International Symposium

Registration is required.

Please register before 15 April 2026:
https://forms.gle/ajWYhTebuLHu3nbu8

Spatial planning professionals from European Metropolitan Regions are invited by the
Joint Spatial Planning Department Berlin-Brandenburg to discuss how to face numerous ongoing land use challenges on a metropolitan scale.

Further demands for housing and industry as well as multiple transformation issues
(energy, transport, climate) are causing a diverse pressure on land use while no net land
take is set out as a guiding principle on the other hand. How to face these obvious
challenges through spatial planning is at the core of our discipline.
Our main objective for this symposium is to facilitate practical exchange on spatial
planning strategies and projects among practitioners that can be considered innovative.

The following topics will be discussed and introduced by presentations
• Land use demands
Which are the most conflicting land use demands in Metropolitan Regions today
and in the future? Which are common, which are specific?
• Spatial Metropolitan Visions
How to lead long term strategic spatial development? Which are promising guiding principles?
• No net land take
In general, is it setting the right goal? How to reduce land take by spatial planning instruments and to what extent is it possible?
• Major single investments
How to prepare best for it in terms of spatial planning? How to secure a smooth spatial integration?
• Climate protection, adaptation and renewable energies
To what extent is it subject to sectoral policies and their related planning?
What should be the role of spatial planning on a metropolitan scale?

Speakers (already confirmed so far)
• Metropolitan Region Amsterdam/City of Amsterdam (NL, Katharina Hagg/Els
Meines/Femke Jongeneelen)
• Rhein-Neckar Regional Association (DE, Petra Schelkmann)
• Lyon Metropolitan Area (FR, Sébastien Rolland)
• Easter Norway Country Network (NO, Kjersti Bakkebö Fjellstad)
• Stuttgart Regional Association (DE, Rosaria Trovato)
• Gothenburg-Region (SE, Anna Gustafsson)
• Stockholm Region (SE, Anna Knight)
• Metropolitan Research Institute, Budapest (HU, Iván Tosics)
• Charles University Prague (CZ, Luděk Sýkora)
• Joint Spatial Planning Department Berlin-Brandenburg (DE, Timo Fichtner, Jürgen
Neumüller, Achim Prossek)

Organisational details

Dates
The symposium will start on 6 May, 12:00 and will end on 7 May, 13:00. On both days, a light lunch will be served.
Participants will be invited to a Conference Dinner on 6 May 2026.

Venue
Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing.
Württembergische Straße 6, 10707 Berlin

Registration:
All participants (also the speakers who confirmed their participation already) are asked
to register until 15 April 2026:
https://forms.gle/ajWYhTebuLHu3nbu8

The number of participants is limited. You will get a confirmation that your registration
is accepted.
The detailed program will be published end of April.