In 2015, 85% of global GDP was generated in cities. For millennia, cities have been our centers of activity, drivers of growth and bastions of productivity. No country has ever reached middle income status without urbanising. However, rapid urbanization can come at a cost.
It took 10,000 years to achieve the first one billion urban dwellers, but 25 years to achieve the second billion urban dwellers – we are currently experiencing the fastest rate of urbanisation. As cities and other urban areas grow rapidly, strains are put onto the existing infrastructure. High car usage, poor road networks and limited public transportation combine to cause an increase in carbon emissions. This in turn leads to a lower quality of air in urban areas, and has resulted in outdoor air pollution being set to become the leading environmental cause of mortality.
It is not just air pollution that suffers as a result of rapid growth. For example energy demands, sanitation and the quality of housing are all impacted. With the increase in urbanization forecast to continue, it is crucial that we understand how this will impact on the planet as a whole and how the growth can be managed efficiently. Our keynote speakers have a wealth of experience in urbanization and management, ranging from former mayors and politicians to futurists and smart city experts. Below we have listed some of our most popular speakers, but if you had a specific individual in mind please get in touch with our team.
Thought Leader, Futurist, Author, Expert in Emergent Technologies, AI, Cities, Society, Digital Transformation and its impact on Humanity
Author on the global housing crisis and the future of cities
Founder and CEO of Urbanite Venture. Business & Strategy Partner of VRAcademi.
AI entrepreneur and advisor, Board member, Forbes Groundbreaking Female Entrepreneur
Chief Executive of ShareAction
Business Professor at USC Marshall School of Business & LSE; Bestselling Author, The Serendipity Mindset
Recent UK Climate and Energy Minister
Dutch artist and innovator, creative thinker and maker of social designs that explore the relation between people, technology and space
Author and Urbanist at the Intersection of Past, Present, and Future
Emmy-award-winning producer, educator, and an internationally recognised architectural designer
Co-founder of Zoomcar, the first Western-style car rental company in India
Vice-President, Imperial College London
Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Economics at New College, Oxford. Former Independent Chair of the Natural Capital Committee
Former Chief Transformation Officer of Aboitiz and former CEO of ExO Works
Former Two Time Mayor of Bogota and one of the World's leading sustainability and mobility in cities advocate
Iconic NASA Flight Control Director with Apollo 11 and Apollo 13, Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Futurist and Urbanist
Mexican architect, founder and CEO of the Chicago-based international architecture firm SPACE
Mayor of Berlin (2001-2014)
Research Director, CNRS
Member of the Board of Directors at Cabify, Mentor at Endeavor, helping companies to innovate and scale using agile management
Chairman of the Advisory Board at Bloomberg New Energy Finance
Founder & CEO of Climate Alpha, Founder & Managing Partner of FutureMap
Former Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Ambassador, Climate Advocate, Founding Partner and CEO of onepoint5