Registration and coffee

Welcome by King Abdullah Economic City

Welcome by New Cities Foundation

Opening Panel: Building Value Value. What does value mean in the context of building a large-scale new city? How do the planners, funders and builders of new cities create value for families, for businesses, for investors and for the public good? How can value be measured in a new city? How can city leaders create reasonable expectations about value while seeking tens of billions of investment from investors seeking a return? What are some examples of “valuable” new cities? How can new cities add value to existing cities and towns? How do those relationships work?

Networking Break

Panel: Building Affordable New Cities Cities around the world face the challenge of affordability, as demand for urban lifestyles pushes the price of housing beyond the reach of most. Built from scratch, new cities offer planners the opportunity to create the right policies to solve the affordability conundrum. How can the government, investors and builders build affordable new cities? Are there successful examples that are worth looking at? Cities of the future are expecting to be ‘smart cities’, but this technology can be pricey. How are new cities financing new technology, while keeping living costs down?

Disruptive ideasThese three short keynotes will introduce the builders of new cities to big new ideas and concepts that may reshape the way they are building value in their city.

Impact KAEC Challenge Findings

Panel: Attracting Entrepreneurs High levels of entrepreneurship in cities consistently correlate to urban economic growth, and thus have become a mark of a modern, successful city. How can new cities attract and retain these visionaries that accelerate city growth? Is there an ideal urban ecosystem for new businesses?

Lunch

Panel: Transporting Tomorrow’s Urbanites How will the transportation needs of the future urbanite compare to those today? What are the transport systems that are currently being built in new cities? How do they differ from those in developed cities? How will economic, social, technologicial and environmental progress shape the mobility needs in the cities of tomorrow? How will new technologies, such as driverless cars, reshape 21st century cities? How can new cities become native to automated vehicles?

Hacking the MasterplanParticipants will split into parallel working groups of about 20 people to delve into one new city project, understand the main challenge that it is facing, and work together to develop new ideas on how city leaders can overcome this challenge. These facilitated workshops will be very hands on – everyone will be expected to participate actively.

Site visit of KAEC

Gala Dinner

Keynote

Panel: Building for the CommunityA city without a community is just a group of buildings. One of the toughest challenges new city planners face is creating a community and the sense of belonging that goes with it. How do we plan and build for communities? What makes a great neighborhood? Does community rhyme with diversity and affordability? What makes a community vibrant? What are the best ways to create diversity and give all residents a stake in the city?

Networking Break

Keynote Conversation: Power BuildersNew cities are often born in the minds of visionaries who have the insight both to imagine and to build the future. What is the impetus for starting such daunting projects? What does it take to start the process of physically building a new city? What challenges does one come across in building a new city that could have never been envisioned? What is the benefit of building a city from scratch? Who needs to be consulted before hard infrastructure is put in place? What advice do they have for others who hope to develop projects like Songdo and KAEC?

Panel: Creating Value for BusinessNew cities need to attract billions to rise out of the ground, and robust economic activity is essential to grow and thrive. How can city planners create the preconditions for attracting investors? How can they ensure that investors get value for money? What value can new cities offer business that other cities cannot? What is the role of national government in promoting investments into new cities? How can investment in new cities pay for itself? What is the best way to attract skilled individuals and promote entrepreneurial citizens?

Disruptive ideasThese three short keynotes will introduce the builders of new cities to big new ideas and concepts that may reshape the way they are building value in their city.

Lunch

Hacking the MasterplanParticipants will split into parallel working groups of about 20 people to delve into one new city project, understand the main challenge that it is facing, and work together to develop new ideas on how city leaders can overcome this challenge. These facilitated workshops will be very hands on – everyone will be expected to participate actively.

Networking Break

Keynote Conversation: Building for the Future

Keynote Conversation: Value BrandingCities around the world compete for talent, businesses, tourists and landmarks. This competitive environment requires new cities to invest both time and funds into differentiating themselves against existing cities. How does a new city, with visions of economic and social promotion, stand out against the traditional cities we all know and love? What are the best methods to build a brand that will attract new residents, tourists and businesses? How much of the character can rely on the retail and lifestyle sector? How much of this branding needs to be physically built into the city?

Cityquest Public Townhall In this session, the leaders of invited new cities will tell the group what they learned in the Hacking the Masterplan Workshops, highlighting the action items they will take away. This session will be open to the general public including the inhabitants of KAEC

Closing Ceremony

Closing Dinner