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About INTI

The International New Town Institute (INTI) is a platform for research, education and knowledge exchange for New Towns.

In order to improve the quality and sustainability of future New Towns, we can learn from existing New Towns today. Why? Because New Towns have many similarities: they were designed from scratch according to planning doctrines of one specific period, they have experienced relatively fast urban growth, they demonstrate specific demographic patterns and they contain a homogeneous housing stock. The result of all this is that many New Towns struggle with the same problems: a uniform demography, a lack of educational, cultural or other facilities and too little diversity in the housing stock. Because of their young age, New Towns also face a lack of history and identity and usually suffer from image problems. Because many New Town developments are quite similar, also their challenges are often quite predictable.

In the 1950-1970 period, many New Towns were planned in order to control and regulate urban growth in Western Europe. Many of these planned cities are nowadays regarded as unsuccessful either economically or socially. Today, we see a new wave of New Towns being built at an unprecedented rate in the fast-growing economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America. In order not to make the same mistakes as were made as during the twentieth century, it is important to learn from the experiences with New Towns in Europe, the USA and elsewhere. Improving, rather than repeating past mistakes requires a specialized platform for the exchange of knowledge and practice.

INTI is that platform. INTI studies the past, present and future of planned communities in an urbanizing world. It serves a unique role in bringing together multidisciplinary expertise and experience in a wide range of activities in collaboration with public, private and academic partners. INTI initiates studies, offers educational programs, and organizes public events and lectures. All of these activities contribute to the institute’s objective to improve the quality of life in new cities worldwide.



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International New Town Institute
Delftsestraat 33
3013 AE Rotterdam
The Netherlands
info@newtowninstitute.org
Chamber of Commerce: 32134604
Rabobank Almere the Netherlands
Account number: 116333146
Account name: International New Town Institute
IBAN: NL15RABO0116333146
BIC: RABONL2U

billing address:
c/o TaxonooM
Postbus/Postbox 4
2600 AA Delft
The Netherlands



What is a New Town?

New Towns are cities or towns that are designed from scratch and built in a short period of time. They are designed by professionals according to a Master Plan on a site where there was no city before. This distuinguishes a New Town from a ‘normal’ city that gradually grows and evolves over time. Also, New Towns are mostly the result of a political (top-down) decision.
The building of a new city ‘from scratch’ is a heroic enterprise that challenges the architect or planner to find the ideal shape for the urban program according to the state of the art planning ideas. A New Town is always a reflection of one moment in time and the ambitions of that moment.