Parallel Session 7: Cities and projects

Report: Jaap Modder (Beroepsvereniging van Nederlandse Stedebouwkundigen en Planologen, Netherlands)

Abstract
In the first place projects about the linking of cities to the high speed train network were discussed. In Valladolid (Spain) the expected shorter journey time to Madrid is giving rise to new functions. The same is true of the German city of Wolfsburg. Although the significance of the high speed train is sometimes overestimated it can make an important contribution to the enrichment of an urban programme.
A second theme of the session related to urban networks as objects of strategic planning. The Munich ring road was quoted as an example. With respect to the Netherlands it was established that in urban planning the emphasis is shifting from areas to mobility networks.
In Zaragoza cultures are being opened up on the basis of liberal and humanistic principles in a way that is worth emulating. An example of a cultural programme that is running parallel with a physical programme originated from the German federal state of North Rhine Westphalia, in which the existing and new fabric is being given a new significance.