New Cities Summit - São Paulo - June 4-6: first speakers announced

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  • Architect Daniel Libeskind, Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas, Mayor Khalifa Sall of Dakar and Professor Saskia Sassen of Columbia among confirmed speakers
  • Theme: The Human City
  • Organizers: international non-profit The New Cities Foundation



Paris – March 27, 2013. The New Cities Foundation today announced the names of 31 eminent speakers who are confirmed to speak at the New Cities Summit this June in São Paulo, Brazil.

Confirmed speakers include leading architect Daniel Libeskind, who is also a Trustee of the New Cities Foundation, Columbia University Professor Saskia Sassen, Mike Rawlings, the Mayor of Dallas and Khalifa Sall, Mayor of Dakar.

The leading global platform for urban innovation and exchange, the New Cities Summit is organized by the New Cities Foundation and will take place from June 4-6, 2013 in Auditorio Ibirapuéra, São Paulo.  

An invitation-only event, the Summit gathers 1,000 of the world’s most brilliant urban thinkers, innovators and decision-makers, who come together for three days of action-oriented debate, information sharing and problem solving on the future of our rapidly urbanizing world.

The theme for this year’s New Cities Summit is ‘The Human City’, placing the individual and the community at the heart of discussions about the city of today and tomorrow.

The Summit will approach The Human City from five key angles: ‘Build’, ‘Include’, ‘Participate’, ‘Play’ and ‘Lead’. Each angle will be tackled with an opening plenary discussion led by experts from a range of sectors and nationalities. Keynote addresses and breakout sessions will delve deeper into issues raised, covering topics such as: The Future of Urban Mobility,The Future of Work, City Strategy for Business, Big Urban Data, Urban Security and Mega Events such as the World Cup and the Olympics. The program will also include a session dedicated to São Paulo as “urban laboratory”, analyzing the complex challenges and immense opportunities in South America’s largest city.

Mathieu Lefevre, Executive Director of the New Cities Foundation, said: “This is the age of cities, and a vital time to discuss how we build and develop our metropolises of the future. These are the first of about 80 speakers from all regions and industries that will lead debates and inspire our international audience at the New Cities Summit in São Paulo. They are the people who have the vision, energy and authority to help shape the urban future. We are particularly excited about coming to São Paulo this year and to learn about the unique and complex makeup of one of Latin America’s most rapidly changing cities.”

Confirmed speakers for the New Cities Summit 2013 include:

Public figures

  • Abel Ang, CEO, Economic Development Innovations Singapore
  • Hamdan Abdul Majeed, Founding Director of Think City; Senior Vice President, Research and Investment Strategy, Khazanah, Malaysia
  • Mike Rawlings, Mayor of Dallas, United States
  • Khalifa Sall, Mayor of Dakar, Senegal
  • Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive, Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) Singapore

Architects and design experts

  • Alfredo Brillembourg, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design Institute of Urban Design, Network City Landscape NSL, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Li Hu, Principle & Founder, Open Architecture, Beijing, China
  • Daniel Libeskind, Architect, Studio Daniel Libeskind and Trustee of the New Cities Foundation, New York, United States

Business leaders

  • Michael Chui, Principal, McKinsey Global Institute; Former first CIO, City of Bloomington, San Francisco, United States
  • Wim Elfrink, Executive VP, Industry Solutions; Chief Globalisation Officer, Cisco,  San Jose, United States
  • Hazem Galal, Partner, Leader, Global Cities and Local Government Network, PWC, San Jose, United States
  • Reinaldo Garcia, CEO, Latin America, GE, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Rand Hindi, Founder and CEO, Snips, Paris, France
  • Lawrence E. Jones, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Policy and Industry Relations, Alstom Grid Inc North America, United States
  • Lady Barbara Judge, Chairman, UK Pension Protection Fund and Trustee of the New Cities Foundation, London, United Kingdom
  • Cristian Norlin, Master Researcher, Ericsson Research User Experience Lab, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Anil Menon, President of Globalization and Smart+Connected Communities, Cisco, India
  • Jan Wäreby, Executive Vice President, Head of Group Function Sales & Marketing, Ericsson and Trustee of the New Cities Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden

Academics & Non-profit

  • Sophie Body-Gendrot, Professor of Political Science and American studies, Sorbonne University; Director of the Center for Urban Studies; Former President, European Society of Criminology, Paris, France
  • Michael Keith, Professor of Sociology and Migration Studies, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
  • Greg Lindsay, New York University and Fast Company, United States
  • Kang Liu, Professor, Duke and Shanghai Jiaotong Universities, Shanghai, China
  • Sean McKaughan, President, Fundación Avina, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Leticia Osorio, Program Officer, Ford Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Saskia Sassen, Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology; Co-Chair, The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University, New York, United States
  • Ye Yuemin, Professor of Economics and urban Planning ,Renmin University, Beijing, China

Civic leaders

  • Greg Clark, Global Advisor on Cities, London, United Kingdom   
  • Oded Grajew, Founder and general coordinator of the Executive Secretariat, Rede Nossa, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Ashwin Mahesh, Innovator and Public Policy Professor, IIM Bangalore; CEO, Mapunity, Bangalore, India

Media

  • Simon Kuper, Columnist, The Financial Times, Paris, France
  • Ben Hecht, President and CEO of Living Cities, New York, United States
  • Andrew Tuck, Editor, Monocle magazine, London, United Kingdom

For more information about the New Cities Summit, including the full speaker program, visit www.newcitiessummit2013.org.

Ends

International press contact:

Marina Bradbury
Communications & Media Relations Manager
New Cities Foundation
mbradbury@newcitiesfoundation.org  
+33 (0)6 17 79 17 72

Local press contact:
Edelman Significa:
Ana Zenatti - Ana.Zenatti@edelmansignifica.com
Verónica Barranco - Veronica.Barranco@edelmansignifica.com
+55 11 3066-7770

About the New Cities Summit

Organized by non-profit the New Cities Foundation, the New Cities Summit aims to find new urban solutions, pool information and build cross-sector networks. An invitation-only event, the Summit is organized in a different city each year. The New Cities Summit 2013 will be held from 4-6 June at Auditório Ibirapuera, an Oscar Niemeyer-designed auditorium in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo. Approaching the theme ‘The Human City’ from all angles, the New Cities Summit 2013 will tackle a diverse range of urban issues including technology, infrastructure, mobility, healthcare, governance, architecture, design, and new forms of citizen participation. The inaugural New Cities Summit was held at La Défense, Paris, in May 2012. São Paulo was selected as the host city of this year’s New Cities Summit since it epitomizes the great opportunities as well as the huge challenges presented by rapid global urbanization.

www.newcitiessummit2013.org

Twitter: #ncs2013

Media partners:

Bloomberg BusinessWeek; Monocle; The Financial Times

About the New Cities Foundation

The New Cities Foundation is a leading global platform for innovation and high-level exchange on the future of the urban world. Working to create more dynamic, sustainable, just and creative cities with a special focus on rapidly urbanizing regions, the Foundation fosters urban innovations and new partnerships among government, business, the research community and civil society.

An independent, non-profit organization, the New Cities Foundation was created in 2010 and is financed by its members, which include some of the most forward-thinking companies, universities, cities and city organizations around the world. The New Cities Foundation’s founding members are Cisco, Ericsson and GE. The Foundation is based in Geneva with offices in Paris, New York and Rio de Janeiro.

The New Cities Foundation hosts a number of leadership events on cities including its flagship event, the New Cities Summit, and other, smaller events worldwide. In parallel, the Foundation’s research wing, the Urban (co)LAB, manages a number of applied urban research projects including NCF Task Forces and thought leadership activities. Two Task Forces are currently under way, including one in the area of e-health in Rio de Janeiro.

For more information about the New Cities Foundation, please visit: www.newcitiesfoundation.org

Facebook: /NewCitiesFoundation

Twitter: @newcitiesfound

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Quotes

This is the age of cities, and a vital time to discuss how we build and develop our metropolises of the future. These are the first of about 80 speakers from all regions and industries that will lead debates and inspire our international audience at the New Cities Summit in São Paulo. They are the people who have the vision, energy and authority to help shape the urban future. We are particularly excited about coming to São Paulo this year and to learn about the unique and complex makeup of one of Latin America’s most rapidly changing cities.
Mathieu Lefevre, Executive Director of the New Cities Foundation