The 2022 edition of Innopolis Expo will focus on innovation for the development of sustainable cities and territories. And the theme chosen this year is revealing. “Giving meaning to territorial innovation”. On September 20 and 21, 2022, the show will welcome 3,000 visitors, 150 exhibitors, including elected officials and local authorities, teachers and researchers, companies and start-ups, associations and unions, as well as urban planners, landscape architects and architects.
These actors will exchange through four animations that correspond to the current issues in Africa. The sustainable mobility cluster will allow decision makers to identify relevant solutions for the implementation of sustainable mobility systems. Currently, Africa must reconcile the decongestion of urban centers and green mobility. This reflection has led in some countries to the launch of projects to create electric bus corridors.
Connectivity for the cities of tomorrow
Egypt is certainly the first African country to adopt this solution with the launch in 2019 of an electric bus line to connect the Maadi district and the 5th settlement, a 25 km route in the city of Cairo. This low-carbon means of public transport is gradually being adopted by other African cities, Cape Town in South Africa, Rabat in Morocco, Nairobi in Kenya, and soon Dakar in Senegal thanks to a partnership with the French group Meridiam.
Innopolis Expo 2022 will also open up discussions on the connectivity of cities and territories. The “Connected Territories Village” will feature a reception area where visitors will be directed to a series of demonstrations that will give them an overview of the solutions on offer and put them in touch with experts who can help them explore the issues in greater depth. The show’s events also include the “Urban Design Pole”, a program dedicated to the development projects of tomorrow.
The circular economy in the city
The aim of this program is to help decision-makers and project managers understand the complexity of urban projects and find innovative solutions for building “21st century” public spaces. This program will be enriched by several cycles of conferences on the circular economy and sobriety applied to urban planning, biodiversity in the city, infrastructure for tomorrow’s mobility, water, air and soil, and light in the city.
The “Congres Innopolis Expo” will certainly be the flagship event for decision-makers. For, several thinkers, researchers and other actors committed to the sustainable city will meet to allow decision makers to refine the direction they want to give to their projects. This year’s event will host several African guests, including Augustin Tamba, the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Yaoundé and president of the United Municipalities and Cities of Cameroon (UCUCC), Véronique Upite Kamina, the mayor of Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Fatimata Traoré, the mayor of Bamako in Mali, and Pierre Samuel Guedj, president of the firm Affectio Mutandi, which is particularly committed to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.
For more information on Innopolis Expo 2022, click here.
Jean Marie Takouleu