The 63rd International Making Cities Livable Conference Begins in Latvia on "Regenerative Architecture and Urbanism: Recovery and Resilience After an Age of Disruption"

Riga and the nearby city of Jelgava are the venues, offering many lessons for how to make cities livable.

ABOVE: Riga City Architect Pēteris Ratas presents to the opening session of the 63rd IMCL conference at the Council Chambers of the Riga City Hall.

We are delighted to report that the 63rd International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) Conference has begun in Riga and Jelgava, Latvia — the next annual gathering of the venerable series, bringing together city leaders, planners, economic development professionals, researchers, designers, practitioners, NGOs, and others committed to creating more livable, resilient, and humane cities.

Our theme this year — “Regenerative Architecture and Urbanism: Recovery and Resilience After an Age of Disruption” — could hardly be more timely. Around the world, cities are confronting unprecedented challenges: climate impacts, social and economic disruption, rapid technological change, and in some places the urgent task of rebuilding after conflict. At the same time, cities also hold extraordinary resources for renewal: their cultures, communities, histories, public spaces, and shared capacities for adaptation.

Latvia offers a powerful setting for this conversation. Riga and Jelgava are cities with rich histories and remarkable urban heritage, but also places that have faced profound periods of disruption and transformation. Their experiences offer important lessons about continuity, recovery, and the regeneration of urban life.

Riga, a UNESCO World Heritage city, reflects nearly eight centuries of urban evolution — from its medieval street patterns and Hanseatic heritage, to its world-renowned Art Nouveau districts, to remarkable examples of adaptation and reuse such as the Riga Central Market. Its urban fabric demonstrates how cities can preserve memory and identity while continuing to change, adapt, and serve new generations.

Jelgava offers an equally powerful story of recovery and resilience. Once the historic capital of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, the city suffered devastating destruction during the Second World War, losing much of its historic center. Yet it has continued the long process of rebuilding and renewal, preserving important cultural landmarks while exploring new opportunities for regeneration. The magnificent Jelgava Palace — one of the great architectural monuments of the Baltic region — stands as a symbol of endurance, adaptation, and continuity across centuries of change.

ABOVE: The beautiful Jelgava Palace, our venue for the bulk of plenaries and breakout sessions.

The conference began on Monday morning, the 6th of July, at 9:00 AM as the City of Riga welcomed participants at Riga City Hall. The Vice Mayor for Development, Māris Sprindžuks, greeted attendees, followed by a detailed presentation from Riga City Architect Pēteris Ratas. The opening presentation was followed by a study tour exploring the city’s remarkable urban fabric and lessons for contemporary urbanism. In the evening, participants will gather for a reception in the splendid House of the Blackheads, one of Riga’s most treasured historic landmarks and itself an extraordinary story of reconstruction and cultural recovery.

From the presentation by Riga City Architect Pēteris Ratas, showing the City's work to make Riga livable.

Senior representatives of the Latvian government are also on hand, including officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as officials from Riga and Jelgava. They are joined by mayors, planners, architects, economic development specialists, researchers, NGO heads and many others, for a fascinating interaction across borders and disciplines.

Our host city of Jelgava will welcome us to the splendid Jelgava Palace for the main conference sessions, as well as study tours and a hands-on workshop examining opportunities for urban regeneration in Jelgava itself, exploring how lessons from history, research, and practice can inform the next generation of urban transformation.

The Jelgava workshop will take these questions from theory into practice, using the city itself as a living laboratory for exploring approaches to urban regeneration. Participants will examine opportunities to renew Soviet-era housing districts, public spaces, streetscapes, and everyday urban environments — asking how existing places can be adapted and improved rather than simply replaced. This work reflects one of the central ideas of regenerative urbanism: that cities are not finished products, but evolving systems whose existing social, cultural, and physical patterns can become the foundation for a more resilient and livable future

For more than six decades, the IMCL Conferences have brought together people working across disciplines and sectors to ask a vital question: how can we make cities that better support human and ecological flourishing? From mayors and public officials to planners, architects, researchers, developers, and community organizations, IMCL provides a forum for exchanging practical knowledge and advancing the shared work of making cities more livable.

We look forward to learning from Latvia, sharing lessons from around the world, and working together toward more resilient, beautiful, and livable cities for all.


ABOVE: Scenes from Riga and Jelgava.