CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

“What Is the Architecture of the (Livable) Future?”

Research and Debate on Cities and Buildings in Time and Place ​

   

Call for Regular Presenters, and Discounted Student Poster Presenters

 

THEME: The professions and disciplines of the built environment are at a watershed moment of disruptive history – facing unprecedented challenges to meet the pressing needs of the urban future. At the same time, astonishing new findings from the sciences are providing remarkable insights into the human and biological factors of our urban world. Research in neuroscience, neuroaesthetics, environmental psychology, sociology, medicine, and other fields, are highlighting the inadequacies of conventional methods, and the fascinating and hopeful opportunities for cities, towns and suburbs.

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Therefore, our theme is "What is the Architecture of the (Livable) Future?" Debates are raging on the valid "architecture of our time" -- but our focus will be on more concrete evidence for effective responses to the challenges of our time. What are successful strategies to frame and activate public space with building edges, and to connect the public to the private and semi-private? How can architecture promote health and well-being, both human and planetary? What are the lessons emerging from the sciences on cognitive architecture, neuroscience, neuroaesthetics, biophilia, nature-based solutions, evolutionary and self-organizing processes, cities as complex adaptive systems, and effective tools and strategies emerging from these findings? 
 

Meanwhile, public demands are growing for a new architecture that integrates the richer qualities of history and nature, and the beauty of traditional designs. At the same time, proposals for "green" and futuristic" cities and buildings are facing new accusations of "greenwashing" and fantasy-based marketing. Built environment professionals -- and city leaders as a whole -- are called to engage in a "big rethink" about the architecture and urbanism of the future, and the assumptions that have guided, and perhaps limited, contemporary practice. 

 

Among other pressing topics, the conference will critically examine the long-standing prohibition of “revival” architectures and their patterns, and their continued replacement with aggressively “modern” buildings and cities. What have been the consequences of the last century of this practice for human well-being, for ecology, and for the likely durability and sustainability of cities and towns into the future? Why are citizens across diverse political and demographic categories rising up to demand professional reforms? What are the alternatives ahead, including new vernacular architectures, traditional and Classical approaches, “generative” and computer-based design processes, and other innovative methodologies? We will explore and debate these and other issues of the urban future.

 

CITIES MATTER, NOW MORE THAN EVER. Our cities, towns and suburbs are where we interact, move about, consume resources, develop and deploy our technologies, and create most of the impacts we are having on Planet Earth, and on each other. In that sense, our settlements are major contributors to our challenges – but they also offer an important platform for joining up key issues of emissions and contamination, resource use and depletion, and ecological destruction, as well as opportunities for equitable human development, health, and well-being. Their character and configuration is profoundly important, for “we shape our buildings, and thereafter they shape us” – our opportunities, our quality of life, and the health of people and planet.

   

WE WILL GATHER TO SHARE PEER-TO-PEER KNOWLEDGE. At the IMCL conferences, we don't just discuss these issues: we examine effective tools and strategies, presented in case studies by those who are using them, and backed up by research findings. Many of our speakers and attendees are "in the trenches" driving positive change for city livability, and they come to our conferences to share, learn, recharge, and get inspired for the challenging but fulfilling work ahead. The IMCL conference series was begun in 1985 as a unique international conference series of city leaders, researchers, practitioners, and allied international partners, sharing the latest knowledge on effective tools and strategies to meet our urban challenges. We gather in beautiful and instructive case studies, meeting with local leaders to gain first-hand knowledge on their successes and lessons learned. 

 

Our last conference in Cortona, Italy in November 2024 included over 50 leading speakers from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Attendee comments included “Truly a great conference,” “Fabulous sessions… Wow!,” “It was terrific,” “Thank you for hosting this magnificent event!” and “Thank you for the great conference sessions… [and] the knowledge sharing and inspired messages from people from around the world.”

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OUR NEXT GATHERING IS IN POTSDAM, GERMANY. Our 62nd conference will occur at a watershed moment in European urban and political history. Our venue is the MAXX Hotel adjacent to the beautiful Luisenplatz Square, and at the gates of the spectacular Sanssouci Park. and In addition to the conference, we will also have opportunities for study tours and exploration of the rich history of Potsdam and its region – not only its 20th century upheavals, but many centuries of architectural and urban history leading up to the present day and its familiar urban challenges. The location is easily accessible from the Berlin Brandenburg Airport via the S-Bahn train and other modes, and the neighborhood offers many excellent hotel choices at a range of prices. ​​

 

October is an excellent time to travel in Germany, with lower-cost travel, fewer crowds, and generally beautiful crisp autumn weather. There are excellent opportunities for side trips to other parts of Germany and Europe.     ​​   

 

Partners in the conferences (to be confirmed) include the Congress for the New Urbanism, The King's Foundation (UK), INTBAU, UN-Habitat, and several universities, as well as others to be announced.

 

ATTENDEE SPACE IS STRICTLY LIMITED by the conference venue, and will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please register as soon as you are able. (Full refunds without cost are available until May 31st, after which there is a $100 cancellation fee through September 1, and no refunds after September 1.)

 

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:

 

The International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) invites you to share your work, meet and discuss with others, and join in this unique international collaborative platform.  We will gather internationally prominent policy leaders, practitioners, community leaders and top scholars, to share lessons and discuss potential collaborations.  A major aim of the conference will be to serve as a “springboard” toward new research, new collaborative action, and new ways of communicating and driving the necessary transition ahead.

 

TOPICS: You may contribute an abstract describing your work (to be presented at the conference, and also developed into a full conference paper if you wish) on any one or a combination of the following topics:

 

•    Evolution and Change in Cities and Buildings: How they 'Learn' (or Don't)

•    The Place of Revival in Architecture and Urbanism: Prohibited, Embraced, or Integrated?

​•    Neuroscience, Neuroaesthetics and Cognitive Architecture

•    Great Public Spaces for ALL: Learning from Berlin, and Elsewhere

•    Architecture and the Edges of Public Space: Quality, Connectivity, Responsiveness

•    Cities on Foot: The Power of Urban Walkability and Public Transportation

•    The Place of Beauty: Neuroscience, Health and Sustainability in Placemaking

•    Slow Food, Slow Cities: Food Quality, Health, and Urban Well-being

•    Markets and Marketable Local Products: Viable Small-Town Businesses

•    The Next Renaissance? Rebuilding Homes, Neighborhoods and Towns

•    Zoom Towns, Left Behind Places, and Opportunity for All

•    Jane Jacobs and the Power of Diversity, Equity, and Web-Networks

•    Christopher Alexander and the Power of Patterns, and Timeless Ways of Building

•    Building Better: Tools, Strategies, and Design Ideas

•    Rapid Urbanization: Implementing the New Urban Agenda

•    Climate Change and Urban Form: Mitigation, Adaptation, Resilience

•    Financial Tools and Externality Feedbacks: Making It Pay

•    Sustainable Infrastructure: Complete Streets, Regenerative Utilities and Transit

•    Access For Everyone: Bringing the Benefits of Livable Cites to ALL

•    The Ecology of Place: Concepts, Metrics, Practices

•    Learning from Nature, Culture, and History for Contemporary Challenges

 

Papers will be published in the conference e-reader, to be shared with all attendees. They will then be published as 61st IMCL Proceedings on Academia.com, with a publication DOI number.  There are also other options for subsequent publication in affiliated peer-reviewed journals, following attendee comments and revisions – contact us for more details at the email given below.  

 

ABOUT THE VENUE:

 

The conference location is the MAXX Hotel Sanssouci in Potsdam, at the gateway of the splendid Sanssouci Park, adjacent to the Brandenburg Gate and beautiful Luisenplatz in Potsdam, and within easy walking distance of many Potsdam sights.  The location is easily accessible from the Berlin Brandenburg Airport via the S-Bahn train and other modes, and the neighborhood offers many excellent hotel choices at a range of prices.

 

DEADLINES:

 

Abstracts are due no later than JUNE 30, 2025

Notifications will occur by July 15, 2025

Speaker registration is required by August 1, 2025

Papers must be submitted for the e-reader by September 1, 2025

Registration is strictly limited and will be made on a first-come, first-served basis

 

REGISTRATION FEES:

 

Accepted speaker registration for one conference is $595.00 (approx. €550 EUR)

Early Bird registration for one conference (non-speaker) also $595.00 (through May 31)

Discount registration (non-speaker) is $695.00 (through July 30)

Full participant (non-speaker) registration is $795.00 (after August 1)

Student Poster Presenter registration is $295.00 (approx. €273 EUR, ID required)

Student (non-speaker) registration is $245.00 (approx. €226 EUR, ID required)

 

SCHEDULE AT-A-GLANCE

 

Wednesday, October 15, 2025 

   9AM Optional Tour of Potsdam Reconstructions

   5PM Welcome Reception

 

Thursday, October 16

   8AM Registration

   9AM-5:30PM Conference 

   7PM Evening Activity (TBC)

 

 Friday, October 17

   8AM Registration

   9AM-5:30PM Conference

   7PM Evening Activity (TBC)

 

Saturday, October 18

   8AM Registration

   9AM-5:30PM Conference

   7PM Evening Activity (TBC)

 

Sunday, October 19 

   Optional Tours TBA

 

To submit abstracts, please use the form below:

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