Submitted on Fri, 02/10/2026 - 13:57
Planning researchers, practitioners and educators from around the world gathered in Helsinki and Espoo in the turn of June and July 2026 for the World Planning Schools Congress, the largest academic planning event ever held. Over five days, more than 1500 participants took part in 1200+ presentations, 67 roundtables and 92 special sessions under the theme Peripheral Visions, Rethinking Planning.
The congress was hosted jointly by Aalto University, University of Helsinki and Tampere University. It was the first time the congress was organised in Europe and in Finland. The congress was preceeded by a PhD workshop at Tampere University, offering early-career researchers a dedicated space for peer exchange ahead of the main event.
With over 1200 scientific presentations across 15 tracks, 67 roundtables and 92 special sessions, WPSC 2026 was the largest academic planning event ever held. Seven plenary sessions brought together leading voices from across the globe to address some of the most pressing questions in planning theory and practice.
Keynotes addressed the digitalization of planning and what Finland's digital plan information system reveals about the tension between democracy and technocracy; the role and value of spatial planning in China's high-quality development; and the new geopolitics of planning in an era of globalisation 2.0 and emergent peripheralities. A panel explored digital advancement and the sustainability transition, while a provocative keynote asked what planning theory and practice gets fundamentally wrong.
“The event was running smoothly, which is no easy feat with 1,500 participants. We feel that the congress managed to strike a balance between offering engaging scientific content and opportunities for networking and to experience the host cities,” says Eva Purkarthofer, Congress Coordinator of WPSC 2026.
Read more about the congress on Finland Convention Bureau's website:
https://fcb.visitfinland.com/en/discover/success-stories/wpsc-2026-espoo/