TRACK 1 - SMART URBAN GOVERNANCE AND E-PLANNING. This track critically examines contemporary practices, emerging trends, challenges, and innovations in the governance and planning of Smart Cities. The discussion addresses how advanced urban technologies can promote inclusivity, equity, accessibility, safe-city development, creative placemaking, energy efficiency, and circular-economy approaches; the contribution of cultural mapping and urban e-planning tools to heritage management, and the role of neurotechnology, spatial data, and GIS technologies in informing evidence-based urban policy and planning.
TRACK 2 - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, URBAN E-PLANNING, AND THE GOVERNANCE OF SMART CITIES. This track examines the implications of artificial intelligence techniques, including machine learning, neural networks, natural language processing, computer vision, and generative AI, for urban e-planning and the governance of smart cities. It considers the role of AI in data collection and analysis, participatory planning, participatory mapping, and GeoAI, an emerging field at the intersection of geoinformatics and artificial intelligence. The track also addresses the technical, organisational, and ethical challenges associated with the integration of AI into urban e-planning. In alignment with Track 9, it further invites reflection on the growing role of AI in planning education.
TRACK 3 - CITIZENS e-PARTICIPATION IN URBAN GOVERNANCE. This track examines diverse modalities of citizen e-participation and stakeholder engagement within urban e-planning, including, but not limited to, Citizen Science and Participatory Budgeting initiatives. It critically evaluates digital tools and democratic innovations that facilitate access to public services and foster citizen involvement in planning processes. Furthermore, it investigates the extent to which people-centric urban frameworks can be integrated with e-planning methodologies to cultivate inclusive and resilient urban environments, using real-time data and participatory instruments.
TRACK 4 – URBAN E-PLANNING AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES. This track examines how urban e-planning can address pressing social issues, including the promotion of gender-responsive development, equitable accessibility, mobility, motility, and walkability, and the fostering of inclusive cities for marginalized groups and persons with disabilities. It further encompasses the governance of informal settlements and the planning of access to affordable housing and essential services. Additionally, the track welcomes research examining spatial justice in the distribution of urban amenities and public services, particularly in relation to health, security, safety, and perceptions of fear among vulnerable populations, including women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and other marginalised groups, with attention to how digital methods, e-solutions, and applications can advance more inclusive and equitable urban outcomes.
TRACK 5 - URBAN E-PLANNING, BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE EMERGENCY. This track addresses the role of urban e-planning in supporting local and urban biodiversity, as well as climate adaptation and mitigation policies. It covers topics including energy transitions, urban greening, the impacts of extreme temperatures, and related challenges and outcomes. The track seeks to examine e-tools for short- and medium-term urgent adaptation to urban climate stress, as exemplified by the pressing case of El Niño 2027, alongside e-planning practices for urban energy efficiency, reduction, and conservation in support of longer-term sustainability.
Track 6 - URBAN E-PLANNING FOR PERIODS OF DISRUPTION. This track addresses the role of urban e-planning tools in supporting cities' preparedness for, response to, and recovery from periods of disruption. Such disruptions encompass natural disasters, wherein rapid coordination and public communication are essential; wartime or military conditions, wherein urban systems, services, and decision-making processes operate under severe pressure; and postwar restoration, encompassing the recovery, reconstruction, and long-term renewal of affected cities.
TRACK 7 - PLANNING FOR A NOMAD WORKFORCE. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work and digital services, significantly affecting local economies and raising concerns regarding the gentrification of cities in the Global South. In response, governments are adapting legislation and policy frameworks to accommodate these emerging patterns of work. This track explores how cities and regions can plan for an increasingly mobile and flexible workforce in the coming years, while also considering the longer-term post-pandemic transformation of urban design, from hybrid workplaces and flexible office districts to housing, public spaces, digital infrastructure, and more resilient public health systems.
TRACK 8 - PLATFORM URBANISM AND THE VIRTUAL URBAN ECONOMY. This track examines the expanding role of digital platforms in shaping urban governance and everyday life. It addresses the increasing integration of platform-based services within cities and underscores the importance of strategies for effective virtual governance and the utilisation of these technologies to advance public interests across diverse sectors of urban activity.
TRACK 9 - DECOLONISING SMART CITIES: TOWARDS PLURAL AND JUST DIGITAL FUTURES. This track seeks analyses of smart city frameworks from Global South perspectives to address inequality and foster inclusive digital futures. It encourages scholarship that interrogates technocentric and universalist models of smart urbanism, as well as research engaging with informality, data peripheries, and planning. It further examines how populism and illiberal regimes impact urban e-planning.
TRACK 10 – THE EDUCATION OF URBAN E-PLANNERS AND PLANNING ETHICS. The increasing integration of digital technologies, and particularly the emerging role of artificial intelligence, is transforming the landscape of urban planning and underscores the need to adapt the education of planning professionals accordingly. This track explores recent developments and innovations in planner education and training, as well as possibilities for reforming core curricula. It further addresses the question of whether there is a need for dedicated e-Planning laboratories, spaces designed for experimentation and for facilitating the connection between scientific and lay knowledge through digital analytical tools. Additionally, the discussion encompasses professional approaches and standards to guide ethical practice in urban e-planning.