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International New Town Day
June 30, 2016

On the 30th of June 2016, INTI will organise the first International New Town Day. This is a one-day conference in Almere, collecting an astonishing range of New Towns from all over the world. Some are older and in the midst of transforming and reinventing themselves, others are presently on the drawing boards. In the light of unprecedented worldwide urbanisation, how can we do New Towns better? How can we share innovative practices and experience? What are the challenges and opportunities?

The International New Town Institute (INTI) is a nonprofit think-and-do-tank, committed to the improvement of the spatial quality of ‘New Towns’ worldwide: extremely young cities which have been built from scratch over the past few decades. Many of these cities have been built according to ideals which ruled during their period of construction, but are now facing problems which the first designers did not foresee. Where municipalities feel like they are losing grip on what they created, INTI thinks along and takes on the role of counselor, advisor, and the sustainer of an international knowledge platform.

With the interdisciplinary research program New New Towns running in China, Cuba, the Netherlands, Brazil, India, Ghana and Kenya, INTI has gained a wide field of expertise within the realm of New Towns.

During the International New Town Day, participants will engage with colleague urban planners, policy makers and mayors of New Towns from around the globe. What are the most stringent common challenges and the common goals? How does each individual New Town tackle its problems and how can other cities learn from their innovations? The occasions to discuss these common denominators have, up to now, been rather scarce. INTI provides New Towns worldwide with the chance to assemble and connect for the sake of a better living quality for all of them.
The participating cities of the New New Town program Shenzhen (China), Almere (The Netherlands), Nakuru (Nairobi, Kenya), Alamar (Havana, Cuba), Curitiba (Brazil) and Tema (Accra, Ghana) have already confirmed their presence. Also present will be: Vinge (Denmark), Aspern (Austria), Kribi (Cameroon), Sudair (Saudi Arabia), Ningo Pram Pram (Ghana), Spijkenisse (NL), Milton Keynes (UK), Tatu City (Kenya).

The goal of the International New Town Day is to connect representatives of new cities worldwide and create awareness of their shared challenges. Since planned communities have many things in common, it is only logical that they can learn from each other. Through the exchange of innovative knowledge and experiences, we will determine a shared agenda for the improvement of existing New Towns and the design of future cities.

In combination with various side events in both Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the conference will serve as a preparatory session for the INTI side-event of the UN Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016. Both events will be focused on the establishment of the New Towns perspective for the Urban Agenda.
As the New Urban Agenda of 2016 will naturally transform over time as urgent topics evolve, the International New Town Day of 2016 will be the first of many. Every year, another New Town will host the event and new challenges and solutions can be brought forward, in order to be integrated in the international processes of policy-making.

INTI is the organisation that will facilitate this platform of knowledge exchange. If you are interested in participating, or if you would like to receive more information, please contact INTI via info@newtowninstitute.org




Downloads
The overall programme is available for download in pdf version here.

Practical Information
INTI will provide the program of the International New Town Day and the overall organization and transport of tours during the days before the actual conference. The entrance fee includes:
 The International New Town Day on June 30
 Side visits, lunches and transport to Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Almere on June 28 and June 29
 Dinner on June 29
 Seminar on Sustainable Planning of New Towns - in cooperation with Royal Haskoning DHV on July 1st.

Costs:
 125 euro for Dutch participants (non- INTImi members)
 50 euro for Dutch participants (INTImi members) and participants who travel from other countries


This conference is part of the World Urban Campaign.

Program tours 28-29 June



Day 1: June 28, Rotterdam
Urban Regeneration

08:30 Meeting point: Bus station Rotterdam Central Station

 9:00 – 10:30: Hoogvliet
Hoogvliet is known as the first Dutch New Town and was built in the 1960s to house the workers of Shell and the port of Rotterdam. Once built as an idyllic sleeping New Town, Hoogvliet had transformed into a ghetto towards the closing of the twentieth century. Only since 2010, the city has been modernized through substantial investments in education, housing and facilities. Examples of architectural projects are the School Campus (architect: Wiel Arets), the School Parasite and the Musicians’ cohousing complex, built by 24hr Architects with housing corporation Vestia. INTI director, Michelle Provoost will guide us past these projects.

Transport by bus to Spijkenisse

 11:00 – 12:30: Spijkenisse
Spijkenisse is a New Town from the ‘70s close to Hoogvliet. Though for a long time, this city was known for its outdated city center, it has rapidly developed its cultural facilities over the past decennia. Mirjam Salet, Mayor of Spijkenisse, will guide us through the completely renewed city center and the public library, which was designed by MVRDV Architects.

Transport by bus to the Fenix Loods

 13:00 – 13:30: Lunch at the Fenixloods
Lunch at the Fenix Loods, in the Katendrecht neighborhood of Rotterdam, of which a part has been transformed into a popular food market. This is also the location of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR).

 13:30 – 14:30: Tour of the IABR
The IABR-2016 opened in April and provides a rich program of events focusing on the relationships between spatial design and tomorrow’s economic changes. It offers a platform for discussion on the city that we want, advocating for a city that runs on clean energy, inclusive and productive – a city that centers on the public domain and on a solid social agenda. Michiel van Iersel, curator Team IABR2016, will introduce the theme of the biennale: The Next Economy.

Bus transport to the Schieblock

 15:00 – 16:00: Schieblock
The ‘Schieblock’ has grown into an iconic part of central Rotterdam. What once was an empty office building has been transformed into a hub of creative activity, housing multiple architecture and design offices, concept store GROOS and ZUS, one of the two prime initiators of the overall project. ZUS will give a lecture on the emergence and functioning of the Schieblock.

A Short Walk over the ‘Luchtsingel’ to the Hofbogen

 16:00 – 17:00: Hofbogen
From Schieblock it’s only a short walk to the Hofbogen, a former train viaduct which since 2011 is known as a cultural hotspot– a hub of concept stores, several modern coffee bars, restaurant De Jong and Jazz Café Bird. However, this nineteenth-century train viaduct has known different times: in the 1990s this building and the neighborhood around it, were in decay. Simone Rots, former director of Ltd. Hofbogen, will give a talk on the regeneration of this piece of urban fabric.

 17:00: Drinks in Jazz Café Bird


* * *



Day 2: June 29, Amsterdam

Smart Society

 8:30 Meeting point: at the Bus Station, in Ruyterkade 153, nearby Amsterdam Central Station

 
9:00 – 10:00: AEB
AEB Amsterdam is a waste-to-energy company, owned by the City of Amsterdam. It is their mission to be the world leader in sustainable conversion of waste into energy and valuable, re-usable raw materials.
Evert Lichtenbelt, responsible for the International cooperations, will give a presentation and show the group around.

Bus transport to Amsterdam West

 10:15 – 11:45: Urban regeneration in Amsterdam West
Amsterdam West is the largest urban expansion of Amsterdam in the 20th century, designed by CIAM planner Cornelis van Eesteren. Since the 1980s and 1990s, Amsterdam West saw its immigrant population rise substantively, but as we speak, this part of the city is cautiously undertaking a cultural turnaround. Maurits de Hoog, Director of the Department of Spatial Planning in Amsterdam, will give a lecture on the transformation and regeneration process taking place in this area.

 12:00 – 13:30: Lunch at De School
‘De School’ is Amsterdam’s latest cultural hotspot, located in an old school building in the West of Amsterdam, just within the Ring. During lunch, we will attend a presentation of the many different projects of Amsterdam Smart City.

 14:00 – 15:00 IJburg
‘IJburg’ is the name of a number of islands facilitating the growth of 18.000 houses in high densities. The concept of the islands enhances the feeling of living in, on and surrounded by water, which was necessary in order to control water flows, flood risk and nature compensation. The islands provide different housing concepts, mixed-use spaces and high quality urban public spaces. Architect and urbanist Alexander Mooi will provide a tour.

Transfer to Almere by bus

 15:00 – 17:00 Almere
A bus tour in Almere Haven, the first realized neighborhood of Almere in the 70’s and the Homerus Quarter, a partially self-built neighborhood. The tour will end at the Almere city center, designed by OMA in 1997. Its multi-level design and winding streets, offering efficient organization as well as human scaled shopping streets, have provoked many discussions internationally. Tour by The Building Guide.

 17:00 Drinks at the Brasserie La Maison

 18:00 Dinner Talks at the ’Brasserie La Maison’, Belfort 8, 1315 VB Almere
Talks with Leen Verbeek, the Commissioner of the Dutch King, and Jannewietske de Vries, director of the Floriade 2022. They will elaborate on, respectively, the metropolitan region of Amsterdam and the preparations and goals of the Floriade 2022. Dinner will follow.




Hoogvliet School Campus by Wiel Arets (photo: www.wielaretsarchitects.com)
The Fenix Loods before the IABR-2016 (photo: IABR)
Hofbogen, Rotterdam (photo: Maarten Laupman)
Homerus Quarter, Almere
Program conference 30 June

The International New Town Day will take place on June 30, 2016. During the two days before, on June 28 and 29, the INTI team will provide a diverse program of excursions and lectures in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Almere. These connect to the topics of discussion during the actual conference and provide the participants with innovative projects of Dutch architecture, planning, (harbour) transformation, participation and governance.

Thursday 30th of June, Almere

 09:00 - 09:30 Welcome breakfast

 09:30 - 09:40 Opening by moderator Christine de Baan, board member of INTI
Welcome by Tjeerd Herrema, elderman of Spatial Affairs, Housing and Neighbourhoods, Almere

 09:40 - 10:00 Introduction: Ambitions for New Cities of the Near Future by Michelle Provoost, director of INTI

 10:00 - 11:15 Voices from the world: New Towns Challenges and Opportunities

  • Curitiba - Luisiana Paganelli, Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba, Brazil
  • Nakuru – Lawrence Esho, Department of Spatial Planning & Design, Technical University of Kenya
  • Guangming – Xu Songming, Deputy Director, Deputy Director Administrative Committee of Guangming New Town, China
  • Alamar – Jorge Peña Diaz, Professor of Urban Design, Architecture and Urban Design department, Faculty of Architecture, CUJAE, Alamar, Cuba

 11:15 - 11:30 coffee-break

 11:30 - 13:00 New Towns in Europe

  • Spijkenisse – ‘Re-positioning the old New Towns by redefining their role in the region’, a statement from Mirjam Salet, Mayor of Spijkenisse, The Netherlands
  • Vinge – ‘Social mix and green ambitions’ with Søren Smidt-Jensen, Head of Urban Development & Landscape, Frederikssund Municipality, Denmark
  • Aspern Seestadt – ‘The city of the future’ with Philipp Fleischmann, Vienna Municipality, Austria 
  • Milton Keynes – ‘Cultural heritage and regeneration’ with Shane Downer, Senior heritage development Officer, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

 13:00 - 13:45 lunch

 13:45 - 15:00 African New Towns

  • Ningo Pram Pram with Markus Appenzeller, Ghana
  • Tema with Joe Abbey, Managing Director Tema Development Corporation, Ghana
  • Tatu City with Preston Mendenhall, Head of Corporate Affairs, Rendeavour, Kenya
  • Kribi with Bart Brorens, Royal Haskoning DHV, Cameroon

- 15:00 - 15:30 Tea-break and presentation of INTI’s latest publication Shenzhen - From Factory of the World to World City by Linda Vlassenrood, program director China

 15:30 - 17:00 Co-creating the New Urban Agenda for New Towns
Anticipating the Habitat III conference in Quito, this plenary working session wants to contribute with the elaboration of the New Towns perspective on the New Urban Agenda. Planned communities worldwide share many characteristics with each other and face many of the same challenges and opportunities. What should the New Towns perspective on the New Urban Agenda consist of?

INTI has suggested 10 priorities to be discussed:

  • Innovation
  • Regeneration
  • Bigger spatial context
  • Inclusiveness
  • Infrastructure & mobility
  • Flexibility
  • Green and water
  • Government & Citizens
  • No universal model
  • Exchange

Statements on the New Towns perspective on the New Urban Agenda will be given by: Elena Bologna, Social Innovation Architect, SocialFare, Italy | Friedemann Römhild, Royal HaskoningDHV, The Netherlands | Ute Schneider, Director Zurich Office KCAP, Switzerland | Maren Striker, Arcadis, United Kingdom | Neville Mars, MARS Architects, China

 17:00 - 17:15 Concluding remarks
Franc Weerwind, Mayor of Almere
Representative of UN-Habitat
Announcement of the International New Town Day 2017

 17:15 Drinks & Bites




Aspern, Austria (photo: Wien 3420 Aspern Development AG)
Vinge, Denmark (courtesy: EFFEKT+Henning Larsen Architects)
Alamar, Cuba
June 30th 2016

Setting the New Urban Agenda from the specific angle of New Towns.
June 30th 2016, Almere, NL



Speakers

During the morning sessions on June 30, representatives of the cities of Havana, Curitiba, Nakuru and Shenzhen will elaborate on what they believe are contemporary New Town’s most urgent challenges and relevant opportunities, after which a panel of European city representatives explains the ambitions and struggles each particular city encountered in the process.

The following speakers have confirmed their presence:

Havana (Cuba): Jorge Peña Díaz

Jorge Peña Díaz is the Head of the Research Group for Urban Research and Action at the Faculty of Architecture, CUJAE and Professor and teacher on Urban Design at the Architectural and Urban Design Department in Havana. Next to this, he is also a member of the Expert technical committee for research on urbanism and housing policy of the Ministry of Construction and the experts advisory group for Havana´s city planning. Over the past few years, Jorge Peña Díaz has been part of numerous international scientific publications and cooperations. His research interests and fields of expertise lie with urban development analysis and planning, the integration of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture into planning and urban design strategies and urban sustainability.

Nairobi Metropolitan Region (Kenya): Lawrence Esho

Lawrence Esho has a long and illustrious career as a built environment professional, which he started as a Physical Planner for the government of Kenya. He is a Registered Physical Planner; active member of Kenya Institute of Planners; and partner the Centre for Urban and Regional Planning, undoubtedly Kenya’s leading planning consultancy.
Currently, Lawrence Esho combines his professional pursuits with academic activities concerning the link between informality, urban space and urban planning. Next to this, he is the project planner of both Konza Technology City and the new Lamu Port, and is current senior lecturer and chair of the Department of Spatial Planning and Urban Design at the Technical University of Kenya. Furthermore, he is vice president for the Network of Architectural Schools in Africa.

Shenzhen & Guangming (China): Songming Xu

Songming Xu, PhD, Deputy Director of the Administrative committee of Guangming New District, Shenzhen. Dr. Xu has been engaged in urban planning, new town development management for over 20 years. Under his leadership, Shenzhen International Low Carbon City and Guangming Phoenix City have been international pioneers regarding green cities, smart cities, and sponge city experimental zone’s. Next to his activities in Guangming, he also is a frequent speaker on various international fora.

Curitiba (Brazil): Luisiana Paganelli Silva (IPPUC)

Luisiana Paganelli Silva is an Architect and Urbanist from Curitiba, Brazil, currently working as the External Affairs Advisor in the Institute for Rersearch and Urban Planning of Curitiba - IPPUC, where she has been working since 2007. Luisiana has a Master in Urban Planning from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná - PUC-PR, in which she started her current research about car sharing and its integration with urban policies, she is a specialist in Urbanism from the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, in Germany, and also a specialist in Business Administration from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation / ISAE-FGV, in Curitiba.

Milton-Keynes (The United Kingdom): Shane Downer

Shane Downer has been Milton-Keynes’ Heritage Development Officer in 2003, managing the heritage programme in Milton Keynes. He devises and co-ordinates strategy and activities set out in the city’s Cultural Delivery Plan. Through this Plan he works with colleagues and local, regional and national public, private and third sector partners to implement major heritage provision change for a current population of 260,000 and heritage visitation of over 200,000 people a year to the major heritage venues. As Milton Keynes is set to almost double in population over the next thirty years, he coordinates the major building projects around new archive and museum provision and a city centre cultural showcase, which are to be realised in 2017, when Milton Keynes fully celebrates its 50th birthday as a New Town.

Almere (The Netherlands): Tjeerd Herrema

Tjeerd Herrema is a politician from the PvdA (the ’Labour Party’) and Elderman of Spatial Affairs, Housing & Neighborhoods in Almere. After a long and fruitful carreer in policy making at various Dutch Provinces and institutions, he became Elderman in Amsterdam for three years in 2006.
Now, since October 2015, he takes on the position of Elderman, watching over matters of housing policy, spatial planning and development, Urban planning and expansion, Accessability in the Region, the Floriade and Growing green cities

Vinge (Denmark): Søren Smidt-Jensen

Søren Smidt-Jensen is currently the Head of Urban Development & Landscape, at the Frederikssund Municipality in Denmark. Søren has been Head of the CITIES programme at the Danish Architecture Centre and he has been responsible for the Strategic Urban Governance Leadership Programme, a triple-continent programme for executives from Danish municipalities and Realdania By. He also led the DK2050 scenario project which involved 10 cities, 3 regions and 4 ministries. He is an advisor to the International Federation for Housing & Planning (IFHP) and to the Nordic City Network (NCN). In 2014 Søren was selected as a World Cities Summit Young Leader by the Ministry of National Development in Singapore. Søren holds a PhD in strategic urban development from the University of Copenhagen.

INTI: Michelle Provoost

Dr. Michelle Provoost is an architectural historian specialised in urban planning history, postwar architecture and contemporary urban development.
She co-founded the office of Crimson Architectural Historians in 1994, and has been the Director of the International New Town Institute (INTI) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, since 2008. Under her direction, INTI has grown into an internationally known center for education and research relating to New Towns.
Dr. Provoost is the head editor of the INTI publications. She teaches at various universities in the Netherlands and abroad and continues to be in great demand as a public speaker. She lectures regularly throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States, and has been involved in many municipal, national and private committees and juries.

Aspern-Seestadt (Austria): Philipp Fleischmann

As a trained architect with specialisation in urbanism (TU Vienna and Universitá degli Studi di Genova), Philipp Fleischmann worked for several years in an architectural office, mainly concentrating on projects in the fields of housing and open space design. Subsequently, he joined the Department for Urban District Planning and Land Use of the City of Vienna. After dealing with other areas, he started to work intensively on the “Seestadt Aspern” development project in Viennas’ 22nd district in 2010. Today he is head of the section North 2 (22nd District) of the department as well as Target Area Coordinator for the “U2 Donaustadt” urban enlargement area.

Tatu City (Kenya): Preston Mendenhall

Preston Mendenhall is the Head of Corporate Affairs for Rendeavour, Africa’s largest urban developer building satellite cities on over 30,000 acres of urban growth land in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
Prior to Rendeavour, Preston worked for six years as Vice President for Strategy and Director of Communications at Russian Standard Corporation, owner of the second largest vodka producer in the world and one of Russia’s leading private consumer banks. From 1993-2006, Preston worked for NBC News and MSNBC.com as a producer and correspondent, covering major news events during this period in Russia and the CIS, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the former Yugoslavia, Israel and Palestine, among other geographies.

Tema City (Ghana): Joseph A. Abbey

Joseph A. Abbey, Managing Director of Tema Development Corporation (TDC), has over 27 years experience in the real estate industry. He previously served as Operations Manager of Kmark Corporation, Illinois, USA, having served as a Research Analyst with Wheeler Realtors Incorporated, Wisconsin, USA. He holds a Masters Degree in Project Management from Keller Graduate School of Management, Chicago, USA, a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, USA, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Land Economy from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. He also took a Comonwealth Executive Programme in Public Management at the Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada. He is an Associate Member of the Ghana Institute of Surveyors and a Member of the Chartered Management Institute, UK.

Ningo Prampram (Ghana): Markus Appenzeller

Markus Appenzeller is an urban planner and architect educated in Germany and in the US. With his practice MLA+ with offices in London, Rotterdam, Rio de Janeiro, St. Petersburg and Shanghai, he is involved in large scale planning projects as well as architecture commissions in Europe, Asia and South America. His particular interest lies in the design of development frameworks that capable of offering both – certainty where necessary and openness and adaptability where desired. Markus is a team member of one of the consultant teams of UN Habitat Labs, set up and supported by the UN organisation and the creative industries fund. In this capacity he works on the planned city extension for the Greater Accra Region of Ghana located in Ningo Prampram.

Kribi (Cameroon): Bart Brorens

Bart Brorens is an experienced project manager and senior consultant with Royal HaskoningDHV, a world wide active consultancy and engineering company. Bart is specialized in creating comprehensive sustainable master plans and management strategies for the development of regions, large urban and industrial cities/zones with related infrastructure. He worked on master plans for large scale developments, among which Kribi (Cameroon), Kanpur Modern City (India), Musandam Governorate (Oman), as well as on smaller scale developments in i.e. Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Mozambique and the Netherlands. He has a background in engineering as well as business strategy and organisation.
Strategic concept development is his passion: he tries to create master plans based on an analytical approach, leading to a clear vision and a realistic development strategy. Developing integrated solutions requires connecting experts and stakeholders in the field of urban planning, economy, environment, technical and legal issues, costs and financing.

Almere (the Netherlands): Franc Weerwind

Franciscus Max Weerwind was born in Amsterdam on September 22, 1964 and grew up in Nieuw-Vennep. He would study Management at the University of Leiden, where he also became a member of Minerva, the Netherlands’ largest student society. In 2000, he became warrant-manager of the city of Leiderdorp, to become the municipal secretary of the municipality of Wormerland one year after. In 2004, he was declared the new Mayor of Niedorp and in 2009 Franc Weerwind became Mayor of Velsen. On September 9, Weerwind became the Mayor of Almere.

DEBAAN/ROAM: Christine de Baan (Moderator)

Christine de Baan works as strategic advisor, curator, editor, and moderator at DEBAAN and is artistic director of ROAM, a foundation aiming to connect people and networks internationally to support the contribution of art and culture to society. ROAM has curated and organized exhibitions and conferences on sustainable urbanism in Beijing in 2015 and Cape Town in 2014. From 2008-2013, De Baan was executive director of the strategic internationalization programme ‘Dutch Design Fashion Architecture’, in China, India, and Turkey, funded by the Dutch ministries for Culture, Economy and Foreign Affairs. She was Head of Programme for the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (2004-2008), curator for the China Contemporary | Visual Culture exhibition in Rotterdam (2006), chair of the main advisory board of the National Dutch Arts Fund (2000-2004), and (is) a member or chair of various juries and boards.

Statement maker: Ute Schneider, Director KCAP, Zurich (Switzerland)

Ute Schneider, born 1966 in Waldshut (Germany), studied architecture at Technical University in Konstanz and the University in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Delft. During her studies she worked for various German and Dutch architectural offices and in 1998 she founded the multidisciplinary office zipherspaceworks working on architecture urbanism & design. Ute is partner at KCAP and Director of the KCAP office in Zurich. In this position she is responsible for the management of the office and in charge of the coordination of KCAP Zurich’s projects spanning from architecture and urban planning to the design and development of masterplans and transformation strategies in various scales and context’s. Among a broad variety of projects there is a focus on transport oriented developments like the masterplan for Europaallee/Stadtraum HB, the scale study for the Airport Region Zürich and recently the Masterplan for the Airport City of Dublin. Next to her projects related work, Ute Schneider was involved in various exhibitions and publications of KCAP. She is member of several Aesthetic Advisory Boards.

Statement maker:Friedemann Römhild, Senior Urban Planner & Team Leader Royal HaskoninngDHV, The Netherlands

Friedemann is the team leader of the urban planners of Royal HaskoningDHV. After graduating with distinction at the Technical University of Berlin in 2000, he started his career at the leading architecture and urban design firms of KCAP and Mecanoo, where he was responsible for a series of international design competition wins. He joined Royal HaskoningDHV in 2009 and has since worked on a series of strategic projects worldwide, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Germany and the Netherlands. He currently holds the positions of design advisor for the metro system for Al Dammam and he is the lead master planner for the framework of Industrial City designs for the Saudi Industrial Property Authority. He is lecturing frequently on international conferences for smart city development and related topics; e.g. in India, Denmark, China and the Netherlands.

Statement maker: Maren Striker, Arcadis

Maren Striker (M.Sc Urban Planning, Hong Kong University) is an urban planner at Arcadis in London and is a specialist on large scale planning, strategic urban thinking and developing sustainable and liveable cities. He has worked on projects in China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe and believes that integrated planning and design can improve the quality of life. In China he was responsible for the delivery of vision, strategy and plan for multiple regeneration and new town projects. In this capacity he was involved with the Zunyi Masterplan – creating a safe, liveable and walkable community in a natural setting. Maren has driven from China to Holland in 2014 during an epic three months road trip, and wrote a book ‘Observations along the Road’ about urban development along the Silk Road – documenting the great cities he passed through and lessons learnt for new city development.

Statement maker:Mirjam Salet, Mayor of Spijkenisse, The Netherlands

The Mayor of Spijkenisse started her career as administrative assistant and a teacher at a secondary school. In 1981, she became councilor of the Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid) and party chairman in 1981. Several years later she became alderman of the municipality of Gorinchem, where she would later on become deputy mayor, taking care of her portfolio including urban renewal, public housing, traffic, transport, environment and tourism. Before becoming the Mayor of Nissewaard, she was the Mayor of ‘s-Gravendeel, Hoogezand-Sappemeer and Spijkenisse. Next to her activities as being a Mayor, she has alo chaired several boards, varying from the Zuid-Hollandse Gemeenten to the organization of dancing event ‘Conny Jansen Danst’.

Floriade 2022 (the Netherlands): Jannewietske de Vries (speaker at the dinner Talks on June29)

Jannewietske de Vries is the former vice governor of the province of Friesland and the initiator of Leeuwarden European Capital of Culture 2018. She is currently the CEO of Floriade Amsterdam Almere 2022. By starting now the green world of tomorrow, Floriade will show a deeply committed city growing into its healthy feeding, greening, energizing mission. By offering an inspiring platform for all kinds of green initiatives, Floriade requires new ways of thinking, new ways of acting, new ways of making. Through an open mind, and with a diversity of cultures and backgrounds, it offers a playground for those who believe in creating a world where people and nature are connected, where city and countryside are connected. Almere is the place, Floriade the entertaining living lab.

Province of Flevoland (the Netherlands): Leen(dert) Verbeek (speaker at the dinner Talks on June 29)

Leen(dert) Verbeek is Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE), President of the Deltametropolis Association and President of the Supervisory Board of the National Data Warehouse for Traffic Information (NDW). Since 2010 he is also full member of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and Member of Monitoring Committee. He is the King’s Commissioner in the Province of Flevoland. Appointed by the King in 2008, he is both chairperson of the governing body (regional parliament) of the province of Flevoland and chairperson of the executive of the province. Since his position is politically neutral, he offers a general perspective on the policies of this regional government. In his role he visits towns and cities in his province in order to keep himself informed concerning local issues. He is a public figure who represents the province on public and/or official occasions. He represents Flevoland’s interests on a local, regional, national and international level.



Practical Information

The International New Town Day will take place in Almere on June 30, 2016. During the two days in advance, there will be an excursion program in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. During the day after, on July 1st, Royal Haskoning DHV will provide a morning program on so-called ‘soft solutions’ to sustainable planning in Amersfoort.

Conference Venue:
The conference will take place in the Nieuwe Zaal of the City Library of Almere.

Address:
Almere Stad
Stadhuisplein 101
1315 XC Almere

Dinner location on June 29
Dinner on the 29 will take place at the ’Brasserie La Maison’, Belfort 8, 1315 VB Almere

Accommodation:
To accommodate those travelling from far, INTI approached a selection of well-located hotels in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Almere, which have made up special arrangements for participants of the conference. In order of the locations of the program, the INTI suggests the following hotels:

Rotterdam:
* Unfortunately, INTI has not been able to arrange a deal with a hotel located in Rotterdam. However, we highly recommend Bazar Hotel, located in the city centre, relatively close to the central station (Bazar Hotel ***)

Amsterdam:
Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy (***rooms)
* From April 25 onwards, participants of the International New Town Day will be able to book a room with 10% discount with the promocode: NEWTOWN

Almere:
Hotel Finn ***
* Please, include your creditcard details and a mentioning of INTI with your reservation in order to receive a discount price organized by INTI

In case you wish to make use of the arrangements INTI has made with these hotels, please mention your participation in the International New Town Day when you make your reservations: you will get a discount on the regular prices of the hotel. In case of Hotel Finn, please also include your credit card details with your reservation.

If you prefer not to travel too much during the program, naturally, it is possible to book one of the hotels for several days. During the night in advance of the conference, however, we strongly recommend booking with Hotel Finn, as it is very close to the conference location in Almere

Transport:
During the two days of excursions and side visits, the bus tours will be organized by INTI. The costs for these bus tours are included in the price of the conference. The suggested hotels are in proximity of the starting points of the bus tours (in Rotterdam and Amsterdam respectively).

In case you decide to stay in one of the hotels for several days, you can make use of the Intercity Direct train connection, which takes you from Rotterdam Central Station to Amsterdam Central Station (and vice versa) in 42 minutes. This train leaves every 30 minutes and approximately costs €15,10 with €2,40 extra surcharge.
The travelling time between Rotterdam and Almere (using the Intercity Direct) is approximately one hour and 10 minutes, with a transfer on Schiphol Airport.

Keep in mind that, for the Excursion Days on June 28 and June 29, the bus will leave at the Kiss-and-Ride areas of respectively the Central Station of Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
In Almere, the hotel is within walking distance from the venue of the Conference.



City Profiles


Sponsors

INTI could never have organized the International New Town Day 2016 without the generosity of its sponsors. Many of them, both City Councils and widely renown developers will be present at the conference and will become part of a select network of ’INTImi’.

INTImi members have access to INTI’s international network of professionals and scholars all over the world and are invited to join international conferences, lectures, network meetings, and excursions.

In case you are interested in joining the International New Town Day of 2016 and/or wish to become part of the INTImi network, please contact us via: info@newtowninstitute.org




Side event | Seminar on Sustainable planning of New Towns, July 1
Friday July 1st

As a side event of the International New Town Day, on July 1st, Royal HaskoningDHV organizes a morning session seminar with presentations and debate on Sustainable Planning of New Towns. Royal HaskoningDHV is a Dutch engineering and consultancy firm with almost 6,500 employees worldwide, and a member of INTImi.

Programme

 10.00–10.05: Welcome - Ir. Mariska Ruiter, associate director Urban Development International
 10.05–10.20: Our way of making master plans for new towns – Ir. Mariska Ruiter, associate director Urban Development International
 10.20–10.35: Diamond City, India - Urban van Aar MSc, Senior Urban Designer & Landscape Architect
 10.35–10.50: Sudair, Saudi Arabia - Friedemann Römhild MSc, Senior Urban Planner
 10.50–11.05: Break
 11.05–11.55: Debate with participants - Bouke Vellinga – as moderator
 12.00: Lunch

The seminar will be held at the Head office Royal HaskoningDHV, Laan 1914 35, 3818 EX in Amersfoort (about 45 km away from Almere). Transport from the FINN hotel in Almere to Amersfoort will be taken care of.

After the workshop you will be brought back to your hotel. For those who want to take the train to Schiphol Airport a stop at the railway station of Amersfoort will be arranged.



Videos

Welcome by Tjeerd Herrema, elderman of Spatial Affairs, Housing and Neighbourhoods, Almere

Introduction: Ambitions for New Cities of the Near Future by Michelle Provoost, director of INTI


Voices from the world: New Towns Challenges and Opportunities

Curitiba - Luisiana Paganelli, Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba, Brazil

Nakuru – Lawrence Esho, Department of Spatial Planning & Design, Technical University of Kenya

Guangming – Xu Songming, Deputy Director, Deputy Director Administrative Committee of Guangming New Town, China


New Towns in Europe

Spijkenisse – ‘Re-positioning the old New Towns by redefining their role in the region’, a statement from Mirjam Salet, Mayor of Spijkenisse, The Netherlands

Vinge – ‘Social mix and green ambitions’ with Søren Smidt-Jensen, Head of Urban Development & Landscape, Frederikssund Municipality, Denmark

Aspern Seestadt – ‘The city of the future’ with Philipp Fleischmann, Vienna Municipality, Austria 

Milton Keynes – ‘Cultural heritage and regeneration’ with Shane Downer, Senior heritage development Officer, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom


African New Towns

Ningo Pram Pram with Markus Appenzeller, Ghana

Tema with Joe Abbey, Managing Director Tema Development Corporation, Ghana

Tatu City with Preston Mendenhall, Head of Corporate Affairs, Rendeavour, Kenya

Kribi with Bart Brorens, Royal Haskoning DHV, Cameroon

Co-creating the New Urban Agenda for New Towns
Anticipating the Habitat III conference in Quito, this plenary working session wants to contribute with the elaboration of the New Towns perspective on the New Urban Agenda. Planned communities worldwide share many characteristics with each other and face many of the same challenges and opportunities. What should the New Towns perspective on the New Urban Agenda consist of?

Statements on the New Towns perspective on the New Urban Agenda by: Elena Bologna, Social Innovation Architect, SocialFare, Italy | Friedemann Römhild, Royal HaskoningDHV, The Netherlands | Ute Schneider, Director Zurich Office KCAP, Switzerland | Maren Striker, Arcadis, United Kingdom | Neville Mars, MARS Architects, China