Davos Baukultur Allliance - Montréal recognized as a pioneer city in elevating quality in design and architecture

Last October, during the Urban Transformation Summit in San Francisco, the Davos Baukultur Alliance, an initiative powered by the World Economic Forum (WEF), launched Pioneering Places, a cohort of six cities around the world committed to championing the various dimensions of quality as part of their municipal policies.

On that occasion, Montréal confirmed its participation in the cohort, launching a suite of actions that aim to engage the design and architecture ecosystem in favour of transformative circular practices across the construction, demolition and renovation industry. Montréal’s role in the Pioneering Places cohort stems from commitments under the Montréal 2030 Agenda for Quality and Exemplarity in Design and Architecture as well as the Montréal Circular Economy Roadmap 2024–2030.

Throughout 2026, an international community of practice co-ordinated by the WEF will offer guidance to the participating cities, advising them on actions to prioritize for achieving their objectives.

Founded in 2023 by the WEF in collaboration with the government of Switzerland, the Davos Baukultur Alliance brings together public- and private-sector organizations with a view to fostering dialogue around the cultural, social, economic, environmental and technical dimensions of quality in design and architecture. With the goal of helping to enhance the quality of living environments, the Alliance’s work focuses on three key areas: Sustainability and Circularity, Affordability and Social-Value Creation, as well as Resilience and Adaptation.

The inaugural Pioneering Places cohort consists of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Medellín (Colombia), Montréal (Canada), Nairobi (Kenya), San Francisco (United States) and Utrecht (Netherlands).