Associate Professor Aziza Chaouni recently participated in a panel discussion for the New Cities Summit 2015 that took place in Jakarta, Indonesia from June 9th to 11th.

Under the theme of Seizing the Urban Moment: Cities at the Heart of Growth and Development, the summit explored urban challenges including affordable housing, water, urban mobility, inclusivity, the role of culture in public space, urban economics, infrastructure investment, secondary cities, and diversity and resilience.

Chaouni’s panel, themed Water Solutions for the 21st Century City, was asked to address the following challenges:

“The world is facing a massive water challenge; more people have a mobile phone than a working toilet. Fewer have access to reliable drinking water. The poor are paying more for their water: a slum dweller in Nairobi pays more than 5 times more than an average North American. Cities cannot sustain massive growth without ensuring reliable access to safe drinking water.”

Four other speakers joined Chaouni in exploring the issue: Carla May Berina-Kim (Executive Director of the Manila Water Foundation, Inc.), Koen Broersma (Consultant specializing in urban water management for Royal HaskoningDHV), Roch Cheroux (Chief Executive Offer of South East Asia for Suez Environment), and Nick Clark (Environmental Editor for Al Jazeera) who also moderated the panel.

The decision to host the summit in Jakarta was timely because of the expected increase in population in the next 30 years. “The rapidly transforming Indonesian capital could not be a more apposite location to address this unprecedented period of massive urban growth,” writes John Rossan, chairman of the New Cities Foundation. “The Summit will be an excellent chance to put a spotlight on Jakarta and the Asian urban context, whilst also discussing issues common to all cities.“

Related:

• The TED Blog interviews Aziza Chaouni about her work to uncover and restore the Fez River in Morocco
• Sixty7 Architecture Road publishes Q&A with Aziza Chaouni
• Aziza Chaouni explores how urban planning ideas change after national independence
• Aziza Chaouni recieves ACSA Collaborative Practice Award and featured in L’Officiel magazine
• Aziza Chaouni participates in symposium organized by the Aga Khan Program at Harvard GSD