Where is the Urban in International Law? Join Our Open Session at the ILA Biennial Conference in Vienna

As cities become increasingly central to addressing global challenges - from climate change and migration to public health, housing, cultural heritage, and sustainable development - the urban dimension is becoming impossible to ignore. Yet a fundamental question remains: Where is the Urban in International Law?

The ILA Committee on Urbanisation and International Law will explore this question during its Open Session at the International Law Association Biennial Conference in Vienna on Tuesday, 18 August (09:00–10:30).

Rather than presenting the Committee's Interim Report in isolation, the session has been conceived as an opportunity for dialogue across the International Law Association. Our objective is to bring the Committee's ongoing work into conversation with other areas of international law, examining where different research agendas intersect, complement one another, or perhaps reveal unexplored connections.

To stimulate this conversation, we are delighted to welcome three distinguished colleagues representing other ILA Committees:

Andrzej Jakubowski (Committee on Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict)

Markus Gehring (Committee on International Law for the Sustainable Development Goals)

Pedro Alejandro Villarreal Lizárraga (Committee on Global Health Law)

Each speaker will reflect on the Committee's Interim Report from the perspective of their own field of expertise, exploring where the urban dimension already plays a role, and where further dialogue between Committees could enrich future research.

The discussion will be chaired by Prof. Kirsten Schmalenbach, with introductory remarks by Committee Co-Chair Prof. Janne E. Nijman and Co-Rapporteur Prof. Anél du Plessis.

The format is intentionally interactive. Following the invited interventions, participants will be encouraged to join an open discussion. We hope this session will serve not only as a forum for exchanging ideas but also as a catalyst for greater collaboration across ILA Committees and Study Groups.

Urbanisation is no longer a specialised topic at the margins of international law. It is increasingly a lens through which many of the discipline's most pressing questions can be reconsidered. By bringing together scholars working in different fields, this Open Session seeks to contribute to a richer understanding of how the "urban" is reshaping international legal thought and practice.

We warmly invite all participants at the Vienna Conference to join us for what promises to be an engaging and interdisciplinary discussion. We look forward to continuing the conversation in Vienna.