13th International Congress of

Asian Planning Schools

Association (APSA 2015)

Introduction
Towards an Asian Urban Agenda : Planning Asian Diverse-City,
Intense-City, Complex-City and Authentic-City
It is widely accepted that urbanisation is the phenomenon of the 21st Century. As we approach the
critical threshold of year 2020 and at a time the world is faced with numerous economic, social and
environmental uncertainties, an intellectual and in-depth deliberation on an Asian Urban Agenda is
imperative and highly timely.
Urbanisation is at its most rapid in Asia. The process is yet to see any sign of levelling out. The ADB
(2008, in UNU-IAS, 2013) projects that Asia will see an additional 1 billion urban residents in the next
25 years. The bulk of increase is expected to take place in the less and least developed cities. Taken as
a whole, the Asian continent is a continent of great disparity that poses immense and highly varied,
and complex challenges to urban scholars, planners and policymakers in the planning of more sustainable and liveable Asian cities. As Asian civilisations develop and progress on this vast canvas of diversities, Asian cities intrinsically become the loci of historic, spatial, economic and sociocultural diversity, intensity and complexity.
As globalisation continues to accelerate, the spatial, economic and socio-cultural diversity, intensity
and complexity of Asian cities are only set to increase. Rising in tandem with these will be various
environmental impacts. The concomitant social impacts would widen economic gap between the urban
affluent and the urban poor; social segregation; increasing vulnerability to environmental disasters;
rising intensity and complexity of relief efforts and costs in the event of disasters; energy and food
security; depleting urban health and safety; and escalating costs in the provision and maintenance of
affordable and resilient urban infrastructure and services.
Most solutions to the diverse, intense and complex issues facing Asian cities have largely found their
roots in non-Asian theories and practices, and premised largely upon their economic viability and
profitability, leading to homogeneity in urban solutions. Globalisation, be it through the cumulative
unintended effects of increased exposure to other urban contexts among planners or through formal
planning education in Asian planning schools whose curriculum contents have been inadvertently built
upon predominantly Western theories, which give rise to the crucial issue of authenticity and identity
crisis of Asian cities.

APSA 2015 the 13th APSA International Congress wishes to challenge the best minds in academia or

Towards An Asian Urban Agenda:

Planning Asian Diverse-City,
Intense-City, Complex-City
and Authentic-City
1214 August 2015
Conference Hall, Block B12,
Faculty of Built Environment,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
81310 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

practice of urban planning and design, especially in Asia, to jointly deliberate upon, and set an Asian
Urban Agenda: Planning Asian Diverse City, Intense City, Complex City and Authentic City. Urban
scholars, practicing urban planners and designers, urban policymakers, academics and practitioners
from other relevant professions are cordially invited to submit abstracts and papers under any of the
following six conference tracks and relevant topics.

Important Date
31 March 2015
06 April 2015
25 May 2015
29 June 2015
1 July 2015
20 July 2015
21 July 2015

1214 August 2015

Abstract Submission Deadline

Notification of Acceptance or Rejection
Full Paper Submission Deadline
Paper Feedback
Early Bird Registration Deadline
Revised Paper Submission/Poster Submission Deadline
Author-Presenter Registration Deadline for Inclusion
in Conference
APSA 2015

Please submit your abstract to

apsa2015utm@gmail.com

Registration
Fees
INTERNATIONAL
Early Bird Registration
APSA Member
Non APSA Member
Student APSA Member
Student Non APSA Member

USD180
USD230
USD90
USD120

Ordinary Registration
APSA Member
Non APSA Member
Student APSA Member
Student Non APSA Member

USD220
USD280
USD110
USD140

LOCAL
Early Bird Registration
APSA Member
Non APSA Member
Student APSA Member
Student Non APSA Member

RM600
RM750
RM300
RM400

Ordinary Registration
APSA Member
Non APSA Member
Student APSA Member
Student Non APSA Member

RM700
RM900
RM350
RM450

Contact
For further information or updates, please contact:

Mr. Gobi Krishna Sinniah

+6011-11965692
Or visit:
http://www.utm.my/apsa2015

Organizer
Organiser:

Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Faculty Of Built Environment,

Co-Organiser:

Asian Planning School Association

In Collaboration :

* The organiser is in the process of applying for CPD points from

Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP) and The Board of

Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Malaysia.

12 August 2015

Track 1 : Urban Planning and Design Challenges (PD)

Asian Cities as Drivers of the Asian Century: Challenges to Urban

Planning and Design

08:00 Registration
09:00 Opening Ceremony APSA
2015 & Keynote Address by
Adjunct Prof Datuk Ismail
Ibrahim
10:00
10:15
11:45
12:30
14:00
15:30
19:30

TOPICS

TRACKS

Tentative Programme

Tea Break
Session A
Session B
Session C
Session D
Break
Gala Dinner

Towards defining an Asian urban agenda

Urban planning the Asian way: theories, models, techniques
and tools
Characterising Asian megacities, megalopolis and urban
regions
New roles of planners: advocators, facilitators, enablers and
collaborators
Unlocking the urban housing dilemma/issues/problems
Transportation planning and urban form in an era of resource
and energy scarcity
Promoting green urban mobility and travel behaviour
successful Asian cases
Urban and spatial development in the Information Age
Linking the urban-rural divide or making sense of the
urban-rural blurring? Polycentric urban regions,
supra-national regional planning

Track 4: Soul-searching Planning Education (PE)

Rethinking Planning Education for an Asian Urban Century

Track 5: Green Growth The New Prosperity (GG)

Prosperity and Sustainability Beyond 2020: Asian Green
Growth as the Way Forward
Towards low carbon economies: decoupling growth from

Track 2: Urban Institutions and Governance (IG)

13 August 2015
09:00
10:00
10:15
12:30
14:00
15:00
16:00
16:15
17:00

2nd Keynote Address

Tea Break
Session E
Lunch Break
Session F
Session G
Tea Break
Closing Ceremony

General Assembly & Council

Meeting

Towards Resilient Asian Cities: Better Urban Institutions and

Governance in an Age of Uncertainties

Urban dynamics: managing change through governance

Strategic regional partnerships and cooperation among
cities
Collaborative planning and governance
Disaster preparedness/reconstruction and risk
management
Critical Issues in Urban Development
Climate change co-benefits for political buy-in
Overcoming behavioural and institutional inertia in city
planning
Reconciling national and local development goals and
priorities
Planning cities with limited capacities and resources
Planning beyond administrative-spatial and disciplinary
boundaries
Planning functional urban areas vs. administrative spatial
entities (Future) Challenges to good urban governance

Track 3: Bridging Urban Research and Urban Policy (RP)

Unlocking the Potential of Urban Research in Managing Asian Cities

14 August 2015
Field Trips/ Tours

Asian planning theories for sustainable, livable Asian cities?

Critical revisit of Asian wisdom in planning
Learning from Asian cities: from theory into practice
Understanding and managing sprawl
Data sources and methods for spatial and strategic planning
Planning/Development tools and approaches for managing
Towards evidence-based research and research-informed
policymaking
Successful examples of academia-industry-policymaker
partnerships
The New Sciences and their application in Asian urban
planning GIS and IT solutions in urban planning

Towards an Asian Planning Education Manifesto for an urban

century?
Future perspectives for planning education within the
information society
Re-scoping Planning Education in an increasingly
internationalised /regionalised world
Teaching the art of scientific research and science of artistic
design of cities
From applied Western theories to fundamentally Asian
theories of Asian urbanisation
(Re) Training planners of tomorrow
Exploring the potential of joint curriculum among Asian
planning faculties
Incorporating resilience and risk management in planning
Comparative study in borderless planning

environmental impacts
Urban ecosystem analysis, protection and remediation
Urban development and environmental legislation and
policies
Urban innovations for addressing food and energy security
Revisiting sustainability consciousness
Urban regeneration and sustainable urban areas
Policies for promoting green technology and green industry
Asian green growth best practices

Track 6: Urban Equity and Authenticity (EA)

Towards Inclusive Asian Cities: Rationalising Equity and
Authenticity with Unprecedented Urban Diversity, Intensity
and Complexity

Inclusive urban/city planning rhetoric vs. reality

Housing for all and urban sustainability
Urban conservation, cultural heritage and tourism planning
Community and economic development
Traditional values vs. modern development
Empowerment and true participation in development
planning
Sustainable urbanisation, social and cultural issues
The lingering problem of urban poverty
Planning for and with an ageing population
Planning for and with vulnerable, disadvantaged and
underprivileged groups
Managing the shrinking city phenomenon
Global issues, global solutions and the urban identity crisis

In addition, the congress will also welcome papers and posters on tracks or topics other than those stated
above but within the realm of the main theme.