Governor of Jakarta welcomes global thought leaders to Indonesian capital for 3-day New Cities Summit

• Over 800 participants from 45 countries attending the Summit which focuses on the theme “Seizing the Urban Moment: Cities at the Heart of Growth and Development”
• Summit takes places from June 9 – 11 in Jakarta

Jakarta, Indonesia – Tuesday June 9, 2015. The Governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, today welcomed over 800 participants from 45 countries to the New Cities Summit, the leading event on the future of cities. The three-day event, the leading global gathering on cities, takes place at the Ciputra Artpreneur and other key locations in the heart of the Indonesian capital.

During a press conference at the opening of the Summit, the Governor of Jakarta said: “We are grateful to New Cities Foundation for organizing this year’s Summit in Jakarta, highlighting the city and its opportunities. We hope that the discussions will result in impactful changes for our beloved Jakarta.”

John Rossant, Chairman of the New Cities Foundation, emphasized: “The rapidly transforming Indonesian capital could not be a more apposite location to address this unprecedented period of massive urban growth. The Summit will be an excellent chance to put a spotlight on Jakarta and the Asian urban context, whilst also discussing issues common to all cities. We thank the City of Jakarta for inviting us to host this critical global conversation on an urban future that will affect us all.”

Jakarta was selected as this year’s host city because it epitomizes some of the key challenges and opportunities faced by rapidly growing metropolises today. Over the past decades, Jakarta has developed into one of Asia's most prominent metropolitan centers. The population of greater Jakarta is projected to grow from today’s 27 million to well over 40 million by 2050.

The Governor of Jakarta further elaborated: “Managing a city as big and as complex as Jakarta is a challenging feat, comparable to none. We have seen yearly cases of flooding happening in almost every part of this city. We have squatters in riverbanks and near our dam; some even build houses inside the riverbank. We also face challenges related to bureaucracy and corruption.

“It is important to not just talk about problems, but to instead create effective solutions. Our smart city program has shown how people can help us create solutions together. Today, we have a fully operational smart city platform. The unique characteristic of our smart city program is that it performs best when our citizens help us map the problems with a mobile app, which in turn will support us in managing problems and provide valuable data for decision making. We have worked together with Twitter and Waze to gather datasets on flooding and traffic through crowdsourcing. Together with our citizens, we can improve transparency and fight corruption. We believe that our position as the capital city of Indonesia will inspire other regions to do the same”, he concluded.

The theme of the Summit is “Seizing the Urban Moment: Cities at the Heart of Growth and Development”, encapsulating the urgency of the global urbanization trend.

Over 80 experts from across sectors feature in the speaker program, including Ika Lestari Aji, Head of Jakarta’s Housing Department; Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Founder, Grameen Bank; In Dong Cho, Director General of Seoul Innovation Department; Anil Menon, President of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities and Ian Neilson, Executive Deputy Mayor of Cape Town.

Sessions will cover key urban challenges including: affordable housing; water; urban mobility; inclusivity and new modes of governance; the role of culture and public space; urban economics; infrastructure investment; secondary cities; diversity and resilience.

A spotlight will be placed on urban innovation through WhatWorks, the popular short-talk platform featuring up-and-coming innovators who are transforming cities. The full lineup can be found at newcitiessummit2015.org/what-works/ 

The Summit will also give the floor to the three finalists of the Jakarta Urban Challenge, a US$20,000 initiative launched by the New Cities Foundation and Connect4Climate to find new, home-grown solutions to Jakarta’s mobility and pollution problems. Each finalist will have five minutes to present their ingenious idea and will win a share of the prize money to realize their project in Jakarta. Find out more at newcitiessummit2015.org/schedule/jakarta-urban-challenge/

International Summit participants will learn about Jakarta’s history and future through side events and visits. These include a reception tonight at the Museum Bank of Indonesia, and three site visits on June 11 including a guided visit of Jakarta’s two major development projects is on offer: the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and the Alam Sutra mixed-use development zone; a tour of Jakarta’s historical district, Old Batavia; and a trip to BSD City, one of Indonesia’s most ambitious urban planning projects.

This is the first time the Summit takes place in Asia, following past editions in the Americas (Dallas, 2014 and São Paulo, 2013) and Europe (Paris, 2012).

The New Cities Summit was made possible thanks to the generosity of members of the New Cities Foundation and Summit partners.

Ends

International press contact:
Marina Bradbury
Communications & Media Relations Manager
New Cities Foundation
mbradbury@newcitiesfoundation.org
33 6 17 79 17 72

Local press contact:
Wulan Suling
Edelman Jakarta
wulan.suling@edelman.com
newcities@edelman.com
62 21 721 59000

About the New Cities Summit

Organized by the New Cities Foundation, the New Cities Summit is the premier global leadership event on the future of cities. Fostering positive urban change, the high level gathering advocates cross-sector collaboration through network building, cutting-edge forums and lively discussion. The Summit showcases and disseminates the best ideas on the future of cities and generates concrete, scalable solutions capable of being adopted and replicated across the world. The speaker program is constructed by the New Cities Foundation, with the support of its members and partners, to reflect the most incisive, innovative thinking on the future city. The New Cities Summit 2015 will be hosted in Jakarta, Indonesia from June 9 – 11, following past editions in Dallas (2014), São Paulo (2013) and Paris (2012).

www.newcitiessummit2015.org 
Twitter: #ncs2015

About the New Cities Foundation

The New Cities Foundation’s mission is to shape a better urban future for all by generating and scaling ideas and solutions through events, research and urban innovation projects.  In all of its activities, the Foundation works with leaders from business, government, academia, civil society, the media and the arts. Each year, the New Cities Foundation organizes the New Cities Summit, the leading global event on the future of cities. An independent, non-profit organization, the New Cities Foundation was created in 2010 and is financed by its members and partners. Overall, its members include some of the most forward-thinking companies, universities, cities and city organizations from around the world. The New Cities Foundation’s Founding Members are Cisco and Ericsson. The Foundation is based in Geneva and its head office is in Paris.

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