Talk submissions have now closed. However, we'd be delighted if you could still join us at Four Minutes to Change a City!
National Urban Design Conference Opening Event
17:30-22:00 Wednesday 7 October 2026 @ The Haberdashery, 545 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G3 7PQ
On the eve of the National Urban Design Conference, we’re getting together for an evening of ideas, conversation, controversy, philosophy and debate about towns, cities and urban life.
Got an idea, experience or provocation to share? We’d love to hear it.
This is an opportunity to come along and share a piece of innovative research, a lesson from practice, a project that’s changed your thinking, or an experience that others could learn from. You’ll have four minutes to tell us your idea - and convince the rest of us why we need to know about it. We’re looking for fresh thinking, practical insights and provocative ideas - presentations that spark curiosity and conversation.
What could you talk about?
Here are a few suggestions:
- Important research findings that you think everyone in the urban design community needs to know about.
- A best-practice project you’ve been working on that you’re convinced others could learn from.
- Insights from experience - perhaps about how people actually behave and use the city, or a different way of understanding the world we’re in.
- New ideas, big or small, that could transform a few lives or many.
- Creating streets, spaces and cities for everyone - not just the better-off or the better-able.
- Something novel that only you know about.
Or, of course, something completely different.
If you’d like to be considered, please add your name and details to the form below. We can’t guarantee there’ll be a place for everyone, but we’ll be in touch by 24 September to let you know.
Outline Timetable:
17:30 - Doors open. Arrival and networking
18:00 to 19:00 - Presentation sessions interspersed with refreshment breaks.
19.30 - What to do with Urban Motorways? Local experts explore the options for the M8 in Glasgow.
20:00 - More presentations
21:00 - Networking and socialising
22:00 - Close
Please note: this is a separate event from the main conference and is open to both conference delegates and others.
