Dubai (Etihad)
Expo 2020 Dubai brings together leaders, experts and professionals at Urban and Rural Development Week to discuss how to address the challenges facing cities and communities today, and to explore the importance of changing our ways of moving, building and consuming to enable us to live in the habitats of the future.
Urban and Rural Development Week will take place from 31 October to 6 November in collaboration with Siemens, the official infrastructure digitization partner for Expo 2020, and the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN Habitats) the Aga Khan Development Network, and will discuss our communities as building blocks for prosperity, and how we can make our future habitats sustainable.
The Urban and Rural Development Week will also discuss ways to build cities and the target groups that these cities serve, and will highlight District 2020, which is the legacy of Expo 2020 Dubai, and the human-centered smart future city model. It will also focus on rural communities, with an emphasis on harnessing local knowledge and innovations. and ensuring access to infrastructure and public services, from transportation and housing, to access to clean energy and green public spaces, to ensure that no one is left behind.
Her Excellency Reem Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “Whether in cities or in rural areas, in organized or slum areas, access to safe living conditions and affordable services is a fundamental right and an integral part of providing equal opportunities for all. In order to achieve progress and prosperity.”
She added: “The demand for access to resources from cities and communities is growing sharply, and this challenge can only be addressed through cooperation and exchange of ideas. Which enjoy flexibility that serves their communities, by giving them the opportunity to live in harmony with the natural environment, and in order to stimulate dialogue with the aim of progress in this vital field.”
urban and rural development
Helmut von Struve, CEO of Siemens Middle East, said: “In its first month, Expo 2020 Dubai has fulfilled its mission of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, and we are proud to be participating in the upcoming Theme Week focused on urban and rural development. Our partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai has established a model for smart cities of the future, and we look forward to discussing how our experience here can provide safer, more efficient and comfortable environments around the world.”
The Urban and Rural Development Week will kick off on October 31, coinciding with the World Cities Day at Expo 2020, held in partnership with the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai and the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN Habitats). The context of climate change, exploration of sustainable architecture, and smart city development, by telling Dubai’s success stories.
The talks will be led by His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, the official sustainable energy partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, His Excellency Wissam Lootah, CEO of Smart Dubai Government Corporation, and Dr. Chibra Narang Suri, Head of the Urban Practices Branch, UNDP United for United Human Settlements, David Hopping, CEO of Smart Infrastructure and Services at Siemens, and Ahmed and Rashid Bin Shabib, two Emirati urban planning experts known for their contributions to contemporary urban spaces.
As part of the Inclusive Cities event on November 3, UN-Habitat will also present a roadmap for the final phase of its joint slum and slum upgrading programme, which aims to provide services to slums and slums, based on the knowledge and learning gained during the implementation of this programme.
“We must challenge ourselves, bearing in mind the need to take the initiative to break the last leg of slum development,” said Maimouna Mohamed Sharif, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN Habitats). There are 61 countries in which one in three urban residents lives in slums. The United Nations Human Settlements Program is committed to achieving sustainable, prosperous, healthy, safe and resilient urban development in cities, as well as ensuring better standards of living for all, especially for marginalized and most vulnerable social groups.
International Women’s Council
At a time when men design most cities, the World Council of Women, in cooperation with the State of Slovenia on November 1, will welcome speakers, including Ladia Gudina Kocher, founder and CEO of the Circular Change Foundation, and Claudia Lopez, Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, to explore How and how important women can be to be an essential part of the process of designing, building and utilizing sustainable habitats that have the resilient capabilities that enable them to adapt to future changes.
On the same day, one of the Business Topic Forums held at the Dubai Exhibition Center at Expo 2020 will highlight new technologies, advances, and future business opportunities in the urban and rural development sector, motivating governments, the private sector, and civil society to exchange knowledge and collaborate.
Indigenous culture is a rich source of knowledge, so we need to see how the interrelationship between scientific knowledge and modern technological techniques can influence the design of renewable and biologically diverse global systems which will be discussed later on 2 November.
“Natural Cities”
The second event will be held on November 4, under the name “Natural Cities”, which focuses on the study of natural features in urban areas to help mitigate the consequences of developing cities, in the presence of a group of speakers, including: Daoud Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, and Wong Mun Sam, founder The WOHA Architects co-founder as well as Architect Asif Khan, of the Singapore Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, who designed the iconic Expo 2020 entry gates, and Architect Jorge Pérez Jaramillo, an expert in urban design and planning and former director of urban planning for the Colombian city of Medellin.
.