ISOCARP and The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA)

Building Regenerative New Cities through Landscape Architecture and Planning

Speakers:

• Norman Brito, President of the Filipino Landscape Architects Association (PALA) and Chairperson of the IFLA Asia-Pacific Landscape Architects Without Borders – Area of Expertise:  Inclusivity, sexuality and geography in psychology and gender appropriated urban spaces. 
• Pamela Pagana, IFLA Asia-Pacific Chair for Professional Practice and Policy – Area of Expertise: Residential Real Estate Landscape Development, Project Management and Delivery and Landscape Construction.
• Elisabeth Belpaire, President-Elect of ISOCARP – Area of Expertise: integrated urban planning, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction, management of post-conflict programmes and establishment of new strategic spatial planning system, regeneration of historical centres.

ISOCARP and Cities and Health Journal: Special issue workshop

Health for all: exploring regenerative and more-than-human cities for co-existence and well-being

Following our successful first special issue with the Cities and Health Journal from the previous congress, this special session workshop will explore not just research but also contemporary practices and innovative approaches that seek to transform processes and outcomes to support lasting population well-being in a rapidly changing world. On the one hand, we as planners have a clear mandate to shape environmental conditions so that people can prosper in place; on the other hand, designing, planning, developing, and managing places for a low-carbon future is a hyper-complex task that often does not achieve the desired outcomes under a business-as-usual paradigm. 

Health inequalities and spatial in(justice) run as deep scars through cities, and the healing of such scars requires cross-sectoral collaboration between public health and the planning and design community. The focus is on regenerative and more-than-human cities. Participants will be invited to explore the nexus and exchange their concerns and challenges with each other and experts in the field. This session is open to all ISOCARP members, from practice and academia, to co-create a call for contributions for a special issue of Cities & Health. To remain at the forefront of making decisions about the future of the built environment, we start the enquiry with the following set of questions:

• How can we achieve and sustain regenerative practices for health in cities and regions? 
• What type of performative more-than-human approaches are available to us, where co-existence with diverse forms of life towards planetary health is possible? 
• What is our stewardship role as custodians of the built environment for future generations?

Session Coordinators:

• MEWS G., University of the Sunshine Coast BASC Lab, Australia

Session Contributors:

• ARNETT H., Cities and Health Journal, UK

Urban Café

 Indonesian-Phillipines Dialogue:

Enhancing The Role of Environmental Planning in Achieving National Development Vision

The event titled “Indonesian-Philippines Dialogue: Enhancing the Role of Environmental Planning in Achieving National Development Vision” aims to strengthen the role of environmental planning in achieving the national development visions of both countries. This session involves the Indonesian Association of Urban and Regional Planners (IAP) and Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia (KLHK) from Indonesia, and also the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners (PIEP) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of Republic of The Philippines. The dialogue will explore strategies and best practices in environmental planning that support sustainable development goals. It will also address the challenges and opportunities faced by Indonesia and the Philippines in integrating environmental planning into their national policies. By fostering a collaborative exchange of ideas and experiences, this event seeks to create stronger synergies between the two nations, promoting a shared commitment to sustainable and environmentally-friendly development.

Session Organiser:

• Sasmita Nugroho – Director of Environmental Impact Prevention of Sectoral and Regional Policies, Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Republic of Indonesia

 Empowering Women to Shape Resilient and Inclusive Cities:

Diverse Perspectives on Planning for a Sustainable Future

This special session aims to explore the multifaceted role of women in shaping resilient and inclusive cities, drawing on diverse perspectives and expertise. It will examine the critical contributions women make in various aspects of urban planning and development, including disaster risk reduction, academia, and community engagement. The session will highlight the unique challenges and opportunities women face in the planning profession and explore strategies to amplify their voices and leadership.

Key Themes:

• Women at the Forefront of Disaster Risk Reduction: Examining the critical role of women in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, and how their knowledge and leadership contribute to building more resilient communities.
• The Academic Perspective: Nurturing the Next Generation of Women Planners: Exploring the role of academia in promoting gender equality in the planning profession, providing mentorship, and fostering research that addresses the specific needs and priorities of women in cities.
• Amplifying Women Planners’ Voices and Needs: Creating a platform for women planners to share their experiences, challenges, and aspirations, highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusion in shaping the future of cities.
• Gender-Responsive Planning and Design: Examining how planning and design practices can better incorporate the needs and priorities of women, ensuring equitable access to resources, services, and decision-making.

Link to Conference Themes:

This session directly aligns with the ISOCARP NCC conference theme of “Planning New Regenerative Cities.” By focusing on the diverse contributions of women in planning, the session underscores the need for inclusive leadership and community engagement in building sustainable, resilient, and equitable cities. It specifically addresses the conference’s emphasis on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction, recognizing the critical role of women in these areas.

Nusantara: An Inauguration of Regenerative Urbanism

Speakers:

• Dushko Bogunovich– PhD, retired professor of architecture, urban design and city planning, Auckland, New Zealand
• Andy Simarmata– President of the Institute of Planners of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

Resilient Urban Futures: Cultivating Culturally Rooted and Adaptive Cities for

Global Health and Sustainability

This session addresses the critical need for resilient, adaptive, and culturally inclusive cities, focusing on incorporating indigenous perspectives into urban development. It explores how urban environments can be designed to thrive amidst climatic, ecological, and societal changes. Participants will examine innovative technologies, adaptive resource management, and cultural inclusivity to promote urban health and sustainability, using a transdisciplinary approach to foster sustainable development harmonized with cultural identities and local ecosystems.

Aligned with the ISOCARP’s 60th World Planning Congress’s focus on pioneering sustainable urban futures, this session contributes to a global dialogue on creating new urban paradigms that are adaptive and culturally resonant. The session addresses the complexities of integrating indigenous knowledge and practices into urban planning to enhance community health and resilience.

The METROSIM (IMF Collective Intelligence Metro Game)

The METROSIM (IMF Collective Intelligence Metro Game) is a dynamic, collaborative simulation directly addressing the urgent need for metropolitan – scale solutions. It empowers participants to:

– experience to Power of Collective Intelligence: The simulation demonstrates how collaboration drives innovative solutions for complex urban challenges
– grasp the Metropolitan advantage: participants gain a firsthand understanding of why the metropolitan scale is crucial for tackling global issues like climate change, housing and health, transcending city-centric planning.
– build strategic skills: METROSIM fosters integrated thinking, spatial analysis, and collaborative decision-making, essential competencies for addressing the projected growth of urban populations

The session is organized by the International Metropolitan Fellowship (IMF), an international organization composed of more than 250 professionals and academics, spread across 8 global chapters, aims to pioneer, spread and advocate the metropolitan discipline. Led by its former global president and current leader of the IMF Austronesia Chapter, Mark De Castro, an Architect and Environmental Planner, will facilitate the METROSIM. Architect and Environmental Planner, Dinky Einsiedel, Honoris Cause of the IMF will be a co-convenor for the METROSIM. The Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners National Capital Region- South Chapter (PIEP NCR South) will be a collaborating partner for the special session.

Are Smart Planning Tools Failing Rapidly Urbanising Cities?

Smart city technologies and Planning Support Tools (PSTs) had promised to revolutionise urban planning practice by making data-driven insights accessible to urban practitioners. However, attempts to integrate PSTs in real-world workflows have failed, especially in rapidly-urbanising cities across the Global South. Many of these cities forefront the global sustainable transition, yet face infrastructural and systemic barriers inhibiting the adoption of revolutionary technology.

This session asks if smart planning tools can adapt to the contexts of rapidly-urbanising cities. It delves into how one digital PST, ur-scape, was customised for Bharatpur, Rajasthan — a city of enormous ecological value with diverse needs and aspirations. ur-scape is Future Cities Laboratory’s open-source PST, presented at the 55th ISOCARP WPC and further developed in projects worldwide. We will present insights from ongoing capacity-building efforts in Bharatpur, evaluating the limits and opportunities of the practical application of PSTs in local workflows.

This discussion examines the intersection of innovation in urban science and on-the-ground realities of planning. Providing valuable insights for planners and policy-makers alike, the session addresses the potentials and pitfalls of data-driven approaches in complex urban contexts and highlights the importance of embedding digital tools within existing hybridised, layered, and experiential local decision making structures.

Session Contributors:

• Ms Pari Sen Biswas, Research Intern at FCL Global (Speaker, Contributor)

• Mr Joshua Vargas, Research Assistant at FCL Global, Co-Founder of Young Urbanists of Southeast Asia (Speaker, Contributor)

• Ms Niraly Mangal, Doctoral Researcher at FCL Global, Doctoral Candidate at ETH Zurich (Contributor)

• Dr Stephen Cairns, Principal Investigator of Agropolitan Territories of Monsoon Asia Research Module at FCL Global, Professor at Monash University Indonesia, Titular Professor at ETH Zurich. (Contributor)

• Dr Tanvi Maheshwari, Research Fellow at Monash University Informal Cities Lab. (Contributor)

• Mr Darshan Lineswala, Part-Time Research Assistant at FCL Global (Contributor)

 Contemporary Ambitions for International New Settlement Planning

New settlements planning is an inherently multi-scalar activity, responding to challenges facing existing settlements. Political will, planning control and investor marketing is exercised over larger, international scales to direct and concentrate future urban development into specific locations. It seeks to meet the needs and priorities of various actors, stakeholders and communities that have agency within the built environment. In the UK, the government has recently announced a New Towns Task Force, signalling intent to bring the idea back to Britain for the first time since 1976.

This special session led by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) focusses on contemporary ambitions for new settlement planning in an international context. This is part of the scoping phase of upcoming RTPI research on international new settlement planning. This research will examine trends, obstacles and opportunities, will seek to identify common challenges and lessons learnt from new settlement planning, and will encourage learning and sharing between different contexts.

We are particularly interested in paying close attention to the changing scale, location and geographical distribution of new settlement planning. What are the types of approach and contemporary definitions and categories of new settlement planning, and how do they work well?

Session Organiser:

• Dr David Mountain – Royal Town Planning Institute