14–17 May 2008, hosted by the City of Amsterdam and held at Pakhuis De Zwijger, warehouse for media and culture.
There were 4 related themes, Innovative Metropolitan Strategies, Governance, Public Participation and Consultation and Accessibility.
The Conference was run on a novel interactive basis, moderated by Fred Schoorl, Director of NIROV. Following each presentation, the opinion of participants was gauged by the votes they cast in response to statements or propositions, and the discussion was then opened to the floor.
The theme of innovation was reflected in presentations on Metropolitan Amsterdam, its Food Strategy, the Rotterdam Water Plan, PlaNYC (New York City), the London strategy and challenges for Warsaw City Region.
Governing polycentricity was also explored through the example of metropolitan Amsterdam.
The accessibility theme was reflected in presentations on the Regional Metro System (RMS) for Napoli and Campania and on the Oslo Investment Strategy.
There was feedback on the METREX Shanghai Study Visit.
