Future of Places Conference
'Streets as Public Spaces'

Buenos Aires, Argentina
CALL FOR PAPERS CLOSED
• UN-HABITAT
• PPS | Project for Public Spaces
• Ax:son Johnson Foundation

The Second Future of Places Conference: “Streets as Public Spaces”
1-3 September 2014 | Panamericano Hotel Carlos Pellegrini 551 | Buenos Aires, Argentina 
 

CONFERENCE THEME
Following the 2013 Future of Places conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Ax:son Johnson Foundation, together with its partners UN-Habitat and Project for Public Spaces, are pleased to announce the next conference in the series. The theme of the 2014 conference, “Streets as Public Spaces,” reflects the importance of modern street design in enabling – or damaging – the well-being of city dwellers.  Streets serve a broader function than the efficient conveyance of vehicles or pedestrians from one location to another.  They, and their adjacent spaces, form a critical connective network within the city, profoundly influencing, and potentially limiting, social and economic development. 

This year's conference, and the series as a whole, is built on the recognition that cities are more than technical creations: they are above all places of human interaction, allowing exchange, creativity, access to resources, pleasure, and at times, conflict.  Moreover, city design in the last half-century has made serious mistakes that have damaged human well-being (along with natural resources, ecologies and other critical systems).  It is only by recognising the fundamental activities of human beings, operating within networks of urban places, that we can understand how they may interact, use resources, develop their capabilities, promote their well-being, and advance the well-being of the city as a whole.

This topic takes on special urgency in light of the growing challenges that cities face, including rapid urbanisation in many parts of the world.  The conference will therefore move beyond an understanding of the characteristics of streets as public space, and seek to identify and to disseminate a core agenda of action for science, education, policy and best practice. 


CONFERENCE TRACKS
The conference is divided into four tracks:
• Science | Research into the role of streets as public spaces, the outcomes of different design approaches, and the priorities for further research. 
• Education | Curriculum development and evaluation related to street and public space design, in engineering, urban planning, landscape architecture, architecture and other fields. 
• Policy | New initiatives and their outcomes; new priorities for policy changes, with a focus in national differences as well as commonalities.
• Best Practice | New tools, practices, standards, strategies and models, and evaluations of their outcome; new priorities for changes to practice. 


KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Invited speakers include:
• Cecilia Martinez | Former Director New York Office UN-HABITAT
• Enrique Peñalosa | Former Mayor of Bogotá
• Victor Dover | Co-founder & Principal Dover, Kohl & Partners
• Juan Clos | Executive Director UN-Habitat
• Setha Low | Director Public Space Research Group City University of New York
• Jan Gehl | Founding Partner Gehl Architects
• Shipra Narang | Vice President ISOCARP
• Margaret Crawford | UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design
• Fred Kent | Founder & President of Project for Public Spaces
• Vikas Mehta | Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urban Design University of South Florida

And others to be announced

IMPORTANT DATES
Call for Papers  NEW DEADLINE | 15 April 2014
Notification of Selected Abstracts  | 1 May 2014
Invited Papers Due | 1 June 2014
Notification of Selected Papers | 1 July 2014
Final Revised Papers Due | 1 August 2014 
Conference event | 1-3 September 2014  


ACADEMIC COMMITTEE 
A Committee of distinguished international researchers, scholars and practitioners with noted work in the field will supervise the process:
• Tigran Haas, Ph.D. | Royal Institute of Technology, SE
• Fred Kent | Project for Public Spaces, US
• Ali Madanipour, Ph.D. | Newcastle University, UK
• Stephen Marshall, Ph.D. | University College London, UK
• Paul Murrain | Murrain Urban Design, London, UK
• Ernesto Philibert-Petit, Ph.D. | Tecnologico de Monterrey, MX
• Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk | University of Miami, FL, USA
• Sergio Porta, Ph.D. | University of Strathclyde, UK
• Yodan Rofe, Ph.D. | Ben-Gurion University of the Desert, IS
• Ombretta Romice, Ph.D. | University of Strathclyde, UK
• Nikos Salingaros, Ph.D. | University of Texas, US
• Wolfgang Sonne, Ph.D. | Technical University of Dortmund, DE
• Emily Talen, Ph.D. | Arizona State University, US
• Michael Mehaffy, Chair | Delft University of Technology, NL


INFO & CONTACTS
Future of Places website  

Project leader Peter Elmlund 
• EMAIL | peter@futureofplaces.com

Send your abstract and paper to:
academic@futureofplaces.com