Dubai Real Estate Institute, DREI, the educational arm of the Dubai Land Department, DLD, has announced that it is organising an ‘Urban Thinkers Forum’ in strategic partnership with the United Nations, UN, the World Economic Forum, WEF, and the International Monetary Fund, IMF.

The three-day forum, which will focus on exploring technological solutions for future cities, will take place at Meydan Hotel in Dubai from 2nd to 4th October, 2017.

The forum will attract architects and engineers across a variety of disciplines, in addition to directors and CEOs of major real estate companies from the UAE and beyond. It is expected to secure the presence of international representatives from UN agencies and other world organisations, including policy makers, academics and developers, while also opening its doors to school and university students who are interested in watching the panel discussions.

Mahmoud El Burai, Executive Director of DREI, commented, "We are pleased to be hosting and organising the ‘Urban Thinkers Forum,’ which will emphasise Dubai's status as a knowledge destination for planning smart cities and finding proactive solutions to ridding cities of their current issues. We are confident that the forum outputs will promote the sustainability initiatives supported by UN agencies, international universities and prestigious academic institutions. This event is of great importance at a time when the world is transitioning from traditional city-planning systems to adopting the latest technologies and co-operating with nations and people to establish sustainable development.

''The importance of this event lies in the topics that will be raised, in particular how to plan the future of cities with the participation of all stakeholders from private, government and academic sectors. Participants will contribute to drawing up an action plan to implement the world’s urban development goals, and also launch initiatives and projects aimed at achieving sustainable development in the region."

"The past decade has witnessed a remarkable rise in technology and digital services, which has contributed to a massive change across the world at all levels, including education, healthcare, society, politics and the economy. This revolution has produced an exponential quantity of data and even given rise to new terms like ‘The Internet of Things.’ Cities were at the forefront of this techno-digital revolution, with smart cities and their future potential playing a central role in the discussion," he added.