8th Session of the OECD Working Party on Territorial Policy in Urban Areas, Bilbao, Spain

Thanks to the hospitality of the “Association of Local Governments of The Basque Country” (EUDEL), Spain, and with the support of the Spanish Central Government, General Directorate for Local Co-operation, Ministry of Public Administration, the 8th Session of the OECD Working Party on Territorial Policy in Urban Areas held its annual meeting in Bilbao, Spain, on 5-6 June 2006.  It was organised back to back with a “Local Workshop”.

On this occasion the Working Party discussed 4 reports and held a half-day roundtable session on key issues on the urban policy agenda in Member countries. The reports concerned a horizontal synthesis report on “Competitive Cities in the Global Economy”, which compiles the main conclusions from the series of territorial reviews that have been undertaken in metropolitan regions to date. Also, two case studies were presented to delegates concerning Milan, Italy, and the City-region of Newcastle, United Kingdom, followed by the discussion of a report on “Socially Sustainable Housing”, which aimed to identify recent policy developments and provided recommendations for designing better government policies to address these issues. The roundtable discussion focused on policy concerns regarding stakeholders’participation in urban policy making” and fighting poverty in urban areas.

During the “Local Workshop” OECD Working Party Delegates had the opportunity to hear the experience of collaboration among cities within the Basque country. The session was organized around two themes: Valuating Cultural Amenities for Urban Development; and Cities’ Network for Competitiveness. The Working Party honoured the presence of key-note speakers: Mr. Ibon Areso, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Bilbao;  Mr. Takayuki Hara, Working Party Chair; Mr. Alfonso Martinez Cearra, Director of Bilbao Metrópoli 30, Mr Kepa Korta Murua, Director of The Strategic Plan of Donostia- San Sebastian and Mr. Juan Antonio Castro, Strategic Planning Service Manager of Vitoria- Gasteiz.  The Case of Randstad- Holland was presented by Mr. Hans Pluckel, Head of the Brussels Office, Regio Randstad, the Netherlands.

Click here to view the agenda for the meeting.

Presentations from the 8th Session are available below.