Urban
Controversies

The Urban Controversies cycle aims to decode and deconstruct current models of urban development through multidisciplinary, open, and thought-provoking analysis of the social, economic, regulatory, and governance challenges faced by cities and territories. From 15 to 17 November 2023, Pamplona hosted the dialogues among architects, economists, sociologists, and urban experts who reflected on the planning and construction of “the urban”. Key concepts such as density, buildability, diversity of uses, land management, and urban planning regulations – forming the comprehensive regulatory framework of cities – were deliberated upon. The debate seeks to deepen our collective understanding of the decisions that are shaping and will continue to shape the future of our planet.

Sessions


Welcome and presentation

Inauguration

Opening Keynote

Conversations – Urban controversies: decoding regional architectures

Conversations – Urban Controversies: governance of complexity

Media for Cities Debate: Urban Controversies in Media Narratives and Storytelling

Session 1 -
Urban controversies in the growth of large cities

Session 2
- Urban controversies in the planning of cities


Session 3
- Urban controversies and social equity

Session 4
- Urban controversies in the face of climate change

Overcoming controversies

Institutional closing

Speakers

An esteemed gathering of architects and globally renowned urban experts from European countries, as well as from some of the world’s most populous countries, including Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the United States, among others, came together to tackle the critical challenges of unequal growth and the perpetuation of suboptimal urban developments.

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Richard Sennett

Chair, The London Centre for the Humanities and Professor of Sociology emeritus, The London School of Economics
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Liu Thai Ker

Founding Chairman of Morrow Architects & Planners
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Kunlé Adeyemi

Founder, architect, designer and development researcher, NLÉ
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Joan Clos

Director of the 7th International Congress of Architecture
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Sheila Sri Prakash

Architect, Urban Designer and Sustainability Expert, founder of Shilpa Architects Planners Designers
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Olajumoke Adenowo

Architect, Founder and Principal Architect of AD Consulting
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Maimunah Mohd Sharif

Executive Director, UN-Habitat
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Ken Yeang

Architect and Ecologist, T.R. Hamzah and Yeang
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Shlomo Angel

City Planning, NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management
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Tracy Metz

Director of the John Adams Institute
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Marina Otero Verzier

Architect, Dean's Visiting Assistant Professor at Columbia University GSAPP, Wheelwright Prize 2022, Spain
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Aitor Hernández-Morales

Reporter, Living Cities Global Policy Lab, POLITICO
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Karen Kubey

Urbanist and Assistant Professor of Architecture, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto
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Dhiru A. Thadani

Architect and urbanist, Thadani Architects + Urbanists, Washington DC
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Beatriz Lecumberri

Reporter, El País
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Dy Currie

City Planner and Brisbane City Council’s Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Host City and Strategic Partnerships Executive General Manager
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Elena Rubio

Head of the department of planning and urban management, City of Málaga
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Paul Karakusevic

Architect and founder of Karakusevic Carson Architects
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Champaka Rajagopal

urban planner and affiliated professor at the Urban School, SciencesPo (Paris), and Azim Premji University (Bengaluru)
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Anja Van der Watt

Anja Van der Watt, Interdisciplinary Urban Researcher and Communications' Expert
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Brent Toderian

City planner and urbanist, founder of TODERIAN UrbanWORKS
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Norliza Hashim

Urban planner, Chief Executive of Urbanice Malaysia
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Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN

Former Governor of Lagos State and former Federal Minister of Works and Housing of Nigeria
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Vidhya Mohankumar

Architect, Urban Designer, Founder of Urban Design Collective
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Washington Fajardo

Architect and Urbanist, Harvard GSD Loeb Fellow
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Sibarani Sofian

Urban designer and planner, founder of URBAN+
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Pablo Lazo

Director of Urban Development, World Resources Institute
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Mauricio Rodas

Former Mayor of Quito, Senior Fellow Arsht-Rock Resilience Center
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Miguel Hernández

Director of Strategy and Corporate Development CREA MADRID NUEVO NORTE (CreaMNN)
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Ciro Biderman

Economist and associate professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV)
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Oliver Alver 

Architect, Deputy Head of the Tallinn Urban Planning Department
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Sofia Arraiza Ruiz de Galarreta

architect and city planner, Foster+Partners

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Connected

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About

The International Congress of Architecture is a biennial event organized by the Fundación Arquitectura y Sociedad, aiming to promote a debate on architecture and the urban environment that transcends the traditional boundaries of this discipline. Since its creation in 2008, the Foundation has organized six congresses, bringing together over fifty architects, critics, and experts from all five continents.

The first cycle of congresses, held from 2010 to 2016, focused on fostering connections between architecture and the social sphere, sustainable development, and the rational use of material and energy resources. The second cycle, spanning from 2018 to 2021, directed its attention to the city as a realm of freedom, exploring topics such as urban political ecology, sustainable mobility, contemporary urban transformations, and the pursuit of urban equity.

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