Tuesday 01 / October / 2024
Muscat: Activities of the 4th edition of Urban October Conference and Home & Building Expo kick off next Monday at Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The event aims at raising awareness on the importance of sustainable urban planning and involving youth and the community in the urban development process
This was unveiled by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning during a press conference held on Tuesday. The conference will showcase the leading real estate and planning projects in the Sultanate of Oman, and provides an opportunity to exchange ideas and best practices in the field of urban planning, in addition to presenting successful international experiences and enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors.
The conference will discuss four main themes, namely “Youth Impact”, “Entertainment in Cities”, “Inspiring Cities”, and “Future Projects”. The conference will host more than 40 international and local speakers, review 40 working papers, and hold more than 8 dialogue sessions, to form an interactive dialogue platform aimed at exchanging expertise and benefiting from successful experiences.
The conference this year is themed “Engaging youth to create a better urban future”.
This comes in conjunction with the United Nations (UN) activities during the month of October, such as marking the World Habitat Day, World Cities Day, and World Architecture Day.
It also comes in line with emphasising on the importance of empowering youth and involving them in the urban planning process. Such emphasis on youth aims to boost their role as contributors to building sustainable and modern cities, and boosting their contributions to developing integrated urban environments with creative and innovative ideas.
An exhibition will be held on the sidelines of the conference. During this exhibition, 42 local and GCC entities will participate.
The exhibition will showcase the most prominent future city projects such as Sultan Haitham City, Al Khuwair Downtown project, the structural plan for Greater Muscat, and integrated residential neighbourhoods.
Further, the conference will host an elite group of influential speakers from international architectural and consulting firms, such as: Zaha Hadid, Foster + Partners, Ibrahim Jaidah Architects and Engineers, AS+P, and Palm Hills Developments.
This is in addition to hosting delegations from international governmental bodies, engineers, city planners, decision makers, experts and local and international professionals.
As part of the activities of the conference, the “footprints” or “Basamat Competition” will be launched for the Sultan Haitham City Project.
Jamal Nasser Al Hadi, Official spokesman for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, said that this year’s “Urban October Conference” aims to engage ambitious youth in developing a better urban future.
He added that the generation of investment opportunities for entrepreneurs lends support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as part of the “Elevator Pitch” event.
The conference also sees the launch of the footprints’ competition (Basmat Competition) to define the salient features of key projects like the “Sultan Haitham City” and the Urban Planning Hackathon (City Challenge) and eventually design a technical product with a group of video game developers and urban planners to better serve the planning of future cities.
The fourth edition of the Urban Planning Hackathon is launched under the slogan “City Challenge”, in conjunction with Urban October Conference.
The hackathon presents a new and exciting challenge, and it deals with designing a special video game that focuses on planning future cities. The hackathon comprises one of the three main themes: cities for humans, sustainability and green infrastructure. These elements reflect the basic pillars of urban development and provide a platform for innovative minds to build interactive landscapes that lay emphasis on the future, bearing in mind the impact on society and the environment.
To encourage the participation of SMEs, the “Elevator Pitch” competition is launched in cooperation with the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED). The competition allows entrepreneurs to present innovative ideas in the fields of entertainment, community, service, real estate or commercial services that can be implemented within integrated residential neighborhoods projects. The entries will be assessed by a specialised committee and the winning projects will be announced in time.
The conference will also include the signing of partnership agreements at Sultan Haitham City, the signing of usufruct contracts across several development sectors in different governorates, and the signing of purchase agreements for social housing projects.
The event targets community members, students of schools and universities, interested parties, and the general community. More than 65 events will be held on the sidelines of the conference.
It is worth noting that Urban October Conference provides an opportunity to exchange international expertise in the field of urban planning, review pioneering future projects and the latest innovative urban practices to build more resilient and sustainable cities.
It also enhances cooperation between the public and private sectors and maximises investment opportunities for local and international real estate developers, thus consolidating Oman’s position as a leading investment destination. -ONA
