Events
CfP ‘Walls speak. Are you listening? A research agenda for urban surfaces’ Urban Surfaces Research Network Online Workshops
Call for Participants
Urban Surfaces Research Network Online Workshops
The Urban Surfaces Research Network (USRN) is an international multi-disciplinary group of scholars, artists, and practitioners interested in the roles of surfaces as spaces of urban communication, governance, and political contestation. We explore how surfaces are designed, managed, valued, and contested as public assets, to enrich the diversity of public expression in global cities.
Is your work related to any of these aspects? If yes, then send us an EOI to participate in one of our upcoming sessions – any discipline, practice, or experience level are welcome. We are currently preparing three online workshops for 2025, on the following dates:
Tuesday 23 September
8am NYC – 1pm London – 10pm Melbourne
Monday 13 October
8am NYC – 1pm London – 10pm Melbourne
Tuesday 18 November
3pm NYC – 8pm London – 7am 19 Nov Melbourne
The commitment is for two hours and there is no need to prepare a paper – instead, we ask for a 5-7 minute response to the following prompts:
1. DEFINE: How do you define urban surfaces in your field or practice?
Offer a definition that is specific to your disciplinary or professional lens. What constitutes a surface, and what is its role or significance in your work?
2. INTERVENE: If you could change one thing about how urban surfaces are designed, valued, maintained, or governed—what would it be?
Use one specific example to describe a point of friction or opportunity. What types of surface values—social, ecological, economic, aesthetic, or otherwise—is your example based on?
3. CHALLENGE: What is a common misconception about urban surfaces that frustrates or limits your work?
Debunk a myth, assumption, or oversimplification—whether in public discourse, policy, or practice—and illustrate your point with an example.
If you are interested in participating, send your EOI and a preference for one of the above session dates as a 100-word email to sabina.andron@unimelb.edu.au, giving us an idea of how your work addresses urban surfaces and why you wish to join the network. Feel free to add a link to any relevant project, portfolio or publication. Deadline is Friday 1 August.
Thank you for your interest,
Sabina, Konstantinos, Tom
Established in 2023, the USRN held three online workshops and published three open access booklets in 2024 (USRN1, USRN2, USRN3); and organised urban-surface related sessions at the Royal Geographical Society conference in London 2024, and the Society of Architectural Historians conference in Atlanta in 2025. The network was recently awarded an Urban Studies Foundation Seminar Series Award for the project “Walls speak. Are you listening? A research agenda for urban surfaces”, to take place in 2025-26. We currently have 37 members from 16 countries.
