the places you'll go: imagining the perfect cities of tomorrow

In collaboration with the Expo Schools Programme, this discussion examines what the next generation of young citizens expect from the future cities they will call home.

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

Urban and Rural Week Insights

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?

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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

AKDN Logo

Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)

Urban & Rural Development Week

World Majlis | Next Gen | The Places You’ll Go: Imagining the Perfect City of Tomorrow

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 

Build Bridges Icon

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

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.

As cities around the world grow and expand, mobility and connectivity have become critical factors for a balanced and prosperous urban life. Not long ago, flying cars and floating pods called “hyperloops” seemed like objects out of a science fiction novel. Now they are right on our doorstep.  

A city’s connectivity relies on the infrastructure that flows between neighbourhoods and urban centres carrying people and goods. With close to 70 percent of the world’s population expected to live in cities by 2050, transportation will be crucial to quality of life and wellbeing in some of the most densely populated urban centres on Earth.  

Mobility and connectivity have become major factors in economic growth, prosperity, and higher living standards. Let’s explore how innovative mobility solutions can improve urban life and how they could benefit communities equally and safely.

Mobilising a Brighter Urban Future

Busy City

In collaboration with India, this discussion explores how transport and connectivity positively impact quality of life, access to opportunities and urban sustainability.

Session Programme - Cities on the Move

Cities on the Move - Documents 

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stamp Opportunity-India

India Image gallery


With its enormous population and diversity of ancient traditions, India is a place of incredible richness and complexity. The India Pavilion offers a new take on the country that goes beyond its famed culture and stunning landscapes to show a rising economic power that is very much open for business. The pavilion focuses on “New India”, an emerging global hub for innovation, inspiration and investment. Its wide variety of exhibits feature not just the food, tea and Bollywood entertainment that so many know and love, but also the country’s modern-day advancements in technology, aerospace, manufacturing and more.


India flag

Image Gallery

The India pavilion is a four-level rectangular structure, covered on its upper three floors with rotating tiles in hues of red, orange, and white. 

This kinetic exterior surface also serves as a screen for projected images, such as the face of Mahatma Gandhi. The bottom level features a plate-glass façade. 

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India

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India Pavilion

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 OP Agarwal has been CEO of the World Resources Institute India since 2017. He was previously a member of the Indian Administrative Service, the premier civil service in India, from 1979 to 2007 and has held positions with the national and state government of Assam, including Joint Secretary (Urban Transport) in the national Ministry of Urban Development and Secretary for Transport. He was the principal author of the National Urban Transport Policy for the country, adopted in 2006. He also worked in the World Bank for 6 years as its global Urban Transport Adviser.

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Dr OP Agarwal

In his 18 years of experience, Eng Reyad Al-Kharabsheh has supervised Planning, Construction, and operations for Public Transport Network in Amman. He has also worked as Project Manager to Amman Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project; the ﬁrst mass transit project in Amman. 

Executive Manager, Public Transport Infrastructure Projects Directorate, Jordan 


Eng Reyad Al-Kharabsheh

Josh Giegel is the CEO and Co-Founder of Virgin Hyperloop where he is leading a team of engineers making hyperloop a reality. Josh founded the company in 2014, when hyperloop was an idea drawn on a whiteboard in a garage. A little over two years later, VH built a full-scale prototype capturing the attention of governments worldwide. Today, Josh is leading the development of paradigm shifting electromagnetic, high power, autonomous technology, bridging the engineering work with unparalleled passenger experience, and working at the highest levels of government to develop a regulatory framework for hyperloop technology. In November 2020, Josh made history becoming one of the first passengers in the world to ride on a hyperloop. 

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Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Virgin Hyperloop

Josh Giegel 

Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs since June 2017, Durga Shanker Mishra is a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Uttar Pradesh cadre. He has held various senior assignments in Union and State Governments covering Revenue Administration, Internal Security, Vigilance, Civil Aviation, Tourism, Sports, Agriculture and Research, Taxation, Medical and Health, Mining, and Urban Development. He has served as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for over two years.


Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Durga Shanker Mishra

Vipul Roongta has spent 24 years in the real estate sector, 16 of which have been with HDFC Group, where he currently manages one of the largest residential ﬁnancing platforms in India, focusing on development and technology businesses across the affordable and mid-income housing ecosystem. Vipul is a member of the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), having served on various boards and industry associations including the National Committee on Housing and Real Estate at Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), South Asia Board of Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). He is also Co-Chair Real Estate of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA).

Managing Director & CEO of HDFC Capital Advisors Ltd (HCAL), India 


Vipul Roongta

As Managing Director for Mace Consult in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Mark A Taylor brings more than 25 years of global experience in construction, property and engineering. 
Since joining Mace in 2013, he has grown the company's portfolio of project and programme management and cost consultancy services in MENA by 48% and led the expansion into new markets, such as Saudi Arabia, Maldives and Egypt. Under his leadership, Mace has delivered some of the most iconic projects and programmes in the Middle East, including Ain Dubai and Expo 2020 Dubai.

Managing Director, Consultancy, MENA, Mace Group, UAE

Mark A Taylor

As the Chairperson for the newly formed region of Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania (AMIEO), Guillaume leads Nissan's largest region, covering over 140 markets across four continents with a population of around 3.8 billion people, representing more than 30% of global vehicle sales. With over 25 years serving at Nissan and Mitsubishi across multiple roles covering global and regional operations, Guillaume brings a wealth of experience and a keen focus on business transformation.

Chairperson, Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania (AMIEO), Nissan Motor Corporation

Guillaume Cartier

Peter Newman is the Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University. He has written 22 books and over 360 papers on sustainable cities and worked to deliver his ideas at all levels of government having been an elected councilor, seconded to advise three Premiers, and a member of the Board of Infrastructure Australia 2008-14. He is the Co-ordinating Lead Author for the UN’s IPCC on Transport. In 2014 he was awarded an Order of Australia for his contributions to urban design and sustainable transport. In 2018-19 he was the WA Scientist of the Year. 

Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University, Australia 


Professor Peter Newman AO

World Majlis | Cities on the Move: Moving Around to Move Up

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.

CEO, Smart Dubai Government Establishment, Digital Dubai, UAE

H.E. Wesam Lootah

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.



Helmut Pic 2

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 


World Majlis | Next Gen | The Places You’ll Go: Imagining the Perfect City of Tomorrow

Event Information

Urban & Rural Development Week.

This event is part of the
Build Bridges .

Event Information

Urban & Rural Development Week.

This event is part of theBuild Bridges .

This event is part of the
Build Bridges .