The International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP) is a non-governmental global association of professional city and regional planners.

ISOCARP was founded in 1965, and its first president was the co-founder Prof. Sam van Embden[1] (1965–1975). By 2024, ISOCARP connects individual and institutional members from more than 90 countries.[2] Pietro Elisei is the current President of the Board, working alongside 11 other members of the Executive Committee from around the world, with a head office located in The Hague, Netherlands.[3] ISOCARP is formally accredited as an NGO by the United Nations and the Council of Europe and has formal consultative status as a recognized NGO with UNESCO.[citation needed]

About

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ISOCARP aims to help improve cities and planning practices by supporting a global and active network of practitioners in their exchange of experiences, training, education, and research. ISOCARP also seeks to promote the profession of planning and to enhance public awareness and understanding of planning issues at a global level. ISOCARP organizes several activities, as the annual World Planning Congress, a series of publications, awards for best practices, training programs, and workshops for professional support in planning.[4]

In 2016, ISOCARP announced a "research spin-off" of the main association titled "Centre for Urban Excellence".[5] While aiming to serve as an "Urban Think Tank," the primary objectives for this institute are to strengthening cross-border collaboration globally, upholding professional excellence in planning, advancing sustainable planning, and increasing awareness of major development trends and promoting best practices[citation needed].

World Congress

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Since 1965, ISOCARP's most prominent event is the annual World Planning Congress.[6] The congresses take place worldwide, with a different theme each year related to topics of global significance.

Nr. Year Location Theme
1st 1965   Amsterdam The Position of the Netherlands in a Uniting Europe
37th 2001   Utrecht Planning in the Information Age
38th 2002   Athens The Pulsar Effect: Urban Planning and the pulsar effect: Coping with peaks, troughs and repeats in the demand cycle
39th 2003   Cairo Planning in a More Globalised and Competitive World
40th 2004   Geneva Management of Urban Regions - Experiences and New Interventions Possibilities
41st 2005   Bilbao Making Spaces for the Creative Economy
42nd 2006   Istanbul Cities between Integration and Disintegration – Opportunities and Challenges
43rd 2007   Antwerp Urban Trialogues. Co-productive ways to relate visioning and strategic urban projects
44th 2008   Dalian Urban Growth without Sprawl – A way Towards Sustainable Urbanization
45th 2009   Porto Low Carbon Cities
46th 2010   Nairobi Sustainable City / Developing World
47th 2011   Wuhan Liveable Cities: Urbanising World - Meeting the challenge
48th 2012   Perm Fast Forward: Planning in a (hyper) dynamic urban context
49th 2013   Brisbane Frontiers of Planning – Evolving and declining models of city planning practice
50th 2014   Gdynia Urban Transformations – Cities and Water
51st 2015   Rotterdam Cities Save the World: Let's Reinvent Planning
52nd 2016   Durban Cities we Have vs Cities we Need
53rd 2017   Portland Smart Communities
54th 2018   Bodø Cool Planning: Changing Climate and Our Urban Future
55th 2019   Jakarta, Bogor Beyond the Metropolis
56th 2020   Doha (online) Post-Oil City: Planning for Urban Green Deals
57th 2021   Doha (hybrid) Planning Unlocked: New times, Better places, Stronger Communities
58th 2022 Brussels From Wealthy to Healthy Cities
59th 2023 Toronto For Climate Action, Urban Finance

Key activities

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In addition to the annual congress, ISOCARP conducts workshops for Young Planning Professionals (YPP)[7] and Urban Planning Advisory Teams (UPATs),[8] organized for cities and regions all over the world. YPP workshops are held on a national level to address conflicts with a group of select professionals under age 35. UPATs assist sponsoring organizations by offering the expertise of ISOCARP members to work on complex planning projects and policy initiatives. Previous workshops took place in Russia, China, Australia, Mexico, Kenya, Gaza and the West Bank.

Publications

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ISOCARP is the publisher of themed research journals to support the creation and dissemination of knowledge for better planned cities and territories.[9] The ISOCARP Review, published since 2004, is the society's annual flagship publication. Its other central publication is the International Manual of Planning Practice, published in 2015. Other publications and project reports cover the several activities and initiatives of the Society.

References

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  1. ^ https://zoeken.hetnieuweinstituut.nl/images/archives/pdf/ODEE.ead.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ "Mission and objectives". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  3. ^ "ISOCARP Board". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  4. ^ "Home - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  5. ^ "ISOCARP Institute 'Centre for Urban Excellence ' website". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  6. ^ "Past ISOCARP Congresses - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  7. ^ "Young Planning Professionals' Programme - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  8. ^ "UPATs (Urban Planning Advisory Teams) - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  9. ^ "ISOCARP Publications - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
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