Emerging Challenges in City Centres – Spatial Equity and Inclusiveness

CIB W096 Architectural Design and Management will be hosting a workshop on Emerging Challenges in City Centres during WBC2025 in collaboration with the American Architectural Research Centers Consortium and Future of the City Centre Network.

The objective of this workshop is to continue the discussion on:

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

  • enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanisation
  • ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing
  • provide access to safe, inclusive and accessible, public and green spaces
  • support least developed countries, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilising local materials. 

Perspectives

  • Environmental and climate change
  • Social
  • Economic
  • Political
  • Technological digital revolution
  • Cultural

Synopsis

The Workshop will develop ideas from the Aarhus event in May 2024, set out below:

Among present urban dilemmas is the social and cultural integration of diverse populations and responses to the barriers created by limited access to the critical elements of safe, healthy, and dignified lives.  The focus of this session is the role of research, education and practice in inclusiveness and generating spatial equity.  The challenge of creating social and environmentally sustainable places that are accessible to various communities, lies at the core of critical research in the built environment disciplines.

Research into spatial equity and inclusiveness in education and practice is manifested in both process and product. In thinking about the conference theme, this workshop will engage participants in a lively debate around a set of conditions and provocations that will assist the development of a resilient city centre.  The concept of universal access to city centre facilities, regardless of social class, race, gender, and ethnic background needs to be carried through to practice.  Moreover, inclusion for some members of society can represent exclusion for others.  Thus, there is a continuum from the producers of urban space in all its scales, through to the users. 

The outcome of the workshop will be to elicit ideas, opinions, and different perspectives from the participants, and lay out a plan of action for a future research agenda.   

The workshop date and time will be advised nearer the time, meanwhile the workshop document can be viewed here.