Press Release: Symposium on Global Green Cities of the 21st Century to Be Held in San Francisco
Organizers and sponsors of the Global Green Cities of the 21st Century: Evolving Models for Sustainable Urban Design today announced that the symposium will take place February 23-25, 2011 at the San Francisco JW Marriott. With the goal of fostering sustainable urban development and design, the landmark symposium will shed light on the development of green cities. Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of California, will deliver the opening remarks on Feb. 23.
The symposium will feature a high-level exchange of ideas and information among elected officials, planners, researchers, technologists, business executives and other leaders recognized worldwide.
“We’re extremely excited to have such an esteemed gathering of global experts on sustainable urban growth convene in San Francisco,” said Sean Randolph, President of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. “Their experience of planning and living in some of the world’s most innovative cities is invaluable, and we hope that the exchange with U.S. and Bay Area leaders will help advance the state of the art.”
Focal points of the symposium include urban design, the relationship between policy and citizen behavior, and the applications of technology. The symposium will showcase technology and policy advances specific to California.
Global collaboration will be achieved through both on-site participation and the use of Cisco TelePresence, a state-of-the-art meeting solution enabling an “in-person” virtual presence. The Virtual Meetings by Marriott studios will also connect participants worldwide, using the AT&T Business Exchange, AT&T’s unique network-based, inter- and intracompany collaboration program.
“Cisco is proud to support Global Green Cities of the 21st Century,” said Wim Elfrink, chief globalisation officer and executive vice president of Cisco Services. “Cisco TelePresence is the perfect solution to connect worldwide contributors to this symposium and to facilitate conversations that will bring positive change to the sustainable-urban-design sector. This will also allow our meeting participants to experience how innovation and technology can advance economic, social and environmental sustainability.”
Jim Herlihy, managing director of Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, echoed Elfrink’s sentiments: “We’re honored to contribute to such a truly important event. The discussions promoted by this symposium will no doubt benefit the growth and evolution of green cities worldwide.”
Global Green Cities of the 21st Century is organized by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute in partnership with the Alfred Herrhausen Society, Cisco and Deutsche Bank, with program advice provided by LSE Cities at the London School of Economics.
Confirmed participants include:
- The Hon. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Karnataka State and Bangalore Urban District (India)
- The Hon. Ed Lee, mayor of San Francisco
- The Hon. Jean-Louis Missika, deputy mayor of Paris
- The Hon. Naheed Nenshi, mayor of Calgary
- The Hon. Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of California
- The Hon. Chuck Reed, mayor of San Jose
- The Hon. Young-gil Song, mayor of Incheon, Metropolitan City (South Korea)
- Chye Teng Khoo, executive director, Centre for Liveable Cities, and chief executive, Singapore Public Utilities Board (Singapore)
- Chris Andrews, lead project manager, Infrastructure Conceptual Design, Autodesk
- Murat Armbruster, senior adviser, Carbon War Room
- Scott Barnette, vice president for corporate business development, North America, Hitachi
- David Baum, vice president, North American Strategic Sustainability Initiatives, Philips Lighting
- Sven Armin Beiker, executive director, Center for Automotive Research, Stanford University
- Stewart Brand, founder, Whole Earth Catalog, and co-founder, Global Business Network
- Peter Calthorpe, principal, Calthorpe Associates
- Ranbir Saran Das, managing director, Fairwood Consultants Pvt. Ltd. (India)
- Isabel Dedring, environmental adviser, Mayor’s Office of London (United Kingdom)
- Wim Elfrink, executive vice president and chief globalisation officer, Cisco
- Stefan Denig, head, sustainable cities program, Siemens (Germany)
- Nicky Gavron, Londonwide Assembly member, and chair, Planning & Housing Authority, Greater London Authority (United Kingdom)
- Jeffrey Heller, president, Heller Manus Architects
- David Helliwell, co-founder and CEO, Pulse Energy (Canada)
- Uli Hellweg, chief executive, IBA Hamburg GmbH (Germany)
- Steve Heminger, executive director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
- Jim Herlihy, managing director, Deutsche Bank
- Bjarke Ingels, president, BIG Architects (Denmark)
- Warren Karlenzig, president, Common Current
- Bruce Katz, director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution
- John Kriken, consulting partner, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, LLP
- Kent Larson, director, Smart Cities/Changing Places research group, MIT
- Yvon Le Roux, vice president, Smart+Connected Communities, Cisco
- Steve Lewis, CEO, Living PlanIT
- Greg Lindsay, contributing editor, Fast Company
- Chris Luebkeman, principal, foresight+innovation, Arup
- Anil Menon, president, Smart+Connected Communities, Cisco
- Tom Murcott, executive vice president, Gale International
- David Nieh, general manager, planning, Shui On Land (China)
- Wolfgang Nowak, director, Alfred Herrhausen Society
- Henk Ovink, director of national spatial planning, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment of the Netherlands
- Sean Randolph, president & CEO, Bay Area Council Economic Institute
- Ezra Rapport, executive director, Association of Bay Area Governments
- Philipp Rode, executive director, LSE Cities at the London School of Economics
- Arthur Rosenfeld, distinguished scientist emeritus, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Michel St. Pierre, director, planning & urban design, Gensler
- Shankar Sastry, dean, college of engineering, UC Berkeley
- Helle Lis Soholt, partner & managing director, Gehl Architects (Denmark)
- Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Materials
- James Sweeney, director, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, Stanford University
- Will Travis, executive director, San Francisco Bay Conservation & Development Commission
- Conrad Wagner, senior lecturer in Mobility Studies, Lucerne University (Lucerne)
- Tom Wright, executive director, Regional Plan Association
- Siegfried Zhiqiang Wu, professor, College of Architecture & Urban Planning, Tongji University (China)
- Anupam Yog, founder and director, Mirabilis Advisory
- Dimitri Zenghelis, senior economic adviser, Cisco, and visiting fellow, Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics (London)
- Konrad Otto Zimmermann, chair, World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Urbanization and secretary general, ICLEI
A webcast of the symposium will be streamed at the following Web address: http://www.ustream.tv/ciscotv.
For more information on Global Green Cities of the 21st Century, please visit the event website, http://www.globalgreencities.com, or contact Nicholas Gaffney, Infinite Public Relations, 415-732-7801, ngaffney@infinitepr.com.
