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Focuses on reimagining the future of cities to become more inclusive, resilient and 
dynamic.

Joy Chadika (L) and Nadimeh Mehra, Vice President, District 2020 Transition Unit (R) speaks at the World Cities Day event m7594

Nadimeh Mehra, Vice President, District 2020 Transition Unit speaks at the World Cities Day event m7591

Urbanist Ahmed Bin Shabib speaks at the World Cities Day event m7590

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World Cities Day at Expo 2020 Dubai will focus on reimagining the future of cities to become more inclusive, resilient and dynamic. With a focus on climate solutions, the Day will be brought to life through a series of discussions, dialogues, and showcases of best practices to explore how to collectively adopt a green recovery for more sustainable, smart, resilient and livable urban environments.

A Place for Everyone

World Cities Day

Access to safe and affordable living conditions is a fundamental right. More than 70 per cent of the world’s population is forecasted to live in cities by 2050 and over one billion are already living in informal communities. As the demand for both cities and communities escalate, Expo will bring together experts, citizens, and governments to re-think the way in which habitats are designed and managed. From innovative transport, sustainable housing and green public spaces to renewable energy and circular economies, living spaces of the future will be imagined as resilient, sustainable and inclusive.  

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 How do we live and grow in harmony with our planet?

Learnings and insights from the World Majlis conversations on Urban and Rural Development

Insight Report from Urban and Rural Development Week

Learnings and insights from the World Majlis conversations on Urban and Rural Development


Insight Report from Urban & Rural Development Week

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Creating a blueprint for future smart cities

Siemens Website

Siemens is a global technology powerhouse that unites the digital and 
physical worlds to benefit society through its focus on smart infrastructure, digital industries, and intelligent mobility solutions. As Expo 2020 Dubai’s Premier Partner for Infrastructure Digitalisation, Siemens is reshaping the future of urban living by creating a blueprint for the smart cities of the future. By integrating its technology, the company is helping to create history’s most digitalised, sustainable and secure Expo. Siemens is also an anchor tenant at District 2020, the future city that will live on as a legacy of Expo 2020 Dubai.

Creating a blueprint for smarter cities

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Siemens 

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UN Habitat

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Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)

Urban & Rural Development Week

Based in Dubai, Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib are urbanists and researchers of cities across the Middle East and North Africa. They are the founders of Brownbook, a magazine that focuses on cities across the region. They have also curated several exhibitions and collaborations including the Domaine De Boisbuchet: (2022), National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2021), AA Gallery (2018) Vitra Design Museum (2017), Serpentine Gallery (2016), Archizoom EPFL (2015), Lars Müller Publishing (2019). They both hold degrees in Urbanism from the University of Oxford, Recipients of the 2021 Golden Lion (Architecture) for National Pavilion, UAE, and have been nominated for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2010, 2019).

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Ahmed & Rashid Bin Shabib

Nadimeh Mehra joined Expo 2020 Dubai in early 2016 and is responsible for the commercial development of the post-Expo site – District 2020 - supporting its transition into a mixed-use community and innovation-focused ecosystem. In this role, she oversees Business Development, Sales and Partnership Management. This includes driving commercial strategy, business and financial planning, ecosystem development and global business engagement, with the aim of supporting the creation of a sustainable legacy and long-term economic opportunities. Prior to joining Expo 2020, Ms. Mehra headed the Development Capital division of UAE-based Daman Investments for 10 years.

Nadimeh

Vice President, Transition Unit, Expo 2020 Dubai

Nadimeh Mehra

Belen is an architect and urban designer with experience working in South America. She currently teaches and researches at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and is doing her PhD at Durham University (UK). Belen is the coordinator of CASA (Ciudades Auto-Sostenibles Amazónicas) (Self-Sustainable Cities in the Amazon), an action-research project exploring settlement relocation in the Amazon Rainforest and the Latin America and the Caribbean Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator of GRRIPP (Gender Responsive Resilience and Intersectionality in Policy and Practice), a research project focusing on resilience with an emphasis on gender responsive infrastructure; seeking to understand and enhance people’s resilience to shocks, and support the development of more sustainable infrastructure, in all its diverse forms.

Belen Desmaison

Architect and Urban Designer; Coordinator, CASA

Belén Desmaison

Bjorn Low is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Edible Garden City, an urban farming social enterprise based in Singapore. Bjorn is a leader in the grow-your-own food movement, which is transforming the Singaporean mindset around farming. He leads a sizeable “farm-lab” in the city that incubates other start-ups and encourages more urban farming entrepreneurs in the urban food and waste solutions space.

He holds a Bachelors of Commerce from Curtin University and is currently a PhD candidate at RMIT University’s School of Architecture and Urban Design. 

Bjorn Low

Executive Director and Co-founder, Edible Garden City

Dr. Elizabeth C English has experience in education, practice, teaching and research in both the fields of Architecture and Civil Engineering.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a PhD in Architectural Theory from the University of Pennsylvania. Elizabeth is a pioneer in the emerging field of amphibious architecture. Her current research focuses on developing amphibious foundation systems as a flood risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategy that supports the preservation of traditional housing forms and respect for local cultural practices, with projects addressing the needs of Indigenous and low-income populations in Vietnam, Canada, Nicaragua, Jamaica etc. 

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Prof. Elizabeth English

Tatiana Antonelli Abella is the Founder and Managing Director of Goumbook, a Social Enterprise dedicated to Sustainability and Sustainable Development. Founded in 2009, Goumbook is one of the oldest Social Enterprises in the UAE and today it manages many projects working with different partners from various sectors. Tatiana sits on the Engage Committee, under Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s umbrella and has been nominated Environmental Ambassador for the Middle East Youth Expo. She also acts as an advisor to events such as Art Dubai or the Emirates Literature Festival to help them be more sustainable. Since 2012 she has been proud to be a judge of the Gulf Capital SME Awards for the ‘Most Sustainable Business of the Year’. 

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Tatiana Antonelli Abella

Greg Clark, CBE, is an urbanist, author, global advisor, chairman and non-executive director. Clark has advised more than 200 cities, 50 national governments and a wide array of bodies including the OECD, Brookings Institution, the World Bank and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) on strategies for city development and investment. He also advises global investors and corporate service companies on how to align with city leaders.”

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Group Advisor on Future Cities and New Industries, HSBC

Greg Clark

Dave Hopping joined Siemens in 1989, and is the CEO of Siemens Smart Infrastructure Solutions & Services. He is responsible for the smart building and smart grid portfolios including building IoT, automation, fire safety, security, energy, low and medium voltage, digital grid, and control components. All but four of his more than 30 years of industry experience have been with Siemens. During this time, Hopping has held leadership positions in Sales, Operations, and Management across the USA.


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CEO, Smart Infrastructure Solutions, Siemens

David Hopping

Gábor is a certified electrical engineer with 10 years of experience in fintech, and product development. After graduating, he was working on different online projects, such as the development and launch of the first online stock exchange in Hungary. He was the CEO of one of Hungary's most successful loan-comparison portals. 3 years ago he founded AquaShield Control. The company's main goal is to develop and manufacture the most advanced smart monitoring and controlling device and operating system for greenhouses and indoor farms. He and his team launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2019 and an Indiegogo campaign in 2020. Both campaigns were successful and now Gábor and his team is actively looking for outside investors to scale up the AquaShield Control.


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Gábor Sulcz

Amira Osman is a Sudanese/South African architect, researcher, academic, activist, public speaker, and author. She is a Professor of Architecture at the Tshwane University of Technology and holds the position of SARChI: DST/NRF/SACN Research Chair in Spatial Transformation (Positive Change in the Built Environment). Amira is currently a joint coordinator for the international CIB W104 Open Building Implementation network and the Vice-President of the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) and will be hosting the conference: A City is [Not] a Tree: the Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities in 2022. She is the director of the organisation  PLATFORM100 which is a thinktank and a collaborative vehicle for promoting change in conversations and practice around architecture, space and cities. 

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Professor of Architecture, Tshwane University of Technology

Prof. Amira Osman

Mokena Makeka is a Principal in Dalberg Advisors. He is a an accomplished architect, artist, creative, curator, global leader, scholar, speaker, urbanist. He is currently the Azrieli Visiting Critic of 2020, Carleton University School of architecture and urbanism- Canada, Adjunct Professor Cooper Union- New York, and is a Board member of the South African Green Building Council and is a board member of the Cape Town Central City Improvement district. He is at the forefront of thinking on contemporary inclusive African Cities, and is focused on ecological and socio-economic justice. Mokena Makeka is one the 40 cultural leaders of WEF17, Davos/Klosters alongside such luminaries as Shakira and Forest Whitaker, recognised for speaking truth to power and seeking to change the world for better. 

Architect and Principal, Dalberg (Moderator)

Mokena Makeka

Tan Szue Hann is an award-winning Architect, strategist and thought leader in sustainability and sustainable development. Hann is the Chairman of Sustainability, Singapore Institute of Architects, the professional body for Architects in Singapore, and leads sustainable development at a leading global hospitality chain. Hann is also an appointed World Cities Summit Young Leader, and BCA Built Environment Young Leader. In 2021, he co-founded IxSA (Innovation x Sustainability Alliance), a global non-profit think tank, with a group of sustainability leaders. His portfolio includes the award-winning ParkRoyal on Pickering with WOHA. He has spoken in numerous conferences including SWITCH, the UN Asia Pacific Urban Forum, and COP25 in Madrid.



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Chairman of Sustainability, Singapore Institute of Architects

Mr. Tan Szue Hann

As humanity becomes more of an urban species, more nature-centric urban planning approaches will be needed to help mitigate the impact of growing cities on our planet.  

Growing urban centres have become the ultimate and most visible example of the impact we have on the planet - places made by and for humans alone: Anthropocities.  

Rampant urbanisation is taking its toll on ecosystems, biodiversity and human health. Estimates suggest that cities are responsible for 75 percent of global CO2 emissions, with transport and buildings being among the largest contributors. At the same time, cities are facing new threats from climate change, ranging from heat islands to flooding.  

We cannot tackle these challenges without transforming the way we build and manage our cities, which is why urban planners are now increasingly approaching the city as a living ecosystem, in which the natural and the urban can coexist, become complementary and less mutually exclusive. Let’s explore this paradigm shift in the “natural” cities of tomorrow.

Keeping the Urban Jungle Alive

WM Natural Cities

How can we create cities that work in harmony with nature?

Session Programme - Natural Cities 

Natural Cities - Documents

World Majlis | Natural Cities: Preserving a Slice of Nature in Our Urban Spaces

World Expos have always been meeting places for people across cultures and geographies; an opportunity to come together and celebrate human ingenuity and forge meaningful human connections. As the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, and with the participation of more than 192 countries, Expo 2020 Dubai looks to take this legacy even further. The Build Bridges track of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet features a tapestry of event series and experiences that celebrate our common humanity and the vital connections that can help us prosper together as a worldwide community.

Knowing One Another Better

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Build Bridges 

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Explore a series of exciting conversations inspired by the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai. The World Majlis is a vibrant forum where diverse points of views are shared on important topics of our time. Each conversation brings together globally recognised thought-leaders who are invited for their exceptional contributions to the theme and their unique perspective on the topic. In each Majlis, students and members of the public are also welcome to contribute and engage.

World Majlis

Conversations on complex issues that bring together thought leaders, visionaries and changemakers.

The true value of smart cities is evolving. While they are important in stimulating economic activity and sustainability, increasingly, the new measure of a smart city’s success will be the holistic wellbeing of its citizens. In the past smart city technologies were thought of primarily as tools for improved efficiency behind the scenes. The need for this is clear - as growing populations and stretched infrastructure systems put unprecedented pressures on cities, smart cities provide a valuable tool, to use data and technology to improve quality of life. However, beyond this, as smartphones and connectivity transform the way we interact with our surroundings, putting instant information about traffic, health services, and community news into millions of hands, cities are recognising that effective smart city strategies start with people and not technology. In a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for cities to be resilient in the face of radical changes, will the true measure of success for smart cities be in their ability to improve the holistic wellbeing of its residents?

What Does a Human-Centric Future for Smart Cities Look Like? 

Smart Cities

A discussion between thought leaders, visionaries and changemakers on what a human-centric future for smart cities looks like.


Session programme - Smarter than Smart Cities

Smarter than Smart Cities - Documents 

Wesam Lootah is the Chief Executive Ofﬁcer (CEO) of the Smart Dubai Government Establishment, the technology arm of Digital Dubai (previously known as Smart Dubai). Digital Dubai is the government entity entrusted with Dubai’s city-wide digital transformation envisioned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Wesam has more than 20 years of strategic leadership experience during which he has leveraged Information Technology to create innovative new channels and a world-class Smart Government infrastructure to improve the quality of public services for citizens, residents, visitors and businesses alike, in Dubai.

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CEO, Smart Dubai Government Establishment, Digital Dubai, UAE

H.E. Wesam Lootah

Eithne Treanor is a professional conference moderator and international communications consultant. Having worked as a business TV reporter, her knowledge covers energy, technology, security, infrastructure, and leadership. She is the managing director and founder of E Treanor Media based in Dubai, UAE. In recent months, she has moved her reporting and moderating skills online to facilitate a number of major global conferences. As a former international broadcast journalist, her TV reporting experience spans major television networks including ABC News, Sky News, BBC World, Bloomberg and CNBC International. 

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Eithne Treanor (Moderator)

Dr. Altwaijry is the CEO of Data and AI for Smart Cities in SDAIA, he is also the Assistant Director for iDART in NIC at SDAIA. Prior to that, he co-founded Estishraf (Insights) platform in NIC. 
Dr. Hotham was the Deputy Supervisor for the joint centers of excellence program in King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).

CEO of Data and AI for Smart Cities in SDAIA and, Assistant Director for iDART in NIC at SDAIA, KSA

Dr Hotham Altwaijry

Alberto Araque is VP of Internet of Things and Artiﬁcial Intelligence at Etisalat. He joined Etisalat in 2015 and since then, he is leading the IOT practice in Etisalat Digital and more recently the addition of the new 
AI unit and Industry Solutions. He accumulates a global and extensive experience of more than 20 years in ICT, Digital and Internet of Things services, participating and leading transformational telco projects. 
Formerly, he was Head of M2M & Financial Services at Telefonica in Spain and previously he was responsible at Telefonica in different areas such as strategy, marketing, business development, and service design in Spain and Latin America region. 
He received his Master Degree in Telecommunication Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in 1994 and he has an MBA from IE Business School.

Vice President, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, Etisalat Digital, UAE 

Alberto Araque

As Senior Vice President of the Transition Unit, Sanjive’s role is to oversee the transition and evolution of the Expo 2020 site into District 2020, the future smart and human-centric community and innovation ecosystem. His role includes strategy development and planning for the re-purposing and commercialization of assets inherited from the World Expo, into a global destination focused on supporting industry growth, and Dubai’s innovation-driven economy. Sanjive was formerly Chief Commercial Ofﬁcer at Expo 2020 Dubai, responsible for driving ticket sales, managing commercial sponsorships, developing on-site and off-site retail operations, establishing licensed merchandise and rolling out Expo’s F&B offering.

Senior Vice President, Transition Unit - District 2020, UAE 

Sanjive Khosla

After two decades at Siemens, with stints in the U.A.E., Libya, Germany and Pakistan, von Struve became the Chief Executive Officer of Siemens in the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates in May 2020. Prior to his current role, von Struve was the Managing Director of Siemens in Pakistan, a position he held since 2015. As an engineer and business executive, he has been an advocate of implementing technologies in infrastructure and industries that improve our lives and protect our planet. These days his focus is on melding technologies – such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, additive manufacturing, 5G and the future of automation – into a cohesive bundle that will create immense value for customers.



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Helmut von Struve 

Born in Madrid in 1968, PhD in Public State Law, by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Graduate in Law by Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Master in Territorial and Urban Planning Politics by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, specialised in Urban Planning and Master in Public Law by Universidad 
Carlos III de Madrid. 
Elected Madrid’s Senator in the twelfth parliamentary term and Mayor of Mostoles. President from the Spanish Delegation in the Local and regional Congress of the European Council and president of the International Affairs Committee of the Spanish Federation of Towns and Provinces. 
Member of the European Towns and Regions Directive Committee, the Executive Bureau of the United Cities and Local Governments and the 
OCDE Inter-Parliamentary Network. 

General Secretary of Urban and Housing Agenda, Spain 


Francisco David Lucas Parrón

World Majlis | Smarter than Smart Cities

By 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas and the number of slum dwellers will increase to 3 billion. Such rapid pace of urbanisation threatens to put unprecedented pressure on urban infrastructure, making it prone to disease outbreaks and limit service provision capacities. 

SDG 11 intends to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by 2030, leaving no one behind. Urban areas are home to diverse communities and groups including indigenous people, refugees and migrants, which add immense value and vibrance to cities. This day-long event, Inclusive Cities: Last Mile Delivery in Slums and Informal Settlements, co-curated by UN-Habitat, brings together eminent experts from across the world to draw attention to inclusive solutions for building safe, resilient and sustainable settlements.

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Bringing together eminent experts from across the world to draw attention to inclusive solutions for building safe, resilient and sustainable settlements. 

From the Ground Up | Successful Innovations for Delivery Systems

Youth Voices for Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Development

Slums and Safety: Building blocks for gender responsive and safer informal settlements

Leveraging Public / Private Partnerships for Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanisation

Learnings from Successful Public Sector-led Slum-Upgradation Interventions

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Mr. Kennedy Odede is one of Africa’s best-known community organizers and social entrepreneurs. Kennedy grew up in Kenya's Kibera slum, where he experienced the devastating realities of life in extreme poverty. Odede founded Shining Hope for Communities which impacts over 2.4 million slum dwellers across 24 urban slums in Kenya. In 2018, SHOFCO became the youngest-ever organization to receive the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and in 2021, SHOFCO was awarded the prestigious UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour. . He was awarded the 2010 Echoing Green Fellowship, and featured on the Forbes "30 under 30 list" for top Social Entrepreneurs in 2014. Kennedy is also the recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Prize.  

Founder & CEO, Shining Hope for Communities

Kennedy Odede

Zoe Tabary is an editor at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, where she runs its coverage of cities including housing and homelessness, slums, cities’ net-zero efforts and smart cities, among other areas. She has organised and conducted journalist trainings in various countries including Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal etc. Prior to joining the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Ms. Tabary worked as an editor at The Economist Group, where she managed research projects for a number of clients across the energy, healthcare and sustainability sectors. She has also worked with Amnesty International as an editor, focusing on human rights issues. She holds a Master of Science in Marketing, a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris, and is fluent in French, Spanish and German.

Zoe Tabary

Maimunah Mohd Sharif is the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme . Prior to this appointment, she was the Mayor of the City Council of Penang Island, Malaysia. She began her career as a town planner at the Municipal Council of Penang Island in 1985. In 2003, she was promoted to Director of Planning and Development. In November 2009, as its General Manager, Ms. Sharif established George Town World Heritage Incorporated and managed the George Town World Heritage Site, which was inscribed by UNESCO. In 2011, she became the first woman to be appointed President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. On 11 January 2018, she received an award from the Malaysia Book of Records for being the first Asian woman to be appointed as Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) 

Maimunah Mohd Sharif 

Ms. Leilani Farha is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing and Global Director of The Shift. A lawyer by training, Leilani has worked for the past 20 years on the implementation of the right to adequate housing for the most marginalized groups. Leilani has helped develop global human rights standards on the right to housing, including through her topical reports on homelessness, the financialization of housing, informal settlements, rights-based housing strategies, and the first UN Guidelines for the implementation of the right to housing. She is the central character in the documentary PUSH regarding the financialization of housing, screening around the world. Leilani Launched The Shift in 2017 with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Cities and Local Government.

Former UN Special Rapporteur for Housing and the Global Director of The Shift


Leilani Farha

Hon. Dr. Freda Prempeh is the Minister of State, Ministry of Works and Housing, Government of Ghana. She is a three-time Member of Parliament for Tano-North Constituency, and the only female MP in the Bono and Ahafo regions. She is a former Deputy Minister for Works and Housing, and former Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection. She has served as Assembly Member for the Lakoo Electoral Area for eight years where she chaired the Women and Children Sub-Committee and the Development Planning Sub-Committee. She worked with the Prison Service for ten years. She also served on the National Reconciliation Commission as a Public Affairs Officer. 

Minister of State, Ministry of Works and Housing, Government of Ghana

Hon. Dr. Freda Prempeh

Mr. Washington Fajardo is the City Planning Commissioner of Rio de Janeiro and President of Pereira Passos Institute for Urbanism. He has also served as President of the Rio World Heritage Institute and the Mayor’s Special Advisor for Urban Issues. In these roles, Fajardo created policies and finance solutions to preserve heritage, regenerate buildings and places, and improve public services in Rio de Janeiro. The Loeb Fellowship selected him for the Class of 2019 at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Currently, Fajardo is responsible for preparing a new master plan for Rio de Janeiro and is concluding an urban recovery plan for Rio's downtown which was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fajardo is also responsible for the Revivify Plan, aiming for a bold housing stimulus to the city's downtown.

City Planning Commissioner of Rio de Janeiro and President of Pereira Passos Institute for Urbanism

Washington Fajardo

Somsook Boonyabancha is the Chairperson of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, a coalition of organizations working on urban poor housing development in Asia. She was the former Director of Community Organizations Development Institute in Thailand and still serves as Chairperson on the Institute's National Slum Upgrading Committee. She has been working on urban poor housing development and slum upgrading in Thailand and other countries in Asia for the past 40 years. She has vast experience in community-led slum upgrading and housing development in urban as well as rural community upgrading and community-led development activities such as community welfare and disaster rehabilitation. In 1991, she was the project leader of the Sengki Land-sharing Project which received UN Habitat’s “Habitat Scroll of Honor”. 

Chairperson of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights

Somsook Boonyabancha

Sameh Wahba is the Global Director for the World Bank’s Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice. Previously, he was the Director for Urban and Territorial Development, Disaster Risk Management and Resilience at the World Bank Group’s Social, Urban Rural, and Resilience Global Practice. He also served as the Practice Manager for the Urban and Disaster Risk Management unit in Africa and the Global Urban and Resilience Unit, and the Acting Director of Operations and Strategy for the Global Practice. He worked as Sustainable Development Sector Leader for Brazil, and as an urban specialist in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa Regions. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities and Urbanization.

Global Director for World Bank’s Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience & Land Global Practice

Sameh Wahba

Dr. Eduardo López Moreno is the Director of Research and Innovation at UN Habitat. He is also the interim representative of the Agency in Mexico and Cuba. He has over 35 years of experience in housing and urban development policies, institutional analysis, global monitoring, and equity and urban poverty issues. Dr. Moreno has served as the Chief of Research and Capacity Development and Chief of the State of the World’s Cities. He was also the Chief of the Global Urban Observatory, Senior Technical Adviser at the Bureau of Africa and the Arab States and Chief Technical Adviser in Angola for UN Habitat. Before joining the United Nations, he was invited as professor at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve and the University of New Mexico. 

Director of Research and Innovation at UN Habitat

Dr. Eduardo López Moreno

Mr. Henry Ohanga Don, commonly referred to by his stage name Octopizzo, is an award-winning recording and performing artist, humanitarian, and budding entrepreneur. Born in the sprawling slums of Kibera, Nairobi, Octopizzo is passionate about philanthropy. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian engagements, such as the "Artists for Refugees" and "Refugeenius" projects with UNHCR. This initiative encourages refugees and youth in informal settlements to build their talents through music and the arts. The Refugeenius program has also been showcased by TEDx in 2018. Octopizzo’s music centres on promoting self-belief and radiates dynamism, creativity, and passion. He founded his not-for-profit the Octopizzo Foundation in 2015 which is grounded in the pillars of creativity, art, music, culture, and sports. 

Henry Ohanga Don (Octopizzo)

Anacláudia Rossbach is the Regional Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at Cities Alliance and the Manager of the Global Programme on Informality, where she supports the design of programmes, facilitates knowledge exchange and offers advisory services and technical assistance in housing and urban public policies in the global south. She has previously worked as a Senior Housing Specialist for the World Bank in Brazil and various countries across the world. She has also provided technical assistance as a high-level consultant for the development and implementation of two major programs in the Brazilian housing and slum upgrading policy, such as the slum upgrading program ‘PAC Favelas’ and the housing subsidies program, Minha Casa, Minha Vida. 

Regional Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at Cities Alliance

Anacláudia Rossbach

Drawing on 25 years of leadership in non-governmental organizations and the private sector, Mr. Patrick Canagasingham oversees the operations of Habitat for Humanity’s work in more than 70 countries as Chief Operating Officer. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Toronto-based Children Believe since 2017, before joining Habitat for Humanity. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Oxfam International, where he applied his considerable experience in operational management, strategic planning, and organizational leadership to serve a global workforce of 10,000 staff members and oversee a budget of $1.3 billion. Before his time with Oxfam, Mr. Canagasingham held senior leadership roles with World Vision in Canada and East Asia, including vice president of international programs at World Vision Canada.

Chief Operating Officer, Habitat for Humanity

Patrick Canagasingham

Dr. Sasha Kramer is an ecologist, human rights advocate, and the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL).  She received her PhD in Ecology from Stanford University and co-founded SOIL while also completing a postdoctoral research position with the Collaboratory for Research on Global Projects at Stanford. She is a global advocate for the recycling of nutrients in human waste, and has inspired people around the world to implement sustainable sanitation projects and participate in the sanitation revolution. She is an Ashoka Fellow, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, an Architect of the Future with the Waldzell Institute, a 2014 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year, and the recipient of the 2017 Sarpharti Sanitation Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL)

Dr. Sasha Kramer

Vincentia Koranteng is a Community Development professional with experience in Project Management and Monitoring and Evaluation in the Local Government Service in Ghana. She currently serves as Senior Community Development Officer at the Ashiedu-Keteke Sub Metropolitan Assembly and is in charge of developing new community-based initiatives, community Mobilisation and Advocacy. Her activities cut across various sectors of societal transformation including social housing, renewable energy, sustainable sanitation solutions and livelihood support programmes. The key interventions she has been intensely engaged in are the European Union/UN-Habitat funded Participatory Slum Upgrading Project, the Energy for Justice Programme which focused on Solar energy for informal settlements and Clean Cookstove projects among others.

Community Leader, Ga Mashie Community, Accra (Ghana)

Vincentia Koranteng

Emilie Röell is a social entrepreneur and consultant. An anthropologist by training, she is interested in creating solutions that make use of and preserve cultural and natural capital while also creating sustainable community impact. Ms. Röell is the founder of Doh Eain, a social enterprise aimed at heritage conservation and urban regeneration based in Yangon, Myanmar. As a consultant, she has carried out research, advised, and led programs and collaborations in the areas of cultural and environmental conservation, good governance, gender equality and alternative finance. She works/has worked for the EU, UNDP, WWF, IUCN and several other INGOs and local civil society groups in Myanmar, as well as in the Pacific and Tanzania previously. 

Emellie Röell

Lucy Livesley has over 16 years of experience in international urban development, sustainable cities and affordable housing, and has spent over a decade of her career at Reall. She played a key role in shaping Reall’s evolution from grant-giving NGO to commercial, market-focused innovator and investor. Ms. Livesley brings a wealth of expertise in governance and leadership, organisational strategy, programme design and management, investment and government relations. Livesley is responsible for positioning Reall as a global thought-leader, crowding in actors and resources, addressing market barriers and catalysing climate-smart housing markets that work for people on low incomes.  

Policy and External Affairs Director, Reall

Lucy Livesley

Violet Shivutse is the Chair of the Global Governing Council and Africa Regional Representative at the Huairou Commission. She has worked as a community health worker and home-based caregiver in the Shibuye sub-region of the Shinyalu constituency, Kenya. She is the Founder and Coordinator of Shibuye Community Health Workers, a group working with local authorities to enforce land and inheritance rights of women and orphans. She has been working to build community resilience and combat climate change, nurturing the leadership of large numbers of grassroots women, and negotiating with authorities for gender-responsive policy. Her organization is a practitioner of the Community Resilience Fund initiative and has represented the Huairou Commission in policy all over the world. 

Chair of the Global Governing Council and Africa Regional Representative at the Huairou Commission

Violet Shivutse

Gurmehar Kaur is the author of ‘Small Acts of Freedom', a deeply personal family history published by Penguin Random House India. Her second book ‘The Young and the Restless: Youth and Politics’ was published in 2019. Kaur is a social activist and a global ambassador for Digital Peace now, a non-profit organization advocating for Cyber Peace launched by Microsoft. Ms. Kaur co-founded Citizens for Public Leadership, an independent nonpartisan movement focused on advocating for progressive public policy in India. CPL is an apolitical non-profit with the sole objective of strengthening the capacity of Indian youth to take up leadership challenges in the public sphere. In 2017, Ms. Kaur was listed by TIME magazine as a 'Next Generation Leader', a global listing of ten young men and women making a difference in the world. 

Gurmehar Kaur

Samuel Malinga is currently the Managing Director of Sanitation Africa,  an organisation that enables low-income households to access decent and affordable housing, water, and latrine facilities. In recognition of his works and services, he has earned several awards both nationally and internationally. He was recognised as one of the 17 UN Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals, shortlisted among 8 social entrepreneurs by the Social Entrepreneurship Forum in Sweden, and was a Yunus and Youth Fellow in 2017. Mr. Malinga was the first runner-up of the Civil Society WASH Innovations Award 2016 in Brisbane, Australia, and the winner of Total StartUpper and Tony O. Elumelu Prize in Business. He was also among 12 engineers short-listed for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. 

Samuel Malinga

Roziyamo Hokimshoeva is a Resilient Enterprise Development Analyst at the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, where she works on the realisation of sustainable and resilient projects designed under the Khorog Urban Resilience Project. Currently, she is involved in setting up the women headed gabion weaving enterprise and other resilient enterprises under this project.  She is also one of the Co-Founders of Pamir Innovation Hub, a public organisation established in 2018, which aims to orchestrate social projects and provide employment opportunities related to technology to the youth in Khorog. Along with serving on the Advisory Board of the Pamir Innovation Hub, Ms. Hokimshoeva supports the launch of Pamir Technology Park - a job centre, tech hub and co-working space. 

Resilient Enterprise Development Analyst at the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH)

Roziyamo Hokimshoeva

Daniel Tillias is a community development leader with over 20 years of experience. He is a social entrepreneur and the visionary behind several sustainable initiatives all over Haiti, such as ALAVET AYITI, FATRAKA, and Collaborative Jobs, among the more recent. Daniel’s work is focused on the city of Cite Soleil, the largest underserved community of Haiti. He co-founded the largest community centre in Cite Soleil known as SAKALA (Community Center for Peaceful Alternatives) in 2006, which is now home to the largest urban garden in Haiti. The initiative has been awarded several prizes from all over the world, including Austria, USA, and Haiti, and most recently the prestigious CNN HERO 2019 award.

Board Member and Co-Chair, Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) 

Daniel Tillias

Dr. Robert Lewis-Lettington is Chief of the Land, Housing and Shelter Section at UN-Habitat. He is a lawyer by training and has worked in both public and private international law for more than twenty years. Dr. Lewis-Lettington’s principal areas of expertise are international institutions and processes, human rights and humanitarian law, environmental law, science and technology law and urban development. Dr. Lewis-Lettington is also an experienced programme and project manager having worked in most geographic regions and a large number of countries.

Chief of Land, Housing and Shelter Section, UN-Habitat

Robert Lewis-Lettington

Benjamin Armah has extensive experience and knowledge in Local Governance and Decentralisation system which includes Policy Formulation, Planning and Decision-Making at Local Authorities. His vast experience in urban development spans from planned city extension, waste management and slum 
upgrading. As a native of Ga Mashie and a key member of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, he was instrumental in the Participatory Slum Upgrading (PSUP) process which involved the buy- in of the traditional leaders, women, youth, and the community at large. In his current capacity as the Metropolitan Coordinating Director, he coordinates and ensures the implementation of governmental policies, projects and programmes at the Metropolitan Assembly level in addition to acting as an advisor to the mayor of Accra. 

Coordinating Director of the Metropolitan Assembly

Benjamin Armah

Thipparat Noppaladarom is an architect and planner who has experience working in the field of housing development for low-income people in Thailand. She served as the Director of Housing Policy and Planning Division which was her last position there. Subsequently, she worked as Deputy Director of Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI), under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Thailand in 2004 and was appointed as the Director of the institute in 2009. During her tenure at CODI, her work focused on supporting the development of community organizations in both urban and rural Thailand following the core principle of CODI to empower communities, especially grassroots people with the vision of “people and communities are the centre of development and people are the core actors”. 

Advisor, Community Organizations Development Institutem (CODI)

Thipparat Noppaladarom

Mohammed Amine Elhajhouj is the CEO of Société d’Aménagement Zenata, Morocco. Mr. Elhajhouj is responsible for the design and development of the new city of Zenata, and through this initiative he is contributing to the territorial development of Morocco. He has previously been a member of the Management Committee of Groupe Caisse de Dépôts et de Gestion. He has several certifications in project management and financial arrangements for major operations from AFITEP France and the World Bank. He has participated in numerous projects in retailing, health and education. He has worked closely with regional and local authorities on resettlement plans, and the launch of the eco-city framework. He graduated from the Hassania School of Public Works in 1992, and received a Graduate Diploma in Management from ISCAE in 1999. 

CEO of Société d’Aménagement Zenata, Morocco

Mohammed Amine ElHajhouj

Kerstin Sommer is an expert on slum upgrading, informal settlements, land, housing and shelter management. As the Programme Manager of the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme, she contributes to poverty and inequality reduction, and inclusion and participation in slum transformation at UN-Habitat Headquarters. She has been managing the Programme in 40 countries and 200 cities for the past 10 years. She is the focal point for the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda implementation in informal settlements, slums and marginalized communities. She has initiated slum upgrading strategies in all regions globally. Her mission currently is to move countries towards scaling slum upgrading, regeneration and affordable housing assisting governments to deliver SDGs in cities in the Decade of Action. 

Programme Manager, the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme, UN-Habitat

World Cities Day

Speaker of the day

Speaker

Ahmed & Rashid Bin Shabib

Speaker

Nadimeh Mehra

Speaker

Belén Desmaison

Speaker

Bjorn Low

Speaker

Prof. Elizabeth English

Speaker

Tatiana Antonelli Abella

Speaker

Ahmed & Rashid Bin Shabib

Speaker

Nadimeh Mehra

Speaker

Belén Desmaison

Speaker

Bjorn Low

Image Gallery

Urban & Rural Development Week.

This event is part of the
World Cities Day.

Speaker of the day

Image Gallery

Urban & Rural Development Week.

This event is part of theWorld Cities Day.

This event is part of the
World Cities Day.