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The centenary the birth of Otto Koenigsberger (1908-1999), the first ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Professor of Development Planning and founder of the Development Planning Unit (DPU), was celebrated on 6 October 2008, World Habitat Day.

A panel of current and former ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº DPU staff - Professor Patrick Wakely, Michael Safier, Professor Yves Cabannes and Caren Levy - reflected on his influence and the impact of his life and work in an open discussion.

Otto Koenigsberger was a polymath, whose contributions ranged from: building physics and design in tropical climates to the formulation of self-help policies for the improvement of urban slums; the planning and building of new towns to the development of national urban policies in the context of rapid growth and change; advising on professional and technical training to the establishment of university institutions.

He was one of the founders of modern urban-development planning in the rapidly growing cities of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. He played a major part in the establishment of the United Nations Centre for Planning, Building and Housing, which later became the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the first UN Conference on Human Settlements (1976). He started the School of Tropical Architecture at the Architectural Association (1954) and later the Development Planning Unit in ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº (1971).

Top image: Otto Koenigsberger

Bottom image: Professor Yves Cabannes, Caren Levy, Renate Koenigsberger, Michael Safier and Professor Patrick Wakely