Grant Associates participates in UN’s World Urban Forum

Grant Associates is to participate in the tenth staging of the United Nations (UN)’s World Urban Forum, taking place 8-13 February 2020 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Andrew Grant, founder and director of Grant Associates, will take part in a series of roundtable discussions focusing on the role of landscape and ecology in cities.

Andrew will argue that cities should not be defined solely by buildings, but also by their living landscapes and nature, as well as their human life support systems. Such ‘Landscape Cities’ could offer a positive response to the global challenges of urbanisation, the climate emergency and biodiversity loss.

The discussions will form part of the World Urban Forum 10 (WUF10)’s wide ranging programme of seminars, dialogues and networking events which focus on the theme ‘Cities of Opportunity – Connecting Culture and Innovation’.

The broader aim of WUF10 is to act as an inclusive platform for people from around the world to come together and explore solutions to the challenge of rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, nature and climate change.

Established in 2001 by the UN, the World Urban Forum is convened by UN-Habitat.

“By 2040 more than 70% of the global population will live in cities. At the same time, we are faced with the twin crisis of the climate emergency and biodiversity loss. So, the focus of WUF10 is timely – we need to consider the opportunities that cities do offer in terms of creating a more sustainable future. We need to rethink how we design our future cities if we are avoid replicating typical dysfunctional urban environments, where people live in areas devoid of green space, and wildlife has little place. By better balancing the needs of people and the natural world in our cities, all life on our planet can benefit.”