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Urban October 2025

Urban October is an opportunity for everyone to be part of the conversation about the challenges and opportunities created by the fast rate of change in our cities and towns. Each year, it begins with World Habitat Day on the first Monday of October and ends with World Cities Day on the 31st. In 2025, the theme of World Habitat Day (6 October) is "urban crisis response", and the theme of World Cities Day is "people-centred smart cities." Archnet joins this annual effort to promote a more sustainable urban future by highlighting related resources from our collection. These will change as the month goes on, focusing on issues of housing, urbanization, and cities, so check back soon.

Related Archnet Resources
  • URBAN OCTOBER REPORT 2024
    The report on activities held around the world during the 2024 commemoration
  • Primary School at Gando
    This school is the result of one man's mission to improve conditions in his village. Not only did he design the school and raise the funds to build it; he also secured government support to train people in building with local materials, and drew on the strong tradition of community solidarity to engage all of the villagers in the construction of this school for their children.
  • Gjirokastra Conservation, Gjirokastra, Albania
    Reversed the decline of Gjirokastra’s built heritage through a grassroots programme emphasizing the development potential of conservation and community participation.
  • Reconstruction of Ngibikan Village, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
    After a devestating earthquake in 2006, with financial assistance from a local newspaper, and design input from local architect Eko Prawoto, the villagers, led by community leader Maryono, reconstructed 65 homes in less than 90 days.
  • International Journal of Architectural Research (IJAR), 2007-2018
    Scholarly exchange about the built environment across cultures, disciplines, languages, and nationalities. It highlights often-overlooked scholarship and aims to bridge international knowledge gaps.
  • Culture as a Catalyst for Change
    Through projects such as the Sunder Nursery Rehabilitation and social development efforts in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti in Delhi, community organizations and international NGO’s collaborated on projects that both conserved built heritage and contributed to UN Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Écochard: Hama Panoramas
    Annotated panoramas of this historic city before large sections were destroyed by war, this collection documents the need for cultural heritage documentation.
  • Volume VI. Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme, A Sustainable Future: Urban Parks and Gardens
    This volume surveys the gardens created by the Aga Khan HistoricCities Programme, demonstrating how parks and gardens can enhance economic, cultural, social and physical well-being.
  • Built Heritage of Lebanon Survey
    A collection of significant built works in Beirut and beyond.
  • Walking and Cycling in Africa - Evidence and Good Practice to Inspire Action
    The first attempt at gathering, analysing and presenting data to demonstrate the everyday reality for the one billion people in Africa who walk and cycle every day.
  • Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design
    2020
  • دليل الحفاظ على المركز التاريخي لمدينة بيت لحم
    Presentation of the traditional architecture of Bethlehem on the urban fabric, typologies and construction systems.
  • Conservation and Design Guidelines for Zanzibar Stone Town
    2001
  • DISEGNARECON. Vol 15, No 28 (2022). Cities and Migration: Visual approaches to the challenges of increasingly diverse cities.
    2022
  • ArCHIAM: Architectural and Urban Forms of the Islamic World

Urban October 2025

Urban October is an opportunity for everyone to be part of the conversation about the challenges and opportunities created by the fast rate of change in our cities and towns. Each year, it begins with World Habitat Day on the first Monday of October and ends with World Cities Day on the 31st. In 2025, the theme of World Habitat Day (6 October) is "urban crisis response", and the theme of World Cities Day is "people-centred smart cities." Archnet joins this annual effort to promote a more sustainable urban future by highlighting related resources from our collection. These will change as the month goes on, focusing on issues of housing, urbanization, and cities, so check back soon.

Related Archnet Resources
  • URBAN OCTOBER REPORT 2024
    The report on activities held around the world during the 2024 commemoration
  • Primary School at Gando
    This school is the result of one man's mission to improve conditions in his village. Not only did he design the school and raise the funds to build it; he also secured government support to train people in building with local materials, and drew on the strong tradition of community solidarity to engage all of the villagers in the construction of this school for their children.
  • Gjirokastra Conservation, Gjirokastra, Albania
    Reversed the decline of Gjirokastra’s built heritage through a grassroots programme emphasizing the development potential of conservation and community participation.
  • Reconstruction of Ngibikan Village, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
    After a devestating earthquake in 2006, with financial assistance from a local newspaper, and design input from local architect Eko Prawoto, the villagers, led by community leader Maryono, reconstructed 65 homes in less than 90 days.
  • International Journal of Architectural Research (IJAR), 2007-2018
    Scholarly exchange about the built environment across cultures, disciplines, languages, and nationalities. It highlights often-overlooked scholarship and aims to bridge international knowledge gaps.
  • Culture as a Catalyst for Change
    Through projects such as the Sunder Nursery Rehabilitation and social development efforts in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti in Delhi, community organizations and international NGO’s collaborated on projects that both conserved built heritage and contributed to UN Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Écochard: Hama Panoramas
    Annotated panoramas of this historic city before large sections were destroyed by war, this collection documents the need for cultural heritage documentation.
  • Volume VI. Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme, A Sustainable Future: Urban Parks and Gardens
    This volume surveys the gardens created by the Aga Khan HistoricCities Programme, demonstrating how parks and gardens can enhance economic, cultural, social and physical well-being.
  • Built Heritage of Lebanon Survey
    A collection of significant built works in Beirut and beyond.
  • Walking and Cycling in Africa - Evidence and Good Practice to Inspire Action
    The first attempt at gathering, analysing and presenting data to demonstrate the everyday reality for the one billion people in Africa who walk and cycle every day.
  • Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design
    2020
  • دليل الحفاظ على المركز التاريخي لمدينة بيت لحم
    Presentation of the traditional architecture of Bethlehem on the urban fabric, typologies and construction systems.
  • Conservation and Design Guidelines for Zanzibar Stone Town
    2001
  • DISEGNARECON. Vol 15, No 28 (2022). Cities and Migration: Visual approaches to the challenges of increasingly diverse cities.
    2022
  • ArCHIAM: Architectural and Urban Forms of the Islamic World