Annual Conferences

Annual PLPR Conference

The PLPR annual conference is hosted by different institutions in different countries each year. Click here for the conference reports. Below is a list of our conferences.

  • 2023: Ann Arbor, MI, USA
  • 2022: Ghent, Belgium
  • 2021: Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Online Sessions supported by ARL.
  • 2020: Ústí nad Labem, Czechia
  • 2019: College Station, TX, USA
  • 2018: Novi Sad, Serbia
  • 2017: Hong Kong, China
  • 2016: Bern, Switzerland
  • 2015: Volos, Greece
  • 2014: Haifa, Israel
  • 2013: Portland, USA
  • 2012: Belfast, UK
  • 2011: Edmonton, Canada
  • 2010: Dortmund Germany
  • 2009: Aalborg, Denmark
  • 2008: Warsaw, Poland
  • 2007: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2023: Ann Arbor, Michigan

2023 PLRR was held in Ann Arbor. The conference was organized by Prof. Richard (Dick) Norton and the Taubmann College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan.

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.

2022: Ghent, Belgium

2022 PLRR was held in Ghent, Belgium! The conference was organized by Prof. Hans Leinfelder, who managed to bring together KU Leuven, Ghent University and HoGent to collaboratively host the international academic conference on Planning, Law, and Property Rights 2022. This is exciting news and we are grateful for Hans and his team.

2021: Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Online Sessions

Due to the Corona crisis, there is no physical PLPR Annual Conference in 2021. Instead, we organized a series of Online Sessions. The Online Sessions were kindly supported by ARL.

2020: Ústí nad Labem, Czechia

The International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights (PLPR) was hold its 14th annual conference 17 – 21 February 2020 at Jan Evangelista Purkyne University (UJEP) in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. The conference was hosted by the Faculty of Social and Economic Studies and Faculty of Science.

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 (such as land use regulation and governance, regional and local planning, urban development, etc.). We welcome any proposed presentation situated accordingly. In 2020, selected special sections and a key note were devoted to the problem of fragmentation (of land, institutions and planning). The theme reflects the post-socialist Central European reality dealing with the enormous fragmentation of land ownership as well as responsibilities and rules regarding the use of (public) spaces.

2019: College Station, USA

The 13th PLPR annual conference was hold 18-22 February 2019 at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, USA. The event was hosted by the Texas A&M College of Architecture at the university’s Memorial Student Center, one of the nation’s premier student unions.

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. Because of Texas A&M’s location and faculty expertise, the 2019 conference offered an opportunity to present planning, law, and property rights scholarship speaking directly to the conference theme — “Preparing for Climate Change in the Planned and Unplanned City.”

More information can be found on the conference website.

2018: Novi Sad, Serbia

Dusan Nikolic and his team put together an outstanding program. Around 90 participants learnt about local planning system. The conference theme “Migrations – Impacts, Law and Spatial Planning” mirrored past and current challenges. More information can be found on the conference website. Photos will be uploaded soon.

Watch two reports from Serbian TV:

2017: Hong Kong, China

Chris Webster, Lennon Choy and their team at the University of Hong Kong welcomed approximately 150 participants to our 11th annual conference, which took place on 20 – 24 February, 2017.  For more information visit the conference website.

Click here for photos.

2016: Bern, Switzerland

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Jean-David Gerber, Andreas Hengstermann and their team from the Institute of Geography, University of Bern welcomed 150 participants to the tenth annual conference on Planning, Law, and Property Rights, which took place on 17-19 February 2016. For more information, visit the conference website.

2015: Volos, Greece

Kostas Lalenis and his team from the Department of Planning and Regional Development (DPRD), University of Thessaly welcomed more than 100 participants to the ninth International Conference on Planning, Law, and Property rights from the 25-27 February in Volos, Greece. In 28 parallel sessions and four key note speeches, PLPR scholars discussed planning challenges across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania. For more information visit the conference website.

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2014: Haifa, Israel

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Rachelle Alterman and the Organizing Committee welcomed around 150 participants from 30 countries to the eight International Conference on Planning, Law, and Property Rights from the 10-14 February 2014. For the first time in the history of PLPR, the conference took five days and participants could chose between four pre-conference day-long workshops representing the key challenges for planners and planning-law experts in Israel. In 24 parallel sessions and four key note speeches, PLPR scholars linked planning, law, and property rights with housing, environmental issues, urban management, governance, heritage and culture, public participation, or climate change.  Click here for the conference Website.

2013: Portland, Oregon, USA

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PLPR welcomed around 120 participants to Portland, Oregon to our seventh conference. The event was held at the campus of Portland State University in downtown Portland from the 13-15 February 2013. Ed Sullivan and Ellen Bassett chaired the Local Host Committee, supported by Al Burns, Sy Adler, and many more. The conference theme was framed as “Property Rights and Planning in a Changing Economy” reflective of the challenges of globalization and the enduring economic downturn on our communities and professional practice.A wide variety of papers has been presented and discussed, and the 40th anniversary of the Oregon’s land use program has been celebrated in two special sessions. ‘ Click here for the conference website.

Watch the keynote speeches:

2012: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Greg Lloyd, Deborah Peel, Anil Kashyap, and Heather Richie organized the sixth annual conference of our International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights at the School of the Built Environment of the University of Ulster on 7-10 February 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. For the first time, the conference was under a theme: “Rights, Responsibilities and Equity in Land Use Planning“. More 100 academics attended the conference, presented, discussed, and argued (www.ulster.ac.uk/plpr2012).

2011: Edmonton, Canada

Russell Brown and Eran Kaplinsky welcomed approximately 95 participants from all over the world in May 2011 at the Faculty of Law of the University of Alberta, Canada.  Click here for the conference website.

2010: Dortmund, Germany

Benjamin Davy, Thomas Hartmann, Heinz Kobs, Kathrina Schmidt, and Gabi Zimmermann organized the conference at the School of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund, where 94 presentations have been discussed b the 125 participants. For more information, download the program and book of abstracts.

  • Click here for an illustrated booklet with highlights from the Fourth International Conference on Planning, Law, and Property Rights.
  • Click here for the conference report by Leonie Janssen-Jansen (published in Town Planning Review 81 (4), 473-478).

2009: Aalborg, Denmark

Michael Tophøj Sørensen, Finn Kjær, Søren H.Mørup, and Christian Aunsborg hosted the third conference at the University of Aalborg.

2008: Warsaw, Poland

The 2008 Conference in Warsaw was organized by Dr. Miroslaw Gdesz, Warsaw University and sponsored by Wolters Kluwer, Poland.

2007: Inaugural Symposium on Planning, Law, and Property Rights

Leonie Janssen-Jansen organized the first assembly of the association in Amsterdam at the University of Amsterdam. It was sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of VROM and the attendants discussed during the symposium the new Dutch Planning Act with the ministry.