METREX Spring Conference 2024
15-16 May 2024 , Brussels
If you are attending the conference, visit our conference information page for joining details
Forging a Metropolitan Europe
The Metropolitan Century; are we fit for the future ?
Europe’s unseen prosperity that it reached in the last decades, goes parallel with a growing sense of uncertainty on all levels: climate change as we pay the price for pollution and exhausting resources, disparities as wealth is not evenly distributed, wars between rivalling powers, and so on and forth.
As expressed in our Manifesto for Metropolitan Partnerships, we believe that metropolitan regions and areas are best in place to address the many challenges we face: understanding the bigger picture and translating that to a metropolitan scale to find solutions with local partners.
Following the Manifesto’s launch we continue working to better prepare ourselves: by developing approaches on the urgent planning issues, our basic profession; by organising ourselves to be more agile, efficient and accessible for all, the way we are organised; and by inviting people to imagine together a metropolitan future for Europe.
At our Brussels conference we will open these three flows of thinking to our Members and beyond to then develop them over summer and report back at our Autumn Conference in Bucharest, October 2024. We will approach Members for their participation in these flows, which will appear online and/or live. We need Members’ input to make it work.
The METREX Spring 2024 Conference will take place in Brussels to coincide with activities for the Belgian Presidency of the Council of Europe.
Join us in Brussels this spring to forge a Metropolitan Europe!
Observer and Rapporteur from this Spring METREX Conference will be Iván Tosics, PhD, Managing Director Metropolitan Research Institute Budapest, Hungary.
Main photo: revitalised Boulevard Anspach in Brussels (copyright RdA Suisse)
Optional Program
with Adrian Hill, METREX Productive City EG coordinator
Walking visit to Tour & Taxis district in Brussels. This is a remarkable destination that embodies the perfect blend of history, culture, and innovation. It will offer a nice cross section of services, production, logistics and leisure.
Take line 2 (Simonis) to the stop Porte de Namur (2 min walk to Perspective Brussels)
The Tour’s map
Main stops:
1. Metro Pannenhuis
2. Parckfarm
3. Be.Here
4. Greenbizz
5. Centre Tir
6. Magasin 4
7. YouBuild
8. Former Citroen garage
9. Heidelberg cement
10. Upsite Tower
11. Parc Beco
12. Brasserie de la Senne
13. Tour et Taxis site
14. Gare Maretime
15. Metro Ribaucourt
Venue: Perspective.Brussles, rue de Namur 59, Bruxelles
Jakub Mazur, President of METREX, Deputy Mayor of Wrocław
Antoine de Borman, Director perspective.brussels
Keynote speech
Aileen Bouclé, AICP, Executive Director Miami–Dade Transportation Planning Organization / NARC
Ioana Ivanov, BS Fellowship
Frenk Bekkers, METREX Mapping
Walking transfer to dinner location
Venue: La Tricoterie, Theodore Verhaegenstraat 158, Saint-Gilles-Bruxelles
Venue: La Tricoterie, Rue Théodore Verhaegen 158, 1060 Bruxelles
Jakub Mazur, President of METREX, Deputy Mayor of Wrocław
Henk Bouwman, Secretary General METREX
3 Interactive Roundtables with a core of experts from METREX and beyond, encircled by METREX members and guests.
Addressing climate change has already added huge items to the spatial planning agenda: how do we deal with the ‘technical issues’ like sea-level rise, extremities in weather, restored or better-balanced ecosystems, urban sprawl etc. But we also need to deal with the ‘behavioural’ side of these issues, where the classic spatial planning instruments might fall short. In this roundtable we explore some of the urgent issues and see what process we need to accelerate: exchange of knowledge and experience, understanding the principles on how to translate to your own situation.
Moderator: Henk Bouwman, Secretary General METREX
Keynote from Antoine de Borman, Director perspective.brussels
Discussion with:
Professor Roger Vickerman, Kent University, United Kingdom (Mobility)
Ass. Professor Alexander Wandl, TU Delft, The Netherlands (Circular Economy)
Jaromír Hainc, Prague Institute of Planning and Development
Ilona Mansikka, Helsinki Uusimaa Region, Finland (Climate challenge)
The complexity and interrelatedness of the spatial planning issues ask for integrative thinking that goes beyond the local municipalities. The metropolitan level seems the answer, but do we have enough capacity, resources, competencies. Are we organised good enough. Also, here we can improve by learning from each other’s way of organisation, and in which state we currently are. What exactly do we ask from our (possible) partners on local, national and European level. Are there governance models possible that are informal and can be established right now, and that can grow formal over time?
Moderator: Gianina Panatau, General Director, The Bucharest Metropolitan Area lntercommunity Development Association (ADIZMB)
Keynote from Sandeep Shingadia, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Delivery Integration, Transport for West Midlands Combined Authority
Discussion with:
Hon. Oliver G. Gilbert III, Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) Vice Chairman, & Aileen Bouclé, AICP, TPO Executive Director/NARC
Maciej Fijalkowski, Director Warsaw Metropolitan Association, Poland.
Prof. Valeria Fedeli, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
Laura Papaleo, Genoa metropolitan city, Italy.
Filipe Ferreira, Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal.
After an Age of Cities and accepting the ongoing coagulation of people into increasing agglomerations, can we imagine a Metropolitan Century? What are the future roles of nations, will there be a revival of 17th century rivalry between city regions, or can we specialise and together build a Metropolitan Europe, competing with other global continents? How do we involve citizens and rurals from all backgrounds in forging their future?
Moderator: Łukasz Medeksza, Deputy Director of the Strategy and City Development Department Municipality of Wrocław with Sébastien Rolland, UrbaLyon Planning Agency
Keynote from Professor Luděk Sýkora, Charles University Prague & MECOG project
(read about the Common Metropolitan Vision highlights the power of metropolitan areas
Discussion with:
Peter Defranceschi, Head of ICLEI Brussels Office
Emiel Reiding, Director Metropolitan region Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Idoia Postigo, Bilbao Metropoli30, Basque Country, Spain
Tundé Adefioye, Lecturer St.Lucas School of Arts, Antwerp
Jakub Mazur, President of METREX, Deputy Mayor of Wrocław
Professor Eric Corijn, Emeritus Professor in Urban Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels
Concluding remarks by Jakub Mazur, President of METREX, Deputy Mayor of Wrocław
