Middle East's waterfront boom to come under spotlight at major international forum

Being created by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and running at the heart of October's London-based Waterfront Expo 2003, the Waterfront Expo Conference can rightly claim to be providing an international window on the multi-billion dollar world of waterfront development.

The conference is an integral part of the event, with a conference hall being built literally in the heart of the exhibition for the two days of presentations at ExCel, the waterfront based exhibition and conference centre in London's docklands.

'Our case studies list has already proved to be appetite whetting enough to encourage more than a hundred people to reserve places at the conference,' explains Project Director, Mark Beaumont, of Media Generation Events Ltd, organisers of the Waterfront Expo. 'The Victoria & Albert Waterfront, Cape Town; the $8-billion Toronto Waterfront; the regeneration of the Gdansk shipyard site; regeneration of Beirut's ancient waterfront; London's £1-billion Silvertown Quays; the Edinburgh, Glasgow and Hull waterfronts; Jersey's St. Helier Waterfront; Krasnodar's development; the Titanic Quarter of Belfast; the Hanseatic City of Rostock ……. The list is almost endless; our two-day event will be rivalling Jules Verne for its record breaking round-the-world tour!

'Case histories prove the ideal way of enabling all involved in the development of waterfronts to explore new concepts, exchange learning experiences, discuss new development formulae and strategies on new-builds and revitalisation projects.

'Although waterfront developments are taking the whole world by storm, the waterfront projects being undertaken in the Middle East are unique in many ways. From Dubai's Palm Island project - billed as the 'eight wonder of the world' - to Beirut's new waterfront, from Bahrain's Financial Harbour project to the Dubai Marina development - the world's largest master-planned waterfront community - the region is setting new standards of waterfront innovation; rather, redefining the very concept of waterfront development itself. We are hoping to bring the region's waterfront wonders to an international audience of investors, developers, hoteliers, retailers, corporate end-users, tourism authorities, property journalists and travel press as well as executives from existing waterfront developments worldwide.

'It is always invidious to select highlights from a conference programme, but we are delighted by the news from RIBA that four particular speakers - Dennis Pieprz, Derick van der Merwe, Fred Klancnik and Mike Bettesworth will be delivering keynote addresses. Their reputations speak for themselves and so too do their topics. We look forward to welcoming them to ExCel in October.'

Keynote speakers par excellence
Dennis Pieprz, Principal, Sasaki Associates will be speaking on 'Regenerating the Urban Waterfront'. His presentation will discuss issues and design strategies for the regeneration of waterfront sites and districts. Using examples from former industrialized land to under-utilized sites, a range of project types - from master planning to built work - he will demonstrate how designers have responded to the issues that face them at the waterfront.

Derick van der Merwe, Managing Director of the Victoria & Albert Waterfront (Pty) Ltd in Cape Town has chosen 'Creating and managing a successful mixed-use waterfront development' as his topic. 'Situated between Robben Island and Table Mountain in the heart of Cape Town's working harbour, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront has become South Africa's most visited destination,' he explains. 'Set against a backdrop of magnificent sea and mountain views, exciting shopping and entertainment venues are intermingled with imaginative office locations, world-class hotels and luxury apartments in the residential marina.'

Developments on the USA's 'inland seas' will be highlighted by Fred Klancnik, President, SmithGroup JJR. He will present some case studies on harbour area revitalization efforts that are underway in Great Lakes coastal cities in the US.

Avoiding conflict between waterfront developers and marina developers and between owners of residential waterfront units and commercial operators of marinas can prove something of a delicate balancing act. Choosing the correct location for marinas will be the theme of Mike Bettesworth's presentation 'The Viability of Marinas within a waterfront development'. He is Head of International Development, at UK-based MDL Marinas and a director of the International Marina Institute in the US.

In addition to the keynote addresses and long list of case studies there will also be presentations from Ove Arup, Halcrow, Wimberley Allison Tong and Goo and a field trip to an exciting new waterfront development site in London.

The conference has been designed to appeal to a wide range of international delegates including: architects and co-professionals - surveyors and engineers; construction companies; international, national and local authorities and planners; banks and investors; port and harbour authorities; landscape architects and designers; environmentalists, conservation and heritage organisations and specialists; property developers; hotel and retail developers; tourism promotion authorities from around the world; leisure developers; property and travel press; estate agents; and executives from existing waterfront developments worldwide.