Professor of Planning, Samer Bagaeen, is one of the keynote speakers at the Connective Cities conference, ‘Sustainable and resilient, regional and intercommunal land management: Challenges and opportunities for growing urban and regional centres‘. The conference takes place from 18 – 20 November via KUDO.
Samer Bagaeen’s keynote titled, ‘Energising the Post Covid Recovery: Thinking about Land Use Planning in Cities’ discusses the lessons to help energise the post-COVID recovery in cities, and the role in which land use planning and property development can play, viewed from the lenses of responsible investment in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Professor Bagaeen writes, ‘I will talk about how the SDG outcomes will help investors develop buildings and assets that reduce the intensity of carbon emissions and tailor retrofit to buildings that will require a more invasive intervention. I believe it important to offer local authorities and city leaders industry recognised tools and frameworks to leverage financial proceeds towards retrofit projects that achieve verifiable environmental benefits. I will also look at how cities have learnt from lockdowns and explore the reboot opportunities employed enabling some cities to move faster into the recovery sphere in a largely experimental and unknown space.
In thinking about the local, I explore how under the COVID-19 restrictions, and leveraging recovery funding, some cities were better able to support day to day life and activities that did not require residents to travel long distances. By way of solutions, I look at how we can foster the right kind of city leadership that can drive carbon reduction. I also look at the leadership needed from clients and how we as professionals can enable this to happen i.e. not to sit and wait for it to happen. This must be and has to be part of our convening role as planners and architects.’