Programme (subject to change):

8:45 – 9:45 Registration

9:45 – 10:10 Keynote session: Sofia - priorities and strategies for development
Arch. Zdravko Zdravkov, Chief Architect of Sofia Municipality

10:10 – 12:00 Session 1: Sofia Transport Infrastructure – key projects, challenges and plans for future development

10:10 – 10:30 Which are the current transport projects in Sofia and what solutions they are going to propose to the transport and communication challenges?
Doncho Barbalov,  Deputy Mayor for Finance and Business and Transport and Transport Communications of Sofia Municipality

10:30 – 10:50 The Sofia Metro as an indisputable factor for urban development and for the generation of potential and investment interest of the areas which it serves – progress and future steps in development
Prof. Dr. Eng. Stoyan Bratoev, Executive Director, Metropolitan

10:50 – 11:00 Challenges in the implementation of urban infrastructure projects
Eng. Svetoslav Pehlivanov, Head of Construction, Geostroy

11:00 – 11:10 Which are the main traffic generating drivers in Sofia? What roles are playing the public and private sector, and the society in the process of addressing the problems and succeeding in the creation of sustainable transport model?
Tsvetan Kolev, Transport Planning at Sofproect - OGP

11:10 – 11:20 Electric cars and their charging network as an obligatory component in the planning of the modern transport infrastructure. Intelligent systems for managing the generated traffic.
Vasil Takev, General Sales Manager, ABB Bulgaria

11:20 – 11:30  Parking in the context of the urban environment
Kaloyan Krumov, CEO, Infosystems International, Representative of Transoftsolutions

11:30 – 11:40 Future Cities - challenges and opportunities on the road to decarbonization and resilience to the risks of climate change 
Arch. Vesela Valcheva-McGee, Мanaging partner, Triple Green Building Group Bulgaria

11:40 – 11:50 Financial tools for urban development
Iva Petkova, Head of Department, Fund for Sustainable Urban Development

11:50 – 12:00 Perlovska river regeneration project
Arch. Ivaylo Petkov, CEO, DESET architects

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch

13:00 - 17:00 Session 2: Urban talks – Sofia zones: which are the active areas for investment in Sofia? Which are the areas with potential for future development?

13:00 – 14:30 Part 1: New investment territories in the urban periphery. The territory in the foothills of Vitosha Mountain - key area for new and current developments
The area in the foothills of Vitosha mountain, in which are located some of the most significant investment projects such as Business Park Sofia, Residential Park Sofia, Garitage Park, Sofia Ring Mall, etc., continues to attract market and investment interest. The region often (and in an objective manner) is being given as an example for a successful realization of the zone, in which there is a mixture of additional functions, a synergy between projects and the municipality. Which are the prerequisites and the factors for a successful and sustainable development of the territory how the transport challenges are (going to be) faced? What is the approach in building of the accompanying technical and transport infrastructure?
With the approval of the extension construction of the south part of the ring road Mladost – AM Trakia, the areas around Lozen, Pancharevo and German attracted investment interest and the first major projects are already “in process of realization”. Which are the key advantages in the area, which are the challenges they are going to face and what is the urban approach is going to be for solving them?

Participants:
Eng. Teodor Petkov, Mayor of Vitosha region, Sofia Municipality
Vasil Stanchev, Mayor of Lozen Village
Atanas Garov, Founder and Managing Partner, Garitage Investment Management
Arch. Tsvetan Petrov, CEO, Ivo Petrov-Architects
Arch. Georgi Angelov, Lead Designer, Avi Arch
Petar Dyakov, commercial director, Arco Vara AS / Botanica Lozen
Kaloyan Karamitov, Coordinator of Urban Planning, Urban Environment and Transport, Vision Sofia
Arch. Zhorzheta Rafailova, Chief Expert, Sofproect - OGP
Moderator: Kamen Krastev, CEO, The City Media Group

14:40 – 15:30 Part 2: “NPZ Hladilnika” - Sofia's most dynamically developing area
The former industrial zone "NPZ Hladilnika" is already under development and in fact there is significant potential generated by the location, the transport security and, last but not least, the constructive dialogue and joint efforts of the investors in the area and the municipality for the development of the territory. What are the planned investment projects, what technical and social infrastructure does the area need and how it will be provided? What are the current urban development processes in the area and what’s ahead?

Participants:
Lyubomir Drekov, Mayor of Lozenets region
Adina Welsh, Executive Director, Raiffeisen Property Management
Petko Lozanov, Head of Project Management, C&W Forton
Yanni Valkanov, Urbanist, Organization URBITAT
Eng. Todor Todorov, Senior Expert, Transconsult-22
Moderator: Kamen Krastev, CEO, The City Media Group

Sponsorship lot: Representative of Semmelrock

15:40 – 17:00 Part 3: Territories with potential for urban development. The future of the former industrial zones and the northern city. Large-scale investment projects as a driver for territorial regeneration.
The Municipality of Sofia has repeatedly stated its desire to develop the potential of the former industrial zones and to turn them into modern urban territories. “NPZ Hladilnika” is the freshest example, but apart from it, The "Red Star" NPZ, which is locked between the Izgrev and Dianabad residential districts, is also evolving towards a modern secondary city center. On the territory of Former factories in other parts of the city are also already designing and building large-scale and innovative projects. In addition, despite the stark contrast in investment activity in favor of the southern part of the city, in the northern territories are located former industrial areas with significant growth potential - both in scale and in infrastructure, which can be one of the mainstay for the development of the northern city.
What are the best practices and challenges for the regeneration of former industrial zones and how do we develop their potential? How the northern part of Sofia can create investment appetite and unlock its potential? How the investment interest can be secured with the necessary infrastructure and public spaces so that the areas develop in a balanced way and preserve the industrial heritage?

Participants:
Arch. Rawad Choubassi, Director and Board member of Systematica
Arch. Angel Zahariev, Founder & Manager, A&A Architects
Arch. Ljubo Georgiev, Director, Vision Sofia
Nurhan Redjeb, Urbanist, Place.make
Arch. Mariya Mishineva, Principle Architect, Stephen George International
Moderator: Ivan Velkov, Deputy Chairman of Sofia Municipal Council and Chairman of BGFMA


17:00 – 18:00 Awarding, Networking and Cocktail – The CITY Academy 2019: Award in the competition for students and young professionals, participated in "Urban Environment and Infrastructure" contest

Programme is subject to change*