Opening General Session
Featuring Sir Peter Hall

Sir Peter Hall
Senior Resident Fellow, Institute of Community Studies
And
Professor of Planning
Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning
University College
London, United Kingdom

Sir Peter Hall, is one of Britain’s most distinguished urbanists. He is senior resident fellow and professor of planning at University College. Hall was knighted in 1998 for his intellectual contributions; he is the only urban planner in the last fifty years to have such an honor bestowed. His writings total nearly thirty authored and edited books and include studies of American-style suburbanization in Europe, planning disasters, economic development and most recently Working Capital. In addition to his writing, Hall has been a consultant for urban policymaking around the world, testifying to the U.S. Congress and advising Australia on metropolitan planning. He is considered the father of the industrial enterprise zone, adopted by countries worldwide to develop industry in disadvantaged areas.

Wolfgang Grulke
Founder and Chairman
FutureWorld
Gibraltar

Grulke is founder and chairman of FutureWorld, a South African based global business and technology think tank. Grulke has a background in business, technology, nuclear physics, entertainment, and marine biology. He is the best selling author of Ten Lessons from the Future and Lessons in Radical Innovation: Out-of-the-box straight to the bottom line. Grulke is a fellow of the Centre for Management Development at the London Business School and teaches regularly on a number of programmes including the School’s flagship senior executive programme (SEP).

Following on from Wolfgang Grulke’s powerful address on Lessons from the Future at the World Cities Forum in London, ULI invites you to get a two-month gift subscription to MindBullets: News from the Future—just click on the logo below.

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Meet the Thought Provocateurs

To create a context of enquiry, ULI has engaged seven “thought provocateurs,” representing diverse backgrounds, to participate in an active dialogue on issues that will fundamentally influence and shape decisions about the future of cities. These seven thought leaders will provide the framework for discussions about how issues such as livability, demographics, the global economy, the environment, design and civic leadership will influence cities. The thought leaders and attendees also will have the opportunity to engage in provocative, no-holds-barred discussions about the social, physical, and economic future of cities.

Thought Provocateurs Discussion Papers (PDF file)

Richard Baron
Chief Executive Officer
McCormack Baron Salazar Inc.
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Civic Leadership: Cities by Chance or by Choice

Baron is a pioneer in the housing development field and a 30-year veteran in revitalising urban communities. He is the 2004 Laureate of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. As cofounder, chairman, and chief executive officer of McCormack Baron Salazar Inc., Baron guides MBS in re-creating vibrant neighborhoods in some of the toughest inner-city areas across the United States. His work is a testament to the company’s ability to transform neglected, physically deteriorating neighborhoods into areas of prosperity and growth. The firm’s goals of creating a lasting impact throughout a large area of the inner city and linking neighborhoods to the downtown core and major employment areas have been realized at such projects as Ballpark Village and Choteau Lake & Greenway in St. Louis, Heritage Park in Minneapolis, Transit Village in Los Angeles, and University Place in Memphis.

Urban Design: Public Spaces, Cities and Livability

Busquets is the first Martin Bucksbaum Professor in Practice of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to joining the GSD faculty, Busquets was professor of town planning in the school of architecture at the Polytechnic University of Barcelona. A world-renowned urban planner, urban designer and architect, Busquets served as head of urban planning for the Barcelona City Council during the formative years, and in the reparations for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, including the New Downtowns for the City programme and the improvement process for existing neighborhoods. Busquets has participated in strategic urban planning and design for the cities of Den Haag, Lisbon, Marseille, Rotterdam, Singapore, and São Paulo, and has also completed projects for the modern center of Trento, Italy, and Villanova, Spain.

Demographics as Destiny: Adapting Cities to the Way We Live and Work

Champion is a professor of population geography at the University of Newcastle, in Newcastle upon Tyne. He is the chair of the International Union for Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and honorary chair of the University of Newcastle’s Housing and Society Research Group. His research interests include urban and regional changes in population distribution and composition, with particular interest in population deconcentration in developed countries and the policy implications of changes in local population profiles. Champion’s works include: Flight From the Cities, Home Alone: The Housing Preferences of One-Person Households, A Changing Demographic Regime and Evolving Polycentric Urban Regions, and Impacts of Migration on Population Change.

The Global Economy: Discovering Where Opportunities Lie

In his groundbreaking book, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, de Soto asks—and answers—one of the most pressing questions of our time: Why do some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail? Considered the father of the concept of under exploited assets, or “dead capital,” de Soto has an approach to relieving poverty in the developing world that has earned him advisory roles with heads of state and corporate leaders alike. He helped to modernize Peru’s economic system; he duplicated this effort for El Salvador; and he has assisted Russia, Haiti, Algeria, Ghana, and many other countries. Time magazine has named de Soto one of the five leading Latin American innovators of the century and The Economist deemed his Institute for Liberty and Democracy in Peru the second most important think tank in the world. President Clinton nominated de Soto for the Nobel Prize in Economics.

The Green Evolution: Creating a Sustainable Urban Future

Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, best-selling author, and consultant on sustainability issues. Currently he is working with companies, island nations, and educational institutions and is serving on the boards of many environmental and nonprofit organisations, including Point Foundation, the Center for Plant Conservation, Conservation International, the Trust for Public Land, and the National Audubon Society. Hawken served as cochair of the Natural Step-International, a nonprofit educational foundation whose purpose is to develop and share a common framework composed of easily understood, scientifically based principles that can serve as a basis to move society toward sustainability. The Natural Step assists business and government leaders throughout the world in establishing a long-term commitment to environmental sustainability as a core part of their overall policies. Hawken’s book, The Ecology of Commerce, has become a classic text on business and environment, and continues to have a large impact on government and business.

The Livability Factor: How Attitudes and Culture Shape Urban Environments

James, a cultural anthropologist, is known around the world for her innovative ideas and her work on an international level with corporations and associations helping people to meet the challenges of today’s transitions. She is a specialist in the areas of cultural change, diversity, and marketing intelligence. James is a published author of seven books, including Windows, Success Is the Quality of Your Journey, and Thinking in the Future Tense. She has written more than 50 academic articles and wrote a newspaper column for the Seattle Times for 18 years. James has filmed two PBS specials, Thinking in the Future Tense and A Workout for the Mind. She is currently working on her new book, Cultural Intelligence, for Harvard Business Press.

An Uncertain World: Crafting a Livable Future

Zakaria is editor of Newsweek International. He writes a column that appears in the national edition of Newsweek, Newsweek International, and, often, The Washington Post, making it one of the most widely circulated columns of its kind in the world today. He is the author of The Future of Freedom: Liberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, a book on global political trends, and From Wealth to Power, a provocative examination of America’s role on the world stage. He is coeditor of The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World. Describing Zakaria as “the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation,” Esquire named him “one of the 21 most important people of the 21st century.”

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Over the past 20 years, exuberant architecture has helped transform many of the world’s great cities. What role does the architect play in defining the success of a city? How does dramatic, landmark architecture contribute to the urban fabric and civic identity? Some of the world’s most celebrated architects will debate these issues, the evolution of architecture, and their vision for the city of the future.

Noted for the elegant modernism of his many commissions, Foster finds expressive power in a wide variety of cutting-edge technologies, fitting each building to its site, street, or landscape, paying sharp attention to detailing, and often taking into account various ecological factors. He has received more than 250 awards and citations for excellence and won over 55 national and international competitions. Foster was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal. The Ministry of Culture in France appointed Foster Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. He is the 21st Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. He was granted a knighthood at The Queen’s Birthday Honours of 1990, was appointed by The Queen to the Order of Merit in 1997, and was honoured with a life peerage in 1999, taking the title of Lord Foster of Thames Bank. His projects include: The Millennium Bridge over the River Thames, the Great Court at the British Museum, Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok international airport, Swill Re Headquarters, and City Hall in London.

A. Eugene Kohn
Founder and Chairman
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC
New York, New York, USA

Kohn is respected worldwide for his 40-year career and for his inspirational leadership qualities. KPF is known for buildings that are sensitive to their context, while establishing a unique and memorable image on the exterior and creating interior environments that reinforce the clients’ overall mission and function. Kohn is the recipient of the prestigious AIA Architectural Firm Award, the National AIA Design Award, the Sidney L. Strauss Award, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honour. His projects include: New Songdo City in Korea; the Shanghai World Financial Center; 333 Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois; Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan; the World Bank, Washington, DC; the Gannett/USA Today Headquarters, McLean, Virginia; and the World Trade Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Jean Nouvel
Architect and Partner
Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Paris, France

Nouvel has worked to create a stylistic language separate from that of modernism and post modernism, placing enormous importance on designing buildings that are harmonious with their sites and surroundings. For his work, he has been awarded the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture, the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Aga Khan Prize for the Arab World Institute, Italy’s Borromini Prize for the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre, and Japan’s Praemium Imperial Career Prize. His projects include the Arab World Institute, the Lyon Opera House, and the Cartier Foundation all located in Paris, France; the Andel office building in Prague, Czech Republic; and the Dentsu Tower in Tokyo, Japan.

Lord Richard Rogers
Chairman
Richard Rogers Partnership
Richard Rogers Architects, Ltd.
London, United Kingdom

Well known as an urban strategist, an iconic architect, and a person with a keen interest in sustainable architecture, Rogers is committed to building schemes that create effective public space and enliven inner-city areas. Rogers has received the RIBA Royal, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Medal, and the Praemium Imperial Award. He was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 1986, was knighted by The Queen in 1991, and was made a life peer in 1996. He recently was appointed Chief Adviser to the Mayor of London on Architecture and Urbanism, and also serves as Adviser to the Mayor of Barcelona’s Urban Strategies Council. His projects include: the Centre Pompidou, the HW for Lloyd’s of London, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and the Millennium Dome in London.

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