As early as the second meeting in London on 5 April 1976, an agreement in principle was reached about the statutes. The more modest British set-up was chosen. The aim of the organization was: In view of the problems of urbanisation in developed and developing countries throughout the world; the need to develop better communities for people in urban societies; and the promise of New Town concepts, machinery and methods in helping to meet this need: a) to serve as a point of exchange of information on problems of new community development and b) to encourage the resolution of problems encountered in new communities through the active involvement of the members of the Association. * 

INTA would restrict itself to encouraging exchange of information between members with regard to new towns, advising research institutes active in this field, making dispersed information centrally available, producing periodic reports on new developments and organizing periodic congresses.

Apgar’s proposal for a core of institutional voting members was adopted. Above all, INTA must become an organization of professionals. Voting members were private or public organizations, at national, regional and local levels that dealt with the development, construction and exploitation of new towns, ranging from ministries to developers. In line with the spirit of the times, the emphasis lay strongly on government.

Choosing a location involved a lot of thought. The criteria were: an international character, the presence of allied institutions, judicial options for location, the prospect of subsidies, costs and the availability of office space. To begin with, there was a preference for The Hague, largely because IFHP was located there. *  Other candidates were London and Geneva. Under pressure from the UK and the USA, the choice fell on London during the meeting in Paris, because this city had the most international character. *  The political objections of the two East Bloc members were disregarded.

Paris’s absence from the list of candidate cities is remarkable, particularly because the Paris meeting was dedicated to the choice of location. One possible explanation lies in the requirement that the General Secretary may not have the nationality of the location and at that moment, the temporary secretariat was in French hands. *  During the meeting on 28 June 1976, INTA was officially registered in Paris as an international organization by the ‘founding members’: the UK, France and the USA. The temporary secretariat moved to London in mid-1977 and until December of that year, work was carried out on the deed of formation in line with English law. *  In 1979, the office in London had to be given up due to financial problems.

In 1981, the choice was ultimately made for The Hague as location, mainly because the city council and the government pledged significant support.