2025 Asia Conference Summary

The CTBUH 2025 Asia Conference, “Vertical Urbanism: Density, Carbon and People,” was held in Mumbai on 10-12 December 2025.

The conference focused on projects and plans for resilience, livability, and sustainability. These discussions further the innovations and developments tackling the challenges from the rapid growth of population and urban development.

With a sold-out venue, the Council welcomed over 600 attendees from 40 cities and 26 countries, of which 90 percent were from Asia, and 10 percent came from other global regions. Delegates joined for thought-provoking presentations, stimulating conversations, astounding off-site tours, and multiple networking opportunities. The conference brought together thought leaders, experts, policymakers, and industry representatives, representing various sectors and interests across the Asia region.

Key highlights from the presentations and discussions that took place throughout the day on Thursday, 11 December, are detailed further in this summary report below, along with a summary of the off-site tours on Friday, 12 December.

We’d like to thank the Council’s Asia Steering Committee, sponsors, partners, and especially the Asia Regional Director Peng Du, India Chapter Chair Girish Dravid and Chapter Member Anil Hira, who helped make this an incredibly successful event.

Diamond
Greenscape Group, KONE, Lodha Group, and Prestige Group

Platinum
10 Design, Brookfield Properties. Buro Happold, Kalpataru Limited, K-nest Construction Tech, Newkem, and Siderise Group

Gold
Adani Airports, Adani Cement, Aga Hall Estate, Archetype Group, Arquitectonica, constructsteel, fassada, Pelli Clarke & Partners, RWDI, Schindler, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Turner Construction Company, Viva Composite Panel, and Whitby Wood Mills

Silver
9E Global, Construction World, Guard Industrie, JW Consultants LLP, Larsen & Toubro, LERA Consulting Structural Engineers, Mitsubishi Jisho Design Asia, Nikken Sekkei Ltd, Reci Engineering, SEED Engineering Consultants, SACPL, SSA Architects, S-Struct Consultants, TAK Consulting, Thornton Tomasetti, TK Elevator, Turner & Townsend, and Vivek Bhole Architects

Exhibitors
CPP Wind Engineering Consultants, Dunbar & Boardman Partnership, Exponentialists Private Limited, fassada, GERB India, Greenscape Group, Guard Industrie, Interarch Building Solutions Limited, K-nest Construction Tech, KONE, Lodha, Prestige Group, SB Scaffolding India, TK Elevator, Viva Composite Panel, and Windtech Consultants

Program Partners
constructsteel, Talls Solutions/FG Groupo, KPF, PNC Architects, Sobha Realty, and Whitby Wood Mills

Welcoming delegates to the 2025 Asia Conference, CVU India Chapter Chair Giresh Dravid acknowledged that landing in Mumbai was a milestone for its local members and spoke about the reasons behind bringing delegates to India. CVU Asia Director Peng Du thanked the chapter, steering committee members, and sponsors and gave an overview of what to expect throughout the day.  The new name and rebranding were next acknowledged and following this excitement, CVU Board Chair Shonn Mills updated members and attendees of the Council’s latest initiatives, inviting all participants to share and get involved.

Opening plenary keynote speakers commenced with Juggy Marwaha, CEO and Executive Director of Prestige Estates giving the first presentation on how tall buildings in a city are a game changer stating, “Developers are using the skyline to announce their arrival in the world.” He further compared buildings in cities like Singapore that promote community and illustrate visionary design and aspiration. Boman Irani, CEO of Keystone Realtors next presented how buildings in India are being developed and that the goal is to move beyond tall buildings as symbols but toward supporting livability.

Lastly, speakers working on the project The Prestige in Mumbai shared the various aspects of design and construction in the city including development, design, engineering, and construction. Tariq Ahmend, CEO – West India and Executive Director of Prestige Estates Projects Limited shared a brief history of Bombay and the desire to develop the land. Chris van Duijn, Partner at OMA reflected on the simple and elegant design of the project while Abhijeet Kulkarni, Director of Buro Happold spoke of the structural design, and Sohan Jaswal, General Manager of Projects at Prestige Estates Projects Limited talked about the geotechnical and construction challenges. Reflecting on Ahmend’s presentation, he stated that the heart of the development is to have sustainability, and while the future is certainly taller, it is also smarter and greener.

After a short break, delegates broke out to join the next sessions distributed over three tracks.  In Track C, in “High-Density, High-Quality: Humanizing Urban Density” session chair Ambarish Vijay Jondhale, Senior Director, Western Region & Major Projects at KONE welcomed the audience and stated that “While cities grow, density is inevitable. Now the challenge is how you manage this density and make it human-centric.”  The five speakers, Owen Murphy, Senior Advisor of Newkem, Jacob van Rijs, Founding Partners of MVRDV, Amit Grover of Adani Airport Holdings, Graham Banks, Partner at Pelli Clarke & Partners, and Peter Prannan, Managing Director – Asia Pacific and Middle East for Arquitectonica shared their perspectives in how to enhance livability, equity and wellbeing.

Sessions in the other two tracks were themed as “Vertical Meets Horizontal: Strategies for Dense Urban Futures” and “High-Rise, High-Performance: Energy and Carbon Solutions,” with presenters from across the industry.

After these engaging presentations, delegates were served lunch before the afternoon sessions continued.

Starting off the afternoon sessions, in Track A, the City Advocacy Forum shared lessons from London, Bangkok, and Mumbai, focusing on Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs), walkability, and livability in dense cities, moderated by Steve Watts, Partner of Turner & Townsend alinea. Gwyn Richards, Planning and Development Director of the City of London, shared perspectives on high-rise urban modeling for development and the current focus on remediating heat stress. Niramon Serisakul, Director at the Urban Design and Development Center in Bangkok, commented on the transportation network in Bangkok as like a buffet (bus, car, train, boat, motorcycle, walking, etc.) where there are many choices but they are not connected, challenging how the city addresses carbon and traffic. And Milind Changani, Proprietor & Architect at B N Shah & Associates discussed with the group the recent introduction of TODs to Mumbai and the region and added that more development needs to happen around these hubs, as they are already proving to be successful.

Simultaneously in Tracks B and C, panel discussions were held on “Innovating Sustainability in Tall Buildings in Asia” and “Challenges and Opportunities for Vertical Growth in Asia”

The next grouping of sessions had speakers give thoughtful presentations. In Track A, “Vertical Futures: Design through Innovation,” speakers examined forward-thinking policies, design strategies, and emerging technologies in vertical transportation, using data to inform design and develop with a human-centric focus. Track B focused on “Structural Innovation: Engineering the Tallest and the Smartest” with representatives highlighting wind, material, and structural considerations for building in India and the greater Asia region.

The session in Track C, “Future-Proof Cities: Human-Centric and Climate Responsive” examined the integration of design, technology, and governance shaping cities that respond to environmental challenges. Speaker Sanne van der Burgh, Associate Director and Head of MVRDV Next, presented the first findings of embodied-carbon insights and the trends emerging from CarbonSpace, part of a new partnership with CVU and MVRDV NEXT. She asked, “How do we actually create low carbon buildings?” and shared how access to multiple projects including supertalls is informing how to improve the future of development. Van der Burgh encouraged all to participate in this pilot project in order to “get better together as an industry faster.”

After a short break from an invigorating day of sessions, delegates reconvened in the plenary hall for the final speakers and remarks. CVU CEO Javier Quintana de Una, alongside board members Shonn Mills and Steve Watts officially launched the CVU rebranding to the Asia conference audience before introducing the speakers for the closing plenary.

First speaking was Caroline Bos, Co-Founder and Principal Urban Planner at UNS who gave a presentation on “At Home with Vertical Urbanism” and related her optimism about iconic buildings and nurturing the feelings of belonging and connection that cities bring to our emotional lives. Providing an example of Karl’s Town Centre, an office complex in Bangalore she addressed the need for different dimensions and scales of connections, sharing that “Connectivity is vital to the health and the systems” of urban dealers and the urban environment.

Next, Duncan Price, Global Head of Sustainability at Buro Happold continued the ideas of connectivity but spoke on the topic of “ESG as a Catalyst for Business Resilience and Growth.” He gave insights into how measuring building performance is not only important for understanding the wellbeing of the occupiers, but also for the health of future investment. Lastly, the brand director of Greenscape Group spoke about “Redefining Urban Life in Navi Mumbai,” an adaptive reuse project.  He concluded by saying “Livability isn’t just about efficiency but about creating emotional connections across all vertical layers.”

Peng Du, closed out the conference and welcomed all delegates to attend the networking reception afterward.

Held in the venue, the networking reception offered a chance to further engage with other delegates and reflect on the day’s sessions.

On 12 December, attendees experienced an unforgettable day with exclusive off-site tours. Each was led by experts, giving an insider’s take on the processes and considerations for the projects or products that were being explored.

The tours included:

Adani Cement R&D Centre

Attendees visited the Adani Cement R&D Centre and Bulk Cement Terminal Panvel—two key sites driving innovation and efficiency. The R&D Centre advances sustainable, high-performance products through cutting-edge material science, while the Panvel terminal enhances marine logistics, reducing costs, lead distances, and emissions across Adani Cement’s supply network.

Each exemplified what the CVU conferences are all about—immersive learning, real-world examples of excellence, and meaningful connections with peers in the built environment.

Lodha World Towers Tour
Hosting the second tallest completed building in India, the Lodha World Towers complex includes World One (280.2 meters), World View (278 meters) and World Crest (225 meters).  Led by Smita Vaidya of Lodya Group, attendees received a tour of the overall site, building amenity spaces, and select technical zones, preceded by a presentation of the overall project.

K-nest Factory Tour
Attendees received a holistic experience to witness & engage with the product first-hand. Headquartered in Pune, the company operates three state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities across Maharashtra and Gujarat that all together has an annual capacity of 2,00,000+ Sq. Mt. aluminum formwork, and a robust line of construction safety solutions. Led by leaders of K-nest, those on the tour got a deep dive into the manufacturing process, and a hands-on opportunity to touch and feel the final product, with direct interaction with key executives, and an engaging technical Q&A session for in-depth understanding.

The Aga Hall Estate: An Island of Excellence
Currently under construction, this active site features two residential buildings of 45 and 56 stories, providing attendees with a closer look at world-class execution practices in safety, quality, timelines, and overall project management. Designed with a strong focus on sustainability, the project holds IGBC Platinum pre-certification and World Bank EDGE Advanced recognition. Additionally, gardens based on Nishad Bagh of Kashmir will cover almost 50 percent of the plot area.

Waterstones, Andheri, by Brookfield Properties
Waterstones is a first-of-its-kind destination in Mumbai that seamlessly integrates business, lifestyle and leisure. Spread across nine acres, attendees got a closer look at the commercial spaces and a presentation from leaders at Brookfield about the premium offices, managed residences and a members-only club managed by The Leela.

Learn more about the 2025 Asia Conference here.