CFP: Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory
Scholars of urban design are invited to present their work at the first Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory (SUDHT). The purpose of SUDHT is to create a forum for those whose scholarship relates to urban design to present and discuss their research, engage in fruitful conversation and debate, and form a community based on shared interests.
SUDHT is intended as a worldwide forum with an expansive interest in the past. As such, we invite session and paper proposals that address all geographic settings and time periods. As urban design is inherently interdisciplinary, scholars are welcome from various fields, including (among others) urban design, architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, heritage studies, geography, environmental studies, history, art history, political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, design studies, and digital studies.
SUDHT defines urban design broadly, to refer to the spatial qualities of cities, towns, suburbs, rural areas and other human settlements. These spatial characteristics can be intentionally designed, or they may derive from other forces in which case the result is sometimes referred to as ‘urban form’ or ‘urban morphology’.
SUDHT will be held on 1-3 November 2023. It will be in a hybrid format, combining both in-person and remote virtual presentations. The in-person component of the symposium will take place at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands.
Abstract proposals are invited, and these submissions may be for individual papers or sessions of four papers. A submission for an individual paper should include the name, contact information, a short bio, and 300-word (maximum length) abstract. A submission for a session should include all this information for each of the four papers, along with the name of the session chair(s), the name of the lead contact, the title of the session, and a brief description (300 words maximum) of the session topic. Submissions should also state whether they would be in-person or remote presentations.
For session submissions, it is strongly encouraged that at least one of the papers is by someone whose work concentrates on an understudied location and/or at least one of the papers is by someone who is an ’emerging scholar’ (PhD student, post-doc, or comparable).
Papers should be based on original, properly documented research. Papers may not be previously published or presented in public except to very small audiences (of fewer than 20 people).
The deadline for the submission of abstracts, whether for individual papers or sessions of four papers, is 30 April 2023. Those whose submissions are accepted to SUDHT will be notified by 5 June 2023. Final papers will be due on 15 October 2023. Those presenting papers must register for the symposium via the conference website. Registration will open in June 2023.