History

The initiative to create a North American research network stems from an initiative by Wendy McClure and Michael Conzen, following a discussion on the creation of a North American network in urban morphology, held in 2020 during the 27th International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF) in Salt Lake City, USA.

A year later, on June 20, 2021, a first virtual meeting bringing together nearly 70 participants led to the emergence of an initial consensus on the need to form a regional network for discussion and research on the North American built environment. However, the challenges brought on by the pandemic slowed this initial momentum.

In 2023, interest in officially creating the network revived, leading to the formation of a scientific committee with the mandate to organize a first in-person founding event. This event takes shape through a research workshop with several discussion themes, including that of defining a synthesis of the “DNA” of the American, Canadian, and Mexican built environments.