ISUF 2023 will be in Belgrade, Serbia.
Visit the ISUF 2023 website for further information about the conference.
Conference reports
Reports from previous ISUF conferences are published in the journal and those from 2006 onwards are also linked to from this page.
Regional conferences
Some of the ISUF Regional Networks also organise conferences - visit the Regional Networks page for more information.
Conferences
ISUF 2023
ISUF 2023 (the 30th International Seminar on Urban Form) will take place on 4 - 9 September 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia.
The general theme of the conference is ‘Praxis of Urban Morphology’.
The conference will have the following tracks:
- Good Practise in Planning, Landscapes and Townscapes.
- Culture Space, Common Space and Personalities.
- History of Ideas and Challenges.
- Programming and Rethinking Concepts.
For further information, visit the ISUF 2023 conference website.
Previous ISUF conferences
Lodz and Cracow, Poland, 2022: Urban Redevelopment and Revitalization: A multidisciplinary perspective
- Classical and innovative theoretical concepts of the redevelopment and revitalisation of spatial structures.
- Methods of research of the transformation processes of settlement spatial structures and their application.
- Decision-making factors and political, legal and administrative conditions for redevelopment and renewal of the urban tissue.
- Social and cultural determinants of spatial redevelopment and regeneration.
- Economical, functional and infrastructural changes and their impact on the renewal processes.
- Directions of change in the historic urban structures.
- Practical architectural and urban solutions.
- Conference website - isuf2022.org
Glasgow, Scotland, 2021: Urban Form and the Sustainable Prosperous City
- Towards a descriptive science of urban form.
- The epistemology of Urban Morphology.
- New trans-disciplinary perspectives in urban morphology.
- Innovations in Urban Morphometrics, digital cartography, big data and remote sensing.
- Innovations in qualitative research in Urban Morphology.
- Engaging with the social, cultural and institutional discourse.
- Urban Morphology for design, planning and policy.
- Urban Morphology, Architecture and Heritage.
- Teaching Urban Morphology.
- The resilient city: ecological perspectives in Urban Morphology.
- Urban Morphology for SDG 11.
- Conference website - isuf2021.com
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 2020: The 21st Century City
- The evolving morphology of world mega-cities.
- Legacies of the 20th century: repairing modern city form.
- Sustainability as an imperative and limitation in urban and regional evolution.
- New building and neighborhood typologies in response to urban crisis.
- Adaptation of historic cities: weaknesses and strengths.
- Utopian and ideal cities of the 21st century, including “smart” cities.
- Methods and practice of urban morphology as adapted to new city forms.
- The legacy of Gian Luigi Maffei.
- ISUF 2020 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - isuf2020.cap.utah.edu
Nicosia, Cyprus, 2019: Cities as Assemblages
- Emergence, relational theories, the social sciences and urban morphology.
- The scope and limits of urban theories.
- Urban morphology, building typology and design.
- Embedding different approaches into the study of urban morphology.
- Combining Conzenian, typological and space syntax approaches.
- Urban conflict and divided cities.
- Mediterranean port cities in a global context.
- ISUF 2019 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - cyprusconferences.org/isuf2019/
Krasnoyarsk, Russia, 2018: Urban form and social context
- Urban morphological theory
- Urban morphological methods and techniques
- Evolution of urban form and social influence
- Urban form and technology
- Fringe belts
- Historical urban fabric
- Urban landscape history
- Architectural typology
- Urban identity
- Urban morphology, regeneration and design
- Cartographic data
- Tools of Analysis
- Post-Socialist urban form
- Teaching urban morphology
- ISUF 2018 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - conf.sfu-kras.ru/en/isuf2018
Valencia, Spain, 2017: City and territory in the globalization age
- Stages in territorial configuration
- Urban form and social use of space
- Reading and regenerating the informal city
- Efficient uses of resources in sustainable cities
- City transformations
- Cartography and big data
- Tools of analysis in urban morphology
- Urban green space
- ISUF 2017 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - www.valencia2017isufh.com
Nanjing, China, 2016: Urban morphology and the resilient city
- Urban morphological theory
- Urban morphology and urban design/planning
- Urban form, society and technology
- The fringe-belt concept
- Urban morphology, sustainability, and climate change
- Transformation and resilience in urban development
- Urban form in the global era
- Urban form in Asia
- East and West: similarities and contrasts
- ISUF 2016 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - www.urbanform.cn
Rome, Italy, 2015: City as organism
- New and historical landscapes
- Infrastructural networks
- Modern constructions and Mediterranean identity
- Urban growth and fringe belts
- Contemporary design for historical cities
- Urban aesthetics and new developments in urban design
- Eco-cities
- Urban morphology and urban regeneration
- Reading and designing urban fabric
- Urban form and meaning
- Urban knots
- Architectural heritage preservation methods
- ISUF 2015 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - rome2015.isufitaly.com
Porto, Portugal, 2014: Our common future in urban morphology
- Urban morphological theory
- Urban morphological methods and techniques
- The evolution of urban form
- Agents of change
- Revisiting urban morphological classics
- Multidisciplinarity in urban morphology
- Comparative studies of urban form
- Integrated approaches
- Teaching urban form
- The relations between research and practice
- ISUF 2014 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - isuf2014.fe.up.pt
Brisbane, Australia, 2013: Urban form at the edge
- Cities on the Edge - Cities on edge conditions, such as natural limits or political boundaries
- Off centre - Urban form in emerging economies and postcolonial countries
- On the Edge of the City - Peripheral areas and urban form in suburbia
- Edge Cities – New urban conditions
- Regional centres - Cities and towns with local importance, but at the edge of national or regional urban networks
- Pushing the Edge – New technologies and new techniques
- ISUF 2013 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - www.isuf2013.com
Delft, The Netherlands, 2012: New urban configurations
- Innovative building typologies
- Infrastructure and architecture
- Complex urban projects
- Green spaces and the city
- ISUF 2012 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - www.newurbanconfigurations.nl
Montréal, Canada, 2011: Urban morphology and the post-carbon city
- Urban morphology, planning and design
- Urban form, sustainability and climatic change
- Heritage and urban form
- Advances in theory and methods
- Urban form, society and technology
- ISUF 2011 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - www.isuf2011.com
Hamburg, Germany, 2010: Formation and persistence of townscape
- Urban morphology and climatic change
- Urban form and heritage
- Urban morphological theory
- Ecology and urban form
- European historic towns’ atlas project
- Urban identity
- ISUF 2010 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference website - www.isuf2010.de
Guangzhou, China, 2009: Urban morphology and urban transformation
- Reconceptualizing the Chinese city
- The balance between tradition and development
- The fringe-belt concept
- Models of urban development
- East and West: similarities and contrasts
- ISUF 2009 Conference report (PDF)
- Conference brochure / call for papers (PDF) and conference information (PDF).
Artimino, Italy, 2008: Landscape and urban form
- Theory and praxis
- The French urban landscape
- The internalizing of old urban fringes
- The concept of territory of the Muratorian school
- ISUF 2008 Conference report (PDF)
Ouro Preto, Brazil, 2007: Urban morphology in a global era
- Non-Western cities
- Urban morphology and computers
- Urban form and identity
- Architecture and urban design restoration
- Urban open spaces and landscape
- ISUF 2007 Conference report (PDF)
Stockholm, Sweden, 2006: Nordic and international urban morphology
- Practical use of urban morphological theories
- Regionalization of urban morphological research
- Communication of urban morphological knowledge
- ISUF 2006 Conference report (PDF)
London, UK, 2005: Tradition and modernity in urban form
- New urban interventions in traditional cities
- New morphological design tools
- Modern designs for urban expansion
Glasgow and Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 2004: Urban morphology at the IGU
- Historical urban morphology
- Conzenian and Caniggian approaches
Trani, Italy, 2003: The planned city?
- Sprawl
- The informal versus the formal city
- Theory and methodology
- Disasters and reconstruction
Proceedings of the 2003 conference are available from Uniongrafica Corcelli Editrice, Via S. Milella 10, Bari, Italy. They consist of three volumes, each of about 400 pages, edited by Attilio Petruccioli, Michele Stella and Guiseppe Strappa. The cost is 100 euros and the publication's ISBN is 88-7329-043-4.
Cernobbio, Italy, 2002: The work of Gianfranco Caniggia
- Caniggia’s approach
- The planning of Como
- Caniggia and typological theory
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 2001: Retrospective on urban morphology at the millennium
- Urban morphological ‘schools’
- The historical scope of urban morphology
- Design and legislation
- GIS and urban morphology
Proceedings of the 2001 Conference have been reprinted and are available for $US 25.00.
Contact: Brenda Scheer, Graduate School of Architecture, University of Utah, 375S, 1530 E. Room 234, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. E-mail: Scheer@arch.utah.edu
Groningen, The Netherlands, 2000: Commissions and Working Parties
- Groningen : applying conceptual frameworks
- Meetings of commissions and working parties
Florence, Italy, 1999
- Established theories in varied environments
- Explanation and prescription
Proceedings from the 1999 conference are available from:
Alinea editrice, 17/19 rosso, via Pierluigi da Palestrina, 50144 Firenze, Italy.
The volume is edited by Roberto Corona and Gian Luigi Maffei and is entitled Transformations of urban form: from interpretations to methodologies in practice, ISBN 88-8125-348-8. It comprises 111 papers divided by topic into 15 sections, each section being prefaced by a summary.
Versailles, France, 1998
- The legacy of Versailles
- The ‘modern’ city
- Revisionist views of design history
- Towards prescription
Birmingham, UK, 1997
- Methodology and technique
- Development of urban morphology as a field of knowledge
- Inauguration of the New Researchers’ Forum
Lausanne, Switzerland, 1996
- The Italian school of process typology
- The representation of urban tissue