New Towns for the 21st Century: The Planned vs. The Unplanned City

[i]Conference [/i] June 4 & Friday June 5 2009 New Town Institute in Almere What happens after planners leave the brand new New Town and the complexity of society takes over? Does overruling of the planners' concepts imply the failure of planning? Or are these ‘unplanned' additions and unforeseen usages of the planned city actually the key to its success? In a two-day conference in June 2009 the International New Town Institute (INTI) will explore the relationships between the planned city and the unplanned city. On June 4th the conference will explore existing cities and analyse the ways in which New Towns have been taken over by real life after the original plans have been built, and the unplanned city and self-organised building activities have decidedly changed and shaped the resulting city. Also, lecturers will analyze how these ‘old' New Towns have been revitalized and regenerated in recent years and how the unplanned urban culture and inhabitants are included in this reanimation. Key note speakers are Wolfgang Kil: Normalisation of planned communities and the Urban Think Tank: Rules and strategies of the informal city. On June 5th the conference aims to acquire lessons for the future. This will be accomplished by speculating on how the planning of New Towns in the 21st Century can anticipate unplanned activities, be responsive to inhabitants' input and to unexpected changes in political, economic or cultural context, thereby enriching both the planning profession and the city itself. Key note speakers are Margaret Crawford: Everyday urbanism and Claudio Acioly: Informal Settlements & Brasilia. · Two day international conference in the New Town Almere, the Netherlands · 25 presentations about informality in relation to New Towns · Public lecture evening: Who’s afraid of Planning? with Anne Lacaton, Sam Jacob and Jord den Hollander (free of charge) · Program includes lunches, drinks, afternoon program (bike tour, city tour, movie program) · Participants fee E 200,- (student / PhD fee E 40,-) · [b] Register before May 22, 2009.[/b] Visit http://www.newtowninstitute.org for detailed program and digital registration form.