DUAL Conference 2025: Dichotomies in Urban Agendas and Logics.

On Sept. 29 and 30, 2025, theFederico II University will host the DUAL Conference - Dichotomies in Urban Agendas and Logics, an international academic event promoted as part of the Aurora network and dedicated to contemporary urban challenges with a heartfelt participation of the student body.

The conference, which will be held at the Department of Humanities in Via Porta di Massa (Roberto Gentile Lecture Hall, 2nd Floor, Entrance B), aims to explore the dichotomies that characterize today's cities: inclusion/exclusion, center/periphery, memory/oblivion, resilience/vulnerability.

Opening the proceedings will be Alessandro Arienzo(Aurora Institutional Coordinator, UNINA), followed by an introduction by Francesca Scamardella(Aurora TT 2.4 coordinator "Establishing the Hub for Culture: Identities and Diversities").

The program will also include keynotes and introductory speeches by leading international speakers: Florian Freitag(University of Duisburg-Essen) and Zohra Hassan-Pieper(University of Duisburg-Essen) with "Urban Dichotomies in the Arts," and Guest Lecture by Bertram Niessen, sociologist and president of cheFare, with a reflection on cities, cultures and digital communities.

The thematic sessions focus on three major strands of research:

• Urban Design and the City's Dichotomies - devoted to the tensions between urban design, aesthetics and social processes.
• Humanities Perspectives on Urban Dichotomies - exploring the cultural, artistic and historical implications of urban transformations.
• Grounded Dichotomies: Case Studies - with empirical analyses and comparative research on European and international case studies.

Prominent among the academic contributions are papers from universities across Europe and beyond, with researchers from Kharkiv, Tarragona, Istanbul, Reykjavík, researchers proceeds from Brazil and other international universities, and several Italian universities.

The scientific-organizing committee has constructed a program that combines different disciplines and perspectives, from urban planning to philosophy, from sociology to art history, for an interdisciplinary approach.

Detailed program.