Tours and Events
For all tours and events online registration is required.
City Tours (optional)
Wednesday, 19 September - offered by the Local
Organising Committee
Guided walks though the historic city centre; start at 14,15 and 16 hrs. Departure from Elzenveld (Registration venue)
Welcome Reception
Wednesday, 19 September - offered by the Local
Organising Committee
Location: Flanders Congress Centre (Zoo)
Technical Tour (for Congress Delegates and registered Companions)
Saturday, 22 September - offered by the Local
Organising Committee
Participants can choose between several tours on different subjects. Starting from the Permeke venue, participants will board buses or walk to their chosen destination, accompanied by guides and city planners. Afterwards all groups will meet again at Atlas (Centre for Integration) to exchange views. The Tour will end with a reception
in Atlas. The following subject areas are available:
1. Central Station and Kievit area: A major challenge.The challenge of major infrastructural works such as constructing the North-South connection for the High Speed Train which runs under the city and the redesigning of Antwerp Central Station on the one hand, and implementing the desired real estate development of the nearby Kievit-square phase II, where public space is a structural factor, on the other hand. Other projects in this area include the upgrading of the diamond district, the reorganisation of the bus depot in Rooseveltplaats, a social-economic input in the Copernicus block, a party hall near the railroad, the expansion of the Zoo and revitalising an existing concert hall.
2. De Coninck square and surroundings: An integrated approach, from vision to
realisation. Formerly a vivacious popular quarter, which during the last 40
years declined into an area of ill repute. In close cooperation with Flanders,
Belgium and Europe the City has invested not only in streets and squares but has
also bought up derelict houses and abandoned office buildings. The Designcenter,
a new public library, a business centre and a social restaurant were built.
Complementary to this new infrastructural hardware various socio-cultural
dynamics were enhanced and form the software to ensure enduring urban renewal.
The City has received a regional and an international award for its integrated
and sustained approach of this complex environment.
3. The Sailors’ Quarter (Schipperskwartier): Another kind of seduction in a
former red light district. The strong signal of a petition by the
neighbourhood’s inhabitants in 1998 was answered with broad measures, tackling
illegal commerce as well as prostitution, and by urban development initiatives
designed to increase the area’s attractiveness for investors. The City’s efforts
in this quarter were rewarded with several national and international awards.
4/5. Spoor Noord and The Islet (Eilandje): Urban voids – Redevelopment of old
docks and railroad areas.
This tour is already (2 Juli 2007)
FULLY BOOKED
“Spoor Noord” is an abandoned railroad site. For more
than a century this site has constituted a 24-hectare barrier between the
surrounding quarters, which will now be transformed into a landscape park. The
park should be completed in 2008 and will be the symbol of a new urban geography
based on liveability and sustainable development.
A series of ambitious projects are currently transforming the “Eilandje” – the
area between the oldest harbour docks – into a lively quarter full of commercial
and cultural activities. Among the projects realized are St. Felix, a 142-year
old renovated warehouse, at present the new home of the Municipal Archives, and
Hangar 26-27 which was converted into a media centre and congress space (venue
of the closing session). The most important planned project is the MAS Museum
designed by Neutelings-Riedijk Architects, which will be completed at the beginning of 2008.
6. Kiel: A suburb illustrating the progressive concepts of different eras of
social housing.
FULLY BOOKED
Separated from the city centre by the ramparts and later by the
highway this district has developed its own identity over time. The 1920
Olympics and the World Exhibition of 1930 added extra character and charisma.
Typical neighbourhood characteristics include innovative and progressive
social housing projects, many of which have been recently renovated. Main
features: a shopping street with a new shopping centre (a former military
shooting range) and the football stadium.
Companions' Excursion
Friday,
21 September
Cost: €100.00/person (Companions' registration fee included) (Minimum 20 persons)
A full-day guided walk in the city centre, exploring Antwerp’s cultural assets
and shopping. Lunch at the Bourla Theatre is included. The theme of this
excursion is diversity: foreign influences throughout history and actual stories
about the evolution of the city’s street appearance.
Farewell Dinner and Cultural Evening (optional)
Sunday, 23 September
Cost: € 65.00/person (Minimum 100 persons)
Evening programme to be confirmed
Post Congress Mobile Workshop, 2 days (for
Congress Delegates and Companions)
Mon 24 and Tue 25 September
- offered by the Local Organising Committee, the Antwerp Port Authority and
the Cities of Ghent and Liège.
Participants wishing to extend their stay are invited to join these Mobile
Workshops. They are reminded to arrange for additional 1, 2 or 3 night(s)
accommodation in Antwerp.
Single-day participations are permitted; participants are required to register
for each day.
Monday: Mobile workshops Ghent or Port of Antwerp (free choice)
Tuesday: Mobile workshop Liège
for description see Mobile Workshops