Urban Law Days
2021 - "Covid-19 and Cities a Year Later: What did cities do right?"
Download report for the 2021 Urban Law Day "Covid-19 and Cities a Year Later: What did cities do right?" (PDF)
2020 - "The Post-Covid City: Lessons for the future in law and development"
Download report for the 2020 Urban Law Day "Covid-19 and Cities a Year Later: What did cities do right?" (PDF)
2019 - "Smart Cities - an emerging legal challenge"
Download report for the 2019 Urban Law Day "Smart Cities - an emerging legal challenge" (PDF)
2018 - "Building drafting skills for improving the quality of urban legislation"
Download report for the 2018 Urban Law Day "Building drafting skills for improving the quality of urban legislation" (PDF)
The Urban Law Day is a specialised forum aiming to bring together a multidisciplinary circle of academics and practitioners interested in urban legislation, including planners, architects, policy makers, economists, urbanists, and lawyers. Its purpose is to facilitate discussion, the exchange of views, networking, and the presentation of new research findings or emerging issues.
The Sir William Dale Centre for Legislative Studies proudly organised the fifth Urban Law Day, which was held on 13 July 2018 at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and addressed legal issues linked to Human Rights in Cities. The 2018 Urban Law Day focused on human rights challenges in urban environments around the world.
Dr. Maria Mousmouti, Lecturer in Law at the IALS opened the event with an introduction to the Urban Law Initiative, the cooperation between the IALS and UN Habitat and the purpose of the 2018 Urban Law Day.
Robert Lewis-Lettington, Head of the Legislation Unit of UN–Habitat presented the commitments related to human rights included in the New Urban Agenda and main strategies for their implementation.
Malavika Vartak, Researcher/ Policy Adviser, ESCR Team, Amnesty International focused on forced evictions and homelessness as specific aspects of human rights violations in cities.
Abdirahman Mohamoud and Fathi Egal from the Joint Programme on Local Governance (JPLG) in Somalia presented the experience from their country. Alain Grimard, Senior Human Settlements Officer from the UN Habitat Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean presented the main challenges in Latin American cities.
Further, Ahmad El-Atrash, Senior National Urban Programme Officer at the UN Habitat in the Palestinian Territory presented a human rights assessment tool and the ways in which it has been used in Palestinian territories. Han Zhang from the Urban Legislation Unit of UN-Habitat presented the Slum Upgrading Tool and its contribution to improving human rights in cities.
The Urban Law Day falls within the context of the Urban Law Initiative which sets the framework for the research cooperation between UN Habitat and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
2017 - " Implementing the Urban Law Agenda"
Description
The fourth Urban Law Day took place on 14 July 2017 at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London) and addressed specific legal issues linked to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.
Speakers
- Robert Lewis-Lettington, UN-Habitat
- Dr. Maria Mousmouti, Lecturer in Law, IALS
- Steven Malby, Rule of Law Division, Commonwealth Secretariat
- Joost Möhlmann, UN-Habitat
- Thomaz Ramalho, UN-Habitat
- Tarek Osseiran, UN-Habitat
Programme
Urban Law Day concept note (contains programme of events)
Presentations and Notes
- Urban Development in Mozambique
- Mainstreaming the NUA and the SDG11 through the HCPD-NUP Platform
- Urban Safety and Governance – A Commonwealth Perspective
- Rights and equity in the New Urban Agenda: the example of the Action framework for the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda
- Human Rights Commitments in the New Urban Agenda: Pure Rhetoric or an Opportunity for Reform of Urban Legislation?
- National Urban Policies
- Countries Experience: Lebanon
2016 - "Good Urban Legislation in Resource-Poor Settings: Challenges & Practical Solutions"
Description
The third Urban Law Day was held on 15 July 2016 at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London), and addressed challenges in developing countries related to good urban legislation and practical solutions for improving them.
Speakers
- Dr Julinda Beqiraj, Associate Senior Research Fellow, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law
- Dr. Constantin Stefanou, Director of Taught Programmes and Director of the Sir William Dale Centre for Legislative Studies, IALS
- Robert Lewis-Lettington, UN-Habitat
- Anne Klen, UN –Habitat
- Dr. Maria Mousmouti, Lecturer in Law, IALS
- Stuart Andrews, Partner, National Head of Planning and Infrastructure Consenting, Eversheds International
- Mohamed Nada, UN-Habitat Cairo office
- Elohor Onoge
Programme
Urban Law Day concept note (contains programme of events)
Presentations and Notes
2015 - "Effective Legal Frameworks as a Tool for Sustainable Urban Development"
Description
This second Urban Law Day (6 July 2015) at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London), will address the role and importance of effective functioning legal frameworks for sustainable urban development.
Speakers
- Lord Carnwath, Supreme Court and Chair to IALS Advisory Council
- Robert Lewis-Lettington, UN-Habitat
- Luke Barfoot, Rachel Bickerton, and Joel Wolchover, Lawyers, Planning Reform, DCLG Legal Advisers – Government Legal Department
- Nigel Rendell, Parliamentary Counsel, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel
- Professor Helen Xanthaki, Professor of Law and Legislative Drafting, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
- Dr Maria Mousmouti, Executive Director of the Centre for European Constitutional Law, Athens and Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Programme
Urban Law Day concept note (contains programme of events)
Presentations and Notes
- Case Study: The development and application of planning law in England
- Translating Urban Policy into "Good Law"
- Case studies of the need for evidence based decision making and post legislative scrutiny
- The Implementation Game
- International frameworks for urban law: the Habitat Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda
- Notes
2014 - "Urban development and the law: setting a research agenda "
Description
The specific purpose of the Urban Law Day 2014 is
- To launch the cooperation between the IALS and UN-Habitat
- To define and consolidate, through open discussion, the medium term priorities of a research agenda in urban law.
Speakers
- Robert Lewis-Lettington, Unit Leader - Urban Legislation, Urban Legislation, Land and Governance Branch
- Dr. Maria Mousmouti, co-Director, Sir William Dale Legislative Drafting Clinic, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London (UK), Executive Director, Centre for European Constitutional Law (Greece)
- Anne Klen, UM-Habitat
- Edesio Fernandes, Legal Consultant, DPU Associates; Member of the Teaching Faculty of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
- Lara Kinneir, Urban Governance Hub Coordinator, UN Habitat UNI, and Course Leader, MA Spatial Planning and Urban Design at the CASS Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design
- Timothy Pugh/Mukhtiar Tanda, Partners, Berwin Leighton Paisner BLP
- Professor Helen Xanthaki, Professor of Law and Legislative Studies, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London
- Marius Pieterse, Professor of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; joint global co-ordinator, International Research Group on Law and Urban Space (IRGLUS)
- Hayley Rogers, Parliamentary Counsel and Good Law project lead, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel
Programme
Programme for the Urban Law Day
Presentations and Notes