Christine Lemaitre

As cities adapt to growing pressures such as climate change and population growth, urban leaders must rethink infrastructure, buildings, and energy systems to build safer, more sustainable, and future-ready urban environments. Built on today’s breakthroughs and tomorrow’s innovations, what lies ahead is both ambitious and fast approaching. Yet making this vision a reality will require the right funding models and strategic partnerships. This plenary explores what resilient urban infrastructure could look like by 2050, and how AI, energy systems, adaptive design principles, and new models of collaboration may reshape the future of urban life.

Housing is central to the climate transition, both because of its contribution to emissions and because of the opportunity to improve homes, neighbourhoods, and living conditions. Decarbonising housing requires action on two fronts: embedding net-zero performance in new construction through passive design, low-carbon materials, and integrated energy systems, and retrofitting the vast existing stock that will still be standing in 2050. This conversation will explore technical and policy approaches across both dimensions, asking how to make climate-compatible housing affordable, scalable, and accessible across different income levels.