Our cities are more and more becoming ‘Cities of Comings and Goings’ with a population that is not static, but growing and shrinking and increasingly mobile. Not only the refugee crisis has taught us this lesson, but also the increasing amount of international students, expats, economic migrants, asylum seekers and foreign workers. Migration has become a permanent force in our cities and (former) New Towns.
New Towns, by definition, have no ‘original’ inhabitants – every resident is a migrant. Some are housing newcomers and have become ‘Arrival Cities’, like Gellerup (Denmark) or Thamesmead (UK). Others, like Almere (NL) or Milton Keynes (UK), have become the preferred housing environment of a migrant middle class that has adopted the suburban lifestyle.
How can we understand and analyse the present New Towns, reflecting on their identity, culture and diversity as places where people have migrated to? How can New Towns better adjust and anticipate to the dynamics of migration?
The culture of New Towns is forward looking, with an emphasis on innovation and experiment, not only in technology but also social, cultural, political and financial innovation. This program of events will address future city concepts and how the pressure of migration, societal change, growth and expansion is urging us to reinvent and reimagine our cities.
On International New Town Day we will examine Presents & Futures of New Towns as Cities of Comings and Goings.
The conference, organized in partnership with the Academy of Urbanism, MK Council, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes Destination and the precious support of the INTImi members, will offer a platform for sharing experiences and best practices with a number of UK, European and other international urban experts.
The INTD17 main sponsors are Milton Keynes City Council and centre:mk.
INTI is the organization that facilitates this platform of knowledge exchange. If you are interested in participating, or if you would like to receive more information, please contact INTI via internationalnewtownday@newtowninstitute.org