Call for Abstracts | Save the Date: Southern Urbanism Co-Net 2026

Scholars, practitioners, designers, and urban thinkers are invited to participate in Southern Urbanism Co-Net 2026, taking place in Lagos, Nigeria, from 16–26 August 2026 at the University of Lagos.

Held under the theme “Negotiating Rural-Urban Futures,” the conference will explore the challenges and opportunities shaping cities across the Global South, with a focus on spatial inequality, migration, environmental pressures, informal expansion, governance, and resilient futures.

The event will bring together interdisciplinary voices from architecture, planning, landscape architecture, research, government, and community practice to exchange ideas and co-create pathways toward more equitable and culturally responsive urban futures.

Call for Abstracts is now open

Submission Period: 1 April – 30 May 2026
Individual abstracts and proposed panels are welcome across a range of thematic tracks, including:

Rural as New Urban
Rethinking Urbanism & Climate Heritage in Rural-Urban Trajectories
Infrastructuring and Governing Rural-Urban Futures
New Axes of Southern Knowledge: Theories, Methods and Epistemologies
Open Track

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Conference Dates

Main Conference: 24–25 August 2026
Field Trips: 26 August 2026
Student Workshop & Exhibition: 17–22 August 2026

Hosted by the University of Lagos in collaboration with international partners, this promises to be an exciting platform for critical dialogue on the future of urbanism in Africa and beyond.