(Please read also the fantastic story by Harry van der Heyden about Scupad from 1965 to 1985).

The variety and depth of topics considered at the SCUPAD Congresses since 1966 reveal SCUPAD's broad range of planning-related interests and expertise. Starting in 1966, SCUPAD tried to emphasize that planning was no longer a matter of design only. Topics considered a scientific approach that would introduce and embrace sociology and methodology as important factors.

In the seventies, SCUPAD concentrated on the experience with, and the evaluation of, planning systems. The effectiveness of planning and the competing social and physical needs were heavily debated. During the eighties, SCUPAD's sessions concentrated on the urban fabric and the involvement of governments and citizens in the planning process. In the nineties, SCUPAD took a closer look at critical aspects of urban development: identity of places, mass housing, international capital investments, environment, the global-local interface and poverty.

1.    The Planning Process
May 6 - 9, 1966
32 participants from 10 countries (2 participants from outside Europe)

2.    Scientific Methods Applied to Planning
May 19 - 22, 1967
38 participants from 10 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

3.    The Social Context of Planning Decision Making
June 7 - 11, 1968
50 participants from 12 countries (3 participants from outside Europe)

4.    Education for Planning
May 2 - 6, 1969
46 participants from 11 countries (3 participants from outside Europe)

5.    Social Change - Institutional Change
April 10 - 14, 1970
50 participants from 13 countries (2 participants from outside Europe)

6.    Systems Planning
April 23 - 26, 1971

7.    New Directions in European Planning
April 28 - May 1, 1972
45 participants from  12 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

8.    Urban Plans: The Results of Urban Policy - Urban Policies: The Result of Urban Planning
April 28 - May 1, 1973
24 participants from 9 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

9.    Metropolitan Planning Experiences
May 23 - 26, 1974
21 participants from 9 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

10. The New Old City
May 23 - 26, 1975
34 participants from 10 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

11. Planning With Modest Growth Expectations
June 11 - 14, 1976
27 participants from 9 countries (0 participants from outside Europe)

12. Modest Growth: A Challenge for Planning
April 29 - May 2, 1977
26 participants from 11 countries (2 participants from outside Europe)

13. Past Planning Failures and Consequences for Future Planning
April 21 - 24, 1978
28 participants from 7 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

14. Decentralizing the Cities and Consequences for Planning
May 15 - 18, 1981
29 participants from 11 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

15. Policies for Urban Renaissance: An Evaluation
April 2 - 5, 1982
29 participants from 14 countries (4 participants from outside Europe)

16.  City Development: The Impact of Large Scale Projects
May 13 - 16, 1983
27 participants from 9 countries (2 participants from outside Europe)

17. Retreat of the Public Sector:  An Expanding Role for Urban Self-Management?
1984

18. Is there a Future for Strategic Regional and Urban Planning?
May 23 - 26, 1986
26 participants from 13 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

19. Urban Places: The Conservation and Creation of Urban Quality
June 5-8, 1987
38 participants from 12 countries (8 participants from outside Europe)

20. Our Generation of Planners: The Hopes, The Fears, The Facts (I)
May 6 - 9, 1988
37 participants from 14 countries (3 participants from outside Europe)

21. Our Generation of Planners: The Hopes, The Fears, The Facts (II)
May 12 - 15, 1989
19 participants from 11 countries (1 participant from outside Europe)

22. City Identity: The Planner’s Role in Creating and Maintaining a Sense of Place
May 11 - 14, 1990
32 participants from 12 countries (10 participants from outside Europe)

23. Mass Housing: The Unexpected Crisis
April 26 - 29, 1991
33 participants from 11 countries (3 participants from outside Europe)

23. Developolis: Architects, Developers and Communities on the March to Urban Uniformity
March 27 - 30, 1992
31 participants from 13 countries (3 participants from outside Europe)

25. Urban Growth versus Open Space: The Sustainable Approach
April 30 - May 3, 1993
50 participants from 17 countries (6 participants from outside Europe)

26. Global Futures - Local Challenges
April 29 - May 2, 1994
42 participants from 18 countries (9 participants from outside Europe)

27. Urban Poverty: Facts and Strategies
May 5-8, 1995
39 participants from 16 countries (8 participants from outside Europe)

28.  Regions on the Rise? Managing Regional Development in the Wake of Global and Local Challenges
June 7 - 10, 1996
42 participants from 16 countries (8 participants from outside Europe)

29.  Creativity and Planning: Widening the Range of the Possible
June 6 - 9, 1997
49 participants from 15 countries (10 participants from outside Europe)

30. Global Communication, Local Potentials: Meeting the Challenges for Planning
May 15 - 19, 1998
41 participants from 13 countries (9 participants from outside Europe)

31. Brownfield Regeneration: Strategies for Revitalisation of Derelict Areas Leading to Sustainable Development
May 21 - 24, 1999
51 participants from 16 countries (13 participants from outside Europe)

32. The Future of Cities
May 26 - 29, 2000
51 participants from 17 countries (13 participants from outside Europe)

33. Shaping Urban Places: Interaction between Power, Space and Pace
Venice, June 14 - 17, 2001
64 participants from 17 countries (26 participants from outside Europe)

34. The Multicultural City: Synergy Through Diversity
May 23 - 26, 2002
69 participants from 21 countries (23 participants from outside Europe)

35. Renaissance of Our Cities: Conflicting Visions
May 15 - 18, 2003
48 participants from 13 countries (9 participants from outside Europe)

36. The open City
May 13 - 16, 2004
42 participants from 13 countries (15 participants from outside Europe)

37. Metamorphosis 1960s–2040. Challenges of Shaping the Future
May 19 - 22, 2005
44 participants from 13 countries (5 participants from outside Europe)

38. Rapidly Expanding Cities in an Urbanizing World
May 11 - 14, 2006
47 participants from 14 countries (15 participants from outside Europe)

39. Cities in Flux: Responding to Radical Change
May 3 - 6, 2007
40 participants from 14 countries (9 participants from outside Europe)

40. Planning for a Carbon Neutral World: Challenges for Cities and Regions
May 15 - 18, 2008
47 participants from 21 countries (9 participants from outside Europe)