#USFSeminarSeriesAwards–funded
LightNews LightNews
urbanstudiesfoundation.org
📣 Call for Papers!

Tensions in policy learning: Grounding learning practices in urban Southeast Asia
🗓️ 3–5 June 2026
📍 Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII), Depok
📝 Apply by 16 January 2026
👉 ow.ly/KcN450XH1o3
Funded by the #USFSeminarSeriesAwards
Flyer with USF logo for the Call for papers "Tensions in policy learning: grounding learning practices in urban Southeast Asia" and the text "To understand how these tensions manifest in practice requires examining how different Southeast Asian cities adapt foreign frameworks to local socio-political conditions. Through comparative case studies, the Seminar Series invites participants to assess how cities balance global best practices with domestic pressures, cultural factors, and institutional constraints. Whether in urban design, economic strategies, technological deployment, or sustainability measures, policy transfer outcomes hinge largely on a delicate process of negotiation— one that ultimately shapes how “learning from abroad” is realised and resisted in the region." Deadline: January 16th, 2026 Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) in Depok, Indonesia. On a grey backround" Flyer with USF logo for the Call for papers "Tensions in policy learning: grounding learning practices in urban Southeast Asia" and the text "To understand how these tensions manifest in practice requires examining how different Southeast Asian cities adapt foreign frameworks to local socio-political conditions. Through comparative case studies, the Seminar Series invites participants to assess how cities balance global best practices with domestic pressures, cultural factors, and institutional constraints. Whether in urban design, economic strategies, technological deployment, or sustainability measures, policy transfer outcomes hinge largely on a delicate process of negotiation— one that ultimately shapes how “learning from abroad” is realised and resisted in the region." Deadline: January 16th, 2026 Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) in Depok, Indonesia. On a grey backround"
December 12, 2025 at 8:15 AM
urbanstudiesfoundation.org
🕊️ New on the Blog: Cities at War — a 16-week online lecture series funded by a #USFSeminarSeriesAwards grant, begins 15 Oct 2025.
The series explores how wars destroy cities, knowledge & communities—and how scholars rebuild them.

🔗 Read more: https://ow.ly/39tc50Xaj4Y
#CitiesAtWar #UrbanStudies
Flyer with USF for the blog "Cities at War" on a picture by Mona Fawaz. And the quote "“This Cities at War online lecture series provides a platform for academics affected by war to share their research on/in cities at war within a reflexive positionality. The series brings together 17 scholars, all of whom live in and/or have lived and were forcefully displaced from war-torn cities, and it invites them to present research about the multiple ways in which military conflicts and their aftermath have produced and re-produced their cities.” Flyer with USF for the blog "Cities at War" on a picture by Mona Fawaz. And the quote "“This Cities at War online lecture series provides a platform for academics affected by war to share their research on/in cities at war within a reflexive positionality. The series brings together 17 scholars, all of whom live in and/or have lived and were forcefully displaced from war-torn cities, and it invites them to present research about the multiple ways in which military conflicts and their aftermath have produced and re-produced their cities.”
October 13, 2025 at 10:00 AM
urbanstudiesfoundation.org
📢 New Special Issue in Urbanisation!
"Overlooked people, places, and practices: shifting the gaze in Asian and South African cities"
Curated by the Overlooked Cities Collective, funded by #USFSeminarSeriesAwards
ow.ly/8awM50W5wjW
#UrbanStudies #GlobalSouth #OverlookedCities
[Image description: A flyer with USF logo for a Special Issue titled "Overlooked people, places, and practices: shifting the gaze in Asian and South African cities" in the journal Urbanisation. It notes that the issue features contributions from academics and artists working on South African and Asian cities. Acknowledgment is given to the Overlooked Cities Collective and the Urban Studies Foundation, which funded the Seminar Series that inspired the issue. Background image via Flickr by Stephen Broadhurst]
June 6, 2025 at 2:38 PM
urbanstudiesfoundation.org
💻 Webinar – Responsible and Transparent AI
📅 24 Oct 2025 | 🕑 14:00 (GMT+1) | 🌐 Online
REGISTER ➡️ ow.ly/A40c50XcQOU

Join the launch of SS25.AI4UG, a seminar funded by #USFSeminarSeriesAwards exploring how to coproduce responsible, transparent AI for urban governance.
Flyer with USF logo for the Webinar "Coproducing a research agenda for responsible and transparent AI-capabilities for decision support in urban governance" to be organized on 24th October 2025, 14:00 (GMT+1). Zoom (mandatory registration). Seminar - Online. Presentation of SS25.AI4UG research plan, detailing the purpose of each seminar (Boston, Brasilia, and Manchester) and the methods used in the training sessions associated with the seminars. We invite academics working on urban research, including PhD students and ECRs, and urban governance practitioners to register for our launch Webinar 0. Flyer with USF logo for the Webinar "Coproducing a research agenda for responsible and transparent AI-capabilities for decision support in urban governance" to be organized on 24th October 2025, 14:00 (GMT+1). Zoom (mandatory registration). Seminar - Online. Presentation of SS25.AI4UG research plan, detailing the purpose of each seminar (Boston, Brasilia, and Manchester) and the methods used in the training sessions associated with the seminars. We invite academics working on urban research, including PhD students and ECRs, and urban governance practitioners to register for our launch Webinar 0.
October 17, 2025 at 6:45 AM
urbanstudiesfoundation.org
🎥 Check out "The Citizen Canvas," a short film produced for the 2024 UTA-Do workshop! A visual chronicle of Dar es Salaam, this film captures the city’s landscapes, practices, and histories. Funded by #USFSeminarSeriesAwards.
Learn more about the project and watch the film here: ow.ly/FliZ50V1Rf4
Quote: UTA-Do is a yearly critical urban studies ‘summer school’ that aims to contribute to making African urban scholarship and imagination more inclusive, and primarily through working to democratise access to the resources required to shape and produce information about African cities. UTA-Do brings together emerging scholars, artists, and activists around the shared project of thinking and doing the urban. with USF logo on a picture of "The Citizen Canvas"
February 18, 2025 at 11:31 AM
urbanstudiesfoundation.org
🏙️ USF Blog!

This week, Dr Georgiana Varna, Dr Michael Crilly & Dr Karina Landman share insights from their project “Co-producing alternative urban futures through experimental urbanism”, funded by a #USFSeminarSeriesAwards grant.

🔗 Read more: ow.ly/3XRZ50Xi74C

#UrbanStudies #ExperimentalUrbanism
Flyer with the USF logo for the USF blog post on a picture by Callum Leslie “We collectively explored and questioned the point, purpose and characteristics of “experimental urbanism”. While there were many ways to classify and organise the different types of experimental projects from scale, location, design or urban form, there were clear procedural steps that many of the presenters followed in their projects from concept / inception to scoping / benchmarking and learning from similar projects prior to delivery and post competition evaluation.” Flyer with the USF logo for the USF blog post on a picture by Callum Leslie “We collectively explored and questioned the point, purpose and characteristics of “experimental urbanism”. While there were many ways to classify and organise the different types of experimental projects from scale, location, design or urban form, there were clear procedural steps that many of the presenters followed in their projects from concept / inception to scoping / benchmarking and learning from similar projects prior to delivery and post competition evaluation.”
October 27, 2025 at 8:30 AM
urbanstudiesfoundation.org
📢 Call for Papers
Commodification & Resistances in Land and Housing
📍 PUCP, Lima | 🗓️ 14–16 Oct 2026
🌍 Global North–South dialogue
#USFSeminarSeriesAwards–funded event
⏰ Deadline: Feb 1

🔗 ow.ly/XTUF50XZtsQ
#UrbanStudies #HousingJustice #LandCommodification #CFP
Flyer with USF for the Call for Papers "Commodification and Resistances in Land and Housing:" and the text "This event is part of the Seminar Series Awards “Land commodification and housing affordability under capitalist urbanisation. Global dynamics and local resistance in Peru, the United Kingdom and the United States” This academic conference is concerned with the various manifestations of urban development and land commodification across the Global North and South. It is expected to bring together researchers and academics from around the world to debate, interrogate, and critique the current dynamics of urban development, the issue of land commodification, and its impact on access to housing in different regions." on a grey backroung. Flyer with USF for the Call for Papers "Commodification and Resistances in Land and Housing:" and the text "This event is part of the Seminar Series Awards “Land commodification and housing affordability under capitalist urbanisation. Global dynamics and local resistance in Peru, the United Kingdom and the United States” This academic conference is concerned with the various manifestations of urban development and land commodification across the Global North and South. It is expected to bring together researchers and academics from around the world to debate, interrogate, and critique the current dynamics of urban development, the issue of land commodification, and its impact on access to housing in different regions." on a grey backroung.
January 19, 2026 at 9:00 AM