Barcelona. Livable Cities
La Salle - Universitat Ramon Llull

The Urban Experience: From Social Policy to Design
Event Date: July 16-18, 2025
Abstract Date: December 10, 2024
July 2025
An international conference for scholars in the social sciences, humanities, sciences, art and design
Part of the Livable Cities Series 2025. Held at the School of Architecture La Salle - Universität Ramon Lull

Call

Barcelona is seen as one of the world’s most livable cities. Ranked particularly high for its renowned cultural scene, lifestyle, architecture, outdoor parks and beaches, it is also Europe’s third most progressive city for start-ups.  Supporting alternative modes of work through its Workation program, it is also attracting entrepreneurs with the digital nomad’s visa. However, it is also a city that suffers from unaffordable housing, uncontrolled tourism, noise pollution and over density. It has a high cost of living, has experienced gentrification and has pockets of social deprivation. In such contradictions and paradoxes, it is a microcosm of cities the world over – a place where notions of ‘livability’ are far from consistent.

How Barcelona, or any other city, responds to this situation is complicated, and often contested. For architects and urbanists, affordable housing may be a question of planning. For sociologists, improvements to the built city are community concerns. For health professionals, air pollution relates to public wellbeing. For environmental activists, urban density is a resource issue. For cultural theorists, the arts and tourism are matters of heritage. For the business sector they are issues of finance. For engineers, transport may be a question of infrastructure. For residents, it’s a question of equity and access.

Using the city of Barcelona as an example then, this conference explores how cross-disciplinary readings of cities the world over shed light on what makes the places we inhabit ‘livable’. It welcomes debates around community participation; research projects on design and planning; investigations into urban infrastructure and case studies on smart cities. It seeks critiques on accessibility and social justice, examinations of local and migrant cultures, and studies of transport, urban heritage, public health…. and more.


 

Strands & Themes

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Specific Strands under development by AMPS and the Universidad Ramon Llull for this event include, but are not limited to:

Access to housing – a fundamental aspect of urban livability; Redefining public space – a process involving residents in decision-making; Economic drivers in development – examining the tensions between economic development, livablity and gentrification; Climate change impacts – questioning sustainability and resilience in environmental and social terms; Cultural Cities – places as sites of creative activity and historic importance; Healthy Places – critiques of planning post-Covid, care in the community, accessibility and more.


Reflecting the broader LIVABLE CITIES initiative, the general Themes of interest at this event are Architecture, Landscape & Urban Design; Communities & Cultures; Sustainability & Resilience; Technology, Management and Planning; Public Services & the City.

Image: Colin Lloyd

Disciplines

  • Urban Planning
  • Sustainability
  • Architecture
  • Sociology
  • Human Geography
  • Transport
  • Art
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Media Studies
  • Sociology
  • Communications
  • Digital Design
  • Humanities
  • Public Health
  • Community Studies
  • Design
  • Urban Economics
  • Cultural Studies
  • Public Services
  • Creative Industries
  • Tourism
  • Heritage

Key Dates

Abstracts (Round 1)
10 December 2024
Feedback
5 January 2025
Conference
16-18 July 2025
Full Paper Submissions
05 September 2025
Full Paper Resubmissions
10 January 2026
Publications
01 April 2026

Themes

Architecture, Landscape & Urban Design
Design, placemaking, planning, participation...
Communities & Cultures
Gentrification, community studies, immigration, activism...
Sustainability & Resilience
Resilient cities, sustainable design, the circular economy...
Technology, Management and Planning
Smart cities, intelligent infrastructure, cultural cities...
Transport & Infrastructure
Integrated transport, the walkable city, green-blue infrastructure...
Public Services & the City
Public health, access to services, community support...

Formats

In-person: Live in Barcelona at the La Salle campus

Zoom: Virtual presentations coordinated by AMPS

@Barcelona: For delegates visiting Barcelona but presenting virtually on Zoom 

Pre-recorded:  Pre-recorded presentations or films will be available permanently on the AMPS Academic YouTube channel

Written papers: In all cases, delegates can present full written papers for inclusion in associated conference publications

In-person: (15-20 mins)
Zoom: (15-20 mins)
@Barcelona: (15-20 mins)
Pre-recorded video: (15-20 mins)
Written papers: (3000 words)

 

Publications

The publishers that AMPS works with include Routledge Taylor & Francis, UCL Press, 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 from this event will be developed by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, with 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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Submissions & Registration:

Registration Delegate Fee: $415 USD  |  Audience Fee: $210 USD                                                                                      Queries: events@amps-research.com

 

Click the button below to submit your abstract. To resubmit or revise an abstract click here.