Housing affordability and urban land management have become a tumultuous challenge for countries that are rapidly urbanising. These challenges are reshaping the question of urban property. Established instruments of land management, such as zoning, tenure management, building obligations, taxation, expropriation, incentives and subsidies, land readjustment, land redistribution and reform, environmental and conservation regulation, different ownership models, financialisation of land and housing, and public land management have their scope and limits. In response, new innovations are emerging in both formal and informal land management. Hybrid spaces, technology-assisted cartographies and property registries, collective property ownership, and informal property regimes are among the approaches seeking to address the dual goals of equitable access and efficient management. The convergence of law, economics, and policy is critical in shaping the future of urban development. Yet, scholarship on the interface of law and spatial dimensions of the city is scant. Where such scholarship does exist, it is often confined to isolated case studies from the Global South, which are frequently dismissed as exceptions rather than being integrated into the broader global discourse on urban studies.

In many regions, in the Global North and the Global South, the expansion of urban centres has been marked by the commodification of land and housing, further deepening the divide between the wealthy and marginalised communities. Public policies and legal frameworks often struggle to keep pace with the complexities of this expanding urban fabric, leading to gaps in affordable housing provision and sustainable land management. While innovative solutions like collective ownership models and inclusive zoning regulations have shown promise, the questions remain are (1) how can these innovations be effectively scaled in a world marked by deep economic and social inequalities? (2) What governance changes are desirable to design a responsive urban land management?

Applicants may choose to focus on one or more of the following prompts while developing their abstracts:

1. What are the recent developments in the discourse of housing rights? What are the socio-economic drivers behind the shift in these discourses?
2. What are the spatial dimensions of the expansion of capitalist markets in real estate that lead to specific forms of housing projects? What are the innovations in land management on the ground mediated by technology as well as financial instruments?
3. The rise of condominiums as patterns of human settlements are simultaneously marked by urban vacancy. Are the existing regulatory frameworks sufficient to contain inequality contributed by financialised housing markets?
4. As urbanisation is intensifying, there is a growing demand for public services. Yet, the liveability of these cities is not improving. Rather, patterns of gentrification are visible in spite of interventions for urban services. What are the good practices across the globe to make urban property valuation more inclusive?
5. Informal housing has frequently, albeit wrongly, been equated with illegal housing. How has law played an active role in the politics of dispossession?
6. How has the accumulative logic of neoliberal governance aggravated spatial inequality? In what ways has this neoliberal logic disproportionately impacted the lives of marginalised populations?

The themes we have identified and will be listed on the call for abstracts/papers, including but not restricted to, are as follows:

Housing Rights, Social Justice, and Economic Policy

• Housing as a human right and its intersections with law and economic policies.
• Legal and economic frameworks promoting or hindering housing justice.
• Focus on marginalised communities and global perspectives on housing rights.

Capitalism, Real Estate, and Urban Governance

• Impact of financialisation and real estate speculation on housing markets.
• Role of neoliberal governance in shaping urban inequality.
• Legal and economic governance mechanisms affecting urban development.

Innovations in Land Management and Urban Sustainability

• Emerging models in land management, including hybrid spaces and collective ownership.
• Technology-driven tools and their role in equitable urban development.
• Legal and economic frameworks promoting sustainable urban growth and environmental justice.

Gentrification, Urban Vacancy, and Inclusive Development

• Spatial inequalities caused by gentrification and urban redevelopment.
• Addressing urban vacancy through legal and economic policies.
• Best practices for promoting inclusive urban growth and equitable public service distribution.

Informal Housing, Dispossession, and the Politics of Space

• Legal and economic dimensions of informal housing and dispossession.
• The politics of identity, space and inequality in urban development.
• Comparative perspectives on marginalised communities and their housing challenges.

Law, Finance, Technology, and Urban Inequality

• Intersection of legal frameworks, financial instruments, and technology in urban land management.
• Effects of financialisation and technological advancements on urban (in)equality.
• Impact on marginalised populations and spatial inequality in cities.

Instructions for abstract submission

Submit an abstract within 1,000 words. The abstract should ideally fall under one of the themes. When reviewing the abstracts, we will look for theoretical considerations/ assumptions, research questions, methodology, nature of evidence used to draw conclusions, and findings.

We encourage PhD scholars in the final year of writing up their doctoral work, postdoctoral scholars, and early career scholars (within 5 years of their PhD) to submit their abstracts for consideration.

Financial Support

A limited number of scholars will get financial support to cover travel and accommodation expenses.

About Inclusive Development Conferences

The first edition of the Inclusive Development Conference was held in March 2023 on the theme of Employment and Environment. These conferences are held every two years and jointly organised by NLSIU and INET. These conferences are designed as interactions between early career scholars and senior scholars.

Important dates:

Last Date for abstract submission: 5th November 2024

Notification of selected Abstract: 15th November 2024

Full paper submission deadline: 30th December 2024

Notification of paper acceptance: 25th January 2025

Notification for the panel: 15th February 2025

Conference: 6th- 7th March 2025

Organisers

Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) and its Young Scholars Initiative (YSI), Centre for the Study of Social Inclusion and Institute of Public Policy, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, India

For any further information, please contact us;

[email protected]

Organising committee at the National Law School of India University: Aniket Nandan, Sneha Thapliyal, and Sony Pellissery

Organising committee at the INET-YSI: Sunanda Nair-Bidkar, Bikram Barman, Christina Kujur, and Sattwick Dey Biswas.