Call for Participation

Sections below:  Call for Participation  ||| Submission Link ||| Topic Categories |||  Key Deadlines ||| Key Policies ||| Local Host & Program Review Committees

AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON URBAN AFFAIRS

APRIL 29 – MAY 2, 2026 | MARRIOTT MARQUIS | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

NO LITTLE PLANS: REALIZING URBAN FUTURES IN TIMES OF CRISIS

“Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change.”  Milton Friedman (1982) Capitalism and Freedom

Today, cities across the globe are confronting a conjuncture of overlapping crises, including climate change, housing precarity, racial injustice and the rise of authoritarianism. Yet, this is also a moment of new possibilities and imaginative alternatives. Cities are both sites of contestation and resistance, fostering innovation through the actions of social movements, policy development, and local acts of care. As old systems falter, we must confront questions about what sustainable, transformative change looks like and what social, political, economic, and physical infrastructure is required. Echoing Daniel Burnham’s call to “make no little plans,” this is a time for expansive thinking and collective action. For members of the Urban Affairs Association, this moment demands engagement not only as researchers studying urban places, but also through our pedagogy, institutional commitments, and activism. We must help cultivate the ideas, policies, and practices that will shape more just, reparative, and resilient urban futures.

🔥 SPECIAL TRACK: The City-Region Reimagined: Intersections of Theory, Policy, Practice, and Place

Cities as Global Landscapes

• Cities as Conflict Zones, Reclaiming and Rebuilding
• Cities in Global Networks (ex. finance, trade, investment, communications)
• Cities as Migration Centers, Urban Demographic Change, Immigration Politics

Resilient Cities–Planning and Policies

• Arts, Culture, Preservation and Heritage in Sustainable Cities
• Disaster Planning and Management
• Environmental & Energy Policy Challenges in Cities and Urban Green Futures
• Infrastructure, Transport, Accessibility & Mobility in Urban Areas
• Urban Design, Land Use, Public Space, Growth Management
• Urban Health (e.g. care crisis and disease), Quality of Urban Life
• Urban Technology, Media and Communications, Smart Cities, Digital Divides

Rights to the City

• Community Development, Gentrification, Neighborhood Change
• Civil Rights of Urban Residents, Indigenous Rights
• Economic and Social Exclusion by Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Identity, Age
• Urban Housing Affordability, Market Dynamics, Homelessness
• Urban Education, Labor and Employment in Cities, Urban Entrepreneurship
• Urban Income/Wealth Disparities, Poverty, Wage Gaps, Food Insecurity
• Urban Violence, Public Safety Challenges

Democracy Under Stress: Institutions and Governance

• Urban Economic Development Strategies, Urban Fiscal Policies
• Metropolitan and Regional Dynamics, Development Politics
• Urban Public, Private & Non-Government Roles, Philanthropy & the City
• Urban Political Activism and Social Movements

October 1, 2025 – Abstract/Proposal Submission Ends
NO LATE SUBMISSIONS ARE ACCEPTED—This is a STRICT deadline!
Abstracts for papers and pre-organized session proposals may be submitted until 11:59PM Central Daylight Time (CDT) or 4:59am GMT on October 1. Acceptance or rejection notices will be sent by October 16, 2025.

Pro Tip: UAA does not extend its deadlines. And we do not accept excuses for missed deadlines. Think of the deadlines the way you think of a planned trip on an airplane. The plane will not be there if you miss the boarding deadline. ☺

November 18, 2025 – Registration deadline for all accepted presenters and moderators.
Registration is conducted online. Payments are accepted using all major credit cards. Failure to register by this deadline will result in exclusion from the conference program.

/ / / / / ONE-SESSION POLICY / / / / /

• To maximize participation and minimize scheduling conflicts, individual attendees are limited to participation in one (1) conference session (i.e., panel, colloquy, roundtable, research brief).
  • This policy is strictly enforced.
  • WARNING: Any session proposal that includes a person who is listed in another proposed session, will be placed on an indefinite hold until one of the proposals is revised.
  • Exception: Persons in sponsored sessions AND official UAA professional development sessions can participate in one additional session. No one can participate in more than two sessions, regardless of their exception status.

/ / / / / PARTICIPANT REGISTRATION POLICY / / / / /

•  November 18, 2025 (11:59pm CDT) – Registration deadline for all accepted participants (presenters and moderators)
  • All accepted participants must register and pay the associated fees to have their names listed in the final program.
  • Participants who fail to register by the registration deadline will not be included in the conference program.
  • You do not need to be a member of UAA/ENHR/EURA to register for the conference. However, members are eligible for discounted rates.
•  February 1, 2026 – Last day to request conference registration refund (Administrative fee: $200 for non-students; $100 for students)

• April Jackson (Chair), University of Illinois Chicago
• Winifred Curran, DePaul University
• Philip Garboden, University of Chicago
• Andrew Greenlee, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Amanda Kass, DePaul University
• Amy Khare, Case Western Reserve University
• Stacey Sutton, University of Illinois Chicago
• Nik Theodore, University of Illinois Chicago