PRESS RELEASE

Dutch Ambassador attends Timisoara City Council meeting on strategic planning

On Friday, 20^th of November, Her Excellency Mrs. Tanya van Gool, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, will attend a special meeting of the Timisoara City Council. The meeting, during which a preliminary urban plan prepared by a team of Romanian civil servants assisted by Dutch experts will be presented, will take place at 12:00 hours in the foyer of the Banat Philharmonic. In addition to this event the Dutch Ambassador will have, during her two-day visit, several meetings with representatives of local authorities, business community, education system and cultural institutions.

The 'Masterplan Timisoara Metropolitan Area' project started in January 2009 and had as main objective to assist the local team of experts from the institutions involved in the development of a strategic integrated urban plan, supported by the main stakeholders. Via this pilot in Timisoara, awareness of the use, necessity and impact of masterplans should trigger the development and inclusion of urban masterplanning skills in other cities in Romania.

The project is closely related to another Dutch - Romanian project, 'Strategic Urban Planning Policy, regulations and practice'. Both projects are intertwined in respect of activities and results, while being executed by the same consortium formed by Eurodite SRL and Roeleveld-Sikkes Architects. The two projects are each co-financed with 130.000 Euro by the Netherlands Government, within the framework of the Government to Government Programme (G2G), while the Romanian partners in these projects are the Ministry of Regional Development and Housing and the Municipality of Timisoara. During a period of 11 months, exchange of experience between Romanian and Dutch experts and professionals on these topics took place via various workshops, seminars, events and lectures. The results of the pilot project will be used as starting point for producing the new General Urban Plan (PUG) of the Municipality of Timisoara, and create valuable input for finalising the Integrated Development Plan (PID) which represents an obligatory criterion in the process of accessing European funds.

The preliminary urban plan, which will be presented on Friday 20^th November in front of the members of the Timisoara City Council, indicates the possible future growth areas and strategic directions for the city along with a list of key projects and is considered an important step towards sustainable urban development on the middle-long term, ca. 15 - 20 years.

This document was developed in close cooperation with various stakeholders in the city, among which the Economic and Cultural Advisory Board (ECAB) in which various persons of the business and cultural life of Timisoara have gathered to think along with the development of their city.

A longer term urban vision will assist the city to tackle uncontrolled urban developments like illegal buildings, traffic congestions and dilapidated urban areas, while setting a clear and transparent priority for key-urban projects. The city council of Timisoara will decide whether this preliminary urban plan is a good step stone for continuation of the strategic planning process on local level. If the city council approves the results of the project and decides to continue the process of strategic planning, it will imply a novelty on local urban planning in Romania.

For more details please contact:

- Mr. J. de Roo, project manager of the 'Masterplan Timisoara' project,
( deroo@eurodite.eu; Tel: +40(0)7-48601169; www.eurodite.eu)
- Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Ms. Caroline Seebregts, Press and Cultural attachee (seebregts@minbuza.nl)
Tel. + 40 (0)21 208 6038)