NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning

Task Force on Urban Planning meeting, Ljubljana, 15-16 October 2009

The fourth and the last for the year 2009 gathering of the NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning took place in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on the 15-16th of October 2009. It gathered in total 18 participants, some of them new members of the Task Force – the representatives of the associations of Moldova, Montenegro and Croatia. This meeting was about exchanging opinions and looking at the urban planning processes in the NALAS member countries from different perspectives. Central point of the discussions was insufficient funds available to the local governments and frequent change in the national legislations connected with urban planning.

Urban Planning Task Force meeting in Tirana, 7 May 2009

The NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning met in Tirana on 7 May 2009. The meeting took place between two national workshops of the Urban Integration of Informal Settlements project - one in the Republic of Srpska on 27, 28 April and a second one in Albania on 8 May. During the meeting, experts delivered updates on the recent development in the urbanism sector in South East Europe, concluding that most of the counties are still facing serious challenges in this area. This is especially the case as the economy shrinks and municipalities are now even less able to build new social and physical infrastructure to serve their growing communities. Central governments are not helping either, as in some cases they are even disrupting municipal efforts, by using “legal shortcuts” to bypass regular municipal planning processes, or by not giving state land to the municipalities. The meeting resulted with new potential project ideas for activities of this task force in 2010.

Urban Planning Task Force meeting in Skopje, 16-18 January 2009

The NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning gathered in Skopje in early January to review the completed and ongoing activities of the project "Urban Integration of Informal Settlements" and to plan for the follow up activities for 2009 and beyond. Currently there are three ongoing project activities - two pilot activities in the municipalities of Sukth and Prijedor and one legislation analysis activity. All three activities are expected to continue throughout 2009 and should be completed by the end of the year.  

Urban Planning Task Force meeting in Banjaluka, 10-11 June 2008

The third meeting of the NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning took place in Banjaluka on 10 and 11 June 2008. This meeting was hosted by the Association of Towns and Municipalities of Republic of Srpska, which also leads the activities of the pilot project in the Municipality of Prijedor.

A delegation from Albania, including Mr Yrjan Hasani, Mayor of Municipality of Sukth, was also present at the meeting, as the Albanian Association of Municipalities leads the project UP1: Urban Integration of Informal Settlements and has already started activities in the Municipality of Sukth.

This meeting marks the beginning of the project activities in the Municipality of Prijedor, by signing a Memorandum of Cooperation between Municipality of Prijedor, Association of Towns and Municipalities of Republic of Srpska and NALAS.
 Event webpage      

Urban Planning Task Force meeting in Ljubljana, 26 October 2007

The second meeting of the Task Force on Urban Planning took place in Ljubljana on 26 and 27 of October, 2007. It was hosted by the Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia.  The purpose of the meeting was to assign roles, discuss organizational issues, begin the implementation of the accepted project in urban planning and discuss the upcoming project(s). This is also a formal beginning of the project "Integration of Informal Settlements", led by the Association of Albanian Municipalities. Full report        

Project Working Group on Urban Planning

NALAS organized two very important meeting in Skopje between 12 and 15 of June 2007. One discussed fiscal decentralization issues and opportunities in the region and the second one covered challenges in urban planning. This meeting gathered urban planning experts, NALAS members and a representative from GTZ and resulted with possible projects that could contribute towards solving urban planning issues in the region. The Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia will be the host of this working group and the Task Force that may emerge from this group. Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia | Event photos