Conference tracks

The IGU Commission on Geography of Governance 2025 Annual Conference will address new forms of governance in urban planning and how the use of technology revolutionises the way cities are built. We invite abstracts that concern various aspects of the role of local government and IT in urban planning, as well as abstracts focusing on tools and methodologies for a smart evolution of participatory governance focused on the environmental sustainability of cities.

The conference will discuss the actions taken by local government towards new technologies, and its outcomes and impacts and how technology is playing a major role in revolutionizing the way that cities are planned and built.

We welcome abstracts of those engaged in the activities of the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance, as well as from anyone with a relevant contribution in this field.

The conference is organized into three main tracks each addressing several related themes, together with a fourth more broadly focused track addressing issues and developments in the geography of governance.

Track 1: Urban planning, sustainable development and Agenda 2030 goals

This track addresses environmentally-conscious urban planning and the directions for sustainable development as indicated by Agenda 2030

• How are governments striving to ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable', as called for by 2030 Agenda?

• Which future strategic plans for strategic city planning in a broader sense ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ and which socio-economic evolution scenarios will be developed by elaborating strategies in the economic, ecological and social perspectives?

• Which strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions have been adopted by local government for making the city more efficient than before?

• How local governments employing to distribute financial resources to local populations for smart cities? 

• Which plans, policy measures and actions have been adopted by local government to tackle the impact of the smart cities on society and on the local economy, and how technology is revolutionizing urban planning and its implications for the future of our cities?

Track 2: Urban governance and citizen inclusion

Track 2 takes as a starting position that the challenges facing urban dwellers cannot be faced without strong and wide-ranging collaboration at the local level between citizens, civil society, industry and the relevant levels of government. Cities have a crucial role to play today in bridging the gap between citizens and public institutions. In many cities, new forms of governance are already in place to better design policies and investments, promoting cooperation between urban and rural areas based on a functional-area approach, through long-term strategic planning and involving citizens at all stages of policymaking:

• What tools have been activated to support a territory-centred approach and the involvement of local authorities, civil society and citizens in responding to local challenges?

• What new urban initiatives have been launched to support cities through capacity building in advancing innovative solutions, increasing knowledge and ensuring democratic and inclusive, long-term and integrated, multi-scalar and multi-level, territorial, competent and digitally aware urban governance?

• Which changes tools and methodologies for a smart evolution have been introduced in central-local relations? What has been the role of inter-municipal cooperation and metropolitan government and what cross-border municipal and regional cooperation in this context?

• At the level of participatory governance, will local researchers and practitioners (engineers, architects) have a role and expertise in entrusting a generative artificial intelligence algorithm with planning programs to generate designs for new housing developments that maximise green space, minimise energy consumption and provide easy access to public transport?

• Which local government strategies, policy measures, planning scenarios, and actions are being designed for environmental sustainability, urban regeneration and safety of suburbs, namely towards building resilient and smart communities?

Track 3: New technologies and local government

This Track will discuss new technologies provided by research and the actions taken by local government towards new technologies and its outcomes and impacts, and how technology is playing a major role in revolutionizing the way that cities are planned and built:

• Which emerging technologies may be significant in the future of urban planning and block chain technology (for example, Internet of Things (IoT) and the new technology such as generative AI) that are starting to make their way into urban planning?

• Which has been the role of tools and methodologies for a smart evolution in local mobility, on education an adoption of renewable energy sources in urban areas?

•  How local government use artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to generate designs? How much potential do the local governments have to revolutionize urban planning by allowing planners to quickly and easily generate designs that are optimized for sustainability, efficiency and liveability?

• Which socio- economic scenarios will be developed by implementing alternatives in accordance with the Best Available Technologies (BATs) present in the 'Smart City' panorama?

• Will local planners be able to rely on the algorithm to generate a set of designs that meet these criteria, allowing them to choose the best design for their specific project?

Track 4: Issues and developments in the geography of governance and urban planning

• Multilevel governance and institutional cooperation among all tiers of government for the alignment across local, metropolitan, regional, and national policies.

• National urban policies and the changing role of the sub-national government in urban development

• Multilevel and multi stakeholder governance for promoting inclusive territorial development and furthermore to help ensure efficient and inclusive urban and metropolitan governance.

• Recasting urban planning at the core of public policy capabilities to address the shortage of urban planners, designers and other critical roles for urban service delivery and urban governance, particularly in those countries where the world's fastest urban growth is happening 

We also welcome abstracts on topics that resonate with the general conference theme.