Keynote speeches

Keynote speeches

  • Keynote presentation at the Affordable Housing Investment Summit Africa, 2019, focusing on the challenges & experiences with affordable housing provision in a global context, with practical illustrations from various countries. Nairobi 26-27 June 2019.
  • Keynote presentation at the ETH Wohnforum – ETH CASE - ETH Forum Wohnungsbau 2019, focusing on The Transformative Power of Housing at the Center of the New Urban Agenda. Zurich, Switzerland, 5 April 2019.
  • Closing Address and Concluding Session at the Housing for All, Affordable Housing in Growing Cities of Europe, sponsored by the EU Housing Partnership for the EU Urban Agenda and the City of Vienna, , focusing on the global and European housing affordability crisis and housing at the center of the New Urban Agenda. Vienna, Austria, 4-5 December 2018.
  • Presentation and panel participation in the Moscow Urban Forum 2018 - Megacity of the Future. New Space for Living, focusing on the role of housing in the future of cities and the importance of land supply and affordable finance. Moscow, Russia Federation, 17-18 July 2018.
  • Keynote presentation and principal panel of the Housing Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean (III Foro Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Vivienda y Habitatat - La Vivienda en el Centro de la NAU y su Aplicacion en LAC), Housing at the Center of the New Urban Agenda and its Application in LAC, focusing on the housing policy framework and synchronization of housing policies, NUA, SDG11.1 and municipal policies.Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 12-14 June 2018.
  • Keynote address and presentation at the 4th Annual Affordable Housing Africa, focusing on the Challenges of Delivering Adequate Housing at the Global Scale. Capetown, South Africa, 17-19 July 2017.
  • Keynote Address at the 7th Affordable Housing Projects Summit, focusing on the delivery of affordable housing in a global context with highlights about the delivery and finance of infrastructure improvements in slums and informal settlements. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 6-8 April 2016.
  • Keynote presentation at the 15th International Convention on Urbanism and Spatial Planning (XV Convención Internacional de Ordenamiento Territorial y Urbanismo) focusing on the interlink between spatial planning, housing policies and the new urban agenda. Havana, Cuba, 9-13 Nov 2015.
  • Keynote speech and presentation at the Great Asian Streets Symposium: Asian Urban Places, focusing on streets as tool for urban transformation in the developing world and its critical role in citywide slum upgrading, University of Singapore, Singapore, 11-12 December 2014.
  • Keynote presentation and panelist at the Housing Forum Europe and Central Asia 2013 – Promoting Sustainable Housing Futures for All, focusing on the overview of housing sector reforms and the maintenance and management of the high-rise multi-family housing stock of Central and Eastern Europe, sponsored by UNECE, UNDP, UN-Habitat, Habitat for Humanity, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, Switzerland, 22-24 April 2013.
  • Keynote presentation at the National Housing Congress of Mexico, at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, PUEC-Programa Universitario de Estudios de la Ciudad, focusing on the critical bottlenecks hindering the performance of the housing sector in various countries. Mexico city, 12-15 March 2013.
  • Opening and closing keynote speeches and conference moderator of the The Hague Housing Conference ‘The Housing Challenge’ of the International Federation of Housing and Planning-IFHP, The Netherlands, 14 Feb 2013. 
  • Keynote address at the South-South Cooperation Session at the Rabat Conference ‘Making Slums History’, Government of Morocco and UN-Habitat, focusing on the global experience, opportunities and challenges for SS cooperation. Rabat, Morocco, 25-30th November 2012.
  • Keynote address at the INFONAVIT National Forum of Sustainable Housing, focusing on the sustainability of housing policies. Mexico city, 30 September-4th October 2012.
  • Keynote address and main panel moderator at the Latin American Housing Congress, focusing on the right to adequate housing and the right to the city policies, Bogota, Colombia, 23-29 September 2012.
  • Keynote address in the World Urban Forum session organized by the MIT-Massachusetts Institute of Technology entitled“The Global Housing Strategy and the incremental housing development process”.Presentation on Rental Housing in the session organized by IDB, University College London and Colegio de Arquitectos de Mexico and UN-Habitat. Naples, Italy, 3-7 September 2012.
  • Keynote presentation and coordination of the Workshop Session of the Rio+20 Conference on Tools and Instruments to build Sustainable cities”, 15-24 June 2012.
  • Keynote address “Provision of Affordable Housing.Why Action is Required Now”, at the Shelter Afrique Bank’s Annual Symposium of its Member States, focusing on Financing Low Cost Housing in Africa: Meeting the Challenges, 6 June 2012.
  • Keynote address “The Informal City and the Phenomenon of Slums: understanding the informal model is key to shift planning responses”, at the International North-South Forum on Urban Transformation, held in Zurich, Switzerland, ETH-University of Technology Zurich, 21-25 April 2012.
  • Keynote presentations on the Global Housing Indicators and Housing Sector Monitoring, and coordination of the high-level government workshop organized by UN-Habitat and the Government of Vietnam, Hanoi 9-15 January 2012.
  • Keynote address to the International Housing Summit, focusing on the global and regional housing trends and the making of the Global Housing Strategy, held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2011.
  • Keynote speaker at the World Habitat Day celebration and International Tenants’ Day, held in Brussels (2011) and sponsored by the International Union of Tenants, focusing on the Global Housing Strategies.
  • Keynote address for the Latin American Congress of the International Federation of Housing and Planning held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, focusing on the global trends and the lessons learned from informal cities.
  • Keynote speaker at the International Forum for Sustainable Housing, held in Mexico (2011) and sponsored by INFONAVIT
  • Presentation and moderator of the Dialogue 3 on Equal Access to Shelter of the Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum,UN-Habitat, Rio de Janeiro (2010).
  • Keynote address to the Congress of the European Network of Housing Research, Istanbul (2010), focusing on the global housing challenges and the strategy of UN-HABITAT to make adequate housing affordable for all
  • Keynote presentation in the Special Session organized by the Ministry of Cities of Brazil, Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements of South Africa and the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism of Chile, in the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum.
  • Keynote address to the World Congress of the International Federation of Housing and Planning-IFHP, Puerto Rico (2008), focusing on the 20 years of the Enabling Housing Strategy.
  • Presentation and moderator of workshop sponsored by the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment (VROM) during the celebrations and global observance of World Habitat Day 2007, focusing on How Different Approaches and Instruments to Succeed in Making Cities Safer. The Hague, October 2007.
  • Keynote speaker in the Policy Seminar “Maintenance and Management of High-rise Multi-family Housing in Bulgaria: Lessons learned and opportunities drawn from European Integration”, , focusing on “The European Experience with Urban and Housing Rehabilitation of High-rise Multi-family Housing Estates: lessons learnt for Bulgaria”, MATRA-Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sofia, Bulgaria 2006.
  • Keynote speaker in the UN Habitat Conference on Iraq, held in Amman, Jordan (2005), focusing on Housing Policies and Land Policies within a framework of reconstruction.
  • Keynote speaker in the European Network of Housing Research Conference “Making Cities Work”, focusing on sustainable urban development and policies towards informal urbanization.Tirana, Albania, May 2003.
  • Keynote presentation in the Preparatory Conference of the Arab Region for the UN Habitat II+5 World Conference, GOPP and the Arab League, Cairo, 2001.
  • Keynote speaker in the conference “Urbanisation and Migration in the Balkans”, sponsored by CORDAID and Soros Foundation. Albania, 2001.
  • Globo News Network, GLOBO TV, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: One-hour Interview and talk show on the national broadcast news focusing on the future of cities, urban densities and urban development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1998.