LIVEX 2026 names Ryan Reynolds among Abu Dhabi speakers

LIVEX 2026 has announced its first speakers for the inaugural Liveability and Investment Exhibition in Abu Dhabi. The line-up includes Ryan Reynolds, Steve Chen and Tucker Carlson.

Former city leaders Anne Hidalgo of Paris, Enrique Peñalosa of Bogotá and Sally Capp of Melbourne will also take part, alongside Christiana Figueres, Sebastian Thrun and Adrian Grenier. More than 100 speakers are expected across themes including liveability, culture, education, the economy, energy and health.

The exhibition is being positioned as a forum linking urban development, investment and public policy in Abu Dhabi. It will include a dedicated Investors Lounge, run in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Mubadala, with an invitation-only programme designed to bring together investors, government representatives and sovereign capital.

Organisers say the investor element comes against a backdrop of AED 450 billion in committed infrastructure investment in the emirate. The exhibition will also feature walk-through pavilions, neighbourhood masterplans, mobility and robotics demonstrations, food programming and performances across the show floor.

Speaker line-up

The first group of speakers spans entertainment, technology, climate policy, media and municipal government. Reynolds is listed as an actor, producer, screenwriter and entrepreneur, while Chen will appear as co-founder of YouTube and Thrun as founder of Udacity and a former leader of Google's self-driving car programme.

Hidalgo, Peñalosa and Capp bring an urban policy focus to the programme. Their records in Paris, Bogotá and Melbourne are being used to frame discussions on transport, public space, cycling and city liveability.

Figueres, former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, is also part of the first announcement. Tucker Carlson, identified as founder of the Tucker Carlson Network, is among the media figures on the programme, while Grenier is listed as an actor and environmental advocate.

The Abu Dhabi government initiative is led by the Department of Municipalities and Transport, which oversees the emirate's municipalities, urban planning, housing and transport. LIVEX is intended to draw on Abu Dhabi's experience in combining economic development with quality-of-life measures.

Organisers also pointed to international rankings that have previously named Abu Dhabi the most liveable city in the Middle East and North Africa in Mercer's Quality of Living Survey and the world's safest city in Numbeo's Safety Index. Those rankings form part of the broader case for treating liveability as both an economic and urban issue.

Ahead of the exhibition, a travelling public installation will move across Abu Dhabi for five weeks to gather residents' stories and ideas about what makes the city liveable. Other public-facing activities include a cycling-based Community Tour through districts and public spaces, and a children's initiative called Imagine What's Next, with artwork set to appear in a digital mural and at the exhibition.

Investment focus

The Investors Lounge is expected to be one of the event's central features. More than 1,500 investors are expected to take part in the invitation-only programme alongside the wider public exhibition.

The aim is to create a separate setting for investment discussions while keeping them linked to the broader themes of urban planning, public services and quality of life. The involvement of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Mubadala underlines the effort to connect municipal development priorities with capital allocation and business interest.

In a statement, H.E. Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa outlined that rationale.

"Liveability is increasingly a defining factor in attracting investment, talent and long-term economic growth. Abu Dhabi has focused on creating an environment where economic opportunity and quality of life reinforce one another. By bringing more than 100 international speakers into the same programme as investors and decision-makers, LIVEX connects a wide range of perspectives with the people and capital shaping the emirate's continued development," said Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport.