World Urban Development Council
Messages from President World Urban Development Council
INTA urban policy practitioners and policy makers are assembled in a permanent think tank, called the INTA World Urban Development Council, which meets twice a year to discuss the major trends and issues in urban policy.
The think tank aims to anticipate trends in urban society and allows INTA to maintain its « conceptual » edge, so that different thoughts can be expressed on sustainable urban development and useful forward looking views can be presented to its membership. The challenge of the Council is to position INTA as a force for proposal with public and private urban development players throughout the world.
The Council is an international forum where parties of all urban sectors can be heard on major issues arising from sustainable urban development: a place in which people can engage in open debate (conflict, opposition and negotiation). The World Council is a place for reflection where both the major issues and future avenues of development for INTA will be reviewed.
The Council is an instrument with which to monitor and capitalise on actions, acting as a « permanent panel » providing advice and expertise on urban situations. The result of the debates take the shape of a regular publication: « Report on sustainable urban development in the world (Annual Review) », composed of reports, studies of urban issues, texts from researchers or practitioners with differing views.
Can urban and territorial development be more sustainable?
Riga, Latvia, on October 26th 2008
Two traps must be avoided: the practical difficulty in exchanging experience, and the belief that if our problems are common the same solutions could be applied in every circumstance. Recipe for sustainability are not universal and each territory should work hard to develop its own answers to the crisis.
What role should local authorities play (governance) in organising urban space? New constraints (energy, environment, credit and debt, territorial competition etc.) are forcing local authorities to invent new ways of viewing their territories and to develop more effective co-operation. These constraints open up new possibilities that can reconcile public expectations with urban organisation, giving new impetus to local democracy and governance.
Different land management and regulations can reduce urban sprawl and social segregation; better redistribution of revenue from land management is a powerful tool to orient territorial development. Land price is a main obstacle to sustainable development because it constraints the right to housing for all and fosters urban sprawl.
Can we develop urban mobility for all while continuing to protect the environment? In times of expensive energy and fragile environment, services, networks and traffic can be optimised by engaging both private and public local players into different strategies and partnerships and by looking for more innovative process and products in urban mobility.
INTA’s members are assembled in a permanent think-tank, called the INTA World Urban Development Council, which meets each year at the occasion of the World Urban Development Congress, to discuss the major trends and issues in urban policy. The Council aims to anticipate trends in urban society and allows INTA to maintain its conceptual edge on sustainable urban development.
