WPSC 2011 - 2011 World Planning Schools Congress (WPSC2011)

The 2011 World Planning Schools Congress (WPSC2011) in Perth, Western Australia, will celebrate 10 years of global urban/regional planning scholarship, education and policy research since the first WPSC was held in Shanghai (2001). In the period since then and the second WPSC, held in Mexico City (2006), the world that we live in has become a predominantly urbanised one, hyper-globalised and intimately inter-connected due to developments in technology, migration flows, and natural, human-made and economic disasters.

Such events have had and continue to have profound impacts on where and how we live, work and play and have had varying impacts, positive and negative, across different spaces, places and communities. In short, we appear to be living through an era of major socio-economic, cultural, environmental and political transformation and (un)certainty. Paradoxically, this situation seems to offer planning and planners a sense of certainty and clarity as to their role in anticipating, analysing, and ameliorating the various challenges that surround us as a consequence on the aforementioned transformations.

In the last few years policymakers around the world have been confronted with a series of “mega-wicked problems” in the form of rapid urbanisation, climate change, population growth and demographic structuring, natural disasters and, global economic volatility prompted by the sub-prime housing crisis. In the wake of this there has arguably been a (re)turn to urban and regional planning/planners for explanations and (re)solutions. As such the WPSC 2011 provides an ideal time and opportunity for planning scholars, educators and policy researchers to critically reflect on:

where planning scholarship, education and practice has come from ? theoretically, methodologically, pedagogically, technologically, empirically, politically and professionally;
where planning currently sits as an academic discipline and profession that is notionally premised on serving the ‘public interest’ but exists in a world containing mongrel cities, edge cities, polycentric cities, fractured cities, global/world cities, mega-cities, refugee cities, creative cities, and (un)sustainable cities with ever splintering senses of community;
the successes and failures of planning scholarship, education and practice; and
the future direction(s) and prospects of planning scholarship, education and practice over the next 10-20 years, why we should be moving there, and how we can best get there.
WPSC11 will provide spaces and opportunities for established and early-career planning scholars and educators, research students, and policy researchers from around the world to come together to share ideas, knowledges and experiences that will serve to create a dynamic and thought-provoking environment designed to encourage intellectual, pedagogical and policy debate and to foster linkages - research, teaching and social ? between members of the global urban/regional planning community.

Abstract submission details are outlined below.

We look forward to receiving your abstract submissions!

TRACKS
WPSC11 will feature a total of 20 Tracks designed to cover virtually every area of planning scholarship, education and practice so as to allow planning colleagues from around the world to showcase their latest research and teaching findings and experiences. Details about the general focus of each Track, plus the range of topics and issues that abstracts and papers may be submitted on and Track Co-Chairs can be found at Program Tracks Information.

CONTRIBUTORS AND SUBMISSIONS
Planning scholarship and education is about engaging with diverse stakeholders who add value and help to advance urban and regional planning as an academic and professional discipline so that we can better understand and create spaces, places and communities that are vibrant, healthy, inclusive and dynamic in physical, social, economic and environmental form. Hence, for WPSC2011 we invite and encourage submissions from:

? established and early career academics/faculty members;
? PhD research students; and
? Planning policy researchers within government (National, State or local), the private sector, NGOs and the community sector.

In order to reflect and encourage a diverse range of participants at WPSC2011 prospective delegates will have the opportunity of submitting the following types of papers/presentations and sessions:

? Oral Presentation with full paper (peer review)*;
? Oral Presentation with full paper (peer review of abstract); and
? Poster Presentation (peer review of abstract);
? Pre-organized sessions within tracks?more than one GPEAN organization must be represented. These may be (i) academic only; (ii) policy research only; and (iii) academic and policy research; and
? Roundtable/Panel Discussion Sessions?more than one GPEAN organization must be represented.

PREPARATION/LAYOUT OF ABSTRACTS
*A peer review option for full papers is being considered for the first time at WPSC2011 in an effort to respond to academic/faculty funding prerequisites that requires delegates in certain institutions/planning schools regions to have their papers peer reviewed in order to attend and participate in academic conferences. This policy is subject to further review and final adoption. This option will be available for ANZAPS faculty or other faculty who provide documentation of a requirement for such review.

Prospective delegates can access the online abstract/paper submission Program Tracks

Contributors should complete all required information fields on the online submission portal and adhere to the following requirements and conventions when submitting their abstracts:

Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words and written in English.
Abstracts should be submitted in 12 point Arial font and single spacing.
Presenting author(s) name should be bolded and all author affiliations should be included.
The presenting author(s) contact email should be included.
Abstracts should be text only. Graphics, pictures or graphs should not be submitted.
Abstracts should be free of typographical and grammatical errors.
Abstracts should be comprised of the following elements with each element beginning a new line/paragraph.
o Title of Paper
o Author(s) ? presenting author’s name to be highlighted in bold
o Institutional Affiliation/Address/Email
o Abstract text (300 words maximum). Suggested subsections: central theme or hypothesis; approach and methodology; relevance of your work to planning education, practice or scholarship; preliminary bibliography.
o 5 Key words (maximum)

Abstracts must contain sufficient information, so that if it is published, it will be a complete report independent of presentation.
The text should not contain statements alluding to results or conclusions not presented in the text.
Abbreviations: standard abbreviations may be used for common terms only. For uncommon terms, the abbreviations should be given in brackets after the first full use of the word.
Special Characters: To avoid character corruption any special characters should be entered using either Times New Roman or Symbol font.
KEY DATES
The Table below provides an overview of the indicative timetable for the submission and review of abstracts, papers, posters, specially convened sessions and roundtable/panel discussion sessions.

Contributors are advised that the Track Co-Chairs and Local Organising Committee will do their utmost to adhere to the timetable below. As we intend to introduce a peer review option for full papers for the first time, colleagues are asked to show patience towards the Track Co-Chairs who will be responsible for overseeing, identifying and securing reviewers.

Full Paper Submission Dates & Guidelines

Peer Reviewed Full Papers Submitted Friday 22 April 2011
Peer Review Responses to Authors Friday 20 May 2011
Presenter Registration Required (opening March 2011) Friday 22 April 2011
Non Peer Reviewed Papers Submitted Friday 10 June 2011
Peer Reviewed Papers Final Paper Submission Friday 10 June 2011
ABSTRACT PROCESSING FEE
A non-refundable processing fee of AUD$25 per abstract is payable with the abstract submission. This abstract processing fee is payable by credit card only.

In an effort to encourage participation of delegates from developing nations, abstracts submitted by colleagues employed and/or enrolled in PhD programmes at academic institutions (excluding government departments) located within countries on the United Nation’s Least Developed Countries list (see http://www.unohrlls.org/en/ldc/related/62/) are exempt from the abstract processing fee. Colleagues from developing nations employed and/or enrolled in PhD programmes at academic institutions within developed nations are required pay the abstract processing fee.

Prospective delegates on the UN’s Least Developed Countries list should ensure that they select the Developing Country Submission Button and indicate the country they are located in on the Call for Abstracts/Papers page on the WPSC2011 Web Site.

PRESENTATION TYPES
Authors can submit abstracts under one of the following presentation types:

? Oral Presentation with Peer Reviewed Full Paper **
? Oral Presentation with Full Paper (peer reviewed abstract)
? Poster Presentation (peer reviewed abstract)
? Pre-organized Session within Tracks
? Roundtable/Panel Discussion
Oral Presentation with Peer Reviewed Full Paper
Your abstract will be considered by the relevant Track Co-Chairs and you will be advised as to whether your abstract has been:

accepted;
accepted subject to revision and resubmission; or
declined.
Following final acceptance of an abstract, authors who have required/request to have their papers peer reviewed MUST submit a full draft paper (of up to 5,000 words) by no later than 11 March 2011. This is to allow reviewers sufficient time to comment on papers and for authors to have adequate time to make any revisions and resubmit their final papers by 16 May 2011. This is to ensure that your paper will be included on the CD-Rom of Congress Proceedings. Papers submitted for peer review will be either:

accepted;
accepted subject to revisions;
accepted but recommended as a non-peer reviewed Oral Presentation; or
declined
** We will be using the number of submission within this stream to assist us in assessing the scale of the peer review process and adoption of a full paper peer review option within WPSC2011.

Authors who submit their full final paper after the due date will be reclassified as presenting a non-peer reviewed Oral Presentation in the Book of Abstracts and CD-Rom of Congress Proceedings.

Oral Presentation with Full Paper (Non Peer Reviewed)
Your abstract will be considered by the relevant Track Co- Chairs and you will be advised as to whether your abstract has been:

accepted;
accepted subject to revision and resubmission; or
rejected.
Following final acceptance of an abstract, authors are then invited to submit a full written paper by no later than 16 May 2011. This is to ensure that your paper will be included in the Book of Abstracts and CD-Rom of Congress Proceedings.

Poster Presentation
Your abstract will be considered by the relevant Track Co- Chairs and will be accepted as long as it is consistent with one of the Congress Tracks. You will be allocated a space in the Poster Presentation Area at the Congress where you can post visual materials and offer in-person commentary and discussion to WPSC2011 delegates.

Hard copy posters for display should be A1/A0 in size (A1: 84cm x 59 cm; A0: 119cm x 84cm) and printed on durable matte laminated paper.

Pre-Organized Session Proposals (more than one GPEAN organization must be represented)
Delegates will have the opportunity to convene pre-organized sessions within the various Tracks at WPSC2011 ? various Track Co-Chairs have outlined possible topics for specially convened sessions. Specially convened sessions can be proposed by 1-2 people, one of whom will be responsible for submitting the title, overview and any other required details of the proposed session and advising the names of all presenters or discussants, up to a maximum of 4.

Colleagues seeking to hold a pre-organized session, whether it is by invitation-only or open invitation, are encouraged to liaise and discuss matters with the relevant Track Co-Chairs, in the first instance, who will decide on how many and what pre-organized sessions will be held.

All participants in pre-organized sessions, whether they are invitation-only or open invitation, are required to submit an individual abstract for each paper to be presented. For invitation-only sessions, the convenor of the session should liaise directly with the relevant Track Co-Chairs and advise them as to the title and participants within the session. For open invitation sessions, colleagues interested in taking part in any special sessions should liaise with the session convenor(s) to see if their abstract/paper proposal fits in with the vision and expectations of the special session convenor(s). The session convenor(s) will then submit the abstracts.

All convenors and participants in pre-organized sessions are also advised that their abstracts and papers, depending on the type submitted, will be subject to the normal abstract review processes as outlined above.

Colleagues interested in convening a pre-organized session within any of the Tracks can choose between one of the following options in relation to the type of participants the session is primarily designed for:

Academic only
Policy research only
Academic and policy research

Roundtable/Panel Discussion (more than one GPEAN organization must be represented)
Roundtable and Panel Discussion Sessions are also encouraged at WPSC2011. Such sessions can be convened by 1-2 people, one of whom will be responsible for submitting the title, focus and any other required details. Presenters in these sessions are by invitation only ? the sessions themselves will be open to interested delegates. It is suggested that there should be a maximum of 4-5 presenters in any accepted Roundtable/Panel Discussion so as to provide sufficient time for discussion, debate and questions. Presenters must be from more than one GPEAN organization (preferably more than two).

CONDITIONS OF SUBMISSION
All contributors/delegates should note the following information in relation to the conditions of submitting an abstract/paper:

All presenting authors must register and pay the appropriate registration fee to attend the Congress. All authors must register to attend at least the day of their presentation and preferably the full congress.
Submission of abstracts/papers implies all authors agreeing to having their abstracts and/or full papers published in the final congress programme and any other publications associated with the congress, including the web site.
Acceptance of abstracts/papers does not imply any payment from the Congress Committee.
Authors must arrange and pay for their own conference registration fees, travel and accommodation, and travel visas to attend the conference, unless otherwise stated.
Acceptance (or otherwise) of abstracts and/or full papers is at the discretion of the Track Co-Chairs whose decision is final.
All abstracts must be submitted by 30 November 2010 along with the non-refundable abstract processing fee (AUD$25 - payable by credit card only), where applicable.
It is expected that the author(s) of all accepted abstracts/papers will attend the congress, pay the necessary registration fees, and present their paper.
Prospective delegates who submit an abstract and/or paper that is accepted but fail to register and present their paper will NOT be included in the official WPSC2011 Book of Abstracts, CD-Rom of Conference Proceedings (which is to have an ISBN number) and/or any other official publications including, the WPSC2011 website.