Commenting on this strategic initiative, Genoa Mayor Marta Vincenzi said, "Municipalities large and small need to think differently in the face of challenges such as global warming, shrinking supplies of natural resources, rapidly accelerating demand for infrastructure in developing nations, and growing shortages of new talent entering the engineering professions.  Today, the goal must always be to design and build sustainable infrastructure that sustains society and the environment.

"In establishing the Genoa Urban Lab we have gathered some of the top design and urban planning minds from around the world.  Their keen insight and vision, coupled with the advanced capabilities of Bentley's solutions for the lifecycle of infrastructure, will enable us to create an innovative and effective plan that respects the city's different environments by establishing firm boundaries between built areas, green areas, and blue or seaside areas.  Quality growth will replace quantity growth, and our design philosophy will be to 'build on built' rather than to encroach further on our precious natural environments."

Said Bentley COO Malcolm Walter, "The mission of the Urban Lab is very much in alignment with our own mission at Bentley: to provide solutions to design, build, and operate the world's infrastructure with the goals of sustaining our society, sustaining our environment, and sustaining the infrastructure professions - the architects and engineers, the surveyors and planners, and the contractors and operators who play a key role in sustaining infrastructure.

"Almost 516 years ago, Christopher Columbus, Genoa's most famous son, set forth on a voyage of discovery that changed the way we view the world.  So it is fitting that the Urban Lab is on a ship in Genoa - ready for its own voyage of discovery.  But unlike Columbus and his small crew, the project team setting the stage for Genoa's future will not be sailing alone.  It will share this journey with the many architects and engineers around the globe who are working to find more sustainable solutions for infrastructure."

The Urban Lab project team is comprised of highly experienced members of Genoa's mapping department as well as some of the brightest young architects and engineers from leading universities.  The team is guided by a small group of renowned architectural and urban planning experts called the "Table of Ideas."  The group is led by Piano and also includes Oriol Bohigas, an award-winning architect widely recognized for his work on the Barcelona Olympics; Amanda Burden, chair of the New York City Planning Commission and director of the Department of City Planning; and 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Richard Rogers, former chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the mayor of London.

Among those participating in today's Urban Lab ceremony were Renzo Piano, renowned French architect Jean Nouvel, Mayor Vincenzi, and Malcolm Walter.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure.  Architects, engineers, constructors, and owner-operators are indispensable in improving our world and our quality of life; the company's mission is to improve the performance of their projects and of the assets they design, build, and operate.  Bentley sustains the infrastructure professions by helping to leverage information technology, learning, best practices, and global collaboration - and by promoting careers devoted to this crucial work.

Founded in 1984, Bentley has more than 2,800 colleagues, offices in more than 50 countries, annual revenues surpassing $500 million, and since 1993, has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.  Nearly 90 percent of the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms are Bentley subscribers, and a 2008 Daratech study ranked Bentley as the world's #2 provider of geospatial software solutions.  For additional information about Bentley, visit www.bentley.com.