New Perspectives on Urban Infrastructures

From 8 to 10 July 2026, twelve doctoral researchers from across the globe gathered at the University of Amsterdam for the infrastructure-focused edition of the ARL Summer School. Co-organised by the ARL –Academy for Spatial Development in the Leibniz Association), the Regional Studies Association (RSA Europe), and the University of Amsterdam, the summer school revolved around the politics, rhythms, temporalities, and co-creation of urban systems. The gathering cultivated dynamic, thought-provoking exchanges between doctoral candidates, keynote speakers, mentors, and organisers. Together, participants interrogated the ontology of infrastructure in light of its expanding definition, considering diverse epistemological and methodological frameworks. Beyond intellectual debate, the summer school broadened professional networks, offered tailored mentorship to enhance publication skills, immersed attendees in Amsterdam’s evolving urban landscape, and sowed the seeds for long-term research collaborations.

The programme offered an intensive and rich learning experience for all the participants. It featured a research pitch session, a workshop on navigating the nuances of academic publishing, a masterclass on infrastructure with Colin McFarlane, and a public lecture examining the rise of crisis-thinking in infrastructural debates. Tailored feedback sessions enabled participants to refine their draft papers, supplemented by interactive workshops on research impact and collaborative mapping. To ground theoretical discussions in concrete realities, a guided excursion across Amsterdam provided first-hand insights into transforming public housing, industrial sites, and integrated transport and ecological networks.

Daily Highlights and Exchanges 

The summer school opened on 8 July with a visual sketching exercise where participants illustrated their research as a reflective icebreaker that set an inviting tone. During the subsequent pitch session, doctoral candidates presented their projects in concise five-minute talks, followed by a focused discussion on the evolving publishing landscape. 

The programme continued with Colin McFarlane’s masterclass, which encouraged participants to rethink infrastructure beyond its traditional material dimension. By exploring elemental, care, more-than-human, cyber-physical, and neurotechnical infrastructures, the session opened up new perspectives on how these concepts resonate with and inform their own research.

The first day culminated in Colin McFarlane’s keynote address, which critically examined how the proliferation of 'crisis-thinking' reshapes how urban environments are conceptualised, researched, and politicised, with insightful commentary from discussant Julie Ren and moderation by Jannes Willems.

On 9 July, parallel peer-review sessions gave participants the opportunity to receive feedback from mentors and peers. Shubham Shekhar demonstrated how infrastructural violence manifests through digital systems via the case study of Patna Smart City. Rizki Ghiffari explored the tension between state-led visions of a smart city and carbon-intensive informal practices in Indonesia’s new capital. Miriam de Oliveira Gonçalves concluded the panel by illustrating how governance arrangements for community-led development in Lisbon can be reconfigured through social infrastructures of care and relationality.

In the second parallel session, Neerej Dev examined how post-Brexit policies shape forms of belonging among Indian care workers in the UK. Joel Abah presented how marginalised communities co-create and sustain urban infrastructures amidst climate stress and governance gaps in Nigeria. Meanwhile, Rana Zein focused on how the perceptions and practices of cluster actors condition industrial competitiveness and infrastructure.

The afternoon featured a workshop led by Karin Pfeffer on Participatory Mapping: Inclusive Accessibility in Public Space, followed by an excursion led by Jannes Willems. Traversing three distinct neighbourhoods, the group observed Amsterdam's structural evolution: from the early 20th-century public housing of Spaarndammerbuurt, designed to uplift working-class families, to the industrial transformation of NDSM Wharf into a creative hub. 

The day ended with delicious pizza and cold drinks. Gathered in a circle, participants traded thoughts on politics, life, history, and infrastructure long after the last slice was cleared.

The final day, began with a second round of parallel feedback sessions. Expanding the geographical scope, Toshali Chattopadhyay traced the decommissioning of Calcutta’s historic tramways in India, Esma Geliş unravelled the intersections of migration policy and mobility regimes in German infrastructure recruitment, and Anastasiia Zhokhova examined how street design shapes governance and sustainability across Poland and Ukraine. 

In the second parallel session, Laura Müller's research focused on urban trees, examining how their governance is undermined by short-term planning cycles and municipal responsibilities split across disconnected departments. Hanna A. Rauf's work centred on community-led nature-based solutions in Bangkok's upgraded informal settlements, showing how these interventions are kept alive mainly through residents' routine rather than institutional upkeep. Pratibha Singh's research addressed environmental governance and ecological fragility in Himalayan towns.

These immersive 90-minute parallel sessions did far more than refine draft papers. They established a shared pathway towards publication in an upcoming special issue of the European Journal of Spatial Development (EJSD). The summer school concluded with a workshop led by Fran Meissner on Translating Critical Urban Research into Impact, where participants explored participatory methodologies designed to bridge academic theory and transformative practice.

Looking Ahead: Redefining Urban Infrastructures 

The ARL Summer School (2026) demonstrated that urban infrastructure extends far beyond physical engineering, revealing deep entanglements with lived experience, politics, ecology, and informal care work. This expansive analytical framework equips doctoral researchers to better navigate pressing issues of climate stress, social exclusion, and splintered governance. Three vital insights emerged across the presented projects: urban resilience often hinges on under-recognised community practices in governance vacuums; infrastructural policies frequently perpetuate inequality or serve speculative interests over residents; and ecological or historical systems drive gradual, structural transformation. Ultimately, the summer school framed infrastructure not as a static physical backdrop, but as an ongoing and contested process. Spanning rich empirical cases across Africa, Asia, and Europe, these collective discussions highlight the urgent necessity for interdisciplinary research that bridges formal institutions with the everyday and informal practices keeping cities alive. 

On behalf of all participants:

• Hanna A. Rauf (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Pratibha Singh (EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Germany)
• Rana Zein (University College London, UK)
• Toshali Chattopadhyay (Dublin City University, Ireland)

• Joel Abah, (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)
• Toshali Chattopadhyay (Dublin City University, Ireland)
• Miriam de Oliveira Gonçalves (Lisbon School of Architecture,Portugal)
• Neerej Dev (University of Wolverhampton, UK)
• Esma Geliş (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany)
• Rizki Ghiffari (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
• Laura Müller (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany)
• Hanna A. Rauf (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Shubham Shekhar (Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, O.P. Jindal Global University, India)
• Pratibha Singh (EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Germany)
• Rana Zein (University College London, UK)
• Anastasiia Zhokhova (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Poland)

Keynote Speaker

• Prof Colin McFarlane (Durham University) 

Mentors 

• Prof Jochen Monstadt (Director of the German Institute of Urban Affairs / Vice President of the ARL)
• Prof Karin Pfeffer (University of Twente)
• Dr Fran Meissner (University of Twente)
• Dr Jannes Willems (University of Amsterdam)
• Dr Britta Bockhorn (ARL)

The ARL would like to thank the FRU and the Christel und Klaus Wolf Foundation and the Centre for Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam for their generous financial support.

Dr Britta Bockhorn
International Affairs
Phone +49 511 34842 25