Working Party on Continuity and Change in Cities

Alkmaar, 23-25 May 2007 - 2nd Meeting of the Working Party on Continuity and Change in Cities: “A game with many players”

The 52 participants of the Working Party were joined by 250 guests of the joint organization of the Municipality of Alkmaar. The programme was divided into two major blocks: the opening day with site excursions and the second day with paper sessions and a visit to Alkmaar Cheese Market.

The participants were welcomed with an overview of Alkmaar’s urban land use renewal, its players and its challenges and problems.

The Municipality is making the new spatial vision, the audience were asked to discuss a very important question: “What is the most important aspect in developing the quality of urban land use in Alkmaar?”.

The presentations covered the subjects of sustainable urban design, water management in dense urban areas, the role of different stakeholders (Public&Private) and several projects from The Netherlands, Israel, China and Norway.

The design issue was focused on the need to change the paradigm in sustainable urban design and development, instead of getting the higher performances in a single building, aiming instead for a new conception of the whole residential area - example of the project “De Hulten” (Ulft, east Netherlands).  

The presentation of the project “Platform H2O – water for the Utrecht station-area” intended to reflect whether new strategies towards water resources can be incorporated in urban design. “The cultural heritage sector as a producer of ideology, value and identity” presented by Sveinung Berg from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, aimed to give a different perspective of the role of this sector on “Dremmen” transformation. The main proposal/exercise was to shift from the traditional segregation and preservation of several areas to a renewed way of approaching the Cultural heritage as a stakeholder in creating value and identity.

Others subjects were also addressed: “The role of Chinese Government on residential supporting systems for the elderly at home in Chinese cities, a historical case study of Modern Nantong”, as well as a presentation of the “Heart” of Tel Aviv. Both gave a wide perspective on the importance of several players in the “Continuity and change of Cities”.

Last Updated @ Thursday, 06 March 2008