Enrique
Penalosa

Enrique Penalosa is one of the world's most influential urban thinkers and practitioners. Born in Washington, D.C. in 1954 to a Colombian family, he served as Mayor of Bogota in two terms — 1998 to 2001 and 2016 to 2019 — transforming one of Latin America's most troubled cities into a global laboratory for inclusive urban design.

## The Bogota Transformation

During his first mayoral term, Penalosa built TransMilenio, the first Bus Rapid Transit system to be adopted as a global model, planted 100,000 trees, created 1,200 kilometres of new bike lanes, and reclaimed hundreds of parks and public spaces for citizens. His fundamental conviction — that a city's quality is measured by how it treats its poorest citizens — has made him a global authority on equitable urban development.

## Urban Lessons For The Gulf

Penalosa has engaged extensively with Gulf cities on the challenge of building human-scale, walkable, people-centred urban environments in a context traditionally dominated by car-centric planning. His dialogue with Dubai's urban planners on the 2040 Urban Master Plan, and his recognition of the UAE's ambition to build the world's most sustainable city in Masdar, reflect a genuine intellectual partnership between Bogota's social urbanism and Dubai's visionary urbanism. in making cities work for their people and for his intellectual partnership with Dubai's urban vision, contributing to the most ambitious city-building project of our era.