Russia wins bid to host IPHS 2020 Conference

Russia is to host the International Planning History Society Conference for the first time thanks to a collaborative effort of the Russian Convention Bureau and the Concord Group supported by the Roscongress Foundation. Moscow’s World Trade Center was the designated venue in the bid for the IPHS 2020 conference, which will take place 1–5 July 2020 under the theme ‘City Space Transformation: Renovation of The Urban Environment’. The decision to hold the conference in Moscow was made at the meeting of Programme Committee of the Society on 15 July in Yokohama (Japan). Other bidders for the conference were Lübeck (Germany) and Oslo (Norway). The Russian presentation was made by a representative of the International Society, professor of urban planning and design department at the Moscow Architectural Institute (MARKHI) Alexey Krasheninnikov, together with chair of the board of directors of the Concord Group Natalya Evnevich. The International Planning History Society Conference is held biennially and traditionally draws around 1,000 delegates from around the globe. Adviser to the president of the Russian Federation, Anton Kobyakov, praised this initial success from the national convention bureau, which was launched just six months ago: “As a rule, the first two-three years [national] congress bureaus focus on their own development and promotion to internal and external markets: uniting the industry participants, creating their own platform, shaping a development strategy and outreach work. “The Russian Convention Bureau opted for a difficult path, starting with international associations and bids for bringing international events to the country. Before long, through joint efforts, they managed to bring such a significant event to Russia.” Alexey Kalachev, CEO of the RCB,  said: “As of today we have already submitted eight applications for diverse industrial and scientific international events and more that 50 events are already underway. “We view the international events not only from the socio-economic perspective: tax revenues to the budget, new jobs, new assignments for all segments of meetings industry, but also as an additional tool for developing the economy itself, primarily through knowledge, technologies and export/import solutions.”