The eThekwini Municipality is gearing up to host a three-day World Town Planning Day Conference to create awareness around the importance of effective planning in communities.

The Conference, which will be hosted under the theme: “Creating a caring and liveable City”, will take place from 6 to 8 November at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre and is aimed at advancing understanding of town planning for eThekwini residents and across all levels of government.

The municipality hopes that the event will provide a platform to assess the effectiveness of town planning in creating a liveable city and to explore new approaches and best practices of development planning.

Creating a balance

The first two days of the Conference will feature a workshop seminar to tackle critical planning matters. These include resilience, mobility planning, inclusivity, urbanisation, densification and safer cities. The third and final day of the Conference will feature an exhibition and create an environment to share new innovative planning practices from the City that people can learn from.

Acclaimed international speakers and experts on town planning will be in attendance to share with planners their expertise on the ultimate role of in promoting a balance of environmental, social and economic welfare that meets the needs of current and future generations.

Fostering innovation

EThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede says it is exciting for the Municipality to be hosting an event of this magnitude. She adds that the conference will allow knowledge sharing that will help city planners to develop smarter policies to further increase opportunities for economic growth.

She notes with the increasing population levels in the City, there is high demand for services and resources. “This platform will provide a better way to address a range of issues from managing urban expansion and congestion to fostering competitiveness, innovation, social inclusion and environmental sustainability.”

The Conference will end with an award ceremony for the person or group that presents the best model or the design of a caring and liveable city.