Geneva, Switzerland – Thursday 25 January, 2012 – The New Cities Foundation (www.newcitiesfoundation.org) announced today that Citynove – Groupe Galeries Lafayette, has become its latest corporate member. The historic and leading French retailer joins the ranks of an impressive and growing group of global supporters including GE, Ericsson, Cisco, GDF Suez, Orange, the Senseable City Lab at MIT, NYU, The Urban China Initiative, Metropolis and HEC Paris – among others.

The New Cities Foundation has seen momentum building in recent weeks with a series of leading edge global initiatives. Most recently, the New Cities Foundation announced that it has selected Paris to host the inaugural New Cities Summit from May 14th– 16th 2012. Task forces have also been launched on e-health in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and on connected commuting in San Jose, California, in addition to an event for thought leaders in Beijing on urbanization in China.

Eric Costa, Chairman of Citynove, commented, “We are very pleased to become a major supporter of the New Cities Foundation. As a key actor in city-centre lifestyles and retail, Groupe Galeries Lafayette fully recognize the crucial importance of the urban phenomenon worldwide. This is why we are joining the New Cities Foundation network – a dynamic and global community which is interested in thinking about the future of our cities and our world.”

“We are delighted to welcome Citynove as our newest Member. It is fitting that such an ambitious and expanding retail group with globally known brands should choose to partner with us, especially as our first ever New Cities Summit will be held in Paris” said Mathieu Lefevre, Executive Director of NCF. “We are thrilled that this leading retailer and real-estate developer will become part of the NCF community.”

The forthcoming New Cities Summit which will be held in Paris in May 2012 is the centrepiece of the New Cities Foundation’s work. Building on a recognized track record in organizing high-level global forums, the New Cities Summit aims to be the leading annual global forum on new urbanization. This invitation-only forum, which will take place at Paris La Défense, will bring together global thought leaders in technology, infrastructure, architecture, energy, transport, retail, real-estate, national and local government, the media, academia and the non-profit sector.

Content-rich, ground-breaking keynotes and plenaries will form the basis for discussion about how we will live, work and play in the cities of tomorrow. Presentations of NCF Task Forces will orient conversations towards new replicable solutions, best practices and fertile areas for innovation.

About Citynove – Groupe Galeries Lafayette :
Citynove is the real-estate division of Groupe Galeries Lafayette. Citynove defines and deploys real-estate strategies that enhance the attractiveness of the Groupe Galeries Lafayette’s stores with the most favourable environment for their operations, while responding to urban challenges and changing consumer habits.
With almost 120 years of history, Groupe Galeries Lafayette has gained unrivalled experience in general retail and specialist retail. It has contributed to the development and animation of the cities where stores are settled in France and worldwide. The organisation employs more than 43,000 people with 2011 revenues exceeding 5 billion Euros.

About the New Cities Foundation: The New Cities Foundation is a Swiss non-profit institution which aims to be the premier high-level platform for innovation and exchange on the future of urbanization. NCF believes the unprecedented rate of urban growth that defines the 21st century represents a unique set of challenges as well as a chance to build more sustainable, vibrant, innovative and equitable communities in the developed and the emerging world.

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