40th Anniversary IMCL will focus on "changing the operating system for growth" at a critical time for livable cities and towns

Partners, researchers and practitioners will bring the latest research and action on code reform, transportation design, financial incentives and barriers, legislative and policy tools, livable design practice, and other hands-on urban reforms, as the world increasingly demands a new generation of better-quality cities, towns and suburbs

ABOVE: Devastated by bombing during WWII, and then rebuilt by the East German government in a widely disliked character, Potsdam is being transformed by reconstruction today. Photos provided by Bart Urban, speaker at IMCL.

POTSDAM, GERMANY - In less than two months, the 62nd International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) conference will convene here to examine the latest tools and strategies for a new generation of more resilient, more ecological, more livable cities, towns and suburbs.

This comes at a turbulent time for cities, and for global history. We seek not just healthier places for people and planet, but ways to find effective consensus on building a better world. All people are united in their desire to live in a beautiful, functional, prosperous neighborhood and town -- and that literal "common ground" offers an important opportunity to heal divisions, and forge pragmatic consensus on our shared challenges.

The conference recognizes that there are many obsolete technical, legal and financial requirements that still shape and profoundly limit what can be done to improve cities and towns -- what we might think of as a kind of global "operating system for growth." It consists of all the zoning codes, design codes, traffic standards, technical regulations, legal restrictions, financial requirements, incentives and disincentives, hidden subsidies and penalties, design models and images, and all the other elements that, taken together, still determine what can be built and where.

That's why reforms of these obsolete codes, regulations, laws, standards, models, and all the rest, are so urgent -- and why we need to learn from the examples that have made the most progress, and share and adapt their tools and strategies.

Above: We are still building a generation of high resource-consumption, high-emissions, fragmented -- and just plain ugly -- places, based upon an outmoded and failing set of ideas from early in the 20th century. Inspiring examples of reform show us what can be done -- but we recognize the work ahead to bring them to scale.

The conference will focus on bridging the gap from understanding to ACTION – sharing the tools and strategies needed to effect a transition to more ecological ways of building and settling, in the fullest sense of the word.

As we do every year, we will examine our host venue (Potsdam this year) and its in-depth lessons, as well as other inspiring examples of progress in livable settlements. We will seek to understand how those lessons can translate into effective action in other parts of the world, and how conference attendees can play a key role in making that happen.

Some inspiring examples of livable, healthy cities and towns, new and old. We chose to discard these models of development in favor of mechanized autopia, and we can now choose -- if we want -- to re-engage them. But we need the tools and strategies.

Potsdam is a beautiful venue, and a remarkable case study -- devastated during World War II, it was rebuilt under the East German government in a character that few have felt was satisfactory. The city is now assessing the value of its own heritage, and the value of exploiting the "collective intelligence" for contemporary challenges, including the challenges of health, well-being, economic opportunity, ecology, and quality of life for all.

The IMCL is partnering with a number of key institutions and agencies for this conference, including UN-Habitat, The King's Foundation, the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture, and Urbanism (INTBAU), and the Congress for the New Urbanism.

Innovative researchers will present new findings on urban and environmental issues from leading global universities amd research centers including The University of Cambridge, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, EURAC Research, The University of Notre Dame, The University of Texas, The Technion, and others. A partial listing of some of the over 60 speakers:

Potsdam is not without its challenges -- as with any city today. We will hear from local participants in its successes and struggles, and how they actually "moved the needle" to drive change. We will share many of the most effective tools and strategies available today, including walkability interventions, pattern languages, planning tools, collaborative design practices, and many more.

Potsdam is easily accessible from the Berlin airport, and also easily accessible by train from Europe and the UK. There are excellent hotel options in the area of the conference, the MAXX Hotel Sanssouci. The venue is just off Luisenplatz Square, at the gateway of the spectacular Sanssouci Park. (We will have walking tours of the park, the city, and fascinating historic reconstructions.) We look forward to a productive gathering on important topics, in a beautiful locale!

Above: Sights from Potsdam.

For more information about the conference: https://www.imcl.online/potsdam-2025