Tackling Global Grand Challenges in Our Cities

In this Opening Session of the 2nd Global Grand Challenges Summit, the distinguished speakers before me have already done a great deal to set the scene and lay out some of the big issues and possible ways forward. No doubt we will hear more about the astounding developments we are seeing in information communications technology (ICT) and other technologies in many sectors and of the opportunities they bring to help tackle our grand challenges. And if I look through the prism of my own sector—design engineering in the built environment—I see exactly the same thing: Rapid advances in our thinking are taking place at dizzying speeds. Much of that is being driven by interdisciplinary collaborations ranging well beyond the orbit of traditional engineering and construction. I would like to share with you some thoughts about the role of our cities in tackling these grand challenges.