The 13th International Conference on Sustainable Development and Planning builds upon a series that started in 2003 in Skiathos, Greece, followed by meetings in Bologna (2005), Algarve (2007), Cyprus (2009), New Forest – home of the Wessex Institute, UK (2011), Kos, Greece (2013), Istanbul (2015), Penang (2016), the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK (2017) and Siena (2018). The conference was organised as an online event in 2020 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The series aims to bring together planners, economists, policymakers, engineers, architects and environmentalists who must co-operate to ensure that planning and development can meet societies’ present needs without compromising the prospects and wellbeing of future generations. Problems related to development and planning, which affect urban and rural areas, are encountered in all regions of the world. Accelerated urbanisation has resulted in the deterioration of the cities’ environment and loss of quality of life. Urban development can also aggravate problems faced by rural areas such as forests, mountain regions and coastal areas, amongst many others. Taking into consideration the interaction between different regions and developing new methodologies for monitoring current detrimental conditions as well as planning and implementation of novel mitigating strategies can offer solutions towards reducing pollution and the non-sustainable use of available resources.

The 13th International Conference on Sustainable Development and Planning builds upon a series that started in 2003 in Skiathos, Greece, followed by meetings in Bologna (2005), Algarve (2007), Cyprus (2009), New Forest – home of the Wessex Institute, UK (2011), Kos, Greece (2013), Istanbul (2015), Penang (2016), the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK (2017) and Siena (2018). The conference was organised as an online event in 2020 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The series aims to bring together planners, economists, policymakers, engineers, architects and environmentalists who must co-operate to ensure that planning and development can meet societies’ present needs without compromising the prospects and wellbeing of future generations.

Problems related to development and planning, which affect urban and rural areas, are encountered in all regions of the world. Accelerated urbanisation has resulted in the deterioration of the cities’ environment and loss of quality of life. Urban development can also aggravate problems faced by rural areas such as forests, mountain regions and coastal areas, amongst many others. Taking into consideration the interaction between different regions and developing new methodologies for monitoring current detrimental conditions as well as planning and implementation of novel mitigating strategies can offer solutions towards reducing pollution and the non-sustainable use of available resources.

Energy-saving and eco-friendly building designs have become an important part of modern development, which places special emphasis on increasing efficiency and reducing emissions. Planning has a key role to play in ensuring that such approaches, as well as new materials and processes, are implemented in the most effective manner.

Sustainable Development and Planning 2024 aims to attract academics, policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders from across the globe to discuss the latest advances in the field. The conference will allow the presentation of novel findings by academics and other professionals as well as their incorporation in planning and development strategies, assessment tools and decision making processes.

All published papers from previous meetings are archived in the Wessex Institute eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary) where they are easily and permanently available in Open Access format to the international community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at the conference. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Sustainable development indicators and indexes
• Sustainable development goals
• Governance and policies