The congress hosted an exceptional line-up of keynote speakers, who engaged the audience with critical reflections on pressing challenges for planning theory and practice:
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Maria Kaika (University of Amsterdam) – Urban Political Ecology: Prefigurative Planning for a Climate Emergency
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H. Tarık Şengül (Middle East Technical University & Coordinator of Istanbul Plan 2050) – Planning Istanbul in Hard Times with(out) Great Expectations
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Julian Agyeman (Tufts University) – Just Sustainabilities in Policy, Planning and Practice
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Ayda Eraydin (Middle East Technical University) – The Paradoxical Potential of Interregnum: Exploring Opportunities for Transformative Planning in Times of Crisis
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Federico Savini (University of Amsterdam) – After Green Growth: Satiation as the Strategic Impulse for Spatial Planning
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Yuri Kazepov (University of Vienna) – The Green Transition Challenge: Social and Environmental Inequalities in Housing
The congress concluded with an inspiring closing session featuring Simin Davoudi, Erik Swyngedouw, and Willem Salet, offering a forward-looking reflection.
These talks, now accessible to the AESOP community and the wider public, offer insightful perspectives on climate change, sustainability, social justice, urban resilience, and transformative planning futures.
👉 You can watch all the keynote videos here: AESOP 2025 Istanbul Congress website
