About the SlimCity initiative



The SlimCity Initiative, launched in 2008, aimed at providing a risk-free marketplace where cities and the private sector could exchange best practices to deliver resource efficiency within cities throughout the world. The focus of this exchange was on the sustainable development of all aspects of a city to achieve reduced carbon emissions and increased resource efficiency across all sectors, involving the following industries: Energy, Mobility, Engineering and Construction, Chemicals, Real Estate and Information Technology.

SlimCity Initiative Completion in Spring 2010

The SlimCity Initiative, launched in 2008, completed its mandate to raise awareness and facilitate dialog around urban sustainability trends and best practices between cities and the private sector. Key achievements accomplished in the initiative include:

- development of SlimCity Knowledge Cards to identify key trends and best practices in the areas of Smart Energy, Urban Mobility, and Sustainable Construction. The cards can be viewed and printed through a unique interactive tool developed especially for this initiative
- the development of a Facilitation Guide to guide stakeholders on how the SlimCity cards can be used to facilitate further discussion among key urban sustainability stakeholders
- the presentation of the cards to facilitate city level workshops on urban sustainability in Chicago, San Francisco, Melbourne, and London, and at the global level in discussions at the ICLEI World Congress 2009, World Bank Dialog on Cities and Climate Change 2009, and numerous World Economic Forum Annual Meetings and Regional Summits
- laid the foundation for new World Economic Forum initiatives on urban development and sustainability including Smart Grid, Repowering Transport, Retrofit Financing, and Affordable Housing for All

The SlimCity Initiative completed its activities in Spring 2010. Going forward, the four workstreams developed under SlimCity will continue in 2010. If you have an interest to learn more about these new related urban development/sustainability initiatives, please contact:

Smart Grids: Smart grids hold the promise to enable energy efficiency, integration of renewable energy, electric vehicles at scale and new energy services to customers. The “digitization” of electricity could therefore become the backbone and a "must" for tomorrow's energy solutions and the low-carbon economy. For more information, please contact Johanna Lanitis at johanna.lanitis@weforum.org.

Repowering Transport: The objective of the Repowering Transport project is to facilitate the adoption of clean and secure energy sources for the transportation sector through structured multistakeholder dialogue. The project integrates executives from the Forum’s Industry Partnership programs in mobility (automotive, aviation, and logistics), energy (oil and gas, utilities, alternatives) and chemicals. The project explores in depth three specific areas at the intersection of mobility and energy: Alternate Fuels, Energy Efficiency, and the Electrification of Transportation. For more information, please contact Mariana Torres-Montoya at Mariana.Torres-Montoya@weforum.org

Retrofit Financing: Buildings represent 40% of the world’s energy requirements. With the world’s building stock turning over at a rate of only 5% per year and new building construction further hampered by frozen capital markets, achieving meaningful reductions in energy use and carbon emissions increasingly depends on retrofit investments. Conceived by the World Economic Forum’s members and partners in Davos in January of 2010, Retrofit Finance & Investment is a collaborative, industry-driven project that provides the multi-stakeholder leadership platform to advance this critical issue. For more information, please contact Robin Ried at robin.ried@weforum.org.

Housing for All: The project gives industry leaders and experts the opportunity to sound off on the challenges and opportunities to address the world's lower-income housing needs. At the direction of the Forum's Real Estate community, the Forum established a Steering Committee and Advisory Board, currently involved in a collaborative effort to heighten awareness about the issue amongst the business community; to track impacts of inadequate housing supply on business and the economy, and to catalogue best practices and government policies that create incentives for private sector engagement. The effort will be crystallized in the development of a set of Knowledge Cards, a report, and a living Knowledge Library which will enable the greater Forum community to access information on an ongoing basis. For more information, please contact Robin Ried at robin.ried@weforum.org.