Future Cities Conference for Sustainable Urban Development to Attract International Experts

Dubai Municipality and Environmental Center for Arab Towns (ECAT) join hands with Informa Exhibitions, the organizers of Cityscape Global to launch Future Cities Conference and Expo during September 27 -29 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The conference aims to provide a platform for discussion on the development of a sustainable urban landscape.

As two-thirds of world's population is expected to be living in urban locations, the cities must learn to quickly develop sustainable infrastructure that does not take away from its culture and heritage. The Future Cities event will see many of the challenges and possible solutions debated at its conference this month. Internationally acclaimed experts will be participating in the two-day conference and one day of post conference workshops, taking place alongside Cityscape Global at DICEC.

Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality, will deliver the keynote speech in the conference. The executives from Masdar, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change from Switzerland, Birmingham City Council UK, Sao Paulo City Hall Brazil and the United States House of Representatives will be attending.

Lootah said current cities of 21st-century must evolve from their existing form into centres of progress that will serve as the force for national and global advancement. No single entity can do this alone; it will take individuals, businesses and all levels of government working together to achieve these goals. Leaders of the future have the responsibility to make this transition happen and must have the courage to lead.

Jon C. Porter, Former Congressman, United States House of Representatives; president & CEO, Porter Group USA will be delivering a presentation on strategies for tourism and events.

"The next generation cities must provide abundant cost-effective transportation options, promote economic growth leveraging each city's unique competitive advantages, build safe and affordable housing that increases citizen mobility, and encourage the livelihood of unique and diverse neighbourhoods," Jon said.

The vision for Dubai's development over the upcoming years will also be revealed, as Dubai Municipality will present the opening session of the conference. The presentation by Eng. Lootah will outline the vision and strategy for Dubai over the next 30 years, including areas of focus and what initiatives will be put in place to drive forward a sustainable strategy.

The conference will also a cover a number of key topics, pertinent to the devising of sustainable urban city developments, including affordable housing, tourism, infrastructure, mobility and branding.

Mohammed Mahmood Al Noori, Director of ECAT said sustainability and economic diversity are fundamentally interlinked. In order to be sustainable, economies cannot rely solely on natural resources. Looking far beyond the immediate, our government recognised the importance of reducing the overdependence on the nation's natural resources of oil and gas.

"Today, this sector contributes only four per cent to the UAE's GDP. Activities such as trade, transport, tourism, industry, finance and development of free zones have steadily developed over the years, making the UAE a more diversified economy. This proves that nurturing innovation across all industry sectors with a long-term perspective remains crucial for a country's progress," he said.

Rohan Marwaha, Managing Director of Cityscape said Dubai is often referred to as one of the world's fastest growing cities, and it provides a fantastic backdrop against which to launch this new conference programme. People are increasingly making the choice to live within an urban city environment, and so it is vital to ensure that as this trend continues to pick up pace, city planners, developers and local authorities are up to speed with how their city can be developed sustainably.