A significant proportion of people in both Asia and Europe live in water based cities, where rivers, lakes and coastlines are important physical, environmental and economic determinants for city life quality. Water supply, water for recreation, water for sanitation, water for transportation and problems such as flooding and erosion or water borne diseases are examples of how city life quality is influenced by water availability and management. Water based cities are naturally and historically important for human creativity and economic development and pose major challenges in terms of for example wealth, equity, welfare and health to both nations and regions. In addition, handled well, water environments represent an extraordinary resource for water-based cities, because a creative use of it can attract investment and lead to economic, social and cultural growth.

The specific project objective is to upgrade the competencies of professionals who are already in city management positions, and to improve the education of university graduates, who will fill public and private positions that influence city life quality in the future. The project aims to increase the co-operation between cities and universities within the field of UQDM by a number of activities. The five universities and the four city managements will together examine existing physical, social and economic infrastructures and identify bottlenecks, barriers and deficiencies in on-going urban development processes. On the basis of this material, and building on interdisciplinary and problem-oriented and project-based teaching methodologies, new continued education programmes for city managements, including a new International Master Degree Programme in "Urban Quality Development and Management" and revised curricula at universities will be developed and tested. The project will establish an international university consortium to enhance intercultural and interdisciplinary development and the interaction between universities and cities (theory and practice) in the field of UQDM.