The 2023 Urban research conference: Urban Futures

glass building and green leaf canopy overhead

Cities are at the forefront of sustainable development.

The cities are socially and culturally diverse, but also the places where segregation and class divisions are most evident.

Cities count for a large share of CO2 emissions, but are also the places where CO2 reduction efforts have the greatest effect.

How to ensure that environmental sustainability also provide inclusive and just cities?

Cities provide opportunities for innovation, new thinking and the opportunity to gather knowledge about behavior, experiences, and attitudes, but big data can also be used to manipulate and control.

How can new data types help make the city more inclusive and more democratic?

In this conference, we invite you to question whether the idea of ​​sustainable urban development is actually achievable, given the tensions inherent in the dimensions of sustainability, and how to couple environmental sustainability ambitions with inclusion and justice?

We highlight the role of cities in the transition towards environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development.

We are requesting papers on the role of the city and city regions in the transition to an overall sustainable society and papers that shed light on the transition in the light of inclusion, democracy and justice.


The two-day conference is open to all who wish to attend.

The conference includes featured presentations and podium discussions, capacity-building workshops to strengthen research and teaching in Norway and globally, as well as social activities.