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23. Space Syntax for Inclusive and Equitable Urban Planning
No full textShould urban space be designed primarily for traffic efficiency, or for fostering human interaction, accessibility, and social life? In this 1.5-hour lecture, Professor Akkelies van Nes introduces space syntax as a critical method for assessing dominant planning paradigms shaped by motorised mobility. Drawing on case studies from both the Global North and Global South, the lecture demonstrates how spatial configurations influence movement patterns, social interactions, and economic life, providing valuable insights for addressing urban inequalities and promoting inclusive planning interventions.
The session is followed by a hands-on workshop where participants apply space syntax techniques—such as axial and segment analysis, visibility graph analysis, and integration measures—to real-world urban scenarios. Emphasis is placed on evaluating spatial equity and accessibility in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
Professor van Nes is an internationally recognised scholar in the field of space syntax, known for her pioneering work combining space syntax with GIS-based analyses of urban morphology, crime patterns, and accessibility. She is the co-author of Introduction to Space Syntax in Urban Studies (2021) and has been active in leading international symposia, including chairing the 5th International Space Syntax Symposium (TU Delft, 2005) and the 13th Symposium (Bergen, 2022). Her contributions have shaped the study of how spatial structures affect socioeconomic processes, urban vitality, and human behaviour, making her one of the foremost voices in spatial planning research.
This lecture invites researchers, planners, architects, geographers, and policymakers to engage with data-driven approaches to inclusive and equitable urban design
The right to the ecological city: De-paving and public space transformation through community gardening in Montreal, Canada
Full text linkKrähemer, J., & Bacque, M.-H. (2024). The right to the ecological city: De-paving and public space transformation through community gardening in Montreal, Canada. plaNext – Next Generation Planning, 14, 50–82. https://doi.org/10.24306/plnxt/94This article explores how bottom-up, citizen-led initiatives based on community gardening and depaving practices are transforming public space and promoting socio-ecological transition in Montreal, Canada. More specifically, the article looks at how community organisations reclaim asphalt-covered, underused, and abandoned spaces in order to create urban gardens. Drawing on the literature of the right to the city and socio-ecological transition, and based on a qualitative methodology including interviews and participatory observation, the article discusses how these initiatives contribute to the emergence of a ‘right to the ecological city’. The article argues that they do so by transforming urban spaces, empowering residents, building social ties, and implementing alternative modes of urban governance.publishedVersio
Keynote 1 : Liverpool Local Planning and Inclusive Growth
Full text linkvideo available at https://vimeo.com/1093807965In his keynote speech at the AESOP Head of Schools Meeting 2025, Councillor Nick Small, Cabinet Member for Growth and Economy at Liverpool City Council, presented the city’s strategic direction for inclusive growth. He emphasized that growth should be people-centered, guided not only by the local plan but primarily by the newly drafted Inclusive Growth Strategy. The address outlined the socioeconomic challenges facing Liverpool, particularly in North Liverpool, an area marked by structural deprivation. Small introduced initiatives such as the proposed “Opportunity North Liverpool” new town project and the establishment of a Locally Led Urban Development Corporation (LLUDC), aimed at regenerating key urban zones, attracting investment, and improving housing and job opportunities. He also highlighted local success stories, such as grassroots women entrepreneurship in Anfield, and stressed the need to better integrate the city’s underutilized waterfront with surrounding communities. The speech connected these strategic efforts to broader planning reforms and called for a balance between fast-tracking development and maintaining democratic accountability
Strategic Spatial Planning Under Pressure in Ukraine: Between Legal Frameworks and Local Implementation
Full text linkTransactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning • 9 (2025) 15–30This article examines the transformation of Ukraine’s spatial planning system in the context of decentralisation, regulatory reform, and the growing role of local communities in decision-making. It emphasises the significance of comprehensive spatial development plans as instruments of integrated local governance. Using the Chernihiv region as a case study, the paper analyses institutional, financial, and organisational challenges in implementing planning decisions and highlights gaps between legislation and practice. The study stresses the need to align spatial planning with modern community development strategies, focusing on digitalisation, local capacity building, and stakeholder engagement. Recommendations are proposed to enhance strategic planning tools and promote balanced territorial development.publishedVersio
The Next Generation of Planning: A Year of Milestones from AESOP Young Academics
Full text linkdisP – The Planning Review, 61, 2025This report provides an overview of the activities of the AESOP Young Academics (YA) Network during the 2024–2025 term, marking a period of significant milestones. It highlights the network’s central role within AESOP, fostering the participation of early-career scholars through major initiatives such as the AESOP PhD Workshop 2024 in Grenoble, the AESOP Annual Congress in Paris 2024, and the 19th YA Conference 2025 in Hanover. The paper also reviews the growth of plaNext – Next Generation Planning journal, the Booklet Series Conversations in Planning Theory and Practice, the AESOP Memories project, and the Regional Ambassadors initiative. Together, these activities underline the YA Network’s expanding international presence and its contribution to intergenerational dialogue within the planning discipline.publishedVersio
AESOP 2025 Congress Istanbul | Opening Day
No full textThe recording captures the opening day of the AESOP 2025 Annual Congress – Planning as a Transformative Action in an Age of Planetary Crisis, held at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul. The session introduces the congress theme and sets the stage for a week of discussions on the role of planning in addressing global challenges. Welcome remarks highlight the importance of international collaboration, academic exchange, and critical reflection in confronting planetary crises through transformative planning practices
Financialization and deterritorialization in the Milanese major urban development projects
Full text linkplaNext – Next Generation Planning, 15 (2025)This article examines how financialization and deterritorialization shape major urban development projects in Milan, focusing on the Milano Innovation District (MIND). Financialization is understood as the transformation of land and real estate into financial assets, while deterritorialization refers to the progressive abstraction and disconnection of planning tools, actors, and decisions from their local spatial context.
Through an in-depth case study, document review, and interviews, the article reconstructs the planning, political, and financial mechanisms behind MIND. It demonstrates how global developers, corporate financing strategies, Special-Purpose Vehicles, and partnerships with institutional investors have reconfigured Milan’s statutory planning, shifting authority from public institutions to market-driven actors.
The study argues that these processes undermine the redistributive role of spatial planning, diminish public oversight, and align urban development with financial logics rather than local needs. The article concludes by calling for renewed attention to how financialization restructures planning systems, governance practices, and the ethics of urban development.publishedVersio
In the Mirror of Urban Landscapes: Sharing Experiences and Grounding Juan Luis de las Rivas, in conversation with Ana Ruiz-Varona and Federico Camerin
Full text linkJuan Luis de las Rivas Sanz is Full Professor of Urban Planning and Design and Director of the School of Architecture at the University of Valladolid (Spain). He frequently collaborates with regional and local authorities as a planning consultant and currently leads the IUU_Lab, a research group specializing in spatial planning and urban design. The group has carried out projects for various cities and urban regions – including Burgos, Ponferrada, and Zamora – as well as for several Spanish autonomous communities such as Castilla y León, Asturias, and Extremadura. Additionally, IUU_Lab has been involved in initiatives commissioned by Spanish ministries and regional governments, with a focus on innovation in sustainable urban and regional planning.
Professor de las Rivas is the author or co-author of over ten monographs in the fields of regional planning, urban design, and architecture. He is also the Spanish translator of Ian McHarg’s seminal work Design with Nature (Barcelona, 2000). He has served as a visiting professor at numerous universities across Europe, the United States, and Latin America, participating in undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs.
His research explores the interplay between nature and urban design, grounded in the architectural foundations of planning. In 2002, his project Directrices de Ordenación Territorial de Valladolid y Entorno – urban guidelines for the metropolitan area – received the Fourth European Urban and Regional Planning Award from the European Council of Town Planners (ECTP). Another of his projects, involving the regeneration of two postwar neighborhoods, received an honourable mention in the 2003 Gubbio International Prize.
This booklet emerges from a series of discussions held over the past two years between the authors and Professor de las Rivas. At the early stages of their academic careers, the authors had the opportunity to engage with him on critical topics such as the dialectic between place and landscape, the contradictions inherent in planning practices and urban culture, and the renewed vision of urban planning as a creative and interpretive discipline.
Key words: Planning practices; Urban culture; Regional scale; Urban regeneration; Minimum landscapespublishedVersio
Report of the 2024 AESOP PhD Workshop
No full textAhead of the game Reversibility, sufficiency and care in the context of urban transitions
Faced with rapid and massive transformations, urban planning practice is compelled to change its core principles. Once land consuming, it must now be attentive to land take dynamics. Once delivering rigid infrastructural projects, it must now cater for increasingly diversified and everchanging needs. Once relying on massive resources, it must now find ways to mend the urban fabric without depleting much. Planners have to look ahead when it comes to buildings inherited from modern times or big events like the Olympic Games and adapt them to the challenges of the future. But how to plan today the inheritance of future generations? Planning differently becomes all the more difficult in a world of emergency and uncertainty, where shorttermism, urgency and endless experimentation prevail. Catering for space reversibility, planning with a frugal attitude, caring about humans and non-humans, for the living and nonliving... such guiding principles could help to deal with the urban fabric left "after the game" while planning "ahead of the game". The workshop was held under excellent conditions. The participants were very pleased with the relaxed yet studious atmosphere. The ice-breaking activities have allowed to creation very soon a pleasant dialogue between participants. The mentors have been very engaged and really enjoyed the discussions.publishedVersio
Artificial intelligence and the planning task
No full textplaNext – Next Generation Planning, 15 (2025)The article reflects on the planning task in the context of artificial intelligence, offering a forward-looking perspective for the next decade. It begins by revisiting debates on planetary urbanisation and the implications of techno-scientific urbanism, particularly through smart city initiatives and data-driven governance. Ache critically examines AI’s reliance on large datasets, its tendency to reinforce normative patterns, and its entanglement with corporate power structures.
The text then explores how AI systems intersect with material infrastructures, environmental burdens, labour exploitation, and global socio-economic inequalities. Case studies—from smart home technologies to large-scale AI computing facilities—highlight ethical dilemmas, energy consumption, pollution, and uneven spatial impacts.
The article calls for clearer rules of engagement, countervailing civic powers, and more progressive, democratically informed approaches to technology. Ache draws on thinkers such as Acemoglu, Naughton, and Bridle to argue for broader, more inclusive understandings of intelligence that extend beyond computational models. The piece concludes by inviting reflection on future urban imaginaries and the role of planners, emphasising curiosity, criticality, and human-centred perspectives