Global Planners Congress & the World Urban Forum 2008

From our correspondent John Parker, London, UK.

Dear Planning Colleague,

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has asked me to let you know about the Global Planners Network (GPN).  The purpose is to ask for your help with one aspect of the GPN’s work, which will form a context for the discussions around the UN Habitat World Urban Forum 4 (WUF 4) in Nanjing, China (3 – 7 November 2008).

WUF 4 will be preceded (31 October - 2 November) by the Global Planners’ Congress in Zhenjiang, China, and will focus on the global issues of urbanisation, poverty and climate change.  These two events will provide major opportunities for those of us engaged in planning to have a greater impact on the global agenda.  A critical challenge is to increase the capacity to respond to the challenges of the 21st century and plan sustainable human settlements for the world's growing urban population.

The RTPI, with the support of the Commonwealth Association of Planners and the Lincoln Institute, is seeking to assess the existing global planning capacity, in terms of legal competences, professional skills, inclusive processes, civic leadership and vision. Success will depend on as many people as possible who work in planning in all countries of the world providing their views and first-hand experience.

A web-based self-diagnostic assessment tool has therefore been prepared, please check: http://tinyurl.com/2gbffk.  I would grateful if you could complete the tool, also circulate it to your planning contacts around the world. The downloadable pdf leaflet gives more details about this work. The results will be published later this year and presented at the GPN Congress Zhenjiang; its conclusions could form part of the Communiqué to WUF4.

If you need any further information or advice, please contact the RTPI International Affairs Officer Judith Eversley (judith.eversley@rtpi.org.uk).  For technical questions, contact Will French (will.french@rtpi.org.uk) and Lucy Natarajan (lucy.natarajan@rtpi.org.uk) who are managing the research.

Many thanks,

John Parker
Chair RTPI International Development Network

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