Metropolitan GoveMetropolitan Governance International Conference, organized by Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center, Kadıköy City Council and Friedrich Naumann Foundation Istanbul Office was held on 21-22 May, 2010 in Istanbul. Around of 100 participants attended this conference, including leading local and foreign academicians, representatives of public institutions, participants from non-governmental organizations and experts.

The conference has been designed to explore how strategy-making and governance arrangements at the metropolitan municipality can help to effectively address the main chal­lenges faced by local and central governments. Due to the high population and the impact of economic and socio-cultural structures, metro­politan cities are recognized, as right units, to design and implement more effective development strategies and governance mechanisms.

In order to achieve an most effective exchange of experiences, and thus be able to draw conclusions, the sessions of the conference have been designed to work on the basis of practical examples, case studies, which enabled them to consider the single theme of metropolitan governance through different aspects.

During the course of the conference, speakers underlined the pressing need for continuous learning and development of adequate forms of governance. Since metropolitan cities are the major centers of spatial development, economic activities and social interaction, they are the critical “hot spots” for future social and economic development. The speakers also stressed that the challenges for metropolitan governance could only be meet with governance models developed by active monitoring of ongoing change process in big cities.

Two-day conference run under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Korel Koymen, brought together experts and academicians from Turkey and European universities. Foreign speakares and their presentations were as follows: Prof. Dr. Yves Cabannes, University College London, presented a paper on Metropolitan Governance: Current challenges and lessons learned from selected metropolitan areas and city-regions in the world; Prof. Dr. Anthony Travers, London School of Economics, informed about the Governance of London; Joan Clos, Former Mayor of Barcelona, Spanish Amabassador to Turkey introduced Barcelona Metropolitan Governance; Michael Theurer, Member of European Parliament presented European Metropolitan Regions: Solid Base for a green and smart economy; Prof. Dr. Hubert Heinelt, Darmstadt Universityal talked on Different Approaches in Metropolitan Governance; Prof. Dr. Panos Getimis, Athens Panteon University, paper was on Metropolitan Reform Attempt in Athens Justified by the Olympics; Dr. Karsten Zimmerman, Darmstadt University, presented a paper on Metropolitan Governance in the Stuttgart Region: A Unique Model for Governing Metropolitan Regions?