#CitiesofTomorrow, a landmark event dedicated to urban and regional development, has reached its 10th edition

The Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Romania) celebrated at Crowne Plaza Bucharest, together with the over 300 guests, 10 years of “Cities of Tomorrow”, an event dedicated to the development of Romanian cities and regions.

AHK Romania organized on April 5-12, 2022 the tenth edition of the conference “Cities of Tomorrow“, in hybrid format. The main event took place on April 12 at Crowne Plaza Bucharest. “Cities of Tomorrow” is nationally recognized as a landmark event dedicated to urban and regional development. This year was an anniversary edition, the event reaching its 10th edition. Around 320 guests took part, both from the public and private sectors.

The main event was opened by the general manager, Sebastian Metz, and by the president of AHK Romania, Andreas Lier. Also opening the speech were Nicușor Dan, General Mayor of Bucharest, as well as E.S. Dr. Peer Gebauer, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Bucharest. The conference was attended by special guests from Germany and Romania.

The public administration, the civil society and the private environment talked in two panels dedicated to the retrospective about what has happened in the cities and regions of Romania in the last 10 years, what we learned together, where we stand now and what is the vision for the future. The first panel was a retrospective of the 10 years and was moderated by architect Șerban Țigănaș, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism within the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca.

The discussion was attended by: architect Eugen Pănescu, architect and urban planner, founding partner of the Planwerk office in Cluj; Dr. Marcel Ionescu-Heroiu, Senior Expert in Urban Development at the World Bank; Raluca Munteanu, Development Director, Iulius; Tatian Diaconu, CEO of Nhood Romania and Ioan Popa, Mayor of Resita The theme of the second panel, moderated by Eng. Dorothee Hasnaș, was “The 10-Year Retrospective: Who Are We and What’s Next?” Alina Silaghi, Director of ADLO, Oradea Local Development Agency, participated in this debate; Allen Coliban, Mayor of Brașov; Prof. Dr. Rolf Heyer, Bochum Perspectives 2022 and MARK 5107; arch. Mihai Danciu, Association for Integrated Territorial Development in Valea Jiului region.

The event continued also this year the concept of the online round tables, which allows participants a greater involvement, giving them the opportunity to discuss concretely and applied different topics / projects, chosen according to the topicality and need of the topic and to find concrete ideas and solutions. to be able to implement them in their own projects. The valuable conclusions and insights resulting from the nine roundtables, held online, will be the foundation for future action.

The solutions identified at each roundtable were presented at the conference, followed by the award ceremony for the winning projects. The winning round table, voted by the participants in the event, was Reconversion and Revitalization, with the case study of the reconversion project in Resita of Nhood Romania.

The nine finalist projects that were presented on April 12 during the pitching session were:

The Public Administration category: Buzău (“Smart – Green – Circular Buzău”, Aiud Municipality (“Invest in Aiud”) Sector 6 of the Municipality of Bucharest (“Line”);

Business environment category: Cruze – (Cruze – just go together); iNergy Agtech (“Cleantech. Made in RO”), UNITH2B SRL (“Tram Trains Resita”);

Civil society category: GIS Berzei 21 (“An urban regeneration project in the heart of the city”) Văcărești Natural Park; Timișoara Polytechnic University (“Digitization of history, one castle at a time”.

The winners nominated by the jury at the conference were:

The Public Administration category: Sector 6 of the Municipality of Bucharest (“Line”);

Business Environment category: UNITH2B SRL (“Tram Trains Resita”)

Civil society category: GIS Berzei 21 (“An urban regeneration project in the heart of the city”)

The first part of the main event on April 12 was broadcast live both on the Facebook page of AHK Romania: https://www.facebook.com/ahkromaniaofficial/

More details on the event: www.citiesoftomorrow.ro