The next Common City conference, titled “Struggling for Urban Justice in a Time of Authoritarianism and Multiple Crises”, will be held in Uppsala on 26-28 August 2026. This is the follow-up to the first edition of the Common City Conference (September 2024), organized by The Housing & Urban Justice Project (HUJP) at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF), Uppsala University. The conference aims to bring together scholars and activists concerned with struggles for the right to the city, housing, and urban justice. Given the success of the first edition, which enabled scholars and activists from diverse backgrounds and countries to meet and establish new collaborations and networks, the Housing and Urban Justice Project is now organising a second edition.
The 2nd conference aims to foster co-working among activists and scholars who are interested in promoting urban commoning and housing justice, and to engage theoretically, empirically, and methodologically with the current challenges facing the urban world due to the spread of authoritarianism and neofascist regimes. These regimes are normalising a war mentality, driven by imperialistic attitudes, which turn cities into highly militarised spaces. Furthermore, the destruction of the built environment and agricultural systems by predatory capitalism, environmental crises, and wars is, in some cases, leading to forms of urbicide. This is especially evident in the Gaza Strip, where the state of Israel has destroyed at least 92 percent of housing units, as reported in an “Impact Snapshot Report” (UN Jan, 2025) by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Therefore, we invite Palestinian movements to participate and, together with scholars, reflect on urban destruction.
Furthermore, we would like to challenge established understandings of the production of knowledge that, in light of totalitarianism and the deepening inequalities it fosters, have become obsolete. In this context, we believe that scholars have a responsibility to reimagine the urban fabric through the lens of the commons and of social and environmental justice. To inform this reimagination, methodologies from below, connecting urban research with social movements, are crucial for a knowledge production that contests the established one.
Therefore, we invite proposals for sessions that critically address these topics, with particular attention to the role of activists and grassroots organisations across different urban contexts, and that propose transformative frameworks for understanding struggles for urban justice and urban commons. We welcome contributions from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives and practical experiences. By bringing together insights from a variety of contexts, we aim to foster discussions within and between sessions and to support cooperation between activists and scholars, so that academia does not remain isolated in its ivory tower during these times of violence and environmental destruction.
We welcome submissions for three types of session formats:
Regular Panels (90–120 min.) consist of four to five paper presentations, selected after a call for papers. Each presentation is usually allocated 15 minutes, followed by discussion.
Thematic Sessions (90–120 min.) feature a thematic discussion led by session convenors, who invite three to five speakers. In brief initial statements of 5–10 minutes, each speaker outlines their reflections on the proposed topic. This is followed by a discussion between the session chairs, invited speakers, and the audience to encourage an engaging exchange. A limited number of sessions will follow this format.
Creative Sessions (90–120 min.): Session convenors may propose new, innovative, and engaging formats that differ from the above. We welcome a variety of suggestions.
Guidelines
All sessions must be open to a broad audience, not limited to participants in an existing project or network, and must be accessible and inclusive of representatives from different universities, countries, and career stages.
Sessions can have max 3 chairs.
Once the selection of accepted sessions is complete, a Call for Papers will be launched on the 16th of February. Session organisers/conveners will be responsible for selecting the submitted abstracts for their session via the conference online submission tool (the Conference Organising Team will give guidance on the selection process in more detail in due course).
Session organisers/convenors will chair their respective session(s).
In cases where a high number of abstracts are submitted to a specific session, more than one session slot may be allocated, subject to space availability at the conference venue.
Submission
Submit your session proposal via the website form by the 30th of January 2026.
Your proposal should not exceed 500 words.
Proposals for regular sessions should indicate the key themes, sub-themes, research questions, methods, theories, and/or approaches that are invited from potential paper presenters.
Proposals for other kinds of sessions should embed the proposed topic or focus within contemporary debates.
We welcome submissions from diverse scholarly and activist traditions, disciplines, and regions that deepen our understanding of urban dynamics in times of authoritarianism and propose alternative visions for a common city.
A selection committee composed of members of the Housing and Urban Justice Project will select the sessions shortly after the Call for Sessions closes. Submitters will be informed of the result by the 9th of February 2026. A Call for Papers will be subsequently opened on February 16th.
For any inquiries, please contact Francesca Ru francesca.ru@ibf.uu.se or Cloé St-Hilaire csthilai@uwaterloo.ca
