Panel Title: InterCultural Planning (ICP) and Urban Governance: Migration, Participation, and Lived Experience
Panel chair: Lennert Werner
As globalization and migration continue to reshape cities across the world, questions of urban governance increasingly intersect with cultural diversity, resident participation, and institutional responsiveness. This panel explores how intercultural approaches could reframe governance and planning to address the lived realities of residents in superdiverse urban contexts. Building on emerging debates in InterCultural Planning (ICP), the panel examines how governance arrangements, participation frameworks, and local planning practices engage - or fail to engage - diverse communities in shaping their urban futures.
Contributions address a range of empirical and conceptual questions, such as: In what ways do everyday governance practices in urban regeneration reflect migrant and minority voices? How can intercultural frameworks move resident participation beyond tokenism? What institutional arrangements foster or constrain inclusive governance across different contexts? And how can comparative perspectives across cities/countries generate transferrable lessons for inclusive policy and practice? The panel brings together interdisciplinary perspectives from migration studies, spatial planning, and governance research to bridge theoretical reflection and grounded empirical analysis. In line with IMISCOE’s 2026 conference theme (Strengthening Migration Studies through Community Engagement), this panel critically engages with ways in which governance is both constructed through policy frameworks and experienced by residents in culturally diverse cities.
Please submit a 250-word abstract including your name, affiliation, and contact details by 2 October 2025 to Lennert Werner (