European city leaders visit High Wycombe to learn of urban renewal

Municipal leaders from across Europe are visiting a city in southeast England to see its urban regeneration story.

A four-day visit to High Wycombe sees 21 leaders of nine city regions in seven European countries visit the city’s new academic buildings at Bucks New University, the impact of a major local shopping centre, and future city redevelopment plans. Visiting the city located around 30 miles northwest of London include representatives from Naples, Trieste, Riga and Dublin.

Meetings will take place with the leader of local Wycombe District Council, Richard Scott, and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Bucks New University, Professor Ruth Farwell, amongst others. The visit is part of the European Regional Development Fund’s URBACT II (Urban Action) project which brings together European urban areas to share best practices and increase knowledge of sustainable town planning.

In comments carried by local radio station ‘mix 96’, the business development manager at Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Jim Sims, said international collaboration was key to the future of spatial planning and urban design. LEPs see local councils and business co-operate to determine local infrastructure investment priorities.

Sims said: “The connections that are established will be used to support future European funding applications not only in town planning, but also in the fields of integrated housing and in the use of smart data in multi-million programmes such as Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 funding schemes.”

The visit takes place between 25-28 January 2015.