Trade Fair Puts Focus On Sustainable Cities

The challenges and opportunities of urbanization are being discussed at Urbantec, a showcase of "solutions for future living" that started today in Cologne, Germany and goes on until Wednesday, 26 October.

The organizers say the event is the first ever independent trade fair to showcase the technologies and trends that will shape life in existing, expanding and future conurbations around the world. Urbantec is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Various types of technologies are being highlighted over the next two days, especially those related to functioning and system solutions. These include a range of industries looking to make urbanization a sustainable phenomenon. Expertise areas include construction, energy, mobility and logistics, information and communications, health and hygiene, and the recycling of raw materials.

The event kicked off today with a keynote speech by U.S. policy advisor, who spoke about the problems and the challenges of the "Urban Age". The day also included three panel topics: "Megacities - New Dimensions and Perspectives", "Challenges for Tomorrow's Megacities", and "Our Vision - City of 2050: Sustainability on the Horizon? Visions for the Future of Urban Development."

Amongst the speakers on the three panels were Professor Klaus Töpfer, formerly Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and now Executive Director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS); Dr. Roland Busch, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of the Infrastructure & Cities Sector; Professor Henning Kagermann, President of the National Academy of Science and Engineering (Acatech).

Other visitor highlights include a delegation from Tianjin in connection with Tianjin Eco City. The latter is being created as part of an extensively funded development project that aims to make the Tianjin Binhai New Area a leading economic zone. Tianjin Eco City, which is being built directly next to the harbor in accordance with environmentally sustainable features such as energy requirements and resource use, will cover more than 31 square kilometres and offer housing for up to 350,000 people when it is completed.

Other international visiting delegations hail from Rio de Janeiro, Jakarta, Beijing, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Also taking place within the framework of UrbanTec is the annual meeting of the North Rhine-Westphalia environmental cluster, comprising approximately 250 representatives of small and midsized environmental technology companies. Another item in the program is the Siemens City Forum, which will be attended by about 100 urban planning experts.

On a more entertaining note, visitors to UrbanTec can experience and test future-oriented mobility "live" on the e-bike test track set up by RWE, which is directly adjacent to the ex-exhibition area in Hall 7. The electric bike is fast establishing itself as a sustainable road traffic alternative that avoids CO2 emissions and reduces urban-traffic-related noise pollution.

Image credit: Urbantec