The International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP) is a non-governmental global association of professional city and regional planners. It was founded in 1965 in a bid to bring together recognised and highly qualified spatial planners in an international network. The first president of ISOCARP was its co-founder Prof. Sam van Embden[1] (1965-1975).

The Society has over 700+ individual and institutional members from more than +85 countries. ISOCARP is currently presided by Martin Dubbeling (NL) together with 11 members of the Board and Executive Committee from around the World with a Head Office located in The Hague, Netherlands. ISOCARP is formally accredited as an NGO by the United Nations and the Council of Europe and has a formal consultative status as a recognised NGO with UNESCO. Additionally, ISOCARP has multiple Memoranda of Understanding with a plethora of international partner organisations and institutions.

About

The objectives of ISOCARP include the improvement of cities and planning practice through the creation of a global and active network of practitioners by the exchange of experience, training, education and research. It promotes the planning profession in all its aspects and enhances public awareness and understanding of major planning issues at a global level. ISOCARP has a strong record and reputation on a number of regular activities including its annual World Planning Congress, a strong series of publications, awards for best practices, training programmes and workshops for professional support in urban planning, amongst others.[2]

In 2016 the ISOCARP Institute,[3] Centre for Urban Excellence emerged as the "research spin-off" of ISOCARP, operating on three pillars: Practice, Research and Academy. The Institute's prime objectives include: strengthening cross-border collaboration globally; upholding professional excellence in planning; advancing sustainable planning; increasing awareness of major development trends and promoting best practices; all while serving as an “Urban Think Tank” facilitating the generation and dissemination of knowledge for better cities.

Although ISOCARP members, planners and other stakeholders involved in the development and maintenance of the built environment, work in many different fields, they share a common interest in the spatial and environmental dimensions of urbanisation. They advise key decision-makers, proposing and supporting projects for intervention in various spatial contexts. ISOCARP is a politically and commercially independent world-wide organisation.

World Congress

ISOCARP's most prominent event is the annual World Planning Congress.[4] Since 1965 such congresses have taken place world-wide on globally-significant cutting edge topics promoting knowledge creation and sharing in the planning profession. Attended by some 350-500 delegates, ISOCARP congresses are small enough for personal interchange of ideas on a given theme, yet big enough to encompass a broad professional and international range. The congresses are open to ISOCARP Members (reduced congress fees) and non-members (individuals, parties or organisations). The Congresses provide a platform for establishing professional as well as personal contacts with colleagues from all around the world.

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

Key activities

Next to the annual congress, the workshops for Young Planning Professionals (YPP)[5] and the Urban Planning Advisory Teams (UPATs),[6] organised on demand for cities and regions all over the world, are amongst the key activities of ISOCARP. YPP workshops are held on national level addressing local conflicts by a group of selected professionals under the age of 35. UPATs assist sponsor organisations by offering the extensive experience and expertise of ISOCARP members to work on highly relevant but complicated local or international planning projects and policy initiatives. Previous workshops took place in Russia, China, Australia, Mexico, Kenya, Gaza and the West Bank.

At the request of governmental agencies ISOCARP provides customised training programmes for planning personnel. Regional working groups and seminars are regularly organised by the National Delegations. Furthermore, the Society offers Strategic/Technical Assistance Teams for collaborative research and consulting services with national and multi-national agencies.

Publications

ISOCARP thematic publications support the Society's goal to create and disseminate knowledge for better cities and territories.[7]

The ISOCARP Review, published since 2004, is the Society's annual flagship publication.

The other flagship 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. Examples are the Plan Magazines as result of the UPATs and the Young Planning Professionals’ (YPPs) Report.

References

  1. https://zoeken.hetnieuweinstituut.nl/images/archives/pdf/ODEE.ead.pdf
  2. "Home - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  3. "ISOCARP Institute 'Centre for Urban Excellence ' website". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  4. "Past ISOCARP Congresses - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  5. "Young Planning Professionals' Programme - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  6. "UPATs (Urban Planning Advisory Teams) - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  7. "ISOCARP Publications - ISOCARP". ISOCARP. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
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