RTPI PLAYS PIVOTAL ROLE IN UNITED NATIONS WORLD URBAN FORUM

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is speaking at both the World Planners Congress (WPC) and the United Nation’s World Urban Forum (WUF) running concurrently from Monday 19 June till Friday 23 June. RTPI will promote the Vancouver Declaration, a paper on Reinventing Planning and launch a new book entitled Making Planning Work.

The Vancouver Declaration is a new set of principles for a new way of managing human settlements and is due to be launched at the WPC. The declaration asserts that, ‘there can be no sustainable development without sustainable urbanisation, and no sustainable urbanisation without effective planning.’

A broad range of individuals from planning and urban policy bodies have been working together in the period before WPC and WUF to draw the Declaration together. The Declaration has been signed by, amongst others, the President of the RTPI Clive Harridge.

Harridge commented: "The World Urban Forum and the World Planners Congress offer the chance to make a statement on a global scale. The RTPI is proud to play such an active part in launching the Vancouver Declaration. Our aim now is to take forward these principles into our own Planning Convention on the 28 – 30 June 2006, introducing them to a UK audience.”

A paper on Reinventing Planning has been published for WPC and WUF to provoke and focus debate.  It will be available at both WPC and WUF. The Declaration and Reinventing Planning will be discussed at both events.

Making Planning Work – A Guide to Approaches and Skills will be launched at WUF on 21st June.  It has been written by Cliff Hague, Patrick Wakely, Julie Crespin and Chris Jasko and aims to increase global understanding of sustainable urban development processes and pro-poor planning practices; and to outline the range and types of skills needed to implement them.  An interactive version is available on www.communityplanning.net/makingplanningwork/index.htm

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Press release issued: June 19 2006