New Cities Foundation Expands Membership Network into Financial Sector
Citi reinforces its commitment to enabling progress in cities through New Cities Foundation membership
Paris, France , February 25, 2013 /3BL Media/ – The New Cities Foundation announces Citi as its newest corporate and first financial sector member. The objective of Citi and NCF's efforts will be dedicated to addressing pressing urban financial needs, and supporting cities' economic development and their pursuit of sustainable growth and prosperity.
At the core of urbanization lies the financing challenge: demand from growing populations and the resulting strains placed on critical infrastructure is driving up costs, while traditional sources of funding are limited and unable to keep pace with demand. Citi will bring its global expertise on urban challenges in more than 1,000 cities worldwide, leveraging their international network of clients to bring ideas and innovative approaches to urban financing.
"We are extremely pleased to be one of the first financial institutions to join the New Cities Foundation," said Ward Marsh, Head of the Municipal Securities Division at Citi. "Urban areas continue to grapple with rising infrastructure costs and constrained financing and we believe it is important to not only engage the community and address these challenges, but present the many opportunities of urbanization."
Citi also brings its experience in e-government initiatives, helping cities simplify processes, harnessing advancements in digital, mobile and card technologies to improve efficiency and make it easier to live and work in cities. "Citi recognizes its responsibility as a global financial institution to be an enabler for growth, efficiency and prosperity in the world's cities. Through our partnership with the New Cities Foundation, we hope to offer new insights to which will serve to enhance public services, facilitate commerce and expand financial inclusion," said Francesco Vanni d'Archirafi, Chief Executive Officer, Citi Transaction Services.
"We look forward to working closely with Citi, whose network and client relationships span major cities around the globe. Together with Citi we will develop valuable programs dedicated to helping urban leaders understand the financing options available to assure the sustainability and competitiveness of their city moving forward," said Mathieu Lefevre, Executive Director, New Cities Foundation.
Citi and the New Cities Foundation will also work together to develop urban finance-related sessions at the Foundation's flagship event, the annual New Cities Summit, which attracts innovators and senior decision makers across the public, private, academic and non-profit sectors from around the world. The date, theme and location of the 2013 New Cities Summit will be announced shortly.
The New Cities Foundation
The New Cities Foundation is a leading global platform for innovation and high-level exchange on the future of the urban world. Working to create more dynamic, sustainable, just and creative cities with a special focus on rapidly urbanizing regions, the Foundation fosters urban innovations and new partnerships among government, business, the research community and civil society.
The New Cities Foundation hosts a number of leadership events on cities including its flagship event, the New Cities Summit, an annual invitation-only gathering bringing together around 1,000 of the world's most senior decision makers, mayors, leading CEOs, innovators, entrepreneurs, architects and thinkers. In parallel, the Foundation's research wing, the Urban (co)Lab, manages a number of applied urban research projects including NCF Task Forces and thought-leadership activities. Two Task Forces are currently under way, including one in the area of e-health in Rio de Janeiro.
A non-profit, private organization, the New Cities Foundation was created in 2010 and is financed entirely by its members, which include some of the world's most forward-thinking companies, universities, cities and city organizations. The New Cities Foundation's founding members are Cisco, Ericsson and GE. The Foundation is based in Geneva with offices in Paris, New York and Rio de Janeiro.
Facebook.com/NewCitiesFoundation
Twitter: @newcitiesfound
Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi
Citi for Cities
Citi for Cities is an initiative that harnesses the best of Citi across the globe to enable cities to become more efficient, by providing financing that facilitates commerce and modernization, and by empowering citizens to access services that enhance livability and prosperity. Citi aims to help cities achieve their ambitions across the key ecosystems that power a city including administration, roads and transit, ports of entry, energy and utilities, workplace and education, health and safety and regeneration and development. Citi's span of engagement with cities includes public and private sector, the financial sector and citizens and the communities in which they live. For more information, please visit www.citiforcities.com
www.citigroup.com/citi/citiforcities | Twitter: @CitiforCities
