David Downey, President & CEO, International Downtown Association, and Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana, CEO, The Cape Town Partnership, explain why they are attending the World Towns Leadership Summit, Edinburgh, 15-16 June.
Leading figures in global urban development are highlighting the importance of the first ever World Towns Leadership Summit, to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland on 15-16 June 2016. In addition to bringing together leading civic officials, planners, economists, architects and cultural professionals from across sectors and countries, the Summit will see the drafting and signing of the first World Towns Agreement: A Public-Private-Social Vision for Urban Centres. Delegates will also witness transformation in action, with special study visits to key regeneration areas in Scotland’s towns and cities.
In a news bulletin by Scotland’s Towns Partnership, David Downey stated:
“The International Downtown Association and top business district CEOs from across the United States and Canada join delegates at the 2016 leadership summit to share 30+ years of experience in shaping successful and dynamics city centers and urban neighborhoods. Civic governance is quickly evolving in all countries worldwide. The leadership summit will establish an urban regeneration declaration inclusive of a clear role for public-private district management organizations as power brokers for addressing cities toughest challenges in the future.”
Meanwhile Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana, internationally renowned urban planner and CEO of The Cape Town Partnership in South Africa, has released a short #RoadtoEdinburgh video vox pop of why she will be speaking at the Summit. In it, she highlights the importance of organisations across the globe working together for the common good, “building from the ground up” and “planting for tomorrow”.
In a recent article, the CEO of Scotland’s Towns Partnership – the national agency for towns in Scotland – explained that as a “nation of towns”, Scotland is an ideal global location for such a Summit. The STP CEO, Phil Prentice, also underlined the importance of the gathering for town and city district development internationally, and encouraged town and city development stakeholders to attend:
“This call to action is now vital and with the right leadership, investment, coordination and vision, our towns and neighbourhoods can once more become a key element of global urban infrastructure. At the scale of nations, they are nodes of labour force, distinct local production and tourism. Across regions, networks of towns connect people and infrastructure at scale. Towns and neighbourhoods matter to the transformation of modern economies, promising value; blending local and global opportunities. Amongst the challenge lies opportunity.”
To see the video and read more about the WTLS, please see the WTLS16 website & bulletin, follow on twitter @WTLS_16, or, email worldtownsleadershipsummit@scotlandstowns.org.
Source: Scotland's Towns Partnership
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