Call for Papers: Themes and Topics

Download the ISOCARP_-_Call_for_Papers

Water is everywhere. Water related issues are significant in planning of any type and scale. All cities around the world were built along waterways, or along a coast of an ocean, sea or lake. The multifaceted relationships between urban planning and water has structured and influenced the development of metropolitan areas, cities, towns, rural areas, villages, and even neighborhoods throughout history and will always do so. The location of settlements and their spatial planning was directly related to water issues since early times. Then water related issues like drinking water, food, safety, trade, nomadic lifestyle and other issues may have been the most important aspects which shaped planning, societies, cultures, and the environment. Over time, in different continents, countries, climates, civilizations and cultures, the role of water in planning has changed. Today, water related issues, and their role in urban and regional planning set major challenges which are addressed almost in any plan or project worldwide, and cause “Urban Transformations” in many aspects. There are water related places which champion urban planning and livelihood of cities and demonstrate the essence of “Urbanity” and the “Quality of Urban Life”, like urban waterfronts, city centers in proximity to rivers or coasts, neighborhoods, ports or other parts of the urban fabric. Some urban waterfronts, for example, are world-known. These may include Shanghai, Barcelona, New York, Sydney, and London, but actually good waterfronts, or a potential to create a good waterfront, can be found anywhere around the globe, both in historic and new parts of cities and towns, and more recently also port areas which have been opened up and were transformed into “Urban Celebrations” of the cities surrounding them. Excellent case studies can be found also in small scale, like many examples which will probably be presented and discussed during the congress.The issues of waterfronts and port cities are definitely fascinating with many inspirational examples, but water and cities is a much broader and complex topic than just good urban designs of waterfronts along the inspirational sight of a sea, lake or river, or the relationships between ports and cities. It touches almost every aspect of urban planning and the creation and transformation of urban patterns both in areas which face water shortage, and in areas which suffer from floods and climate change. It is deeply rooted in the essence of planning being comprehensive, interdisciplinary and multifaceted. The theme of the conference “Urban Transformations – Cities and Water” opens the opportunity to touch all aspects of urbanity and the inherent relationships between the urban planning and water issues, from all angles, in all disciplines, and various scales. Urban planners, environmentalists, sociologists, infrastructure planners, economists, river restoration planners and managers, decision makers, researchers and other professionals will enlighten their aspects and views. People from diverse disciplines, countries and professional backgrounds will present analyses of the past or the present, predictions of the future, research, planning or teaching. We are all expected to be amazed how global, wide, comprehensive and acute the relationships between cities and water are. The broad picture, drawn by the individuals during the conference, will hopefully provide every one of us with awareness, knowledge, knowhow, tools, sensitivity, and passion to face these challenges in our daily professional life.

“Urban Transformations – Cities and Water” opens the floor for a huge and diverse list of issues and topics which will be discussed during the congress. These will reflect all planning scales: metropolitan, urban, city centers, waterfronts, greenways, urban focal points, neighborhoods and specific projects. Speakers will present and discuss plans, projects, case studies, researches, evaluations, theories and methodologies. These will blend across different topics and will demonstrate how comprehensive, complex and fascinating planning is as a bridge between theory and practice. This congress is expected to proof again how interventions involve multilevel, collaborative, cross-border and trans-disciplinary approaches.

The concurrent sessions of the congress will be held in 6 tracks. These are with “open margins” meaning that some overlaps between them might be realized, but this is due to the complexity and multi-dimensional nature of planning. The definition of tracks, and list of possible topics of each, is aimed to stimulate any planner, either to submit a paper, or to participate at the congress. The list is aimed to be comprehensive enough to touch the professional work of any planner globally, but we are certainly open to have feedback if something is missing. Authors of papers on interdisciplinary case studies or projects are encouraged to choose the track which they think is most relevant to the core and essence of their paper. Following the selection of papers for the tracks, each track will be subdivided into sessions, with a separate theme of each. This will make the structure of the congress coherent, hierarchic, with mutually exclusive sessions which will allow the participants a clear choice, and the congress team a platform for drawing clear conclusions at the end of the event.

Congress Tracks >>>

• 24 Mar: Deadline for abstract submission (extended to 31 March)
• 28 Apr: Authors will receive selection results
•   9 Jun: Deadline for completed papers requesting peer-review
• 23 Jun: Deadline for completed papers not requesting peer-review
• 30 Jun: Deadline for authors to confirm their presence
• 21 Jul: Deadline for PPT presentation submission
• 23 Sep: 50th ISOCARP Congress opens in Gdynia, Poland