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The development and management of cities is one of the major challenges of our time as well as one of the most complex tasks of our societies. A great number of actors have to be mobilised and co-operate in order to mould the necessary political and operational consensus which directly will affect the everyday life of millions of persons. The concept of "partnership" is at the core of the approach promoted by the United Nations Second Conference on Human Settlements in June 1996 at Istanbul. Partnerships between central governments and local authorities, partnerships between public and private sectors in the management of urban services; partnerships between urban governments, state organs and neighbourhood groups to fight against social marginalisation and to forge new solidarities. These are the bases of the new urban governance which the international community defined and articulated at the Istanbul Conference. What are the challenges for achieving these goals? The purpose of the Symposium was to confront the analytical and methodological problems inherent in the "Action Plan of the Habitat II Agenda". More specifically, the Symposium took as a point of departure the emphasis on "The needed action areas on the Capacity-building and Institutional Development" of the final document (Section D of Chapter IV). The Symposium focused on four themes: Intergovernmental relations and urban problems. Regional and national variations in dealing with centralisation and decentralisation issues. The changing interface between public and private spheres in the urban context and their increasing intertwining. New forms of co-operation and conflict. Urban governance and civil society. The active role of citizens, consumers and voluntary organisations as related to institutionalised democratic governance. Partnership between actual and potential actors in urban development. A political slogan or a fruitful concept? Programme Monday, 24 November 9h30-10h00 Opening session Geneviève Domenach-Chich Chief of Human Habitat Unit Division of Social Sciences, Research and Policy Sector of Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO Leszek Kosinski, Secretary-General International Social Science Council Vincent Hoffmann-Martinot, Symposium Programme Coordinator CERVL-CNRS/IEP of Bordeaux   10h00-12h30 Theme I: Intergovernmental Relations and Urban Problems, Regional and National Variations in Dealing with Centralisation and Decentralisation Issues Papers: Community Governance and the Central Local Relationship Gerhard Banner, Bad Honnef, Germany Les relations intergouvernementales et les problèmes urbains. Les variations nationales et régionales concernant la centralisation et la décentralisation Mamadou Diop and Seydina Oumar Touré, City Hall of Dakar, Senegal Comments: Michio Muramatsu, Kyoto University, Japan Krzysztof Pawlowski, Polish National Committee, International Council on Monuments and Sites, Warsaw, Poland   12h30-14h00 Lunch break   14h30-17h00 Theme 2: The Changing Interface between Public and Private Spheres in the Urban Context and their Increasing Intertwining. New Forms of Co-operation and Conflict. Papers: Local Actors’ Role in Urban Governance through the experience of Tunis. Semia Akrout Yaiche, Association for the Protection of Medina, Tunis, Tunisia Evolving Modes of Urban Governance: The Promises and Pitfalls of Public/Private Partnerships Sang-chuel Choe, Seoul National University, Korea Partnerships and Urban Governance: Towards an Agenda for Cross-national Comparative Research Ingemar Elander, Center for Housing and Urban Research, Örebro, Sweden Comments: Debendranath Sarangi, Government of Tamil Nadu, India Céline Sachs-Jeantet, Urban Planner/Consultant, Paris, France   18h00-20h00 Reception for Participants, UNESCO Café-Miollis   Tuesday, 25 November 10h00-12h30 Theme 3: Urban Governance and Civil Society. The Active Role of Citizens, Consumers and Voluntary Organisations as Related to Institutionalised Democratic Governance Papers: Social Mobilization and Participation of Citizens in Urban Governance, Myths and Realities in Africa Mohamed Soumare, ENDA, Senegal Global Challenge and Institutional Capacity: Reconstructing Local Government for the Next Century H.V. Savitch, University of Louisville, USA Comments: Arie Sachar, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Mamadou Sembene, Research Group and Technological Exchange, Paris, France   12h30-14h00 Lunch break   14h30-17h00 Theme 4: Partnership between Actual and Potential Actors in Urban Development. A Political Slogan or a Fruitful Concept? Papers: The Perspectives of the Development of Partnership in African Cities. El Hadj Mbodj, University Sheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal Municipal Power in Poland: What Partnership between Urban Government and New Social Elites? Jacek Wódz, University of Silesia, Poland Comments: Guido Martinotti, University of Milan, Italy Cecilia Tacoli, IIED, UK   17h00-17h30 Closing session Geneviève Domenach-Chich Chief of Human Habitat Unit Division of Social Sciences, Research and Policy Sector of Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO Vincent Hoffmann-Martinot, Symposium Programme Coordinator CERVL-CNRS/IEP, Bordeaux For more information, please contact: Geneviève Domenach-Chich Chef de l'Unité Ville et Habitat Humain (VHH) Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme Fax: +33 (0)1 45 68 57 28 E-mail: g.domenach-chich@unesco.org

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