The seventh annual conference of the International Association for China Planning (IACP) was held in Shanghai, China, from 29 June to 1 July 2013. Organised by IACP and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), the conference brought together more than 200 planning scholars and practitioners from around the world, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, the United States (US), Great Britain, France, Italy, Israel and Ghana. In light of recent disasters, such as the 2008 winter storms, the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and the 2012 Beijing floods, the conference was designed to address the intersection between planning and science in the pursuit of urban resilience. During the conference, 125 papers were presented across twenty-eight parallel sessions, as well as five keynote presentations. The confer- ence also included the first ever Deans' Forum on urban planning and transportation.The opening ceremonyThe opening ceremony (Figure 1) was convened on 30 June, with Dean Hu Hao (Shanghai Jiao Tong University [SJTU]) presiding. IACP Chair Xueming Chen (Virginia Commonwealth University) welcomed all those attending and reviewed IACP's history and the conference objectives. Zhenwei Peng (Tongji University) addressed the confer- ence delegates on behalf of the Urban Planning Society of China and discussed China's contemporary planning institutions.Robert Olshansky (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) delivered the confer- ence's first keynote address, entitled 'Rebuilding after the 2008 Wenchuan earth- quake: an example of resilience?' In his presentation, Olshansky challenged confer- ence attendees to reconsider their preconceptions about resilience. As Olshansky explained, resilience is frequently framed in terms of recovery outcomes, but post- disaster planning should have the same basic goals as conventional planning: to help people create settlements that are healthy, safe, fair and sustainable and to provide opportunities for people to improve and enjoy their lives. Rather than conceive of resilience as an outcome or static equilibrium, Olshansky urged the audience to investigate resilience as a dynamic process characterised by the interaction of multi- scalar systems. Making such systems resilient, he argued, means strengthening social networks, distributing decision-making and iterating processes to facilitate feedback and learning.With this framework in mind, Olshansky proceeded to evaluate the response to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. China succeeded in delivering a rapid physical recovery with an emphasis on the reconstruction of housing. This was, in part, facilitated by strong leadership and institutional capacity, as well as an innovative framework for distributing recovery financing across provincial governments, each of which was paired with an affected county or district. But rapid reconstruction also led to quality and livability problems, and there was insufficient focus given to redeveloping econo- mies, rebuilding communities and restoring households. As a result, few of the new communities can be considered resilient, and without further intervention, they are unlikely to withstand future shocks.The opening ceremony also included an address by Shiling Zheng (Tongji Univer- sity). Zheng's presentation, 'The post-expo development in Shanghai', provided attendees with an introduction to the host city's development and planning, particu- larly since the conclusion of the World Expo in 2010. Since the 1990s, planning has focused on transforming Shanghai into a livable and harmonious city, not just for elites, but for all people. The Expo project influenced Shanghai's planning by acceler- ating the provision of transportation infrastructure, supporting cultural development and emphasising historical and ecological preservation. Post-Expo, the municipality has placed particular emphasis on restructuring the Huangpu waterfront, in order to make it more ecological and accessible, while continuing to protect its historical scenery, including the Bund. …