This conference explores how the three issues of city development, sense of community and housing need, all combine to make lives in our cities livable – or not. This urban focus is linked to questions of community and housing through contributions from participatory designers, sociologists, housing professionals and house designers operating at scale.

From the design side delegates will present design models for new urban environments; proposals for strategic modifications to existing city infrastructures; critiques of planning policy at local, national and sub-regional levels; and case studies of new towns from across the world.

From the sociological and geography sectors delegates will discuss issues of societal sustainability; demographic changes to regions and communities; participatory policies and planning; the right to the city and much more.

Reflecting these three strands, the conference is an ideal opportunity for planners and urban designers to critique their own work in the context of analysis offered by colleagues from geography and sociology. It also offers excellent opportunities to exchange ideas with colleagues from our own field. In each case, the aim is to share ideas on how to make our cities livable in the 21st Century.

Organisers:

  • This specific event is organised with the University of Derby.
  • The series is organised by a collection of UK publishers and universities including: The University of Derby, The University of the West of England, London South Bank University Liverpool and John Moores University, UCL Press and Libri Publishing. It is coordinated by the UK non-profit research organisation AMPS as part of its engagement with the UN Habitat University Initiative.

The conference welcomes case studies; design proposals, research projects, investigative papers and theoretical considerations in various formats:

  • Conference Presentations (20 minutes)
  • Written Papers (3,000 words) *
  • Alternative Proposals Pecha Kucha; short films; photo essays etc.
  • In-person and virtual presentations (via Skype, etc.) are welcome.

Delegates are given the option to present their work at conference either with or without an accompanying full written paper.

* 3,000 word papers will be published online and later in an e-book. Subject to review, selected authors will be invited to develop longer versions of their papers for inclusion in either:

  1. A Special Issues of the Architecture_MPS journal.
  2. 2The AMPS / UCL Press book series Housing-Critical Futures.
  3. The AMPS / Libri Publishing book seriesHousing the Future.

Forms and Registration:

  • Delegate Fee: £200
  • Audience Fee: £90

For more details: conference[at]architecturemps.com