The IMPACTS Europe association was founded to meet the challenges for urban mobility and transport policies by strengthening high-level strategic collaboration amongst these cities. The association first grew out of the common interest of London, Paris, and New York to exchange information and experience on Urban Mobility and Transport Policies. This led to the first InterContinental Conference in New York in July 1996. The founder members continued to meet and in 1998 formalised the association at an assembly of city delegates in Brussels.
IMPACTS Europe quickly joined forces with major metropolitan cities in North America to form IMPACTS North America – creating an international network to exchange information and experience on Urban Mobility and Transport Policies. Over the years the network has grown to include links with Latin America where in 2004 many of the major cities signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form IMPACTS Latin America.
While IMPACTS North America and Latin America are not active at the moment, IMPACTS Europe members have used the network over the years to enrich bilateral and multilateral cooperation between their cities and work on joint projects and maintain their links through contact at the annual conferences.