Building tomorrow’s cities today
Future Cities conference attracts international experts to discuss the sustainable development of tomorrow’s world

Dubai, UAE. 8/9/2011

With two-thirds of the world’s population expected to be living in urban locations, cities must learn to quickly develop sustainable infrastructure that does not take away from its culture and heritage.  The debut event of Future Cities 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 the Dubai International Conference and Exhibition Centre. Jointly organised with Dubai Municipality and the Environmental Center for Arab Towns (ECAT), the conference aims to provide a platform for discussion on the development of a sustainable urban landscape.
Joining keynote speaker, H.E Hussain Nasser Lootah, director general at Dubai Municipality, will C-suite 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.

The Honorable 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. He said: "The Next Generation Cities must provide abundant cost-effective transportation options, promote economic growth by 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. 

“Current 21st-century cities must evolve from their current form, a model that has changed very little in the last 50 years, into centres of progress that will serve as the driving 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 and not follow."

The vision for Dubai’s development over the upcoming years will also be revealed as Dubai Municipality present the opening session of the conference. The presentation from H.E 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.

As the UAE continues to drive forward Vision 2030, diversification of industry has become an extremely important. Ismail Al Naqi, managing director, TECOM Business Parks- Operations, will be taking part in a panel discussion on this topic alongside Dubai Exports and Emirates Sky Cargo. He 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.”
Spokesperson for Future Cities, concluded: “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.”
Future Cities will take place from 27-29 September at Dubai International Conference and Exhibition Centre. For further information, please visit
www.futurecitiesevent.com.

For further information, please contact:
Fifth Ring for Cityscape Global
Susan Parker: susan@fifthring.com / +971 4 372 0154/ +971 50 101 4403
Laura Smith: laura@fifthring.com / +971 4 372 0101/ +971 56 799 1642