CTBUH 2025: From the Ground Up | Tall Buildings and City-Making

In order to prevent the high-rise buildings and skyscrapers in cities like those referred to as metropolises, from causing a climate crisis while they build and develop day by day, each architect and urban planner needs to be conscious about sustainable urban development. While planning sustainable cities, it is impossible to build without considering the environmental conditions and the impact of these conditions on our future. For this reason, beyond urban planning, it is necessary to create accessible streets and public spaces for everyone, no matter how tall the buildings are. Even if we are moving away from the human scale, cities need to be planned in a way that interacts with their environment and meets the needs of all their residents. In this article, we will see the CTBUH 2025 which brings together conferences on sustainable environment and urbanization every year.

What is CTBUH 2025 International Conference?

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is one of the most respected event worldwide on tall buildings and sustainable urban design. CTBUH was held in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in 2023 and in London in 2024, will be hosted in Toronto, Canada this year. This years theme is “From the Ground Up: Tall Buildings and City-Making” and dates are 6–9 October 2025.

Location of CTBUH 2025

In Toronto, all main events of CTBUH 2025 Conference will be held at The Westin Harbour Castle hotel. The venue offers a comfortable experience for participants with 70,000 square meters of flexible event space. The hotel is in a very central location and provides suitable spaces for such a prestigious conference and guests.

Before this event, at 24 June, there is a preparatory conference event will be held at Limberlost Place on the George Brown College Waterfront Campus in Toronto as well. This event will focus on sustainable urban planning and design focused on social interaction too. It is important to take note this preparatory event as a first step of CTBUH 2025 before 4 months of it.

Conference Key Topics

Regarding the theme of Tall Buildings and City-Making, this year’s key topics of the conference are about sustainable urban planning and transportation mostly. Main conferences of CTBUH 2025 will be point on integration of high-rise buildings, skyscarpers into sustainable urban life. From balancing urban density and public transportation-oriented urban development models to low-carbon building materials for construction of tall buildings, there are many conferences that are important for environmental-friendly high-rise construction.  Between 6-9 October 2025, there will feature more than 150 presentations with peer-rewiewed, workshops, site visits, and social events. The event’s aim to emphasize meaningful urban development transcends physical structures at all. You can follow up the program overview of CTBUH 2025.

Who Attends and Why It Matters

The CTBUH annual conference draws a broad cross section of the people who shape vertical cities: architects, structural and facade engineers, urban planners, developers, building owners, and academics. This mix is part of what makes the event valuable, because the challenges of tall buildings rarely sit within a single discipline. Decisions about structure, energy performance, transport, and public space are deeply connected, and bringing these specialists into the same room encourages the integrated thinking the conference theme calls for. For students and early-career professionals, the gathering is also a chance to see emerging research and to build a network across regions.

Why Toronto Is a Fitting Host

Toronto offers a relevant backdrop for a conference about tall buildings and city-making. The city has seen rapid high-rise growth along its waterfront and downtown core, and it continues to debate how density, transit, and livable streets should fit together. Hosting events at a central waterfront venue lets delegates experience these questions firsthand, while the preparatory session at the George Brown College Waterfront Campus links the academic and professional sides of the discussion. Rotating the conference among global cities, from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to London and now Toronto, keeps the conversation grounded in different regulatory and climatic contexts.

Sustainable Themes Shaping Tall Building Design

The topics highlighted for 2025, including low-carbon construction materials, transit-oriented development, and balancing density with public transport, reflect wider shifts in the industry. Embodied carbon in concrete and steel is now a central concern, prompting interest in timber hybrids, recycled content, and leaner structural systems. Transit-oriented development aims to place homes and workplaces near rapid transit so that density reduces rather than increases car dependence. These themes show that sustainability in tall buildings is increasingly measured across the full life cycle, not just operational energy use.

How to Make the Most of the Conference

With more than 150 presentations, workshops, site visits, and social events planned across the four days, planning ahead helps. Reviewing the program overview in advance lets attendees prioritize the sessions and tours most relevant to their work, since parallel tracks mean choices will be unavoidable. Site visits are often the most memorable part of such events, offering direct access to recently completed towers and their design teams. For those who cannot travel, CTBUH typically shares selected talks and summaries afterward, so it is worth following the council’s channels for material released around the event.