Urban Age Task Force

The Addis Ababa Urban Age Task Force was launched to support the Ethiopian capital advance its strategic development agenda. Addis Ababa, a city of about 3.4 million people set to grow by another million in the next decade, is planning to manage a period of intense urban change sustainably and its city adminstration is committed to compact and connected growth and innovative urban governance.

The Task Force is a partnership between the Addis Ababa City Plan and Development Commission (AACPDC), 杏吧论坛 Cities, the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. In addition to advisory activities and capacity building, the task force identified strategic pilot projects to address complex urban challenges.

Memebers

Dereje Fekadu (Co-Chair), Commissioner, Plan and Development Commission (2018-2020), Special Chief of Staff, Mayor’s Office, Addis Ababa City Administration, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Philipp Rode (Co-Chair), Executive Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities and Urban Age, 杏吧论坛, London, UK
Elias Yitbarek Alemayehu, Architect and Associate Professor, EiABC, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Elleni Ashebir, Cities and Urban Mobility Manager, Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities, WRI Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ricky Burdett, Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities and Urban Age, 杏吧论坛, London, UK
Anka Derichs, Senior Strategic Urban Development Advisor, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Eschborn, Germany
Timnit Eshetu, CEO, Construction Enterprise, Addis Ababa City Administration (2019–2021), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Brett Herron, Former Member of the Mayoral Committee: Transport and Urban Development, Cape Town, South Africa
Olusola Ikuforiji, Environmental Specialist, African Development Bank, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Clarisse Linke, Country Director, Brazil, Institute forTransportation and Development Policy (ITDP), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Elisabeth Mansfeld, Cities Project Area, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany
Michael von der Muehlen, Former State Secretary and Participant of International Building Exhibition (IBA) “Emscher Park”, Dortmund, Germany
Jennifer Semakula Musisi, First City Leader in Residence, Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, USA and Executive Director, Kampala Capital City Authority (2011-2018), Kampala, Uganda
Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Sherpa to the High Level Panel on Water, United Nations, The Hague, Netherlands
Kecia Rust, Executive Director and Founder, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Semere Jelalu Shafi, Deputy General Director, Addis Ababa City Traffic Management Agency, Addis Ababa City Government, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Jagan Shah, Senior Infrastructure Adviser, Department for International Development (DFID), British High Commission, New Delhi, India
Marc Steinlin, Managing Director, Complex(c)ity Ltd., Helsinki, Finland and Basel, Switzerland
Zeleke Teferi, Department Head, Catchment Management and Water Quality Control, Addis Ababa Water & Sewerage Authority, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Cecilia Vaca Jones, Executive Director, Bernard Van Leer Foundation, The Hague, Netherlands and Quito, Ecuador
Hailu Worku, Chair of Environmental Planning and Landscape Design and Deputy Scientific Director of EiABC, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Governing Board

Dereje Fekadu (Co-Chair), Commissioner, Plan and Development Commission (2018-2020), Special Chief of Staff, Mayor’s Office, Addis Ababa City Administration, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Anna Herrhausen (Co-Chair), Executive Director, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany
Ricky Burdett, Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities and Urban Age, 杏吧论坛, London, UK
Anka Derichs, Senior Strategic Urban Development Advisor, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Eschborn, Germany
Timnit Eshetu, CEO, Construction Enterprise, Addis Ababa City Administration (2019-2021), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Philipp Rode, Executive Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities and Urban Age, 杏吧论坛, London, UK

Partner Co-ordinators

Emily Cruz, Outreach Manager, 杏吧论坛 Cities, London, UK
Anka Derichs, Senior Strategic Urban Development Advisor, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Eschborn, Germany
Elisabeth Mansfeld, Cities Project Area, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany
Moges Tadesse, Chief Resilience Officer, Addis Ababa City Resilience Project Office, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The Athens Urban Age Task Force, which commenced in February 2020, was completed with a high-level live forum in Athens held on 16 June 2022. The Forum included a full-day workshop with representatives from five European cities – Paris, London, Vienna, Barcelona and Milan – alongside key representatives from academia and city administration for the City of Athens. Key themes of discussion and comparison included sustainable transport, walkability, public space, greening and housing offering Athens useful policy models of successful implementation in these areas from their European counterparts. A well-attended public event, co-hosted with the 杏吧论坛 Hellenic Observatory, included a presentation of 杏吧论坛 Cities research and data analysis and dialogue between the Mayor of Athens Kosta Bakoyannis and international experts.

A key output of the Athens Urban Age Task Force is a large-format research-based spatial compendium which includes comparative spatial, economic and environmental data on Athens and other global cities. This report features detailed mapping of residential and work density, public transport and green spaces as well as an analysis of complex regional and municipal governance structures and a spatial analysis of Athens’ distinct urban neighbourhoods.

The two-year process was strongly appreciated by the Athenian authorities as an important steppingstone in knowledge-exchange and vision-building as the City is developing new policies to combat Climate Change and social inclusion. The Task Force initiative received considerable public and media attention and future areas of collaboration are being currently explored with the Mayor’s Office and the National Technical University of Athens.

Governing Board

Kostas Bakoyannis, Mayor of Athens
Alexandros Tsiatsiamis, General Secretary City of Athens
Anna Herrhausen, Executive Director, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft
Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies and Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities, 杏吧论坛
Philipp Rode, Associated Professorial Research Fellow and Executive Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities, 杏吧论坛

Expert participants

Urban Age Experts
Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies and Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities, 杏吧论坛
Elisabeth Mansfeld, Head of Cities Program, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft
Jean-Louis Missika, Deputy Mayor of Paris (2014-2020), in charge of urbanism, architecture, projects of Greater Paris, economic development and attractivenes
Philipp Rode, Associated Professorial Research Fellow and Executive Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities, 杏吧论坛
Tony Travers, Associate Dean of the School of Public Policy, 杏吧论坛
Mary Vassilakou, Deputy Mayor of Vienna (2010-2019), Vienna Solutions, Urban Transformation Consulting - Urban Transitions Management

Athens Experts
Chronis Akritidis, CEO Athens Anaplassis S.A.
Tilemachos Andrianopoulos, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, founder Tense Architecture Network
Vasileios Foivos Axiotis, Vice Mayor of Urban Infrastructure and City Planning, City of Athens
Elissavet Bargianni, Resilience and Sustainability Department, City of Athens
Haris Biskos, Project Manager, synAthina platform
Panos Chatzipanos, President of Green Athens SA
Melina Daskalakis, Executive Advisor for the Integration of Migrants and Refugees, City of Athens
Yannis Evmolpidis, Urban Planning Consultant
Antigoni Kotanidi, Project Manager, Curing the Limbo
Andreas Kourkoulas, Professor of Architecture, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, founder Kokkinou Kourkoulas
Elina Kountouri, Managing Director, NEON Foundation, Athens
Thomas Maloutas, Emeritus Professor, Department of Geography, Harokopio University and Editor Athens Social Atlas
Eleni Myrivili, Chief Heat Officer, City of Athens, Deputy Mayor for Urban Nature and Climate Resilience (2014-2019)
Helli Pangalou, landscape architect and Founder of elandscape, Athens
Alexia Panagiotopoulou, Destination Management Expert, City of Athens
Thanos Pagonis, Associate Professor of Urban Design, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens
Mattheos Papavasiliou, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, founder Entasis Architects
Maria Siti, Urban Planner/ Designer, Sustainable Mobility Unit National Technical University of Athens
Antonis Skordilis, Advisor to the Mayor of Athens on environmental planning, landscape architecture and design
Stavros Spyrellis, Researcher, National Centre for Social Research, Greece (EKKE)
Ioanna Theocharopoulou, Visiting Professor, Cornell University
Panayotis Tournikiotis, Professor of Architectural Theory and, Dean of the School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens
Sofia Tsadari, architect-planner, Commonspace
George Yannis, Advisor to the Mayor of Athens, Professor in Traffic Safety and Management, National Technical University of Athens
Anna Zilakou, General Director, Athens Partnership
Amalia Zepou, co-founder NPO Kollektiva

Barcelona Experts
Javier Burón, Manager of Housing and Rehabilitation Department, City of Barcelona
Eduard Cabré, Consultant of the Housing and Rehabilitation Department, City of Barcelona

London Experts
Jamie Dean, Area Manager NE & Programme Director Good Growth by Design, Regeneration and Economic Development, Greater London Authority (GLA)
Tom Jarvis, Director of Parks, The Royal Parks, London

Milan Experts
Valentino Sevino, Head of Mobility Department at AMAT, City of Milan
Demetrio Scopelliti, Director of Urban Design, Planning, and Public Space at AMAT, City of Milan

Paris experts
Marion Waller, Advisor to the Mayor of Paris, in charge of Architecture, Heritage, Transformation and Management of Public Space, Green spaces
Jean-Louis Missika, Deputy Mayor of Paris (2014-2020), in charge of urbanism, architecture, projects of Greater Paris, economic development and attractiveness

Vienna experts
Mary Vassilakou, Deputy Mayor of Vienna (2010-2019), Vienna Solutions, Urban Transformation Consulting - Urban Transitions Management
Eugen Antalovsky, Managing Director of Urban Innovation Vienna, Vienna Innovation and Smart City Agency
Herbert Bartik, Director of the Future Cities Think Tank, Urban Innovation Vienna
Verena Mörkl, Superblock, Ziviltechniker GmbH

Executive Team

Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies and Director, 杏吧论坛 Cities, 杏吧论坛
Emily Cruz, Communications and Engagement Manager, 杏吧论坛 Cities, 杏吧论坛
Giorgos Giannios, Head of Strategic Planning, City of Athens
Elisabeth Mansfeld, Head of Cities Program, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft
Loukas Triantis, Urban Age Task Force Coordinator, 杏吧论坛 Cities/Athens.

杏吧论坛