Urban Future, Europe's largest event for sustainable cities selects Rotterdam for 2024 

Linking major global developments to local issues and solutions

The conference is structured around four different themes: urban mobility, built environment & architecture, leadership and lastly sustainable business & innovation. Vice Mayor Chantal Zeegers (Climate, Building and Housing) is looking forward to welcoming the Urban Future event to the city: ‘Rotterdam has certainly set itself some challenging ambitions where realising a future-proof and sustainable city is concerned. The sheer scale of these challenges, as well as the speed with which we want to tackle the energy transition and sustainability in Rotterdam, is going to require some innovative thinking. The conference presents the perfect opportunity to link various major global developments to local issues and solutions. The conference will work together with local partners to actively look for ways to establish contact with the city’s residents, as well as the specific issues they’re concerned about. And last but by no means least, we’ll be able to demonstrate that our city is a leading player in the above themes.’

Page header photo: Alderman Zeegers receives the Urban Future tree from the hands of mayor Nopper of Stuttgart 

Nice platform to learn from each other

Vice Mayor Zeegers feels the conference is a perfect fit for Rotterdam. ‘The interest shown in Rotterdam is both a compliment and a great opportunity. Organising the conference in Rotterdam will result in the gathering of a large network in the city, a network which is active in all manner of different fields related to sustainability and future urban development. And vice versa, Rotterdam will ensure the regional network of, for example, SMEs, city makers and designers will also be present during the event. Hosting Urban Future 2024 in Rotterdam will allow us to create a fantastic platform to meet and learn from each other.’

Gerald Babel-Sutter, Urban Future’s founder, also sees Rotterdam as a logical choice: ‘We’re the largest event for sustainable cities. Each and every one of the city makers who attend our conference are great thinkers, doers and decision makers, who are actively, passionately and effectively involved with making their cities more sustainable. Exactly like the people who are also working on a multitude of innovative ideas in Rotterdam, which will ultimately serve to make the world a better place.’

About Urban Future Global Conference 2024

The Urban Future Global Conference has developed into Europe’s largest event for sustainable cities since its launch in 2014. More than two thousand city makers from all over the world come together during these annual events. City makers at all levels. For example, an impressive 100+ Mayors were present in Stuttgart, but certainly just as important: the organisers, together with local partners, managed to successfully establish clear connections with the city’s residents and the issues which concern them. The event was originally supposed to take place in Rotterdam in 2021, as one of the first major events in the new Rotterdam Ahoy Convention Centre. Due to Corona, a postponement was chosen at the time.