- In partnership with the World Governments Summit
One mandate, two global stages
31 January 2027 · Expo City Dubai
In the new centre of Dubai’s future
Convened by Expo City Dubai, the World Majlis opens on the site of one of the world’s leading urban transition projects: from the home of Expo 2020 Dubai and stage for COP28 to an innovative urban community at the forefront of Dubai’s future growth.
Leaders and urban visionaries gather here on Day 1 to intimately examine what makes a city work and how to build urban intelligence that responds to the shared priorities of our time.
1 February 2027 · World Governments Summit
At the global stage for governance
As world leaders meet at the World Governments Summit to shape the future of governments, the World Majlis brings the city voice into the conversation on AI and governance.
In discussions that draw on Dubai’s oldest traditions of dialogue, leaders from across the sectors shaping the future of cities establish commitments and collaborations to advance urban intelligence in service of shared priorities.
- Why now
Around the world,
cities are looking at new ways
to solve real challenges
The intent is everywhere.
Leaders are looking at AI for innovative ways to address concrete urban challenges.
The exchange is not.
With no shared playbook, what one city learns and builds rarely reaches the next.
We bridge the gap.
The World Majlis opens direct dialogue between cities and with the industries shaping AI.
- The premise
Intelligent cities are defined
not by technologies, but by outcomes
The World Majlis responds to four fundamental questions facing leaders today
How cities grow
Building investment-ready ecosystems that position cities for the intelligence age
How cities think
Embedding intelligence into the systems, infrastructure and decisions that shape urban life
How cities govern
Leading with trust, accountability and adaptive institutions fit for the age of AI
How people thrive
Ensuring intelligence enhances opportunity, wellbeing and quality of life for every resident
Advancing
urban transformation
at a global scale
The World Majlis will amplify real-world implementation models from cities and institutions with solutions and initiatives that can be adopted by others.
- Case studies
- Pilot reports
- Policy papers
- Toolkits
- The programme
Four tracks to a prosperous, equitable and resilient urban future
- The inputs that determine a city’s economic position (data, talent, infrastructure and the ecosystems that connect them)
- Research institutions, innovation districts and the partnerships that build productive urban economies
- How mid-sized and emerging cities compete, participate and protect what matters in a rapidly shifting global landscape
- The decisions cities must make now about ownership, interoperability and infrastructure that cannot easily be undone
- Mobility, energy, health and the integrated systems that power how cities function and grow
- Financing and procuring next-generation urban infrastructure when resources are constrained
- Accountability, transparency and what it means to be responsible for systems that make decisions affecting people’s lives
- Regulatory design, setting standards, creating space for experimentation and keeping pace with change
- Cities as global actors: the influence they hold, the obligations that follow and what city networks can deliver
- Wellbeing as a policy commitment: what it takes to make a city a place people genuinely choose
- Designing for the full range of human experience and the diversity of communities that cities serve
- Public services built around the life of the resident and the journeys people take through the city
- The majlis model
At the heart sits Al Dakkah
The shaded bench outside the ruler’s home, Al Dakkah is where Dubai’s leaders once sat with their people to listen, debate and decide. A timeless model of accessible, consultative leadership, it advances civic exchange, commerce, trust and belonging, all at once.
The World Majlis restages that tradition for the questions cities now face on AI, governance, economic opportunity and quality of life. We uniquely bring mayors, city leaders, business executives and academics together with the global AI ecosystem.
Horizontal dialogue over hierarchy, consultation over declaration. Every discussion is designed to produce outputs urban leaders can use it to deliver better outcomes for their communities.
- The room
Every meeting at the World Majlis
is between leaders with the mandate and authority to act
Participation in the World Majlis is by direct invitation,
for leaders in the sectors critical to advancing urban intelligence
Public sector
Mayors, governors and senior officials leading public institutions and government authorities
Private sector
Chief executives, investors and industry experts directing capital and deploying solutions for urban transformation
Knowledge institutions
Leading academics, researchers and think tanks producing the evidence base for urban decision-making
Civil society
Community leaders and advocates representing the people cities are built to serve
The global stage for
urban projects, procurement pipelines and city solutions
Hosted by the World Majlis at the World Governments Summit, the City Hall Stage will spotlight investment and partnership opportunities to a global audience of city leaders, investors, development finance institutions and technology providers
- The agenda
Day 1
Breakfast and Registration
Welcome and Opening Remarks
The City of Tomorrow Is a Human Question
Keynote
Shaping the Intelligent City: Direction Pace and Public Purpose
Coffee Break [Meet Your Neighbours]
Partnership opportunities
The World Majlis is delivered in partnership with leading public, private, multilateral and knowledge institutions carefully selected for their proven commitment to advancing a more intelligent future for cities around the world
