urban matters

What will urban planning be like in 2052? This one-day international conference brings together policy makers, researchers, planners, architects and artists to envisage the role of urban planning in the future.

Planning for the profound political and social shifts that the future requires can feel intractable and overwhelming. The huge task of creating positive change while mired in everyday realities makes it difficult to look beyond the rhythm of political cycles – and yet this is critical.

By taking a liberatory step away from our immediate constraints and into tomorrow, this conference explores the future of government’s role in city design by imagining the shape of urban planning in 2052. What will a different climate and different culture, in which regenerative ecosystems, circular economies, and human flourishing are core pillars of a new economy, mean for policy making and urbanism?

Through collaboration with artists and creative practitioners, brokering relationships with ambitious policy makers from diverse contexts, and extrapolating from bold urban planning initiatives, we will collectively engender a hopeful and practical conversation about the future role of policy in tomorrow’s economy.

https://www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/events/planning-2052