Business Tapped to Help Design Productive Cities | Business Civic ...

//Editor?s Note:BCLC is designing a private sector engagement at the World Urban Forum 6 (WUF), Sept. 1-7 in Italy. Companies are invited to participate. For more information contact Hanna Felleke.//

Last week BCLC, in partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and UN-Habitat, hosted an event focused on productive cities. Speakers included representatives from the City of Philadelphia Mayor?s Office, McKinsey, Georgetown McDonough School of Business, and the Ford Foundation. This session is one of four events leading up to the World Urban Forum (WUF) 6 in Naples, Italy, where the theme will be ?The Urban Future.??

The strength of public-private partnerships was a key theme that resonated throughout the productive cities session. Productive cities must look at ways to reduce environmental impacts while sustainably coping with growing urban populations. With the rapid rate of urbanization, cities need to be able to manage their existing assets, plus add to their capacity.

Cities are looking to partner with the private sector to help develop solutions in areas such as information technology, transit, and smart infrastructure, which can sustain the vitality and productivity of a city as it grows. This approach to shaping the future of the city breaks down organizational silos and accelerates innovation that creates positive impacts for the business and the city.

Cities are looking to partner with the private sector to help develop solutions which can sustain the vitality and productivity of a city as it grows.

Instead of re-developing and re-imaging a city to deal with urbanization, investments are going into building smart cities; examples of this include Masdar City, UAE and Songdo, South Korea. In these ?master-planned? cities, technology is integrated into every aspect of the community to meet the needs of the residents and workers in the city while maintaining the unique aspects of the local culture. In addition to being resource efficient, the developers of the cities take into account needs of the future of the city while considering the immediate demands.

In these ?master-planned? cities, technology is integrated into to meet the needs of the residents and workers while maintaining the unique aspects of culture.

Another example of the different sectors coming together on economic, social and environmental solutions is the Accelerating Market-Driven Partnerships (AMP), a new Department of State program where business, government, and civil society create an ecosystem of innovation and investment that will create jobs and promote a sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future. The pilot project will take place in Brazil.

In addition to productive cities, discussions at WUF 6 will focus on urban planning, equity and prosperity, and urban mobility.?

Source: http://bclc.uschamber.com/blog/2012-07-23/business-tapped-help-design-productive-cities

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