Inaugural symposium of the IRN RUPTuRS

Seminar

On 9 and 10 July, the inaugural symposium of the International Research Network (IRN), funded by the CNRS, “Rethinking Urban Planning and Transitions under Resource Scarcity : Indo-Pacific Cities within Planetary Limits” (RUPTuRS, 2026–2030), was held in Bangkok. The event brought together around a dozen participants working on Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, India, and Japan. It was co-organized by the Faculty of Architecture and Planning at Thammasat University in Bangkok and the programme coordinators, Gabriel Facal (IRASEC), Elisabeth Peyroux (CNRS and the National University of Singapore, NUS), and Raphaël Languillon-Aussel (French Institute for Research on Japan at the Maison franco-japonaise, IFRJ).

On the first day, nine network members presented their research in three thematic panels. The following morning, a field visit took place in the Pracha Ruamjai 1 neighborhood, whose residents had benefited from an urban upgrading programme and the transformation of informal housing into self-built homes as part of the restoration of the Prem Prachakon canal, aimed at reducing flood risk. The visit included exchanges with the local community, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and the Community Organization Development Institute. The afternoon was devoted to discussions on the cross-cutting themes that will guide the network’s work in the coming years.