EXPERTS from all over the world descended on the North-East yesterday to try to work out ways to improve city life.
About 100 delegates from Australia, Africa, Canada, Europe and the Middle East attended a two-day conference at Northumbria University.
The academics, planners and local authority officials examined a number of global environmental and social issues which affect life in the world's conurbations, in the first international conference on sustainability.
Organised by Northumbria University's Sustainable Cities Research Institute, in conjunction with its partners at home and abroad, the conference - Susplan 2001 - was held at the Civic Centre, Newcastle.
Dr Mark Mawhinney, director of Northumbria's Sustainable Cities Research Institute, said: "This truly international conference involves a range of people, from planning experts to public health consultants, and is a first in bringing together such a diverse range of specialists.
"By bringing together such a range of expertise, we hope to be able to offer some radical new solutions to some of the world's key problems.''
The Sustainable Cities Research Institute was established by Northumbria University two years ago to improve the quality of life of urban communities through developing and promoting sustainable approaches to urban living.
It recognises that if cities are to survive and prosper in the 21st Century they will need to be economically efficient, socially integrated and environmentally friendly.
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