Moderator: Henk Ovink (First Special Envoy for International Water Affairs at Kingdom of the Netherlands)

The session

On Wedneday, 21 October, at 14:00 the mayors (or their representatives) of the twelve involved (sister)cities will discuss in a plenary session what they consider to be the most important task of future planners. They will present their vision open for debate.

The central theme will be around what a local mayor or vice-mayor expect from spatial planners to achieve the desired urban development and in particular, the necessary socio-economic innovation and effective support in his or her city?

The session aims to have urban planners debated and discussed what they consider to be the solution to the challenges we are facing confronting the problems policy makers and enforcers are dealing with. In other words: how we can translate theory into practice.

1) Pitches

The highlights of the city workshops will be presented in three rounds of four themes/cities (5 minutes each). After the presentations Mr. Ovink will invite the Mayors of the 12 cities (or their affiliates) to respond to the respective outcome and discuss results with the mayors (25 minutes).

The themes/cities are grouped as follows:
Round 1:
Antwerp – Reworking the productive city
Amsterdam – Building the city cooperatively
Brussels – Reconciling international challenges with local expectations when renewing the city
Eindhoven – Response to industrial decline
Round 2:
Rotterdam – Synergy between port and city
Schiphol – Sustaining connectivity in a globalising world
Groningen – Sustaining energy self-sufficiency
Wageningen – Feeding cities
Round 3:
Deventer – Local integrated planning in new legal framework
Maastricht – Cross-border planning
Delft/The Hague – Creating a knowledge region
Dortmund – Leveraging sustainable economic growth from spatial projects

2) Central Debate

After this, all Mayors are invited to join in a central debate on the reflections on the workshop outcomes and on the future of planning. Representatives:

Mr. A. Aboutaleb (Mayor of Rotterdam)
Ms. R. Abbi (Former Mayor of Delhi)
Ms. F. Peer (Counsellor of Durban)
Mr. R. van de Velde (Antwerp Alderman)
Mr. G.A.A. Verkerk (Mayor of Delft)
Mr. A. Heidema (Mayor of Deventer)
Ms. M. Schreurs (Eindhoven Alderman)
Mr. R. van der Schaaf  (Groningen Alderman)
Ms. J.M. Penn- te Strake (Mayor of Maastricht)
Mr. A. Wiggers (VNG International – Deputy Director)
Mr. W. Apperloo (Cordaid – Director Urban Matters)