City of Montréal Welcomes NewCities
April 12, 2016 — Press
- The Honourable Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal, offers support to the New Cities Summit 2016 in Montréal on June 21-23
- Innovative global leaders and experts announced as part of this year’s Summit speaker program on the theme The Age of Urban Tech
- Montréal named Summit Host as NewCities moves head offices to the city
Montréal, Canada – April 12, 2016. Montreal politicians, business leaders and the city’s community of international organisations formally welcomed NewCities to its adopted city as speakers for the upcoming New Cities Summit, NewCities’ flagship annual meeting, were announced.
The Honourable Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal, Hubert Bolduc, CEO of Montréal International, and Michel Bourdon, Vice-President of Sales and Convention Services of Tourisme Montréal, joined NewCities Chairman, John Rossant, and Executive Director, Maxwell Anderson, yesterday evening at the Musée des Beaux Arts to welcome NewCities to Montréal and offer support to the New Cities Summit, which will take place in the city on June 21-23 on the themeThe Age of Urban Tech.
“Year after year, Montréal demonstrates that innovation is central to urban development. The mission of NewCities is to build a better future for cities, in a context where they become engines of sustainable, social economic development for our societies. We are very proud to welcome NewCities to Montréal,” said the Mayor Denis Coderre.
“There is no better place than the creative and vibrant city of Montréal to hold this year’s Summit on the possibilities of Urban Technology,” said NewCities Chairman, John Rossant. “Mayor Denis Coderre and the team of innovators the Hôtel de Ville has gathered are truly strategic and forward-thinking. Montréal is a shining example of how cities can succeed if they support local innovation and entrepreneurship.”
The New Cities Summit is the world’s leading thought-leadership event on the future of cities. It convenes over 500 leaders of urban innovation from around the world and across sectors, including mayors, CEO’s, urban planners, architects, designers and cultural leaders. Among the high-profile speakers who will take the stage at the New Cities Summit in June are:
Fahd Al-Rasheed, Managing Director and CEO, Emaar, The Economic City
Liew Choon Boon, CEO, Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment & Development Co., Ltd.
Joe Cross, General Manager USA, TransferWise
Muneeb Mushtaq, Co-founder and CEO, AskForTask
Latondra Newton, Group VP, Social Innovation at Toyota Motor North America and Chief Program Officer, Toyota Mobility Foundation
Carlo Ratti, Director, SENSEable City Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Moshe Safdie, Architect, Habitat 67 and Founder, Safdie Architects
Khalifa Sall, Mayor of Dakar
Andrew Salzberg, Global Mobility Policy Lead, Uber
Alexandre Taillefer, Managing Partner, XPND Capital and Founder, Téo
Ivy Taylor, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas
Chris Turner, Award Winning Author and Journalist Kathleen Warner, Managing Director of the Center for Economic Transformation, New York City Economic Development Corporation
This year’s Summit will also be the pinnacle moment for the 2016 class of Global Urban Innovators, featuring ten carefully chosen startups and social entrepreneurs who use technology to improve their cities. All ten innovators will travel to Montréal for the Summit as part of this year’s speaker program. NewCities will support their work over the course of the next year.
According to Hubert Bolduc, President and CEO of Montréal International, the 64 international organizations based in Montreal generate an annual economic impact of more than $300 million and help maintain more than 1,500 jobs.“We know the great strategic importance international organizations are for Montreal and we are committed to welcoming and watching them grow in our city. It is with great enthusiasm that we inaugurate the the global headquarters of NewCities, a leading organization on urban innovation in cities around the world, which can count on a vast ecosystem of public and private partners.”
“Tourisme Montréal recognizes the combined efforts and contributions of our city’s economic and tourism stakeholders in bringing NewCities to Montréal. Thanks to these collaborations, we will host the Summit every two years. This is excellent news for Montréal, which continues to stand out as a leader in innovation, and as a business tourism destination,” said Michel Bourdon, Vice President of Sales, Convention Services and Hospitality at Tourisme Montréal.
Find out more about NewCities at www.newcities.org
Find out more about The New Cities Summit at www.newcitiessummit2016.org
Ends
Press contact:
Thomas Ledwell
Director of Communications
NewCities
tledwell@newcitiesfoundation.org
+1 514 987 0029
About NewCities
NewCities is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to making cities more inclusive, connected, healthy and vibrant. Focusing on people, places and policies, we bring together a global network of public and private sector leaders and Urban Tech innovators to foster results-oriented collaboration. We also produce actionable research that can be implemented by decision-makers across sectors.
www.newcities.org
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About the New Cities Summit
The New Cities Summit is the leading global event on urban innovation, taking place this year in Montréal 21-23 June 2016. The Summit will convene top entrepreneurs, innovators, policymakers, CEOs, change-makers, investors and thinkers in this domain. The New Cities Summit supports creative, scalable Urban Tech solutions that can be shared and adapted to cities around the world. The event empowers those who are shaping urban innovation, connecting them and encouraging cross-sector partnerships. The Summit features a unique and diverse program, combining thought leadership keynotes, roundtables and interactive workshops surrounding key challenges facing cities, and the role of technology in their solution.
Twitter: #NCS2016