'Island Cities and Urban Archipelagos' 21-25 October 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark<http://www.islanddynamics.org/islandcities.html> 'Island Cities and Urban Archipelagos' will explore the cultures, economies, and politics of urban areas based on islands worldwide. Papers are particularly being sought concerning how changes in IT and other technologies are affecting the ways in which culture, government, and economy function in such island cities. Islands are often associated with peripherality, yet over the course of human history, they have also been important sites of urban development. Many important regional cities and global cities have developed wholly or partially on small islands or archipelagos. Physical separation from the mainland and spatial limitations along with a maritime tradition can encourage the transport of products and ideas, improved defence infrastructure, construction of social capital, consolidation of political power, formation of vibrant cultures, and concentration of population. Some such island-based cities were located on inland river islands and have since expanded far beyond their original borders (for example, Paris and Strasbourg) while others are still strongly associated with their island cores (for example, Hong Kong and New York City). Major population centres located on larger, primarily rural islands and archipelagos represent another type of island city. Each of these cities is affected not just by the dynamics at work in urban areas in general but also by the special functions it gains from acting as a metropolis that provides goods and services to rural island hinterlands. 'Island Cities and Urban Archipelagos is an international, interdisciplinary academic conference exploring how island status influences urban development, common attributes of island cities worldwide, and the opportunities that islandness presents for developing urban cultures and economies. It will also consider how and why different island cities have developed in different ways. Visit the conference website (<http://www.islanddynamics.org/islandcities.html> ) to see the call for papers and learn more. The deadline for abstracts is 30 April 2014. Plenary Speakers: Saskia Sassen, Jon Pierre, Godfrey Baldacchino, Christian Wicchman Matthiessen, and Brenda S.A. Yeoh. Organising Partners: University of Portsmouth's Centre of Art, Architecture & Design; Memorial University of Newfoundland's Harris Centre of Regional Policy & Development; Lund University's Department of Human Geography; and Queen's University Belfast's School of Geography, Archaeology, and Paleoecology.