38th AESOP Annual Congress | 19–23 July 2027 | Birmingham, United Kingdom
From Grey to Green: Planning and the De-Carbonisation of the City
📢 THE CALL FOR ABSTRACTS IS NOW OPEN!
We are delighted to invite planning scholars, researchers, practitioners and students from across the world to submit their abstracts for the 38th AESOP Annual Congress, hosted by the University of Birmingham.
Please find below the official Call for Abstracts, including the Congress theme, scientific tracks, submission guidelines and further information from the Local Organising Committee.
Dear AESOP Colleagues, Planning Scholars and Friends,
We are excited and looking very much forward to welcoming you in Birmingham for the 38th AESOP Annual Congress in the summer of 2027. The UK’s 2nd city - young, multicultural, dynamic - yet marked by the impact of post-industrialisation embraces urban renewal, transformation and innovation. This year’s congress theme, “From Grey to Green: Planning and the De-Carbonisation of the City”, reflects on the competing challenges planners face around housing, well-being, biodiversity and much more while addressing the profound implications for the climate crisis and its many manifestations. Reconciling these imperatives is at the crux of contemporary urban planning practice and thinking.
The theme invites participants to explore and discuss how cities and regions can become greener (literally and metaphorically) and adapt to climate change impacts to become healthier and more resilient and thriving places. There will be important implications for contemporary and future planning professionals in respect to skills, aptitudes, knowledge regarding structures, governance, funding mechanisms and much more. There will need to be far greater interdisciplinary collaboration between disciplines but also between practice, industry, academia and the civic sector to facilitate the transition to greener liveable cities and regions.
We look forward to welcoming participants from across the globe to share insights, foster connections, and envision a shared future. Beyond the conference sessions, the city of Birmingham offers an inspiring backdrop—a living laboratory presenting various challenges, controversies and offering valuable lessons for planners from urban renewal to historic preservation, urban forests and community energy generation. Join us as we come together to foster transformations in our cities and regions toward greener, low-carbon, resilient and healthier societies and future.
In this call we invite you to submit your abstracts for the following scientific tracks for individual paper/poster presentations.
TRACK 1: Planning and Law : Laws as a catalyst for change; legal frameworks for greening/planning
TRACK 2: Mobility: Transport, land use integration and sustainable mobility planning, modelling
TRACK 3: Property Market Actors: Property market actors; financialisation, sustainability
TRACK 4: Placemaking, Urban Design and heritage conservation: Transformation potential of design
TRACK 5: Public space and urban culture: Urban experience, identity, sense of belonging and cultural landscapes
TRACK 6: Planning Education: Innovative pedagogical approaches and curricula for managing change and the grey to green transition
TRACK 7: Technologies and Methods: Emerging and classic digital technologies as methods and transformative triggers for planning
TRACK 8: Governance: Planning and democracy; Institutions, policy instruments, multi-level and/or place-based governance, legitimacy
TRACK 9: Theories: Critical approaches to planning theory, theory building
TRACK 10: Rural Planning: Rural spatial development planning, environmental conservation, food production and security
TRACK 11: Housing and Health: Planning for affordable cities, green and healthy housing and neighbourhoods
TRACK 12: Risk-Resilient Planning: Planning for mitigation and prevention of disasters, hazards and rebuilding
TRACK 13: Environment and Climate: Sharing knowledge and ideas for long-term sustainability and climate adaptation of cities and regions
TRACK 14: Inclusion: Planning for diverse, multicultural cities and societies
TRACK 15: Economics: Economic(s) of planning and land development including alternative and circular economic models
TRACK 16: Complexity and Future Transitions: Changing mindsets via novel, innovative methods and narratives for sustainable, just and green futures
TRACK 17: Ethics and Justice: Exploring (in)justices of grey to green transition, ethics and values
Please note – you may submit up to 2 individual papers for presentation per lead/presenting author. Individuals, additionally, can also be part of one round table or special session, or submit a poster.
AESOP accepts presentations with the option of a full paper submission. High-quality papers are considered for Best Congress paper award. The Best Congress Paper Award (BCPA) was introduced in 2005 to recognize congress papers that stand out in terms of their relevance, quality and originality (theoretical, methodological and empirical). Clarity of argumentation and presentation is also considered. The selection is made by track co-chairs and the BCPA Committee, who encourage ambitious author(s) to submit publishable / journal-quality congress papers. The Award offers the author(s) a public recognition and visibility, a monetary grant, and an invitation to be reviewed for publishing in the AESOP’s Transactions Journal. You can need to indicate your intention to submit a full paper and can also self-nominate your submission later for consideration for the Best Paper Award. For criteria and past BCPA recipients see HERE
Please visit the AESOP 2027 Birmingham website for more information!
For Questions relating to abstracts or the congress more generally, please contact us:
The congress website will be continually updated with further information. Please watch out for the call for Special Sessions and Roundtables in beginning of December.
We are looking forward to receiving your submissions!
Andrea I Frank, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Chair of Local Organising Committee for AESOP 2027
Austin Barber, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Deputy Chair of LOC
