Some 850 participants from 150 cities in different countries – including governors, members of parliament, mayors, councillors, secretaries, urban policy managers, urban planners and corporate executives – came together in various landmark buildings in the city of Porto Alegre from 23 to 26 November, to take part in the 10th Metropolis World Congress – Cities in Transition, promoted by Metropolis (World Association of the Major Metropolises) and Porto Alegre City Council. It marked the first time a South American city played host to an edition of the Congress. 

 

The event, which garnered tremendous support from institutions and sponsoring companies of great international renown, featured a programme comprising 18 sessions. The Board of Directors meeting and the General Assembly concluded the event and set forth the new guidelines for Metropolis for the next three years. 

 

Among the decisions of the final day of the Congress was the approval of the composition of the new Metropolis Board of Directors, which shall continue to be led by President Jean-Paul Huchon. Alain Le Saux is the new Secretary General. The Metropolis Board of Directors is made up of 22 members. The new Action Plan and the support of eight projects, known as Metropolis Initiatives, were also approved. Metropolis currently has 126 members, eight of which formalised their membership at the Congress in Porto Alegre: Durban, the state of Minas Gerais, Haikou, Hyderabad, Rosario, Tirupati, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

 

In 2014, the city of Hyderabad will host the 11th Metropolis World Congress. The next two meetings of the Board of Directors will take place in 2012 and 2013, in Guangzhou and Johannesburg respectively. 

 

The 10th Metropolis World Congress – Cities in Transition was attended by Joan Clos, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT; Xavier Trias, Mayor of Barcelona; Parks Tau, Mayor of Johannesburg; Hsiung-wen Chen, Deputy Mayor of Taipei; Miguel Lifschitz, Mayor of Rosario; Antanas Mockus, former Mayor of Bogotá; Márcio Araújo de Lacerda, Mayor of Belo Horizonte; Gérard Perreau-Bezouille, Deputy Mayor of Nanterre; Wim Elfrink, Executive Vice-President of Cisco; Melissa Mark-Viverito, New York City Council Member; Joe Moore, Chicago City Council Member, among others.