October 24-25th
«Equitable urban futures» directs attention to a host of different attractions for urban residents, as well as how they are distributed within and between individuals, groups, and communities:
- How are amenities allocated across the urban landscape?
- To what extent are public transport, greenspace, restaurants, health services, sports activities, and clean air and water accessible?
- Who are exposed to noise, pollution, congestion, harassment, and criminality?
Cities are homes to the richest and the poorest.
Urban dynamics convert societal transformations in unjust and uneven ways if we do not govern adequately.
We know that unequal purchasing power, rising house prices and living costs cause socioeconomic segregation through the housing market.
We know that cites offer jobs with poor contracts and failing union support.
We know that concentration of equity goes hand-in-hand with concentration of poverty, social outsiderness, and neighbourhood depression.
Social exclusion, inequality and segregation are prevalent in cites, and produce communities that are world-apart. Urban renewals enrich urban life and livability in cites, but how can we ensure that urban upgrading is accessible for all and without displacing existing residents?
How to create a just transition towards sustainable, nature friendly and decarbonized futures with active engagement of citizens?
The conference will explore and debate urban dynamics, policy, involvement, and governance for more equitable urban futures.
Call for abstracts!
We welcome abstract submissions for this year’s conference. The submission deadline is September 2nd. You can submit abstracts for the following tracks and panels:
1 Just urban transition
Under this overarching theme we invite papers to the following panels and papers that address the topic from supplementing angles:
- Co-created urban circular economies – how to ensure equitable and sustainable change to co-created urban circular economies: Hege Hofstad, Gavin McCrory, Trond Vedeld and Kristian Tvedt from Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), in collaboration with Håvard Haarstad from University of Bergen and Hendriks from Utrecht University organize a panel discussing transition governance and welcome papers that align to this complex topic.
- Green and ecological gentrification: Rebecca Cavicchia from Nordregio, Roberta Cucca from Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), and Ander & Per Gunnar Røe from University of Oslo arrange a panel that investigate theoretical and methodological implications related to green and ecological gentrification. They invite papers on this and related topcis.
- Food, Activism, and Collaboration: What is the role of public organizations in supporting low threshold green and social meeting places? These can take place in the form of community gardens that bring us closer to the origin of food and how we connect to the earth. This panel asks whether a more community-oriented approach can bring city development in a more sustainable direction. Kristin Reicborn-Kjennerud at Work Research Institute (AFI) invites papers on collaboration across silos, responsiveness to residents and the role of green and social meeting places in the city. We welcome contributions that discuss food and urban food systems in a broad perspective.
How is the cultivation of food in cities linked to social and green sustainability?
How can municipalities and public organizations support green meeting places?
How can we foster more sustainable and responsive governance?
We are also interested in presentations that explore and envision a radically different organization of how we grow, distribute, educate about, buy, taste, enjoy and incorporate food in social settings, also connecting to our food culture and local food traditions. We will prioritize contributions that explore how activism and resistance from people inside (intrapreneurs) and outside (social entrepreneurs) of organizations have changed or can change our current food system, in cities, in a more socially and environmentally friendly direction.
2 Urban security
Under this overarching theme we are pleased to accommodate the two panels as well papers that address other aspects addressing urban security and student work on a closely related topic:
- Security, risk, and sustainability: This panel arranges conversations about urban security. Per Martin Nordheim-Martinsen (Norwegian University of Life Sciences – NMBU) and Geir Heierstad (Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research – NIBR) invites paper discussing topics related to «Securing urban futures – security, risk, and sustainability in contemporary city planning».
3 Utopian cities, digital cities, democracy and transparency
In this session we accommodate papers to the two panels as well as other papers discussing the role of digitalization in urban research and urban development
- Utopian futures and just urban planning: Utopian thinking is becoming an important instrument in urban planning. In this panel we wish to explore future oriented instruments and their role in shaping images of just, democratic, and sustainable urban futures. Researchers from University of Stavanger and Fremtenkt will present results from the projects New European Bauhaus Stavanger, and Climate Neutral Bergen 2050. The panel invites papers that investigate and discuss planning methods based on utopian methodologies.
- Digital commons as social infrastructure: In urban and societal development, there is a need for new tools, methods, and policies to address ecological, social, and economic issues. This panel addresses this need through investigating how digital tools may be used to strengthen and enhance social infrastructures. The panel is organized by Jonny Aspen, Einar Sneve Martinussen and Lisbeth Iversen at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO). They especially ask for contributions that discuss concrete examples of how digital services can be designed and applied for social, cultural, and civic purposes.
4 Urban inequality – status, drivers, measurements and countermeasurements
In this session we focus on the growing inequalities in cities. We invite papers that assess driving forces and papers that present and discuss counteracting initiatives. We invite papers that align with the panel below, but also alone-standing papers that enlighten this wide and important issue.
- Housing market and urban inequality: Oslo and most other cities experience rapid rising housing prices, giving rise to various severe social challenges: Homelessness, intensified poverty, increased geographical inequality between neighborhoods and declining homeowner occupation. Kim Astrup and Mari Mamre, NIBR, and Andreas Økland Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) welcome papers that discuss various aspects of housing policy, housing markets and the interlinkage of these two.
5 Student’s perspectives on Oslo
In this panel we invite papers and presentation addressing the development in Oslo metropolitan region: We ask for papers on how the metropole is performing on the sustainability objectives – including social sustainability and better lives for more. We also invite papers and presentations of the many groundbreaking initiatives that emerge in Oslo and neighboring areas. One of the panels in this city assess new planning initiatives tested in Oslo:
- Planning innovation practice: Erling Dokk Holm and Elin Børrud coordinate master students from Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) when they display the result of inter-disciplinary collaboration on the new planning initiatives in Hovinbyen, Oslo – Norway’s’ largest urban transformation area.
- Governing urban climate transition: The goals in the Paris Agreement and the EU Climate Law require urban climate transition, which again require new urban governance structures. Urban climate transition requires å deeper level of involvement of actors, and increased coordination capacity of local government. In this panel, we discuss recent governance innovations – aiming for transition to a low carbon society. This will be done as a dialogue in a panel, consisting of students of urban governance (OsloMet) and other actors that have expertise in governance structures. Gro Sandkjær Hanssen and Asbjørn Røiseland invite master students for this discussion.