BIOGRAPHY

Alfonso Vegara has a PhD in City and Regional Planning and degrees in Architecture, Economics, and Sociology. He was President of ISOCARP, the International Society of City and Regional Planners, which has members in over 70 countries. He is a Fellow and Trustee of the Eisenhower Fellowships, and since 2005, he is Honorary Consul General of Singapore in Madrid.

Alfonso Vegara has been lecturing Urbanism at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, Universidad de Navarra, and Universidad CEU San Pablo. He was also a visiting scholar at the School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania and Advisor of ETH Zurich Polytechnic.

His ideas and projects have been disseminated through more than 30 books and International Conferences in Europe, The United States, Latin America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. His projects have been awarded prizes by The United Nations, The European Union, The European Council of Spatial Planners, Architects´ Associations, Entrepreneurial Associations, Cities, and National Governments. Among these awards is the “Rey Jaime I “prize, given by the King of Spain to recognize Alfonso Vegara’s contribution to the fields of Urbanism and Sustainability. He has also been awarded in three occasions with the prestigious “European Award of Planning” for his work in Euskal Hiria, The Basque city region and the design of the eco-city of Sarriguren in Navarra. He’s member of the Jury of the “Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize” and current President of the jury at the “European Regional and Urban Planning Awards”. He’s been an advisor for more than 15 years to the Government of Singapore, as well as of various cities around the world, including: Yokohama, Mexico DF, Bilbao, Buenos Aires, Kuala Lumpur, Sao Paulo, Casablanca, Moscow and Medellin.

TOPIC

Regional planning connecting the urban system towards increasing smart economic growth and sustainable development