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Future Urbanism Expo 2023 brought together the world’s most influential urbanists, mega city developers and innovative sustainable technologies to offer a global sourcing platform towards developing intelligent, sustainable and resilient urban communities. The event was co-located with industry defining events such as GITEX GLOBAL, GITEX Impact, Ai Everything, and Global DevSlam.
In 2023, URB exhibited at the expo whilst bringing together the world’s most influential urbanists to give power talks and inspire a new generation towards sustainable developments. Our 5 day agenda was packed with educational & inspiring program, including the winner announcements for our 2023 URB Incubator, as well as the first Urban Innovation Awards.
Our work is shaping the future of urban living and we are excited to share our initiatives & projects at Future Urbanism Expo.
URB have an exciting program at Future Urbanism Expo this year. We will celebrate the 20 most influential people in urbanism through our 'Urban Power 20' initiative, as well as the next generation of urban innovators from our incubator and awards program.
Our partnership with Future Urbanism Expo will help in our mission to accelerate the world’s transition towards sustainable developments.
URB launched the “URBAN POWER 20” initiative. These are the most influential people of the year who are shaping the future of cities and were invited to speak at Future Urbanism Expo. The order was based on the sessions of each speaker and did not reflect any rankings. The aim of the annual URB “Urban Power 20” is to celebrate the people who are influencing the future of cities and inspiring change.
Design Director, Regional Lead Cities & Urban Design | Gensler, Dubai UAE
Board Member | Verse Estate, Dubai UAE
Deputy Mayor City of Prague, Czech Republic
Regional Design Director | AtkinsRéalis, Dubai UAE
Associate Professor | American University of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
SVP Public Sector, Huawei Middle East & Central Asia | Huawei Technologies, Dubai UAE
Founding Partner, Principle | Martha Shwartz Partners, USA
Director | MIT Senseable City Lab, Italy
Director, Urban Planning | Development Authority, Dubai UAE
Partner, Chief Innovation Officer | Gehl, Denmark
Former Mayor of Helsinki | Helsinki, Finland
Chair of Dubai Hub for the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
Senior Principal, Managing Director | Insite, Dubai UAE
Regional Director | Aspect, Dubai UAE
Director of Innovation & ESG | AECOM Middle East & Africa
Partner | Foster + Partners, Dubai UAE
Director | Woods Bagot, Dubai UAE
Senior Director – Energy Demand Side Management | The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, UAE
Managing Partner + Chair of the RIBA Gulf Chapter | AMA, Dubai UAE
Chairperson & Associate Professor | School of Design & Architecture, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai UAE
URB exhibited various projects at the show, whilst also providing a lounge for our members to relax during the exhibition.
The winner of our 2023 accelerator program was announced live at the show. The URB incubator is empowering a new breed of innovators to become the next leaders of urban tech solutions. We are focused on identifying and scaling the most impactful startups that will help to achieve UAE’s Net Zero targets by 2050.
The winners of the 2023 Urban Innovations Awards was announced live at the show. The awards recognises the best emerging talents under the age of 30 in architecture, landscape design and urban planning, with a focus on sustainability.
Everyday at Future Urbanism Expo, Baharash Bagherian signed copies of his book ‘Human Centric Urban Innovations’ at the URB lounge between 14:00 to 17:00.
This book provides unique blueprints of the next generation of sustainable cities, as well as the types of assets and infrastructures required to create such human centric cities. The book also illustrates innovation in urban planning, to create communities as well as assets that allow people, planet & profit to thrive in balance.
BOOK DETAILS
Title: Human Centric Urban Innovations
Publication year: 2023
Author: Baharash Bagherian
Hardcover: 293 pages
Illustrations: 161
ISBN: 978-1-7394730-9-9
11:00
Expo open to public
11:40 – 12:00
Opening remarks
Baharash Bagherian
CEO | URB
12:00 – 12:20
Writing New Natures: Viewing Urbanism as a ‘Next Nature’ to Address Climate Change
Steven Velegrinis | Power 20
Design Director, Regional Lead Cities & Urban Design | Gensler
12:20 – 12:40
Intelligent Urbanism-Shaping Cognitive Cities of the Future with AI and the Metaverse
Leila Hurstel | Power 20
Board Member | Verse Estate
12:40 – 13:00
Networking
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00
URB exhibition, lounge & book signing
10:00
Expo open to public
10:50 – 11:00
Opening remarks
Baharash Bagherian
CEO | URB
11:00 – 11:20
The future is yesterday: ‘via negativa’ as a way to think about community design
Edward Mclntosh | Power 20
Regional Design Director | AtkinsRéalis
11:20 – 11:40
The ancient modernity of “the line”
Cristiano Luchetti | Power 20
Associate Professor | American University of Ras Al Khaimah
11:40 – 12:00
The Net Zero Campus – Achieving Localized Sustainability
Safder Nazir | Power 20
SVP Public Sector, Huawei Middle East & Central Asia
| Huawei Technologies
12:00 – 12:20
The Not-So-Odd Relationship Between Game Theory & Sustainable Scaling
Sailesh Sigatapu
Partner | Anthill Ventures
12:20 – 12:40
Networking
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00
URB exhibition, lounge & book signing
10:00
Expo open to public
11:10 – 11:20
Opening remarks
Baharash Bagherian
CEO | URB
11:20 – 11:40
Closing the infrastructure gap
John Shenton | Power 20
Chair | Dubai Hub for the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
11:40 – 12:00
Simplifying Complexity: Optimistic City Making
Christopher Fannin | Power 20
Senior Principal, Managing Director| Insite
12:00 – 12:20
Weaving Digital Technology into Landscape Architecture
Valter Vieira | Power 20
Regional Director| Aspect
12:20 – 12:40
URB Incubator – Winner announcement
Baharash Bagherian
CEO | URB
12:40 – 13:00
Networking
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00
URB exhibition, lounge & book signing
10:00
Expo open to public
10:50 – 11:00
Opening remarks
Baharash Bagherian
CEO | URB
11:00 – 11:20
Net Zero Roadmap for our Future Cities
Farah Naz | Power 20
Director of Innovation & ESG | AECOM Middle East & Africa
11:20 – 11:40
Urban Vision: Foster + Partners’ Holistic Design Approach
William Plowman | Power 20
Partner | Foster + Partners
11:40 – 12:00
In(di)visible Cities’
Richard Fenne | Power 20
Director | Woods Bagot
12:00 – 12:20
Networking
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00
URB exhibition, lounge & book signing
10:00
Expo open to public
10:50 – 11:00
Opening remarks
Baharash Bagherian
CEO | URB
11:00 – 11:20
Artificial Intelligence’s Impact on the Development of Future Cities – Community Based Design
Andy Shaw | Power 20
Managing Partner + Chair of the RIBA Gulf Chapter
| AMA
11:20 – 11:40
The ‘Social dimension’ of future cities
Dr Bhakti More | Power 20
Chairperson & Associate Professor | School of Design & Architecture, Manipal Academy of Higher Education
11:40 – 12:00
Talk
Russell Cailey
Managing Director | THINK Learning Studio
12:00 – 12:20
Urban Innovation Awards – Winners announcement
Baharash Bagherian
CEO | URB
12:20 – 12:40
Networking
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00
URB exhibition, lounge & book signing
Future Urbanism Expo will open its doors on 16th to 20th October bringing together mega projects and the world’s most influential urbanists. The global forum will host urbanism stakeholders in 5 days of high-level engagement, networking and knowledge exchange.
DWTC & URB will work together to deliver pioneering content, roundtables, experiences, case studies, summits & exhibitions to create the next generation of sustainable cities.
There has never been a greater need for smarter placemaking in the public realm with sustainable & innovative infrastructures. As such, Future urbanism will become a global hub for the most innovative minds and designs behind the cities of tomorrow.
Hosted at GITEX Global, the largest tech show in the world between 16th to 20th October 2023, Future Urbanism will be the region’s largest Sustainable Smart City Expo co-located with GITEX Impact, the region’s largest event for sustainability tech innovation, ESG strategies and services. It will bring together thought leaders across all industries to create sustainable cities of tomorrow.
URB, a global leader in developing sustainable cities, will exhibit blueprints of the sustainable cities on the show floor. Winners of the 2nd edition of the incubator for sustainable cities will also be announced during the event, as well as the winners of its Urban Innovation Awards.
CEO of URB, Baharash Bagherian, who has masterminded design of various sustainable cities currently under construction, highlights the significance of the partnership in its mission to accelerate the world’s developments towards sustainability.
“Rapid urbanisation and the increase rate of climate change is fueling new thinking in the planning of the next generation of sustainable cities. As such it has become a necessity to promote a culture of innovation in urban planning. Future Urbanism Expo is a unique platform for us to showcase our initiatives & projects. Our aim at the Expo is to transfer our unique knowledge and experiences, whilst also celebrating the next generation of urban innovators from our incubator and awards program.”
Abhishek Ganapathy, Director, Commercial – Exhibitions, DWTC explains the significance of the collaboration with URB during Future Urbanism Expo.
“At Future Urbanism Expo, we’re bringing together leading experts and innovators in sustainable urban development to pave the way for a smarter future. With a focus on mega city transformations and net zero goals, we’re excited to partner with URB to shape the next generation of urban landscapes and deliver best practices through content, knowledge and experience.”
FUTURE URBANISM EXPO takes place in the world’s most dynamic city – Dubai. It is designed to be a multi-stakeholder meeting point – from mega city developers to government entities to infrastructure planners – all coming together for a global exchange of technology innovations, solutions, ideas and insights on architecting the sustainable cities of tomorrow.
