BASF Tackles Urban Living

As part of its 150th anniversary celebration, BASF hosted a symposium in New York City last week on how public-private partnerships, with the help of chemistry, can resolve challenges facing urban development. The event was the third in a series of such Creator Space gatherings. Two were already held, in Mumbai and Shanghai, and others are set for São Paulo, Brazil; Barcelona; and Ludwigshafen, Germany. Each event is intended to allow thought leaders to exchange ideas on challenges for which chemistry can lend a hand, such as energy and food availability. The New York event focused on providing guidance to government officials, developers, and residents of the rapidly developing former industrial district in Brooklyn known as Red Hook. Events included workshops on doing more with less and a “jam session” on creating a carbon-neutral built environment. The goal of the weeklong event, said Wayne T. Smith, CEO of BASF in North America, was to support improvement in the overall quality of life.