Greg Clark

Greg Clark, CBE, FAcSS is one of the world’s foremost authorities on cities, urban investment, and the sustainable urban transition. Over a career spanning more than three decades, he has advised over 400 cities, 50 national governments, and 20 multilateral institutions — including the OECD, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank — on how to design smarter, more competitive, and more resilient urban futures. His rare combination of scholarly rigour, policy influence, and private-sector experience makes him the go-to advisor when the highest-stakes urban decisions are on the table.

Global affairs speaker Greg Clark is best known for translating the complex forces shaping cities — demographic shifts, climate imperatives, technological disruption, and geopolitical realignment — into actionable strategies for governments and business leaders alike. He currently chairs the Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for smart mobility and urban innovation, and serves on the Board of Transport for London, where he also chairs the Land and Property Committee. He is a member of the WEF Global Future Council on Cities & Urbanisation and of the Bloomberg NEF Council on Cities.

Clark is the author of ten books and over 100 reports on cities, investment, and place leadership — among them Global Cities: A Short History and World Cities and Nation States, both widely used in policy and academic circles. He co-hosts two podcasts — The Century of Cities and The DNA of Cities — and writes the regular column The Planet of Cities for RICS. His expertise reaches mainstream audiences through the BBC World Service series My Perfect City, where he serves as the Global Cities expert.

A Career Built Across Institutions, Nations, and City Halls

Clark’s advisory track record is unmatched in breadth. He has chaired more than 20 international advisory boards for cities actively reformulating their investment strategies and long-term plans — from New York, Mumbai, and São Paulo to Barcelona, Vienna, and Oslo. He has led comparative urban studies across every major world region and previously served as Group Advisor on Future Cities and New Industries at HSBC Investment Bank, as well as Lead Advisor on Cities to the UK Government for six years. As a Visiting Professor of Urban Innovation at the University of Strathclyde and a former Honorary Professor at UCL, he bridges research and real-world application with authority.

As a speaker, Greg Clark brings a level of strategic clarity and global perspective that few can match when it comes to the future of cities, investment, and urban sustainability. His keynotes are built on original research across hundreds of cities, making his insights grounded rather than theoretical. Senior audiences — from real estate and infrastructure investors to city officials, corporate leaders, and development institutions — value his ability to explain why some cities succeed and others stagnate, and what decisions today will determine urban fortunes over the coming decades. He is equally at home delivering a keynote to thousands or hosting a high-stakes boardroom dialogue.