AESOP newsletter - November 2024

PLANNING AS A TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION IN AN AGE OF PLANETARY CRISIS

Istanbul, Yıldız Technical University, 

Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning 

Dear AESOP Community! The Department of City and Regional Planning of the Faculty of Architecture at Yıldız Technical University is happy to invite you to Istanbul on July 7-11, 2025 for the 37th AESOP Annual Congress 2025.

The...

The call for hosting the 2027 AESOP Congress is now open.

All Full and Associate AESOP Member institutions are warmly encouraged to apply.

The deadline for the submission of the bids is February 27th, 2025. 

The decision will be made by the Council of Representatives at the meeting in Liverpool on March 12th, 2025. 

The candidates will be kindly asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation for the Council...

The call for hosting the 2026 AESOP PhD Workshop is now open! 

All Full and Associate AESOP Member institutions are warmly encouraged to apply[1].

The deadline for the submission of bids is February  21st, 2025. 

The decision will be made by the Council of Representatives at the meeting which will take place during the AESOP 2025 Heads of School Meeting in Liverpool, on March 12th,...

AESOP is looking for candidates willing to organize the AESOP Lecture Series in 2025. 

The application has to be from an Academic on behalf of an AESOP member institution.

The Lecture Series was initiated in 2012 as part of the AESOP’s Silver Jubilee Year celebrations. Since then, a series of Lectures have been regularly organized with prominent ‘urban thinkers’, both academics and practitioners. The idea has been to attract not only the local...

2025 AESOP Excellence in Teaching Prize

Teaching and capacity development in the field of spatial planning is one of the main activities of AESOP Member Schools. Thus, in 2002, AESOP introduced a prize (https://aesop-planning.eu/activities/awards/excellence-in-teaching-award ) to recognize and encourage Excellence in Teaching.

Through this award, AESOP celebrates and disseminates innovative practices...

AESOP is pleased to announce the call for the position of President.

This prestigious leadership role is central to the Association’s strategic direction and collaboration within the global planning education community. 

Position Overview

According to Article 23(c) of the AESOP Charter, the President serves a two-year term, starting in August 2026 and concluding in July 2028....

AESOP is pleased to announce the call for the position of Treasurer.

This key role involves overseeing the financial management of the association and contributing to its long-term stability and success.

Position Overview

As outlined in Article 23(e) of the AESOP Charter, the Treasurer serves a four-year term, starting in August 2025 and concluding in July 2029. 

Key Responsibilities

AESOP is pleased to announce the call for the position of AESOP’s representative in the Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN).

Position Overview

As outlined in Article 23(f) of the AESOP Charter, the AESOP GPEAN representative serves a four-year term, beginning in August 2025 and concluding in July 2029. The elected candidate will act as AESOP’s voice within GPEAN, fostering...

Oren Yiftachel,  Lloyd Hurst Family Chair of Urban Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Planning, identity and violent conflict: the spatial making of apartheid in Israel/Palestine.

October 25th, 2024, 17h - Auditório Seda Nunes, ICS-ULisboa

The first session of the 2024 AESOP Lecture Series took place at the Institute of Social Science of the University of Lisbon (ICS-ULisboa).

The event was organized...

Christopher Webster (Urban Systems Institute (USI), University of Hong Kong)

Healthier Cities, Healthier People – Can we re-unite urban planning practice with epidemiological research to foster active longevity by design?

November 6th, 2024; 17:30 – G11 Alan Walters Bldg, University of Birmingham

The second session of the 2024 AESOP Lecture Series took place at the University of Birmingham UK.

The event...

Legitimate and Inclusive Planning Education for Changing and Challenging times​​

University of Liverpool

Planning theorists and educators have long grappled with the issue of what gives planning and planners legitimacy to ‘pronounce’ on the forms and outcomes of development that serve the public interest. The current political and societal climate underscores the enduring relevance of such questions. The rise of populist and anti-truth...

We are delighted to announce the release of the Book of Proceedings of the 36th AESOP Annual Congress | Game changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions.

You can find it within the AESOP Eprints.

You can also access it on the AESOP Paris Congress website, along with the latest version of the Book of Abstracts and the Congress Program.

We once again thank the Paris LOC for their precious work!

The newly released Volume 8, Issue 1 (November 2024) is a themed issue exploring "conformorality" - a concept combining conformity and morality, with insights relevant to urban planning ethics. 

Dipl. Architect ETH SIA Thomas R. Matta, former treasurer of AESOP, sadly passed away in November after a prolonged illness.

Matta was educated in architecture with a specialization in urban and spatial planning at ETH Zurich (1967–1972). After completing his studies, he worked as a planning practitioner until 1995, in various planning offices and through his own firm, which he established in 1978. In 1991, he was appointed professor of spatial planning at HSR...

Call for papers for the ARL Congress 2025

27-28 March at the Leopoldina in Halle an der Saale, Germany

With society facing multiple crises and challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequality, swift socio-ecological transformations towards sustainability are called for. 

At least since the 2011 report by the German Advisory Council on Global Change, the need for this ‘Great Transformation’ with its associated reorganisation...

We would like to invite you to submit Panel and individual paper proposals to the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference 2025 special Section ‘The Return of Land Politics: New Imaginaries, Debates and Challenges’. You can review the Section abstract here: https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/SectionDetails/1504

The 2025 conference will take place in Thessaloniki, 26-29th of August 2025. We have space for up to seven Panels...

Ciudades 29 (2026)
“Processes, actors and temporalities of the institutionalisation of urban planning. On the seventieth anniversary of the 1956 Spanish Land Law”

Dear colleagues, this call aims to stimulate contributions aimed to address the implementation and consolidation in Spain of a modern legislative framework for town planning. All proposals that address this issue in its various dimensions and manifestations are welcome. Below...

Important Dates

The Regional Studies Association’s Annual Conference 2025 #RSA25 is being held in partnership with the School of Economics and Management at the...

AESOP Thematic Group Public Spaces and Urban Cultures

Call for Expressions of Interest to host the Thematic Group’s Meeting 2024-2026

"Public Spaces, Urban Cultures, and Hope"

Working theme written by the TG PSUC’s Coordination team [Tihomir Viderman (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Matej Nikšič (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia), Evangelia Athanassiou (Aristotle University Thessaloniki)]. Reviews and revisions by TG PSUC’s...

The AESOP Thematic Group Ethics, Values and Planning is delighted to announce the publication of a themed issue: "Exploring Conformorality in Planning Debates: Perspectives and Implications"

Conformorality is an intriguing concept that describes the tendency of individuals within a particular group or community to align with specific moral views and values. What role does conformorality play in planning debates? This special issue delves into the...

An der Fakultät für Architektur und Raumplanung ist derzeit eine Laufbahnstelle voraussichtlich ab 1. März 2025 Vollzeit (40 Wochenstunden) zu besetzen. Dem ländlichen Raum wird trotz seiner Bedeutung für Bewohner und Bewohnerinnen, Tourismus und Unternehmen vor Ort und seinem Potenzial als Innovationsraum sowie als Partner der urbanen Räume vergleichsweise geringes Augenmerk in Forschung und Lehre geschenkt. Ländliche Regionen nehmen sich häufig als...

Job opportunity at the University of Birmingham, UK

The School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham is seeking to appoint an Assistant Professor in Sustainable Urban Development and Design to help develop and deliver our exciting range of postgraduate and professional education in the Urban Planning field. A background in the fields of urban and/or landscape design along with some experience of studio style teaching...

The Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan invites applications for the Fishman Fellowship, established by and named in honor of Professor Emeritus Robert Fishman. This fellowship is open to individuals who are in the process of completing or have recently completed a Ph.D., a professional degree in architecture or urban planning, a research-oriented post-professional master’s degree, or a research-focused master’s degree. Potential...

Symposium: The political economy of housing production under late neoliberalism

Date: Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd May 2025

Venue: Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, London.

Organisers: Dr Chris Foye (University College London), Dr Edward Shepherd (Cardiff University), and Dr. Lan Deng (University of Michigan).

Contact email: c.foye@ucl.ac.uk

Summary

This 2-day symposium will bring together state-of-the-art...

Call for Papers: Ideology, Power and Expertise in the Political Economy of Land Policy

For a Panel at the ECPR General Conference 2025 Section: The Return of Land Politics: New Imaginaries, Debates, and Challenges, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 26 – 29 August 2025

Please submit your abstract (max. 500 words) to Edward Shepherd (ShepherdE6@cardiff.ac.uk) by 17:00 on Friday 13 December.

Abstract:...