The Crystal celebrates first anniversary with Sustainable Cities Week

[Siemens AG / Medical Solutions - 28.08.2013] The Crystal celebrates first anniversary with Sustainable Cities Week

Urban development center well-established as global thought-leadership hub on sustainable urbanization
100,000 visitor mark passed in August
Highest certificates for LEED Platinum and BREEAM Outstanding achieved
Sustainable Cities Week to focus on cities and climate change, urban livability and culture
In its first year, Siemens urban development center, the Crystal, has evolved into a global hub for urban sustainability, a well sought-after venue for conferences and meetings - and an East London landmark. From August 30 to September 5, 2013, the Crystal will celebrate its first anniversary by hosting Sustainable Cities Week.
The Crystal has fulfilled its mission of serving as a global center for sustainable urban development. It has hosted a range of impressive events and international conferences with high-level audiences. Among those were the G8 Innovation Conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnsons Low Carbon Awards as well as a TEDx Newham event and the International Federation for Housing and Plannings 100th anniversary lecture.
The Crystal has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations with regards to visitor numbers. International opinion leaders, city delegations, business groups, university students and school kids, city planners and urban experts, local residents and tourists have turned the center with the worlds largest exhibition on the future of cities into a success story. Just a few days ago, on August 23, Crystal staff welcomed the 100,000th visitor to the new East London landmark.
"The Crystal has turned out to be quite a success story. With only twelve months of operation it has become the world's most visited exhibition showcase on urban sustainability and a recognized international flagship for Siemens. It is now an indisputable global platform for collaboration amongst key city stakeholders, academia, businesses and the public, said Pedro Miranda, Head of Siemens Global Center of Competence Cities.
A week of highlights at the Crystal is scheduled from August 30 to September 5, 2013. The Siemens Festival Nights will bring the screening of operatic masterpieces to East London. From Friday to Tuesday, the public screenings of new opera productions from the 2013 Salzburg Festival will enchant audiences outside and inside the Crystal.
The DLD (Digital Life Design) conferences roundtable on "City Identity and Culture will unite thought leaders and the heads of iconic cultural institutions on Tuesday for an evening of lively discussion. Panelists will include Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival, artist Richard Wentworth and David Rowan from Wired Magazine. The evening will be concluded by a spectacular laser illumination, telling the story of cities and their urban future.
The inaugural City Climate Leadership Awards will be launched by the C40 City Climate Leadership Group (C40) and Siemens on Wednesday, September 4th. The awards recognize city innovation that accelerates city action to combat the sources and impacts of climate change. They will be granted annually in ten categories and will provide global recognition for cities that are demonstrating climate action leadership. The winning cities have been selected by an independent, seven member judging panel consisting of former city Mayors, architects and representatives of the World Bank, C40 and Siemens.
On Thursday, the City Climate Leadership Awards Conference will round off Sustainable Cities Week. The conference will gather Mayors, city leaders, and urban sustainability experts. Representatives of the cities nominated for the awards will present their projects and share their expertise in combating climate change with their peers.
After the conclusion of Sustainable Cities Week, a new highlight will be attracting visitors to the Crystal. Beginning in October, Siemens, in association with CBS Outdoor and the London Transport Museum, will showcase its view of the future of London underground transport (Going Underground: Our Journey to the Future). The centerpiece of the exhibition will be a full-scale mock-up of a Siemens Inspiro metro train, plus a glimpse into an underground station of the future.
The Crystal has demonstrated since September 2012 how cities can create a better future. Built to resemble a crystal, the building is one of the most efficient in the world and has achieved the highest certifications according to the international energy efficiency standard LEED Platinum and the UK standard BREEAM Outstanding. It serves as a conference and research center and offers 2,000 square meters of space for an interactive exhibition on the future of cities. The Crystal also is the home of Siemens "Center of Competence Cities (CoC) and as such has a special significance for the companys Infrastructure
Cities Sector. The CoC is responsible for building up strategic partnerships between Siemens and city organizations, conducting urban research, promoting cross-Division and cross- Sector solutions for cities, bringing together internal and external urban experts and managing the worldwide network of Siemens City Account Managers.
The Siemens Infrastructure
Cities Sector (Munich, Germany), with approximately 90,000 employees, focuses on sustainable technologies for metropolitan areas and their infrastructures. Its offering includes products, systems and solutions for intelligent traffic management, rail-bound transportation, smart grids, power distribution, energy efficient buildings, and safety and security. The Sector comprises the divisions Building Technologies, Low and Medium Voltage, Mobility and Logistics, Rail Systems and Smart Grid. For more information, visit
http://www.siemens.com/infrastructure-cities

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