São Paulo to host ‘New Cities Summit’ 4 – 6 June 2013
Press release
For immediate release, Monday 4 March 2013
Contact: Marina Bradbury, mbradbury@newcitiesfoundation.org +33 (0)6 17 79 17 72
- Second edition of Summit to gather world’s key urban leaders and innovators
São Paulo – March 4, 2013. The New Cities Foundation and the City of São Paulo today announced that the New Cities Summit, the Foundation’s flagship annual event, will take place in São Paulo, Brazil from 4 – 6 June 2013.
The New Cities Summit is the leading international event on the future of the urban world. Now in its second year, the Summit gathers 1,000 of the world's most brilliant urban thinkers, innovators and decision-makers.
The Summit aims to shape a more positive urban future through network building and information sharing. The invitation-only event brings together urban leaders from all regions of the world and across the business, government, academic and non-profit sectors. They come together for three days of action-oriented debate and exchange on all aspects of the city of tomorrow.
As the world enters the most rapid phase of urbanization in history, the theme of the 2013 New Cities Summit in São Paulo is 'The Human City', placing the individual and the community at the heart of discussions on the urban future.
The Board of Trustees of the New Cities Foundation selected São Paulo as host of the New Cities Summit following strong competition among several other candidate cities. São Paulo epitomizes the great opportunities as well as the huge challenges presented by rapid global urbanization.
The Summit will be held in Auditorio Ibirapuera, a concert hall set within São Paulo’s Ibirapuera Park, designed by renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907 – 2012).
John Rossant, Chairman of the New Cites Foundation said: “The global urban population is growing at a rate of about one million people per week. There is perhaps no single topic that should be more important today than the future of our cities.
“At a time when Brazil is in the global spotlight for its dynamic economy and creativity, we look forward to bringing the world’s leading urban innovators to one of its most vibrant cities this June. We are delighted to be working with Mayor Haddad and the great city of São Paulo and our members and partners to explore how we can shape this inevitable urban future and create more human cities.”
Fernando Haddad, Mayor of São Paulo said: "A new concept of the city, which we also seek in our new government, includes discussions with various sectors of society, with different thinkers of the future urban environment and the exchange of information and solutions from around the world. This Summit brings this concept to life and its fulfillment is very important."
World-renowned architect and New Cities Foundation Trustee Daniel Libeskind said: "São Paulo has incredible energy and vitality and also a vision for the 21st century. It is the perfect place for the important discussions we will have at the New Cities Summit."
Addressing the theme of ‘The Human City’ from all angles, the speaker program of the New Cities Summit will cover a diverse range of urban issues such as inclusion, technology, art, infrastructure, mobility, healthcare, governance, architecture, design, and new forms of citizen participation.
For more information, please 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
The annual New Cities Summit is organized by the New Cities Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to building more sustainable, dynamic, creative and just global cities.
The inaugural New Cities Summit Summit was held in 2012 in Paris and attracted 750 high-level participants and 90 speakers, including: Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris; Greg Clark, UK Minister for Cities; Hans Vestberg, CEO, Ericsson; Gerard Mestrallet, CEO, GDF Suez; Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta; Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman and MD, Hindustan Construction Company; Daniel Libeskind, Architect; John Rice, Vice-Chairman, GE; Khalifa Sall, Mayor of Dakar, Senegal; Fahd Al Rasheed, CEO, Emaar Economic City; Ricky Burdett, LSE Cities program and Xiao Jingcheng, Deputy Director, China NDRC.
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 New Cities Foundation 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