The ‘Island Cities and Urban Archipelagos’ conference explores the culture, economy, and politics of towns and cities based on islands worldwide. It considers common attributes of island cities, the influence of island status on urban development, and how and why different island cities have developed in different ways. Throughout history, islands have been sites of urban development. Physical separation from the mainland, spatial limitations, and maritime tradition facilitate transport of products and ideas, defence infrastructure, construction of social capital, consolidation of power, formation of cultures, and concentration of population.

Argument

Hubs of culture, economy, and power

The ‘Island Cities and Urban Archipelagos’ conference explores the culture, economy, and politics of towns and cities based on islands worldwide. It considers common attributes of island cities, the influence of island status on urban development, and how and why different island cities have developed in different ways. Throughout history, islands have been sites of urban development. Physical separation from the mainland, spatial limitations, and maritime tradition facilitate transport of products and ideas, defence infrastructure, construction of social capital, consolidation of power, formation of cultures, and concentration of population. 

Islands are often associated with peripherality, yet over the course of human history, they have also been important sites of urban development. Many important regional cities and global cities have developed wholly or partially on small islands or archipelagos. Physical separation from the mainland and spatial limitations along with a maritime tradition can encourage the transport of products and ideas, improved defence infrastructure, construction of social capital, consolidation of political power, formation of vibrant cultures, and concentration of population. Some such island-based cities were located on inland river islands and have since expanded far beyond their original borders (for example, Paris and Strasbourg) while others are still strongly associated with their island cores (for example, Hong Kong and New York City). 

Major population centres located on larger, primarily rural islands and archipelagos represent another type of island city. Each of these cities is affected not just by the dynamics at work in urban areas in general but also by the special functions it gains from acting as a metropolis that provides goods and services to rural island hinterlands. 

About the conference

This international, interdisciplinary academic conference explores how island status influences urban development, common attributes of island cities worldwide, and the opportunities that islandness presents for developing urban cultures and economies. It also considers how islands and archipelagos can be used as conceptual tools for understanding urban development more broadly. 

The conference will feature presentations on a variety of subjects relating to urban island culture, government, and economy. A variety of fields and disciplines will be covered, including anthropology, archaeology, architecture, arts & design, business, film, folklore, history, literature, planning, political science, public administration, sociology, and tourism. Presentations may concern cases from individual cities or take a comparative approach to understanding what it means to be an urban island.

Plenary speakers

•  Saskia Sassen (Columbia University)
•  Godfrey Baldacchino (University of Malta)
•  Jon Pierre (University of Gothenburg)
•  Jonathan Pugh (Newcastle University)
•  Brenda S.A. Yeoh (NUS - Singapore)
•  Christian Wichmann Matthiessen (University of Copenhagen)
•  Ilan Kelman (University College London).

Activities

•  Panels on cities based on islands
•  Panels on the island concept in urban studies
•  Discussion panels
•  Plenary speeches
•  Cultural events.

Submission guidelines and abstract selection

Programme

Collaborating Institutions

•  Sharing Copenhagen
•  VerdensKulturCentret
•  University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Art, Architecture, & Design
•  Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Harris Centre of Regional Policy & Development
•  University of the Balearic Islands’ Department of Catalan Philology & General Linguistics;
•  Queen’s University Belfast’s School of Geography, Archaeology & Paleoecology.
•  Lund University’s Department of Human Geography