Study Architecture 
ProPEL Call for Submissions
Submission Deadline: June 17, 2026
Submission Site Opening Soon
The 2026 Intersections Research Conference: URBAN DESIGN MATTERS invites contributions, papers, case study, projects, and posters that explore, propose, or challenge new and existing practices and paradigms. Authors will submit work under one of the following submission types and select a track that best represents their content. Authors will also select a number of keywords describing the content of their submission.
Please Note: This page is intended only If you would like to submit a peer-reviewed research presentation. If you are interested in presenting at the conference as a speaker, please visit the Call for Speakers page for guidelines, requirements, and deadlines.
Abstracts
Peer-Reviewed Presentation
Selection of scholarly presentations will be based on double-blind peer review of Abstracts accompanied by optional images. Authors of accepted abstracts who present their work at the conference are then invited to submit a full paper or case study for inclusion in the conference proceedings. It is expected that feedback from the abstract review and conference presentation will inform the final submission.
- Abstract (500-words max), Title (100-characters max) & Endnotes (optional: 250-word max)
- Images (optional): No more than 5 images (jpg)
- Select a primary track
- Submissions that include Artificial Intelligence (AI) text & images need to be cited
- Submissions must be prepared for anonymous review (remove author/contributor names and affiliation identification)
- Submissions must report on recently completed work and cannot have been previously published or presented in public, except to a regional audience
- Submissions must be written in English
- An author may present only one submission at the conference. No individual may be listed as co-author on more than two submissions.
Project / Case Study
Peer-Reviewed Presentation
Selection of project or case study presentations will be based on blind peer review of the abstract accompanied by images. Authors of accepted projects will be invited to present their work at the conference and may submit for inclusion in the conference proceedings.
- Abstract (500-words max), Title (100-characters max) & Endnotes (optional: 250-word max)
- Images: 5-10 images included in your project submission (jpg)
- Select a primary track
- Submissions that include Artificial Intelligence (AI) text & images need to be cited
- Submissions must be prepared for anonymous review (remove author/contributor names and affiliation identification)
- Submissions must report on recently completed work and cannot have been previously published or presented in public, except to a regional audience
- Project submissions should summarize the motivation, context and objective of the relevant architectural project or material research and development; highlight the most salient issues, challenges or dilemmas faced by the project team in their particular context; share explored pathways to meet these challenges; provide relevant frameworks, data, analysis, insights and findings; and suggest transferable knowledge
- Submissions must be written in English
- An author may present only one submission at the conference. No individual may be listed as co-author on more than two submissions.
Poster of Student Work
Juried Exhibition
Selection of posters of student work will be based on jury review, for exhibition at the conference. Each poster should be submitted with a faculty sponsor. Work can be from an individual student or a team of up to five students. It can be produced in any academic course: design studio, thesis, or other course. Authors of accepted posters will be invited to exhibit their poster at a curated conference exhibition.
- Title (100-characters max)
- Poster: 20″ x 30″ / 508mm x 762mm in Portrait format (jpg) using the following template.
- Poster Template – PDF Download
- Poster Template – Adobe InDesign Download
- Select a primary track
- Submissions that include Artificial Intelligence (AI) text & images need to be cited
- Submissions must be prepared for anonymous review (remove author/contributor names and affiliation identification)
- Submissions must report on recently completed work and cannot have been previously published or presented in public, except to a regional audience
- Submissions must be written in English
- An author may present only one submission at the conference. No individual may be listed as co-author on more than two submissions.
Conference Tracks
Authors are invited to submit under one of the designated categories and to select the track that best aligns with their contribution. In addition, the conference includes a dedicated poster category showcasing student work that addresses matters of urban design.
Pedagogies of Urban Design
Contributions that critically examine the full range of methods, frameworks, and approaches to teaching and learning urban design within and beyond professional and pre-professional degree programs. We welcome submissions that address pedagogies responding to uncertainty and complexity, as well as interdisciplinary, experimental, and alternative models focused on design of the urban condition. Contributions may engage curricular structures, studio models, research-led teaching, community-based learning, or emerging tools and platforms, articulating how pedagogical innovation advances urban design education.
Practices of Urban Design
Contributions that critically reflect on the changing practice of urban design—and the role of urbanistic approaches within architecture and allied disciplines—from both public and private sector contexts. Collaborative submissions by practitioners and academics that examine the significance, methods, real world challenges, and impacts of the field are strongly encouraged.
Scales and Means of Urban Design
Contributions that probe notions of urban development, reconstruction, care and repair, disruption, and urban justice, at the full range of scales of engagement, from local interventions, buildings, and landscapes to territorial frameworks. Discourse that investigates urban types and morphologies, how they adapt, transform, and evolve in relation to a range of urban challenges is encouraged.
Emergent Technologies of Urban Design
Contributions that document and investigate how big data, urban AI, and other emergent digital technologies shape urban environments, governance, and everyday life across diverse global contexts and scales, examining their intersections with sociopolitical, cultural, and spatial change.
Urban Spatial Narratives
Contributions from across media types that narrate, counter narrate or otherwise analyze histories and theories of urban lived space. These can focus on a particular place or set of places, engage notions of power and agency, interrogate specific figures, community collaborations, or client relationships, trace a movement, or tell another meaningful story.
Matters that Expand Urban Design
Contributions that expand and challenge the disciplinary frameworks of urban design, including: How do we advance global, comparative, and transdisciplinary urban design research methods? What socioecological agency does urban design have on climate change and planetary multispecies coexistence? How does urban thinking promote, or inhibit, the social life of the city and suburb? Who ultimately has the right to the city?
Eligibility
Educators, Practitioners, Researchers and Students are all encouraged to submit. If you are already an ACSA member, please log into the website to complete your online submission. If you are not an ACSA member or do not have an ACSA login, please create one online HERE. You may also request access by contacting ACSA directly at info@acsa-arch.org.
Submission Timeline
June 17, 2026 | Submission Deadline |
July 2026 | Author Notification |
October 1-3, 2026 | 2026 Intersections: URBAN DESIGN MATTERS |
November 2026 | Final Full-Paper / Project Deadline, for publication |
HOW TO SUBMIT
Authors must submit through the ACSA online interface. All submitting authors must have an ACSA database profile. If you are not an ACSA member or do not have an account, you can create an account.
Follow the steps below to complete your submission. The ACSA online interface will guide you through the remaining steps.
- Log in using your ACSA username and password. Click here if you forgot your password.
- Click the Enter Now button.
- Select Intersections Research Conference 2026 from the dropdown menu and click Create New Submission.
- Click Add Myself as Author and then add other authors, if applicable.
- On the next page, fill in the text boxes for title and abstract. These are simple copy/paste text boxes.
- To add images, attach them by clicking Browse.
- Select a primary and secondary tracks from the options above.
- Select Either: Abstract or Case Study
- On the Proofread page you have the opportunity to review your work before finalizing your submission.
- Click Complete My Submission. You have completed your submission and should receive a confirmation email for verification.
Presentation & Publication
Following the blind peer-review or jury process, the conference co-chairs make final acceptance decisions. All authors will be notified of the status of their submission and will receive comments from their reviewers. Final acceptance of abstracts translates to presentation at the conference. Sessions will be composed of four to five accepted authors allowing for both scholarly and applied research to demonstrate impact.
Accepted Abstracts and Projects | Case Study will be invited to expand on their research and submit a full aricle, post-conference, to be included in the conference proceedings. Full Papers are to be 2500-4000 words with optional 1-5 images. Full Projects may be up to 1000 words with 5-10 images. Authors accepted to present at the conference will be required to complete a copyright transfer form and agree to present the research at the conference before it is published. It is ACSA policy that accepted authors must pay full conference registration in order to be included in the conference presentation and proceedings. Once the conference proceedings is published, each submission will be included in the Proceedings Index.
Accepted Posters of Student Work will be exhibited during the conference. It is ACSA policy that accepted authors must pay full conference registration in order to be included in the conference presentation.
Conference Partners
Questions
Michelle Sturges
ACSA
Conferences Manager
202-785-2324
msturges@acsa-arch.org
Eric Wayne Ellis
ACSA
Sr. Dir. of Operations & Programs
202-785-2324
eellis@acsa-arch.org
