London has won a bid to host the biennial Ecocity World Summit, which will take place at the Barbican Centre in June 2023.

Green Block London, courtesy of WATG and Pixelflakes

The three-day summit will bring together politicians, investors, professionals, academics and students to share new thinking and strategies for delivering more sustainable cities. The Ecocity conference will take place at the Barbican Centre 6-8 June 2023, coinciding with the London Festival of Architecture, which takes place throughout the month.

The bid to host the summit in London was led by New London Architecture (NLA) with promotors London & Partners, the Barbican Centre and MCI conference organisers, and supported by the UK Government, Mayor of London, London Councils, City of London Corporation, Transport for London, the UK Green Building Council, Royal Town Planning Institute, Green Finance Institute and Bartlett Faculty of Built Environment at UCL.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “It has been great to see sustainability at the top of the global agenda in the wake of the COP26 summit, and the Ecocity conference in London will continue the sustainability conversation by bringing together business, political and community leaders from all over the world.”

“Global cities have a big role to play in tackling climate change and environmental issues,” he added. “London has shown its leadership by committing to a Green New Deal to help London become greener and fairer – creating new jobs and skills for Londoners and ensuring London becomes a net zero-carbon city by 2030 and a zero- waste city by 2050.”

King’s Cross W3, courtesy of ArsVisualis and Haptic Architects

A panel of industry experts designing the programme will be led by Summit Director and NLA Programme Director Amy Chadwick Till. “Past Ecocity summits have an amazing track-record of enabling tangible local action; I am excited about the opportunity for our London summit partners to drive local change,” she said. “Design workshops that tackle real-world briefs, a virtual offer that connects in cities with fewer resources, and city activation through the festival in June will, I hope, leave a powerful positive legacy beyond the 3-day summit itself.”

A legacy project delivering a new piece of green infrastructure in London will also be developed in the process.

Morden Wharf, Balcony View, courtesy of OMA, Carmody Groarke, U+i and Pixelflakes

Each edition of the conference is typically held in a different host city but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year the 14th Ecocity World Summit will take place entirely online 22-24 February.