27–30 October 2004, hosted by the Generalitat de Catalunya and held in Auditorium of the Casa Milà La Pedrera and the Hotel Condes de Barcelona.
Theme – Future trends in spatial planning and development. New methodologies and planning tools.
The Conference offered METREX a major opportunity to consider current European and metropolitan spatial planning policies and positions. Contributions were received from the Dutch Presidency of the EU, the European Commission (DG Regio), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON).
The Keynote Address, on the Conference theme, was given by Professor Sir Peter Hall.
Conference Workshops were held on Metropolitan spatial planning and development practice, Metropolitan wellbeing and competitiveness and METREX exemplars (Madrid, Frankfurt, Veneto, Sofia, Stockholm, Hamburg, Oslo, Stuttgart, Saxon Triangle, Hannover and Torino). The Conference Proceedings were published by METREX on a CD.
The METREX General Assembly adopted a METREX Position Paper on the future of the Structural Funds, From Cities to Metropolitan Regions – the need for an enlarged perspective.
Dr. Bernd Steinacher, Regionaldirektor of the Verband Region Stuttgart, was elected as METREX President for the period 2004–2006 and set out six key directions for METREX in an Presidential Electoral Statement:
- Membership and Member services
- Better involvement in Brussels
- Projects (involving EU programmes such as INTERREG and its successors)
- Expert Groups
- International co-operation (USA and Asia)
- Topics (economic development, infrastructure, transportation).
