Can urban planning help to achieve food security for all? How do corridors between the rural area and the city function in the metropolitan region? And how can urban-rural linkages contribute to the quality of rapid urbanization?
The metropolitan region of Nairobi offers interesting research questions regarding the theme ‘Feeding’. Agriculture – the backbone of the Kenyan economy – is abundantly present, both in the metropolitan region and the city itself. The region includes many (plans for) New Towns, like the unique agricultural city of Nakuru. Despite its omnipresence and its contribution to the urban food supply, (urban) agriculture is hardly recognized as a form of urban land-use in Kenya.

That is a lost chance, as the embracement of agriculture in urban planning could be an asset in formulating policies to guarantee food security. Therefore, in cooperation with both Dutch and Kenyan universities, INTI will develop a map of the metabolism of the Nairobi region, which visualizes the present flows of food: from production to distribution and consumption.
Next week, students of the University of Amsterdam will arrive in Nairobi in order to team up with students of the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) to start this metabolism map.

Dutch health care stands at the threshold of its largest reorganization since World War II. This has consequences for the many elderly homes built in the sixties and seventies in the modernist extension areas of almost any Dutch city. Fewer people with moderate disabilities are allowed to live in elderly homes and fewer people want to. Old facilities close their doors, while new nursing homes which fit the new system are built.
As part of thet,the Central Government Real Estate Agency (Atelier Rijksbouwmeester) assigned the TU Delft Chair Design as Politics and INTI the task of assessing the consequences of these transformations: how can health care be properly integrated in modern communities and neighborhoods?
On March 15, the results of this ongoing research project were presented at the Faculty of Architecture at the TU Delft. During this event, which has been titled: ‘We Care a Lot – Care, Cities and Design’, INTI and Design as Politics engaged with the audience and reconsidered the research’s findings and their consequences for the future relationship between health care and the neighborhood.

Over 50 students have registered for the INTI student-workshop Urban Food Production, which will take place at the CAH Vilentum college in Almere on March 17. We are very excited to start the debate with so many students.
Food production in cities is a common practice in many countries. The workshop starts with introductions by Yves Leynseele (University of Amsterdam) on Nairobi (Kenya), Tiffany Tsui on Guangming (China) and Jan Eelco Jansma (WUR) on the practice of urban agriculture abroad.
During the workshop, students will be challenged to put their knowledge into practice by considering opportunities in creating a commitment between Efibia, a horticulture laboratory with greenhouses in Almere, and the Flevohospital, located in the centre of Almere with green ambitions. Food has an important effect on our health. What does this recognition mean to the current flows of production and consumption of food in cities? How can the hospital fit into the green ambitions of Almere? These are some of the most prominent issues that will be on the table next week. INTI is very curious about the outcomes of the day!

The registrations for the International New Town Day on the 30th of June 2016 in Almere have opened. You can now register for this one-day conference, which, in combination with various side events in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, will serve as a preparatory session for the INTI side-event of the UN Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016. By organizing this event, INTI aims to provide New Towns worldwide with the chance to assemble, exchange experiences and create partnerships.
The majority of the participating cities of the New New Town program: Shenzhen (China), Chandigarh (India), Almere (The Netherlands), Nakuru (Nairobi, Kenya), Alamar (Havana, Cuba), Curitiba (Brazil) and Tema (Accra, Ghana) have already confirmed their presence.

More information about the program and registration procedure is available on our website

INTI presents a series in which contributors to the conference explain the relevance of the event and elaborate on the New Town-related challenges and opportunities they are facing.

This is the first Voice from the World, in which Prof. Dr. Jacques van Dinteren, Product Manager Economic Spatial development, Planning & Strategy at Royal HaskoningDHV, explains:

“At first sight, building a New Town from scratch seems an easy task. You seem to start off with a ‘clean slate’. In thinking so, however, you could not be further off. The success of a New Town is inherently dependent on good research, strong design, innovation, sustainability, clear processes, good management, and so on. The annual INTI conference can serve as a good source of inspiration to build sustainable, successful New Towns. It offers the opportunity to see how others manage their city, but it will also be the place to meet colleagues who are struggling with similar problems. So, join the conference and be part of the new town community!"