post-growth debate is critical for advancing theoretical and practical urban planning frameworks. Recognizing the diversity of post-growth paradigms and their interconnections is essential for avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions and fostering resilience in medium-sized municipalities. Moreover, this clarity supports the development of planning tools tailored to the specific needs of these municipalities, promoting equitable and sustainable service systems (Hodson & Marvin, 2010; Swilling, 2011).

This study contributes to post-growth discourse by emphasizing the value of context-specific strategies and advocating for a more inclusive approach that integrates medium-sized municipalities into academic and policy debates. It advances understanding of how post-growth paradigms drive socio-technical transformations in urban infrastructure and service provision, addressing critical gaps in theory and practice.

Speaker: Lucia Cerrada Morato (Institut Metròpoli)

16:30 → 18:00 T_11 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: Artificial Intelligence S2

Convener: Merve Deniz Tak (İstanbul University)

16:30 Information science, digital modelling and the legacy of the engineering mindset in planning thought

The last three decades have witnessed two parallel and possibly divergent developments. This season can indeed be described as the spring of post-positivist approaches to planning theory (Allmendinger, 2002) as well as of digital modelling applications intended as decision support systems in planning practice (Geertman and Stillwell, 2004). While these support systems faced the so-called implementation gap (Jiang et al., 2020), the latest experiments in artificial intelligence (AI) have revived expectations that information science may ultimately be trusted to deliver expert-driven technocratic solutions for planning problems. This expectation raises either anxieties or enthusiasm depending on whether one endorses the post-positivist critique of expert knowledge, or whether one assumes that the proven limitations of human expert knowledge were just a matter of inadequate computing abilities. This paper draws on John Friedmann’s classic understanding of scientific based planning, the engineering mindset and of system engineering’s influence on planning thought (Friedmann, 1987), to refresh its insights. As Friedman’s understanding dates to the eve of the above-mentioned season, refreshing encompasses both revival and update. It highlights both its contemporary relevance to question enthusiastic expectations about AI applications in planning practice, as well as the need to integrate it with new insights that may reduce a number of anxieties. The new insights derive from the observation that the above-mentioned spring season raised post-positivist concerns across domains, encompassing information science and urban and regional digital modelling, and establishing the ground for post-positivist pluralism from within. Examples of this pluralism can be found in philosophical and semantic-cognitive approaches to information science (Couclelis, 1983; Guarino, 1998; Borgo et al. 2022), as well as in shifts in system theory on the closure of systems in the light of complexity science (Batty and Torrens, 2001; Portugali, 2021). In this light the paper concludes that engaging with scholarship in information science and system theory akin to post-positivist perspectives is pivotal for planners to confront both anxieties and enthusiasms regarding the adoption of AI or other digital technologies in planning practice.

Speaker: Giulia Guadagnoli (Università degli studi di Firenze)

16:40 AI-Empowered Research on Healthy Streets: An Iterative Path of Streetscape Perception, Evaluation, and Optimization

“Healthy Streets” have emerged as a key strategy for enhancing street quality and promoting public health. Within the broad framework of Healthy Streets, this study focuses on their healing qualities and emphasizes healing environments that support attention restoration and emotional recovery. The environments shall improve users' physical, cognitive, and behavioral health. By utilizing streetscape images and deep-learning-based semantic segmentation models, multiple spatial elements are efficiently extracted and quantified for evaluation metrics. However, existing research primarily focuses on the correlation between spatial elements and healing effects, lacking a systematic exploration of the entire process from perception and evaluation to optimization. Therefore, this study employs LoRA fine-tuning technology in AIGC to develop an iterative path for street quality improvement, aiming to explore how AI technologies can facilitate intelligent and dynamic optimization in Healthy Streets studies.
This study was conducted in the research area of the central region of Haining City, Zhejiang Province, China, covering 52.4 square kilometers. The study area includes diverse street types and historical and cultural blocks with favorable walking conditions. AI empowerment was reflected in the whole research design and tested in the study area. Streetscape images were collected at 100-meter intervals along the road network. After semantic segmentation of the images with a CNN model, eight metrics—facade diversity, color richness, building enclosure, street height/width ratio, sky openness, green view index, road width, and relative walking width—were calculated across four dimensions regarding user perception (vitality, comfort, nature, and safety). All images were clustered based on index scores and a stratified sample of representative images was selected for the Elo rating system (ELO) scoring to determine the healing scores. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was trained to assess the overall street healing quality, complemented by multiple linear regression (MLR) to analyze the correlation between healing quality and each spatial element. Subsequently, a LoRA fine-tuning model was trained to identify and generate high-healing-level streetscape images. Leveraging the Stable Diffusion model, streetscape images of historical and cultural blocks were optimally redesigned based on the MLR results, and the ANN model was re-applied to evaluate the enhancements in street healing quality across the four user-perception dimensions.
We completed the acquisition and semantic segmentation of 1,851 streetscape images from the observation points throughout central Haining City. A subsequent cluster analysis resulted in four distinct street types based on their characteristics. To ensure robust scoring validity, 200 representative images as training data underwent over 2,500 rounds of ELO scoring by professionals and students. The ANN model predicted the healing quality score with a reasonable accuracy of 76%. The model was then applied to rank the healing qualities of the remaining 1,651 images, with spatial distribution visualized and analyzed using ArcGIS software. Our MLR analysis revealed that ‘nature’ had the most significant positive impact on healing qualities. Excessive building enclosure in the ‘comfort’ dimension weakened the healing effect. ‘Vitality’ had a limited but positive contribution, and higher motorization levels in the ‘safety’ dimension were linked to noticeable reductions in healing qualities.
This paper innovatively integrates AI technologies into a study of Healthy Streets, establishing an iterative path of “intelligent perception—spatial quality evaluation—rapid response optimization”. In the perception stage, visual elements were automatically extracted using CNN-based semantic segmentation. During the evaluation stage, a trained ANN model outperformed traditional machine learning models in both accuracy and efficiency. In the optimization stage, AIGC tools (a LoRA and a Stable Diffusion model) were employed for local redrawing of streetscapes, enabling rapid design iterations and dynamic optimization. The preliminary results demonstrate that AI technologies hold substantial potential for improving street healing quality, particularly regarding visual aesthetics and emotional restoration.

Speaker: Mr Yinqi Yu (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University)

16:50 Intelligent Urban Design: Self-organized Block Form Generation Using Reinforcement Learning——An Empirical Study from Nanjing, China

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies, intelligent design has become a popular research approach in recent years, enhancing design diversity, flexibility, and efficiency through intelligent algorithms. The self-organized design of block forms is a key component of intelligent urban design, aiming to optimize urban spatial layouts through adaptive mechanisms and algorithmic optimization. Based on the theory of spatial self-organization, this paper proposes a reinforcement learning-based method for the self-organized generation of block forms, enabling the system to learn optimal strategies through interaction with the environment.
This study consists of three parts. First, using Nanjing, China, as a case study, geometric calculations are applied to extract the spatial topological relationships of block forms, which are stored in a design prototype database. Building upon this, a reinforcement learning algorithm is introduced with a reward mechanism during the design process, considering various design constraints in urban space, such as development intensity, building density, building height, and green space ratio, to establish a self-organized design framework for block forms. Finally, three representative urban blocks in Nanjing are selected for generative design experiments. Based on real-time feedback from the reward function, dynamic adjustments and optimizations are made to the block forms, achieving a comprehensive optimization of economic, ecological, and social benefits while meeting design constraints. Unlike traditional rule-driven design methods, the approach used in this study involves the iterative testing and optimization process of the reinforcement learning model, allowing block form generation to not only adapt to the current environment but also evolve over time to address potential future demand changes. The effectiveness of this method is validated through a specific case study in Nanjing, providing new technical support for future intelligent urban design.

Speaker: Yuyue HUANG (Southeast University)

17:00 AI-Driven Multimodal Data Fusion for Automated Ontology Construction: Methods and Smart Manufacturing Case Study

Ontology technology plays a vital role in information management within the fields of architecture, engineering, and construction. AI-driven automated and semi-automated ontology construction has emerged as a key research direction, significantly improving the efficiency and scalability of ontology construction while addressing the limitations of traditional methods that rely heavily on domain expert knowledge and manual input. Urban data formats have evolved from single-text sources to multimodal data, demonstrating rapid growth. However, current research on automated ontology construction predominantly focuses on single-source data, particularly text-based data, with limited studies on the fusion and automatic construction of ontologies from multimodal data.
To address this gap, this study investigates AI-based methods and technical pathways for automated ontology construction driven by multimodal data. First, a systematic literature review was conducted to summarize typical technical methods used at key stages of the ontology automation process, including concept extraction, relation identification, and hierarchical structure construction. The study further analyzes the performance of machine learning algorithms, such as large language models, reinforcement learning, and graph neural networks, at these stages. Second, knowledge extraction and multimodal data fusion strategies are explored for various data types, such as text, images, audio, and structured tables. Finally, this study proposes an AI-driven automated ontology construction method leveraging multimodal data, using a smart factory as a case study to demonstrate the use of various data types, including sensor readings, images, video streams, and operation logs, and to evaluate its practical feasibility.
The proposed method improves the efficiency of knowledge representation and the accuracy of semantic expression, contributing to the theoretical advancement of ontology construction. Moreover, its practical feasibility and scalability highlight its potential for broad application in intelligent systems, such as smart cities and smart buildings, thereby supporting enhanced ontology-based knowledge management and informed decision-making.

Speaker: Ms Rui JIANG (Eindhoven University of Technology)

16:30 → 18:00 T_13 HOUSING AND SHELTER: Housing, planning, and policy I

Convener: Elif Alkay (Prof. Dr,, Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Urban and Regional Planning)

16:30 Collaborative Housing and Planning: Institutional Interfaces in the UK and Spain

Collaborative Housing and Planning: Institutional Interfaces in the UK and Spain

This research examines collaborative housing's contribution to planning practice through its function as an “institutional interface” through which housing struggles can be articulated and out into relation with the prevailing institutional logics of activity (Florea, Gagyi and Jacobsson, 2022). It investigates how collaborative housing may become institutionalised within policy frameworks and what this means for its capacity to address housing needs and provide other social benefits and its implications for the political dimensions of the movement.

The study analyses cases from the UK and Spain through stakeholder interviews and policy reviews. These countries present contrasting contexts for collaborative housing development: the UK demonstrates emergence through community activism and some policy recognition, especially in specific areas, while Spain development emerges through more in connection with housing rights movements and shows more localised and urban centric policy recognition. In both cases policy support has been sporadic, rather than sustained. Case studies situate collaborative housing projects within their contexts to understand relationships between housing activists, residents and state institutions. The analysis focuses on interactions between housing organisations and planning systems to examine how housing struggles might be translated into planning outcomes. This analysis highlights the role of planning frameworks in shaping project outcomes and explores tensions between institutional requirements and community objectives.

The research contributes to planning scholarship by examining collaborative housing's position within institutional frameworks. Findings indicate these schemes require policy support and methods to establish and maintain affordability and other social benefits. Results show planning systems must develop specific mechanisms to support collaborative housing while preserving its distinctive characteristics. However, in a context of deepening housing affordability struggles tensions remain between the understanding of collaborative housing schemes as one-of projects versus a sustained empowerment of local communities in relation to housing affordability, housing choice and community control.

Speaker: Dr Philippa Hughes (Universitat Rovira i Virgili)

16:40 How Housing Diversity Affects Urban Residential Segregation: The Tokyo Model

A diverse housing supply is widely recognized as a crucial mechanism for mitigating socioeconomic segregation by allowing different income groups to coexist within the same urban fabric. However, most existing research has focused on cities where housing typologies are spatially clustered, reinforcing patterns of residential segregation (Glaeser and Gyourko 2018, Tiebout 1956). Less attention has been given to cities characterized by highly heterogeneous housing stock at the micro-scale, where various housing types and price levels coexist within small urban units. This study examines Tokyo, one of the least segregated among major metropolises (Hoshino, 2011; OECD, 2021), to explore how its unique housing supply system contributes to maintaining low levels of residential segregation. Additionally, it evaluates whether current development trends threaten the long-term sustainability of this inclusive model.
This paper investigates the interaction between residential segregation level and housing supply diversity, as experienced by distinct types of households given their housing needs and the existing housing stock in different areas. We calculate and compare the place-based residence income segregation indexes for different types of households, and the Simpson diversity indexes of different housing prices and sizes at 1km grid scale. Furthermore, we analyze the potential changes given the current housing market trends by identifying the percentage of affordable homes for prospective or transferring households within different areas of Tokyo.
Our findings indicate that the diversity of housing price and size plays a significant role in Tokyo’s low residential segregation level. The highly heterogeneous housing stock resulting from the gradual small-scale redevelopments in Tokyo plays a critical role in shaping the city’s low social segregation. However, this model comes with trade-offs. While it fosters social integration, it also presents challenges in terms of housing quality, size, and rental stability, particularly in central areas of the city. Moreover, our analysis reveals a growing mismatch between housing demand and supply, particularly for nuclear households, who face increasing difficulty in securing affordable and adequately sized homes across the city. This trend raises concerns about the sustainability of Tokyo’s current housing model in ensuring long-term social inclusion.
This study contributes to discussions on housing affordability, residential segregation, and social sustainability. It offers valuable insights into how diverse housing supply systems influence socio-spatial dynamics in Asian cities.

Speaker: Dr Jue MA (The University of Tokyo)

16:50 From Residential Satisfaction to Neighborhood Satisfaction: A Conceptual Review and Framework for Clarity

Residential Satisfaction (RS) is a widely studied concept in urban planning, environmental psychology, real estate, and marketing that influences housing quality, neighborhood livability, quality of life evaluations, and consumer preferences. However, a systematic review of 50 studies reveals inconsistencies in how RS and its subcomponent, neighborhood satisfaction (NS), are both defined and measured. While RS largely refers to an individual's overall satisfaction with his or her living environment, many studies fail to clearly distinguish NS as a subcomponent of RS, leading to conceptual and methodological inconsistencies. Some studies address NS only as a physical construct (e.g., infrastructure, maintenance, accessibility), while others emphasize its social aspects (e.g., community relations, safety, social cohesion). This lack of clarity makes comparisons between studies difficult and compromises the accountability of urban research and policy practices.

To address this problem, this paper, after analyzing different measures and definitions, proposes a conceptual framework that explicitly positions NS within RS, acknowledging its dual nature - physical and social. This approach allows for a more structured and consistent measurement of living environment experiences, allowing for better comparative research. A clearer distinction between RS and NS can help policymakers design neighborhoods that address both the built environment and the social well-being of communities.

Speaker: Ms Hilal Cepni (Ulisboa- Superior Técnico Ulisboa - CiTUA)

17:00 Does regional planning really have an impact on urban development? Examining the effects of 50 French urban regional plans (SCoT) on housing construction and on building densities.

The question of the effects of planning is an old issue for the urban planning research community. Yet, urban plans have been widely criticized for being “rigid”, “inflexible”, “inefficient” (Demazières and Desjardins, 2016) to the point of causing the field to lose interest in these documents (Hopkins and Knaap, 2018). Their usefulness is sometimes even seen mainly (only) in gathering actors together around a table (Gallez and Maksim, 2007).

Since the emergence, then widespread availability, of precise data on urban development, a field has emerged at the crossroads of spatial analysis and planning: that of 'conformance' or 'compliance studies' (Hersperger et al., 2018). In a few words, this research aims to compare the intentions of plans and the results obtained, and to understand possible discrepancies. The main results - mostly on European cases - lead us to consider overall: (1) regulatory urban plans (most often on a municipal scale) as being effective, i.e. the development observed on each plot corresponds generally to its respective rules (Abrantes et al., 2016), and (2) regional plans for their part have rather nuanced effects on urban development, even within the same metropolitan or inter-municipal territory (Padeiro, 2016; Pagliarin, 2018). This variability is interpreted as the outcome of the (un-)ability of municipal actors to invest themselves in the plan implementation process.

In this paper, we considered a large number of cities/documents (50 SCoTs here: ‘Schémas de Cohérence Territoriale’). In short, SCoTs were introduced in the year 2000 under French law (“SRU” Act). The purpose was to renovate a pre-existing two-tier planning system in which the SCoT would be the more strategic document at the scale of the urban region to which municipal regulatory documents (PLUs) would then have to conform. While Central Government anticipated that local elected representatives would first work on the SCoT and then work down to the level of their municipal application in a PLU, the opposite happened during the 2000s. During this period, local mayors have mainly backed up their decisions locally in order to avoid top-down supra-municipal constraints (Offner, 2017). As a consequence, Central Government modified in 2010 an important feature of SCoTs to give them more political weight and strategic interest: from this moment SCoTs have been able to impose (1) minimum densities on each commune in its territory of action and (2) an awaited number of new housing units for each sub-sector of the urban region. These two aspects became legally binding on documents lower down in the planning hierarchy.

In this paper we will analyze the effects of these two specific indicators 10 years after the approval of these documents, and this on 50 varied territories in terms of demography, and of dynamism of housing and land markets. Methodologically speaking, this analysis has been made possible by the combination of data on housing at the municipality scale and spatial analysis outcomes to approximate the net density of urban development during the period.

Research shows very contrasting results. On the one hand, when it comes to density, the SCoT directives are applied in most of the cases. We can see this as the effect of a fairly advanced legal integration. On the other hand, when it comes to the number of housing units planned, results show that SCoTs are almost useless: they fail to limit construction in situations described as saturated, nor do they succeed in stimulating construction in areas of low attractiveness, still less in balancing housing development within urban regions. These results illustrate a case where strategic regional planning encounters several limitations, even when explicit and binding targets are set.

Speakers: Prof. Thomas Buhler (Université Marie & Louis Pasteur), Mr Léo Magnin-Hoffbeck (Université Marie & Louis Pasteur)

16:30 → 18:00 T_14 ETHICS, VALUES AND PLANNING: Values Behind Quality Judgements

Conveners: Dr Anita De Franco (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Polytechnic University of Milan), Prof. ERHAN KURTARIR (YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY)

16:30 Classical versus Modern: Dissecting the Contemporary Swedish Architectural Debate

This presentation will discuss the empirical findings of our forthcoming article, which examines the role of architectural aesthetics in contemporary urban planning debates. While discussions on justice in planning typically focus on issues such as housing, infrastructure, and sustainability, the aesthetic qualities of the built environment remain relatively overlooked. However, the public architectural debate scrutinized in this study, regarding a perceived lack of beauty in contemporary building, suggests that architectural aesthetics raises several important and complex issues, with implications for democracy, well-being, and urban governance. The debate illustrates the broader challenges of upholding justice in planning when multiple and sometimes conflicting values—public preference, expert knowledge, cultural heritage, and sustainability—must be reconciled. Our study analyzes this ongoing public architectural debate through an argumentation analysis, systematically mapping and evaluating the reasoning behind different positions in the mentioned architectural debate. More than 250 articles from the Swedish press between 2017 and the end of 2022 were collected and analyzed.

Using argumentation analysis as our primary methodological approach, we have identified three dominant themes in the debate. The first concerns the relationship between architecture and beauty. A prominent voice in the debate argues that classical and traditional architectural styles offer a superior aesthetic experience. This aesthetic argument is sometimes framed in terms of intrinsic beauty, where classical architecture is seen as objectively preferable, while in other instances it is based on empirical claims about public preferences for classical styles. However, another voice in the public debate challenges these assumptions, arguing that beauty cannot guide urban planning because it is subjective, that stylistic preferences are culturally and historically contingent, and that architectural quality should not be reduced to aesthetic style alone.

A second central theme in the debate concerns democracy in architectural decision-making. Our argument analysis shows that proponents of “traditional architecture” often emphasize that planning decisions should reflect majority preferences, citing surveys that show strong public support for classical and traditional styles. They argue that the dominance of neo-modern architecture in Swedish urban development is evidence of a democratic deficit in planning processes. Opponents, however, counter that architectural design is not merely a question of popular opinion but requires professional expertise and creative autonomy. Some also warn that political intervention in architectural aesthetics has historical precedents in authoritarian regimes, raising concerns about the risks of imposing stylistic mandates. This conflict reflects a key challenge for justice in planning: how to balance democratic legitimacy with professional judgment.

The third theme we identify in the debate is the relationship between architecture and health. Proponents of classical architecture often argue that traditional styles contribute positively to mental health and social cohesion, pointing to research in neuroarchitecture that links symmetrical and proportionate design to positive emotional responses. However, critics argue that this perspective oversimplifies the complexity of urban health, which is influenced by a wide range of factors. Thus, the debate reveals a deeper question about how different values - such as aesthetics, functionality, and public health - should be prioritized in urban planning.

By systematically reconstructing and evaluating these arguments, our study contributes to a more structured understanding of how aesthetic disputes in architecture intersect with broader ethical and political issues. We explore how justice and values can be operationalized in planning when diverse and conflicting interests must coexist. How should urban aesthetics be governed in a way that is both democratically legitimate and professionally informed? To what extent should aesthetic decisions be democratized, and how can this be done without undermining architectural quality and innovation? And what role should aesthetic considerations play in urban justice?

Speaker: Mr Henrik Hågemark (Chalmers University of Technology)

16:40 Understanding Diverse Needs of Urban Dwellers to Improve People-Place Bonds for Inclusive Urban Planning

Emotional bonds between people and their neighborhoods are important for urban planning because they influence how individuals engage with and contribute to their communities. These bonds create a sense of belonging, attachment, and identity that can enhance the quality of life and foster stronger, more resilient neighborhoods. These bonds have been extensively studied, primarily under the concept of place attachment (Lewicka, 2011). Place attachment has been shown to offer numerous positive benefits, such as improved well-being, social behavior, and environmental engagement (Kamani Fard & Paydar, 2024). The broad body of literature has identified several key components influencing place attachment, such as homeownership, age, and length of residence (Lewicka, 2010).
Our study expands this understanding by measuring people-place bonds not only through place attachment, but also through place making, emphasizing the agency of residents in shaping their neighborhoods (Switalski et al., 2023). We used data from a large-scale online survey completed by 5356 respondents across five European cities: Brussels, Geneva, Hamburg, Turin, and Zurich, and conducted exploratory factor analysis and k-means clustering. This analysis revealed three distinct groups of residents characterized by varying sociodemographic profiles and behavioral patterns related to people-place bonds. Our findings challenge the traditional emphasis on homeownership as a predictor of place attachment (Pasanen et al., 2024). Instead, we discovered that other, less commonly discussed variables significantly influence people-place bonds. Moreover, the distribution of these groups varied considerably across the five cities, reflecting local contextual differences. We discuss these variations and their implications for urban planning, highlighting the importance for inclusive approaches that account for the diverse needs of urban dwellers to foster stronger people-place bonds.

Speaker: Ms Heidi Baumann (ETH Zurich)

16:50 Exploring the practices and perspectives of planning officers assessing applications for small-scale densification in suburban areas.

For many decades, the rate of housing construction in England has consistently failed to meet the growing demand. Despite longstanding policies favouring a 'brownfield first' approach, significant densification in suburban areas remains elusive. Densifying suburbs presents a multifaceted challenge, requiring a balance between increasing housing supply and preserving the local character, infrastructure capacity, and residents' preferences. Drawing from semi-structured interviews with planning officers working in development management in local authorities in the North West and South East England, this paper examines their practices and perspectives in determining planning applications for small-scale incremental densification in suburban areas, including infill construction on vacant or oversized plots, subdivision of existing dwellings, and conversion of properties to residential use. By conceptualizing planning officers working in development management as both street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky, 2010), or frontline agents of the state with considerable discretionary power, and as situated agents (Bevir, 2013), influenced by unique contexts, experiences, and social positions, this paper explores their values and how they use of discretion to make sense of policies before putting them into practice and to mediate different interests in a context shaped by ambitious government targets to boost housing supply.

References:

Bevir, M. (Ed.), 2013. Theory of Governance, Studies in governance. GAIA Books, Berkeley, CA.

Lipsky, Michael., 2010. Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services, 30th anniversary expanded edition. Russell Sage Foundation, New York.

Speaker: Dr Tatiana Moreira de Souza (University of Liverpool)

17:00 Urban Beauty and the Open City

The topic of urban beauty is often addressed superficially; certainly, it is under-discussed. Today, a long architectural and compositional tradition still heavily influences the perspectives and value judgments of experts, leading to the tendency to believe that the experience of beauty is confined to the physical, visual, and compositional characteristics of the built environment. Differently, and based on recent cognitive studies, urban beauty can only be understood as a complex ‘total experience’ that includes both tangible and material elements, as well as emerging social and cultural stimuli that, by definition, transcend intentional urban design operation and the built environment. On the one hand, this implies the inevitability of revisiting the mainstream contemporary concept of urban beauty, broadening its scope. On the other hand, it is necessary to reflect more consciously on the production and generative process of attractive and human-centred urban environments. From this perspective, with appropriate innovations, a concept that can be particularly useful is that of living structure introduced by Christopher Alexander. Building on this experience, this talk will highlight the reasons why the idea of the Open City is central both to understanding the genesis of beautiful urban environments as well as the adoption of more conscious design and regulatory approaches.

Speaker: Dr Stefano Cozzolino (ILS - Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development)

16:30 → 18:00 T_15 PROPERTY MARKET ACTORS: The Government-Market Nexus in Property Development

Conveners: Francesca Leccis (University of Cagliari), Tuna Tasan-Kok (University of Amsterdam)

16:30 The State as an Entrepreneur who Transforming Public Spaces: The Case of Zeytinburnu Fabrika-i Humayun

After 1980, the fact experienced all over the world and called neoliberalism is based on the reproduction of capital through urban space. In this process, the relations between institutions, economic actors, the nation state, local governments and financial capital have been redefined by moving away from the concept of the welfare state, privatisation, increasing international capital movements, intensifying competition between countries/regions/cities, and the capitalist system has entered a restructuring process (Peck, Theodore and Brenner, 2009). In line with the cooperation of the state and capital, the development of land use and construction conditions in favour of groups that serve the interests of the dominant class and benefit directly or indirectly from economic growth has triggered the process of reproduction of the urban built environment (Fainstein, 1994; Sengül, 2009; Uzbek and Dincer 2009; Logan and Molotch, 2013; Penpecioglu, 2013). The state becomes a steering force in the redistribution of wealth by making the legal arrangements required by the neoliberal economic structure (Bayirbag and Penpecioglu, 2017). In this process where wealth is distributed through legislation and legal regulations, piecemeal planning decisions and the expanding powers of the central government, one of the most remarkable issues is the commodification of public interest and services. The transformation of public enterprises, which Sato (2000) refers to as dead capital, into liquid capital through the privatisation of infrastructures constitutes a significant problem for the commodification of public services and for disadvantaged groups to benefit from these services.
Peck and Tickell (2002) explain as ‘not the neoliberalisation of the city, but the urbanisation of neoliberalisation’, the state and capital have shaped the city, creating differentiated and privatisationed areas in functional, social and spatial terms. In the ‘regime theory’, which explains the reproduction of the urban environment and the role of the state in this process, it is defined by combining the resources of actors to facilitate acting together in line with their overlapping expectations, in other words, by constructing a network of relations based on mutual interest (Feinstein, 1994; Uzbek and Dincer, 2009). At this stage, while the spatial transformation of the city is financed by state-backed debt, the state has transformed from a social democratic structure into a structure that provides the infrastructure and finance necessary for capital to increase its profitability (Harvey, D., 2013).
Accordingly, the study will discuss the reflections of neoliberal urbanisation policies in Turkey and especially in the city of Istanbul in the context of privatisation of public lands. The main questions of the study are; who are the actors involved in the privatisation of public lands in Istanbul? What is the position of the state in this process? To what extent does the emerging picture coincide with the concept of public interest? The methodology of the study is to discuss the privatisation processes of public lands in Istanbul and their reflections on the urban space, and in the case of Zeytinburnu Iron Factory; the privatisation of the area, legal regulation, planning process, actors involved in the process, spatial reflections and public interest.
As a result, the perception of the city as an investment area causes actors to come together with overlapping expectations. On public lands privatised by the state through legal regulations, special planning and construction conditions, funds and loans provided by public banks, new urban textures are emerging in line with the profit expectations of the private sector. Housing, shopping, office, accommodation textures shaped by targeting high income groups and foreign investors form cocoons alienated from the city. On the other hand, the question of what is the public interest in this process is an important dilemma.

Speaker: Semanur Özcan (Yildiz Technical University)

16:40 Financialising Land: China’s Urban-Rural Property Market Dynamics and Government Strategies in Planetary Urbanisation

Land financialisation and real estate investment are vital in shaping China’s rapid urbanisation. While extensive research has focused on urban property speculation and land finance in China, less attention has been paid to how these processes penetrate rural areas and blur urban-rural boundaries under state-driven governance. This study addresses this gap by analysing how China has used the advantage of party-state authority to navigate market dynamics and crises in the real estate market, contributing to the global discourse on planetary urbanisation and land financialisation.

This research explores the working logic of land financialisation and real estate speculation in China, highlighting the state’s dual role as regulator and actor in property markets. It employs mixed methods, combining secondary economic data and primary observation data. Economic data is from China’s official statistics and international organisations such as the OECD and IMF. Non-participant observation data was collected from July to September 2023 in Zhejiang and Sichuan, with 18 villages in 2 provinces.

Key findings reveal that deregulation of real estate markets in 2008 facilitated China’s recovery from the global financial crisis, while anti-speculation policies during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced predatory capital speculation and social inequalities. In 2024, China’s housing purchase and lending restrictions were relaxed again, similar to the post-pandemic neoliberal path of fiscal stimulus and monetary easing followed by the re-establishment of the market. This action has intensified local governments and rural organisations’ reliance on land markets and place competition to address welfare and development pressures. These practices reflect the growing convergence of urban and rural governance and land use under neoliberal capital accumulation.

China's evolving land and real estate policies highlight the State’s selective application of neoliberal tools and efforts to balance economic growth and social equality. By examining the interplay of State intervention, land financialisation, and real estate speculation in China, this research provides critical insights into the role of land use and property markets in shaping planetary urbanisation.

Speaker: Ms Yue Liu (School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast)

-Yue Liu -AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation.pdf

16:50 What - and who - do design guides regulate in the development of public land? The conflicting logics of Société des Grands Projets’ property development, between rent maximization and exemplary urbanism

The Grand Paris Express (GPE) is an extension of the Parisian underground rail network. For its proponents, it is both a transportation and an urban development project, in support of the restructuring of Parisian peripheries around the future stations. GPE amounts to 200 km of new railways, 68 new stations and an estimated cost of 44 billion Euros. Société des Grands Projets (SGP) is the state agency in charge of overseeing the design and implementation of the project, as well as contributing to metropolitan restructuring through urban development projects on the land purchased for network implementation.
The scale of the network and its prerogatives make SGP an important market actor in the Paris region. For the new metro, SGP is purchasing approximately 2000 plots of land on the surface (about 170 hectares) through mutual agreement, expropriation, or temporary occupation. These land acquisitions serve the construction of the transport project, but part of the land will be developed to contribute to network financing and to regional housing needs. Thus, in a context where the sale and redevelopment of public land are increasingly being used to finance urban policies and infrastructure (Artioli, 2021), SGP develops real estate projects on its land through agreements with the main developers of the Paris region. SGP started out by selling building rights, and is now concluding joint-ventures with private developers using a new company (SGP Immobilier) to maximise land-value capture (Aveline et Maulat, 2024). Around 80 real estate projects are planned on the land acquired by the SGP for the metro, contributing to neighbourhood transformation around the future metro stations.
Despite the growing commodification of properties and encroachment of market logics in SGP’s action, the agency is by no means a ‘regular’ landowner or real estate developer. As other public landowners (Piganiol, 2017; Adisson, 2018), it must strike a balance between rent maximization and objectives pertaining to public interest, including the provision of affordable housing, buildings’ environmental performance and the provision of urban amenities (Delepine et al., forthcoming).
To achieve such objectives of exemplarity, SGP must coordinate the action of several public and private actors and actively manoeuver for policy change. To do so, the agency combines financial and technical assistance, ad hoc coordination entities and the production of numerous guides and charters defining best practice in different domains (Schorung, 2021; Fleury & Gomes, 2024), including real estate. Our presentation analyses the “social and environmental reference guide for SGP’s urban and real estate projects” (SGP, 2022), a compilation of design principles and operational guidelines. The guide is intended to frame the action of private developers and architects and can be compared to other tools implemented by local government to regulate private real estate development (such as chartes promoteurs). The guide thus functions as both a regulatory and design instrument. Its analysis contributes to larger debates on market regulation and local policy instruments to address environmental challenges and the production of affordable housing in major metropolitan areas.
Our hypothesis is that the use of the guide in practice shows the contingent reassessment of social and environmental objectives in face of rent maximization imperatives, which translate into diverse uses of the document. The guide is purposefully written as a vague “rulebook” in order to not overdetermine how the game is played, allowing for individual processes to unfold. SGP’s use of the guide would then be particularly instrumental, exploring its potential when it allows to turn power dynamics in its favour.
This presentation is based on empirical work in different real estate projects of the SGP, including semi-structured interviews with project stakeholders and desk research.

Speakers: Mrs Gülce Telli (Lab’URBA - Université Paris Est Créteil), Pedro Gomes (Lab'URBA - EIVP)

17:00 The Effectiveness of Public-Private Sector Collaboration in Regenerating Historic Industrial Brownfield Sites under Different Market Conditions

The regeneration of historic industrial brownfield sites represents a critical challenge in urban planning, intersecting issues of market dynamics, heritage conservation, and public-private collaboration. This paper focuses on the role of market buoyancy in shaping public-private sector interactions during regeneration processes, emphasizing its potential influence on decision-making, negotiation dynamics, and project outcomes. This study seeks to explore how public-private collaboration responds to varying market conditions, aiming to enhance the understanding of how planning mechanisms can adapt to financialisation and market volatility.
This research forms part of my ongoing PhD thesis at the University of Liverpool, currently in its second year, with the aim of collecting all necessary data by July 2025. The research addresses the question: How does the influence of the public sector on the regeneration of historic industrial brownfield sites led by the private sector vary with the buoyancy of real estate markets, considering the decision-making behaviour of both the private and public sectors? The hypothesis suggests that in less buoyant real estate markets, private developers may exhibit increased confidence in negotiations, leveraging their positions to secure favourable outcomes. This dynamic will be explored through the lens of adaptive planning, regulatory frameworks, and heritage conservation.
The paper integrates findings from case studies in London (high market buoyancy) and Liverpool (low market buoyancy) to provide a comparative analysis of collaboration dynamics. Methodologically, it employs qualitative interviews with stakeholders—developers, city planners, and local officials—as well as quantitative analysis of market data and policy documents. This approach will allow for an in-depth exploration of how market conditions mediate public-private interactions.
Key areas of analysis include:
1. Market Buoyancy and Developer Confidence: The paper examines how market buoyancy could shape the confidence of private developers in negotiations, potentially influencing their strategies in securing planning permissions, navigating heritage restrictions, and accessing financial incentives. The study focuses on how these dynamics manifest differently in high- and low-buoyancy contexts.
2. Market Buoyancy and Planning Challenges: The study explores how varying levels of market buoyancy create distinct challenges for urban planning. It examines the pressures on public-private collaborations to adapt to fluctuating market conditions, with a focus on balancing immediate economic feasibility with long-term sustainability and heritage conservation objectives.
This research aligns with Track 15’s emphasis on the intersections of planning, governance, and property markets, offering insights into how adaptive planning and regulatory tools can foster equitable and sustainable urban development. By focusing on market buoyancy as a critical variable, this paper contributes to the discourse on financialization and its implications for urban regeneration, with preliminary conclusions expected in the summer of 2025.

Speaker: Mr Alexander Petrov (University of Liverpool)

Public-Private Collaboration _ A. Petrov.pptx

16:30 → 18:00 T_16 FOOD: Urban food systems, food infrastructures, and informal Economies

Convener: Alessandra Manganelli (HafenCity Universität Hamburg)

16:35 Diversity & sustainability: Urban food sharing initiatives as care infrastructures for a just transition

Whilst cities increasingly develop urban food policies to promote sustainable food systems, the role of local food-sharing landscapes remains underexplored, particularly in understanding how diverse urban populations engage in food-sharing activities.
In response, this paper examines local food-sharing initiatives (FSIs) as key actors in engaging diverse communities. By analysing FSIs’ roles in both redistributing food and reshaping relationships with marginalised groups, the study explores how these initiatives address food needs outside formal welfare systems and contribute to a just food transition.
Framing FSIs as care infrastructure, the paper investigates how their location, form, and function explicitly respond to the needs of various groups in Milan, including individuals with disabilities, ex-prisoners, women, children, young people, people experiencing homelessness, refugees, migrants, ethnic minorities, older people, and those facing poverty and social disadvantage. Using mapped data that geolocates and categorises FSIs with a digital presence in Milan—alongside policy analysis, small-area statistics, and a detailed examination of FSI online profiles—the paper presents an urban-scale perspective on the FSI landscape and the communities it engages.
The findings reveal that FSIs in Milan operate across a range of activities, including redistribution, growing, eating, and cooking, supporting diverse communities. Importantly, FSIs go beyond merely addressing food insecurity; they seek to foster solidarity and cultivate convivial, equitable relationships with the communities they serve, acknowledging their distinct needs and knowledge. In doing so, FSIs lay the foundation for more inclusive and sustainable food communities.
This study highlights the need for greater recognition of FSIs and the inclusion of diverse groups as essential components of the urban food ecosystem. By integrating FSIs into urban food policies, researchers, planners, and policymakers can better address immediate food needs whilst advancing broader goals of social inclusion and sustainable urban transitions.

Speaker: Dr Hyunji Cho (Trinity College Dublin)

16:45 Exploring the Impact of Built Environment on Community Food Delivery Environment: A Case Study of Hangzhou, China

The ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌food environment is a critical determinant of residents' nutrition and health. With the changing lifestyles and the rapid development of food delivery services in China, the food environment has expanded beyond traditional in-person dining and home cooking, necessitating a redefinition to include online dimensions for a more comprehensive evaluation and improvement of residents' dietary behaviors. This shift has become even more significant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the reliance on food delivery services due to restrictions on mobility, social distancing measures, and changes in consumer behavior. The pandemic underscores the importance of understanding how online food environments influence public health, as they have become a primary source of food access for many urban residents.
From a spatial perspective, the built environment significantly shapes the distribution of food delivery outlets and the logistics of delivery process, further shaping the community's food delivery environment. However, the specific impacts and mechanisms remain to be explored. Understanding the interplay between the built environment and food delivery environments is essential for developing targeted interventions to improve dietary behaviors and public health. This includes addressing challenges such as the uneven distribution of healthy food options, the affordability of nutritious meals, and the quality of food delivered to different neighborhoods. This research aims to provide a framework for evaluating and optimizing online food environments, contributing to more resilient and equitable urban food systems in the post-pandemic era.
Using Hangzhou, China, as a case study, this research employs spatial analysis and clustering methods to evaluate the community food delivery environment across four dimensions: food accessibility, availability, affordability, and quality. The results reveal that the food delivery environment in Hangzhou's central urban area can be categorized into food oases and three problematic types: food deserts, food swamps, and food mirages. Further analysis confirms that problematic food environments are more likely to emerge in areas with higher levels of urbanization and greater land-use diversity, such as vibrant urban zones. Additionally, different facilities and land-use types surrounding communities, as well as street connectivity—such as walkability and the distribution of primary and secondary roads—significantly influence these food environment types. Finally, the study proposes strategies from a spatial planning perspective to improve community food delivery environments.Firstly,‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ in areas with higher levels of urbanization and greater land-use diversity, such as vibrant urban zones, it is crucial to prevent the emergence of problematic food environments. This includes paying attention to the healthiness of food offered by delivery outlets and implementing regulatory measures to avoid excessive price inflation. Secondly, specific attention should be given to the accessibility and availability of food delivery services around leisure and entertainment facilities, the quality of food delivery near tourist attractions, and both the quality and pricing of food delivery in core areas concentrated with commercial, business, educational, and medical resources. Lastly, in transportation planning, reducing the clustering of primary and secondary roads while creating convenient environments for walking and electric vehicle use can help optimize the online food environment.

Speakers: Ms Mengling Jiang (Qsinghua University), Prof. Yan Tang (Qsinghua University)

16:55 Caféscape in Transition: A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Hong Kong’s Emerging Coffee- Manifested Wanghong Geographies

The pervasive influence of social media is fundamentally reshaping the logic of urban space (re)production and (re)consumption. As physical spaces are increasingly mediated through social media platforms, their value and meaning become progressively contingent upon digital dissemination effects, transforming tangible spaces into consumable images and symbols. Within this digital-spatial nexus, cafés have evolved beyond their conventional role as dining establishments, emerging as crucial sites of social interaction and cultural production for Asian urban youth. Driven by platform economy and “check-in” culture, cafés, through their cultivated aesthetic distinction and role as spaces of cultural capital accumulation, have manifested as an emblematic spatial typology of “Wanghong Urbanism.” This phenomenon offers a compelling analytical lens for examine urban space (re)production in the digital age. Through a case study of Hong Kong, this research investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of café landscapes from 2014 to 2024 using POI data, exploring their dialectical relationship with socio-spatial restructuring processes and urban morphological characteristics through GIS analysis. The empirical findings reveal three key patterns: (1) café numbers have shown significant growth over the past decade, with particularly rapid expansion during 2018-2020; (2) spatial distribution patterns identify three typical models of “Wanghong” district development: established high-density zones (exemplified by Central-Wan Chai), rapidly transforming areas (notably the regenerated Kwun Tong industrial district and Sham Shui Po), and emerging clusters around new towns; (3) different types of cafés demonstrate distinct locational preferences—chain brands predominantly cluster in employment-intensive business districts, whilst independent speciality cafés tend to emerge in older neighbourhoods with lower rental costs. These findings not only reveal new logics of urban space (re)production in the social media era but also provide a novel interpretative framework for understanding contemporary urban cultural consumption transformation.

Speaker: Dr Izzy Yi JIAN (Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

17:05 Strengthening Marginalized Urban Food Systems through Circular Development for Urban Regeneration: Insights from Migrant Workers in Chengdu, China

The circular economy is increasingly recognized as an important approach for mitigating resource depletion in cities. In urban planning, Williams’s circular development framework extends this concept beyond economic processes to encompass ecological and social dimensions, highlighting three core processes: resource looping, ecological regeneration, and adaptive action (Williams, 2021). Low-income communities often engage in grassroots circular practices aimed at conserving resources or sustaining their livelihoods, however, these practices are frequently overlooked.

For example, in informal settlements located in the suburban areas of Chengdu, one of the largest cities in Southwest China, a significant number of migrant workers from rural areas have moved to the city in search of job opportunities. Among them, some operate within the informal food system, sustaining their livelihoods through small-scale farming and selling locally produced goods. However, their homes and livelihoods are increasingly threatened by two factors: government-led initiatives to consolidate fragmented farmland for industrial-scale food production and real estate-driven urban village redevelopment projects, which replace affordable housing and informal markets. These pressures underscore the urgent need for alternative development strategies that recognize and preserve the value of grassroots circular actions within local food systems.

To address these research gaps and promote a new model for the regeneration of marginalized areas, this study examines an informal settlement in Yongdu Village, Chengdu. It explores how rural migrants contribute to and participate in the informal food system. It further investigates the opportunities and barriers of adopting circular development approaches in stimulating a new model of urban regeneration by strengthening these grassroots practices.

This study uses a mixed-methods approach. First, field research—including street observations, interviews, and photo documentation—documents various grassroots practices, including composting, recultivating idle farmland, and operating informal street markets. These activities are categorized according to Williams’s framework, and their collaborative dynamics are analyzed. Second, drawing on Research through Design, this research formulated a vision that proposes strengthening these local practices through a circular development plan centered on residents’ needs. This vision explores the potential of circular development for sustainable urban regeneration by recognizing overlooked resources and enhancing the well-being of marginalized communities. Finally, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with urban planners and scholars to identify the barriers in China’s planning system in accommodating such a circular development vision.

Research findings indicate that existing circular actions in urban villages—driven by local labor, indigenous knowledge systems, and underutilized land and space—offer valuable opportunities for initiating circular development. However, the current spatial planning system in Chengdu lacks sufficient planning tools and capacities in areas such as regional circular planning, waste resource recycling, land pollution regulation, and community vulnerability recognition, creating obstacles to improving these local circular initiatives.

Overall, this study contributes to the ongoing discussion regarding the interplay of circular development strategies, sustainable food systems, and the regeneration of informal urban areas. By emphasizing the circular practices of rural migrant workers in localized food systems, our findings highlight how grassroots initiatives could advance socio-ecological justice and enhance food security. Moreover, integrating a circular development perspective into urban regeneration strategies provides novel design approaches to reinforce local food systems and grassroots efforts. Consequently, this study calls for integrating circular development into spatial planning system and emphasizes the need to make use of top-down planning tools while identifying and supporting the bottom-up circular actions of marginalized groups. Such an approach aims to achieve sustainable resource flows and a just transformation of urban food systems.

Speaker: Ms Xinyu Lin (Department of Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology)

16:30 → 18:00 T_17 PUBLIC SPACE (A): Urban ecology, sustainability, resilience

Conveners: Maliheh Hashemi Tilenoi (Sorbonne Université), Melih Birik (Assoc. Prof.)

16:30 Integrating Energy Performance and Public Space Metrics: A Study from the Perspective of Urban Design

With rising temperatures and the accelerating pace of global climate change, a host of environmental challenges have emerged, demanding urgent and innovative solutions. Carbon-neutral urban planning and design have become imperative to mitigate the adverse effects of these challenges. As cities and buildings are major consumers of secondary energy, they play a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Urban morphological elements, as fundamental components of urban design, significantly influence building energy performance, thereby impacting overall carbon emissions.
Previous studies have investigated how urban morphological elements affect building energy consumption across different climate zones, aiming to design low-carbon or even zero-energy urban blocks. However, while pursuing lower energy consumption, the external environment created by certain urban forms is often overlooked. Importantly, under the same floor area ratio (FAR), different urban forms can produce drastically different qualities of external public spaces. These variations in public space quality profoundly affect the experiences of urban users, particularly pedestrians, and have implications for spatial equity. Commonly studied urban morphological indicators—such as density, FAR, and building height—fail to fully capture the spatial characteristics of public spaces shaped by urban design.
Addressing this critical gap, this study adopts an urban design perspective to identify morphological indicators that account for public space quality, based on a review of urban design guidelines and practices. Three key indicators—alignment ratio, effective street length, and street space density—are proposed to better understand the relationship between urban morphology, energy performance, and public space quality. To evaluate these indicators, a comparative study is conducted using a set of urban forms with identical FAR but varying public space configurations. Simulations are performed using Rhino, Grasshopper, and the Ladybug tool suite, under consistent climatic and environmental conditions, to assess the building energy performance of each configuration.
The findings reveal that certain urban morphological typologies can achieve a balance between low energy consumption and high-quality public spaces. By linking energy simulation results with public space metrics, the study identifies design strategies that harmonize these two objectives.
This research emphasizes the importance of performance-driven design in creating low-carbon urban blocks and offers valuable guidance for urban designers aiming to optimize both building energy efficiency and the quality of external urban spaces. By integrating these considerations into early design stages, the study provides a reference framework for achieving more sustainable and equitable urban environments.

Speaker: Mengyue Mei (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University)

16:40 Restorative effect of biophilic design in community green space from the multisensory perspective: A case study of Shanghai Hongxu Habitat Garden

Haoyue Zhu, Jie Yin*

Abstract：
The rapid urbanization process and decreasing opportunities for human-nature interactions have intensified global concerns about mental health. While biophilic design is widely acknowledged for its potential to support psychological restoration, the dominance of vision in human perception often leads to the neglect of other sensory modalities in design, particularly the role of active tactile engagement. Research has gradually demonstrated the interdependence of human senses, highlighting that the effects of multisensory stimuli are not merely additive. To address this gap, we systematically investigate the impact of visual-auditory interactions on restorative environments, emphasizing how the incorporation of tactile stimuli influences restorative outcomes in different types of urban community green spaces, using Shanghai’s Hongxu Habitat Garden as a case study.

We conducted a 35-minute on-site experiment to explore how visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli affect restorative experiences and sensory comfort across diverse urban green spaces. Participants underwent a 10-minute standardized stress-induction task before entering the experimental site for a 7-minute environmental experience, followed by questionnaire completion. Throughout the process, physiological data were continuously monitored using wearable POLAR sensors. The experiment involved five groups: a roadway control group, and groups exposed to visual-auditory and visual-auditory-tactile stimuli in two different green space types (i.e., activity-oriented green spaces and recreation-oriented green spaces). Activity-oriented green spaces were characterized by vibrant colors, low-growing vegetation, water features, and diverse tactile elements like flowers, water, pebbles, wooden stakes, and tree bark. Recreation-oriented green spaces, in contrast, featured tall and dense vegetation, muted tones, a sense of enclosure, and tactile opportunities such as walking on grass, sitting under trees, or hugging them. Both types of green spaces shared a natural soundscape dominated by birdsong, wind, and rustling leaves, with highway noise mitigated by sound barriers. Subjective data were collected through standardized questionnaires (e.g., Perceived Restorativeness Scale [PRS], State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI]), while physiological data were captured using POLAR wearable sensors. A total of 96 valid questionnaires and 87 physiological datasets were analyzed to explore the dynamic restorative effects of community green spaces.

Results demonstrate that recreation-oriented green spaces significantly outperform activity-oriented green spaces in promoting restorative effects, particularly when tactile stimuli are introduced. Tactile interactions notably enhance the dimensions of Being Away and Compatibility—two critical indicators in the PRS—in recreation-oriented green spaces, fostering a sense of mental detachment from daily stressors and alignment with user needs. However, in activity-oriented green spaces, tactile stimuli exhibit mixed effects. The analysis further reveals that tactile stimuli amplify the impact of visual and auditory comfort in recreation-oriented green spaces, creating synergistic effects, while occasionally disrupting auditory comfort in activity-oriented green spaces.

Additionally, personal preferences for natural environments were strongly correlated with improved restorative outcomes. Interestingly, the study identified a nontraditional pathway for managing state anxiety: roadway environments, although less restorative than green spaces, offered unique psychological recovery benefits for certain high-anxiety individuals.

This study emphasizes the critical interplay between multisensory biophilic design and psychological restoration, providing actionable insights for sustainable urban design. By integrating these findings into urban policies and design practices, urban community green spaces can advance transformative actions that foster mental health and well-being.

Speaker: Ms Haoyue Zhu (同济大学)

16:50 Resilient hope: sustaining neighborhood living rooms as everyday activism

Neighborhood living rooms ('buurthuiskamers') are a distinct form of public space in urban neighborhoods in the Netherlands. As social and community spaces of meeting, encounter and connection, they play an important role in maintaining feelings of home and liveability in urban neighborhoods under austerity and neoliberal governance regimes, allowing communities to 'weave new networks of trust and care amid the alienating pressures of the capitalist cityscape' (Huron, 2015). At the same time they represent spaces of hope: existing somewhat beyond the conventions and restrictions of both the market and the state, 'buurthuiskamers' offer participants the opportunity to 'act otherwise' and to enact and embody preferred forms of social relations, governance and priorities. In this way they function as 'everyday utopias' (Cooper, 2014) which demonstrate alternatives to the neoliberal status quo and offer tangible hope for transformed everyday realities.

Based on a year-long ethnographic study in four such neighborhood living rooms, we show how the continued existence of these spaces is made possible by the physical, emotional and administrative labor of dedicated organizers, facilitators and volunteers who work to keep the space open, facilitate social relations, organize activities, produce and reproduce a feeling of home, and fight further cuts, austerity and privatization. What motivates these actors to become involved in this kind of work, and to keep doing it in the face of these challenges and the potential for burnout and despair? This paper draws on embedded fieldwork and interviews with key actors to explore the meanings and motivations of their work, demonstrating how their personal backgrounds and experiences, the pleasures of participation and togetherness, and their desire for and belief in change inform their continued efforts. These accounts illustrate the ways in which 'buurthuiskamers' constitute prefigurative spaces of hope which cultivate and sustain their participants' belief in 'another world in the world' (Moten, 2013), and how this belief in turn allows community actors to sustain these spaces.

Speaker: Mr Louwrens Botha (Eindhoven University of Technology)

17:00 Beyond Anthropocentric Placemaking: Integrating Non-Human Agency in the Participatory Urban Design Processes of Public Space

As urban areas face rising environmental challenges—including biodiversity loss, climate change, and the uneven distribution of resources—there is an increasing need to rethink approaches to designing public spaces that foster inclusion and resilience for both human and non-human communities. Urban environments, shaped largely by human priorities, often overlook the roles that non-human beings and multispecies relationships play in creating vibrant and inclusive public realms. In response, this paper critiques anthropocentric practices in participatory urban design and placemaking, arguing for an expanded framework that accounts for the diverse forms of agency exhibited by different species.
Central to our argument is the introduction of a “Spectrum of Non-Human Agency.” This conceptual framework systematically evaluates how non-human actors shape design interventions at different phases of the design process. While well-established participatory models like Arnstein’s Ladder emphasize different degrees of human involvement and empowerment, they largely omit the possibility that non-human actors might also shape urban landscapes. We propose that recognizing and facilitating these ecological contributions is key to creating more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive public spaces.
Empirically, our study draws on a review of 30 nature-inclusive projects, each intentionally aimed at benefiting non-human communities. These projects range from community gardens designed with pollinators’ habitats in mind to larger-scale interventions of nature-based infrastructure—like bat-friendly bridges—aimed at fostering biodiversity in publicly accessible settings. To explore these initiatives further, we focus on four case studies located in the Netherlands—Four Siblings, Le Roy Garden, Mosaic Mowing, and Lok-tuin— to examine what role non-human actors play within the design process. Our analysis centers on identifying at which phases (e.g., concept development, prototyping, implementation, post-implementation) non-human agency manifests more actively, and how designers can encourage or limit this agency.
Key findings indicate that non-human agency is often overlooked in early ideation phases, where non-human entities are mainly considered as an inspiration for designers or an object of research to passively inform the design process. However, implementation and post-implementation frequently reveal the autonomy of species such as plants and animals, which may alter space conditions in ways that go beyond initial human planning. These shifts can improve ecological functions, enhance biodiversity, and promote inclusive social-ecological interactions. Crucially, our study shows that realizing the potential of non-human agency depends on a designer’s willingness to embrace humility, recognizing that non-human actors have their own capacities and agendas. It also requires creating conditions—such as habitat features, nature-friendly materials, and ongoing stewardship—that actively support ecological processes.
By situating these findings in the context of public space planning for inclusion and transformation, this paper contributes to planning theory and practice in several ways. First, it highlights the transformative potential of non-human agency to strengthen social-ecological resilience, encourage equitable coexistence, and nurture shared hope for more sustainable urban futures. Second, it offers actionable insights for landscape architects, urban planners and designers seeking to involve non-human actors alongside human needs. Finally, it indicates how non-human perspectives can be integrated systematically throughout the design and management of public spaces.

Speaker: Mrs Giulia Gualtieri (Applied Science University Windesheim)

17:10 A Study on the Supply–Demand Relationship of Recreational Services Supported by Ecological Public Spaces: A Case Study of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.

With the rapid advancement of contemporary society, urban residents are increasingly demanding a better quality of life. Recreational services offered by ecological public spaces play an essential role in enhancing collective human well-being. However, given the rapid economic growth, rising levels of urbanization, and swift population expansion, the imbalance between the demand and supply of these recreational services has become increasingly evident. Significant disparities have emerged in the quality of recreational services accessible to residents in different locations, giving rise to certain inequalities that run counter to our pursuit of social equity. Moreover, there is a notable dearth of research on the supply–demand relationship of recreational services, and studies focusing on changes in this relationship across various urban administrative districts are virtually absent. To address these issues and achieve social inclusivity and balance in ecological public spaces, this study conducts an in-depth examination of the supply–demand relationship of recreational services. Such an investigation holds significant theoretical and practical value for rationally planning and managing ecological land within a given region, promoting social equity in recreational services, and advancing ecological civilization.
Taking Nanjing, Jiangsu Province (China), as the study area, this research integrates 30-meter land use raster data with spatial population data and adopts a 1 km × 1 km grid structure as the primary standard of analysis. Five distinct modes of travel—walking, bicycling, electric cycling, public transit, and driving—are thoroughly investigated. In this process, three service radii of 2 km, 5 km, and 10 km are selected for evaluating the accessibility of ecological land. It is assumed that ecological land within the specified radius of a particular grid cell can provide various recreation and entertainment opportunities to local residents. Meanwhile, residents of that grid cell are also entitled to make use of the entire ecological land area within that radius, thereby allowing the quantification of the supply of recreational services. A per capita ecological land standard of 60 m²/person is set as a measure of demand, and then these two metrics are combined by employing the supply–demand ratio (R) to quantify the balance between the supply of and demand for recreational services. Furthermore, spatial distribution characteristics of the supply–demand relationship in each administrative district of Nanjing are examined across different service radii.
The results indicate that: (1) In 2020, the supply–demand relationship of recreational services in Nanjing exhibited distinct spatial distribution characteristics, with a pronounced mismatch between areas of high demand and high supply. (2) As the service radius in Nanjing increased from 2 km to 10 km, a significant improvement in the overall supply–demand relationship was observed. This improvement is primarily reflected in a decreasing extent of deficit areas and a continuous decline in the population whose recreational needs remain unmet. (3) In light of the variations in the supply–demand relationships in different administrative districts across multiple service radii, four types of areas were identified: local-satisfaction, medium-range satisfaction, long-range satisfaction, and unsatisfied. Furthermore, for each of these four categories of regions characterized by distinct recreational service supply–demand relationships, targeted planning recommendations were proposed to enhance equity in ecological public spaces.
In the context of growing emphasis on fairness and justice in public spaces, this study proposes the judicious planning of ecological public spaces and the enhancement of decentralized management of regional ecological land. Meanwhile, it is crucial to strengthen ecological compensation and economic cooperation among various administrative regions to achieve a balanced supply–demand relationship for recreational services within ecological spaces, uphold fairness and inclusivity in ecological public spaces, and embody the principles of sustainable development.

Speaker: Mr Shengbin Jiang (Southeast University)

17:20 The Potential of Informal Farms on Urban Wastelands: Pathways to Eco-social Justice in Xi’an, China

Urban wastelands, as abandoned, underutilized, or functionally ambiguous lands, are often regarded as "spatial fragments" or "marginal spaces" in urban development, typically lacking clear functional designation purposes (Gandy, 2013). In the Chinese context, informal farms are generally part of urban wastelands created by urban villages or other communities using minimal materials and basic construction methods. The emergence of such informal farms is entirely spontaneous, driven by the self-organized actions of surrounding communities. However, informal farms often lack legal land use rights and remain excluded from formal urban planning frameworks. These place informal farms in a "gray zone", with their existence largely contingent on local governmental tolerance and enforcement discretion. Nevertheless, these spaces maintain significant eco-cultural, and social value, contributing to efforts to reduce carbon footprints, tackle food security challenges, and empower marginalized groups, which were understudied (Wang, 2024).
The study examines the social and environmental justice value of informal farms in urban wastelands in Xi'an, northwest China. Research methods use field observations, in-depth interviews, and textual analysis to investigate informal farm practices in these urban wastelands. The study further explores the significance of incorporating such practices into urban planning frameworks, emphasizing their potential to become an integral component of urban ecological and cultural services.
Four key findings are revealed in this study. Firstly, informal farms significantly enhance food security by providing safe and reliable food sources for urban low-income and marginalized groups, reducing their dependence on expensive organic markets. Moreover, to strengthen community cohesion, informal farms foster collaboration and interaction among neighbors through shared labor, resources, and spaces, improving social relationships. Community participation in farmland management further enhances residents' sense of belonging and responsibility toward their community, promoting overall community cohesion. Additionally, in terms of community empowerment, the cultivation process not only increases residents' control over public spaces but also reflects respect for the participation rights and voices of marginalized groups in urban governance. Finally, regarding environmental equity, the transformation and reutilization of urban wastelands mitigate the uneven distribution of green space to some extent, especially in low-income communities, which improves the overall accessibility of urban green spaces, contributing to a more equitable distribution of environmental resources. Informal farms, as a form of spontaneous participation, represent community residents' response to urbanization, serving as a platform to express their needs. These contested spaces require inclusive engagement to safeguard residents' rights to the city and prevent marginalization from exacerbating inequalities (Nikšič, 2017).
This study fills the research gap for informal farms on urban wastelands in northwest Chinese cities, emphasizing that community-driven informal farms represent a crucial pathway to achieving spatial justice, environmental equity, and social sustainability. It offers policy development and urban planners a more sustainable and equitable perspective. Future research should further explore how policy tools and community engagement mechanisms could transform informal farms from temporary and fragile into long-term social and ecological benefits.

Speaker: Ms linxin chai (China Railway First Survey&Design Institute Group Co., LTD.)

17:30 Optimization and simulation verification of urban open space pattern under the impact of urban heat island

Open spaces in cities, serving as vital carriers of blue-green infrastructure and urban wind corridors, are crucial for mitigating urban heat island effect (UHI). This study aims to further investigate the complex relationship between open space morphology and UHI, propose corresponding optimization strategies, and validate them through simulation.
Taking Xishan District in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province as the study area, the study classifies open spaces into seven categories by using Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) method and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. The study uses Python and machine learning algorithms to explore the linear and non-linear correlations between various open space patterns and UHI, elucidating their roles in urban microclimate regulation. The study selects 9 typical area samples in the district and optimizes their open space patterns. This includes increasing green space areas, adjusting the morphology of open spaces and increase the connectivity of green space and water bodies. The urban climate environment before and after optimization is simulated by CFD tools. This simulation verifies the effectiveness of the optimization measures in UHI mitigation.
The results indicate that increasing Cores and Bridges in open spaces positively impacts the mitigation of UHI, while Islets in open spaces exacerbate it. The findings are confirmed through simulations in the four sample areas. Increasing the area of open space, reducing point-like open space and enhancing continuity of green belts can effectively reduce urban surface temperature and improve urban microclimate conditions.
In conclusion, this study explored the relationship between urban open space morphology and UHI through spatial data analysis and simulations. This can provide empirical evidence and practical solutions for urban planning and design, contributing significantly to enhancing urban resilience and addressing climate change challenges.

Speaker: Ms Hanxun Fu (Southeast University)

16:30 → 18:00 T_02 PLANNING AND LAW: Urban Regeneration Regulatory Frameworks

Convener: Sevkiye Sence TURK

16:30 Study on the current status and issues of urban regeneration development in Yokohama City

It has been about 20 years since the Urban Renewal Special Measures Act came into force in June 2002. Under this Urban Renewal Special Measures Act, Urban Renewal Special Districts are a planning consultation-type deregulation method that allows deregulation of floor area ratios, etc., in urban development projects within urban regeneration emergency development areas, depending on the contribution to urban regeneration proposed by the business operator. This is very different from pre-determined deregulation methods such as specific blocks and comprehensive designs, in which the relaxation of floor area ratios, etc. is clearly stated depending on the quantitative level of contributions in specific fields (public space, pedestrian-only roads, disaster prevention, environment, scenery, use, etc.).

At first glance, the Urban Renewal Special Measures Act seems very good and is a reason to improve the economy, but the problem is how the incentives given to Urban Renewal Special Districts, that is, the balance between the relaxation of floor area ratios and the public contribution plans, are balanced. The current Urban Renewal Special Measures Act does not provide detailed provisions on the scope of public contributions or the number of achievements, so businesses can easily obtain incentives by simply bearing the public burden as is. The public contributions required of Urban Renewal Special Districts include not only space but also buildings and environments that have a positive impact on the environment. This public contribution also becomes problematic if there are no detailed regulations on what materials are used and what environmental impact is required to obtain the incentive. Recently, the construction of hotels, MICE, meetings for companies, incentive travel for companies, international conferences for international organizations, associations, academic societies, exhibitions, trade fairs, and events can receive incentives as public contributions in the Urban Renewal Special District. It is very easy for business proponents, and they can get incentives for floor area ratio relaxation just by building a conference room or exhibition room on a few floors of an existing building. Although the current regulations do not specify in detail, the most important thing is the evaluation, decision-making power, review, and supervision of the project from the city to the central government on what kind of public contribution will be built and whether it is worth building.

This study is in Yokohama City, and since 2002, it has been collecting and organizing planning data on public contributions (public spaces, pedestrian-only roads, disaster prevention, environment, scenery, use, etc.) and floor area relaxation from businesses and the government. Collect and organize data not only from within the specific urban regeneration emergency development areas but also from the surrounding areas. Display urban spatial data using GIS. Conduct literature research on the process from planning to deciding on each project, and organize the council, environmental impact assessment, and urban beauty measures council. Conduct a hearing survey of Yokohama City, the stakeholders most involved in the process, and organize the data.

Speaker: Mr MUHAMMAD AINUN FIKRI (Ph.D. Student, Graduate School of Urban Social and Cultural Studies, Yokohama City University)

16:40 How and why do municipalities regulate urban environments: Comparison across Europe

The rapid growth and increasing complexity of European cities underscore the critical need for spatial planning to ensure sustainable urban environments. Within spatial planning, local land-use planning is translating strategic goals into legally binding regulations. Making up a big part of land ownership and development law, local-level regulations directly shape cities by controlling their physical components, such as buildings and open/green spaces, and allocating land for different activities and uses, e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc. However, land-use regulations used across European cities are highly diverse as municipalities have a lot of freedom in designing regulations to address their local needs. Moreover, the development of regulations is often a practice-led process and not theory-driven. Thus, our understanding of how and why urban environments are regulated on the local level remains poor as we lack systematic analysis and comparative research.

So far, comparisons of spatial planning across Europe (Berisha et al., 2021; Knieling and Othengrafen, 2009; Newman and Thornley, 1996) have predominantly focused on legal-administrative frameworks but largely neglected local land-use regulations. An exception is the COMPASS project (Nadin et al., 2024) which looked at the diversity of local planning instruments, such as local plans, in 32 European countries. The project identified 251 types of instruments and categorised them according to the envisioned functions into four categories. 76% of all “local spatial planning” instruments fell into one category, which indicates the need for a more detailed approach. Moreover, the project did not analyse the individual regulations that comprise these instruments, such as regulations limiting building height or protecting urban trees. A focus on regulations is promising since regulations are the law-based building blocks of any planning system and, thus, essential for understanding the differences and commonalities in how and why municipalities and countries plan and regulate urban environments. Thus, we seek to develop a European overview of spatial planning based on regulation-level detail and the regulatory profiles of countries.

We analyse how local land-use regulations are prioritised in the planning and permission-granting process and the extent to which they pursue efficiency and equity objectives. Efficiency and equity are two primary objectives of planning (Vejchodská et al., 2022) where efficiency stands for the most effective use of resources aimed at supporting economic growth and social well-being, and equity refers to a fair distribution of resources aimed at addressing disparities and inequities. The data is collected with an online survey of planning professionals and academics across 31 European countries. In order to develop country profiles, we classify regulations into three main categories – those regulating buildings, open/green spaces, and those determining the use of land. Within these, we examine subcategories, e.g. subcategories of building regulations include those controlling height, volume, density, etc., to understand planning priorities and objectives. Together, results on subcategories create unique regulatory profiles of countries which are then analysed and compared.

We found that certain regulations are common throughout Europe and that others are more context-specific. Some are efficiency or equity-driven, while many are pursuing both goals. Preliminary results show that it is possible to develop regulatory profiles for individual countries, though there is considerable overlap. The discovered groups of common country regulatory profiles add to the aforementioned comparative research on European planning by providing new insights into the relationship between legal-administrative frameworks of planning systems and the nature of their local regulatory practices. Thus, the findings of this study will contribute to comparative research on European land-use regulations.

Speaker: Mr Daniels Saakjans (Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL; ETH Zürich)

16:50 EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF SHORT-TERM RENTAL REGULATIONS: THE INS AND OUTS OF ISTANBUL

The short-term rental (STR) market has undergone substantial expansion in recent decades. This expansion has been particularly marked in the case of Airbnb, which has led to a proliferation of complexities and challenges, impacting a diverse range of stakeholders, including local residents, the hotel and hospitality industry, operators of STRs, and governmental authorities. While this development has facilitated experiences that are more personalised, localised and authentic, aligning with the romantic vision of the sharing economy and evolving consumer preferences, it has concomitantly given rise to socio-economic and regulatory issues that require urgent monitoring and resolution. These socio-economic and regulatory issues include gentrification, commodification and the reduction in the affordability of housing, as well as the disturbance of local residents and their daily lives. This rising awareness of the potential adverse implications has led to the introduction of new governmental legislations. Nevertheless, the efficacy of these measures remains a subject of debate. A particular difficulty for governments and policymakers is the challenge of implementing regulation on a global level at the local level. While the rationale for regulation may be similar, the regulatory approach varies depending on contextual factors such as the local political context, housing markets and the perceived impact of STRs. The majority of extant research has not, however, addressed these subtle contextual factors in a nuanced manner. As a consequence, a number of significant mechanisms and dynamic forces that determine regulatory pathways have been overlooked. This paper seeks to address this gap by focusing on the Istanbul case.

In Turkey, the central government enacted STR regulation legislation, commonly referred to as the "Airbnb Law," in October 2023. This legislation, formally designated as Law 7464, is entitled "Law on the Rental of Residential Properties for the Purpose of Tourism and the Amendments of Certain Laws." The study will demonstrate that, while the government has succeeded in curbing the growth of the city's STR market to a certain extent through a decline in Airbnb rental listings, the increase in daily rates for Airbnb properties represents an undesirable consequence. This may lead to increased interest from the market as a result of the growth in the rent gap. It is further posited that the growth in the number of multi-hosts and the emergence of new actors in the form of companies that provide intermediary services are indicative of the ongoing professionalisation of the host structure. This transformation is believed to present a potential risk of increased real estate value and profitability. Furthermore, the privileges and flexibility permitted by legislation to certain types of buildings may give rise to conflicts with the public interest, and may also prompt commercial actors to utilise it as a marketing strategy for prospective housing and investment in STRs. While the regulatory framework for STRs in Istanbul remains in its embryonic stages, these issues give rise to the question of the extent to which the regulations are possible, effective, and, most crucially, to whom they serve the greatest interest

Speakers: Ms Basak OZEN, Dr Dicle KIZILDERE

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-AIRBNB.pptx

17:00 A Policy Approach to the Use of Retrofitting in the Turkish Planning System

Due to its geographical location, Turkey has been and will continue to be exposed to major earthquakes at different times. This situation requires new buildings to be constructed with the performance to meet the earthquake risk on the one hand, and on the other hand, it requires the existing building stock to be made earthquake resistant. For second situation, two important policies in different countries come to the fore. The first one is the retrofitting of existing buildings in terms of earthquake preparedness, while the second one is earthquake-oriented urban renewal, which envisages the demolition and reconstruction of existing buildings. However, instead of integrating these two policies, governments mostly favour the latter. The main motivation behind such a preference is the pressure of the real estate market, the expectation of high earnings in a short time, and the recognition that construction-led growth increases GDP and employment.
A similar approach has been adopted in Turkey. As a matter of fact, after the 1999 Marmara Earthquake, earthquake-focused urban renewal approach was adopted in order to strengthen the existing building stock and the main justification was determined as earthquake in different urban renewal laws enacted since 2004. Especially in the ‘Law on the Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk’, which entered into force in 2012, although the use of urban renewal at both single parcel (building) scale and spatial scale is introduced, urban renewal at single parcel (building) scale is mostly used. However, the idea of applying only urban renewal to all existing building stock in order to improve the building stock in Turkish cities against earthquake risk is not realistic in terms of both financial resources and ensuring improvement in a short time.
While it is stated that the transformation of 2 million 200 thousand independent units across the country has been completed since 2012 when the Law No. 6306 entered into force, it is emphasised that only one fourth of the independent units that need to be transformed have been transformed in the 11 years in question. However, it is stated that approximately 6 million dwellings are under risk throughout the country and 2 million independent units need to be transformed urgently. Such a picture indicates that the other option, retrofitting, should also be used as a tool. However, neither the international literature nor the national literature sufficiently emphasises the use of ‘retrofitting’ as an option, and it also shows that governments and landowners have a negative bias towards retrofitting. On the other hand, the importance of a mixed approach where different policies can be used together instead of a policy dependent on only one tool in earthquake risk reduction has not been discussed. Is it possible to use ‘retrofitting’ and ‘urban renewal’ in earthquake risk reduction not as alternatives but as complementary policy approaches? While there are several studies on the use and management of ‘retrofitting’ in earthquake risk reduction, there are no studies that focus on the dilemma of ‘retrofitting’ and ‘urban renewal’ or how these two tools can be used in an integrated manner in earthquake risk reduction.
This paper analyses the dilemma of ‘Retrofitting’ and ‘Urban Renewal’ for earthquake preparedness with its legal dimensions and discusses the question of how the two policies can be integrated on the case of Turkey. Focusing on literature review as a methodology, the paper analyses the practices and results of retrofitting existing buildings for earthquake preparedness after 2000. The findings of the study can contribute to policy approaches in earthquake-prone countries with problematic existing building stocks by analysing the dilemma of ‘retrofitting’ and ‘urban renewal’ in a comparative and holistic manner.

Speaker: Prof. Sevkiye Sence TURK

17:10 NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY: THE ROLE OF PLANNING IN ISTANBUL’S BAGCILAR INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT

Turkey operates under a regulatory planning system; however, zoning plans allow for significant flexibility through plan notes. This flexibility often leaves urban development and transformation at the mercy of market dynamics. As a result, plans fall short of providing a clear vision for cities and fail to ensure sustainable urban development.
This study aims to explore how zoning plans struggle to guide urban development, using Istanbul's Bagcilar district as a case study. Bagcilar is a significant industrial district where rapid industrialization occurred during the 1970s. Since the 2000s, however, policies of industrial decentralization have been implemented. Consequently, while industrial activities have been relocated in certain areas of the district, they persist in others. The coexistence of industrial and other functions is largely facilitated by plan notes, which enable a wide variety of uses. For instance, in areas designated as Central Business Districts (CBDs) or Prestige Axes, zoning plans permit a mix of offices, hotels, residences, and even manufacturing. This uncertainty is evident as approximately 22% of areas planned as CBDs or Prestige Axes still accommodate manufacturing, while industrial activity is permitted in 45% of designated zones. Furthermore, research conducted in 2022 revealed that 75% of manufacturing firms prefer to remain in the area.
This study focuses on how zoning plans, while assigning specific functions to an area, create ambiguity through the variety of uses allowed by plan notes. This raises the question: How can such planning decisions result in diverse and divergent urban development and transformation? To address this, the study highlights how zoning plans in Bagcilar enable diverse—and sometimes contradictory—development scenarios. The development of these scenarios was supported by field studies conducted in the district between November 2022 and December 2023. These efforts included site surveys, in-depth interviews, sectoral workshops, and a detailed examination of planning processes. Based on the findings, three potential development scenarios were identified:
i) Manufacturing and Housing-Oriented Transformation
ii) R&D and Design based Manufacturing-Oriented Transformation
iii) Housing-Oriented Transformation
Each scenario presents distinct implications for the population, employment opportunities, housing demand, socio-economic structure, and the social and technical infrastructure requirements of the district. However, there is no mechanism to assess which scenario aligns best with sustainable development goals or to implement measures toward that objective.
The study argues that zoning plans prepared under the regulatory planning system fail to effectively guide urban development due to the uncertainty created by plan notes. It also underscores the need for regulatory adjustments in planning systems to achieve sustainable urban growth.

Speakers: Dr G. Pelin Olcay (Istanbul Kent University, Faculty of Art and Design, Department of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture), Dr Sezen Tarakçı (Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning)

16:30 → 18:00 T_03 MOBILITY (A): Walkability

Convener: Ela Babalik (Middle Eastern Technical University)

16:30 The walkability potential matrix – a new method for measuring walkability potentials in town and city centres

The object of this present study is to reveal the spatial configuration of 55 Norwegian towns and cities related to degree of walkability potentials. The aim is to investigate to what extent the street or road profile affect the walkability potentials in the town centres based on the distribution of roads in comparison of streets based on street names. The reason as to why we focus on the town centres, is that they tend to have the largest walkability potentials. For this, we used the last part of the street or road names to identifying whether it is a balanced street or a road encouraging car use. Likewise, we counted the number of X and T junctions in the town centre. Correlations between T and X junctions were made, and correlations between road and streets were made for the town centre of all 55 Norwegian towns and cities.

The results show that the higher number of X-junctions in correlation with T-junctions, the shorter urban blocks, implying higher degree of walkability potentials in the town centres. Likewise, the higher numbers of streets in correlation with roads in a town centre, the higher degree of facilitation of pedestrian friendly pathways. Three different clusters are identified in the statistical analyses, in which comply with the reputations the various town and city centres have regards walking attractiveness or private car dependency. The higher number of X-junctions in correlation with T-junctions, the more integrated the town centre is on a local as well as global scale. Likewise, the higher number of streets in correlation with roads, the more integrated the town centre is. Finally, the more the town or city centres have an orthogonal grid structure consisting of streets, the higher integration and thus higher walkability potentials.

The method is a first step to have some operational tools to measure degrees of walkability potentials in town and city centres.

Speaker: Prof. Akkelies van Nes (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences)

16:40 Planning that contributes to more utilitarian walking: The context of a Norwegian 'small city'

The WALKMORE project addresses a critical aspect of planning and developing efficient and sustainable transport systems for the future: encouraging more walking. This is examined within the context of small Norwegian cities from both planning and user perspectives, through three main research activities (WPs):
1. Examining planning processes that shape the built environment.
2. Investigating the effects of built environments on walking behaviors and pedestrian perspectives.
3. Conducting pilot projects, using a tactical urbanism approach, to explore small-scale changes to built environments at the street level that may influence walking behaviors and enhance the attractiveness of walking.

To our knowledge, this is one of the first large-scale projects in Norway specifically addressing land use and transport planning for walking, particularly in the context of small cities. Walkability is closely tied to geographical and contextual factors, including the size of a city. In small Norwegian cities, typically with populations of 10,000–15,000, short distances offer significant potential for walking. However, the private car remains the dominant mode of transport.

We adopt a multidisciplinary, mixed-methods approach, executed through case studies in Narvik, Steinkjer, and Kongsvinger. This paper synthesizes results and experiences from the three main research activities of the project. It analyzes and discusses the implications of these findings for future urban development, land use, and transport planning.

A central question to be addressed is: How should land use and transport systems, from the city to the street level, be planned and developed—considering both processes and projects—to ensure high levels of walkability and encourage more walking?

Speaker: Prof. Harpa Stefansdottir (Agricultural University of Iceland)

16:50 Shaping Pedestrian Mobility: Exploring Urban and Spatial Features of Cendere Valley, Kagithane

Livable cities, responding the needs of their citizens, should encourage social interaction, and consider environmental sustainability. In this context, walkability plays a critical role in the design of livable cities. While walkability refers to the physical, social and environmental features that enable pedestrian mobility and increase accessibility in cities, urban design includes spatial organization and planning processes to ensure walkability. Many studies on walkability divide the basic parameters affecting walkability into two as the physical characteristics of the urban space (1) and the way it is perceived by individuals (2) (Alfonzo, 2005; Ewing and R., Handy, 2009). Then the literature address the spatial characteristics of urban design, while investigating the individuals' perceptions and walking behavior (Ewing and Handy (2009). In the literature, studies measuring, mapping or correlating walkability generally use the survey method to measure user perception and the index method to measure spatial characteristics (Fan et al., 2018; Ruiz-Padillo et al., 2018).

In Turkey, pedestrian mobility, in literature has mostly been addressed from the perspective of public space and accessibility (Ercan and Belge, 2017). Analyses of pedestrian GPS data and index values for various walkability criteria in literature focus on the examination of pedestrian mobility and spatial characteristics in Istanbul's urban macroform. Next to studies on perception and the physical characteristics of urban space, there are limited studies comparing these studies on the basis of index values based on certain standards. This study aims to quantitatively reveal pedestrian movements in urban open spaces through the physical characteristics of the urban space. The primary research question of this study is: How do the urban and spatial characteristics of open spaces shape pedestrian mobility? This question will be explored in the context of Cendere Valley, Kağıthane, where a walking path and open space arrangement have been implemented in an urban park scale. In this study, a holistic methodological approach is adopted to combine spatial and behavioral dimensions and to analyze the level of walkability, along the Kagithane stream axis of Istanbul as the study area. Since there are different urban uses and transportation connections that affect the level of walkability in this axis, we basically examined the case area in three sub-zones to distinguish both spatial features and walkability measures.

The data to be used in the study were obtained from pedestrian counts in the site observations and published metrics, officially published by local authorities. The variables related to the spatial characteristics of the urban open space based on the quantitative metrics are obtained from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s open geodata portal. As fundamental findings of the study, spatial analysis is an important tool for understanding the effects of the spatial characteristics of urban open spaces on pedestrian mobility. The pedestrian density data obtained allowed the analysis of the behavior of individuals at different time periods and revealed how these behaviors are associated with spatial characteristics. By addressing the interactions between urban form and pedestrian mobility in a holistic manner, this study makes important contributions to the development of strategies to increase walkability in urban design processes.

Speaker: İlayda Kılıç Özokcu

17:00 Exploring Pedestrian Comfort and Urban Mobility: A Multi-Modal Assessment of Walking Experiences at Popular Restaurant Destinations in Shanghai

Pedestrian comfort and mobility are crucial considerations in urban planning, particularly in densely populated megacities like Shanghai, where commercial districts serve as key hubs for pedestrian traffic. While existing research on walkability primarily focuses on broad urban metrics such as land use and pedestrian infrastructure, there is a noticeable gap in understanding how specific factors—such as pathway conditions, traffic flows, and environmental elements—affect pedestrian experiences in areas with high footfall. This study addresses this gap by examining pedestrian comfort and urban mobility in Shanghai’s inner-ring commercial areas, specifically focusing on popular restaurant destinations, which attract significant pedestrian travel.
The research utilizes navigation data from Gaode Map to identify popular restaurant destinations within Shanghai’s inner core, based on real-time popularity scores and number of navigation arrivals. Restaurants directly accessible from urban and community roads are selected for further analysis. The study then maps the transportation nodes within a 5-minute walking radius of each destination, categorizing them into four spatial access patterns: pedestrian, cycling, public transit, and vehicular. Empirical field observations are conducted to track actual travel behaviors, including the modes of transit and pedestrian arrival patterns.
A comprehensive pedestrian comfort audit is carried out, focusing on three key factors: walking characteristics (speed, stride, and flow), traffic conditions (pedestrian-vehicle separation and congestion), and pathway quality (surface evenness, cleanliness, and overall maintenance). Additionally, the study integrates user-generated content from social media platforms Xiaohongshu, using sentiment analysis to assess public satisfaction with the walking experience. This dual approach—combining spatial audits with social media sentiment—offers a holistic view of the pedestrian experience at these popular restaurant destinations.
Preliminary findings highlight significant variations in pedestrian comfort across different transport nodes and pathways. Pathways connected to public transit and vehicular routes often face higher congestion, resulting in less comfortable walking conditions, particularly at busy intersections, overpasses, and congested corners. In contrast, destinations with dedicated pedestrian pathways and well-maintained surfaces provide more comfortable walking experiences. Environmental factors such as shading, cleanliness, and the presence of signage are also identified as important contributors to pedstrian comfort.
The findings of this study offer valuable insights for urban mobility and pedestrian-focused design. Recommendations for improving pedestrian comfort include enhanced pedestrian-vehicle separation and traffic spaces with barriers, better maintenance of walking surfaces, and the integration of urban design elements. This research presents an innovative approach to understanding pedestrian mobility by combining real-time navigation data, spatial audits, and sentiment analysis, providing actionable insights for urban planners and policymakers. Furthermore, the methodology offers potential for broader applications on creating pedestrian-friendly environments in dense urban areas like Shanghai, fostering comparative studies on pedestrian comfort and urban mobility globally.

Speaker: Ms Yutong Ma (College of Architecture and Urban Planning,Tongji University)

17:10 Urban Canopy and Walking Behaviour

Urban green spaces significantly influence walking behaviour, offering both physical and mental health benefits. However, existing research often relies on static, residence-based measures of green exposure, overlooking the dynamic nature of individuals’ daily mobility patterns. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between green space exposure and walking behaviour, with a focus on capturing dynamic exposure using a case study in Granada, Spain. Granada’s compact, historical urban form, characterized by narrow streets and limited large green areas, provides a unique context for exploring how distributed greenery affects mobility. Using GPS tracking and NDVI data, we analysed the movements and green exposure during 480 participated days. Results reveal notable discrepancies between residential and route-based green exposure, with residents of less vegetated neighbourhoods often encountering higher levels of greenery during their walking trips. Temporal analysis indicates greater exposure to green spaces on weekends, associated with leisure activities, while gender-specific patterns highlight differences in exposure types and routes.

Speaker: Dr Laia Mojica (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

17:20 Research on Urban Slow Traffic Network Construction Based on the "Patch-Corridor-Matrix" Model

With the intensification of global climate change and energy crises, green and low-carbon development has become a core objective of urban planning. As a critical component of urban green transportation systems, slow traffic networks can not only reduce carbon emissions but also enhance residents' quality of life and travel experience.

The spatial structure of all landscapes is composed of three fundamental elements: patches, corridors, and matrices, known as the "Patch-Corridor-Matrix" model. Ecological networks use various corridors to organically connect landscape patches, forming a continuous spatial structure that emphasizes the structural and functional relationships between patches, corridors, and matrices. Similarly, an urban slow traffic network organizes public space resources through slow traffic pathways and integrates public service facilities into a network system of areas, lines, and nodes, demonstrating a comparable spatial organizational logic to ecological networks.

Currently, urban slow traffic networks face issues such as lack of systematic organization, poor continuity, insufficient consideration of ecological values, and single functionality, etc. This study takes the central urban area of Shanghai as the research object. Inspired by the network model and construction methods of landscape ecology, it selects multidimensional resistance indicators for slow traffic. By calculating the optimal experiential slow traffic corridors, the study constructs a systematic urban slow traffic network from the perspectives of areas, lines, and nodes, ensuring traffic efficiency while addressing the issue of single functionality.

(1) Areas: Identification of Slow Traffic Patches
Using Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA), the study scientifically identifies and classifies natural resources (e.g., green parks, water bodies) and cultural resources (e.g., commercial centers, cultural heritage sites, public spaces). Key patches, such as core areas and edge zones, are extracted to provide foundational nodes for the slow traffic network.

(2) Lines: Construction of Slow Traffic Corridors
Located on the East China Plain, Shanghai's natural resistance to walking and cycling is relatively low, making the built environment the primary influence on slow traffic resistance. Based on domestic and international studies on walkability, this research selects slow traffic indicators from five dimensions: greenery, health, vitality, equity, and safety. A slow traffic resistance index is developed, with indicator weights determined using the entropy method.
The Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model is employed to construct a resistance surface for Shanghai’s slow traffic network, identifying corridors with the lowest cumulative resistance. These corridors represent streets with potential for ecological prioritization, spatial comfort, vitality, accessibility, and safety.

(3) Nodes: Design of Slow Traffic Stepping Stones
Inspired by commonly used landscape ecology indices, including the alpha index (network closure index), beta index (node connectivity), and gamma index (network connectivity), this study calculates the cyclic and connective relationships between nodes and corridors based on spatial topology. Slow traffic stepping stones are designed in areas with low network connectivity.
In ecology, stepping stones serve as intermediate stations for species migration. Similarly, slow traffic stepping stones are designed as small public spaces or service facilities that provide rest areas and enhance connectivity between large patches. This increases activity frequency for residents traveling between slow traffic patches.

This study innovatively incorporates ecological theory into the construction of urban slow traffic systems. By integrating natural and cultural patches with scientifically designed corridors, it addresses the lack of systematic planning in current slow traffic corridor development. Furthermore, it expands the scope of slow traffic systems from a single transportation function to include multiple dimensions such as ecological services, cultural exchange, equity, and inclusivity, etc. The research provides both practical examples and theoretical support for urban green and low-carbon development, offering a reference model for the planning of slow traffic systems in other cities.

Speaker: Mr Yifei Wang (Tongji university)

16:30 → 18:00 T_03 MOBILITY (B): Inclusive and socially just mobility II

Convener: Malachy Buck (Ulster University)

16:30 The social impacts of urban sustainable mobility policies, case study of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood (EBLN)

I am a third-year PhD student at the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, University of the West of England (UWE), currently in the writing-up phase of my research.

This analysis sits at the intersection of mobility justice (Sheller, 2018)- which interrogates who gains or loses mobility privileges- and urban social justice (Marcuse et al., 2009), exposing the processes that exacerbate urban social exclusion under the guise of sustainability.
Using the Capability Approach (CA) (Nussbaum, 2011; Nussbaum and Sen, 1993; Sen, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1993) as a foundational theory, this research links the theoretical debate of the just transition with its empirical application in urban sustainable mobility. Empirically, it frames accessibility as a key capability (Vecchio and Martens, 2021) to look for mobility marginality– the condition of being unable to transform intermediary actions (i.e. transport policies) to individual benefits thus being at the margins of mobility.
As a case study, it examines the social impacts of the East Bristol Liveable Neighborhood (EBLN), an urban mobility scheme aimed at traffic reduction, air quality and driving emissions.
Through the analysis of approx. 85 documents, a Stakeholder Engagement phase and a substantial body of Primary Data generated through a year-long weekly Participant Observation exercise while volunteering at the neighbourhood’s Community Centre and the Thematic Analysis of 30 semi-structured interviews (tot. n= 41) with different actors involved, the research contributes to the understanding of social justice in mitigation policies’ by giving voice to people directly involved and impacted by it, especially socially and economically vulnerable residents. The study creates a narrative of mobility marginality by assessing how the policy impacts different groups of people based on their resources, personal circumstances and consequent accessibility levels defined as the increased/diminished opportunity set available to individuals to achieve their desired functionings.
These findings raise urgent questions relevant to just transition and policymaking, such as the importance of place in decarbonization strategies, the issue of adaptive preferences and mobile commoning as a future sustainable urban transport strategy.

Speaker: Mr sara melasecchi (University of the West of England)

16:40 Urban equity and the spatial distribution of speed limits: “Fast” versus “slow” neighbourhoods?

As evidenced by the popularity of proposals to implement city-wide traffic speed limits (typically 30 km/h or 20 mph), lowering urban speed limits is increasingly acknowledged as a key measure to foster inclusive streets, improve liveability and reduce the environmental impacts of motorised traffic (Yannis and Michelaraki 2024). By diminishing the “radical monopoly” of motorised traffic on urban streets, lowering speed limits may contribute to increase equity between transport modes and social groups (Illich 1974). However, little research has sought to assess street speed limits through the lens of urban equity: existing research on urban speed limits tends to be rather technical and narrowly focused on their effects on traffic accidents and public health (Kravetz and Noland 2012; Cairns et al. 2015; Pilkington et al. 2018), rather than framed within broader conceptual debates related to urban equity and transport justice.

Responding to this research gap, the aim of the present paper is three-fold. Drawing upon existing reflections on the connection between transportation speed and socio-spatial justice (Illich 1974; Graham and Marvin 2001), at a theoretical level I seek to advance the idea that assessing the spatial distribution of street speed limits offers a novel and meaningful measure of urban equity. At a methodological level, I propose a method of extracting street speed limit information from OpenStreetMap data, and explore various indicators of speed limit distribution at a neighbourhood level. At an empirical level, finally, I assess the relationship between street speed limits and selected neighbourhood characteristics in Barcelona. Is the distribution of speed limits equitable between neighbourhoods, and to what extent do differences in speed limits between neighbourhoods reflect broader socio-spatial inequalities? In this respect, the present study seeks to contribute to the emerging body of literature assessing the spatial and social equity dimensions of traffic calming schemes (Aldred et al. 2021; Nello-Deakin 2024).

My analysis relies on publicly available street speed limit data from OpenStreetMap. To analyse and compare the distribution of street speeds limits between neighbourhoods, I extracted, cleaned and summarised speed limit information for all streets in Barcelona using the open software R, which I then used to calculate four proposed aggregate indicators of street speed limits at a neighbourhood level. To assess the extent to which the proposed speed limit indicators are related to key neighbourhood characteristics, I subsequently explored their relationship with selected neighbourhood level variables through bivariate correlation analysis.

My results show that average speed limits vary significantly between neighbourhoods, reflecting the existence of spatial inequities regarding the negative spatial externalities of automobility. Although my analysis shows that neighbourhoods with higher speed limits tend to have higher incomes and motorisation rates, it also draws attention to outlier neighbourhoods which combine high traffic speeds and low motorisation rates. From a distributive justice perspective, I argue that these outlier neighbourhoods can be thought of as being unfairly exposed to high traffic speeds which are mostly attributable to passing car traffic generated beyond the neighbourhood. Finally, I suggest that the proposed speed limit indicators could easily be replicated in other in other cities, enabling cross-city comparisons and facilitating the identification of leading cities in this domain, thereby providing a useful tool for research, advocacy and policy initiatives seeking to reduce urban traffic speed limits.

Speaker: Dr Samuel Nello-Deakin (Autonomous University of Barcelona)

16:50 Measuring inequalities in accessibility: how does destination choice matter?

Measuring inequalities in accessibility is a common subject in transport research. Yet, the question of how the choice of destinations affects the results is seldom asked. The paper addresses this issue by providing an overview of existing literature and comparing accessibility to five categories of destinations typically considered in such analyses: education, jobs, healthcare, retail, and green areas. Four Polish second-tier cities — Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, and Gdańsk — are used as case studies. For each category of destinations, accessibility scores are calculated taking into account three sustainable modes of transport: walking, cycling, and public transport. The scores are then compared to population distributions, and indicators of spatial autocorrelation are used to identify areas of insufficient accessibility. Results suggest that the degree of equity in accessibility distribution varies across categories of destinations. The share of vulnerable residents in low accessibility clusters was higher for retail and green areas than for education, jobs, and healthcare. While the results also vary across the investigated cities, it may be concluded that accessibility was more equitable for some destinations whose distribution relies more on the public sector (i.e., education) than for primarily market-driven destinations (i.e., retail). The proposed method can be useful in identifying areas of socio-economic vulnerability that require improvements in accessibility.

Speaker: Dr Adam Radzimski (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań)

17:00 Reimagining the Safe System: A Case for Equity in Road Safety

Road violence is a global issue, with its devastating impacts felt at the individual, community and national levels. Around the world, road crashes claim over 1.3 million lives annually, causing injuries to millions more with widespread social disruption and massive public health costs. There is a marked inequity in the prevalence of road violence across modes, cohorts and places, disproportionately affecting low and middle income countries as well as children and people walking or riding, especially among old people, a demographic increasing in many parts of the world where populations are stabilising or falling.
Recognising the massive impact of road violence, policymakers around the globe have moved towards the Safe System approach, a holistic strategy aimed at designing transport systems to anticipate and accommodate human error, ensuring that car crashes do not result in severe injury or death. This approach challenges more traditional road safety strategies where some degree of death and injury is seen as an acceptable price to pay for the benefit of car-based mobility. Importantly, the Safe System approach places the emphasis on making the transport system safe for people using it, rather than on how people can use the system more safely.
While the Safe System approach represents a much-needed paradigm shift, it continues to grapple with a number of inherent contradictions, weaknesses and limitations. The varying success rates of Safe System approaches across regions and over time highlight how these challenges manifest differently depending on local contexts and implementation strategies. For instance, while some countries have achieved significant reductions in road trauma over the past two decades, others, like Australia, are confronting growing challenges. In 2023, Australia experienced its deadliest year on the roads since 2016, with First Nations people, young and older individuals and pedestrians disproportionately affected. Despite this, the equity dimension of road safety including within the Safe System approach remains underexplored.
The approach is further hindered by its limited attention to feedback loops and context misfits, which often result in an inability to address the deeply entrenched social, cultural, economic, political and environmental forces that perpetuate the root cause of road trauma: car dependence. These ingrained forces create a self-reinforcing feedback loop that undermines efforts to effectively reduce road trauma. For example, the framing of Safe System approaches often narrows its focus to reducing harm within a car-dependent framework, implicitly endorsing the principle that ‘any amount of vehicle driving is acceptable as long as no one is killed or severely injured.’ This reveals a lack of genuine systems thinking, despite the use of the word "system" in its title. As a result, the systemic issues that drive car dependence remain unchallenged, undermining the potential for transformative change, including the achievement of a safe, healthy, sustainable and equitable transport system.
By providing a comparative examination of the language and methodologies used within the domains of shared responsibility, safer users and safer vehicles, the paper identifies key differences and similarities within the Safe System approach where it has been implemented and explores their implications for its success. Central to this discussion is the consideration of equity, which is vital for ensuring that road safety interventions are attentive to the existing inequalities and their underlying causes across different modes, cohorts and places.
Through a proposal of actionable strategies to improve the Safe System approach, this paper argues that embedding equity into both its methodologies and language is crucial for improving its effectiveness, not only in achieving Vision Zero but also in creating healthier, more equitable and environmentally sustainable transport systems and communities.

Speaker: Hulya Gilbert

17:10 Beyond the Access: Structural Vulnerabilities and Spatial Equity in a Multimodal Public Transport Network

Modern public transport networks (PTNs) are not simply physical conduits for movement; they are vital infrastructures that shape socio-economic opportunities and influence the quality of urban life. Despite this significance, notable service gaps still exist between urban centers and peripheral or rural regions, which in turn intensify socio-economic inequalities, limit access to essential opportunities, and risk disrupting balanced regional development. Conventional studies based on OD (Origin-Destination) data or those that focus solely on physical connectivity cannot fully capture the actual service gaps emerging in multimodal PTNs, where rail, bus, air, and sea transport all operate concurrently. Furthermore, analytical approaches that rely on administrative boundaries often fail to account for diverse geographical and socio-economic contexts, making meaningful comparisons across areas of varying size and jurisdiction problematic.
In response to these shortcomings, this study proposes an “operational capacity-based multiplex network analysis” that models a nationwide multimodal PTN using 500 m × 500 m grid cells in which people actually reside and utilize public transport services, rather than arbitrary administrative units or individual station points. Through the concept of “connectivity strength,” which integrates both service frequency and transport capacity, the approach moves beyond the traditional notion of accessibility to more accurately capture the actual level of service experienced by users. Building on this framework, a nationwide PTN network was constructed in GTFS format (TMAP data) for rail, bus, air, and sea modes, enabling complex intermodal interactions to be assessed from the perspective of actual user transfers. Long-distance (inter-city) and short-distance (intra-city) travel were distinguished in order to calculate key graph-theoretic indicators such as centrality, connectivity, and accessibility, revealing structural vulnerabilities in different regions and transport modes. Socio-economic data, including population, employment, and POIs, were then integrated to identify service imbalances that remain invisible under a purely physical connectivity lens. Finally, a comparison between a “Level 1” physical network and a “Level 2” operational capacity-based network revealed low-frequency or low-capacity areas struggling with significant service shortfalls, leading to the derivation of a composite vulnerability index via TOPSIS and the identification of priority areas for improvements and investments.
The results showed that many areas perceived as physically well-connected suffered severe service vulnerabilities due to limited capacities and low service frequencies. This finding suggests that OD-based or simple connectivity-centric PTN planning alone may not effectively safeguard mobility equity or balanced development. By contrast, the proposed “service-oriented” multiplex approach highlights structural gaps rooted in heavy reliance on specific rural segments or transfer hubs, indicating potential routes for innovative policymaking in multimodal public transport. Moreover, this data-driven framework furnishes practical insights into promoting balanced regional growth and improving mobility equity, while offering valuable guidance for strategic enhancements of public transport services. It also holds promise for broader application in user-centric, service-focused PTN planning and assessment models in the future.

Speaker: Mr Jeon Baekchan (University of Seoul)

17:20 Operationalising Mobility Justice in Urban Street Transformations: Insights from Five European Cities

Urban streets are critical spaces for addressing the intertwined challenges of mobility, equity, and sustainability. Far from being mere conduits for movement, streets are dynamic public spaces (Bertolini, 2020) where diverse mobilities and needs intersect, and where issues of justice and equity are contested. Drawing on Mimi Sheller’s (2018) foundational theories of mobility justice, this research investigates the application of justice principles in urban transformation processes, focusing specifically on streets. Despite the theoretical significance of mobility justice, challenges remain with its exploration and operationalisation in practice (Verlinghieri 2024), particularly in the context of street transformations. What is more, seeing street transformations merely as socio-technical innovations can risk obscuring their aim of bringing together the different, often contradictory interests and needs of multiple actors – an intrinsically political exercise. This study aims to highlight how theories of justice—distributive, procedural, recognition, and epistemic—can offer a lens to better understand streets not just as technical infrastructures but as inherently political spaces where power, access, and identity are negotiated. A focus on street transformations also generates reflections on their potential to catalyse systemic change by addressing the inequities embedded in urban transport systems.

More specifically, this study examines how mobility justice can be operationalised in street transformation projects across five European cities: London (UK), Amsterdam (NL), Braga (PT), Kozani (GR), and Riga (LV). Conducted within the framework of Just Streets - an €11 million EU Horizon project involving 32 transdisciplinary partners - the research evaluates interventions such as street space reallocation/reclaiming (London Harley Street, Kozani, Riga), active mobility infrastructure improvements and tactical urbanism (Amsterdam) and school zones for child-friendly mobility (London Lambeth and Braga). These initiatives aim to prioritise marginalised groups, foster equitable access, and redefine streets as inclusive spaces for social interaction, environmental sustainability, and community well-being.

The research addresses two central questions:
1. What are the key dimensions of mobility justice, and how can they be systematically applied to guide street transformation processes?
2. What practical challenges arise in operationalising mobility justice within street transformation initiatives?

To answer these questions, the study adopts a multifaceted framework of mobility justice, integrating distributive justice (equitable resource allocation) (Pereira et al., 2017), procedural justice (participatory decision-making), recognition justice (acknowledging diverse mobilities) (Sheller, 2018), and epistemic justice (valuing non-expert knowledge) (Fricker, 2007). The research draws on policy analysis, case study reviews, stakeholder interviews, and site observations to explore how mobility justice principles are applied in planning practice and implementation processes.

Findings demonstrate that streets provide a unique opportunity to address systemic inequalities through tangible, localised and context-specific interventions. Some cases highlight the importance of participatory planning processes that empower marginalised voices, ensuring that transformations reflect community needs and priorities. Similarly, street changes that incorporate diverse knowledge systems and acknowledge diverse mobility and social needs demonstrate not only greater effectiveness in achieving equitable outcomes but also greater community acceptance of transformations. Additionally, street space reallocation cases from the five cities highlight the potential for the equitable redistribution of street resources by prioritising space for street users who had been previously marginalised. The study also highlights a number of challenges with operationalising mobility justice in practice. These include reflections on the concept of justice itself being notably absent from city planning documents, the lack of methodological frameworks and metrics for evaluating justice-related outcomes of street transformations, and limited institutional capacities for community engagement, frequently resulting in superficial consultation processes.

Finally, the study provides important reflections on the potential of localised, justice-centred street interventions to help shift urban transport planning from efficiency-driven paradigms to those prioritising equity, care and accessibility.

Speakers: Prof. Enrica Papa (School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster), Dr Sabina Cioboata (School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster)

16:30 → 18:00 T_04 GOVERNANCE (A): Metropolitan and regional planning

Convener: Eva Purkarthofer (Aalto University)

16:30 State-local political interactions in governing complex regions: empirical evidence from cross-jurisdictional metropolitan regions Yangtze River Delta in China and Rhein-Neckar in Germany

With enhanced inter-city connectivity and extended urbanization, cities were expanding beyond their traditional city limits to become global city-regions through metropolisation (Scott, 2001). It has led to the bursting open of city-region boundaries, where cities and city-regions in proximity merge into vast, complex, and often cross-border territories (Brenner, 2019). These processes pose challenges for governance and planning across jurisdictions worldwide (Harrison & Gu, 2021; Loh & Goger, 2020; Yan & Growe, 2022). Against this backdrop, critical questions arise: How do supra-regional and intra-regional public actors navigate rescaled territories and engage with relational networks? What dynamics and hidden politics shape the governance of such complex regions during the metropolisation process in different geopolitical contexts?

To address these questions, we employed social network analysis to examine historical state-local political interactions in two cross-jurisdictional metropolitan regions: the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) in China and the Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar (MRN) in Germany. The findings, based on content analysis of regional policies and key-insider interviews, reveal that regional territories have emerged as platforms for accommodating diverse interests, and supra-regional actors (e.g., the State and higher-level governments) act as strong drivers for collective actions in both metropolitan regions. Intra-regional actors (multi-level governments) perform multiple brokerage roles, including liaison, coordinator, gatekeeper, and representative, within regional governance networks.

To further understand the mechanisms behind these dynamics, we compared the continuities, discontinuities, and underlying cartographic representations in three versions of trans-regional plans in YRD, approved by China’s central government, with two versions of trans-regional plan in MRN, supported by the State Treaty co-signed by three German states. The results highlight dynamic institutionalization in both cases, along with state-orchestrated regional cooperation in establishing legally binding plans across jurisdictions. However, a key contrast emerges: while the megaregional practices of the YRD exemplify government entrepreneurship, the MRN case underscores the influential role of global enterprises in shaping regional development.

Our paper contributes to the existing literature on cross-jurisdictional governance and explores the combination of territorial and relational perspectives in analyzing and comparing state-local interactions and governing roles in different cases. Ultimately, these understandings of dynamic geopolitical processes in governing complex regions call for more systematic research and international comparisons across multiple cases.

Speaker: Ms Simin Yan (Heidelberg University, Institute of Geography & Institute of Urban Development, Kassel University)

16:40 Crossing Invisible Lines: Navigating Governance and Cooperation Across Subnational Boundaries

Border regions often face particular challenges, especially with regard to governance structures, institutional framework conditions and interregional cooperation. These problems concern both international borders, as addressed in the context of EU initiatives such as INTERREG, and intra-national borders, for example between federal states. While national borders have long been addressed in research, the focus on intra-national borders has so far been less pronounced.

The so called “(economic) region of the centre” - located at the interfaces of the three federal states of Hesse, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia - illustrates the complexity of intra-national borders as social and institutional constructs. Due to the federal administrative structure in Germany, the federal state borders are of great importance for planning processes. It is obvious that formal planning processes are influenced by the federal state borders. However, non-formal planning processes - such as regional development processes - are also strongly influenced by the federal state borders, even though common problems exist in border areas along the federal state borders, which in principle should also be addressed together.

As part of the Strategic Regional Development Concept (SREK) in the cross-border region between Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, several analyses were carried out to examine the interactions between key players such as regional management, economic development agencies and chambers of industry and commerce. Based on qualitative interviews with economic and planning actors in the study area, social and semantic network analyses were conducted and statements were made about key topics and actors as well as their interactions within and across federal states.

The results show that interactions often end at administrative borders, while cross-border cooperation is hampered by institutional fragmentation and a lack of policy coordination. While the EU explicitly addresses national borders in the context of the INTERREG programme, in other EU programmes such as the LEADER initiative, intra-national borders already pose enormous challenges for the development and implementation of innovative governance models in (intra-national) border areas.

The presentation discusses the methodological approaches of network analysis with regard to their theoretical foundation and possible applications in regional science. The results of the analysis show the challenges for central key actors and their interactions in intra-national cross-border interactions. From a network perspective, the article shows how governance structures and political coordination in border regions are structured and challenged by federal state borders.

Speaker: Prof. Anna Growe (Kassel University)

16:50 Strategic metropolitan governance for resilience in practice: The Barcelona Metropolitan Commitment 2030 and the governance model in the German Metropolitan Region Rhein-Neckar

The Metropolitan Commitment 2030 is a strategic framework led by the Metropolitan Strategic Plan of Barcelona (PEMB) which aims to create a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient metropolitan region by 2030, aligning with global objectives such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At its core, the Commitment integrates a mission-oriented approach, which focuses on tackling complex, systemic challenges through collaborative, goal-driven efforts. Rather than addressing issues in isolation, this approach defines 8 specific missions—multidimensional objectives that engage diverse stakeholders, including public administrations, businesses, academic institutions, and civil society. These missions act as guiding beacons, fostering innovation, coordination, and shared responsibility across the metropolitan ecosystem.
The metropolitan region Rhine-Neckar is one of 12 officially recognised European Metropolitan Regions in Germany since 2005. The region is characterised by its unique regional cross-border governance with innovative integrated governance models and is fully responsable for the cross-border regional planning (land use planning) which belongs to the region in accordance with the State Treaty between the three Federal States Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg. Therefore the region is also described as a pioneer of co-operative federalism in Germany. The case study shows how transnational cooperation is organised and implemented in the metropolitan region and how well this model works in practice with regard to resilient spatial and governance structures.

Speakers: Oriol Estela Barnet (General Coordinator of the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan, Spain; member of the ARL International Working Group “Resilient Metropolitan Regions), petra schelkmann (Director Planning of the Verband Region Rhein-Neckar, Germany; chair of the ARL International Working Group “Resilient Metropolitan Regions)

17:00 Regional planning for no net land take: Designing strategic planning processes in peri-urban Austria

Reducing land take is indispensable for climate protection, biodiversity, flood prevention and food security. Land take – understood as the conversion of land to artificial surfaces – is a pressing issue in the peri-urban areas, where agricultural land and housing developments meet and pressure for land reallocation is particularly high. This dissertation project explores to the role of peri-urban regions in achieving soil protection goals and highlights the need for integrated strategic plans. It examines their potentials to foster soil conservation and socio-spatial transformation. This research focus on the process level: How can strategic planning processes be designed to reduce land take and encourage social-spatial transformations in peri-urban regions?

Austria has an extraordinarily high rate of land take, consuming approximately 11 hectares per day. The increasing scarcity of high-quality soils highlights the urgency of immediate action. Environmental organisations and renowned experts advocate for a ’no net land take target’. This means land take should not exceed ‘reverse land take’ — the conversion of artificial surfaces back into (semi-)natural land (ESPON, 2024). Land take is especially high in peri-urban regions, where land policy instruments are applied less frequently and less effectively. Structural deficits, such as fragmented competencies and the lack of quantitative targets, hinder the implementation of sustainable and just land policies. Addressing these challenges, scientists and planners need to engage also with (and improve) existing instruments and processes.

Sustainable land policy requires coordination across all planning levels, instruments and stakeholders. Regional planning bridges national objectives and local land-use planning and coordinates intermunicipal planning actions. In this context, integrated strategic plans — such as regional programs and concepts — are gaining importance by the coordination of regulatory measures and actions for the transformation of the existing fabric. As soil protection is an ongoing regional responsibility, planning concepts need to be long-term oriented, robust in their objectives and flexible in their implementation. Using planning culture (Othengrafen, 2014) as an analytical framework, this research examines three strategic planning processes and their impact on land consumption:
1. The “Regional programme Pongau” (2024) is a formal instrument that sets spatial regulations for municipalities while integrating a regional strategy for bioeconomy and circular economy.
2. The “Regional guideline for the region of Mödling” (2023) was developed through a communicative planning process and evolved into a legally binding regional program.
3. The “Action program for activating vacant properties and town recovery” for the region of Strudengau Nord (2024) prepared a regional strategy to support funding instruments for building revitalization and brownfield redevelopment.
These cases illustrate different approaches to soil protection and spatial transformation at a regional level. They vary in their combination of development impulses and regulatory determinations. Each case is innovative in showing a different way towards implementation of methods and also in its process organization. Given that each region is unique, with its own set of potentials and challenges, planning processes need to be tailored accordingly. Designing planning processes must be taken as a creative task. By comparing these cases, this research aims to identify key learnings for developing task-specific strategic planning processes that contribute to no net land take.

Speaker: Philip Krassnitzer (University of Vienna)

17:10 Strategic Regional Planning and the Role of Regulatory Instruments: Insights from the Emscher Transformation

Strategic regional planning is driven and implemented by a network of institutional actors with diverse interests embedded in a specific institutional setting (Purkarthofer et al., 2021). This contribution examines the relationship between such planning actors and their respective institutional context, particularly regarding the impact of regulatory instruments on decision-making processes and the orientation of regional spatial planning.

The TEMPUS case study project focuses on the Emscher transformation, a long-term infrastructural and ecological process to convert a river formerly used as an open sewer in Europe’s largest industrial region into a near-natural watercourse. This serves as an example to investigate the relationship between regulatory instruments such as the European Water Framework Directive and the strategic decision-making of institutional actors that shaped the outcome of the river conversion.

The primary focus lies on the water management association Emschergenossenschaft, whose structure and actions are significantly affected by legal frameworks. Acting as a governance instrument, the association operates within an institutional context, enabling the realization of complex regional strategy formation (Wiechmann, 2008). One objective is the further development of the process model (ibid.) to explain such strategizing processes. In these processes of strategic planning, conflicting spatial interests across various levels, scales, and territorial boundaries are mediated and reconciled (Mäntysalo et al. 2019). On the one hand, the Emschergenossenschaft is a product of the institutional context that created it; on the other hand, it functions as an autonomous entity and a driver of transformative action (Zimmermann, 2023). How regulatory instruments influence regional development depends on the extent to which organizations comply with and implement these regulations.

This contribution examines the impact of specific regulatory instruments, particularly the legal framework governing water and wastewater management, on actors’ behavior within the strategic regional planning process of the Emscher transformation. As a key outcome, it aims to formulate hypotheses on the interplay between the institutional setting—especially regulatory instruments—and actors’ strategic decision-making in the context of the Emscher transformation.

Speakers: Mr Benno Schroeder (TU Dortmund University), Dr Martin Schinagl (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development)

17:20 Construction of Regional Multi-dimensional proximity Network from the Perspective of Collaborative Agglomeration

This study focuses on the construction of regional multi-dimensional proximity network and the application of collaborative agglomeration between regions, aiming to rethink the regional construction model and promote fair distribution of resources.
This study focuses on the construction of multidimensional proximity networks in regional areas and the exploration of their application in fostering regional collaborative agglomeration, with the ultimate goal of reimagining rural network models and ensuring equitable resource distribution.
By integrating complex network theory with the direct application of multi-dimensional proximity principles, the study delves into the network structure characteristics across various proximity dimensions in regional settings through the utilization of correlation network models and other analytical tools. These dimensions encompass geographical proximity, social proximity, institutional proximity, and cognitive proximity. In constructing these multidimensional proximity network at the regional scale, geographical proximity networks take into consideration factors such as water network density, settlement scale and hierarchy, spatial integration, and spatial accessibility. Meanwhile, social and institutional proximity networks encompass political policies, village regulations, clan relationships, social organization ties, and industrial development policies. The cognitive proximity network, on the other hand, captures the subjective cognitive level of villagers through comprehensive questionnaire surveys. Geographical proximity facilitates collaborative development by leveraging geographical similarities, while social and institutional proximity strive for consistency in technological advancements and development directions. Cognitive proximity embodies the internal driving force of development and seeks ideological alignment. The study endeavors to identify whether the village is suitable for collaborative construction, thereby providing a scientific foundation for rural area development. The study is aimed at developing a versatile methodology for delineating regional clusters across a vast array of urban and rural areas, transcending administrative boundaries to foster coordinated regional development centered around cultural or industrial hubs.
The study uses Xinghua City, Jiangsu Province, China, as a case study. This study area, characterized by its dense water network and frequent inter-village communication within the Lixiahe region, serves as an exemplary context for studying rural multidimensional proximity networks. Study has found that in areas with high geographical proximity, due to geographical or spatial similarities, there is no necessary connection in village development, and the overall distribution shows a "core—correlation—edge" distribution. Villages with high social and institutional proximity have a high sense of cultural belonging and corresponding industrial development directions, such as having a unified fishery industry chain from aquaculture and processing to packaging and e-commerce sales, and have high potential for collaborative development. Villages with high cognitive proximity have a higher acceptance of village cooperation and collaborative development due to the influence of villagers' education level and economic cognitive ability, and their high support can promote further agglomeration and collaborative development of villages.

Speaker: Ms Guyue Sun (Southeast University)

16:30 → 18:00 T_04 GOVERNANCE (B): Participation and institutional capacity

Convener: Sylwia Dołzbłasz (University of Wrocław)

16:30 Place-Based Engagement Strategies with Local Communities for better Climate Resilience Governance in Disaster Situations: Putting Principles into Practice for Local Governments

The increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters highlight the urgent need for inclusive and adaptive governance that prioritizes local engagement. Traditional top-down climate strategies often fail to address community-specific needs, leading to ineffective disaster preparedness and long-term adaptation (Ziervogel et al., 2017). Grassroots climate initiatives frequently remain scattered and lack the coordination and resources necessary for a more significant impact (Lovell, 2024). By leveraging local knowledge, authorities can foster innovation, enhance awareness, and strengthen community participation in disaster risk reduction (Dursun et al., 2020). However, many small- and medium-sized cities in Brazil and the Global South lack the institutional capacity to effectively engage residents in climate governance.

This research examines how local authorities can develop place-based engagement strategies to enhance climate resilience governance in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, a region recently devastated by extreme flooding. The May 2024 floods resulted in fatalities, displacement, and widespread infrastructural damage, underscoring the urgent need for more effective disaster governance (Browning, 2021). The disaster exposed critical gaps in local preparedness, and addressing these gaps requires context-sensitive engagement strategies that integrate local knowledge into resilience planning (Hughes & Hoffmann, 2020). Recognizing this, our research employs a participatory, co-design approach, bringing together local government officials, community organizations, businesses, and researchers from Brazil and the UK (Sheffield et al., 2017).

Our paper presents findings from the ESRC-funded project, “Place-Based Engagement Strategies with Local Communities for Better Climate Resilience Governance in Disaster Situations.” The project develops civic engagement strategies for co-designing climate-resilient policies in Caxias do Sul, addressing urgent climate challenges and strengthening community resilience (Baró et al., 2022). The primary objectives are to increase awareness of climate risks and co-develop effective civic engagement strategies to facilitate community involvement in resilience policymaking (Badolo, 2024). Ultimately, it aims to enhance the capacity of local governments to integrate local voices into climate resilience governance (Cannon & Müller‐Mahn, 2010). This was addressed through four participatory workshops, each focusing on key aspects of climate governance (Malloy et al., 2022). The workshops facilitated the co-development and testing of participatory tools, enabling local authorities and planners to collaboratively shape resilience strategies with residents and stakeholders (Bulkeley et al., 2013). The findings demonstrate that co-designing policies with affected communities leads to more actionable, context-sensitive solutions than conventional top-down governance models (Badolo, 2024).

Our research contributes to the reframing of urban resilience planning as a social and participatory process rather than a purely technocratic endeavor. It highlights the potential of participatory planning in strengthening disaster preparedness and long-term urban resilience while addressing climate vulnerability, emphasizing the need for alternative governance models that prioritize inclusivity, justice, and local agency (Dursun et al., 2020). Additionally, we provide valuable insights for urban planners, policymakers, and researchers interested in developing community-centered climate adaptation policies. By fostering direct collaboration between affected communities and government officials in climate resilience policy, this research offers a scalable and adaptable framework for integrating participatory governance into climate adaptation strategies (Byskov et al., 2019). We advance broader discussions on climate justice, resilience planning, and co-production in policymaking, offering practical pathways for strengthening local capacities in climate governance (Ziervogel et al., 2017).

Speaker: Dr Luz Navarro (University of Westminster)

16:40 Towards co-governance? Emergent norms and forms of neighbourhood governance in urban China

Portraited as the ‘last mile’ and ‘basic unit’ of social governance in Chinese official discourses, the neighbourhood has recently gained unprecedented importance in Chinese cities. Active neighbourhood participation and multi-actor collaboration become the new norms of neighbourhood governance, characterised by the emergence of multiple new forms of governance led by different stakeholders. Traditional neighbourhood governance predominantly led by state actors and the semi-private governance in gated communities are widely being replaced by ‘neighbourhood co-governance’ in both discourses and practices. In the past decade, three major forms of neighbourhood co-governance have emerged: state-led co-creation, professional-led place-making, and enterprise-party co-development, which is led by the local state, societal actors, and market actors respectively. Not only the leading actors in each type of co-governance matter, but also the configuration of the governing structure, i.e., the roles of key stakeholders and their power relation, is essential to understanding the variegated forms of neighbourhood co-governance. This research aims to answer three sets of questions: What are the distinctive features and underlying mechanisms of these new norms and forms of neighbourhood governance? Do they represent a paradigm shift towards more participatory and inclusive neighbourhood governance? Can they achieve the alleged goals of neighbourhood satisfaction, cohesion, and participation?

To address these timely yet largely unexplored questions, this research employs the theoretical lens used in examining state-market-society relations in China, including the state project of crisis management (He et al., 2020), state infrastructural power (Cai and He, 2022), and state entrepreneurialism (Wu, 2018), to scrutinize the emerging norms and forms of neighbourhood governance. Case studies in Guangzhou illustrate how local governments enhance the inclusiveness and effectiveness of neighborhood governance by engaging various third-party actors, such as local enterprises, community planners and other urban professionals, and residents’ self-help groups (Zhao et al., 2024). Local governments are skillfully avoiding direct confrontation with residents by incorporating urban professionals and empowering social actors to promote co-production among multiscalar participants.

The rise of neighbourhood co-governance in Chinese cities can be conceptualized as an enactment of a distinctive entrepreneurial state project that serves the purpose of crisis management through consolidating state infrastructure power, delivering governance goals, and practicing entrepreneurial governance at the neighbourhood level (He and Cai, 2024). The state-led co-creation helps strengthen the legitimacy and power of local governments in neighbourhood governance by co-opting opinion leaders among residents, integrating resources across administrative boundaries, and seeking empowerment from higher-level governments. Neighbourhood garden-building helps local governments achieve their economic and social governance goals, by bridging governments’ needs for budget saving and residents’ demands for better quality of life. For enterprise-party co-development, the property management company and developers see co-governance as a good opportunity to maintain a good relationship with the local government, leverage more state investment, and sustain property prices, while the participation of residents is mainly limited to party members, elites, and retirees. This research advances our theoretical and empirical understanding of neighbourhood governance and inform urban planning in Chinese cities and beyond.

Speaker: Prof. Shenjing He (Department of Urban Planning and Design, The University of Hong Kong)

16:50 PARTICIPATION AFTER DISASTER: CENTRAL GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO PARTICIPATION PLANNING

In the light of social movements that started in the 1960s, individuals began to demand equality and democratic processes. With discussions on the individual's relationship with the city, participation was included in urban studies, especially in the second half of the 20th century. As the 21st century came, it is passing as an age of crises because of consecutive crises ranging from increasing climate change and environmental degradation to social and economic inequalities. While the world struggles with the crises caused by the irreversible impact of humanity on the environment, there is also a vulnerable segment of the world caused by socioeconomic inequality. Existing management systems are expected to overcome the crisis by intervening with short-term policies in the face of crises. However, the crisis experienced because of cities with complex social, economic, spatial, and environmental relations causes other crises (Şengül, 2023). To understand these complex relations and the vulnerable part of society, participation in the management system should be increased and the area of negotiation and dialogue should be kept wide. Therefore, in recent years, many studies such as the Sendai Framework have been conducted to institutionalize participation in disaster management. The focus of this study is to examine the participation perspective in the recovery process of Turkey after February 6, 2023, Kahramanmaraş earthquakes from the institutionalized participation understanding in the world. In the light of the literature on participation, the participation perspectives of various stakeholders in the post-earthquake recovery process are evaluated. From the literature, evaluation criteria for involvement have been identified to ensure success in democratic governance. The stakeholder participation plan in the Earthquake Recovery and Reconstruction in Rural Areas Project (KADİYAP), implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change with financing from the World Bank, was reviewed, and the central government's approach to managing the participation process was evaluated. The evaluation criteria from the literature were assessed based on the participation methods used by the central government, feedback from stakeholders, and information published in the report about the stakeholders participating in the plan. The process was evaluated based on the three participation principles of justice and power sharing, transparency and accountability, and inclusiveness. Inclusiveness issues such as the few women participants in some meetings were observed. Problems such as the absence of a staff member from a state institution who would be the addressee of most of the stakeholders' questions indicate that the project is limited to providing one-sided information. This participatory plan of the central administration consists of providing information only with a top-down approach. The lack of mutual dialogue with society, local institutions, and civil society organizations prevents power sharing between institutions. Finally, the fact that the complaint mechanisms developed for a more transparent process are directly under the central administration cannot be a successful application as it turns into a system where the government controls the citizens. Finally, for this plan to be interactive and participatory, it needs to create areas where stakeholders can negotiate among themselves, and it is expected to be a flexible and transformative process for the upcoming process.

Speaker: Ms Beyza Kurt (Master's student, ITU Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning Master's Program)

17:00 Building institutional capacity for meaningful citizen engagement – exploring public-private-civic collaborations in Dutch urban development practice

As cities worldwide face growing social challenges such as socioeconomic segregation or climate injustices, engaging citizens in urban planning and development is considered increasingly important. Involving local communities not only leads to better understandings of local needs and potentially more effective plans, meaningful citizen-planner dialogues might also to help to foster trust and to enhance social cohesion (Othengrafen et al, 2024). A common challenge of participatory practices, however, is that they remain situational and need to be scaled up to sustain and to make a wider impact. One potential solution is to shape institutional conditions that support sustainable citizen engagement within broader governance structures.

While various studies reporting on institutional conditions for citizen engagement depart from public perspectives, contemporary European urban transformations often involve both public, private and civic actors. Although market actors are often seen as actors merely incentivized by maximizing profit, regulatory frames such as ESG policy at the European level motivate investors and financers in urban development to create social value or ‘to make a social impact’. This shift has led market parties such as real estate developers, housing developers or housing associations developing programs in which they operationalize livability, resident wellbeing or social equity goals – often through citizen engagement approaches. However, given that citizen engagement is relatively new to many market parties, the question occurs to what extent they possess sufficient institutional capacity to practice citizen engagement in an inclusive and meaningful way.

This article presents an in-depth analysis of two cases of citizen engagement practice in the Netherlands in which multiple public, private and civic actors collaborate with citizens to address urban livability aspects. The cases comprise a neighborhood evaluation project initiated by a real estate and construction company on the one hand, and a neighborhood upgrading program initiated by a housing association (in the Netherlands: a non-for-profit market party) on the other hand. The analysis explores how institutional capacity of the various public and private actors involved affect citizen engagement by distinguishing knowledge resources, relational resources and mobility capacity (Healey et al., 2003; Innes & Booher, 2003). Findings reveal how ‘formal’ capacity aspects such as policies, funding, administrative structures, and assessment methods influence the way that collaborations and citizen engagement are performed but also emphasize how ‘informal’ capacity aspects such values, beliefs and habits play a significant role in terms of meaningfulness. By empirically observing the role of market actors in citizen engagement amidst other public and civic actors, this article provides a better understanding of collaborative governance as a way forward in increasing the social value of cities.

Speaker: Dr Céline Janssen (postdoc researcher TU Delft)

17:10 From Intentions to Outcomes: Meaningful Collaboration in Participatory Processes for Sustainable Transitions

This paper explores arising tensions and contradictions in participatory planning against the backdrop of strategic spatial planning and other overlapping nested planning paradigms (Albrechts, 2013). This is significant as the field of planning has shifted from traditional land-use planning to area-based, actor-driven and process-oriented planning (Albrechts, 2013). The aforementioned tensions are explored through the term “meaningfulness”, a sensitizing concept that is frequently used in planning practice and literature to capture an unmet desire felt by actors in participatory processes. It builds on the argument that these processes can be meaningful (Yeoman, 2019) when they offer opportunities for worthwhile activities that allow citizens to contribute to their living environment through care, stewardship, maintenance and repair. However, the absence of meaningfulness can lead to citizens feeling alienated from their living environment, other actors and the processes that sustain its development. This, understandably, impacts the perceived legitimacy of urban governance, subsequently influencing sustainable transitions in cities.

The research builds on this concept of meaningfulness based on action research conducted by the author in a deliberative participatory process for the proposed transformation of a former industrial district in a major Dutch city. The research included municipal data from an instrumental participatory process, municipal policy documents and ethnographic data. The author, as a researcher and contributing member of the process, followed the interactions between a citizen delegation, a municipal project team, and a facilitator, all with the collective goal of exploring the ambitions of a municipal structural framework plan for the district. The citizen delegation aimed to present a collective value map, developed alongside other stakeholders, to encapsulate the 'soul' of the existing lived environment, which they felt was inadequately represented in the municipal framework plan.

The study of these interactions offers grounded insights into how actors experience meaningfulness, or the lack thereof, while participating in collaborative processes urban transition projects. To operationalise “meaningful” outcomes, the intentions of actors or commitments to action (Bratman, 1987), are used to study their motivation to seek or invite collaboration over their living environment, and how their actions evolve through collaboration with others. These intentions are studied through the concept of “pragmatic registers” (Stapper and Duyvendak, 2020) which have been adapted in this research from their original conceptualisation in the literature as a tool for sociological critique to a novel methodological tool for transformative social innovation (Avelino et al., 2019) in participatory processes. The research maps three pragmatic registers to illustrate how intentions transform in participatory processes to draw new lessons for meaningful collaboration in participatory planning for urban transitions. The lessons are, a) embracing uncertainty in urban transition projects – scenarios as opposed to normative “frameworks”, b) creating novel institutional arrangements that give local stakeholders opportunities to impact socio-spatial context like facilitating community-benefit agreements, and c) using multi-value creation as a guiding objective as opposed to participative or deliberative democracy.

Speaker: Ms Selina Abraham (University of Amsterdam)

17:20 Community Renewal and Autonomous Governance Dynamics: A 30-Year Analysis of Hangzhou's Practice

China's urbanization is transitioning from rapid development to high-quality development, with community renewal in old urban areas being a key component. However, due to the dispersed property rights and complex interests in old communities, the difficulty of community renewal has increased. New governance models are urgently needed to alleviate the contradictions and conflicts that arise.
As a representative city in China's developed southeast coastal region, Hangzhou has been continuously renewing its urban landscape, driven by the Internet industry and major events such as the Asian Games. The renewal of its residential neighborhoods is imminent. This paper uses Zhegong Xincun as an observation window to examine the community renewal process and the development of autonomous governance in Hangzhou over the past 30 years. It explores the continuous coupling process between the two and the factors affecting autonomous community renewal, proposing adapted policy suggestions.
We propose an analytical framework of “Evolution - Coupling Process - Role Mechanism - Adaptation Strategy.” First, we summarize the coupling process between Hangzhou's urban renewal from 1993 to the present and the evolution of self-governance through text analysis and expert interviews. We then conduct an in-depth examination of multiple stakeholders, including residents of Zhegong Xincun, local and higher-level governments, design and construction units, and media, using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Additionally, we interview residents from other communities, such as Cuiyuan and Binfen, to reveal the mechanism of autonomous renewal from dimensions of environmental variables, acceptance criteria, participation criteria, and participants.
The study finds that: 1. Over the past 30 years, Hangzhou's community development and renewal have shifted from material renewal to organic renewal, encompassing elemental renewal, tenure renewal, and organizational renewal from a spatial governance perspective. 2. With people-oriented urbanization and the awakening of public property rights awareness, public participation in Hangzhou has evolved from non-participation to tokenistic participation to public control, currently manifesting as empowerment. 3. Factors influencing public participation are multidimensional. Environmentally, they benefit from Hangzhou's urban renewal concept, its economic environment, and real estate situation. Acceptance criteria are enhanced by the independence and transparency of the participation process and early resident involvement. Participation criteria are supported by the accessibility of resources through public platform construction, standardized decision-making, and professional, public cost-benefit calculations. Participants, being retired teachers in Zhegong Xincun, have overall economic conditions, cultural literacy, cognitive abilities, and social integration that are necessary for autonomous renewal success, giving Zhegong Xincun certain unique characteristics. 4. Essentially, autonomously-governed renewal succeeds through top-down empowerment and bottom-up governance. Future urban renewal should focus on developing standardized reception and participation criteria, including processes and consultation mechanisms.
This study provides a clearer understanding of Hangzhou's community renewal and autonomous governance evolution and their coupling process. Theoretically, it offers a new research framework revealing autonomous governance's underlying logic and influencing mechanisms. Practically, it emphasizes promoting relevant norms and standardized processes to improve the autonomous governance system and capacity. Despite the project's localization and specificity, it serves as a benchmark for demonstration.

Speaker: bin liu (Zhejiang University)

16:30 → 18:00 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (A): Policies and Strategies for Carbon Neutrality

Convener: Osman Balaban (Middle East Technical University)

16:30 Pursuing climate neutrality through ecosystem services: Evidence from Campania Region, Italy

In this study, a methodological approach that aims to implement climate neutrality through spatial planning policies is defined and applied. The measure of carbon sequestration (CS) is taken as a reference to estimate the status and evolutionary dynamics of this phenomenon, analyzed and evaluated as associated with the supply of certain types of ecosystem services (ESs), in relation to the reference spatial context.
The study is developed as follows. First, the spatial framework of CS is characterized through density maps, utilizing the “Carbon Storage and Sequestration” model of the InVEST suite, which estimates the amount of carbon stored in reference spatial units using raster maps of land cover (Liquete et al., 2015). The model estimates the state of CS, allowing, also, to appreciate its variation over time (Sun et al., 2019). The spatial context addressed by the implementation of the methodology is Campania, an administrative region in southern Italy.
Second, a methodology for characterizing the supply of ESs is identified. The multifunctionality of the supply of ESs can be considered as an analytical reference for the definition of a system of measures oriented to the improvement of CS capacity and, therefore, of the contribution of local spatial planning policies to the effective pursuit of global climate neutrality. Based on previous studies (Isola et al, 2022) and in-depth analyses of environmental, landscape, and socio-cultural contexts, the provision of ESs in relation to the regional territory of Campania is characterized in this study by the following types: preservation of habitat quality levels suitable for sustaining the life cycles of plants and wildlife that can be useful to humans; climate regulation through mitigation of land surface temperature; production of agricultural crops and timber; protection and enhancement of the attractiveness of spatial contexts in relation to nature- and natural resource-based recreational and cultural activities (Zulian et al., 2014); preservation and enhancement of landscape values that ground regional identity.
Finally, the correlations between the spatial taxonomies of CS capacity and ESs supply with regard to the Campania regional context are detected and analyzed, in order to assess how the characteristics and specificities of the multifunctional ESs supply can be effectively used in order to maximize CS capacity, and, thus, the contribution of the Campania region to the improvement of global climate neutrality. The identification of these correlations allows, also, to identify specific recommendations in terms of plan policies in order to improve the quality of life of local societies in Campania.

Speakers: Prof. Corrado Zoppi (University of Cagliari, Italy), Dr Francesca Leccis (University of Cagliari, Italy)

16:40 Urban Polarization: A Barrier to Carbon Neutrality

Research Background
Urban and regional carbon neutrality is fundamentally a sustainability issue (Park, 2023). Carbon neutrality cannot be deemed successful if it results in economic decline or diminished social equity. Fossil fuel-based energy systems are inherently incompatible with growth models that promote sustainable development. Consequently, considerable attention has been devoted to energy transitions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the issue of social equity has received comparatively less attention than climate change adaptation agendas, such as urban hazard mitigation. Achieving carbon neutrality inevitably transforms the socioeconomic fabric of cities, which may either enhance or undermine social equity. Therefore, it is imperative to understand how urban disparities influence the pursuit of carbon neutrality.

Method
The purpose of this research is to assess the impact of intra- and inter-urban disparities on greenhouse gas emissions. A multilevel model was developed using data from metropolitan and basic local governments in South Korea. Two primary data were utilized. GHG emissions were analyzed using data from the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Center of South Korea, while case studies were conducted using data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport’s Carbon Spatial Map (carbonmap.kr). The spatial information provided by the Carbon Spatial Map enabled a more detailed and nuanced multilevel analysis.
To measure urban disparities, key variables were selected, including GRDP per capita, local income tax per capita, life expectancy, the ratio of beneficiaries of national basic livelihood, and the proportion of budgets allocated to carbon neutrality initiatives. Additionally, the impact of urban spatial structures was examined through the development of the Urban Compactness Index (UCI). The UCI comprises four components: Development Density, Land Use Mix, Activity Centering, and Street Accessibility. Variables such as employment density were used for Development Density; building use diversity and job mix were applied for Land Use Mix; regional Global Moran’s I was used for Activity Centering; and plot coverage ratio was employed for Street Accessibility.

Results
The analysis revealed that while the impact of urban disparities and spatial structures on per capita emissions was minimal at the basic local level (141 cities in South Korea), significant differences were observed at the metropolitan level. Regions with lower local income tax per capita and a higher ratio of beneficiaries of national basic livelihood exhibited higher per capita emissions in the building and transport sectors. Regarding urban spatial structures, higher values of Land Use Mix and Activity Centering were associated with lower per capita emissions. Intra-urban disparities were most pronounced in Seoul, Busan, and Daegu. Inter-urban disparities varied by city size; cities with populations exceeding 1 million exhibited minimal disparities, whereas small and medium-sized cities with populations under 500,000 demonstrated significantly higher per capita emissions.

Policy Implications
South Korea’s legislative framework mandates carbon neutrality goals to be achieved at the basic local level. This framework emphasizes accountability at the city level to meet the nation’s carbon neutrality targets. However, intra- and inter-urban disparities present significant barriers to implementing these policies. For instance, cities lacking public transportation systems face greater challenges in reducing transport-related GHG emissions compared to other municipalities. Addressing both intra- and inter-urban disparities can yield greater benefits for achieving carbon neutrality. Additionally, ensuring the maximum utility for the most disadvantaged regions aligns with the principles of sustainable development. Therefore, to achieve the national carbon neutrality goals through urban and regional initiatives, it is essential to minimize disparities while advancing carbon neutrality policies.

Funding
This work was supported by the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA) grant funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Title: Development of Planning Support Technology based on Carbon Spatial Map, Grant RS-2023-00242291).

Speaker: Dr Jiyong Park (Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology)

16:50 Optimizing Decision-Making for Climate-Neutral Post-War Buildings: The Architect’s Role in Sustainable Transformation

The transition to a climate-neutral building stock by 2045 is a pressing objective for the architectural and construction sectors. This research examines the decision-making processes surrounding the renovation, roof extension, and potential demolition of post-war residential buildings in Germany, with a focus on the architect’s role in integrating environmental and climate considerations into the planning process. By employing qualitative methods—notably expert interviews and qualitative content analysis—the research investigates the complexities and barriers to aligning construction practices with sustainability goals.

Research Context
Architectural discourse surrounding post-war buildings from the 1950s and 1960s emphasizes their potential for modernization and densification (BSW 2023, Meyer et al. 2023, BBSR 2016). These buildings, constructed prior to Germany’s first thermal insulation ordinance in 1977, exhibit low energy efficiency and limited modernization. Despite the environmental advantages of preserving and upgrading existing structures—such as reduced embodied carbon and resource conservation—demolition and new construction often dominate decision-making. Current processes are fragmented and inefficient, impeded by uncertainties in cost estimation, technical feasibility, and stakeholder alignment. These challenges underscore the urgent need for systematic, climate-neutral approaches to managing existing building stocks.

Research Objectives
This research is part of a broader doctoral study that addresses the central question: How can decision-making processes for managing post-war building stocks be optimized to achieve climate neutrality effectively and efficiently? While the overarching research encompasses various aspects of decision-making, this paper specifically focuses on one critical element: the role of architects in influencing and guiding these processes. The study explores the following research sub-question:
• What role do architects play in influencing and guiding decision-making processes towards sustainable and climate-conscious outcomes?
While substantial literature exists on technical retrofitting and energy efficiency, limited empirical research explores the practicalities of decision-making, particularly how stakeholders interact and navigate trade-offs among competing priorities. This study bridges that gap, offering actionable insights into the mechanisms underpinning these processes.

Methodology
The research adopts a qualitative approach, combining expert interviews and content analysis to explore:
• Stakeholder Dynamics: Identifying the roles and influences of property owners, architects, and specialist planners.
• Process Challenges: Analyzing critical decision phases and disruptions, including late technical investigations and conflicting priorities.
• Sustainability Integration: Assessing how sustainability dimensions—embodied energy, resource efficiency, and climate neutrality—are embedded in decision-making frameworks.

Theoretical Assumptions
The absence of structured frameworks for evaluating renovation, extension, or demolition options hinders effective decision-making in architectural planning. Early involvement of specialized planners is essential to mitigate inefficiencies and manage costs. While sustainability is emphasized in political and social discourse, economic and technical constraints frequently overshadow these goals. Architects, as pivotal actors, can profoundly influence sustainability outcomes through their advisory and design roles. However, their potential impact is often constrained by fragmented workflows and unclear stakeholder responsibilities.

Conclusion
Optimizing decision-making for post-war building stocks is crucial to achieving climate neutrality by 2045. Prioritizing renovation and roof extensions over demolition aligns with sustainability goals by reducing embodied carbon and conserving resources. This research contributes a framework for managing Germany’s post-war architecture, advocating interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative planning as transformative actions in addressing climate and environmental challenges By highlighting the pivotal role of architects in sustainable urban transformation, this study emphasizes the importance of planning as a proactive response to the planetary crisis.
This paper aligns with the thematic emphasis on sustainable cities and climate action, illustrating the transformative role of planning in addressing contemporary environmental challenges.

Speaker: Ms Kathrin Meyer (HafenCity Universität Hamburg, Germany)

17:00 Optimizing Carbon-Neutral Campus Renewal: A Case Study of Xi’an East Station Hub Core Area

The dual challenges of climate change and environmental degradation place immense pressure on urban environments, making it critical to integrate carbon-neutral strategies into the early stages of planning and design. This study focuses on campus renewal, using the Xi’an East Station Hub Core Area as a pilot to explore innovative approaches for low-carbon, climate-resilient urban design. By leveraging intelligent evaluation platforms, nature-based solutions, and participatory governance structures, this research aims to establish scalable pathways for sustainable urban renewal.

Through the Urban Planning and Design Carbon Neutrality Intelligent Evaluation Platform, real-time assessments of carbon emissions and sinks were conducted, revealing a substantial gap of 100,000 tons CO₂ to achieve carbon neutrality. This shortfall was addressed through a multi-faceted approach combining renewable energy technologies, such as solar panels and ground-source heat pumps, with enhanced green infrastructure and industrial transformation. For example, three-dimensional greening and ecological corridors added 4,100 tons of carbon absorption, while converting 38% of high-density commercial areas into biopharmaceutical clusters reduced emissions by 30,000 tons. These interventions demonstrate how intelligent planning can dynamically balance carbon sources and sinks.

This case study contributes to the broader theoretical understanding of carbon-neutral urban renewal by situating campus-focused solutions within the context of urban ecological transformation. It underscores the importance of aligning technological innovation with participatory governance to address the complexity of urban climate challenges. By integrating advanced data-driven methodologies and human-machine collaboration, this research provides a replicable framework for designing inclusive and resilient campuses.

This research addresses critical themes of climate mitigation, adaptation, and environmental justice. It highlights the role of campuses as experimental spaces for testing innovative planning strategies, emphasizing renewable energy integration, ecosystem restoration, and equitable decision-making. The study also contributes to governance discussions by showcasing how multi-stakeholder collaboration and dynamic planning processes can support long-term sustainability goals.

In conclusion, the Xi’an East Station Hub Core Area exemplifies how campuses can lead the way in addressing global environmental challenges. By combining cutting-edge technology with inclusive urban strategies, this research offers actionable insights for policymakers and planners aiming to create low-carbon, climate-resilient futures.

Speaker: Prof. Ting Yang (Tongji University)

17:10 Understanding social acceptance of decarbonisation policies in planning towards positive energy districts

Transformative change of the local urban energy system towards renewable energy consumption and energy efficiency is needed to diminish urban GHG emissions and pave the way towards climate-neutral cities. To secure carbon neutrality in cities, neighbourhoods offer critical sites for local action for climate mitigation and decarbonisation policies. An emerging body of literature on climate-neutral neighbourhoods and positive energy districts (PEDs) addresses how the district level unlocks potential for collective action by allowing for increased energy efficiency, flexibility and energy production. While technological interventions of the built environment are needed, pathways to PEDs need to be understood considering their social and behavioural dimensions. Therefore, it is a common understanding within the literature and as addressed within EU directive for PEDs framework that PEDs should include multidimensional objectives for ecological, social and economic sustainability. Nevertheless, most PED literature so far is technological in nature.

To understand the different social enablers and barriers to PEDs, a deeper understanding of social acceptance could provide a social lens on PEDs. An understanding of social acceptance PEDs and its social elements such as trust relations, local attitudes, social inclusivity, and behavioural change is still lacking. At the same time, a place-based approach by looking at the neighbourhood level is needed to allow for addressing context-specificities of complex sociotechnical configurations, relevant to understanding social acceptance processes. Moreover, as urban localities face different challenges such as high-density housing, limited available energy sources and a lock-in in existing local energy networks, understanding the social elements of PEDs could also further contribute to multiple approaches to social acceptance. Furthermore, neighbourhoods form complex interdependent social processes, social networks and power relations shaped by everyday practices and social interactions. Whereas traditional social acceptance literature has mainly focused on large-scale energy technologies, understanding acceptance of small-scale, decentralised and urban interventions has been limited discussed. Considering social elements such as energy vulnerability and energy justice, a local or even bottom-up renewable energy implementation could offer the possibility to empower communities while implementing technological interventions towards carbon neutrality. Nevertheless, it could also become contested spaces, addressing issues of heritage loss, displacement and social exclusion. These different elements can display the complexity of sociotechnical transformative trajectories but also address potential synergies that take place for drivers or barriers to effective energy policy implementation.

Therefore it will be argued that there is a need to incorporate a social understanding of transformative pathways to climate-neutral cities, by combining insights from PEDs literature with the wide body of social acceptance literature. While the technological focus within PED literature could benefit from social energy research, the urban context could provide new insights into social acceptance theories, by addressing the question how the urban context influences social acceptability of new energy systems. Additionally, a further critically analysis and elaboration on the meaning of the neighbourhood as site for local action is needed. As it is expected that by 2050 70% of the global population will be living in urban areas, the city as a location of renewable energy implementation will raise different encounters of resistance or potential enablers.

Speaker: Roos Timmers (Queen's University Belfast)

17:20 Uses and limitations of community participation tools and strategies to create positive energy districts: A literature review

The transition to clean energy systems is key to meeting carbon neutralisation targets. Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) emerged to promote local energy autonomy and flexibility. PEDs present an energy transition roadmap multifaceted with social, spatial, and technical aspects. Social aspects include the identification of stakeholders and initiating community collaboration. Establishing energy communities addresses inequalities of energy and mobility poverty by providing access to clean and reliable services. Spatial factors involve the assessment of feasible areas for implementing positive energy infrastructure. The implementation of active systems for energy generation, low-carbon mobility options, and strategies to reduce energy consumption are technical components. Although there is a roadmap for establishing PEDs, lack of public interest, resistance to change, high costs, and lack of participatory processes prevail as challenges.

Community participation approaches are essential to achieve PEDs. Hewitt et al. (2020) put forward participatory tools are more common to support the implementation of environmental policies in many fields but are less common in the energy field. Participation involves the co-creation of energy, mobility, and climate comfort scenarios, co-monitoring of energy use, and shared governance to tailor energy goals. This has the potential to enhance social acceptance as well as develop a user-centered approach to technologies. Given the diverse disciplines involving the built environment, it is essential to identify the obstacles and opportunities of PED in an inclusive and participatory way.

This paper presents a bibliometric review that aims to explore the potential uses of digital participatory processes in energy transition initiatives. Bibliometric analysis is useful for detecting key publications and mapping research fields (Passas, 2024). The publications queried using digital, urban design, participation, and citizen engagement keywords. Keywords are chosen based on key research themes including synonyms and related concepts. The queries from databases have resulted in 565 publications. A total of 127 duplicates and 20 publications with different fields were eliminated. 418 publications obtained at this stage were uploaded to Bibliometrix software to conduct author, citation, and impact analysis. The most relevant 50 articles are detected using bibliometric analysis based on the author's local and global impact and the most relevant authors based on co-occurrence and co-citation analysis. This was followed by the snowballing technique to enhance the scope of the review, and 12 more articles were added. In the end, a total of 62 articles are examined for the literature review.

The literature review presents the advantages and limitations of digital participatory tools for establishing PEDs. Digital tools are effective in disseminating information and reaching more people in a limited time. New visualizations provided by virtual technologies can support energy transition projects by enhancing communication (Spieker, 2018). The findings suggest that digital participatory approaches can be integrated into processes as communication channels to evaluate alternatives (Spieker, 2018). Wilson et al. (2024) emphasize developing long-term trust between stakeholders using digital and analog methodologies. However, relying on a single tool to fulfill expectations on energy transition poses limitations. Although hybrid models offer bottom-up participation, digital literacy barriers, maintaining interest, and managing the alignment of views are challenging (Chaves et al., 2021). Wilson et al. (2024) refer to the capabilities of tools in terms of time, interaction, communication, and learning processes. This review paper concludes by suggesting exploring the potential of hybrid methodologies incorporating digital and analog tools in energy transition projects. The integration of social, spatial, and technical aspects would inform experts working in different fields and encourage the integration of human-centered approaches and evidence-based strategies. The direction of future research emphasizes a need for applying hybrid methodologies to address time and space constraints, level of participation, and integration of tools.

Speakers: Mr Alper AL, Dr Ceren Sezer

16:30 → 18:00 T_05 ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE (B): Water Systems and Management

Convener: Ethemcan Turhan (University of Groningen)

16:30 DESIGNING [FROM] THE SEA Challenges, methodologies and scenarios for planning with water

Setting the context: global pressures/water challenges
Cities are under pressure due to multiple and conflicting social, economic, and environmental challenges. Water cities such as coastal territories, river cities and delta regions are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate extremes which are pushing public authorities to identify adaptive interventions across scales and time. According to a recent UN report (2022) sea levels could rise up to two metres by 2100, challenging the life of large cities located along the coasts. Researches have warned that using seawalls or massive storm surges to protect cities against sea level rise can be counterproductive and make rising waters even worse in the long run. Rigid infrastructures alone will not save water cities from flooding. On the contrary, adapting to changing water conditions will require more structural changes and cultural shifts. This contribution argues that we need new interpretative models to approach and understand cities in order adapt them to changing water condition.

Why does water matter today?
Water is the physical and liquid space where today many challenges are coming together. Dealing with water today means understanding how to adapt to changing water condition. It means dealing with global economies, considering that 90% of world trade passes through the sea. It means studying cultures and history as it is thanks to the sea and ports that countless civilizations, religions and languages were born which we still look at today with respect and admiration. It means dealing with energy and landscapes of the new industrialization together with a system of territories in crisis, infrastructures and architectures to be rethought in the short, medium and long term.
Water is about migration, wars and political games of powerful actors who aim to control the sea as an instrument to control the world. Port cities, river cities, coastal and delta landscapes are therefore characterized by a constantly changing conditions at the intersection of land and water, always looking for new balances.
They are are porous, very fragile and complex systems subject to spatial, social and environmental transitions. They are also among the most vibrant spaces due to the presence of fertile soils, natural landscapes, cultures and the histories of long-durée that make them worth studying. Urban disciplines, however, have traditionally considered planning, limiting its scope mainly to terrestrial areas, while delegating the planning and management of maritime spaces to sector-specific disciplines (e.g. port regulatory plans). There is a need to guide urban disciplines towards a broader and more organic vision able to incorporate the water dimension.

Methodology: scenario thinking
This contribution brings together different materials and educational experiences based on scenario thinking approach. It analyses three scenarios developed within the “Adaptive Strategies” and “Urban Archipelago” design studios at the TU Delft. Scenarios fit perfectly within contemporary design approaches and the idea of spaces that Bauman has defined as liquid. In a liquid and porous society different visions coexist and collide and the role of the scenario is that of defining a vision, a fascination, an image capable of tracing a direction, leading the current, in a context made up of differences, complexities, and conflicts. Scenarios become reflections, points for a discussion. They are not meant to be implemented but to create awareness and to generate new narratives for the future of cities dealing with water.

Speaker: Mr Paolo De Martino (TU Delft/IUAV)

16:40 Urban Water in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): A Global Analysis

Climate change significantly impacts urban water systems through rising sea levels, erratic rainfall patterns, and increased occurrences of floods and droughts. This research, conducted by the UNESCO Chair in Urban Resilience at the University of Southern Denmark in collaboration with the UNESCO Urban Water Division, analyzed the urban water focus in 194 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted to the UNFCCC by June 2023. The study employed a five-phase methodology to compare the national and urban water content in the NDCs, assessing the extent to which these national climate policies address urban water issues and how this aligns with the critical role of cities in climate action. This analysis emphasizes the need for multi-level governance frameworks that effectively integrate urban water perspectives and empower local actors in climate change policies.
The analysis revealed that only 15% of NDCs explicitly address water adaptation challenges within urban contexts, compared to 78% at the national level. Similarly, only 8% of NDCs address water mitigation challenges within urban contexts, compared to 47% at the national level. This disparity highlights the limited attention given to urban-specific water challenges and underscores the need for a stronger urban focus in national climate policies.
Furthermore, the analysis revealed a significant gap in including adaptation and mitigation responses within urban contexts. While 81% of NDCs outline water adaptation responses at the national level, only 26% do so at the urban level. Similarly, 38% of NDCs outline water mitigation responses nationally, compared to 14% at the urban level. This result indicates a significant disconnect between acknowledging water-related challenges and outlining concrete actions to address them within urban areas.
The research emphasized the need for a multi-risk perspective to address interconnected water-related hazards, such as floods and droughts, whose interplay is increasing due to climate change. For example, while 73% of NDCs identify drought as a climate hazard nationally, only 7% do so at the urban level.
Moreover, the analysis highlights the need to learn from best practices observed in countries such as Nigeria, Myanmar, Chad, and the Central African Republic, which comprehensively address urban water challenges and responses for both mitigation and adaptation.
To address these gaps, the study recommends: 1) strengthening the urban water focus of NDCs, including the identification of challenges and responses for both mitigation and adaptation, as well as climate hazards; 2) enhancing the identification and alignment of urban water challenges and responses, ensuring coherence between national and urban levels in relation to water provisions; 3) improving the understanding of climate hazards related to urban water, particularly from a multi-hazard perspective; 4) expanding the inclusion of exposure and vulnerability to water hazards in NDCs at both national and urban levels; 5) increasing the focus on mitigation challenges and responses for urban water within NDCs; 6) maintaining and enhancing the focus on adaptation challenges and responses for urban water within NDCs; 7) integrating adaptation and mitigation actions for urban water within all NDCs to avoid negative rebound effects; and 8) strengthening the identification of urban water challenges within NDCs for both mitigation and adaptation.
In conclusion, this study provides crucial insights for policymakers and urban planners to enhance urban water resilience and effectively contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. By prioritizing urban water considerations in national climate policies, countries can better address the implications of water-related climate challenges on urban ecosystems and transboundary resources.

Speaker: Dr Nicola Tollin (UNESCO Chair on Urban Resilience, Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Denmark)

16:50 Framework for prioritising water body restoration: a context of Indian populated cities with climate challenges

With the constant dependence on groundwater and diminishing recharge capacity, along with untreated sewage and garbage dumping onto the water bodies, India is likely to be the most severely affected by water scarcity by 2050. As the most populous country with unique climate risk challenges, urban India has significantly stressed water resources. To address this, India recently completed its first water census of more than 24 Lakh water bodies across all states and union territories. This has provided essential information on the typologies of water bodies, their sizes, conditions, status, current use, ownership, storage capacity, seasonal fluctuations, etc.

With climate extremes and a dearth of open spaces, there has never been a more urgent need to restore these damaged ecosystems than now - both socially and environmentally. Although enormous funding for water body revival and restoration is in place for both alleviating climate change and creating public spaces in Indian cities, the lack of an evaluation method to determine the most critical sites, eventually lead to failure of the restored water bodies. Hence, the study use the first water census of India with focus on dried up water bodies, assess the restoration potential of critical, government-owned water bodies in most populated cities in India with a comprehensive evaluation framework.

The study propose a three-stepped research method to create a score-based prioritisation index to select the most critical water bodies. Firstly, the study identify the dried-up, rarely filled up, and never-filled-up water bodies against their ownership status in populated cities and compared the change in the physical characteristics in the last ten years. This help in the primary selection of the water bodies. In the second stage, through literature review and case studies, the authors document different models of water body restoration to understand environmental aspect of microclimate control, ecosystem services, as well as the socio-recreational benefit of water bodies. In the third stage, the study propose a framework with four key dimensions: a) physical parameters, such as size, hydrological status, and pollution levels; b) social co-benefits, including ecosystem services, cultural significance, and community reliance; c) contextual understanding, addressing regional climatic, geographical, and infrastructural factors; and d) ownership patterns, assessing governance structures, legal statuses, and stakeholder responsibilities. By assigning scores across these dimensions, the framework generate a prioritisation index to identify water bodies requiring urgent intervention.

The authors argue that this evaluative methodology enables a systematic approach to addressing urban water scarcity, ensuring the inclusion of ecological and socio-economic factors in decision-making. The framework further offer policymakers and urban designers actionable insights for the targeted rehabilitation of water bodies, fostering urban resilience and sustainable water resource management in the context of India’s unique climate challenges.

Speaker: Ms Chandrani Chakrabarti (Associate Professor, CEPT University, India)

17:00 Depoliticizing Urban Water Management: Governance, Justice, and the Sponge City Initiative in China

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly adopted worldwide to tackle urban environmental challenges, but their governance and implications for environmental justice remain contested. Current research on the implications of NbS on environmental justice often critiques NbS projects for reinforcing inequalities through neoliberal governance and exclusive planning, with limited focus on how governance techniques like discourse-making and framing shape justice outcomes. This study addresses this gap by examining the governance of Sponge City initiatives in Ningbo, China.

Using 16 in-depth interviews with practitioners, officials, and academics, along with policy document analysis, this research investigates how multi-scalar governance, spanning national to municipal and city-district levels, frames Sponge City as a technical fix for urban water management. This technocratic framing depoliticizes projects, obscuring social inequalities, and limiting the inclusion of marginalized groups in decision-making. At the same time, despite the centralized, top-down implementation of these initiatives, academic institutions, government consultancies, private developers, and residents play distinctive roles, creating a complex governance landscape.

Findings reveal that environmental injustices stem not only from exclusive decision-making but also from the framing of urban issues (in this case, flooding) and the technical narratives that guide responses. Project benefits, including flood resilience and green amenities, are often concentrated in wealthier neighborhoods or development projects in commercially profitable areas, while disadvantaged communities vulnerable to flooding face neglect or displacement driven by speculative development.

By situating environmental justice within broader socio-technical governance processes, this study highlights how systemic inequities are embedded in policy frameworks and institutional practices. It advances understanding of NbS governance in an under-researched socio-political context where socialist legacies intersect with neoliberal trends. The research underscores the need for inclusive governance approaches that prioritize equity, offering actionable insights for scholars and policymakers.

Speaker: Ms Xiaowen Zhan (University of Manchester)

17:10 Waterfront Transformations in Danish Port Cities: Urban Regeneration and Climate Adaptation

Since the late 20th century, coastal cities worldwide have initiated efforts to regenerate and redevelop their waterfronts. This was driven by shifts in the maritime industry, particularly the rise of containerization, which left many former industrial and port areas characterized by underutilized land and infrastructure (Bruttomesso, 2001; Girard et al., 2014; Hein, 2016). In response, major port cities have leveraged these changes to improve their environmental conditions and create more livable urban spaces (Carta and Ronsivalle, 2016).

In recent decades, European port cities have emerged as key examples of waterfront transformations, implementing solutions that prioritize improved livability, water quality enhancement, and climate responsiveness (Smith and Ferrari, 2012). This paper conducts a spatial planning analysis of five case studies in Denmark to compare and identify the urban planning and design solutions that contribute to higher urban resilience.

The research highlights how Danish port cities have enhanced urban livability by transforming them waterfronts into vibrant urban spaces that integrate residential, commercial, and recreational functions. The findings also indicate that some ports have actively pursued strategies to enhance environmental conditions and water quality, including measures to address sedimentation of pollutants and relocation of port activities away from densely populated urban areas. In terms of climate actions, Danish ports are also aligning the city’s climate adaptation strategies where possible, while developing various design solutions to mitigate the risks of sea-level rise and storm surges. By analyzing these case studies, the paper aims to provide insights into the intersections of urban regeneration and climate adaptation in Danish port cities, offering valuable lessons for port cities around the world striving to improve their resilience and livability.

Speakers: Prof. Alberto Innocenti (University of Southern Denmark), Mr Martin Valinger (University of Ljubljana)

17:20 Navigating estuaries in a changing climate through collaboration? Insights from a comparative study of the Scheldt and the Elbe

Estuaries are dynamic and contested spaces of high environmental, economic and social relevance in Europe and worldwide. Over decades, offshore port locations have been developed in estuarine regions, creating strong economic dependencies at the national level, such as the ports of Antwerp and Hamburg. In addition to unregulated economic growth in these multifaceted spaces, estuaries face increasing pressures from competing use conflicts and growing impacts of climate-induced environmental change. These developments have led to conflicts among estuarine actors and stakeholders due to competing interests such as shipping, coastal protection, renewable energy development, agriculture, housing, ecosystem preservation, and recreation. Collaborative governance regimes have emerged as an approach to foster multi-stakeholder engagement in pursuit of overarching goals, such as the sustainable development of these sensible estuarine regions. This paper presents a comparative analysis of two examples of collaborative estuary governance regimes - the Schelderaad (Scheldt) and Forum Tideelbe (Elbe) - applying a conceptual lens of collaborative governance. The findings highlight that collaboration in these regions presents both challenges and opportunities, depending on the level of stakeholder engagement. Key factors influencing the success of these governance arrangements include stakeholder motivation, leadership, dealing with (lack of) knowledge, building and losing trust, shared goals and visions, and long-term commitment. Initial positive responses to environmental contexts underline the potential of collaboration as an effective governance instrument. However, the success of such initiatives depends on the sustained commitment of all stakeholders and the implementation of collaborative recommendations within (trans-)national decision-making structures.

Speaker: Ms Eva Schick (HafenCity University Hamburg)

16:30 → 18:00 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (A): Cultures, Heritage, and Gatherings

Conveners: Anita Martinelli (Politecnico di Milano), Zachary Mark Jones (Politecnico di Milano)

16:30 A Critical Ethnographic of 'Ziddi' Feminist Socio-Spatial Practices in a Modern-Mohalla of Islamabad

This research identifies and conceptualizes the idea of a ‘Modern Mohalla’ and how it demonstrates intersectionality between formal and informal built environments via a feminist lens of lived experiences and their acts of ‘Mohalla-making’ in post-independence Pakistan. Taking the Government Housing Quarters of sector G-9/2 in Islamabad, Pakistan as the site of study where a Modern Mohalla is observed, this research under an interdisciplinary lens seeks to redress the quantitative approach that existing scholarly work portrays about this intersectionality. It aims to develop a qualitative critical historiographic insight concerning the lived histories of subaltern women in a particular community of Islamabad and their informal communal practices within a modernist environment. This work is a qualitative piece of research that explores the subject of the ‘Modern Mohalla’ in the Government Housing Quarter and its socio-spatial interrelationships by outlining the history of the Mohalla within the broader context of South Asia and linking its impact on the communal structure of Islamabad’s neighbourhoods today. Furthermore, this research aims to decode the relationship between Doxiadis’ theory of Ekistics and whether it serves as a facilitating agency for the feminist Mohalla-making practices. Through a critical ethnographic approach as its research methodology, this research inquiry aims to develop a critical historiographical feminist dialogue that counters the triple absence of women within the design process of Islamabad and the G-9/2 government housing, the existing scholarship concerning feminist spatial practices, and the subject of female lived experiences as archival data. The ethnographic research methodology includes interviews with the women living on site and translating their feminist Mohalla-making practices into drawings. These drawings seek to reveal the historical interrelatedness of feminist communal relationships in a Modern Mohalla of Islamabad that has been unacknowledged for years amidst a socially stratified and patriarchal setup.

Speakers: Ms Sidra Khokhar (National University of Science and Technology), Ms Sidra Khokhar (National University of Science and Technology)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-103_Sidra K.pptx

16:40 Evaluation of the Contemporary Cultural Landscapes in Grand Canal (Hangzhou Section) based on Multi-Dimensional Value Coupling

In the context of building Grand Canal National Cultural Park, the heritage conservation of the Grand Canal has entered a new stage since its inscription as a World Heritage site. In response to contemporary development needs, The urbanization process of Hangzhou City necessitate further urban renewal and cultural landscape enhancements along the Canal. With the successive promulgation of documents such as the General Rules for Land Space Control in the Core Monitoring Zone of the Grand Canal in Zhejiang Province and the Rules for Land Space Control in the Core Monitoring Zone of the Hangzhou Section of the Grand Canal, the issue of value conflicts between heritage preservation of the Grand Canal and local regional development has increasingly drawn attention. In this background, the challenge lies in making informed judgments on various landscape projects along the canal and leveraging cultural landscape initiatives to foster canal-side development while safeguarding canal-related cultural resources and nostalgic canal memories. This issue stands as a pivotal concern in the planning and development of the Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal today. Scientifically evaluating the value of various cultural landscape projects along the Grand Canal is the fundamental basis for coordinating the conservation of World Heritage sites, land use control, and urban development construction of the Grand Canal.

This study has explored the value evaluation framework for the conservation and development of cultural landscapes, focusing on the Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal. Based on the evolution of cultural landscape value paradigm, the multi-dimensional value evaluation system of the Grand Canal cultural landscape is constructed. Based on the coupling coordination degree theory, the synergistic adjustment mechanism of the conservative value and developmental value system of the canal cultural landscape is explored. The value evaluation of the 10 contemporary cultural landscape projects implemented since the application of the Grand Canal in Hangzhou is carried out, and the coupling coordination of their conservation and utilization is analyzed.

Through an analysis of 10 cultural landscape projects, it has investigated strategies for enhancing these landscapes, emphasizing integration of preservation and use, development orientation and comprehensive optimization, and remedying shortcomings to improve quality. Hangzhou section, characterized by its interdependence of city and river, is entering a new phase of establishing a national cultural park. Cultural landscape construction and regeneration projects along the canal is suggested to prioritize value coordination, further enhancing development while maintaining control. This approach seeks to explore pathways for constructing and developing new functional zones within controlled conditions, aiming to create a canal landscape system that integrates seamlessly with urban life and is accessible to citizens.

In conclusion, this research underscores the importance of harmonizing conservation and development efforts in cultural landscapes and provides a reference for the cultural landscape construction along the "city-river interdependence" Grand Canal. By implementing the strategies identified, stakeholders can effectively navigate the complexities of enhancing cultural heritage while promoting sustainable urban integration along the Grand Canal.

Speaker: Dr Wenli Dong (Zhejiang University)

16:50 Canal Imperial de Aragón, the functionality of a water infrastructure and the inheritance of a traditional agriculture landscape in Spain

Canal Imperial de Aragón is one of the most significant hydraulic infrastructures throughout Europe and probable the most ambitious project in the history of Aragón. The project dates to 1528, at the time Acequia Imperial was being conceived, though it was built in the last quarter of the XVIII century. From Fontellas (Navarre) to Fuentes de Ebro (Aragón), this infrastructure has over 100 kilometers of constructed channels for navigation and irrigation purposes.
Initially, the plan was conceived to overcome the meanders of the Ebro River in its middle segment, making it navigable and with a connection to the sea for exchanging agricultural products purposes. Although only one part of it was completed, it constitutes a significant example of a flood irrigation system, as it supplies water to a total of 26,500 hectares irrigated lands on the left bank of the canal, extending to the banks of the Ebro River, with a smooth slope, which allows navigation in both directions.
This area constitutes an example of ancestral agricultural landscapes, built according to soil fertility, scarce water resource, and based on a social organization founded on the collective right to water and land (Ruiz-Varona et al., 2022). The evolution of these landscapes has been closely intertwined with the urban activity, mostly represented by the functional urban areas and main cities that sustained them, among others, Zaragoza. This landscape presents a notorious fragmented mosaic of urbanized territory, while contains spaces of high environmental value, typically of peri-urban dynamics that occur in the interface between agricultural stressed by the pressure of urbanization. However, this enclave of traditional agriculture landscape constitutes a unique heritage in Europe that dates back over a thousand years and are significant for its identity (García-Mayor & Canales-Martínez, 2017).
The spatial and functional complexity of these areas is also determined by the increasingly higher demands for water use control, since irrigators are required to report their water consumption and keep their crop records updated (MITERD, 2023), but at the same time, preserving its environmental and cultural landscape values. Traditional flood irrigation (riego a manta) is organized through irrigation rotation systems and rights allocated to plots. To cover all these plots, ditches and gates are located over the 26 irrigation communities that cover the canal. However, there is a risk of altering this landscape if a more accurate method for calculating water consumption is obtain, instead of the currently used, which relies on land surfaces and historical data.
This work analyzes the main significant elements that characterize this infrastructure, such as locks, or constructions with greater symbolic value, such as Fuente de los Incrédulos, to provide objective reasoning of how these elements have shaped from the past the cultural heritage from today. The study is based on the analysis of the main existing ancient cartographic documents. In addition, based on Geographic Information Systems, this study reconstructs the hierarchy and topological dependencies of all the existing elements (main and secondary irrigation ditches, locks, and floodgates) that comprises the current irrigation network of the Imperial Canal of Aragon. Findings also contribute to clarify the role of this hydraulic infrastructure as a key element of cultural and heritage value within the territory, while also summarizing the main actions currently being implemented to ensure balanced water management without impacting or risking this peri-urban landscape.

Speaker: Marcos Marina-Castelló (Universidad San Jorge)

17:00 Balancing Tourism-Driven Dynamics and Everyday Life in Heritage Space. The case of Tallinn Old Town

The competing interests of various actors around attractive urban heritage sites present ongoing and complex challenges, particularly in the context of increasingly intensifying tourism flows. These issues become even more relevant when viewed from the perspective of residents who are the most immediate preservers of local urban culture. While historic heritage areas of high symbolic value are often prioritized by competitiveness-oriented urban policies, the continuity of local urban cultures in these areas depends primarily on the daily rhythms of residents' lives. The presentation aims to offer a nuanced approach to understand the significance of local time-space specificities to be considered in building an understanding of contemporary touristification and its impact on local communities and urban cultures in gentrified heritage areas.

Drawing on findings from a mixed method study of Tallinn Old Town (UNESCO listed since 1997) residents in 2021, the presentation discusses residents’ – the owners of heritage property – economic and socio-spatial practices to maintain and advance the liveability of the Old Town in the post-gentrification area. Quite contrary to the UNESCO claims to preserve the human environment and it’s social and functional diversity, the neoliberal laissez-faire attitude towards tourism management paves way towards mono-functionality of historical sites which tend to be consumed rather than inhabited (Minguez et al., 2019; also Tena et al., 2025). These developments might reduce the attractiveness of a destination as it loses its authentic character where history meets the modern everydayness. Our research indicates that residents' "small-scale acts of resistance" (cf. Rozena & Lees, 2021) to daily nuisances caused by excessive tourism may be insufficient to counteract place-based negative dynamics (cf. Cocola-Gant, 2018) as touristification becomes disruptive even for those residents who appreciate the vibrancy of a lively Old Town. This highlights the necessity for institutionalized measures and a public strategy that explicitly recognizes local residents (cf. Ferro et al., 2024; Ruis-Ulldemolins & Klein, 2022; Sgambati, 2024) as central actors in sustaining the heritage areas.

Speaker: Dr Liis Ojamäe (Associated Professor, Tallinn University of Technology)

17:10 Exploring the Emotional Dynamics of Beyoğlu’s Transformative Urban Atmosphere through Music Ecosystems

This study investigates the interplay between emotional connections and urban spatial transformations in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, focusing on the music ecosystem as a critical lens. While traditional spatial research often marginalizes emotional dynamics, this research emphasizes how emotions serve as integral components in understanding urban atmospheres and spatial practices. Drawing from the emerging field of emotional geography (Anderson and Smith, 2001; Bondi, Davidson and Smith, 2007; Davidson and Smith, 2009; Parr, 2014), the study underscores the necessity of examining spaces not only through rational frameworks but also through the lived, emotive experiences they invoke.

The research spans the period from 1990 to 2025, a transformative era for Beyoğlu marked by its pedestrianization in 1990 and subsequent neoliberal urban policies. These policies have both revitalized the district and catalyzed challenges such as gentrification, loss of cultural continuity, and shifts in social cohesion (Eder and Öz, 2015; İnce, 2011; Türkün, 2021; Güney, 2015). Like many others, Beyoğlu, once a vibrant hub for Istanbul’s music culture, has experienced the tension between its rich emotional and cultural heritage and the pressures of commodification. Small-scale music venues, artisan workshops, and informal cultural practices have been replaced or marginalized by larger, more commercial projects, disrupting the intricate emotional ecosystem that defined the area.

Focusing on Beyoğlu’s music ecosystem provides a unique perspective on urban emotional dynamics. This ecosystem—comprising small venues, music studios, instrument craftsmen, performers, and audiences—functions as a relational network that shapes the district’s atmosphere. By engaging with theories of affective atmospheres and emotional geographies, this research demonstrates how music ecosystems not only reflect but actively co-create urban emotional landscapes.

The methodological approach combines visual and sensory methodologies with in-depth qualitative interviews to explore the emotional and sensory dimensions of Beyoğlu.The study investigates how emotional ties to spaces are forged through music-related practices and how these connections are impacted by urban transformation. It also explores the performative nature of emotional atmospheres, illustrating how collective experiences in music spaces contribute to the making and unmaking of urban identities.

Findings reveal that music ecosystems play a dual role: they act as anchors of cultural memory and emotional continuity, while simultaneously serving as sites of resistance against homogenizing urban policies. By drawing attention to the relational and emotional underpinnings of spatial practices, this research offers new insights into the possibilities of fostering culturally and emotionally sustainable urban futures.

Ultimately, this study bridges the gap between emotional geographies and urban planning, proposing a framework for understanding urban transformation that is grounded in emotional and sensory experiences. Beyoğlu serves as a case study for illustrating how emotional connections to space can inspire more inclusive, adaptive, and resilient approaches to urban development.

This research is conducted as part of the author's ongoing doctoral thesis supervised by Prof. Dr. Murat Cemal Yalçıntan at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University.

Speaker: Ms Gizem Ak (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University)

FullPaper_250606.docx

17:20 From Rise to Decline and Back Again? Delving into the Potential of Revitalising the Historic Neighbourhoods of Eleftheroupoli, Greece

This study investigates the historic neighbourhoods of Eleftheroupoli, a small-sized town in Northern Greece, aiming to explore how site analysis can unlock regenerative potentials for semi-derelict historic places like this. Eleftheroupoli, a former center of the tobacco industry, has witnessed significant decline in the 1980s, leading to the neglect and abandonment of its once-thriving heritage. Despite the challenges it faces, its historic neighbourhoods hold a significant cultural value that could be recognized as a living cultural landscape. This research aims to explore how a comprehensive site analysis can contribute to the revitalization of Eleftheroupoli by identifying its latent potentials for urban regeneration.
The methodology employed in this study builds on an in-depth, multi-level urban analysis and site assessment, examining Eleftheroupoli both in its current state and within its historical context. The research integrates various approaches to provide a comprehensive understanding of the site, combining traditional methods with digital tools. This includes historical and urban analysis, architectural documentation based on fieldwork and bibliographic material, archival and empirical research, such as interviews with local stakeholders, as well as identifying key administrative agencies. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used for spatial data capture and analysis, allowing for detailed mapping of the site’s evolution. Observations on the historic development of the site were made through the production of orthophoto-mosaics from historic and recent aerial photos (1952, 1973, 2016). Photographical documentation and comparative studies of relevant previous research further enrich the analysis, helping to contextualize the findings. By integrating these methods, the research enhances the standard process of historical urban site analysis with a digital approach, enabling a deeper understanding of the site’s physical, social, and cultural dynamics.
The findings of this study reveal that Eleftheroupoli has experienced a form of protection without conservation, leading to the neglect of its heritage. Although its historic neighbourhoods were demarcated and designated as a protected historic site in 1983 to safeguard its cultural and architectural significance, the lack of active preservation efforts and strategic regeneration planning has resulted in their decline. Nevertheless, the site’s collective memory remains deeply embedded in the local community’s identity, reenacting dormant spatial dynamics. Several narratives emphasize the existence of streams that once flowed through the town, as well as the historic bridges that connected the neighbourhoods on either side. If properly harnessed, these elements could play a crucial role in the neighbourhoods’ regeneration. Eleftheroupoli’s physical space is not merely a relic, but an active participant in the ongoing narrative of the community’s history. Thus, the study calls for a redefined approach to preservation—one that embraces sustainable urban regeneration and addresses the complex challenges of safeguarding cultural landscapes.
In conclusion, this research argues that the integration of fieldwork with digital humanities methodologies can reveal hidden dimensions of urban regeneration. The use of GIS for data capture and analysis, coupled with the engagement of local communities and stakeholders, provides a viable pathway for the revitalization of Eleftheroupoli. By reinterpreting the site’s urban, architectural and lived heritage as a dynamic cultural landscape through both technological and social lenses, it is possible to devise innovative strategies for preservation and regeneration that bridge the gap between the past and the future. This approach calls for a shift in how we view heritage preservation—not as a static, passive act, but as a dynamic, transformative process that can re-energize historic places and offer sustainable pathways for their future.

Speakers: Mr Panagiotis Moutsiakis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Ms Irem Mechmet (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Mr Georgios Mertzanidis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

16:30 → 18:00 T_06 URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE (O): Culture, Heritage, and Interpretation

Conveners: Evangelia Athanasiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Tihomir Viderman (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Dr Zeynep Gunay (Istanbul Technical University)

16:30 Reversing cultural marginality in inner peripheries: the key role of heritage communities

Across Europe, inner peripheries (ESPON, 2017) are increasingly struggling with marginalization shaped by spatial, socio-economic, political, and symbolic dynamics (Schmidt, 1998; Kühn, 2015; Rodriguez-Pose, 2018). From a cultural perspective, marginalization manifests itself as geographical isolation, characterized by a limited access to cultural resources, centers, and infrastructure, such as museums, theatres, and universities. This isolation reinforces perceptions of exclusion, while socio-economic trends, such as the emigration of the youngest and highly educated population, further deprive these regions of innovation and creativity. Moreover, the disconnection from local to global cultural networks, the limited influence on policy-making processes and the persisting urban-centered development models further exacerbates the sense of subalternity of communities living in inner peripheries. As a result, marginal territories are perceived as "places of elsewhere" (Membretti et al., 2022), distant from the values and dynamics of cultural production. This symbolic marginalization fosters a negative self-image within communities, reinforcing narratives of cultural subalternity and isolation.

Despite these challenges, cultural heritage offers an important transformative potential for inner peripheries, acting both as a resource and as a catalyst for change and community empowerment (Duxbury, 2020).
According to the Faro Convention (2005), heritage goes beyond physical artefacts to encompass values, practices and meanings that define collective identities, and it is intrinsically linked to community recognition. The latter is crucial, in fact, to preserve and activate heritage as a resource.
This perspective is particularly relevant in inner peripheries, where cultural subalternity often arises from a lack of both internal and external recognition (Schmidt, 1998). Heritage can serve here as a powerful counter-narrative. Bottom-up approaches to the enhancement of cultural heritage can reverse the perceptions of marginality, fostering new visions and opportunities for local development.

Based on the analysis of the Tammaro-Titerno case-study, in the Campania region, which is part of Italy’s "inner areas" (Barca et al., 2014), this paper explores potential and limitations of cultural practices in strengthening relations between heritage and community. In particular, the first outcomes of a participatory mapping process in a small town of the Tammaro-Titerno area will be discussed. The process highlights the deep historical stratification and the interplay between human practices and physical environment that contributed to shape the unique territorial identity. The community mapping process and the numerous bottom-up initiatives currently underway in the Tammaro-Titerno area allow us illustrating how a shift from subalternity to agency can be achieved through participatory processes and place-based cultural practices.

Speaker: Dr Giada Limongi (University of Bari Aldo Moro - Department of Human Research and Innovation)

16:40 Lived Heritage through the Changing Gaze: A Views and Vistas Analysis for Valletta

This paper investigates the transformative potential of urban planning by presenting the process through which the authors drew up a comprehensive Views and Vistas Analysis for Valletta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Malta’s capital city. As a Mediterranean port city, Valletta's urban form and architectural heritage, deeply intertwined with its maritime history, reflect a rich tapestry of cultural and historical significance (UNESCO, 2023). The theoretical background to the Views and Vistas Analysis shall be presented through three key themes related to Urban Cultures and Lived Heritage: Spatiality, Community and Ritual. Through the first theme, Spatiality, we shall examine the situatedness of a person experiencing a cultural landscape (Bressa et al., 2021). We shall investigate how the city's spatial organization, including its distinctive grid-iron morphology, its robust fortifications, and its characteristic waterfronts, contribute to its enduring cultural value. Secondly, we shall delve into the theme of Community, considering how a viewer’s changing gaze contributes to their intangible experience of the city (Viik, 2011). Here, we shall describe how the pressures of development are altering the city's visual character and its intangible cultural values, such as its sense of place, community spirit, and social fabric. This includes examining how the increasing influx of tourists, the demands of contemporary lifestyles, and the application of development control mechanisms are all factors in the ongoing transformation of the city. Finally, we shall explore how Ritual is intricately linked to the role of the city (Wasserman, 1998), since Valletta was conceived as a bulwark of Christianity that has served uninterrupted as a site of pilgrimage and spectacle. We shall explore how the movement of people for religious ceremonies, daily life, and cultural events such as festivals and parades has shaped the city's sightlines and imbued it with a unique sense of performance and theatricality.
The Views and Vistas Analysis for Valletta was conducted through a rigorous seven-point methodology inspired by literature (e.g. LeBlanc, 2008) international Charters for Heritage Conservation (e.g. ICOMOS, 2005, 2013) and similar initiatives (e.g. DEGW, 2002; Veldpaus and Roders, 2014; Municipality of Florence, 2022), specifically using the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for Valletta (UNESCO, 2023) to identify key view-based indicators. This methodology aims to understand the significance of urban views for Valletta by identifying key visual elements within the city that contribute to its visual appeal, assessing the aesthetic and symbolic importance of these features, determining optimal viewing positions to experience and evaluate these views, analysing the visual composition of the views, considering elements in the foreground, middle-ground, and background, and finally, outlining measures to protect the visual integrity of these key views by mitigating potential threats from development and other factors. This approach therefore seeks to understand and protect the visual character of Valletta by identifying its most significant views and developing strategies to safeguard them. The analysis resulted in a set of key principles for good governance in the interpretation and application of Maltese spatial planning policy. These principles emphasize the importance of assessing the cumulative impact of development within the city and its immediate environs, recognizing that incremental development can significantly impact the city's skyline through the articulation of its roofscape. Ultimately, the Views and Vistas Analysis is a tool to define a Sphere of Influence (UNESCO, 2009, 2011, 2021) around the city, this serving as a zone within which development is to be carefully assessed to maintain Valletta’s urban attractiveness in the way the city is visually experienced both from within and without.

Speakers: Dr Wendy Jo Mifsud (University of Malta), Mr Alexander Farrugia (University of Malta)

AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation_157.pptx

16:50 Characteristics and Mechanisms of the Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Cultural Heritage in the Section of the Yellow River Basin in Qinghai Province

The Yellow River culture is one of the origins of Chinese civilization. The section of the Yellow River Basin in Qinghai Province contains more than 70% of the cultural heritage of Qinghai Province. It is not only the central hinterland for the inheritance of historical culture in Qinghai Province, but also a key node of the heritage corridor in the Yellow River Basin. Analyzing the distribution characteristics of its cultural heritage and exploring its influencing mechanisms have important theoretical and practical significance for the protection of historical culture in Qinghai Province and even in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. Taking 2,727 cultural heritages in the study area as the research objects, this paper uses the Arcgis platform and remote sensing information data to classify and segmentally identify the spatial locations of cultural heritage carriers in different periods. By calculating parameters such as the kernel density analysis model and the nearest neighbor index, it systematically analyzes the characteristics of spatial and temporal distribution. At the same time, based on the perspective of new historical theory, this study examines the generation and evolution of cultural heritage from both historical and geographical dimensions, reveals its main influencing factors and action mechanisms, and proposes corresponding protection and inheritance strategies, providing reference for the protection and inheritance of historical culture in the section of the Yellow River Basin in Qinghai Province.
The results show that: 1) In terms of spatial distribution, the cultural heritages are characterized by large - scale aggregation and small - scale dispersion. The high - density areas are concentrated in Xining City. The high - density core areas in different periods show a fluctuating distribution centered around Xining City. 2) In terms of spatial evolution, it can be divided into six time periods for research: ancient Qiang culture, integration of Han culture, integration of Tubo culture, co - existence of multiple ethnic groups, and relative stability. The cultural heritages mainly show the characteristic of changing from concentration in the Hehuang area to dispersion in the surrounding areas. 3) In terms of influencing factors, the spatial distribution of cultural heritages is affected by key factors such as topography, basin hydrology, climatic conditions, and political culture.

Speaker: Mr 钰芃 刘 (西安建筑科技大学)

17:00 Exploring Spatial Evolution of Traditional Settlement Landscapes in the Southern Taihang Region of China: A Study on Cultural Ecosystem Dynamics and Reconstructive Strategies

Traditional settlement landscapes, exemplifying the symbiotic cultural system between humans and nature, have developed distinctive regional spatial forms and organizational structures within historical environments. Yet, the preservation of China's traditional settlements faces significant threats from industrialization, urbanization, and globalization, leading to systemic fragmentation, diminished developmental momentum, and social imbalances. Addressing these challenges necessitates embedding settlement landscapes within a broader cultural ecological framework to scrutinize their developmental and evolutionary patterns. This study adopts a cultural ecological approach to devise an analytical framework for discerning the evolutionary mechanisms of traditional settlement cultural ecosystems. Focused on traditional settlements in the Southern Taihang region—a central area of the Central Plains culture—this research explores the components, developmental processes, and mechanisms that influence the local cultural ecosystem. The agrarian civilization of Southern Taihang, molded by material, social, and spiritual cultural elements, has evolved from its initial agrarian state, through phases of adaptation to external disruptions, into thriving agrarian-merchant states, followed by a decline due to environmental shifts, and reconstruction through modern tourism. This evolutionary trajectory is driven by interactions among natural environments, economic conditions, and social structures. In response to the imbalances within the cultural ecosystem, this study proposes protective and reconstructive strategies at macro-regional, meso-cluster, and micro-node levels, advocating for the harmonious integration of external natural and cultural environments with settlement ecosystems. It champions a shift from static preservation to dynamic, integrative conservation methods. This research not only provides a novel theoretical perspective and practical pathways for the adaptive reconstruction of traditional settlements in Southern Taihang but also offers valuable insights into the dynamic adaptation and renewal of cultural heritage globally and in similar regions.

Speaker: Dr Jianren Zhi (Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology)

17:10 An Integrated Visual Framework: Using SVIs to Inform Detailed Street Renewal in Historic Urban Spaces

Background: In the context of increasingly unsettled urban development, historic urban spaces serve as crucial physical carriers of a city's culture and memory, providing collective connections that shape the city's sense of social identity. These visual elements of historic streets constitute spatial memory patterns that are deeply intertwined with people's cultural lives. However, with the rapid development of cities, historic urban areas are facing ageing challenges which increasingly demand detailed street renewal to address the various issues of urban instability and imbalance.
Research Gap: Due to the varying levels and unique cultural landscapes across different cities, the overarching policies of core cities are not often applicable to smaller towns. As a result, governments and stakeholders lack effective quantitative references for different scales of urban renewal, hindering the development of their own tailored strategies for cultural landscape protection. To solve this problem, most local governments conduct subjective analyses based on comprehensive local data of the city's unique cultural characteristics and detailed manual investigations for small-scale validation. However, in areas with limited data, the cost of manual investigations is high and the policies may lack quantitative measurements. Furthermore, limited investigations cannot collect data targeted on the specific renewal needs, making it difficult to obtain effective references from existing historic urban renewal cases.
Method: In the era of big data, urban street-view imagery (SVI) provides an opportunity for efficient quantitative analysis (Fan et al., 2023), offering rich visual information which includes diverse spatial elements, building colours, architectural styles, materials, and more (Zhou et al., 2023). These indicators, which support a human-centred analysis of historic streets, can directly inform detailed urban planning guidelines, especially for cultural landscape preservation (Chen et al., 2024). Our research selected Kaifeng as a case study and employed an integrated visual analysis framework to process SVI data for the renewal of historic urban spaces. In the analysis part, we first employed semantic segmentation via computer vision models to extract the spatial perception elements from historic streets of the city, including street vegetation, street building, and street enclosure. Subsequently, we isolated the street buildings in SVI pictures through the Deeplab models, applied computer vision to evaluate their colour distribution, and constructed a colour benchmark for the historical urban area. Finally, we trained a deep learning model for building material recognition and calibrated each historic street with its corresponding symbolic types. These three steps offer quantified references for street element renewal, colour harmony control, and material enhancement in historic urban spaces. In the following implementation, we applied our framework to exemplary cases from the cities of Xi’an and Luoyang, whose historic areas share similarities with Kaifeng, in order to compare the results and derive references that can directly inform detailed street renewal policies.
Conclusion: The quantified results of these indicators validated the efficiency of our SVI-based integrated visual framework, highlighting its capability for large-scale, high-precision measurement of historic urban places. By expediting the formulation of spatial optimization policies for urban renewal and cultural heritage preservation, this data-driven approach provides a computational design solution to address the challenges of dynamic and inequitable urban development.

Speaker: Mr Haoyang He (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China)

Hehaoyang_PPT AESOP-2025-Oral-Presentation-Haoyang He.pptx

17:20 From Large-scale Modernist Planning to Small-scale Urban Blocks: Spatial Transformation Experiments in China's Large Gated Communities

Background:

Modernist urban planning has profoundly shaped urban environments during global urbanization, emphasizing functional zoning, large-scale land parcels, and rapid transit systems. In China, the extensive construction of new towns since the 1990s has been guided by modernist planning principles and executed via regulatory detailed planning. While this approach has facilitated rapid growth, it has also exposed significant deficiencies in spatial quality and long-term sustainability. As a hallmark of this development model, large-scale gated residential communities face critical challenges related to spatial characteristics, functionality, environmental impact, social interaction, and urban identity, highlighting the urgent need for innovative reform (International Panel on Social Progress, 2018).

Purpose:

Despite extensive critique and revision of modernist urban planning concepts within academic discourse, practical applications for transforming large-scale and low-density residential areas remain scarce (Wu et al., 2021). This study seeks to translate these theoretical advancements into urban regeneration practices, addressing the prevalent challenges faced by new residential areas in China. Utilizing the “urban cells” theory as a framework (Cai and Xu, 2021), it aims to explore strategies for the re-urbanization of large-scale gated communities.

Methods:

Through theoretical analysis, case studies, and a spatial transformation design experiment in the core area of Shanghai New Jiangwan Town, this study investigates the theoretical significance and practical approaches to spatial transformation in contemporary large-scale communities.

Figure 1: Status of New Jiangwan Town

Results:

At the theoretical level, a comparative analysis of modernist planning principles and sustainable, human-centered approaches reveals the advantages and operational challenges of adopting models such as mixed-use functions, dense grids, and small blocks. It further highlights the "urban cells" theory as a critical framework for analyzing modernist urban issues.

At the case study level, the analysis of exemplary urban spaces and residential areas clarifies the spatial logic of "Plot-Building-Block-District" and identifies the key characteristics of vibrant, sustainable districts. Furthermore, by examining cases of urban space reconstruction, the study explores densification strategies for spatial transformation and categorizes specific operational patterns.

At the design research level, this study proposes a reconstruction plan for the core area of New Jiangwan Town. Based on the analysis of urban cells, the study modifies the scales of cell units (community blocks) and cell interstices (street spaces), employing a densification strategy to reshape the urban structure and foster vibrant districts. Additionally, the study examines technical challenges in implementation, including ownership changes, legal conflicts, financial burdens, and social frictions, to enhance the operability of the proposed scheme.

Figure 2: Reconstruction Experiment of New Jiangwan Town

Conclusions:

Within the context of China's urban regeneration, this study critically examines large-scale gated residential communities shaped by modernist planning principles, directing the urban design perspective toward spatial quality and sustainable development. In practical terms, the design experiment uses Shanghai New Jiangwan Town as an example to validate the technical feasibility of spatial transformation in large residential areas, demonstrating the broader applicability of spatial densification strategies and the "urban cells" theory. The findings offer both theoretical insights and practical recommendations for the future reconstruction of large-scale gated communities worldwide, contributing to the broader discourse on sustainable urban regeneration.

Speaker: Ms Zihan Ke (Tongji University)

17:30 Reimagining Postgrowth Urbanism: Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Heritage for Sustainable Futures

Amid escalating planetary crises, postgrowth urbanism emerges as a critical paradigm shift, challenging traditional planning models by prioritizing ecological balance, social equity, and community well-being over relentless economic expansion. This paper investigates the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage as a transformative tool for advancing sustainable urban futures. Focusing on regions shaped by extractive industries, such as West Texas and the MENA region, the study examines how these legacy sites can be reimagined to address today’s environmental, social, and cultural challenges.

Drawing on comparative analysis, the research delves into exemplary adaptive reuse initiatives that integrate principles of community participation, climate resilience, and circular economy. Case studies include the repurposing of oilfields into renewable energy hubs and the transformation of former industrial zones into cultural and ecological assets. These projects demonstrate the dual potential of preserving cultural heritage while fostering economic opportunities aligned with postgrowth ideals, such as local entrepreneurship, green industries, and resource regeneration.

However, significant barriers persist, including fragmented policies, financial limitations, and resistance to change. This paper identifies these obstacles and offers actionable strategies, such as leveraging public-private partnerships, integrating flexible financing models, and promoting community-led planning frameworks. These approaches can help bridge the gap between theoretical aspirations and practical implementation, fostering a more inclusive and resilient urban future.

The study contributes to the theoretical discourse on postgrowth urbanism by linking it to actionable design and planning practices. It emphasizes the role of planners as agents of systemic change, advocating for interdisciplinary collaboration to address complex, interconnected challenges. Adaptive reuse, when applied thoughtfully, emerges as a key strategy for reshaping urban landscapes into inclusive, sustainable, and regenerative spaces.

By rethinking urban development in the context of planetary and societal well-being, this work invites dialogue among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers on leveraging industrial heritage to foster equitable, sustainable cities and regions in an era defined by uncertainty and transformation.

Speaker: Dr Asma Mehan (Texas Tech University, USA)

16:30 → 18:00 T_07 INCLUSION (A): Intersectionality, knowledge production and rights II

Convener: Ersi (Varsami) Zafeiriou (DLGS, IOER, TU Dresden)

16:30 The Role of Spatial Alienation in the Journey of Existence as an Actor in Contested Urban Areas: The Case of Kasımpaşa, Istanbul.

Although alienation represents the "arche" of Marxist theory, it has also been an important topic of discussion in terms of urbanism. Parallel to the alienation of man from his labour, his own life and man from man, the aggressive policies of production relations in cities trigger the alienation and exclusion of man from the city. This research examines the levels and types of alienation created by aggressive and neoliberal urban policies on urban space in Kasımpaşa, one of the most chaotic neighbourhoods of Istanbul. The multicultural structure of Kasımpaşa, the fact that it is home to many ethnic groups and immigrants, as well as being rapidly affected by complex urbanisation and the intensity of gentrification projects have been effective in determining Kasımpaşa as a case area. Kasımpaşa is also home to the additional service building of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The main objective of this study is to examine the alienation dimension of the users' relationship with the space from the perspective of local administrators, who are the dominant subjects of Kasımpaşa. Considering the role of local administrators as urban politicians in the decisions taken about the city, the problematic of whether they are real actors in their environment or just passing by and unable to establish meaningful relationships with their environment stands out as the problem that this study tries to solve. The main method of the study is a questionnaire survey and the target group is the employees of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. With this survey, the personal and professional relationships they have established with the neighbourhood and which urban interventions lead to spatial alienation in the neighbourhood will be analysed.

Speaker: Mr Emre Çelebi

16:40 The Cultural Capacity of Cities: Baghdad and Nation-Building

This research seeks to develop an understanding of Baghdad's understudied role in processes of collective identity building and how different visions of citizenship have changed the face of the city. Since the establishment of the Iraqi state in 1921, the capital has been central to questions of belonging and social stability in the country. The richness of Baghdad's ethnic and sectarian traditions, as well as their prominent influences on the urban fabric, make it a unique example. Each phase of the city's history offers insights into processes of identity and nation-building that are hard to find elsewhere. In this sense, Baghdad has gone through different phases, from being a melting pot for all Iraqis to becoming the epicenter of division after 2003.

The focus is on the post-2003 period, especially as the city has regained its role in constructing inclusive visions of nationhood in recent years. Due to the lack of appropriate methodologies, the new concept of "cultural capacity" is developed and implemented here. It serves as a tool to analyze the cultural heterogeneity of the city, the accessibility of its spaces for social interaction, and the visibility it offers to different forms of belonging at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. In addition, the spaces most relevant to these processes are thoroughly documented to provide insights from the perspective of everyday life. The findings are essential to anticipate the role of Baghdad, especially after the end of the last wave of ethno-sectarian violence and the Tahrir uprising in October 2019.

Speaker: Dr Mustafa Obaid (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

16:50 Judicialization of Urban Planning and its Outcomes for Urban Planning and Democracy: A Critical Analysis of the Turkish Context

Urban spatial interventions of central and local governments in Türkiye’s cities in the form of master plans, plan amendments and piecemeal profit-driven initiatives have increasingly become subject to lawsuits in the past few decades. The two institutional actors that are at the center of this process are the Chambers of City Planners and the Chambers of Architects, which are the leading professional bodies having officially recognized authority over controlling the practices in the fields of urban planning and architecture, respectively. The article focuses on the Chamber of City Planners that enacts this legal authority in two ways; firstly, through conducting a professional audit to control whether the urban plans and projects are in line with the principles of the profession and secondly, by filing lawsuits against the plans and projects which violate the basic principles of the profession, such as the protection of the public interest, plan unity and plan hierarchy. These lawsuits are highly influential in the practice of urban planning leading to its increasing exposure to judicial overview and decisions, excluding planners, elected officials and urban citizens. In this article, to define and explain this exposure, we use the term judicialization and judicialization of urban planning.
The concept of judicialization is originally used as judicialization of politics at the intersection of political science and legal studies. Accordingly, it is ‘the ever-accelerating reliance on courts and judicial means for addressing core moral predicaments, public policy questions, and political controversies’ (Hirschl, 2006). In this respect, judicialization refers to a process in which issues that cannot be resolved through the governmental and societal regulations become disputes and brought to the courts. It is also defined as legal and judicial mediations and arbitrations in urban social and political conflicts (Mehmood and Cousins, 2022). Judicialization is a relatively new concept in urban studies and planning and not received adequate research attention yet, despite its rising impact on the implementation of urban development policies and plans, particularly in the cities of the global South. Therefore, it needs further elaboration with national and local case studies and the article provides an analytical perspective in the case of Türkiye in that respect.
We argue in the article that, judicialization in policy areas related to urban development have dramatic consequences for today and the future of cities and urban democracy. We put forward original research evidence based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with the representatives of the Chamber of City Planners, Ankara Branch (hereafter the Chamber). In addition to that, we utilize Chamber’s activity reports where the lawsuits filed by the Chamber are presented. Building on the findings from interviews and reports, we first define the types of spatial interventions that have become subject to a lawsuit, the similarities and differences in between these types in terms of number, rationale, purpose and result. Secondly, building on a critical assessment of the research evidence, we focus on the consequences of the judicialization of urban politics and planning in Ankara. We argue that, judicialization of urban planning occurs owing to the democratic deficit in urban policy making, and that it results in a pseudo-democratization by containing urban conflicts into court rooms and thereby excluding actors and local communities outside of it. It also creates ambiguities in the production of urban space by causing long delays in the realization of plans having further social and spatial consequences. We conclude with a call for a future research agenda and a broader public discussion over the meaning and the consequences of judicialization of urban planning for planning itself, for urban space and urban democracy.

Speaker: Esin Özdemir Ulutaş (İzmir Institute of Technology)

17:00 Reversing the gaze on comparative research in urban sustainability transformations: a decolonial perspective

Comparative research is a social science methodology that entails comparing two or more cases, phenomena, or entities to discern their similarities, differences, and patterns. Comparative research is important for advancing the knowledge for urban sustainability transformations by highlighting diverse practices, policies and challenges for achieving transformations. However, comparative research has been dominated by centring of western paradigms, implicitly positioning other cultures as peripheral or derivative. This methodological dominance has had consequences for what we understand as sustainable and whose knowledge in prioritised in developing future urban pathways. The centring of the western understanding of sustainability has been challenged by postcolonial and decolonial approaches that are conscious of the power asymmetries in comparison. This has led to a second wave of comparative approaches that bring diverse urban contexts and practices in conversation, challenge the universal epistemological and ontological understanding of sustainability and moving towards plural theory building. This paper goes further and points towards a radical and emerging third bold direction in comparative research that involves “reversing the gaze”, shifting the perspective entirely to those traditionally viewed as peripheral, using their experiences and frameworks as the primary lens for comparison. This methodological deviation is based on the current socio-ecological crisis, marked by climate and biodiversity collapse, driven by capitalist and colonial legacies, and the need for alternate and diverse knowledge and practices of sustainability. This paper illustrates the three ways of comparing through examples and discusses their consequences for urban sustainability transformations. It calls on researchers to unsettle power structures and expand the scope of what is compared and how and move towards radically diverse ways of imagining sustainability transformations.

Speaker: Dr Neelakshi Joshi (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER))

17:10 Rightwing Politics Among the Global Leftovers: a comparison from Turkey and Colombia

Right-wing politics are on the rise globally, with politicians increasingly promoting nativism and anti-immigrant rhetoric combined with neoliberal policies. While many theorists might expect marginalized urban populations to turn to leftist politics to improve their living conditions, these groups often align with right-wing movements. Rather than dismissing such choices as misguided, our comparative project seeks to examine what political participation entails, the political discourses that emerge in impoverished urban spaces, and the broader political, economic, and social landscapes that shape these alignments.
Focusing on two marginalized neighborhoods—one in Turkey and one in Colombia—we aim to understand how impoverished populations respond to global political and economic shifts by embracing policies and discourses that often stigmatize them. Despite their geographic and historical differences, these neighborhoods share striking similarities: they predominantly house migrants from marginalized backgrounds, have histories of irregular occupation, are sites of clientelist politics, and have undergone massive urban redevelopment projects. These parallels highlight how global trends disenfranchise and disempower vulnerable populations while incorporating their labor and resources into global economic streams.
By studying these sites comparatively, we aim to create a framework for understanding how global political trends are reframed locally. Our inquiry seeks to destabilize assumptions about political subjects and ideologies, asking: What does “the right” look like in these spaces? How do economic precarity and local dynamics shape political allegiance and participation? What are the stakes for marginalized populations engaging in such politics?

Speakers: Cansu Civelek, Dr Sebastian Ramirez (Princeton University)

17:20 Trading in the Shadows: Women Traders in the Second-Hand Goods Market Area, Küçükpazar

One of the alarming aspects of the global cities is that social and economic disparities and inequalities are deepened and they accompany with the flourishing informal sector. These inequalities have significant impacts on urban space. One of these places, known as Küçükpazar, is located at the outskirts of the Süleymaniye World Heritage Site in Istanbul. The market area is a small square and located at the intersection of a park, a mosque, a car park, and various shops, with quite distinct characteristics from the other places in the historical peninsula. Küçükpazar market area is operated during the day as a formal market place, and after the sunset, it turns into an informal second-hand goods market place. The practice of selling is allowed to operate in a grey area, straddling the line between what is legal and not. The municipal patrol vehicle waits in the square from early morning until sunset, but the time of absence is vague. The vendors' belongings in their suitcases and bags wait in uncertainty in front of the municipal patrol vehicle, the presence of the vehicle becoming the boundary between the informal and formal in the city. The municipal patrol is aware that those in front of them are vendors and that trade will commence once they depart; however, they refrain from intervening with individuals who have not yet unpacked their goods or set them out for display. The unpredictability is caused not only by the coming and going of the municipal patrol, but also by the uncertainty of when they will arrive to stop the vendors' activities and demand the removal of their goods. This situation shapes the market and sometimes threatens its existence.
Selling second-hand goods in public spaces like streets and squares is commonly viewed as a male-dominated occupation in Türkiye. However, women have also appeared as vendors in the informal marketplaces lately.
Based on in-depth interviews and observations, women vendors’ experiences the market are analyzed at the intersection of gender relations and global city dynamics. The flexibility offered by the second-hand market, in different forms of bargaining, lack of costs such as taxes and rent, absence of fixed working hours and social regulations of the formal workplaces come forward as advantages. On the other hand, being in the marketplace as a vendor does not dissolve the gender prototypes, the uncertainty turns the place into a rather unsafe area of the city, starting at dusk.
This research looks at the interplay of the women vendors’ activities at the Küçükpazar marketplace by investigating the gendered dimensions of informality and appropriation of public spaces at the heart of the global city.

Speaker: Ms ELİF FEYZA UĞUR

17:30 Designing Resilient Campuses as Urban Microcosms: Strategies and Interventions for Addressing Vulnerable Users’ Needs Amid Climate Change Risks

Climate change risks affect various aspects of urban life - social, cultural, spatial, or their intersections. How the built environment is conceived and designed affects how people live, work, and recreate and, at the same time, how people respond to risks. Such risks, like urban heat island effects (UHIs), flooding, etc., threaten urban community resilience and increase vulnerability potentials. Research indicates that vulnerable segments of society tend to be disproportionally affected by these phenomena (IPBES,2019). Integrating inclusive design approaches for building resilient urban spaces to such risks ought to not only enhance the capacity to accommodate climate change risks but also promote health and well-being for all, especially vulnerable users.
In this paper, resilient design and strategic responses are jointly investigated using the university campus as a microcosm (Goloshubin & Pavlova, 2022)—a quasi-closed but scalable urban system. In this context, the Campus acts as an urban lab for studying how the city’s-built environment can be designed to reinforce its resilience against climate risks while maintaining and promoting users’ health and well-being.
This study revolves around three main axes. Firstly, it identifies campus vulnerable users and their unique needs (e.g., refuge or restorativeness) to guide resilient policy-making and healthy design interventions. Introverts, for instance, a less visible/researched but equally significant group, are highly susceptible to mental health challenges, often linked to physical activity and academic performance. The second step was to investigate the Campus’ built environment as per its’ spatial composition. Six family groups of elements emerged – transitional, assembly, orienting, structural, configurational, and boundary- which respond to socio-spatial aspects and different user needs. Finally, the study discusses which aspects are to be prominently affected by climate change risks and, therefore, what design interventions and resilient responses need to be prioritized with a focus, specifically, on the vulnerable users’ needs identified and the spatial composition per case. The ultimate objective of the three axes is to create bridges between healthy campus design strategies and resilient planning.
The research develops a set of principles for resilient and inclusive campus design, addressing climate change risks through a conceptual framework that prioritizes 1. accessibility, 2. adaptability, and 3. inclusivity. The results highlight the profound impact of campus design on users' mental health, physical activity, and campus resilient performance (focusing on and including vulnerable groups). These three elements are intricately interrelated, forming a continuous feedback loop: an inclusive and resilient campus environment promotes mental well-being by fostering a sense of safety, belonging, and support; this, in turn, encourages physical activity through accessible and inviting spaces, which enhances cognitive and emotional functioning. Ultimately, the sense of belonging and attachment inspires users to become involved in (re-)creating resilient and cohesive spaces, which can be continually redesigned and adapted to accommodate the necessary shifts required to cope with the impacts of climate change. This loop exemplifies how campus design can create a self-sustaining system of resilience and well-being, serving as a model for urban spaces in a climate-vulnerable world.

Speakers: Ms Ersi (Varsami) Zafeiriou (DLGS, IOER, TU Dresden), Ms Rana T. Abdelkader (DLGS, TU Dresden, IOER)

16:30 → 18:00 T_08 EDUCATION AND SKILLS: Excellence in Teaching Award presentation: Teaching Urban informality at University of Sheffield

Conveners: Melanie Lombard, Philipp Horn

16:30 → 18:00 T_09 URBAN FUTURES: Futuring in planning-specific themes

Convener: PM Ache (Radboud University)

16:30 The power of facilitating through design. Reflections on designerly approaches at the nexus of research, practice and policymaking.

Where design is often narrowly interpreted as ‘giving shape to things’, its potential goes beyond formgiving. This research specifically focuses on the nexus of research, practice, and policymaking in shaping urban futures and the potential of the designer’s role at this intersection of disciplines and scales.

By revisiting key literature of the recent past and examining a range of contemporary projects and practices, the research offers a critical reflection on how historical and current approaches inform and transform the designer’s role. It highlights the importance of understanding the designer not merely as a creator of physical spaces but as a pivotal figure in reimagining urban environments.

A selection of case studies from north-western Europe is used to explore these themes, examining how various projects reflect the evolving narratives and strategies that have shaped design and planning practices over time. These cases, which range in scale and scope, are analyzed not only for their specific outcomes but also for the underlying discourses and tactics that have influenced their development. This approach allows a consideration of how both historical contexts and contemporary challenges inform the designer's role in different settings.

This research positions designers as key agents in bridging the gap between theoretical frameworks and practical applications. It emphasizes the importance of their engagement with the regulatory and institutional “dark matter” (Orff, 2016) that often dictates the feasibility and scope of urban projects. By critically reflecting on past and present strategies, designers can question existing norms and contribute to new visions that respond to contemporary urban challenges.

The research also reflects on the designer’s toolkit. More specifically it underscores the importance of their capacity for visual storytelling—using maps, sketches, and renders to articulate potential (urban) futures—as an essential tool for engaging diverse stakeholders and fostering dialogue. This capability allows designers to navigate the complexities of policy and practice, contributing to more inclusive and adaptable urban futures.

Ultimately, this research advocates for a reconceptualization of the designer’s role as one that transcends disciplinary boundaries, positioning them as facilitators of change who draw upon both historical insights and current innovations. By reflecting on both established and emerging discourses, the study provides a nuanced perspective on how designers can contribute to creating sustainable, equitable, and visionary urban environments.

Speaker: Ms Sophie Leemans (KU Leuven)

16:40 Research on the Potential for Future Development of Labin and Raša in Istria

Small and medium-sized towns and cities represent the very important elements of the polycentric urban structure of the European Union. They have a crucial role in regional economic development and social well-being while providing jobs and sustaining local and regional services. Those entities have the possibility to offer good living and working conditions, helping the local community to attain a good quality of life. They demonstrate intrinsic value for European environmental and cultural heritage. Research on small and medium-sized towns provides insight into unexplored potential for shaping sustainable urban-rural relations. Based on comprehensive spatial planning different integrated and place-based policy measures should be suggested in order to make the most of their development assets.
In order to choose the most suitable development direction for small and medium-sized towns, it is necessary to consider besides regional development plans, the possibilities and potentials of the space at the local level taking into account the long-term needs of the inhabitants.
The aim of this work is to emphasize the importance of the scenario method in planning the future development of small and medium-sized towns and cities that is used in the education of future spatial planners in order to be able to choose the best possible scenario for long-term development of the selected area.
For this research, Labin and Raša in Istrian Peninsula were chosen as a case study, due to their specific historical significance in the economy of the region and rich potential for future development. The city of Labin and the municipality of Raša are located in the eastern part of Istria between Plomin and Raša bays covering the area of 152,7 km2 with a population of 13 233 inhabitants (2021). The administrative area of the city of Labin (72,3 km2 with a population of 10 424 inhabitants) today includes the central settlement of Labin and 16 other settlements, and the municipality of Raša (80,4 km2 with a population of 2 809 inhabitants), along with the central settlement of Raša includes another 22 settlements. The settlements are characterized by a variety of spatial, cultural and socio-economic specificities. In the 19th and 20th century the area was known for its mining activities as a basis of its economy. Planned mining settlements were built in both central settlements: Arsia (today Raša) in 1936/1937, designed by the Trieste architect Gustavo Pulitzer Finali, and Pozzo Littorio (today Podlabin) as a suburb of the historic core of Labin, built in 1940-1942, designed by the Roman architect Eugenio Montuori. At the end of the 20th century, all coal mines were closed, which led to the need to change the economic orientation of the area. The city of Labin has focused on small and medium-sized enterprises, the opening of economic zones and tourism, while the municipality of Raša sees its potential, besides the cement factory in Koromačno, in agriculture especially in the Raša valley, in fishing, and in tourism thanks to two camps and large number of private accommodations.

Project made within the Spatial Planning Workshop at the master’s Study of Architecture and Urbanism proposed the vision for the future development of Labin and Raša. The development vision is the result of the elaboration of five different possible scenario - "Karbona", "Kulturizam", "Koza Nostra", "Dystopia" and "Dispersion", and their valorisation according to the set development goals and related criteria. For the purposes of vision realisation, necessary activities in the form of different development project for a period of 25 years were proposed.

Speaker: Prof. Lea Petrović Krajnik (Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb)

16:50 Looking for justice in a temporary urban greening experiment

Greening projects have begun to dominate urban planning as a presumed ‘public good’ initiative, carrying with them a wealth of claims to bolster health, well-being and social cohesion. Yet, such projects are often conceived and implemented without attention to their political contexts, ignoring the power asymmetries and injustices inherent in urban governance and the inevitability of winners and losers (Anguelovski et al., 2020; Connolly, 2019; den Dulk and Buizer, 2024). This neglect is problematic in a climate of ever greater and political and social polarization, which threatens efforts to mobilise support for a sustainable and socially just transformation (Fearn and Davoudi, 2022). An action research investigation of a municipal-led temporary urban greening experiment in Munich, Germany, offers a lens through which to examine these dynamics. Combining participant observation, interviews and document analysis, embedded in a process of reflexive monitoring and evaluation, this study explores how different values, preferences and norms are negotiated over the course of creating and caring for two site-specific interventions in an inner-city neighbourhood. The project experience reveals challenges engaging meaningfully with the realities of groups already active at each site; tensions between the aspiration for longer term transformation and the constraints of the temporary; and contradictions between efforts to mobilise support for a shared vision, while allowing different perspectives to be articulated. These findings highlight both the agency and inadequacy of municipal authorities as custodians of democratic participation in local communities, with implications for the potential to anchor recognition of and engagement with difference in formal urban planning institutions and processes, as part of wider transformative change (McClymont, 2019; Verloo and Davis, 2021).

Speaker: Ms Eleanor Chapman (Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technical University of Munich)

17:00 SUBURBANIZATION IN TURKEY: TOWARDS ANTIFRAGILE PLANNING

In recent years, alongside globalization, the population has been rapidly increasing and cities have been evolving accordingly. This phenomenon has led to urban expansion and intensified pressures on urban areas. As cities expand towards the suburbs, examining suburban areas has become more important for the future of cities. Suburbs are generally consumerist, residential settlements where the middle and upper classes are concentrated. Especially in the last two decades, suburban studies have sought a new conceptual framework to go beyond the traditional dichotomies of urban space, namely the center-periphery division. As has been discussed by several scholars recently, the socio-spatial and socio-economic polarizations that constantly occur with the expansion of suburbs are fundamental points to be dealt with. In Turkey, this suburbanization process began to emerge in the 20th century. The upper middle class in Turkey also tended to live in these areas in order to 'classify and differentiate' themselves and to want to live in lower density areas. When the first steps of this suburbanization process (planned) were taken, moving to detached villas with gardens in Istanbul was a class indicator that was abandoned for a more 'civilized' environment. In Ankara, this process started a little later and gained momentum with the middle class. However over time, the expansion of these areas has triggered the effects of unequal spatial distribution. Moreover, they have transitioned from homogeneous structures to more complex spaces characterized by socio-economic inequalities. Therefore, social and spatial fragilities emerge. Additionally, the construction of suburbs based on traditional approaches, along with changes in urban futures, is expected to exacerbate environmental, social, and economic fragilities due to uncertainties arising from globalization and urbanization-driven population growth, as well as risks related to climate, finance, and health. These fragilities, together with the fact that cities are complex phenomena and their futures are uncertain, have made them critical concepts that must be thoroughly examined to ensure an equitable and just future. However, old narratives cannot provide sufficient long-term solutions for suburbans. The study therefore examines the limitations of current planning paradigms and the planning processes of suburbs, embracing the uncertainty of the future of cities, emphasizing the need for sustainable and even equitable solutions and ‘transformative and adaptive’ new narratives. Urban planning generally transforms fragile structures while designing areas and communities that are ‘resilient’ against these uncertainties and risks. However, the concepts of fragility and anti-fragility, recently put forward by Taleb (2012) and Aven (2015), aim not only to provide resilience against these shocks, but also to strengthen them by feeding on uncertainties and complexities. In this context, compared to traditional planning approaches, this perspective offers a new anti-fragility approach to cities in a more innovative framework. The study investigates how “Anti-fragility Planning” approaches can be integrated in suburbanization processes in the future, aiming to reduce socio-spatial fragility, strengthen communities and emerge stronger from unexpected challenges or risks. Therefore, the method of this study examines old narratives and fragilities that emerge in suburbanization processes, and there are theoretical discussions and literature comparisons that include new narratives based on the research question of what suburbs could be like in the future of cities with more anti-fragile approaches that can cope with these uncertainties. Consequently, particularly in suburbanization in Turkey can build their capacity in the face of existing fragility or future uncertainties and unpredictability can emerge. For future research, this study can also lead to the development of new approaches to thinking and action practices that embrace uncertainty and complexity in creating an innovative, just, equitable urban future with its antifragile perspective.

Speakers: Mr Deniz Çam (Politecnico di Milano), Ms Çağlanur Kösel (Politecnico di Milano)

17:10 Next Generation EU. The Case of Rome Two strategic actions within a list of projects

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is the most significant economic resource plan ever allocated to Italy. However, it was not developed based on a comprehensive assessment of the needs across various sectors. In Rome, this structural deficiency is especially noticeable. Notable gaps include the lack of funding for Roma camps and anti-violence centres, insufficient efforts to combat the housing crisis, and inadequate social investments that do not effectively address the long waiting lists for elderly citizens entitled to home care services.
This text not only presents the content of the PNRR but also explores the narrative used to communicate and guide its implementation. It provides a detailed account of the formation of the PNRR in Rome, the context of its implementation, and the related projects. Additionally, it offers an in-depth analysis of two strategic initiatives: the Integrated Urban Programs (PUI) and the Fori Project, explicitly focusing on the projects related to the Monumental Archaeological Center of Rome (CArMe), which play a vital role in the urban development of the city.
The three PUI interventions—Corviale, Tor Bella Monaca, and Santa Maria della Pietà—are described as innovation hubs that combine building renovations with the development of public spaces. Their goal is to incorporate intangible projects that address the real needs of local communities alongside the physical improvements. Implementing the PUI has actively engaged third-sector organizations, trade unions, and neighbourhood associations, promoting authentic participatory processes. This significant involvement of the third sector is a crucial outcome of these efforts, enhancing appreciation for the genuine community engagement that has been fostered.
An experimental active labour policy inspired by the French model of "Territories with Zero Unemployment" has been implemented as part of the PUI framework. Additionally, the establishment of 30 Civic Hubs enhances the PUI initiatives. These community centres are designed to offer a range of services and resources, creating a strategic approach to addressing the needs of Rome's peripheral areas. This approach centres around three main focal points, supported by a network of 30 civic hubs distributed throughout the city.
The Monumental Archaeological Center of Rome (CArMe) project focuses on the Fori area, the Colosseum Park, the Circus Maximus, Celio Hill, and the Archaeological Walkway. This initiative builds upon a wide array of existing projects within Caput Mundi, which includes efforts led by Rome's municipal government and initiatives promoted by the Ministry of Culture. The goal is to create a comprehensive and integrated strategy for the preservation and enhancement of these historical sites.
A detailed analysis of projects and resources reveals an iterative implementation process designed to address the gaps left by the PNRR by integrating additional funding from European and national programs. This retrospective systemic approach emphasizes the urgent need for extra funding to compensate for the PNRR’s shortcomings in addressing critical intervention areas that are vital and non-negotiable for a city like Rome.
The discussion concludes by addressing how the intangible aspects of the PUI—further enhanced by the involvement of the third sector—are integrated into the plan. However, the resources available for this dimension are minimal, especially compared to the significant investments in physical infrastructure, which total only €2 million.

Speaker: Prof. Giovanni Caudo (University of Roma Tre)

17:20 Community Perspectives on Co-Planning Practices in Disaster Risk Reduction: Lessons Learned from Istanbul in the Tomorrow’s Cities Project

According to UN-Habitat, over 2 billion people are expected to live in cities worldwide by 2050, which may increase disaster risk from devastating earthquakes and growing threats of floods and landslides, worsened by climate change. This scenario underscores the urgent need for local governments and planning authorities to create inclusive and risk-sensitive urban planning practices that support the achievement of sustainable and resilient cities.
The Tomorrow’s Cities Project (Urban Disaster Risk Hub funded by UKRI) was established to engage in integrated, multi-scale, and multi-disciplinary international research and implementation aimed at mitigating disaster risk for poor and marginalized groups in expanding cities throughout the Global South. The project seeks to enhance the capacity of local governments and communities via the Tomorrow’s Cities Decision Support Environment (TCDSE), facilitating a better understanding of multi-hazard risks, their drivers, and the reciprocal impacts of urban planning decisions. Additionally, it aims to improve national and local decision-making processes to reduce disaster risk in future (tomorrow’s) cities.
TCDSE employs a staged process that enables iterative clarification of the disaster risk consequences stemming from urban planning decisions, promoting the optimization of urban planning for low-risk futures. A vital element is the community-based risk reduction approach, which begins with participatory future visioning practices, such as co-produced urban plans and future-oriented exposure models that establish risk agreements in the cities of tomorrow. Consequently, levels of community participation and attitudes are critical for enhancing community resilience, which is essential for mitigating future urban disaster risk.
This study presents the community perspective on the co-planning approach, known as “urban scenarios," within the TCDSE deployment in Istanbul, which was pivotal in shaping the TCDSE framework. The deployment took place in one of Istanbul's vulnerable areas, the Büyükçekmece district, which is also experiencing urban expansion. The study involved six different marginalized groups to establish a community-oriented urban planning approach. A series of workshops were organized with residents and local government representatives to develop urban scenarios that reflect the unique characteristics of these community groups. In this study, we will share the outputs and lessons learned, emphasizing key strategies that highlight the importance of community engagement in urban planning and ensure local ownership to support disaster risk reduction policies.

Speaker: Dr Nuket Ipek Cetin (Gebze Technical University, Urban and Regional Planning Department)

20:00 → 23:59 AESOP Gala Dinner

Thursday 10 July

08:15 → 09:00 Registration

09:00 → 10:30 RT_14 PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN CROSS-BORDER INITIATIVES: PRACTICES, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Convener: Nataliia Yehorchenkova (Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava)

09:00 Project management in cross-border initiatives: practices, challenges and opportunities

This roundtable will focus on the role of project management in addressing the challenges faced by EU cities, with a particular emphasis on cross-border urban projects. As cities contend with pressing issues like climate change, energy transition, digital transformation, and sustainability, effective project management is important for fostering collaboration, optimizing resource use, and achieving long-term goals.
Project management frameworks, based on global best practices, provide structured approaches, method, models and tools to planning, executing, and completing projects efficiently within defined timeframes and budgets. Frameworks such as Agile, PRINCE2, and PMBOK are effective in managing resources, risks, stakeholder and team collaboration. They incorporate planning and monitoring tools, such as Gantt charts, project dashboards, and key performance indicators, to ensure tasks are scheduled, tracked, and adjusted as needed. By utilizing these frameworks and tools, projects can maintain clear timelines, monitor progress, and address complex challenges effectively while delivering practical, sustainable results.
The discussion will highlight how management practices can bridge gaps between stakeholders, align diverse interests, and ensure that urban initiatives deliver sustainable and equitable outcomes. From the project management side the discussion can emphasise specific project management tools and approaches that fit best the needs of EU cross-border projects. It will also delve into the complexities of managing urban transformation projects in the EU, for example how cities must navigate a variety of regulatory frameworks, cultural differences, and competing priorities. Topics will include how to overcome governance fragmentation, address funding uncertainties, and drive innovation to build resilient and inclusive urban spaces.
Key topics for discussion include:
• Best practices in managing cross-border projects.
• Governance, funding, and stakeholder coordination challenges.
• The use of project management tools and methods to improve project outcomes.
• Lessons from successful EU urban projects and partnerships.

Speakers: Prof. Anna Growe (Institutsleitung Institut für Urbane Entwicklungen), Prof. Annalisa Rollandi (The University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)), Prof. Elona Karafili (Universiteti Polis), Prof. Eva Purkarthofer (Aalto University), Prof. Karina Pallagst (RPTU Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität), Prof. Maros Finka (SPECTRA Centre of Excellence EU at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava), Dr Nataliia Yehorchenkova (SPECTRA Centre of Excellence EU at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava), Dr Oleksii Yehorchenkov (SPECTRA Centre of Excellence EU at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava), Prof. Sylwia Dołzbłasz (University of Wrocław)

09:00 → 10:30 RT_15 PLANNING PROFESSIONALISM AND RE-BUILDING TRUST IN A POST-TRUTH ERA

Convener: Hannah Hickman (University of the West of England)

09:00 Planning professionalism and re-building trust in a post-truth era

This roundtable will look at trust in planning and trust in planners with a focus on professionalism and expert knowledge in a populist, polarised “post-truth”, era, where the sense of “public interest” remains vital but is in dispute. In a broader international context, trust in institutions and experts is often deemed to be under pressure. However, looking more closely to trust in institutions studies show that this is only true among specific groups in society (e.g. those geographically far from governments seats, marginalized groups etc.). However, exemplified by traditional and social media, feelings of distrust of an ongoing crisis in trust in institutions and experts effect planning and planners. Especially, as trust in planning matters because planning is at the heart of increasingly contentious – and at times polarising - debates about tackling global challenges around climate, access to housing, health, and inequality. This round table, It will enable critical consideration of the commonalities and differences in the role of planning and the planner in different contexts.

It will draw on divergent experiences in the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK outline differing relationships with residents, governments and knowledges; to seek commonalities and difference between practice and practitioners. We seek new framings of how relationships of trust vary over time and context, and aim to add more conceptual and empirical depth to these questions of key social and academic importance.

Critically, this discussion aims to explore how and if we can learn through international comparison to re-building trust, critical for ensuring planning’s positive role in tackling key global challenges.

Speakers: Hannah Hickman (University of the West of England), Dr Jasper de Vries (Wageningen University), Katie McClymont (UWE Bristol)

09:00 → 10:30 RT_19 CITY, DIVERSITY AND TOLERATION: THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF PLURALISM

Conveners: Francesco Chiodelli (Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, University of Turin), Stefano Moroni (Polytechnic University of Milan)

09:00 City, diversity and toleration: the legal and political geography of pluralism

The roundtable arises from the conviction that the issue of “pluralism” – and the connected question of toleration – is today, more than ever, a crucial theoretical and practical problem in need of critical debate. The roundtable discussion is based on the recently published book “The Legal and Political Geography of Pluralism Supporting Diverse Public and Private Spaces in Contemporary Cities” (2025), by Francesco Chiodelli and Stefano Moroni. This book addresses questions of pluralism in a time of increasing ethnic, religious and cultural diversity in the public and private spaces of our cities, by analysing different types of regulation – property rights, municipal ordinances and urban planning. In the same vein of the book, the roundtable reflects on the kinds of rules public institutions should adopt in relation to “private spaces” as well as which ones they should promote in relation to “public spaces” in order to protect and support pluralism.

Speakers: Prof. Carlo Fabian (University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland), Federico Savini (University of Amsterdam), Prof. Hanna Mattila (University of Aalborg), Nufar Avni (Politecnico di Torino), Tihomir Viderman (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Tuna Tasan-Kok (University of Amsterdam)

09:00 → 10:30 RT_24 HAS THE PANDEMIC BOOSTED INNOVATION? EXPLORING URBAN TRANSITIONS

Conveners: Camilla Perrone (University of Florence), Valeria Fedeli (Politecnico di Milano)

09:00 Has the pandemic boosted innovation? Exploring urban transition

The COVID-19 pandemic created a brand new social, economic, urban environment. Actors, at any scale and nature (public, private, firms, associations...), experienced completely unpredictable contingent situations and indefinite horizons. The fuzziness of the situated exigences was concurrent with the strictness of the policy and laws to limit the spreading of the virus. In the frame of transition studies and the spatial turning literature, the round table discusses what followed the pandemic shock, evidencing hints from case studies and theoretical reflections on transitions. The aim is to debate changes in times of poly-crisis, and if those have the potential for a permanent restructuring of spatial practices and imaginaries. Evidence from case studies at the table will discuss the role of the space in recovery policies with respect to four specific sectors (cultural and leisure activities and tourism; people and goods' mobility; higher education; manufacturing activities), while the theoretical contributions will reflect on (possibly new) roles and approaches in planning theory to deal with the post-pandemic poly-crisis and transitions.

In the frame of a National Interest Research Project (“Plastic or elastic? Exploring the spatialities of post-Covid 19” coordinated by Valeria Fedeli, Politecnico di Milano), the organisers put on the (round) table the following questions:
1. What role have the crises, here namely the pandemic by COVID- 19, in restructuring the relations of people, firms, and institutions with spaces?
2. Do the crisis and the externalities produced by them have an impact on innovation? Which actors and which fields are more responsive in these processes? And if so, which role has the space in prompting or experiencing innovative practices?
3. What is the role of the public in enabling or disabling new relations of actors with the space for boosting innovation?

Results of the RT will be valorised in the deliverables of the Research Project. Moreover, depending on the interest and results of the discussion, the organisers will draft a theoretical manifesto to challenge Italian policymakers and actors coping with systemic disruptive change by generating collaborative governance of transition space.

Speakers: Prof. Camilla Perrone (University of Florence), Federica Fava (Roma Tre University - Department of Architecture), Flavia Giallorenzo (Università degli Studi di Firenze), Flavio Martella (Università degli Studi Roma3 - Department of Architecture), Giovanni Caudo (University of Roma Tre), Giulio Giovannoni (University of Florence), Valeria Fedeli (Politecnico di Milano)

09:00 → 10:30 SS_12 RETHINKING ACCESSIBILITY IN THE 15-MINUTE CITY: GLOBAL PROJECT INSIGHTS

Conveners: Ebru V. Öcalır (Gazi Üniversitesi), Özge Yalçıner Ercoşkun (Gazi Üniversitesi)

09:00 Evaluating the 15-Minute City Concept in Ankara: Resident Perceptions of Accessibility in Çankaya and Keçiören

The concept of 15-minute cities has gained global attention as a sustainable urban planning model aimed at creating cities where residents can access essential services and amenities within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from their homes. This model emphasizes accessibility, reducing reliance on cars, and fostering more livable and inclusive urban spaces. This study explores the perceived accessibility of two districts in Ankara, Türkiye (Çankaya and Keçiören) through the lens of the 15-minute city framework. The research employs walk-along interviews as the primary methodology, engaging local residents in real-time assessments of their urban environments. This study is a part of the DUT-funded project, AccessCity4All.
The walk-along interview method involves participants in walking with the researcher through their neighborhoods while sharing their experiences and perceptions of accessibility, convenience, and safety. This approach allows for an in-depth exploration of how residents interact with their urban space, highlighting the gaps between idealized planning models and lived experiences. By focusing on Çankaya, an affluent old district with high infrastructure, and Keçiören, a more densely populated area with varying levels of new development areas, the study contrasts the accessibility of two different urban contexts within Ankara. Preliminary findings suggest that while both districts have areas that align with the 15-minute city ideal, significant challenges remain, particularly in terms of pedestrian infrastructure, safety concerns, and access to essential services in more densely populated or less-developed areas. Keçiören residents, though less educated, are pleased with their streets, having shaped them into their version of a 15-minute city. Meanwhile, Çankaya residents, who are more educated, often criticize their streets for problems like lack of cleanliness, obstructive pavements, and poor quality.
The study highlights the importance of considering local context and resident perceptions in urban planning, and it calls for a more inclusive approach to designing cities that truly prioritize accessibility for all citizens. These findings contribute to the growing discourse on sustainable urban mobility and the practical realities of implementing the 15-minute city concept in diverse urban environments.

Speaker: Prof. Ebru Vesile Öcalır (Gazi Üniversitesi)

09:10 Positive and Normative dimensions of accessibility by proximity for supporting a fair and sustainable 15 min city model

The presentation introduces several dimensions of the concept of accessibility by proximity that may better frame the actual contribution of proximity in different planning experiences finalised to promote the Xmin city model. Challenging an acritical use of the proximity concept based on the physical spatial-temporal conditions and a focus mainly on dense compact urban contexts, the presentation proposes to enrich this concept by combining a functional dimension of proximity, with a relational one, focused on the exchange of resources and collaboration spontaneously activated in a community, sharing specific accessibility-related needs, problems and mobility opportunities.
Based on this, the presentation aims at