Opening of the Conference

Dr. Klaus Hug, President of the Academia Engelberg Foundation, welcomed the numerous guests to the eleventh conference. He poetically cited pieces of writers and scholars such as Al-Farabi. As early as in the 9th century, Al-Farabi discovered that the perfect city resembles an ex-cellent and healthy body. “All organs work together in order to complete and maintain the existence of the organism.” All around the world, people are rushing to cities. More than half of the world’s population lives in urban centers and the trend continues. The world’s urbanization is one of the most powerful movements of our time. Klaus Hug said that we face a two-sided task: On the one hand, cities have to be re-invented, especially in developing countries; and on the other hand, cities have to be modernized in Europe and the US where they have already been built. According to Klaus Hug, the 2012 Engelberg conference brought up a comprehensive topic for discussion. However, it is also a fascinating, or even fantastic task to work on what Doug Sanders calls “the power of the city, the powerful force for social and economic mobility”.

Prior Guido Muff of the Engelberg Abbey gave a warm welcome to the speakers and participants of the conference in the alpine village of Engelberg and the abbey. The Benedictine monks have wit-nessed the development and changes of the monastery village for 900 years. It has always been a crucial issue for the order: How can we shape the town where we live and treat it carefully? An abbey is not only a place to pray but also a place to think. He referred thereby to the numerous books that can be found in the abbey library – amongst them also medieval writings on urban development. The Prior wished everybody exiting days and invited the congress participants to enjoy the days and the beautiful nature of Engelberg – apart from the intensive presentations.