XVI National Conference of SIU
The Italian Society of Urban Planners
Urbanism for a different kind of growth
(CALL FOR PAPERS CLOSED)

Naples, Italy
SIU - Società Italiana Urbanisti
www.societaurbanisti.it

URBANISM FOR A DIFFERENT KIND OF GROWTH
CONFLICTS IN DEVELOPMENT, OVERCOMUNG THE RECESSION
AND CONTEMPORARY LAND-USE PLANNING

During the deepest and most painful economic and social crises, the human and physical landscape and changes in its use have assumed a central role in the development process, from the Keynesian policies to rekindle the US economy after the great depression of 1929 to the reconstruction and growth of the urban districts that have been a cornerstone of Italy’s post‐war economic boom. These phenomena have often led to unbalanced growth. In many cases, it has been at the expense of the territory and its values, producing effects that have sometimes proved difficult to reverse, driven by economic and political interests, monopolies and power relationships that have impoverished the territory. At the same time, town planners have been unable to integrate resources in a meaningful way.

History confirms the central importance of the built environment as a driver of growth, wealth‐creation and new opportunity. But the problem today is the need to support forms of local development through plans and projects that are sensitive to the interdependence between economic growth, environmental sustainability and social equity: in other words, between the economy, space and society.
Our task now is to understand what growth means for the contemporary territory, and how it should be pursued within a development framework that is not necessarily linked to the production‐consumption cycle and that is not viewed solely in quantitative and economic terms. It is a challenge that requires a multidisciplinary approach. This must involve restructuring the urban and social fabric, embracing different lifestyles and forms of settlement and production, with sensitivity and consideration to theoretical and practical perspectives geared to “prosperity without growth”.

With the current global economic crisis, the subject of different types of growth is back on the agenda. This calls for a keen awareness of the need for sustainability and fairness. Local development becomes a potential source of employment and a way to kick‐start the economy, provided that common values are safeguarded – in particular, cultural and environmental heritage, scarce or non‐reproducible resources, and shared values enshrined in the policies for developing the built environment. 
Town planning must rediscover a central, authoritative role in public decision‐making processes for developments. It must be able to innovate and to shape policy programmes for land‐use management, in the knowledge that building ideas for the future must not be a mere slogan but must represent a deliberate, competent approach for a wise and balanced use of environmental resources and buildings.

Now, more than ever, growth is not about quantitative processes but rather improving the quality of the residential built environment without consuming new ground, by recycling decayed or disused buildings, areas and landscapes, by strengthening green approaches, and by basing development processes on the principle of safeguarding values and resources to hand down to future generations. These values become a stimulus for people to get involved. They are also the way to create active cooperation between the public administrations and economic actors from the private sector through new forms of governance.

Agriculture, cultural heritage, care for the landscape and the residential built environment, sustainable production, logistics and integrated infrastructure represent some of the opportunities for stakeholders and resources to come together to drive a new and different kind of growth for local communities.
These processes can inform a territorial plan where town‐planning expertise can establish and use ideas, tools and practices to recreate an open, reassuring dialogue with society and to build a new future.

CONFERENCE ORGANISATION
The conference will be based on plenary sessions and workshops.
• Plenary sessions | These are discussion forums to which researchers from various disciplines are invited.

• Workshops | These are discussion sessions organised in parallel streams. A coordinator and a discussant review the issues arising from the participants’ contributions, raising questions, noting issues, and facilitating the discussion. The programme content may be supplemented or refined according to proposals from attendees. These proposals will be considered by the SIU committee and the workshop coordinators.  

The workshop themes are:
• Upkeep of the territory as a form of development
• Reduce / Re‐use / Recycle: new paradigms for urban design?
• Protecting, managing and enhancing public real estate  
• Towards a different kind of urban design: practices, projects and strategies for developing and maintaining the territorial capital  
• Towards a new role for male and female town planners: innovation in practice through new social demands and international experiences
• Urban bioregion: self‐sustainability, local community, and economic solidarity  
• The challenges and new forms of urban design: experiencing the dimension and scale of the post‐metropolis
• Town planning and mobility: sustainability and integration
• Public spaces, common landscapes: an approach to urban regeneration  
• The sustainable city and a new demand for resilience  

PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFERENCE
Abstracts must not be longer than 3,000 characters (inclusive of spaces) and they must contain
the following information:  
(I) title, authors, the relative workshop, key words (three);  
(II) the thesis presented;  
(III) field in which the thesis is discussed;  
(IV) work prospects.  
Failure to follow this format will constitute grounds for exclusion.  

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
•  February 11th, 2013
Abstracts must be received at the following email address by February 11th, 2013 for prior approval: siu.conferenza2013@gmail.com
• February 28 th, 2013
The academic committee of the SIU will inform those concerned if their proposals have been accepted.
• April 10th, 2013
Final papers, not longer than 20,000 characters (inclusive of spaces), in addition to figures and tables, must be received at the above email address.

CONFERENCE FEES
Conference participation only
Senior 100,00 € / Junior 60,00 €
Conference participation only for SIU members
Senior 60,00 € / Junior 40,00 €
SIU membership cost for 2013 (facultative)   
Senior 100,00 € / Junior 60,00€
Conference participation + SIU membership cost for 2013   
Senior 140,00 € / Junior 80,00 €
(Please note: are considered to be “Senior”, the academic staff and public administration officers as well as participants over the age of 40)

PAYMENT DETAILS
to: SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DEGLI URBANISTI
Via Bonardi 3, 20133 Milano
Bank account:  
Banca Popolare di Sondrio
IBAN: IT29 J056 9601 6200 0001 0007 X37
BIC ‐ SWIFT P0S0IT22
reason for payment: CONFERENZA NAPOLI

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND CONTACTS
Secretary Board E‐mail  |  SIU Società Italiana degli Urbanisti Website