PETALING JAYA (Sept 27): The 12th edition of the World Class Sustainable Cities (WCSC) 2021 has begun. The two-day international conference takes place from Sept 27 to 28, focusing on the theme of low carbon society.
“This year’s theme which is 'Low Carbon Society: From Blueprint to Implementation' highlights just that — the commitment and effort from DBKL and all its stakeholders in achieving this collective agenda,” said WCSC 2021 chairman Lee Han Rick in his welcoming remarks earlier on Monday.
“Since the KL Low Carbon Society Blueprint was launched by DBKL four years ago, we have seen a reduction of carbon emissions in the city by 54%, and we are well on track to hit our target of 70% by 2030.”
Established in 2009, the WCSC series aim to provide a constructive, inclusive platform to enlighten, educate, inspire and encourage community engagement among the public and private sectors, as well as community groups and city residents.
According to Lee, WCSC has also played its part in this endeavour by providing a platform to exchange ideas, to dialogue, to study and “to network with world leading experts in their respective fields — so that Kuala Lumpur may learn from the best practices all across the world”.
Lee added: “We are not just an organisation that is all talk and no action, as exemplified in the successful implementation of the River of Life that was inspired by lessons learnt from the Cheong-Gy-Cheong River in Seoul in WCSC 2009, and the implementation of the pedestrian walkway network in Kuala Lumpur city centre that was inspired by lessons learnt from Hong Kong and Copenhagen in WCSC 2010 and 2011, as well as the implementation of KL Heritage Walk and public arts in the city that was inspired by WCSC 2013’s theme on Creative and Competitive Cities.
"This goes to show how much we can achieve as a city when the local government and the private sector come together to work towards a common goal,” he added.
The international conference is endorsed by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) with joint organisers; the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (REHDA), the Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP) and the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM). Technical support for the virtual conference is from strategic partner University Malaya.
Lee said, “We’ve surpassed all expectations with more than 1,000 participants registered for this year’s conference and more in our live stream for this event on YouTube.”
The list of speakers for the conference this year includes David Sim, who is author of Soft City – Building Density for Everyday Life as well as the former creative director of Gehl Architects. “Speaking of Gehl Architects, we also have Esben Neander Kristensen from Gehl, Copenhagen, Andy Bow from Foster and Partners, Carly Gilbert Patrick from the United Nations Environmental Programme, Dr Aisa Tobing, the secretary general of CityNet, and Richard Hassell, founding director of WOHA.
“Our own local talents and experts and I for one, am excited to hear from our very own KL mayor Datuk Seri Haji Mahadi. We also have Dato Seri Dr Zaini Ujang from the Ministry of Environment and Water, Prof Dato Dr Mohd Hamdi, Vice Chancellor of Universiti Malaya, and finally, Serina Hijjas from Hijjas Architects and Planners, joining us today,” he said.