ABSTRACT
During the Holland Festival in June 2015 the Mayor of Amsterdam, Eberhard van der Laan, talked about his vision of the future capital of Europe. This speech formed part of ‘ein tag und eine stunde in urbo kune’, a 25-hour event that took place in the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam. Urbo kune means ‘the common city’ in Esperanto, and it was inspired by the ‘Manifesto for the founding of the capital of the United States of Europe’ by the Czech architect Jan Tabor. ‘Ein tag und eine stunde in urbo kune’ is an artistic exploration of a cultural capital of Europe with music performances, exhibitions and lectures. The Mayor of Amsterdam was asked if he could provide a description of his ‘dreamed European city’. He gave his answer in a speech at the start of the event. We reproduce the text here in English translation:
