Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, will give the opening keynote speech at the first Future of Cities online summit.
Held on Thursday 19th November, the Future of Cities Summit is an international event, hosted by Tortoise Media and Toronto newspaper, The Globe and Mail, bringing together the worlds of business, politics and civil society to share their thoughts and actions for cities around the world.
According to the UN, 55% of the world’s population currently lives in cities. By 2050, that number is expected to reach 68%.
There has been much talk of Covid-19 destroying or hollowing out city life – but history suggests that cities generally adapt to disease. It is more likely that the urban adaptation to the virus will be the acceleration of trends that were already underway or in their infancy: working from home, cycle lanes, the supplanting of city-centre shopping with online retail, pressure for cities to develop their own climate emergency strategies.
The summit will host a series of ThinkIns – Tortoise’s unique, open discussions – chaired by a Tortoise or Globe and Mail editor. These sessions are live and on the record and encourage attendees to share their views and experiences. The sessions will be:
- Keynote: James Harding in conversation with Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
- Ghost town: what is the future of work in cities?
- ‘Just enough for the city’: time to get real about inequality and terrible housing
- The ’15-minute city’: why shouldn’t all you need be near where you live?
- Street life: how will city transport change?
- City of dreams: what is the future of city culture and nightlife?
The event runs from 13.00 – 19.00 (GMT) on Thursday 19th November. Andy Burnham’s session will be at 13:00-13:45.
A full agenda for the afternoon’s events, as well as details to attend the discussion can be found the Future of Cities Summit website.
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