The Nordic Urban Assembly 2018 was the last of NUDAs many international conferences produced and arranged since the inagural “Cities of Tomorrow” in 2006. The two day event provided insights and keynotes speakers first time introduced in Norway.

To grow knowledge, there is a need to be part of a wider network where new ideas and perspectives are nurtured and channelled into constructive discussions. NUDA do not believe that individual thoughts are the only way to great solutions. The collaborative strengths of multiple minds and knowledge has proven to expand great visions and perspectives amongst urban designers to search towards innovative ideas, sustainable methods, and distinctiveness.

One of the issues urban design struggles with is the issue of being too unclear as a profession. This makes it impossible to explain urban design in less than half a page, which again makes it difficult for those who are not familiar with the broad scope of competence that urban design as a collective unit actually possesses, to understand and use urban design skills. To be able to fit this program and make it clear and focused, Nordic Urban Design Awards Foundation is depending on the global network of knowledge providing the best ideas and experiences from all over the world. 

It will then be Our mission to abstract these ideas and use the best to stake out the clear role of Urban Design, especially relevant to the Nordic setting. NUDAs network covers the Nordic region, UK, Scotland, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, USA, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Baltic regions, and France, and still expands strategically through new collaborative partnerships, projects, and research programs. The power of networks is so evident that avoiding possibilities to fuse ideas with other organizations and professions could result in a silent death to the essence of Urban Design as how it was intended to bridge a gap between architecture and planning in the 1960s.

NUDA is a The Network of Knowledge and will thrive to strengthen this in the future to come, also with the purpose of creating great business opportunities through our three services areas.