Global City's inaugural Middle East edition ends on successful note

Held 7-8 April 2009, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and Deputy Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED), at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Global City welcomed more than 700 conference attendees including Ministers and civic leaders from 40 cities and 73 leading international and local authorities, as speakers and forum participants.

In the opening keynote at the event, Richard Florida, Professor of Business and Creativity at the University of Toronto and author of the award-winning book, The Rise of the Creative Class, highlighted the importance of human creativity and called it, 'The economic engine of our age.'

"The key to understanding our time is to know that wealth and knowledge come from our latent creativity," he said. Following the keynote speech, a Mayors' Panel of international civic leaders shared their vision on the factors for success for a city in 10 years compared to those for 100 years.

The two-day event ran through a panoply of topics, including the impact of globalization, inner city development, the contribution of immigrant communities to urban success, strategies in public transport, and the significance of technology, local climate strategies, city branding and design, in 4 plenary sessions, and over 20 conference sessions and workshops.

Global City concluded with a thought-provoking address by Professor Saskia Sassen, Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at New York's Columbia University and originator of the term 'global city'. In her analysis of what is next for global cities following the global economic crisis, Prof. Sassen revealed how she believed that there was opportunity to be taken from the situation, and that cities like Abu Dhabi were well placed to capitalise on their place in the global knowledge market.

"I applaud Abu Dhabi's urban projects," she told delegates. "I think what this city is doing is the way to go."

In reference to Abu Dhabi's position as a young city with a growing knowledge in improving sustainability she said, "I could imagine that Abu Dhabi will sometime begin to export knowledge in developing green cities."

Prof. Sassen shared her research into the sociology of cities during her speech, giving an in-depth analysis of the 'global circuits' that connect cities as a way to highlight her assertion that there is not one sole global city, but rather a network of cities with varying prominence in different spheres.

"Global circuits connect cities," she said. "This variability adds to the flexibility of urban economies. As a result, it is critical for a large city to use its scale for diversifying its economy."

Global City was organised by Reed Exhibitions Middle East in partnership with the Department of Municipal Affairs, Abu Dhabi (DMA); the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED) and the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), and marked the very first time, the event has been held outside France, since its inception in 2005.

"The excellent feedback from forum participants and the encouragement and continuous support from local authorities has vindicated our decision to bring Global City to Abu Dhabi. I am pleased to announce that the success of this year's Global City has ensured that Abu Dhabi will be retained as the host city for the 2010 edition as well," said Frederic Theux, President of Reed Exhibitions Middle East stating that next year's Global City will be bigger and better, with a more pronounced focus on attracting regional participants.