SUBTROPICAL CITIES 2013
October 17-19, 2013, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Host School: Florida Atlantic University
Co-chairs: Anthony Abbate, Florida Atlantic University; Francis Lyn, Florida Atlantic University; Rosemary Kennedy, Queensland University of Technology

THE 4th BIENNIAL SUBTROPICAL CITIES CONFERENCE
BRAVING A NEW WORLD: DESIGN INTERVENTIONS FOR CHANGING CLIMATES

OVERVIEW
Catastrophic weather events – including drought and flooding, fires and deforestation, hurricanes, and landslides - have recently affected major centers of population throughout the world’s subtropical climate zones. In coming decades, the world’s population faces the compounding problems of sea level rise and resource depletion, and the impacts of climate-related disruptions on the flow of people and resources, particularly, sustainable food supply. With the forces of climate change now acting upon us, the subtropical urban regions of the world are becoming the harbinger for “Braving a New World”, as the power of local knowledge and focused research is tested against global influences and our everyday engagements and actions reflect our position about the future we are designing for ourselves and for our future generations.

So how do the built environment design professions respond and intervene in the way the community engages with the complex problems of design of urban settlements generally, and public spaces and buildings particularly, for more powerful weather systems?

• What paradigm shifts in design philosophy in practice and education are needed to design for a world that is likely to be 2-4 degrees warmer?
• Is there a role in cultural knowledge and the place/identity agenda in design more for extremes and less for averages?
• What do designers need to know in order to design for increased capacity to produce and store renewable energy or finite resources (water)?
• How do we collaborate and with whom to design for shelter to provide greater protection for inhabitants and for their property without further exacerbating anthropomorphic climate change?
• Why not design for centrality of urban hydrology and ecology?
• How do we incorporate theoretical principles of adaptability to the changing climate and social environment, particularly in regard to urban settlements and food security?
• How do we design for increasing population in our subtropical urban centers over the next 40 years to ensure a good quality of life and responsiveness to climate change?

TIMELINE
February 2013—Submission site opens
April 10, 2013—Submission deadline
May 2013—Accept/reject notifications sent to authors with reviewer comments.
Accepted Paper Abstract authors will be required to revise/prepare full-papers for publication in the conference Proceedings.
August 2013—Final revised papers and copyright forms due
October 17-19, 2013—Subtropical Cities Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Click the links below to find the most up-to-date information regarding the conference.

+ Call for Abstracts
+ Call for Design+Research Projects
+ Location