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New Towns New Narratives, European Project

Following on from the New Towns Arrival Cities project which completed in 2019, and the New Towns Sports Cities project which completed in 2022, Milton Keynes is once again involved in a European project sharing and benefitting from a network of new towns and cities from across Europe, including Chemnitz in Germany and Nova Gorica in Slovenia, who are the two prestigious 2025 holders of European Capital of Culture.

Milton Keynes - the 'Design City'

Milton Keynes has the prestige of being the largest new town ever designed in the UK and one of the largest in Europe.

Based on a North American grid road model, it represents the pinnacle of the government-led national post-war planning movement which sought to rebuild the country after World War II, accommodating a growing population against the background of bombed cities.  A city originally planned for 250,000 people, expertly delivered by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in conjunction with famous and talented architects and urban planners, it is connected by an unrivalled green framework covering almost 40% of the land use.

International admiration

Loved by its residents, Milton Keynes is admired internationally, and a steady stream of people come here to seek to learn its lessons. As we move forward with more growth, planned regeneration and the need for how we will live to address a climate emergency, Milton Keynes is working with other new towns across the UK and Europe to show how our unique designs can help meet these challenges we all share and offer solutions to each other, giving our residents the best possible place to live, work and play.

New Towns, Arrival Cities partner

Milton Keynes City Council, led by its culture team, has been a ‘Mentor City’ partner in the 'New Towns, New Narratives’ project, which is funded with the support of the European Union under the Citizen, Equalities, Rights and Values Network of Towns Programme.

The two-year project is led by the International New Town Institute with the primary aim for new towns to learn how the heritage of its people’s stories and green spaces can help inform better neighbourhoods as they transform into modern new cities.

The project sees specialists from heritage, culture, architecture, planning and other professions drawn from 14 new towns and cities and 12 countries across Europe, to form a new Network. Together, the cities are collectively exploring their social, cultural and community heritage through archives, personal stories, buildings architecture and green spaces to find solutions for their ongoing transformation.

The Project has seen 5 Labs in Nissewaard (Netherlands), Grand Paris Sud (France), Drumul Taberei (Romania), Chemnitz (Germany) and Nowa Huta (Poland) each exploring a different theme and finding solutions to a real challenge the host city and two other cities all want help on. Working together, the group workshops ideas and potential solutions, offering ways in which our shared heritage is both valued and used in contemporary applications. A final sixth lab will take place in the European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica in October 2025.

Report learnings

To find out more about the new towns and cities, the challenges and potential solutions click New Towns New Narratives Lab Reports.

Milton Keynes has also produced its own reports for each of the Labs to date, summarising the learning and its application into Milton Keynes to benefit people living, visiting and working here. NOTE – These are all Documents loaded onto the system to click through to.  I will provide these.

- Lab#1  Nissewaard, Netherlands 20 – 22 Mar 2024: The Transformation of Identity.

- Lab#2  Grand Paris Sud, France 29 – 31 May 2024: Just and Inclusive Green Transitions.

- Lab#3   Drumul Taberei, Romania 2 – 4 Oct 2024: Informal (Green) Practices.

- Lab#4   Chemnitz, Germany 5 – 7 Mar 2025: Telling the Story, of Everyone.

- Lab#5   Nowa Huta, Poland 4 – 6 Jun 2025: The Social Redesign of Space.

The project has already been very successful, with partners wishing to extend the network beyond project end in 2026.  The final lab, the project exhibition and project publication launch will take place in Nova Gorica, Slovenia on 15 – 17 October 2025. It is envisaged the final report will be published in early 2026.

Partners of the project 

• Milton Keynes Council
• University of Padua
• Municipality of Sabaudia
• Grand Paris Sud
• School of Architecture, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
• Municipality of Vällingby
• Municipality of Nissewaard
• Aarhus School of Architecture (Municipality of Aarhus (https://aarhus.dk/)
• International New Town Institute

For Milton Keynes, the project was a great success, building new networks across Europe and the UK with Milton Keynes in a leading role, testing new ides and encouraging new local projects that are benefitting our citizens,  The research also contributed to a 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Report by the MK Arts and Heritage Alliance to offer recommendations to how Milton Keynes cultural sector could work together on these issues.

A further benefit from the partnership is that Milton Keynes has helped to create a new project, New Town Sports Cities, which has recently been funded by the EU for new towns, led by Grand Paris Sud in France.  Four new towns will work together in 2021 and 2022, using sports and culture to promote more active citizens, increase mobility and access to sports and cultural activity and to build on the Milton Keynes European City of Sport 2020 Legacy.