Skip to main content

Sustainable Cities: Is there a future? Is it green?

CIRIA is hosting an evening debate to discuss current issues of environmental sustainability in a new Urban Era. This event will bring together highly regarded senior professionals from the engineering and built environment sector to discuss 21st Century challenges in balancing economic growth, environmental protection and social inclusion for future cities and infrastructure systems.

FREE for CIRIA members to attend.
£50+ VAT for all other attendees.

Background 

CIRIA’s inaugural 2016 debate ‘Cities: adaptation without mitigation is immoral’ examined how we might manage a new urban future, and how we do this in a sustainable and equitable fashion. 

On 22 June, CIRIA’s second annual debate will once again revisit cities as a topic, asking the question: is the future green? The upward trend towards urbanisation shows no sign of abating; with some estimates suggesting up to 70% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050. Our understanding of the urban, whether in theory or in practice, has reached a turning point, with cities across the world facing new, complex and challenging conditions that require resilience and adaptation to the impacts of environmental and social change. The debate on cities can no longer focus on whether urbanisation will be an issue, instead we must focus on how we manage large urban hubs in the future and support opportunities for sustainable development. Facing an array of complex challenges, we once again ask what our future cities might look like. 

The UK boasts some of the world’s leading engineers and researchers working on innovative solutions and approaches to managing urban regions and developing more inclusive and sustainable urban environments and communities. This debate will bring together some of the leading figures in engineering to present their ideas and experiences for addressing the complex challenges of an urban future.

Speakers 
Chair: Prof Peter Head CBE,  Founder & Chief Executive Officer of the Ecological Sequestration Trust
  • Dr Sally Uren, Chief Executive, Forum for the Future 
  • Professor Steffen Lehmann, Professor of Sustainable Architecture and Founding Director of the Cluster for Sustainable Cities, University of Portsmouth
  • Malcolm Smith, Arup Fellow – Masterplanning and Urban Design, Arup 
  • Sarah Toy, Strategic Resilience Officer, Bristol City Council 

When 
22 June 2017 
18.35 - 20.00 (Registration from 18.15) 

This event is followed by a networking drinks reception. 

Where
The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace,
St. James's, London SW1Y 5AG 



CPD 

This event has the value of 1.0 hours towards your CPD. 


Sponsorship
There are sponsorship opportunities available at this event. Please contact, William Gates on 020 7549 3300 or email [email protected] to find out more. 

Fees 
FREE to CIRIA members 
£50 + VAT for all other attendees 

Booking 
If you are experiencing issues trying to register for this event please contact Patrick Williams on 020 7549 3300 or email [email protected]

When
6/22/2017
Where
The Royal Society 6-9 Carlton House Terrace St. James's LONDON SW1Y 5AG
 
 
 

Sign In to register