Abu Dhabi
Constructing an Urban Future

The Sustainability and Resilience of Cities
Event Date: March 18-19, 2018
Abstract Date: December 1, 2017
Keynote
Keynotes: Eike Sindlinger, ARUP | Shams Eldien Naga, NAGA ARCHITECTS

Call

In 2014 the World Urbanization Prospects published by the United Nations identified that we had already crossed the tipping point at which the majority of the peoples of the world live in cities. By 2050 it is expected to be 66 per cent of the world’s population. Already in many parts of the world, urban living is the dominant mode of existence. In South America, 76 percent of people are urbanized. In the United States, the world’s most resource consuming nation, over 80 percent of the population is urban. In places like Singapore and Hong Kong the figures suggest total urban saturation, with 100 percent of people living in urbanized areas. These figures go hand in hand with general population growth in the developing world, with 90 percent of the increase found in Asia and Africa.

What this means for how we design and build the habitation centers of the future is fundamental. The homes we live may need to change as the density of life increases; our places of work may need rethinking as the home to work commute becomes impossible; minimizing the environmental impacts of travel in denser and expanded cities will be essential; the planning of infrastructures to supply basic needs such as water will be on the agenda; energy consumption in both the domestic and industrial sectors needs control.

Not only are these problems complex due to the interconnected nature of every issue at play, they are further complicated by the diverse scenarios we need to consider from a global perspective. What works in the already developed cities of the global north, with freezing winter conditions, dense living patterns and high personal energy consumption is very different to the needs of the desert conditions of some countries in the global south, with minimal carbon footprints today, ample land for future development, and the forces of urbanisation only now emerging.

This conference embraces this complexity and the need to bring minds, disciplines, researchers and professionals together, rethinking the range of interconnected issues involved in the sustainability and reliance of our urban environments.

Disciplines

  • Architecture
  • Urban design
  • Regional planning
  • Human geography
  • Sociology
  • Community studies
  • Suatainabiliity
  • Environmental studies

Key Dates

Abstract Submissions (phase 1)
01 December 2017
Abstract Feedback
15 December 2017
Registration Closes
01 February 2018
Full Paper Submissions (where applicable)
01 July 2018
Feedback for Publications
01 October 2018
Publication of Full papers
01 February 2019

Themes

Sustainability
Resilient Cities | Sustainable Design | Low Energy Housing | Carbon Neutral Building
Planning
Urban Planning | Zoning Laws | Green Infrastructure | City and Regional Planning
Design
Landscape Design | Architecture | Interior design | Urban Design
Construction & Infrastructure
Transport Planning | Sustainable Construction | Building Technology
Communities
Participatory Planning | Community Design | Right to the City

Formats

To make the event as inclusive as possible, delegates can attend in-person but can also avoid travel costs by making their presentation as a pre-recorded film. It will be permanently available via the AMPS Youtube channel. Alternatively, they can present virtually via skype. In all cases, written papers are also acceptable.

Pre-recorded video (20 minutes)
Skype (20 minutes)
Conference Presentations (20 minutes)
Written Papers
In-person

Publications

The publishers that AMPS works with include UCL Press, Routledge Taylor & Francis, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Vernon Press, Libri Publishing and Intellect Books.

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Conference outputs include the AMPS Proceedings Series, ISSN 2398-9467; Special Issue Publications of the academic journal Architecture_MPS ISSN 2020-9006; Books with the publishing houses listed above and short films available on the AMPS Academic YouTube Channel.

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Written papers are optional.  If submitted they should be 3,000 word length. Formatting instructions to follow after the conference. All papers are double- blind peer reviewed for the AMPS Conference Proceedings Series. Subject to review, selected authors will be invited to develop longer versions as articles in the academic journal Architecture_MPS or in specially produced conference books.

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Image: Ciamabue. The Aldar building in Abu Dhabi