The World Planning Schools Congress 2026 brought together more than 1500 participants in Espoo and Helsinki

The 6th World Planning Schools Congress (WPSC 2026), themed Peripheral Visions, Rethinking Planning, was held from 29 June to 3 July 2026 in Helsinki and Espoo, 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.

The congress was organised locally by a team led by Professor Raine Mäntysalo as the Chair of the Local Organizing Committee, with Professor Dominic Stead and Senior University Lecturer Hossam Hewidy as deputy chairs, Professor Pia Bäcklund from University of Helsinki, postdoctoral researcher Eva Purkarthofer, coordinator Maija Pero, and Conference Specialist Mirjam Gamrasni. 

Throughout the week, student volunteers from Aalto University, University of Helsinki and Tampere University worked hard to ensure participants had the best possible congress experience.

The plenary programme covered a wide range of contemporary planning debates. 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 congress closed with a plenary marking 25 years of Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN) and the future of the global planning schools movement.

The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, and the congress is widely regarded as a milestone for the global planning community. The conversation it started is far from over.