A line-up of expert speakers from the built environment, public policy, investment, innovation, and academia has been unveiled ahead of next week’s Expo Sunderland Delivering the Future City Conference.
Keynote speakers and panellists for this year’s flagship conference, taking place on Tuesday, October 14 and Wednesday, October 15 at City Hall, Sunderland, include Pat Ritchie CBE Chair of Homes England; Henry Kippin Chief Executive of the North East Combined Authority;; Tracy Harrison Chief Executive of the Northern Housing Consortium; Tim Heatley co-founder of Capital & Centric; Tom Chance from the National Community Land Trust Network; Ellen Thinnesen Chief Executive of Education Partnership North East; Samantha McClary Chief Executive of the British Council of Offices; and Graham Thrower Head of the Institute for Economic and Social Inclusion.
The conference – which is being delivered in partnership with the University of Sunderland and the BCO, now in its third year – will be chaired by Mark Easton, former Home Editor at the BBC, and will bring together around 20 influential voices including government leaders, industry experts, investors, developers, academics, and business leaders.
Keynote speeches, panel debates, and roundtable discussions on topics including planning reform and housing delivery, community building and placemaking, infrastructure and resilience, city centre activation and repopulation, and the skills and innovation needed to support the future workforce, will take place across the two days, with an audience of 200 industry leaders.
The conference comes at a pivotal time, as the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy and 2025 Spending Review set ambitious targets for business investment, innovation, and economic resilience. In addition, a national target of 1.5 million new homes means that Sunderland and the wider North East can play a key role in housing delivery at scale and pace. The conference will preview a landmark Key Cities Network report – Turbocharging Housebuilding in Cities and Urban Areas – due to be launched in Parliament on October 15. Delegates will also explore how Sunderland’s City Plan and the North East Combined Authority’s Local Growth Plan align with the Government’s growth ambitions, positioning the city and region as a prime location for investment.
Councillor Kevin Johnston, portfolio holder for housing, regeneration, and business at Sunderland City Council, said: “This is shaping up to be a fantastic event, with some really influential speakers coming to the city to participate and learn more about the way in which we’re driving forward with the transformation of Sunderland.
“With flagship projects such as Riverside Sunderland, new skills and training facilities like the Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy, and major infrastructure schemes including Keel Crossing, Sunderland is emerging as a model future city, and we’re delighted to be able to shine a spotlight on that at this brilliant conference.”
The Delivering the Future City Conference has received support from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
To find out more about Delivering the Future City, visit https://www.exposunderland.com/future-city/delivering-future-city-2025 or follow Expo Sunderland on LinkedIn.