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Milton-Keynes, UK

Tema, Ghana (photo: INTI)

Setting the New Urban Agenda
for New Towns #5

INTI is happy to present regular updates concerning confirmed speakers and the conference program. With more and more speakers and participants confirming their presence, we continue to receive more ideas on the value and expectations of the International New Town Day. We’d like to share some of these views with you in advance of the conference.


Milton Keynes will be represented by Shane Downer (see the speakers’ profiles page).

Tema will be represented by Joseph A. Abbey, Managing Director of Tema Development Corporation (TDC) (see the speakers’ profiles page).

See the full programme of the event at the INTI website.

> Seeking a New Identity through Urban Regeneration <

Cities age fast. Even emblematic New Towns built according to utopian models of only 50 to 60 years ago must now rethink their ambitions and identity. This also goes for the cities of Tema (Ghana) and Milton Keynes (UK): though both were designed by well known urban planners – Tema by Constantinos Doxiadis and Milton Keynes by Derek Walker – these cities have somewhat lost their appeal and their inhabitants’s sense of belonging has faded. They aim to reinvent themselves in different ways: Milton Keynes stresses its cultural heritage, while Tema places its bets on the economical potential of the region.

Milton Keynes was designated a New Town in 1967 as part of the ‘Third Wave’ of British New Towns and is the largest and arguably the most successful model in the UK today. Built in part by important architects of the previous century such as Norman Foster, Milton Keynes is now celebrating its modernist heritage in order to distance itself from the idea that new towns lack historical value. The famous shopping centre (1972-1979) was listed Grade II in 2010. To prove its point and boost the city’s appeal, Milton Keynes has adopted a planning model based on cultural-led development and aims to become the European Capital of Culture 2023.

Though Tema has the same type of modernist heritage, it has taken a completely different path to the future. This Ghanaian city has set its eyes to the future without directly involving the past in that quest. Its program of regeneration is focused on economical and infrastructural possibilities. Doxiadis’ plan has left enough room in the urban structure to increase density. Its regeneration program is focused on upgrading its housing stock and providing the basic services and facilities a well-functioning city is ought to provide. New high rise apartments will bring in much needed housing and mixed use developments will secure the future position of Tema in the fast developing region.

Both cities pose urgent questions to New Towns that are being build today: how can a city, that is planned and built in a limited time span, cope with time passing by? It is not possible to simply copy the recipe of culture, identity and heritage from historic cities. One of the biggest challenges of New Towns may be to reinvent the concept of history and identity to suit their character of young, dynamic and still developing cities.