 He has a Doctorate in Law and a Doctorate in Economics from the Catholic University of Louvain and is Dr. honoris causa of the Napier University, Edinburgh.Laconte is one of the three planners in charge of the "Groupe Urbanisme & Architecture".This Group was responsible for the master plan and the architectural co-ordination of Louvain-la-Neuve, a pedestrian new university town developed from 1968 on by the University on agricultural land, around a new railway station, 25 km South of Brussels.