The Commission on Urban Planning was established in 1998 as a means to promote interaction and cooperation between Baltic Sea cities and towns in the field of urban planning and construction.

The Commission on Urban Planning aims to increase the awareness of the issues facing urban planning, construction and architecture among UBC member cities.

To support these aims, the Commission has created a network of town planners, master planners, regional planners, architects, civil engineers and other professionals committed to improving the quality of life in the Baltic Sea cities.

Commission goals

• Sustainable development in different fields of sustainability in Baltic cities and regions
• Attractive Baltic cities
• Better quality of life in Baltic cities 
• Positive economic development by initiating dialogue between city residents, the private sector and the public sector
• Sustainable development in Baltic cities and regions 
• Planning and construction that reflects the socio-economic, cultural and political life of the cities is a tool to achieve these goals. 

Commission Themes & Issues

The Commission on Urban Planning approaches a range of urban planning issues relating to both public and private domains.

Infrastructure and Commerce

• Inner city redevelopment
• Pedestrian-friendly city centres
• Better possibilities for public transportation
• New shopping centres and business areas 

Life and Cultural Heritage

• Public space and its furniture
• Cultural heritage in planning
• City waterfronts
• Diversity of urban lifestyles
• New housing developments
• Renovation of residential areas, especially those built with concrete panels
• Redeveloping old harbour, industrial, storage and military areas (so called brown field areas) for residential and commercial use 

Public Facilities

• Service facilities such as child day-care, schools and services for the elderly
• Parks and recreation areas 

Technical Facilities and Transportation

• Energy management
• Water supply and waste water management
• Traffic systems and flows
• Road, street, square and marketplace planning

Planning Methods

• Strategic planning
• Territorial planning
• Legislative issues

Joining the Network

The Commission has established a growing network of planners, architects, civil engineers and other urban planning professionals.

The network members have the opportunity to meet each other through UBC-organized events - to exchange ideas and experiences, learn about new developments in urban planning, collaborate, and interact with members of the UBC.

Network Meetings

The Commission and cooperating expert organizations  arrange meetings and other events focusing on the issues and themes of interest to the participants.

• Theme-related seminars and excursions
• Chances for the participants to inform member cities of their achievements in seminars
• Theme-related seminars and excursions
• Finding partners and EU financing for urban planning projects
• Congresses and seminars in the Baltic Sea region
• Professional auditing
• Exhibitions and publications

Finances

There are no membership fees, but network members are responsible for travel and accommodation. Other costs, such as seminar participation, will be subsidized when possible through grants or funding by official bodies.

Activities

UBC Commission on Urban planning organised Best Practice seminar in Physical planning in Malmö Sweden 2 and 3 December 1999. The topic of the seminar was how to develop the old industrial areas and harbour areas for new purpose. The seminar report has been published by the City of Malmö in May 2000.

The next Best Practice seminar was held in Umeå, Sweden on 15 - 16 May 2000. The basic topic was: "Renewal of the City centre and its surroundings". 

The third seminar was held in Helsinki, and the topic was: "Future housing - new housing, new housing developments, renovation of old houses and flats for future needs". 

The fourth seminar was held in Gdańsk, in April 2001. The topic was: "Waterfronts - development opportunities in cities".

The fifth seminar was in Riga, in April 2002. 
The topic was: "Public Space - Problems and Possibilities"

The sixth seminar was in St. Petersburg, in September 2002
The topic was:  "Developing the Historical Industrial Belt of St. Petersburg and the New Masterplan".

In 2003 there were two seminars in the framework of ABC Project:

25-26 April, Kolding
Seminar of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning on "Developed Urban Management, City Renewal and Development towards Sustainability"

16-19 October, Vaasa
Seminar of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning on "Cities as regional engines. Urban design and regional development"

In 2004 there were two seminars in the framework of ABC Project:

21-25 April, Liepāja
Meeting of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning in the framework of the ABC project

22-26 September, Viljandi
Meeting of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning in the framework of the ABC project

In 2005 there were two seminars in the framework of ABC Project:

20-24 April, Gdynia
Meeting of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning in the framework of the ABC project

6-9 October, Malmö
Meeting of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning in the framework of the ABC project

Webpages of the ABC project.

Final report of the ABC project

After the ending of the ABC Project, the Commission on Urban Planning has arranged the following seminars:

26-29 April 2006, Riga
Seminar of the UBC Commisision on Urban Planning on "Sustainability in an Urban Planning Context".

20-23 September 2006, Rostock
Seminar of the UBC Commisision on Urban Planning on "Sustainability in Brownfield Regeneration".

19-21 April 2007, Vilnius
Seminar of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning

3-6 October 2007, Kotka
Seminar of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning

Seminar report

23 - 26 April 2008, Aarhus
Meeting of the UBC Commission on Urban Planning

Next Seminar:  24 -27 September, 2008 in Turku, Finland

Visual Cities Project
Visual Cities is a project run by Mr Lars-Göran Boström from Ume?, Sweden. The project aims to find new methods of presenting urban plans to the public by using 3D-visualizing computer pro-grammes and the internet. There are approx. 10 partners in the project. The Visual Cities Project enables urban planners around the Baltic Sea Region - and possibly even further - to present their ideas in an easy-to-understand way and wake conversation with city inhabitants. The Commission on Urban Planning waits excitedly for the results and further development of the modern media tools which will be developed during the project.

In Memoriam
In June 2006, very sadly our dear friend and colleague Lars Brattberg passed away. Lars was for many years a valued member of the steering committee and a driving force within the Commission on Urban Planning. He was from the City of Malmö the lead partner of the ABC project (2003-2005)where he managed to involve a great number of cities and colleagues. Lars Brattberg was a warm,
generous and friendly character. He is greatly missed.

Steering group

The steering group is currently comprised of representatives from the leading cities of the Commission: Helsinki, Finland; Malmö, Sweden, Umeå, Sweden, Aarhus, Denmark, Gdynia, Poland and Vilnius, Lithuania .

Activity Report submitted during the IX UBC General Conference in Parnu, 27-28 September 2007.

Activity Report submitted at the 47th UBC Execitive Board meeting, Gdynia, 19-20 October 2006

Activity report submitted at the Executive Board Meeting in Gdynia, 19 - 20 October 2006

Activity Report submitted during the VIII UBC General Conference in Turku, 29 September - 2 October 2005

Activity Report submitted at the Executive Board meeting in Riga, on 16 October 2004

Activity Report submitted during the VII UBC General Conference in Klaipėda, 18 October 2003

Activity Report submitted at the Executive Board meeting in Umeå, 28-29 March 2003.

Activity Report submitted at the Executive Board meeting in Viljandi, 7-8 June 2002.

Here you can see the complete list of contact persons for the Commission on Urban Planning.

Here you can see the list of e-mail addresses to the Commission on Urban Planning departments in member cities.

In case of changes or applications please contact Ms Sirpa Kallio, e-mail: sirpa.kallio@hel.fi 

HELSINKI (Finland) Chairman of the Commission on Urban Planning Ms Sirpa Kallio Project Manager Economic and Planning Centre Development Unit P.O.Box 20 FI - 00099 Helsinki City Finland Tel. +358 9 31036124 Fax + 358 9 31036272 e-mail: sirpa.kallio@hel.fi  ÅRHUS (Denmark) Mr Niels - Peter Mohr Architect Head of Division City of Aarhus P.O.Box 32 DK - 8100 Aarhus C Denmark Tel + 45 89 402620 e-mail npm@sa.aarhus.dk  UMEÅ (Sweden) Mr Lars-Göran Boström Architect Head of the Town Planning Unit City Planning Department S - 90184 Umeå Sweden Tel. + 46 90 161301 Fax + 46 90 162360 e-mail: lars-goran.bostrom@umea.se  GDYNIA (Poland) Mr Marek Karzyński Head of the Urban Planning Department  City Hall  Al. Marszałka J. Piłsudskiego 52/54  PL - 81-382 Gdynia Poland Tel. + 48 58 6688341 Fax + 48 58 6615538  e-mail: m.karzynski@gdynia.pl

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