Introduction
The IWW highlights integrated solutions covering the entire water cycle. One of the conferences that will be organised during the week of the event is the conference Water Cities in Transition, Inspiring solutions in integrating urban design and water challenges:
Cities dominate the world: politically, economically and ecologically. Cities cope with a broad spectrum of challenges to maintain a good quality of life for residents, be an appealing and economically healthy place and deal with demographic changes. Cities are also where a wide range of water challenges converge: flood defences, management of stormwater and groundwater, an aging infrastructure and ecological stress. At the scale and in the context of the city, we can share, compare and learn from each other about strategies and solutions to take an integrated approach to these challenges.
In august 2010 the first international conference on Water Cities in Transition has been organized during the Amsterdam Sail event. Examples from Hamburg, Tokyo, Barcelona and Stockholm have been presented and compared with Dutch practise.
During IWW 2011 Amsterdam, the Water Cities in Transition conference will serve as a platform where urban planners and water managers together focus on the latest developments in water city transitions: coping with climate change-related challenges, linking them with socio economic issues and inspiring integrated solutions in urban design and practice. For this conference, we invite parties from round the world to share their secrets for success in linking or attempting to link water challenges to sustainable urban development, smart financial concepts and/or local governance solutions.
