Richard J. Daley Global Cities Forum

Afternoon Breakout One

Session 1: Urban Spectacles
Cities compete for international visitors and global attention with mega-projects, such as the Olympics. This panel will examine if such projects are worthwhile, the cost of such projects and their impact on a city.

Session 2: The World Metropolis
Panelists will explore the linkages among cities, especially international trade, cultural change, education, and the historic links among their peoples.

Afternoon Breakout Two

Session 1: Fragile Cities
Global cities live in paradox: they are radically open and radically vulnerable, threatened by both natural and human-made calamities including pandemics and terrorism. They contain social groups with vastly different interests, needs and patterns of behavior. Panelists will discuss the threatened conflict and chaos that face cities and the ways in which cities perceive and ensure stability and social order.

Session 2: The New Urban Experience
A century ago, a city was a collection of neighborhoods, each defined by ethnicity, religion, and income. Today, as cities become vast electronic networks, their inhabitants learn, communicate and express themselves in radically different ways. Panelists will discuss the new forms of cultural life in global cities.