|
07 e 08 aprile 2009
"City managers and planners from the
world’s leading cities including Seoul, Lyon, Paris, Mumbai, Beijing,
Jeddah, Riyadh and San Francisco will meet in Abu Dhabi next month
to debate and determine the blueprint for successful urban living
over the next 10 to 100 years.
This high-profile set of municipal leaders will participate in the
Mayors Panel of Global City 2009, the two-day international forum
scheduled for April 7 – 8 at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi.
The Global City 2009 conference, currently in its fourth edition, is
taking place in the Middle East for the first time.
The Mayors Panel, addressing ‘the factors of success for a city in
10 years vs. 100 years,’ will feature the Municipal Commissioner of
Mumbai, Dr. J. M. Phatak; Lyon mayor Gérard Collomb; Paul Bevan,
Secretary General of Eurocities, Belgium; Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon and
Patrick Devedjian, Minister responsible for economic stimulus plan,
France and President of the World Business Districts Network for
Sustainable Development, among others.
According to Mr. Devedjian, "Economic progress has moved faster than
our awareness of the environment around us. However several events
in the recent past have alerted us to the risks our environment
faces. Previously, business districts did not successfully integrate
sustainability into their developmental policies. But in the future,
business districts have to become an alternative model of society by
laying strong emphasis on sustainability."
"In recent years many cities around the world have experienced
unprecedented growth and revival in infrastructure, tourism,
industry, service or residential projects. However, this wave of
development is not always in keeping with the core nature of our
cities and could lead to long-term concerns such as sprawl and
congestion," said Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai, Dr. J. M. Phatak.
.
"Over the long-term, positioning our cities as ideal destinations
for residents, businesses and visitors is a top priority for city
leaders and I look forward to the solutions and insights that Global
City will offer," added Dr. Phatak
According to Frederic Theux, President, Reed Exhibitions Middle
East, organisers of Global City in Abu Dhabi, "Earlier, cities
evolved over centuries, whereas now, they have to rapidly adapt to
coping with expanding population and the overall fast pace of
development. Perhaps at no other time in history has there been as
much pressure on cities to compete to be hubs for business, culture,
lifestyle and living. We expect the Mayors’ Panel to be a useful
guide to best practices and future solutions for the region’s urban
planners,"
In addition to the Mayors’ panel, Global City 2009 organisers, Reed
Exhibitions will also host a ‘Leaders’ Summit,’ a collaborative
platform for new ideas and thinking on mobility patterns in modern
cities. The closed-door summit is organised in partnership with the
French Forum for Urban Management (FGV) and the City on the Move
Institute.
"Mobility of citizens, goods and information has strongly influenced
city development over the years," said Ludovica Sarram, Conference
Manager, Reed Exhibitions Middle East, quoting the example of
elevators paving the way for skyscrapers and trams allowing the
creation of the first suburbs. "Similarly, information technology
will play a strong role in defining mobility patterns in the 21st
century," added Sarram.
Other highlights of the Global City 2009 programme include keynote
sessions by Saskia Sassen, Robert S. Lund Professor of Sociology at
Columbia University, USA and Richard Florida, City Guru and Founder
of advisory services firm, Creative Class Group.
In a session moderated by Pooran Desai, One Planet Living Technical
Director and Co-Founder of BioRegional, UK, the UAE’s Dr. Sultan Al
Jaber, CEO of Masdar; Aamer Bashir, First Assistant to the Mayor of
Amman; Tian Ye, Deputy President, Tianjin Planning Institute,
Tianjin Eco-city, China and Tatiana Bosteels, Head of Responsible
Property Investment, Hermes Real Estate Investment Management
Limited, UK, will highlight the growth of innovative
eco-neighbourhoods and discuss how the guiding principles of these
eco-clusters can be applied to transforming entire cities..
Other sessions at Global City 2009 will focus on globalization of
the world’s sustainable cities, culture and immigration as drivers
for a successful city, city branding, developing sustainable
downtown areas, smart cities and public transport.
Reed Exhibitions will also organise specialised workshops at Global
City 2009 on the array of business opportunities that are made
available as cities pursue their sustainability agenda. The
workshops, conducted by Cisco, Siemens, EUROCITIES, Lord Cultural
Services and EPAD (La Defense, Paris), among other organisations,
will provide participants a platform for speed networking and
information sharing.
Global City 2009 is sponsored and supported by the Abu Dhabi Council
for Economic Development (ADCED) and the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning
Council (UPC). Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real
Estate are platinum sponsors of the event.
Global City is the only international forum where public and private
leaders exchange best practices and share sustainable urban
strategies. The next edition of this unique networking platform
dedicated to mayors, urban planners, decision-makers and leaders,
will be held in Abu Dhabi 7-8 April 2009 and marks the event’s debut
in the Middle East. Reed launched Global City in 2005 in Cannes,
France, and the second and third editions of the event were held in
Lyon in 2006 and 2007. The last Global City, held in May 2007 with
the slogan of "Creating a sustainable future for our cities",
attracted about 900 participants from 46 countries to hear urban
planning solutions adopted by cities from around the world" ( CS del
Forum ) .
Nelle foto, i tre keynote speakers:
Oh Seh-hoon
Patrick Devedijan
 JM
Phatak
|
