The 9th World Congress of Metropolis held in Sydney from 22 to 25 October 2008 hailed great success with:

• 600 formal delegates
• 800 people at the opening ceremony
• 500 school students involved
• 400 delegates attending satellite events
• 350 members of the public attending the open forum Agora
• 5 dedicated Metropolis research books published
• 10 thousand copies of the research books distributed
• 25 Congress Partners and 12 Industry Partners
• 80 cities represented

Overall, the Congress featured 58 sessions and gathered approximately 150 speakers. Additionally, the Congress held social events at such remarkable venues as Sydney Opera House and the Overseas Passenger Terminal. The press conferences and the media results include the front- page sory in the Sydney Morning Herald, articles in all major Sydney Metropolitan Newspapers, local television and radio coverage including Channel 7 and ABC TV, SBS radio interviews in many languages.;

The Board of Directors and the General Assembly of Metropolis 2008 met in Sydney with participation of a high number of members: 16 out of the 21 members of the board and 48 members of the General Assembly.

The General Assembly elected a new Board of Directors for 2008-2011, reelecting president Jean Paul Huchon, president of the Ile de France region. Also members of the board are: Abidjan, Antananarivo, Barcelona, Berlin, Melbourne, Estado de Mexico, Montreal, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Havana, Istanbul, Moscow, Brussels, Stockholm, Guangzhou, Cairo, Toronto, Bamako and Rabat. Metropolis also approved its representation in UCLG, as metropolitan section of UCLG.

The Board of Directors, among other agreements, accepted 15 new members: Beijing, Daegu, Dalian, Harbin, Hunan, Incheon, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Surabaya, Taichung and Taipei from CGLU-ASPAC, Isfahan, Madrid and Mexico D.F. Metropolis currently has a total of 106 active members.

The General Assembly approved the Action Plan 2009-2011. The plan faces three key challenges for the future of the cities: managing urban growth; bridging territorial, economic, social, environmental and cultural sustainability gaps; fostering metropolitan innovation and governance. The plan aims toward fostering alliances between metropolitan governments and the private sector, in order to find solutions to the challenges of the metropolises.
Among the decisions and activities of the Plan, it is necessary to highlight:

The approval of Barcelona as permanent headquarters for the General Secretariat and the continuity of the regional secretariats in Montreal, Ile de France, Sao Paulo, Abidjan and Melbourne. Metropolis has decided as well to reevaluate its regional organization, especially in Asia and the Middle East.

The creation of delegations for the International Institute of Metropolis in Seoul and Mashhad, which will be complemented with other branches in Cairo and Moscow, in order to bring the training activities closer to the members of the different regions.

Metropolis also approved the priority issues for the 2009-2011 Action Plan, and appointed the cities coordinating each issue: Urban Innovation (Barcelona); Technical and financial assistance (Ile de France); Integrated urban socio-economical development (Berlin); Managing urban growth (Melbourne); Eco-regions (Ile-de-France); Women’s network (Montreal); Megacities (Mexico D.F.).

Metropolis approved a three year extension of the collaboration agreement with the US Conference of Mayors (USCM). President Huchon and Mayor Chavez from Albuquerque, on behalf of USCM, signed the agreement.

Metropolis approved to continue its international representation tasks as well as the collaboration with institutions such as: UN-Habitat, Cities Alliance, World Bank, and ICLEI, in addition to UCLG.

In the context of the intense work done by Sydney in China and India for the Congress 2008, Metropolis will foster a campaign for attracting new members and for increasing the participation of the Asian metropolises in the association.

Metropolis approved launching a proposal for a summit of political leaders of the metropolises, with the aim of bringing a higher global political visibility to metropolises and its leaders.

The General Assembly approved the Congress 2011 to be hosted in the city of Cairo. The next Board of Directors 2009 will be held in Moscow on May 20th – 23rd 2009.

Finally, the assembly members approved the Sydney 2008 Congress declaration, from which we estate the following on the financial crisis and the climate change:

The metropolises engage to maintain and pursue the development of cities creating, at the moment of a financial crisis of unknown amplitude that will have repercussions on metropolises, an instrument of technical assistance and financial expertise which enables cities to apply for local and international funding.

They call on Mayors and local governments to provide leadership in combating climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and work with other government levels toward finding answers to the consequences of climate change and energy crisis.;

For further information:www.metropoliscongress2008.com