Abstracts

Track 1 – The compact, inclusive city

In recent years, planning authorities far and a wide have embraced the concept of the 15-minute city or 20-minute neighborhood, as a way of framing policies on attractive, socially inclusive, healthy and sustainable communities with active transport and local access to open space, shops and services. Simultaneously we see in face of ever-increasing global mobility and intercultural dynamics a wide ranged interest in exploring the people-place nexus, how people relate to their urban environment and foster a sense of belonging. In this track we explore different aspects of governance, policy instruments, community involvement and policy priorities for the compact, inclusive city.

Salvör Jónsdóttir, University of Iceland
Ólafur Rastrick, University of Iceland

Track 2 – Cities and democracy

In this track we focus on democracy from a broad urban and regional perspective. We reflect on citizenship in the city and changing patterns of civic engagement and political participation. The track invites both panels and papers on various topics in relation to the local level such as multi-level governance capacity, participatory governance, civic engagement, political institutions and patterns of decision making at the local level.

Grétar Þór Eyþórsson, University of Akureyri
Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė, Vytautas Magnus University

Track 3 – The changing composition of cities: managing the urban and regional setting

Management of the urban setting has always been complex, but global developments and emerging new technologies add further challenges. This track will explore the city as a social realm concerning the provision of affordable housing, efficient use of resources and balancing private and public space. It is devoted to availability, accessibility and affordability of social services to citizens.

Anna Karlsdóttir, University of Iceland
Bjorn Egner, Darmstadt University

Track 4 – The smart city

While the pandemics allowed us to appreciate the importance of the places we live in, it also gave us a preview into a future of the smart city, with home working and online shopping and cultural activities. In this track we explore how emerging technologies are changing and shaping cities and urban life with automated and shared mobility, e-commerce and other innovations and how governance and planning of cities can shape the future in the smart city.

Ásdís Hlökk Theódórsdóttir, University of Iceland
Katarzyna Szmigiel-Rawska, University of Warsaw

Track 5 – Managing cities in modern day crises

This track looks at the concept of “crisis” in relation to urban and regional settings. Covid-19 was a wake-up call as it pointed out the vulnerability of the functions of urban life. People’s lives were seriously disrupted over a long time and in some parts of the world continues to be so. The pandemic not only revealed shortcomings of modern city life but also put the relationship between regions and their urban and rural settings into a new perspective. The refugee crisis following the Ukraine war is further testing the boundaries and capacity of cities.

Benjamin Hennig, University of Iceland
Frauke Kraas, University of Cologen
Harald Sterly, University of Vienna

Track 6 – The resilient city

The extreme heat in Europe in the summer of 2022 has left no one unaware of the severity of the impacts of climate change and that action cannot wait. Urban planning and governance of cities have a key role to play, both to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and in adapting the built and natural environment to the changes already happening and anticipated in the future. In this track we explore different dimensions of planning, community involvement, governance, and policy instruments for resilient and sustainable cities.

Harpa Stefánsdóttir , Agricultural university of Iceland
Sara Moreno Pires, University of Aveiro