“FROM WEALTHY TO HEALTHY CITIES”
Urbanism and Planning for the Well-being of Citizens
In Search of a New Planning Agenda for Urban Health, Socio-Spatial Justice and Climate Resilience
The past decades witnessed a flow of unexpected challenges, with profound impacts on social, economic, and environmental spheres, deepening inequalities between places and between different segments of society, and the sharpening of trends of uneven development, culminating in widespread urban crisis. Urgent issues such as climate change, bio-cultural diversity, poverty, homelessness, food security, natural disasters, migration, urban refugees, and gender inequality have become crosscutting concerns in many countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these global challenges. Cities around the globe are trying to cope with the impacts of the health crises triggered by the pandemic, which shone a powerful light on other forms of inter-connected crises induced by longstanding pro-growth policies. The pandemic health crisis has intensified existing socio-spatial inequalities and vulnerabilities, denoting a paradigm shift that urges us to rethink the way we build our cities. Improving the quality of our living environment can foster a more sustainable and resilient approach to public health, putting prevention and promotion of health at the forefront while reducing fossil fuel reliance.
There is a clear need for a vision for a new era of pandemics and long-term plans for recovery. In that sense, the pandemic also opens a window of opportunity for transformative action. Many cities are already debating how to respond to complex issues of environmental, health, and socio-spatial injustices and to "(re)-build better".
Highlighting such a paradigm shift, ISOCARP and the Brussels-Capital Region will welcome city-regions in both Global North and South to come together at the 58th ISOCARP World Planning Congress to advocate for transformative action based on equitable, resilient, and inclusive planning for the well-being of our societies.
The Congress will provide an opportunity to envision ways to heal and start "building better" with healthy people, healthy planet, healthy economy, and healthy governance as the driving force to bring us closer to an economy that is socially, spatially and ecologically just.
Building on the theme and outcomes of the 57th ISOCARP World Planning Congress on "Planning Unlocked: New Times, Better Places, Stronger Communities," this year's Congress will further explore a "New Planning Agenda" to foster the implementation of the United Nations New Urban Agenda as well as the European Territorial Agenda and related European Green Deal, both centred on the notion of "healthy cities for all".
Zeynep Enlil, General Rapporteur
ABSTRACT DEADLINE:
The deadline for abstract submission is 8 July. Please continue below for more information and links for submission
THE CONGRESS TRACKS
TRACK 1: HEALTHY PEOPLE
Track Team
Manasa Garikaparthi, Şebnem Hoşkara, Jolanta Zarazycka
Focusing on the health and well-being of all segments of society, Track 1 will explore different approaches to advancing urban health, and equity, and socio-spatial justice through place-based and socio-spatial planning. The Track will look at planning and design focusing on community well-being, such as slow and local food, preventive health and behaviour; and the impact of the physical environment on physical and mental health, such as the 15' city, 45' city regions, housing as the building block of living, and quality public spaces. The Track will explore inclusive planning to meet the needs of diverse populations over the lifespan -including children, women, people with disabilities, aging citizens, immigrants, and refugees- to achieve the well-being of societies.
Focusing on the health and well-being of all segments of society, Track 1 will explore different approaches to advancing urban health, and equity, and socio-spatial justice through place-based and socio-spatial planning. The Track will look at planning and design focusing on community well-being, such as slow and local food, preventive health and behaviour; and the impact of the physical environment on physical and mental health, such as the 15' city, 45' city regions, housing as the building block of living, and quality public spaces. The Track will explore inclusive planning to meet the needs of diverse populations over the lifespan -including children, women, people with disabilities, aging citizens, immigrants, and refugees- to achieve the well-being of societies.
Join Us to Explore:
- People-centric Planning and Design: Social, political, and spatial dimensions of inequality and approaches to overcome them; empowerment of vulnerable and marginalized groups; child and women-friendly cities; promotion of bottom-up approaches, citizen engagement, and co-creation.
- Urban Safety and Universal Accessibility: Improving the safety of urban spaces, and reducing communal clashes in cities; planning for just, equitable and inclusive environments, and 24/7 cities; access for all to leisure, social services.
- Public Spaces: A framework for creating a healthy public realm; holistic approaches for green and blue infrastructure, quality public spaces, community streets, and parks; local food production, social life, and recreational facilities; post-covid urban transitions; placemaking as a tool to address physical and mental health.
- Heritage, Culture, and Health: Socio-economic and cultural influences on cities and planning; the impact of cultural ideas, perceptions, customs, and behaviours; religion and spiritual beliefs; and practices in cultural heritage in shaping a healthy city structure.
- Sustainable Urban Mobility: Sustainable modes of transportation to promote healthy living; complete streets prioritizing pedestrian movement; walkable and transit-rich cities and regions;
- Healthy Neighbourhood and Housing: Mainstreaming climate resilience in housing; creating complete neighborhoods, net-zero neighborhood planning, and design; health policies for sustainable environments.
- Digital Well-being: Impact of information and communication technology, real-time data monitoring, smart cities, artificial intelligence, generative design principles, and the mitigation of health impacts of digital learning and working.
TRACK 2: HEALTHY PLANET
Track Team
Roger Brewster, Hossam Samir Ibrahim, Aleksandra Stupar
A major challenge of our times is that climate change, as a 'global wicked problem', necessitates immediate action. This and other problems, such as energy transition, often trigger related environmental, social and economic turbulence, and moral, political and professional conflicts of interest that create winners and losers. Nevertheless, the global response led by the United Nations is reaching consensus to prioritize climate change mitigation and adaptation with the aim to de-carbonize city-regions towards net zero by 2050.
Track 2 Healthy Planet comprises the many interdependent aspects of our planet relevant to solving issues in city-regions at scales ranging from local to planetary impacts. Considering the evolving global uncertainties and growing existential fears, this track encourages rethinking what is a sustainable and resilient planet, embracing both qualitative and quantitative measures of long-term sustainability and resilience that also take into account urban eco-footprints and social, regional, international and intergenerational equity for natural and mineral resources.
This track will focus on the planning and action strategies needed at all scales to address climate-sensitive features of urban life. We invite planning professionals, place-leaders and activists to join us to explore report or debate, at both theoretical and practising levels:
- Changes Affecting and Threatening the Biosphere:including nature, animal and human habitats, food and water security.
- Nature-Based Solutions: conserving bio-diversity and integrating natural and urban metabolic systems.
- Natural Disasters:addressing increasing impacts in a changing climate.
- Environmental Migration-Redistribution:addressing migration caused by climate change induced sea level rise.
- Energy Transition:driving a paradigm shift in rethinking the creation and use of long term viable sustainable built environments, including transport and mobility.
- Examples-Case Studies:implementing city region resilience planning to ensure communities are as prepared and adaptable as possible in the face of increasingly frequent challenges.
TRACK 3: HEALTHY GOVERNANCE
Track Team
Shaakira Conan, Evren Ülker-Kacar, Dirk van de Putte
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of effective public health and welfare systems, and policy. Integrating public and environmental health and human well-being in the core of urban planning and policy making processes will enable practitioners, academics and policy makers to create healthier, more resilient and equitable cities and communities. Track 3 will explore how participatory territorial governance, based on holistic and integrative approaches to environmental and urban development, and grassroots movements can contribute to innovative strategies and tools for integrating public health and well-being into spatial and community policy and planning.
Join Us to Explore:
- Public participation, Transparency and Accountability:How can we strengthen active public participation, transparency and accountability to promote environmental justice and to achieve healthier, diverse, and more equitable communities?
- Understanding Inequalities: How can we better understand the inequalities that exist in our communities; and can implementing grassroots movements help drive broader social change and achieve healthy governance?
- Planning Tools: What planning tools can planners and policy makers use to ensure access to infrastructure that supports physical activity; clean air, and water; healthy food; affordable housing; jobs/housing balance; and transportation? How can data, indicators, and planning methodologies be leveraged to scale up pandemic resilience and citizen well-being, and to ensure socio-spatial justice?
- Environmental Factors and Health:How can we better understand the impact of various urban factors on health, and how do built and social environments affect well-being?
- Live-Work Considerations:How can we co-create and collectively organize new modes of living and working to attain a better future for all?
- Territorial governance challenges:What should be the role of territorial governance in promoting healthy lifestyles? How can territorial governance contribute to improve access to health and social services and help to reduce health inequalities between different socio-economic groups and vulnerable people?
- Promoting social cohesion:How can we promote social cohesion and ensure the wellbeing of inhabitants? How can governance contribute to addressing, managing or eliminating conflicts between different policy fields? How can territorial governance promote intersectorality and involvement of all relevant actors, including citizens?
TRACK 5: HEALTHY ECONOMY
Track Team
Rouve Binge, Dorota Kamrowska-Załuska, Frederik Serroen
At the heart of the Congress Theme, Track 4 explores the ultimate paradigm shift needed to transition from growth-based development to place-based and circular economies. The planning community is central in delivering and maintaining the spatial processes and solutions needed for this transformational shift to a new economic reality. It is a complex and multiscale effort that runs along the local-global continuum. These challenges and opportunities must be understood to ensure that happy, secure, equitable and just neighbourhoods, cities, and regions are realised.
Economies underpin the majority of our daily decisions and actions, and economic performance directly influences our welfare, quality of life and livelihoods. Unfortunately, economies and urban systems are becoming increasingly burdensome, unjust, and manipulated, resulting in unhealthy and vulnerable communities. The planning community has a responsibility to promote, through its expertise, methods and collaboration, a fundamental shift towards a 'new' healthy economy for cities and society at large.
Join Us to Explore:
- Urban de-growth and post-growth economies:Implications for society, the environment as well as urban development, planning practice and theory.
- Regenerative urban systems and practice:Insights into the regenerative process in terms of planning, design, and implementation for the promotion of a healthy economy.
- Radical reshaping of the built environment:Exploring innovative, SMART and socio-environmentally relevant practices and technologies for urban infrastructure through the entire supply chain - From conception to construction!
- Housing as a fundamental right:A critical re-evaluation of the housing market as well as the creation of new and alternative types of homes and neighbourhoods, creating a thriving cooperative sector and collectively co-shaping the future.
- Descaling, sharing and localisation:Promoting local and sustainable experiences, resource use, supply chain management plus less waste within the sharing and circular economy.
- Cultural and creative economies:Innovative, indigenous, context-sensitive and resilient practices from communities for the promotion of individual and collective livelihoods.
CONGRESS WEBSITE: https://isocarp.org/58th-wpc-brussels-2022/
Congress Contributions: Be Part of the Congress Programme
Presentations in Track Sessions
Planners come from all parts of the world to share their knowledge and experience, forge and renew friendships, to gain insights into cutting edge planning from around the world from colleagues in contexts both similar to and very different from their own. An ISOCARP Congress offers a unique combination of scientific content, diverse perspectives, and collegiality. The most rewarding way to be part of this is to give a Presentation of a Paper or Case Study in one of the Congress Tracks.
Research Papers + Case Study Reports
The International Society of City and Regional Planners prides itself on a history of strong contribution to the Planning Profession, in large part through the wealth of research and documentation of case studies and planning methodologies that is shared at the annual ISOCARP World Planning Congresses. All papers submitted per the Submission Guidelines are published online in the Congress Proceedings, and ISOCARP strives to have the Congress Proceedings indexed within the Web of Science and published electronically with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), and made available in ISOCARP's searchable paper platform following the Congress.
Contribution Categories
Abstracts are welcome in the following 4 Categories, A-D:
A. Research Paper + Track Presentation
Research Papers should represent an academic contribution to an area of planning within one of the Track topics. This option is for Congress attendees, requiring both submittal of a full Research Paper and a presentation in person at a Congress Track Session. Research Papers will be included in the Congress Proceedings and ISOCARP searchable paper platform, and published and assigned an International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
B. Research Paper
Research Papers should represent an academic contribution to an area of planning within one of the Track topics. Research Papers can be submitted without presentation, and is ideal for those who are unable to travel to the Congress. Research Papers will be included in the Congress Proceedings and ISOCARP searchable paper platform, and published and assigned an International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
C. Case Study + Track Presentation
Case Study Reports contribute to Planning Practice by providing evidence and evaluation of work – a specific project, plan, policy or design – that can either be completed or still be in the implementation phase. Case Studies will be shared via short presentations at Congress Track Sessions, and the presentations will be included in the Congress Proceedings
D. Proposal for Special Sessions + Roundtables
Propose a 90-min Special Session or Roundtable focusing on an innovative, cross-cutting, globally relevant topic that intersects with several or all Congress Tracks to form the basis for a 90-minute Special Session or Roundtable. Proposers must identify and coordinate all session speakers or facilitators, and will develop and submit a final Session outline. Discussion, audience engagement and active participation are highly encouraged, as are innovative non-traditional formats.
Access Submission Guidelines here: ISOCARP Congress Submission Guidelines
Submit Your Abstract: Abstract Submission
