Conference on Housing for the Public Sector : Ministerial Key-notes and attractive case studies. On 19-20 November, INTA is organising an International Conference on the urban strategies to bridge the gap between affordable Housing and employment in the public sector in the dense area of large conurbations. INTA is proud to announce the recently confirmed participation of Christine Boutin, French Minister for Housing and Urban Development, who will deliver the closing key-note and Ze`ev Boim, Minister of Housing and Construction of Israel who will shed light on providing Housing for the public sector in an unusual urban environment and politically complex background.  Other international case studies will be delivered by the Dutch and British Governments and NAHRO, the leading housing and community development advocate for the provision of adequate and affordable housing in the US. Preceded by INTA’s General Assembly, this event is the place for INTA members and other urban professionals from around the world to meet, discuss and listen to the leading voices on innovative urban development strategies and their views on the dilemma’s of "housing the public sector". Read more.

Nearly 600 delegates attend the International Seminar on the Urban Geography of Multi-ethnic cities that was organised on the 18th of October in the framework of the EU funded City-to-City project. The President of the Region of Calabria, Agazio Loiero, addressed the audience and underlined the importance of public policy instruments to control and manage migration flows. This Seminar explored the new frontiers of multiethnic cities, focusing on the redefinition of urban space in relation to the integration of migrant communities. Theoretical approaches and case studies helped to identify analytical tools and best practices for the management of multiethnic urban contexts. The different partners of the Pilot project RE.LA.TE reported on the progress of the activities in the field. Several presentations and papers have been uploaded to INTA's website; there is also a picture gallery available. At the occasion of this Seminar, a strategic partnership was signed between INTA and Istanbul Aydin University, that also joined the Association as a new member. Learn more...

Urban Revitalisation Policy Guidelines for the Competitiveness and Sustainability of Cities. The Intelligent Cities project has drawn to a close with a Final Seminar that took place on October 18-19 in Faro, Portugal. In the magical environment of a redeveloped brewery, European Experts on Creative Urban Places for Competitiveness gathered to celebrate two years of groundbreaking exchange in the field. The Seminar focused on the demographic, societal and technological changes that have influenced the structuring of the cities and moulded urban policy in developed countries at the start of this 21st century. The shifts from knowledge cities to the intelligent cities and from extensive to intensive urban growth revealed new paradigms for urban policies on Competitiveness and Sustainability. There was a special focus on the Innovation Hub (iHub) concept, as an instrument to integrate productive technological innovation and urban revitalisation policies, and its distinctive factors, urban activities and solutions required to successfully apply the concept in peripheral territories.

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Integrating Best Practices of Solid Waste Management Policies: Kick-off Meeting in Ipoh, Malaysia. In the framework of the EU-Asia Co-operation programmes funded by the European Union, INTA has been invited to participate to the kick-off meeting of the EU-Asia Sustainable Waste Management Cycle, Integrating Best Practices of Solid Waste Management Policies – project. The project is led by the Perak State Government in partnership with one the Association of Environmental Consultants and Contractors of Malaysia and 4 EU Partners: ICLEI (Germany), Danish Topic Centre on Waste and Resource-DTC/WR  (Denmark), Shropshire County Council (United Kingdom) and INTA. The duration of the project will be 24 months and commence with the kick-off meeting in Malaysia scheduled from 3 to 6 December 2007. The programme aims to orgnise an international conference, a series of Capacity Building Programmes and a Business Match-making Event.

Memorandum of Understanding to be signed with NAHRO at next General Assembly. Since several years, NAHRO and INTA have cherished the close ties between both associations. NAHRO’s current President, Donald Cameron, delivered a key-note speech at the occasion of INTA’s 30th World Congress that took place in Belfast last year and is doing the same next month at the Housing Conference in Paris. The official signing of an important Memorandum of Understanding is scheduled for Sunday evening, at the closing of INTA’s General Assembly. This agreement will formalise the spirit of collaboration that exists and open a window of opportunities for additional shared ambitions. The MoU includes complimentary institutional membership, conference exchange and mutual sponsorship. NAHRO will specifically contribute to the educational activities initiated by INTA and offer support for activities in North America.

INTA is very happy to welcome a new member to the Association. MUDA, the Mongolian Urban Development Association has joined INTA last month. The membership is the result of several exchanges that took place in the last 12 months. During INTA's last annual congress that took place in Belfast, President Joe Montgomery met with the Ambassador of Mongolia to the United Kingdom and a sizeable Mongolian delegation that participated to the congress. MUDA's Vice President, Badrakh Batbold, has been delegated to attend the Housing Conference that will take place later this month in Paris.

On October 12, Howard B. Slaughter Jr. officially started his job as CEO of Landmarks Community Capital Inc., a new nonprofit corporation formed by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Slaughter didn’t wait to begin his quest to raise the $10 million to $15 million he hopes to secure for the new corporation to invest in community development and revitalization projects in Western Pennsylvania and in the neighboring states of West Virginia and Ohio. “We’ve already been talking to some companies that have social investment programs,” said Slaughter, whose appointment was announced last month. “We also are going to be talking to some local foundations to discuss our new company and the opportunities we see.” Slaughter, 49, can draw on his considerable credentials in urban housing and home financing as he pitches funders on behalf of the new corporation. “Howard brings the vision and the working knowledge for the new nonprofit corporation,” said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., INTA's Vice President and President of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and President of Landmarks Community Capital. Read more...

Tony McGuirk , Chairman of BDP is taking part in the third Battle of Ideas, a two-day series of debates in London over 27-28 October. An architect and urban designer, Tony will give a keynote talk on "City of Dreams or Urban Restraint" asking, 'what part are we as designers really playing in progressing places for our future as citizens? What part are developer clients playing in promulgating integrated environments? What part are institutions playing to draw citizens together in social city places?' BDP is sponsoring the Battle of Ideas as its Design and Architecture Champion. The annual event is organised by the Institute of Ideas to bring together "different strands of social, political and cultural discussion to meet the growing demand for high-level, thought-provoking and lively public debate that cuts across particular issues and fields of interest". Read more...

Eiffage Construction IDF Paris recently handed over the 58,000 sq. m Défense Ouest office complex in Colombes. This €110 million design-and-build project is the fifth such order to be placed by the American operator HRO. The property, designed by the architects SRA, consists of a series of nine office buildings of varying heights (four to eight storeys). At its busiest, some 600 people were working on the two hectare site. The construction teams worked like bees in a hive, regularly casting 600 to 800 sq. m of floor slab per day. The curtain walls were erected by Goyer (Eiffel), and the external works carried out by Quillery Environnement (Eiffage Travaux Publics).