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
Photo Gallery
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.
Richard Sennett
Chair, The London Centre for the Humanities and Professor of Sociology emeritus, The London School of Economics
Liu Thai Ker
Founding Chairman of Morrow Architects & Planners
Kunlé Adeyemi
Founder, architect, designer and development researcher, NLÉ
Joan Clos
Director of the 7th International Congress of Architecture
Sheila Sri Prakash
Architect, Urban Designer and Sustainability Expert, founder of Shilpa Architects Planners Designers
Olajumoke Adenowo
Architect, Founder and Principal Architect of AD Consulting
Maimunah Mohd Sharif
Executive Director, UN-Habitat
Ken Yeang
Architect and Ecologist, T.R. Hamzah and Yeang
Shlomo Angel
City Planning, NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management
Tracy Metz
Director of the John Adams Institute
Marina Otero Verzier
Architect, Dean's Visiting Assistant Professor at Columbia University GSAPP, Wheelwright Prize 2022, Spain
Aitor Hernández-Morales
Reporter, Living Cities Global Policy Lab, POLITICO
Karen Kubey
Urbanist and Assistant Professor of Architecture, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto
Dhiru A. Thadani
Architect and urbanist, Thadani Architects + Urbanists, Washington DC
Beatriz Lecumberri
Reporter, El País
Dy Currie
City Planner and Brisbane City Council’s Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Host City and Strategic Partnerships Executive General Manager
Elena Rubio
Head of the department of planning and urban management, City of Málaga
Paul Karakusevic
Architect and founder of Karakusevic Carson Architects
Champaka Rajagopal
urban planner and affiliated professor at the Urban School, SciencesPo (Paris), and Azim Premji University (Bengaluru)
Anja Van der Watt
Anja Van der Watt, Interdisciplinary Urban Researcher and Communications' Expert
Brent Toderian
City planner and urbanist, founder of TODERIAN UrbanWORKS
Norliza Hashim
Urban planner, Chief Executive of Urbanice Malaysia
Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN
Former Governor of Lagos State and former Federal Minister of Works and Housing of Nigeria
Vidhya Mohankumar
Architect, Urban Designer, Founder of Urban Design Collective
Washington Fajardo
Architect and Urbanist, Harvard GSD Loeb Fellow
Sibarani Sofian
Urban designer and planner, founder of URBAN+
Pablo Lazo
Director of Urban Development, World Resources Institute
Mauricio Rodas
Former Mayor of Quito, Senior Fellow Arsht-Rock Resilience Center
Miguel Hernández
Director of Strategy and Corporate Development CREA MADRID NUEVO NORTE (CreaMNN)
Ciro Biderman
Economist and associate professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV)
Oliver Alver
Architect, Deputy Head of the Tallinn Urban Planning Department
Sofia Arraiza Ruiz de Galarreta
architect and city planner, Foster+PartnersStay
Connected
Follow the updates on the next Congress in 2025. Stay tuned for more announcements!
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.