The built environment is one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, forms of energy infrastructure. Decisions about where people live, how buildings are designed and how people and goods move determine patterns of energy demand for decades — shaping not only emissions, but affordability, public health, climate resilience and everyday urban life.
Cities that separate homes from jobs lock in car dependence and high energy demand; mixed-use neighbourhoods, efficient buildings and accessible public transport reduce demand at the source. The energy transition is not only about replacing fossil fuels with renewables. It is a question of how cities are planned, financed and governed, and of the energy trilemma: secure, affordable, sustainable energy whose benefits are shared, not reserved for those who can afford them.
AI and digital twins can support demand forecasting, transport planning and climate-risk assessment, but technology alone cannot deliver a just transition: data optimises a system; it cannot decide whose needs come first. Many of the most valuable urban investments create value beyond conventional investment horizons.
This panel examines the next generation of urban solutions in the Asia-Pacific, and asks whether cities can be redesigned around human well-being, accessibility and long-term shared value.
