The ultimate political act in town planning is the building of a New Town. Governments, developers and planners conspire to create a brand new community on a tabula rasa, based on the latest models of social and economic behavior.
Or is the idea to build a New Town from scratch just proof of a fatal misunderstanding of what makes a city a city? Is it a sign of a gross ignorance on the part of politicians, planners and all those involved in this process of the complexity and the unpredictability of the urban? Whatever the situation might be, New Towns and Politics are closely related, even condemned to each other.
With the fourth INTI conference, New Towns & Politics, we wish to explore thoughts, analyses, projects, designs and political actions pertaining to the political dimension of New Towns, old and new.
Thursday 11 november 2010, Library Almere
René Peeters
Opening
Michelle Provoost
Introduction
Theme 1: Participation and Community Power (moderator Wouter Vanstiphout)
Tobias Armborst
The Dream of a Lifestyle: Marketing Master Planned Communities in America
Kenny Cupers
Cities in search of the user
Q & A with Tobias Armborst and Kenny Cupers
Theme 2: The Architect and the Process (moderator JaapJan Berg)
Nathalie de Vries (MVRDV)
3 Neighborhoods for 1 Plot
Kees Christiaanse (KCAP)
Urban Design in Russia and Asia
Theme 3: New Towns as Political Instrument (moderator Wouter Vanstiphout)
Zvi Efrat
About Politics and Architecture of New Towns in Israel
Azadeh Mashayekhi
Revisiting Iranian New Towns
Q & A with Zvi Efrat and Azadeh Mashayekhi
Dan Handel
Grid and Revelation: Cities of Zion in the American West
Vincent Lacovara
Specific Flexibility in Place-making - or - The Law of Unforseen Planning
Friday 12 November 2010, Theatre Almere
Theme 4: Left and Right in Urban Planning (moderator Wouter Vanstiphout)
Jacqueline Tellinga
On Politics, Building and Almere
Christian Salewski
Planning and Politics in an open society: scenarios for Almere, Markerwaard and New Netherlands 2050 (1970-1990)
Theme 5: Asia (moderator Michelle Provoost)
Viktor Oldiges
Between Gropius and Mao - incomplete
Laurence Liauw
New Town policies - sameness and differences in Hong Kong and Mainland China
Kyo Suk Lee
New Town Addiction in Korea
Theme 6: From Government to Private Sector (moderator JaapJan Berg)
Steven Beunder
New Towns in China and India - government led versus private sector development
Todd Reisz
Pipe Dreams and Real Deals
James Kostaras
New Smart Cities of the 21st Century and the end of
civic engagement in the modern democracy
Final Remarks
(Michelle Provoost and Wouter Vanstiphout)
