Speakers
Patric Soriano
Lead - Landscape Design - Emaar
David Maestres
Design Director – Landscape Lead - AECOM
David Maestres joined AECOM Middle East as a Design Director-Landscape Lead. In this role, he brings over 23 years of experience working internationally and across the US and the Americas on a wide range of projects of various scales, complexities, and typologies. Before joining AECOM and moving from the US to the UAE, he has for the last three years been leading Landscape/Urban Design projects and competitions across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
David has been practicing and teaching in the fields of urban design, planning, architecture, and landscape architecture. Most of his professional and academic career has been focused on developing projects in and around cities, and their intrinsic connection and dependency to social, urban, infrastructure, and natural systems. He is deeply fascinated by pushing ecology and design systematically, testing the latest technologies, and using research as critical paths to come up with innovative but also site-specific solutions.
He earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Universidad Simon Bolívar. In 2002, he obtained a Master in Architecture (March II) with distinction from Harvard Graduate School of Design. In addition to his professional practice, David taught at the BAC in Boston, the Career Discovery Program at Harvard School of Design, NJIT College of Architecture and Design, the University of Pennsylvania School of Design (Architecture and Landscape Department), Pratt Institute, Cal Poly Pomona, and the University of Southern California.
Karim Naja
Senior Landscape Architect - Diamond Developers
With 15+ years as a Landscape Architect, Karim leads Diamond Developers' landscape team, creating sustainable spaces across the Gulf, Middle East, and Africa.
He's passionate about eco-friendly designs, actively contributing to the company's commitment to the environment and community-centric excellence. Karim loves blending design, sustainability, and positive community impact.
Currently leading the landscape team at Diamond Developers, crafting sustainable, community-driven spaces that bring people closer to nature.
Tamara Bajic
Partner & Sustainability Expert - Blackline Architects
Tamara is Partner and Sustainability Expert at Blackline Architects (previously Head of Strategy and Advisory at AESG). She specializes in climate change adaptation and mitigation, energy efficiency, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), and the integration of sustainability within both private and public sector organizations.
Tamara played a pivotal role in implementing Dubai's Demand Side Management (DSM) Strategy, collaborating closely with Dubai government agencies and private sector entities.
Misha Mittal
Senior Manager - City Advisory - Expo City
Misha is a Senior Manager – City Advisory at Expo City Dubai, who’s all about making cities fair for everyone. With a background in architecture and a large inter-sectional experience in the public and private sectors, she uses her skills to unveil disparities in our cities. Misha is super passionate about walkability – making it easy for everyone to walk around. She looks closely at cities to find out what’s not working and how to fix it. Whether it’s designing public spaces or planning neighborhoods, she makes sure everyone can get around easily in the most efficient and environmentally responsive manner. She intends to bring walkability to every city she works with as part of her job, creating spaces where everyone feels connected and included. Her mission goes beyond conventional planning, as she strives to bridge the divide and create resilient, inclusive urban spaces for all.
Ahmed Abdelhafaz
Director of Landscape Architecture - Gerber Architekten
Eslam Abeed
Associate Director – Landscape Architect - Jacobs
John Cole
Facility Management Director - Expo City
John Cole is a seasoned Facilities and Asset Management professional with over 17 years of experience in optimizing building operations, enhancing asset performance, and creating efficient, sustainable workplace environments. With a strong foundation in both day-to-day facilities oversight and long-term asset lifecycle planning, John brings a strategic, data-driven approach to managing complex portfolios and buildings.
Specializing in preventive maintenance, capital planning, vendor management, and regulatory compliance, John has consistently delivered cost savings and operational improvements across multi-site operations. His asset management expertise includes implementing CMMS/EAM systems, conducting asset condition assessments, and aligning capital investment with organizational goals to extend asset life and minimize risk.
Currently serving as Director of Facilities Management at Expo City Dubai, John leads initiatives that integrate facilities and asset management strategies, ensuring optimized performance, stakeholder satisfaction, and long-term value creation.
Nadine Bitar Chahine
Secretary General - IFLA Middle East
Nadine Bitar is a strategic advisor on cities, sustainable development and place-based approaches to 2030 agenda. Mrs. Bitar advises on urban policy and strategies and transformational urban programs; she has worked in this capacity in the United Arab Emirates such as Abu Dhabi Municipality and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia such as Riyadh, Jeddah on transformational urban initiatives and programs. She has a deep understanding of urban structures and governance of the region, combining technical skills in strategic planning/development management with understanding of strategic advisory working with the likes of PWC, JLL and others.
For the past two decades, she led, oversaw or reviewed the urban development of more than 40 large-scale districts and urban extensions in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia Region. She worked with international consultants inside the public sector and private sector in developing influential and impactful urban policies and strategies both in DDIA, Dubai Holding, MAF, WSP and others. Her two-decade experience spans multiple sectors:
- Cities Strategic planning including vision, pillars, programs and initiatives
- Urban Infrastructure
- Real Estate and Urban Development
- Mobility and sustainable Transport
- Land Use Planning and zoning
- Urban/municipal governance
- Guidelines and Standards
- Development Planning for mega-projects
Her skillsets include senior and higher-level stakeholder engagement & communication, foresight, deep insights, strong analytical and problem-solving skills, Agility in scoping programs and projects and turning around roadblocks, excellent communication skills. She maintains professionalism, pro-active attitude, positive look-out, communicate well in multicultural and diverse environments and deals well with ambiguity.
Mrs. Bitar is a recognized global Place Thinker on Urban Regions, Cities and Districts. She is a keynote speaker and advocates on Place in global and regional forums held by international and regional organizations such as the Arab League, World Bank, IFLA, UN-Habitat and GCC in addition to the Arab Town Organisation and others.
Licensed architect with a Bachelor in Architectural Engineering, holding two masters MSc in urban Design and Master in Public Policy with distinction from MBRSG, Dubai School of Government. She trained on innovation from Insead Business School (Dubai Holding fast track leadership program) and Smart cities (Harvard GSD).
Phill Dunn
Senior Sustainability Manager - Terra - Expo City
Phil Dunn is a landscape architect and sustainability leader with over 25 years of experience delivering impactful, resilient projects in the MENA region, including Masdar City, The Sustainable City, and Expo 2020's Terra: The Sustainability Pavilion.
Phil oversees the sustainability and living elements of Expo City Dubai's Education and Culture assets, he has developed and implemented sustainable innovations on food, energy, water, biodiversity, and biomimicry.
Phil specializes in real-world solutions to climate change and sustainable urban development with a focus on nature-based solutions, and achieving net-zero energy, water, and waste. His extensive experience in high-profile projects makes him a valuable speaker on creating sustainable futures and addressing global environmental challenges.
Umberto Parisi
Manager - Landscape - DAMAC Properties
Umberto is the Landscape Manager of DAMAC Properties. Umberto brings with him over 12 years of international experience in landscape architecture industry, including public realm and landscape design.
He has a depth of professional experience working on a variety of international projects that cover Europe, South America and MENA region as a Landscape Architect.
His portfolio includes residential and recreational / community parks, waterfront development, hotels, Masterplan as well as high rise podium Landscape.