DLDcities: Visions of Life in the Megacity
MUNICH, Germany, September 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –
Hubert Burda Media brings together visionaries to discuss urban
architecture, design and technology in London
The city as gauge of change, driving force of innovation, home of avant-garde
thinking: On September 21, DLD stages its first DLDcities conference in London, bringing
together visionary architects, creative urban planners, industry leaders, designers,
digerati, entrepreneurs, artists, and citizens. The venue is The Crystal, Siemens’ new
center for sustainable urban development that opens two days before the conference.
(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120917/562610-a )
(Photo:
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More than half of the world’s population lives in towns and cities – and their numbers
are rising. Megacities with up to 25 million inhabitants pose complex social and
ecological challenges. The world needs major innovations in the urban eco-system, an
endeavor that calls for citizens to take up opportunities to make an active contribution.
DLDcities as the new platform of Burda’s successful international DLD conference brand
aims to discuss these central issues in today’s society and to provide fresh impetus.
At DLDcities, trendsetters and visionaries will contemplate the access to cities,
their structures and the potential of urban networks as well as ‘smart city’ concepts and
sophisticated innovations in the fields of mobility and technology. They will discuss an
architecture of the future, in which efficient planning and design will play a key role.
Building on the DLD conferences’ dedication to dealing with these cutting-edge questions,
the urban theater will now be given its own conference.
Steffi Czerny, Managing Director DLD: “Building on DLDs legacy in architecture and
urbanism, ranging from Norman Foster to Zaha Hadid, we are now dedicating a fully-fledged
conference to the urban arena.”
Mega-event Olympic Games as a driving force for London’s change
The conference’s keynote speaker will be Richard Burdett, director of the Cities
program at the London School of Economics, who has examined the major change impulses of
the Olympic Games 2012 in London and will present his results for the first time at
DLDcities.
Digital revolution transforms access to cities
The effects of the digital revolution shape the urban space and the access of city
dwellers to their environs. The focus here is on technologies that allow us, within and
with the city, to communicate with buildings and objects. “The city talks back,” says the
renowned sociologist Saskia Sassen, one of the most distinguished authors who has
published on the sociology of urban development and shaped the term ‘global city’. Felix
Petersen, who has recently triggered a trend with his opinion platform Amen, will get
together with other innovators to discuss his visions of location-based services. A brief
run-down of new technologies will be presented in the “Elevator Pitches” session. Raul
Krauthausen provides a new kind of access to cities by way of his Wheelmap application.
Urban mobility: Sharing instead of owning
The new flexibility of workplaces does away with established structures, with
car-sharing projects changing the mobility of urban dwellers. Robin Chase, for instance,
influences the mobility habits of Parisians with his Buzzcar project. And Di-Ann Eisnor
has created Waze, a real-time navigation system that incorporates the social environment.
Architecture of the future
Star architect Ole Scheeren impresses the world with his designs of megacities that
have already become a reality in China. Architecture’s enfant terrible Mitchell Joachim
experiments successfully with construction materials from bacteria cultivation and designs
fascinating visions of the city and nature.
Sustainable use of energy
The DLDcities venue in London is The Crystal, one of the greenest buildings worldwide.
The structure, whose design is based on the form of a crystal, is at the same time
conference center, dialogue platform as well as technology and knowledge hub. It is home
to the world’s largest exhibition focused on urban sustainability. The Crystal brings
together future political decision-makers, infrastructure experts and the public to
develop new concepts for the future of cities and their infrastructures.
Stephanie Czerny, founder and Managing Director of DLD, will welcome approx. 40
high-profile speakers and 400 international guests at the first DLDcities conference on
September 21.
For further information on speakers, the application process and ticket allocation,
please see http://www.dld-cities.com.
———-
DLD Media
DLD is Hubert Burda Media’s international conference and innovation platform. DLD
Media organizes Europe’s leading digital conference DLD, the women’s conference DLDwomen,
and international networking events in locations such as Palo Alto, New York, London, Tel
Aviv, Rio de Janeiro, and Beijing. DLD Media releases publications, online and video
formats and studies on conference content and advises DLD partners, start-ups, investors,
and institutions. Stephanie Czerny is the DLD’s Managing Director and co-founded the DLD
Conference in 2005.
The Crystal
DLDcities in London will take place at The Crystal, Siemens AGs center for sustainable
urban development. The Crystal is the flagship for Siemens’ new business sector
Infrastructure&Cities. The Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector (Munich, Germany), with
approximately 87,000 employees, offers sustainable technologies for metropolitan areas and
their infrastructures.
Press inquiries:
Please send accreditation inquiries to dldpress@burda.com or call us at
+49-89-9250-2065.
For further information please contact:
Katharina Kirsch
Hubert Burda Media
Corporate Communications
Arabellastrasse 23
81925 Munich, Germany
Phone: +49-89-9250-2065
Email: dldpresse@burda.com
Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120917/562610-a
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120917/562610-b
SOURCE Hubert Burda Media
