Th 18 Sep 08
Urban Meetings
Cities are more important than countries
What are the main issues for urban managers in the 21st century, how does urban development connect to urban design, and how are we responding to the challenges of an urban age, worldwide and in Rotterdam?
Urban Meetings: a series of seven lectures/debates (Rotterdam, Fall 2008) exploring the need for an Urban Agenda for an Urban Age presented by IHS, in close collaboration with IABR and AIR.
With over half of the world’s population now living in cities, and up to two-thirds by the middle of the century, the issue of how to run a city is becoming increasingly important.
Rapid urbanization is having a strong impact on communities, cities, economies, urban ecologies and policies. How to develop and run a city as an engine for environment-friendly, inclusive and sustainable growth? How to connect the challenges of managing and of designing a city in order to further that urban sustainability?
In the context of its 50th anniversary the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) has teamed up with the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) and the Architecture Institute Rotterdam (AIR), to present a series of Urban Meetings to explore the outlines of an Urban Agenda for the 21st century.
Connecting the (inter)national and local networks of IHS, IABR and AIR has resulted in a highly interesting selection of speakers and debaters on issues such as sustainability, safety, urban management, environmental policies, infrastructural challenges and economic development.
By juxtaposing the global with the local perspective, and by triggering an exchange between urban managers and developers, and urban designers and architects, the series of Urban Meetings hopes to shed light on where our cities may be heading if headed right.
Among the speakers are Jan Pronk (former Dutch Minister of Development Cooperation and former Minister of the Environment), Anthony Williams (former mayor of Washington DC), Ivo Opstelten (current mayor of Rotterdam), Jaime Lerner (architect and former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil), and Kees Christiaanse (architect, and curator of the 4th IABR).
The Urban Meetings will be moderated by Felix Rottenberg and will take place in Zaal Staal, in the World Trade Center Rotterdam (Beursplein 33).
The complete program and reports of the meetings can be downloaded from the website of the IHS
