CTBUH Announces the Initial List of Speakers for the 2018 Middle East Conference on “Polycentric Cities”

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has named the initial list of speakers for the 2018 Middle East Conference, Polycentric Cities: The Future of Vertical Urbanism. The list features men and women from some of the most influential businesses in the industry, such as HOK, Safdie Architects, Kohn Pederson Fox, Gensler, Perkins+Will, SOM and many more.

The conference will highlight a wide array of subjects and disciplines related to the conference theme, as well as other hot topics in the industry, including smart technologies, modular construction, 3D-printing buildings, net-zero skyscrapers and much more.

Read on for more about Polycentric Cities and the initial list of speakers.

Polycentric Cities: The Future of Vertical Urbanism is a challenge for the future. How do we approach the transition toward massive urban growth? Those cities best positioned for the future are evolving along “polycentric, multi-nodal lines,” with several central business districts, ideally all offering something slightly different to the urban inhabitant. The notion of “several cities within a city” embraces higher density through efficient infrastructure and public space.

Dubai, the host city for the 2018 conference, is perhaps the best example of the polycentric model. The middle eastern city is comprised of multiple central districts – Downtown Dubai, Business Bay, Dubai Marina, Festival City, Palm Jumeirah and several others. The second host city, Abu Dhabi, is also a unique example of polycentrism taking hold with skyscrapers and a unique architectural expression that responds to the cultural and environmental conditions of the region.