Please note that we are now seeking abstracts for the 2009 UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference, Unequal Places: Planning and Territorial Cohesion to be held in Newcastle upon Tyne from April 1-3. The deadline for submission is December 15th. Further details and online submission are available at: http://www.apl.ncl.ac.uk/aboutus/unequalplaces.html

Track themes and chairs (all at Newcastle University) are as follows:
* Equality, inclusion and social cohesion - Rose Gilroy
* European planning and territorial cohesion - Prof. Simin Davoudi
* Urban and rural regeneration - Prof. Mark Shucksmith
* Planning and governance: practice and theory - Paul Benneworth
* Urban design and conservation - Tim Townshend
* Sustainability and ecology - Paola Gazzola
* Mobility and accessibility - Geoff Vigar
* Planning education - Zan Gunn
* Cities and international development - Graham Tipple

A number of special sessions are also planned, please contact the convener to discuss participation:

1. Film, place and planning
Convener Prof Mark Tewdwr Jones, UCL.

2. Disorientating planners, questioning the values of planning
Convener: Planners Network UK, CONTACT Andrew Inch, Oxford Brookes University.

3. Spatial Literacy in Planning Education - findings and future directions
Convener: Richard Kingston, Manchester University

4. Green infrastructure: global thinking for local planning
Convenor: Ian Mell, Newcastle University

5. Obesogenic Environments:
Tim Townshend , Newcastle University

Please also note that CEBE are providing bursaries for early career academics and PhD students, see the website for more details.

Apologies for any cross-posting.

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Dr Geoff Vigar
Director, Global Urban Research Unit
School of Architecture Planning & Landscape
University of Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
T: 0044 (0) 191 222 8338
W: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/GURU
2009 Planning Research Conference in Newcastle:
http://www.apl.ncl.ac.uk/aboutus/unequalplaces.html
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The City of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a vibrant City in North East England. It has undergone something of a renaissance since the last Planning Research Conference was held here in 1998. In the past decade the regeneration of the city, and particularly the Quayside, has come on apace with new cultural facilities such as Baltic and The Sage particularly to the fore. Yet despite this Newcastle has persistent issues of social disadvantage. It thus presents a fascinating place in which to discuss directions for planning research.

The conference will explore particular issues derived from the conference theme in plenary roundtable sessions using global and local examples. Guest presenters have been invited from beyond the built environment professions to encompass community representatives, film-makers, artists and writers. For example, one session will look at the future for large-scale, social housing in cities by examining large European housing schemes, including Newcastle’s famous Byker Wall estate. Work in these sessions will be supported by study tours.

We welcome proposals for similar sessions.

Venue
The conference will take place on Newcastle University’s city centre campus. Registration will be in the Foyer of the Percy Building located at the Northern end of the main Quadrangle, see map here.  This is five minutes walk from the Haymarket stop on the Tyne and Wear Metro system.