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Waterfront developments have come to European attention not only through excessively eccentric marinas and holiday resorts, but painfully through recent flooding disasters in the UK, Germany and Eastern Europe, as well as the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. Both contemporary climate change issues and the pressing need for affordable and sustainable housing challenge destructive development patterns from the post-war period. Waterfront locations are among the most fragile and sensitive, as well as the most complex, vital and spectacular opportunities for a sustainable contemporary urbanism and require new approaches to planning and governance. Visit the Lisbon symposium web site and the Lisbon web page for more information.
C.E.U. CUBA TOUR & INTERNATIONAL CHARRETTE 2007 The Cuban and Norwegian chapters of C.E.U. - Council for European Urbanism held a one week tour of three Cuban cities and UNESCO World Heritage Sites; Havana, Cienfuegos and Trinidad, from 24 February - 3 March 2007. The expert guide was Prof. Julio Cesar Perez, Faculty of Architecture, Havana. Prof. Perez has been a speaker at several INTBAU and C.E.U. conferences. He is a Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design 2001-2002 and has lectured widely in the US and Europe about Cuban architecture. The tour was followed by a one week design workshop (charrette) in Old Havana and the neighbouring town of Casablanca, 4 – 10 March 2007, to develop ideas for the development of the waterfront sector of the Old Havana Harbor.
SUSTAINABLE URBANISM 2006 Visit the Leeds congress web site for more information.
THE EUROPEAN CITY, 30 YEARS: REVIEW & PROSPECTS 2005 You can now download the Programme, Report, and Berlin Declaration from the congress. 
You can also download a transcript of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's speech at the CEU congress in Berlin on 10 September 2005 or visit the ODPM website. Or download a video of the press conference.
C.E.U. EXHIBITION ONLINE: EUROPEAN URBANISM 1995-2005 
CEU has produced an exhibition of European urban development projects from the last 10 years. We have now also made the exhibition available online here. Included are projects from Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands and United Kingdom. The exhibition was presented at the Congress for New Urbanism in Pasadena, California June 2005, and the CEU International Congress in Berlin September 2005. The next presentation will coincide with the dedication of the new Leon Krier building at the University of Miami School of Architecture, from 18 October 2005. Please contact the curator, CEU secretary Audun Engh, on audun.engh@broadpark.no if you have proposals for additional projects, or new presentatons of the exhibition.
C.E.U. DEUTSCHLAND FIRST SYPOSIUM, 2004 
The mayor of Görlitz, Stefan Holthaus, opened the seminar with an introduction on the background of this unique city lying on the German-Polish border, and the problems of its shrinking population. Today European cities have a great challenge to meet, the end of the industrial age.
Harald Bodenschatz hold the opening speech of CEU-D. He focused on the necessity of the 'Stadtumbau', the reconstruction of our cities. The solution to the problem of urban sprawl is the return to traditional city planning. But he emphasized that we should not blindly copy our old towns, but do so critically. He pointed out the importance of seeing town planning and architecture as two separate issues, and emphasized that both traditional and modernist architecture can have its place in a traditional town planning.
THE TEACHING OF ARCHITECTURE Globalisation is a long standing and well established process, as Elizabeth Plater Zyberk and Matthew Hardy pointed out. It would be presumptuous to assume this is purely a 20th and 21st Century phenomenon. As Javier Cenicacelaya and others noted, this is the age of urbanisation with an astonishingly rapid increase in urban populations across Europe. It is thus an especially critical time to work on the shaping of the urban space that is so quickly expanding.
Claudio D'Amato Guerrieri made a very useful contribution in linking architecture to this transforming urban condition. Matthew Hardy and Doug Kelbaugh helped to tease out some of the economic and social implications for urbanisation of greater connectivity among cities, elites and capital while populations sometimes languish; stranded in less mobile circumstances. INTBAU Secretary Matthew Hardy suggested that chief among concerns about globalisation is the loss of local identity that can result. This loss challenges local economies and social life as well as built form traditions.
C.E.U. LAUNCH, STOCKHOLM, 2003 Some 60 people from a wide range of backgrounds met in Stockholm in 2003 to sign The Charter of Stockholm as the grounding document of the Council for European Urbanism. The Council was created in Bruges early in 2003 and is a network of members whose mission is dedicated to the well being of present and future generations through the advancement of humane cities, towns, villages and countryside in Europe. The Council set as its objectives that cities, towns and villages should have mixed uses and social diversity. They should make efficient and sustainable use of buildings, land and other resources. The Charter signers agreed that cities "should be safe and accessible by foot, bicycle, car and public transport. They should have clearly defined boundaries at all stages of development; have streets and spaces formed by an architecture that respects local history, climate, landscape and geography; and have a variety that allows for the evolution of society, function and design".Read more... RELATED EVENTS
CONGRESS FOR THE NEW URBANISM XV: Join the world's experts in urban design and development in Philadelphia for the premier annual event dedicated to enhancing the character and function of communities through walkable, sustainable urban development. The Congress is an unparalleled venue for networking, collaboration, and education among design and development professionals, public officials, and others interested in building and renewing places of enduring value and diversity. Attendees come from far and wide to discuss development practices and public policies, learn from recent innovative work, gain practical knowledge to apply to their own careers, and advance new initatives to transform our communities. In Philadelphia, discussions will advance from the timeless principles and techniques that shape walkable, human-scaled development in old and new cities to the latest strategies for addressing challenges ranging from modern retail formats to affordable housing and foreign oil dependency. Top speakers include Witold Rybczynski, Denise Scott Brown, Peter Calthorpe, Robert A.M. Stern, Rep. Barney Frank, Jacky Grimshaw, Andres Duany, Inga Saffron, and others. Join them in Philadelphia for an event that will leave a lasting mark on growth and development in the mid-Atlantic and beyond. Visit http://cnuxv.org to learn more. NEWS SNIPPETS TWO NEW COURSES IN URBANISM STARTING SEPTEMBER 2006 British Masters Course in Urban Design As far as we see it is the first course which will fully respect CEU principles in the UK.
For details please see attachment or visit this website: Scandinavian Master of Program in Urban Planning & Design We are happy to inform you about the first Scandinavian Full Master of Science Program in Urban Planning & Design (80 credits) which starts in September 2006 at the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the 2nd call for all interested students with architecture, landscape architecture or urban planning background. The application deadline has been extended for international students until the 15th of April. This is also the deadline for European Union students.
For details please visit our new website:
Apply at: Wal-mart goes urban? "Wal-Mart, the big-box giant sometimes accused of contributing to sprawl, traffic jams and the demise of downtown merchants, is considering an urban look and downtown locations..." "It humanizes big-box retail," says Ben Pentreath, a British architectural designer with the Prince of Wales Foundation for the Built Environment. Pentreath was part of a team developing a plan for rebuilding Pass Christian, Mississippi., where a Super Wal-Mart was destroyed. "If it's really successful, it cuts down on car traffic," he says.
USA Today article, 14 November 2005: Mississippi Renewal Forum in Biloxi Six-day charrette October 12-17. More than 100 New Urbanists and local practitioners have produced plans for the rebuilding of Mississippi coast, hit by the hurricane Katrina. The Charrette in Biloxi was led by Andrés Duany, DPZ. The final team reports include proposals for 11 towns. There are also reports from teams focusing on architecture, zoning codes, economic strategies, regional planning and the environment, retail, social issues, and transportation. http://www.mississippirenewal.com Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott on 12 October Committee of the regions, Brussels
Check against delivery Sprawl costs billions.
An article in the Sacramento Business Journal says "we are all paying a staggering price for sprawling development in this country, and that price will only go up as gas prices increase," - "Sprawling communities need longer public roads, increase the cost of new water and sewer hookups by 20 percent to 40 percent, impose higher costs on police and fire departments and schools, and more. These costs are passed on to businesses and residents through higher taxes and fees and sometimes through fewer public services. And in most cases, sprawling developments do not generate enough property taxes to cover these added costs." Le Corbusier and the Estate from Hell
Sept.22 "Le Corbusier himself, so often blamed for all dismal concrete estates, designed his showcase Unite d'Habitation (1952) in Marseilles. This great 12-storey concrete ship of domesticity was meant for blue-collar families. Today it is home to white-collar professionals. It works because it is well planned and thoroughly serviced." Has Tesco got Britain's planning system in its pocket?
Sept.25 Britain's biggest supermarket, Tesco, is being accused of trampling over local councils when pushing through its retail developments. New village of Upton, Northampton, UK.
Sept.21 Prince Charles's latest experiment in community planning is inspired by a village in Florida. It hopes to transform UK housebuilding. Recycling architectural disasters
Eastern Germany's population is shrinking and leaving hundreds of thousands of empty buildings behind. With plans afoot to demolish 350,000 apartments worth INTBAUof hideous, communist-era buildings made from pre-fab concrete, a Berlin architectural firm is recycling the material into immensely livable single-family homes. Masterplan for Edinburgh New Town
Edinburgh's dirty old harbours are set to be transformed. Robert Adam - architect of the new Sackler Library at Oxford University as well as Edinburgh New Town - has been appointed masterplanner of Edinburgh Forthside. EU to create a "code for sustainable communities"
An interesting speech by UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, where he refers to New Urbanism. "Compared to American New Urbanism, the European approach - particularly in Britain - is more influenced by environmental considerations, social justice, economic progress, and a more interventionist style of Government". In December, Prescott will bring ministers form all EU nations together in Bristol to create a "code for sustainable communities". Cities to lead quiet revolution
The Guardian April 20: "John Prescott wants to re-educate planners and councillors so that they no longer allow housing estates or shopping centres to be dumped on the edge of towns or in the middle of the countryside. He also wants councillors to veto developments that lack the right mixture of houses, jobs, transport and other services". Europe's shrinking cities
The latest issue of the German Journal of Urban Studies focuses on demographic changes in Europe and their impact on cities. Large scale urban development projects in Berlin
One of most debated projects is the demolition of the DDR "Palace of the Republic, and the reconstruction of the Royal Palace on the site. According to Rem Koolhaas, the demolition "feels kind of insanely ahistorical.". Nowhere land: US sprawl, could it happen in Europe?
As US towns sprawl into the countryside, creating anonymous zones dominated by soulless malls, one of Britain's leading historians asks if it could happen here. "Traditionally, British policymakers are all too easily drawn to American innovations. But, my time in Phoenix has shown the United States pursuing a model we desperately need to avoid: depopulating downtowns, ravaged countryside, unsustainable energy consumption, social and racial segmentation and a sprawling exurbia that is retreating unrelentingly into the future. " UNESCO acts against highrise buildings 
One of Germany's most iconic buildings, the historic Cologne Cathedral, has been put on the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) List of World Heritage in Danger, due to the increasing development of the German city's skyline. "The organization admitted concerns during its annual meeting that the construction of several highrise buildings on the bank of the Rhine River opposite the Cathedral would damage the visual impact of one of Europe's masterpieces of Gothic architecture". Red light for out-of-town stores
"The government's current planning policy, on which the decision was based, is aimed at avoiding an expansion of out-of-town shopping to reduce pollution caused by car journeys, and to protect existing town centres". Urban design: the issue explained "But ministers insist that quality can be achieved cheaply. In an effort to secure better standards of housing design they have backed controversial design codes used on Poundbury, Prince Charles's mock village in Dorset, and Seaside in Florida, the setting for the satirical film The Truman Show.
Such codes are endorsed by the influential "new urbanism" movement, an anti-sprawl group that started in America to champion pedestrian friendly town centre living. But many in the design community claim that such codes stifle innovation and dictate style."
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