On February 9th Winy Maas will speak about The Green Dream at the European Parliament during NON-CITY? Conference on new urbanity and innovative visions for European Urban Agenda.

NON-CITY? New challenges and opportunities for the European Metropoliswill take place on 9 February 2011, from 14.00 hrs. at the European Parliament in Brussels with the participation of well-known architects, members of European Parliament and representatives of various EU authorities.

The central question of the conference is to debate is whether the European City as we know it, is still the valid economic, social and cultural model for the creation of the future European metropolis.

Today vast geographical areas are neither countryside, nor city. Regardless of the fact that these in-between zones, called “the Non-Cities”, are where the majority of the European populations live. They need a greater overall thinking or vision of the planners. Our urban thinking is too often stuck in perceptions based on the old centres of medieval cities and the surrounding suburbs of the 20th century industrial era.

However, recent European Union policy initiatives such as the 2020 Strategy and the Lisbon Treaty’s underlining of the need for social and territorial cohesion, raise hopes for a new urban agenda that will focus on the role of innovation, creativity and a greater democratic involvement. The populations in “the Non-Cities” could be turned into participants and creators of new urban life rather than passive consumers.

By showcasing examples of how this is already happening, the conference will explore how the current demands of mobility, migration and ecology could become part of the metropolitan planning in tomorrow’s Europe.

It seems obvious that the enormous societal problems that the European metropolis is facing require more creative solutions and affable approaches. So how can teams of architects and researchers escape from the traditional paths of urban planning and produce a new type of urban project to tackle the metropolitan questions and build on the future Urban Agenda?
How can we create safe urban living environments for European citizens

detailed conference program

more information: European Forum for Architectura Policies website

Europarliament contact: laura.vanhue@europarl.europa.eu
EFAP Contact: efap@efap-fepa.eu

For registration see : www.efap-fepa.eu 

Related