City of Montréal Welcomes New Cities Foundation

• The Honourable Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal, offers support to the New Cities Summit 2016 in Montréal on June 21-23
• Innovative global leaders and experts announced as part of this year’s Summit speaker program on the theme The Age of Urban Tech
• Montréal named Summit Host as Foundation moves head offices to the city

Montréal, Canada – April 12, 2016. Montreal politicians, business leaders and the city’s community of international organisations formally welcomed the New Cities Foundation to its adopted city as speakers for the upcoming New Cities Summit, the Foundation’s flagship annual meeting, were announced.

The Honourable Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal, Hubert Bolduc, CEO of Montréal International, and Michel Bourdon, Vice-President of Sales and Convention Services of Tourisme Montréal, joined the New Cities Foundation Chairman, John Rossant, and Executive Director, Maxwell Anderson, yesterday evening at the Musée des Beaux Arts to welcome the Foundation to Montréal and offer support to the New Cities Summit, which will take place in the city on June 21-23 on the theme The Age of Urban Tech.

“Year after year, Montréal demonstrates that innovation is central to urban development. The mission of the New Cities Foundation is to build a better future for cities, in a context where they become engines of sustainable, social economic development for our societies. We are very proud to welcome the New Cities Foundation to Montréal," said the Mayor Denis Coderre.

“There is no better place than the creative and vibrant city of Montréal to hold this year’s Summit on the possibilities of Urban Technology,” said the New Cities Foundation Chairman, John Rossant. “Mayor Denis Coderre and the team of innovators the Hôtel de Ville has gathered are truly strategic and forward-thinking. Montréal is a shining example of how cities can succeed if they support local innovation and entrepreneurship.”

The New Cities Summit is the world’s leading thought-leadership event on the future of cities. It convenes over 500 leaders of urban innovation from around the world and across sectors, including mayors, CEO’s, urban planners, architects, designers and cultural leaders. Among the high-profile speakers who will take the stage at the New Cities Summit in June are:

Fahd Al-Rasheed, Managing Director and CEO, Emaar, The Economic City

Liew Choon Boon, CEO, Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment & Development Co., Ltd.

Joe Cross, General Manager USA, TransferWise

Muneeb Mushtaq, Co-founder and CEO, AskForTask

Latondra Newton, Group VP, Social Innovation at Toyota Motor North America and Chief Program Officer, Toyota Mobility Foundation

Carlo Ratti, Director, SENSEable City Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Moshe Safdie, Architect, Habitat 67 and Founder, Safdie Architects

Khalifa Sall, Mayor of Dakar

Andrew Salzberg, Global Mobility Policy Lead, Uber

Alexandre Taillefer, Managing Partner, XPND Capital and Founder, Téo

Ivy Taylor, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas

Chris Turner, Award Winning Author and Journalist

Kathleen Warner, Managing Director of the Center for Economic Transformation, New York City Economic Development Corporation

This year’s Summit will also be the pinnacle moment for the 2016 class of Global Urban Innovators, featuring ten carefully chosen startups and social entrepreneurs who use technology to improve their cities. All ten innovators will travel to Montréal for the Summit as part of this year’s speaker program. The Foundation will support their work over the course of the next year.

According to Hubert Bolduc, President and CEO of Montréal International, the 64 international organizations based in Montreal generate an annual economic impact of more than $300 million and help maintain more than 1,500 jobs."We know the great strategic importance international organizations are for Montreal and we are committed to welcoming and watching them grow in our city. It is with great enthusiasm that we inaugurate the the global headquarters of the New Cities Foundation, a leading organization on urban innovation in cities around the world, which can count on a vast ecosystem of public and private partners."

“Tourisme Montréal recognizes the combined efforts and contributions of our city’s economic and tourism stakeholders in bringing the New Cities Foundation to Montréal. Thanks to these collaborations, we will host the Summit every two years. This is excellent news for Montréal, which continues to stand out as a leader in innovation, and as a business tourism destination,” said Michel Bourdon, Vice President of Sales, Convention Services and Hospitality at Tourisme Montréal.

Find out more about The New Cities Foundation at www.newcitiesfoundation.org

Find out more about The New Cities Summit at www.newcitiessummit2016.org

Ends

Press contact:

Thomas Ledwell
Director of Communications
New Cities Foundation
tledwell@newcitiesfoundation.org
+1.514.987.0029

About the New Cities Foundation

The New Cities Foundation is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to shape a better urban future for all. The Foundation conducts pragmatic research on solutions to challenges facing cities, launches initiatives to drive urban progress, and builds, empowers, and convenes a global network in support of its goals. The Foundation convenes the leading events on urban innovation, including the annual New Cities Summit. In all of its activities, the Foundation works with entrepreneurs and leaders from business, government, academia, civil society, the media and the arts. The Foundation was created in 2010 and is financed by its members and partners, which include some of the most forward-thinking companies who share a passion for the future of our cities. The Foundation is based in Geneva and its head office is in Montréal with smaller offices in Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Zurich.

www.newcitiesfoundation.org
Facebook: /NewCitiesFoundation
Twitter: @newcitiesfound

About the New Cities Summit

The New Cities Summit is the leading global event on urban innovation, taking place this year in Montréal 21-23 June 2016. The Summit will convene top entrepreneurs, innovators, policymakers, CEOs, change-makers, investors and thinkers in this domain. The New Cities Summit supports creative, scalable Urban Tech solutions that can be shared and adapted to cities around the world. The event empowers those who are shaping urban innovation, connecting them and encouraging cross-sector partnerships. The Summit features a unique and diverse program, combining thought leadership keynotes, roundtables and interactive workshops surrounding key challenges facing cities, and the role of technology in their solution.

www.newcitiessummit2016.org
Twitter: #NCS2016

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