New Procedure
Any allocation of our events is often a hard choice. This is true for the World University Championships, for the Forums, and even more so for the Universiades. Under the impetus of our President, Mr. George E. Killian, these allocations will now be subject to a procedure which is meant to be as strict as possible. And even so, it can be complicated to manage the applications of candidates who, of course, want to emphasize their assets and increase the number of requests and put pressure on the members of our Executive Committee who take the decision. To date, the tradition was to choose our future Universiades, both Summer and Winter, just before the opening of a Winter Universiade and to make the announcement on the site of the games themselves.
This procedure has become too cumbersome for the FISU staff and for the Organizing Committee of the Winter Universiade in question, which would have to host all the candidates. In agreement with our Executive Committee, our President has therefore decided to make this allocation a separate event that will be taken in charge by the headquarters in Brussels. The next two Universiades for 2013 will inaugurate this new selection system. The choice will be made on May 31 this year. The procedure was launched on September 1st, 2007 and the applicant cities have until 31 March 31st, 2008 to present their files to FISU and pay the application fees.  

The Candidates
The cities of Kazan (Russia), Gwangju (Korea) and Vigo (Spain) have applied for the organization of the 2013 Summer Universiade, and for the Winter we have the city of Maribor (Slovenia) after the withdrawal of Almaty (Kazakhstan).
The Evaluation Committee, consisting of the members of the FISU Executive Committee, have spent a fair amount of time this spring inspecting the various towns mentioned above.
Clearly, the result of these inspections will not make the job any easier for the members of the Executive Committee who will have to take a decision about the allocation of the upcoming Universiades. In fact, the applicant cities all have very good assets to put forward and they all deserve a positive choice. 

Gwangju
Proud of its 1100 years of history, Gwangju became a city in 1948 with the establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea, and was placed under direct control of the State in 1986. Today this is a metropolis with 1 420 000 inhabitants, and is one of the seven largest cities in Korea.
Gwangju, an educational focal point in the Republic of Korea currently has 414, 239 primary, secondary and higher education students representing 29.4% of the total town population. Seven vocational training schools train 35 319 students, the nine universities enrol 82, 322, and 49 postgraduate schools 16, 672, for total of 134, 313 students in 62 university-level establishments: there's no denying that Gwangju is a college city.
Since 1995, the town has organized the Gwangju biennale, an international art festival. The Kimchi Festival of Gwangju and the international music festival Jeong Yul Seong also take place here, among others. In 2009, three other worldwide festivals will settle here, one of which is the Gwangju Festival of Light.
The size and geographic characteristics of Gwangju are as follows: total area is 501,41 km2; the city is divided into five districts.
Geographically, it is located in the centre of the Southwest region of the Korean Republic. It runs 34.3 km from east to west and 23.1 km from north to south. The altitude here is 12 m and the climate is pleasant – which is encouraging for good sports performances. 

Gwangju 2013
http://2013gwangju.com/index.php 

Vigo
Vigo is the largest fishing port in Spain. Most of the city's activity concentrates on the sea. Among other sectors are leather, wood, paper and sugar. The atmosphere and the climate of the town are very pleasant and it has many cultural facilities: museums, libraries, theatres, … among the sports facilities, the Nautico club is admired by all pleasure boaters. Vigo also has a large stadium and many multipurpose facilities.
In southwest Galicia, it is the largest urban centre in Pontevedra Province.
The economic and industrial prosperity of the city has spilled over to other sectors like culture and education. Consequently Vigo is the cultural capital of Galicia.
In fact, Vigo is not just a fishing port, it is a modern dynamic industrial city of about 300,000. Cultural life here is characterized by avant-garde trends in art, literature, music and design.
Vigo is also a city with a long and rich history. Tourist attractions of all kinds abound. You can visit the neo-classical Santa Maria collegiate church, the Quinones de Leon Museum with major collections of paintings. The El Castro fort, Guia, and Madroa, and the "castrelos" park with its outdoor auditorium are also worth a visit.
Vigo's application is supported by the Spanish University Sports Federation CEDU,. "Buena suerte" Vigo. 

Vigo 2013
http://www.universiadavigo.com/  

Kazan
Capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, the city of Kazan is in the centre of the Russian Federation in the plains of Eastern European. It is near the confluence of the Volga and Kama Rivers. The population is roughly 1.3 millions inhabitants. With an area of 67,836 km2, the republic has no borders with foreign states. It has a moderate continental climate (the average maximum temperature in July is 19° Celsius). The city of Kazan and the vicinity offer a pleasant environment consisting essentially of forests.
Kazan is one of the largest scientific and educational centres in Russia. In terms of the number of students, it is the second largest in the country.
Kazan State University was the third university founded in Russia, after that of Moscow and St. Petersburg. This is one of the 30 institutes of higher education of the city.
The historical and cultural heritage of Kazan is unique – it is among the cities in the "A" category in Unesco's world heritage list. From its rich past, Kazan also draws its originality. It has a multicultural population. This harmonious mingling can also be found in the many different religions practiced by the population.
The Russian Federation already organized a Universiade in 1973 in Moscow (at the time we still used the expression Soviet Union). Today, the Russian University Sports Union (RSSU) supports Kazan in this second application. We wish it every success... 

Kazan 2013
http://www.kazan2013.com/  

Maribor
The Slovenian Republic is one of the smallest countries in Europe. It is strategically located in the centre of the continent, bounded by Italy on the West, Austria on the north, Hungary on the Northeast and Croatia on the south. It has a population of 20 million inhabitants who live in an area of 20,000 km2. Wherever you come from (in Europe), Slovenia is not very far away: 230 km from Vienna, 240 km from Budapest, 460 km from Milan. Its very intensive road and railway network make it easily accessible. Slovenia has been independent since 1991 and has acquired a reputation as a stable democracy enjoying a booming economy. Slovenia became a member of the European Union in 2005.

Maribor is the second largest city in the country, huddled in the Drava Valley named after the river running through it. The altitude is 300 m and the city is protected by a mountain range called "Pohorje". The nearby mountains make Maribor a well-known winter sports resort. Skiing is very popular, which comes as no surprise knowing that Maribor has a magnificent and very large skiing domain. Other winter sports are not forgotten; the city also has a large number of skating rinks. The sports tradition extends to all seasons of the year, since Maribor is also very well equipped in summer sports facilities. The brand new Slovenian University Sports Association joined FISU in 1997 and it is off to a great start as it supports the application of Maribor, for which we hope it will be very successful.  

Maribor 2013
http://www.universiademaribor.org/