Welcome to the International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights!
Planning matters. Law matters. Property matters. These three simple messages inspire the growing PLPR community to examine the difficult relationship between public and private interests in the use of land.
Upcoming PLPR activities: Annual Conference, 18th-22d of March 2024.
Please submit your abstract by September 30, 2023!!
The International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights (PLPR) will hold its 18th annual conference (March 2024) in Munich (Germany), hosted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
PLPR invites all papers addressing topics at the intersection of planning, law, and property rights for presentation to colleagues. The abstract submission is now open.
More information on the conference can be found on our website.
Abstracts are welcome until 30th of September 2023 via the online conference management system Converia: https://www.events.tum.de/frontend/index.php?sub=185
Hope to see you in Munich!

PhD workshop, March 18, 2024
Our annual conference on 18-22 of March, 2024, will also hold a special PhD workshop in Munich, Germany. PhD students who would like to take a part in the workshop on Monday 18th of March should submit an abstract for a regular or a special session.
During the registration process, you will be asked whether you would like to participate in the PhD workshop – please click YES for us to review your application. To your abstract submission add a short description of your PhD research project (max. 3 pages), including problem setting, research question, hypothesis, theoretical background, research methods, status of the research, and problems faced. Only PhD students whose abstracts are accepted for the main PLPR conference are eligible for the workshop.
This is a great opportunity to discuss your upcoming study, its methods, and to share your insights and challenges with your fellow PhD students from around the globe. The workshop offers mentorship by PLPR senior members who will guide you through the workshop and offer advice on your research.
2024 Annual conference announced: Technical University of Munich
During the general assembly in Michigan, PLPRs ExCo announced the upcoming location and host of our next conference. The 18th annual conference of PLPR will be hosted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) on March 18-22, 2024. It will be hosted by the Chair of land management in the School of Engineering and Design.
PLPR’s Flag was delivered to our Munich hosts and travelled across the Atlantic to find a new home. Our host, Prof. Dr. Walter Timo de Vries and his team (Ms. Liliane Raths and Mr. Marco Hölzel) have already uploaded preliminary information here: https://plpr2024.bole.ed.tum.de/ Please stay tuned for further updates on abstract submission deadlines.
If you are interested in hosting/organizing a Special Session to a specific topic please send us a proposal via mail:
plpr2024.lew@ed.tum.de
We kindly ask you to send us your proposals until the 11th of August 2023.
Please note that our time slots for Special Sessions are limited. Therefore, we cannot guarantee a spot for every proposal.

May 2-5, 2023
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
.jpg)
On 2-5 May PLPR was hosted by the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. PLPR is indebted to Richard (Dick) Norton, who welcomed us with enthusiasm and facilitated an inspiring and engaging intellectual interaction on Planning, Law, and Property Rights. Furthermore, we would like to thank Dawn Jourdan (University of Maryland) and Ellen Bassett (Georgia Tech College of Design) for their Sponsorship.
PLPR 2023 hosted about 100 scholars from around the globe, with parallel sessions focusing on a range of subjects at the heart of ongoing research. This included sessions about rural planning, housing security, land valuation, urban green space, densification, climate change and law, comparative policy analysis and more. Photos and additional sources can be downloaded here (photos taken by the PLPR community).

Annual PLPR conferences provide an opportunity to present scholarship covering a broad array of topics residing at the intersection of planning, law, and/or property rights, and we welcome any proposed presentation situated accordingly. For more information on the 2023 conference website see here: https://www.plpr2023.com
———————————————-
Our previous annual conference was held in Ghent (Belgium), at 4-8 July 2022. General details about this conference can be found on the conference’s website. What an amazing conference! It was one of the largest PLPR conferences we ever had, organized like clockwork and in the lovely surrounding of the city of Ghent. We are extremely grateful that Hans Leinfelder and his local organizing team – Peter Lacoere, Tristan Claus, Geert Van Hoorick, Mieke Paelinck, Hendrik Schoukens – brought together KU Leuven, Ghent University and HO Gent, each covering one of the three core thems of planning, law, and property rights. PLPR builds on the enthusiasm and energy of colleagues who volunteer to organize the conferences. Thank you, Hans, Peter, Tristan, Geert, Mieke and Hendrik!


Additional (latest) PLPR activities:
- PhD E-Seminar on July 15th 2021. Information here.
- In February 2021, we conducted a series of PLPR 2021 Online Sessions instead of a conference. So, there was a PLPR activity in February 2021 even in Covid times! Report here. The program also included an Online PhD Workshop.
- PLPR Track (“Law”) during 32nd AESOP Annual Congress, July 2019 in Venice, Italy.
- 3rd PLPR Pacific Rim Regional Meeting was held 16-17 April 2018 in Taoyuan City, Taiwan.