By Ulrich Graute and Nadine Bitar Chahine, General Rapporteurs of the Congress
In preparation of the 61st World Planning Congress, ISOCARP held its content-meeting and some additional partner-meetings between 15 and 18 September 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “The in-person meeting brought together different groups working together to make the Congress a success” concluded Ulrich and added “Online communication cannot substitute the advantages of in-person meetings for team building and trustworthy cooperation.”
Composed by ISOCARP’s Internal Congress Committee, the two General Rapporteurs and the local organizing committee of the Congress the content meeting was dedicated to finalize the programme structure (Mock-up), discuss roundtables, special sessions and many other content related aspects which require coordination with management and logistics of the Congress.
Frank D’hondt, ISOCARP Secretary General and head of the ISOCARP delegation in Riyadh summarized the meeting with these words “While experiencing once again incredible hospitality and kindness by the city of Riyadh, we jointly made great strides to pave the path to an exciting 61st ISOCARP World Planning Congress in December.”
The first main achievement of the meeting was the agreement on the Mock-up programme, i.e. the visualization of the overall programme defining slots for plenary and parallel sessions, roundtables and technical tours. Like in a puzzle, slots for dozens of plenaries, keynotes, roundtables paper and special sessions had to be assigned to the four days programme of the Congress.
A very fruitful discussion was dedicated to the Opening Plenary of the Congress. His Highness the Mayor of Riyadh holds two university degrees in urban planning and gained in Riyadh practical experience in implementing his research findings in urban planning of this fast-growing metropolis. It happens not often that a mayor with such a strong academic and practical background in urban planning and development hosts a World Planning Congress in his city.
Riyadh congress will include a series of roundtables that sheds light on relevant regional and city planning undercurrents that are shaping regional and global urban policies and plans. Inspired by the discussion on the Congress opening, the content-team dived into deep and fruitful discussions on a series of roundtables including one on Urban Growth: Planning cities at speed and scale, one on Future Foresight and Scenario Planning Trends and another on The Resilient City: people and places in action.
“As the premier platform for the global urban community to discuss from a strategic perspective how can regions and cities plan and act for livability and resilience, the roundtables are conceived as high points for conversing, discussing and exchanging knowledge, best practice and lessons learnt from different planning approached across scales and disciplines. We have gone through many deliberations to invite high level panelists from Americas, US, UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and GCC for a diverse rich and inclusive perspectives,” said Dr Nadine Bitar Chahine, Co-General Rapporteur of the Congress. One outstanding result of the discussion was the outline of an additional roundtable Public Space and Place Making. In addition, the team discussed special sessions that analyses in more depth urban growth, identity, urban resilience, national planning, urban governance and AI in urban planning.
In addition to the two-day content-meeting, the ISOCARP delegation also explored the city and met with Marija de Wijn and others of UN-Habitat’s Quality of Life Initiative to discuss partner events scheduled for the Congress.