"You are the product of the city you grew up in, but you can accurately shape it and move to different cities."

Are you interested in existential hope? What do you think how are you influenced by the city around you? How can we use foresight to peak into the future?

Interview with Allison Duettmann, the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, longevity, utilitarianism, cloud-first cities, urban diversity and changing behaviours, and many more.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize. She advises companies and projects, such as Cosmica, and The Roots of Progress Fellowship, and is on the Executive Committee of the Biomarker Consortium. She holds an MS in Philosophy & Public Policy from the London School of Economics, focusing on AI Safety.

Find out more about Allison through these links:

• Allison Duettmann on LinkedIn;
• @allisondman as Allison Duettmann on X;
• Allison Duettmann⁠ at Foresight Institute;
• Foresight Institute website;
• @foresightinst as Foresight Institute on X;
• Foresight Institute on YouTube;
• Existential Hope website;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.065R - The network state;
• No.090 - Interview with Matthew McCartney from the Charter Cities Institute;
• No.111 - Interview with Dave Hakkens about completely rethinking cities;
• No.222 - Interview with Adam Dorr about science-based optimism;
• No.251R - Existential risk and existential hope

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in existential hope instead of existential risk?

Summary of the article titled Existential risk and existential hope: Definitions from 2015 by Owen Cotton-Barratt and Toby Ord, published by the Future of Humanity Institute.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Allison Duettmann in episode 252 talking optimism and existential hope.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see the opposite of existential risk in our doom and gloom world. This article presents the existential hope concept, the chance of something extremely good happening.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. The concept of "existential hope" is introduced, highlighting the importance of pursuing transformative events that can greatly improve humanity's future prospects.
2. Existential risks are events that could either wipe out humanity or drastically limit its future potential.
3. Existential catastrophes could be defined by the loss of expected value, which accounts for events that reduce humanity's future potential even without immediate extinction.

You can find the article through this link.

Abstract: We look at the strengths and weaknesses of two existing definitions of existential risk, and suggest a new definition based on expected value. This leads to a parallel concept: ‘existential hope’, the chance of something extremely good happening.

Connecting episode you might be intersted in:

• No.101R - What we owe the future (book summary)
• No.178R - Brighter (book summary)
• No.222 - Interview with Adam Dorr about a brighter future

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠showno⁠t⁠es⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in urban resilience to create abundance?

Summary of the book chapter titled Urban resilience: Bridging the gap where cities and towns embrace abundance from 2024 by Boyd Cohen, part of the Abundance Capitalism book.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Boyd Cohen in episode 246 talking about abundance capitalism regarding cities.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how cities can be catalysts for resilience changes. This chapter presents a shift that recognizes cities not just as resource-hungry entities but as potential catalysts for positive change.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Innovative concepts like 15-minute cities and circular cities aim to make urban living more sustainable and accessible.
2. Vancouver's Athlete’s Village and Tokyo’s flexible housing approach showcase effective methods for creating eco-friendly and affordable urban environments.
3. The Fab City initiative promotes self-sufficiency and resilience by encouraging local manufacturing and innovation within cities.

You can find the book through this link and the chapter through this (links updated once their are live).

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.129 - Interview with Alan Donegan about the vast opportunities in cities
• No.212 - Interview with Jonathan Reichental about abundant energy

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in a paradigm shift for sustainability transformation?

Our summary today works with the article titled Systems thinking as a paradigm shift for sustainability transformation from 2022 by N. Voulvoulis, T. Giakoumis, C. Hunt, V. Kioupi, N. Petrou, I. Souliotis, C. Vaghela, WIH binti Wan Rosely, published in the Global Environmental Change journal.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Tom Bosschaert in episode 186 talking about integrated sustainability and systems thinking approaches.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how a holistic, integrated and interdisciplinary thinking can enable conditions for sustainability to emerge. This article advocates for a systemic approach to sustainability, emphasizing the need for comprehensive strategies that address interconnected environmental, social, and economic challenges.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Systems thinking is essential for addressing the interconnected nature of global sustainability challenges, moving beyond traditional, isolated approaches.
2. Effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals requires transformative strategies that recognize the interdependencies among these goals.
3. A paradigm shift in policy, education, and societal behaviour is crucial for achieving true sustainability, focusing on holistic solutions rather than symptomatic treatments.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted as reference and universal guidepost for transitioning to Sustainable Development by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, are intended to be used as a set of interconnected goals and global targets for ‘Transforming our world’, as the 2030 Agenda is titled. This is a far more challenging task than business as usual; it requires systems thinking for understanding the conditions that generate and propagate sustainability challenges, moving away from the reductionist and anthropocentric thinking that created them in the first place. Taking a systems approach to addressing these challenges has been gaining currency with academics and policymakers alike, and here we make the case for holistic, integrated, and interdisciplinary thinking that challenges assumptions and worldviews, crucially based on public participation and engagement, to create the enabling conditions for sustainability to emerge. System transformations require interconnected changes to technologies, social practices, business models, regulations and societal norms, an intentional process designed to fundamentally alter the components and structures that cause the system to behave in its current unsustainable ways, a paradigm shift enabling the transition to sustainability.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.020R - Antifragile (book summary);
• No.092R - The city as an urban interaction design platform;
• No.190 - Interview with Adrian McGregor talking about cities as complex organic systems;
• No.228 - Interview with Dominique Hes about system thinking;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 186 - interview with Tom Bosschaert, the founder and director of Except Integrated Sustainability. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, stages of grief in sustainability, Orchid City, the City of Hope, and many more.

Find out more in the episode.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

"24-hour city embracing density and buzzing always"

Are you interested in the 24-hour city? What do you think about technology helping us being creative? How can we learn better from history?

Interview with Alby Bocanegra, the Chief Future Officer and Founder at The Urban Futurist Inc. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, collaboration, AI and smartness, human connections, and many more.

Alby Bocanegra currently serves as Chief Future Officer and Founder at The Urban Futurist Inc, a consultancy and advisory organization that is shaping the cities of the future. Prior to his role at Mastercard, Alby served the people of New York as Interim Chief Technology Officer in the Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (MOCTO). He has dedicated his career to building expertise in talent architecture, business strategy, and performance management with a passion for civic tech. Alby spends his time studying future technologies and makes predictions of the impact and implications they’ll have on cities, the people that live in them and the ecosystems that will need to be developed to ensure that all can benefit. As an advisor and consultant, he shapes strategies, governance models and facilitates engagements focused on delivering a better tomorrow for people. Alby also lends his expertise as an Advisory Board Member on Digital Twins to the World Economic Forum.

Find out more about Alby through these links:

• Alby Bocanegra on LinkedIn;
• @albybocanegra as Alby Bocanegra on X;
• The Urban Futurist Inc. on LinkedIn;
• Alby Bocanegra at the Charter Cities Institute;
• Alby Bocanegra at the Word Urban Forum;
• Alby Bocanegra at the Smart Cities Coucil;
• Urban Futurism for Smarter Cities podcast with Alby Bocanegra;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.015 - Interview with Luke Housego about data and knowledge;
• No.126 - Interview with Corey Gray about beauty as a feature for sustainability;
• No.183R - 24-hour cities network;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠@WTF4Cities⁠ or on the ⁠wtf4cities.com⁠ website where the ⁠shownotes⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠Lesfm ⁠from ⁠Pixabay

Are you interested in the 24-hour city?

Summary of the policy paper titled 24-hour cities network: Policy and strategy recommendations from 2023 by Andreina Seijas.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Alby Bocanegra in episode 184 talking the 24-hour city and its advantages.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see whether we are missing out without a night-time city. This article emphasizes the significance of nighttime economy and governance in contemporary urban planning, offering practical recommendations for cities to thrive 24/7.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. The transformation of nighttime perception in cities, from being associated with crime to a vibrant time for economic and cultural activities, is a fundamental shift in urban planning.
2. The appointment of "night mayors" in over 60 cities worldwide highlights a proactive approach to governing and enhancing urban life during night hours, focusing on inclusivity and vibrancy.
3. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the significance of the nighttime economy, particularly in culture, nightlife, and hospitality, revealing its vital role in the overall urban ecosystem.

Find the article through this link.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.090 - Interview with Matthew McCartney about economics and cities;
• No.106R - Smart cities as a platform for technological and social innovation in productivity, sustainability and livability;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 184 - interview with Alby Bocanegra, the Chief Future Officer and Founder at The Urban Futurist Inc.

We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, collaboration, AI and smartness, human connections, and many more.

Find out more in the episode!

Music by ⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠from ⁠⁠Pixabay

"We have the most expensive construction industry but not the best quality."

Are you interested in urban retrofitting? What do you think about the materials used in the built environment? How can we provide better urban services?

Interview Ted Baillieu, the former Premier of Victoria and architect. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, affordability, cities with split personalities, getting families back in cities, regreening cities, and many more.

Ted Baillieu is an architect and a Victorian politician. During his time in Parliament 1999-2014, Ted served as Premier of Victoria and Minister for the Arts from 2010 to 2013, and held Shadow Portfolios in Tertiary Education, Training, Gaming, Planning and the Arts. Since 2013 Ted is currently an Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University, School of Design, and Melbourne University’s Honorary Enterprise Professor associated with the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning. He Co-Chaired the Victorian Government’s Cladding Task Force (2017-2019) and Chaired the Victorian Government’s ANZAC Centenary Committee (2013-2019). He has more than 20 years as a practicing architect (Mayne & Baillieu) and was formerly Trustee Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Trust, Board Member Tourism Victoria, Melbourne Comedy Festival and Australian Children’s Television Foundation, and Patron of Multicultural Arts Victoria.

You can find out more about Ted through these links:

• Ted Baillieu on LinkedIn;
• @TedBaillieu as Ted Baillieu on X;
• Ted Baillieu on Wikipedia;
• Ted Baillieu at the Parliament of Victoria;

Connecting links you might be interested in:

• No.048 - Interview with Hussein Dia about urban mobility opportunities;
• No.117 - Interview with Colin Chee about the small footprint living in cities;
• No.181R - Built environment prototyping for design-value;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in how to make prototypes for the built environment?

Summary of the article titled Built environment prototyping for design-value from 2023 by Darcy Zelenko and Duncan Maxwell, published in the Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2023.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Ted Baillieu in episode 182 talking about why experimenting with the built environment is very important.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how we could use prototyping to trial specific solutions. This article proves the prototyping is a value-adding activity but there are inherent fragmentations for the built environment disciplines.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Prototyping in the built environment, less common than in industries like engineering or software development, plays a crucial role in refining complex designs before construction, underscoring the need for its wider adoption and more integrated methods.
2. While prototyping enhances design quality, communication, and decision-making efficiency, its underutilization in the built environment limits knowledge sharing and the adoption of efficient construction methodologies, such as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA).
3. There is a significant opportunity for advancement in the built environment by developing an integrated prototyping model that combines idea conceptualization and physical implementation, tailored to its unique requirements, which could transform practices and lead to more efficient, resource-saving buildings.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: The built environment is hindered by issues relating to laggard productivity, with practitioners looking to pursue sector-wide industrialisation and digitisation to improve this issue. Contrastingly, industries that have achieved widespread industrialisation and digitisation also possess developed prototyping cultures. Within these industries, prototyping approaches are tailored to suit the nature of the specific output product. Prototyping in the built environment acts as a tool for representation, testing, and communication. Prototyping approaches vary across the constituent disciplines with a lack of influential approaches or methods of the kind illustrated in other industries. This paper uses critical analysis to review prototyping literature from influential approaches found in engineering design, software development, and design management. These are compared to approaches used in the built environment disciples of architecture, engineering, and construction research. The findings confirm that prototyping is a value-adding activity, but suggest that prototyping cultures and outcomes in the built environment are inhibited by fragmentation that is inherent in the discipline. Future research could surround the development of prototyping approaches that enable practitioners to get the most out of the process. Such a protoyping approach would that also recognises that the creation of buildings requires both idea conceptualisation, and physical implementation to deliver quality outcomes.

Connecting episode you might be interested in:

• No.168 - Interview with Jennifer George about experimenting instead of trial and error;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 182 - Interview Ted Baillieu, the former Premier of Victoria and architect. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, affordability, cities with split personalities, getting families back in cities, regreening cities, and many more.

Find out more in the interview!

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in city consciousness? What do you think about knowledge and knowledge-creation? How can we remove bad stuff to improve the good stuff?

Interview with Ben Vass, senior research engineer. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, space and time, threshold for bad experiences, opportunities in tools for improvements, and many more.

Ben Vass is a senior research engineer, graph shaman and data magician, and the kind of person who wants to build a Dyson swarm and explore the stars, while in the meantime wants to understand how this consciousness thing works. He is always standing between 2 worlds and trying to connect them. Due to his strange brain, he sees everything as a network of networks, and tries to find the next intellectual thrill. In the past he had worked on swarm intelligence projects, spectral graphs, fraud detection, and GNNs to name a few, and he contributes to Open Source whenever he can. Ben currently works on upgrading the world’s financial infrastructure to make it more transparent and verifiable. Everything is a network, you just don't see it yet, according to him. Ben’s voice can be very familiar because he is the voice in the intro. And he is my partner in crime.

Find out more about Ben through these links:

• Ben Vass on LinkedIn;
• Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Network State Conference on YouTube
• TokCast by Brett Hall
• The Expanse series
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• The beginning of infinity by David Deutsch
• The Anthology of Balaji by
• New material list by AI
• Starlink website
• zero-knowledge proof

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.021R - Antifragile (book summary)
• No.182 - Interview with Ted Baillieu about Australian building habits
• No.222 - Interview with Adam Dorr about technological disruptions

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Today would be a research episode, but since it is 2023 Christmas time, I want to just wish you all relaxing holidays with or without celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas if you do celebrate it, and a very Happy New Year!

We will have many interesting topics to discover and further discuss in 2024. I am already preparing those episodes and I am very excited about what will come!

First, this episode will be followed by a cherished interview with my partner, Ben Vass, data magician, graph shaman and overall space enthusiast.

Then in 2024 we will have guests from all over the world and many areas like

• policy,
• energy,
• advocacy,
• neurodiversity,
• research,
• space,
• weather,
• food production,
• circularity,
• and even more!!!

I have had so many great conversations that we will also ramp up the frequency of the interviews: from now, each Tuesday will bring a research episode, and each Thursday a new interview.

Plus, I am also working on some projects for the podcast, like a WTFGPT to ask questions about the previous episodes, or gaming space cities!!!

If you need some food for thought until then, check out the last research episode, No.178 about a brighter future and clean technology disruptions.

I hope you are well and also full with plans for the new year, see you then and thanks for tuning in.

Find the shownotes through this link.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in abundance capitalism? What do you think about flourishing versus sustainability? How can we create prosperity and abundance?

Trailer for episode 246 - interview with Boyd Cohen, the Academic Director of Sustainability at EGADE Business School of Tec de Monterrey. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, abundance and prosperity, choosing battles, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Are you interested in city consciousness? What do you think about knowledge and knowledge-creation? How can we remove bad stuff to improve the good stuff?

Trailer for the episode 180 - interview with Ben Vass, senior research engineer. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, space and time, threshold for bad experiences, opportunities in tools for improvements, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠episode⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠

Are you interested in a brighter future for our cities and humanity?

Summary of the book titled Brighter: Optimism, progress, and the future of environmentalism from 2022 by Adam Dorr, based on my reading experience and other summaries, linked in the shownotes.

Great preparation for our interview with Adam Dorr in episode 222, and just a refreshing outlook on the future.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see a brighter approach among the doom-and-gloom based on science and research. This book describes how human evolution and progress wipe out older, dirtier technologies, foster unprecedented prosperity, and open the door to mitigating environmental impacts.

I hope this gives you some food for thought this time of the year or anytime and how to move forward.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. The book emphasizes the potential of emerging technologies in energy, transportation, food, and labour to solve environmental issues while promoting economic growth.
2. Dorr highlights that the shift towards sustainable, cleaner technologies is primarily driven by their economic advantages, not just ecological benefits.
3. "Brighter" presents a new vision of environmentalism that integrates technological innovation and economic development as a path to a sustainable future.

You can find the book through this link.

Summaries used in this episode:

• RethinkX Disruption series with Adam Dorr;
• New Book 'Brighter' explores the future of environmentalism amidst the great technological transformation in over a century on PRNewsWire;
• Brighter on Goodreads;

Connecting links you might be interested in:

• No.177 - Interview with Amelia Gaskill about the passion of the younger generation;
• No.222 - Interview with Adam Dorr about a brighter future

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in intergenerational equity? What do you think about the younger generation fighting for a better future? How can we use our own voices to inflict change on the urban environment?

Interview with Amelia Gaskell, an environmental science student. We will talk about her vision for the future of cities, sustainability, intergenerational equity, climate anxiety, her origin story, and many more.

Amelia Gaskell is an avid environmentalist and student at Deakin University, who has recently undertaken an undergraduate Bachelor of Environmental Science following a transfer from a degree in Law. This change was inspired by a desire to pursue a greater interest in sustainability and ecological conservation amidst a greater demand for youth action in addressing the critical point Australia now faces in addressing the growing climate crisis. Amelia has volunteered with the AYCC and Blue Carbon Lab - experiences which have shaped her drive towards a better and more sustainable future for the City of Melbourne. Amelia is also a lover of all things outdoors, and regularly partakes in athletics and hiking with local groups across Victoria. This passion for community and connection is one which has been fostered by her family who only recently immigrated from Malaysia, and who share with her an understanding of the intricate relationships between people, the natural world, and the built environment.

Find out more about Amelia through these links:

• Amelia Gaskell on LinkedIn;
• as Amelia Gaskell on Twitter;
• Lowe, N, Gleeson, B, Green, R & Radovic, D. (2005) ‘What does sustainability mean for cities? Sustainable Homes, Sustainable Suburbs, UNSW Press, Sydney, Chapter 1 pp. 13-18
• M, Beyers B (2019) AREA AS CURRENCY How Much Biocapacity Does a Person Need? Ecological Footprint : Managing Our Biocapacity Budget Account, New Society Publishers (pp.20-38)
• Hamilton, C (2010) Requiem for a Species: why we resist the truth about climate change. Chapter 3: The consumer self
• Diamond, J. (2004) Collapse
• Podcast interview with Vivian Tam, Western Sydney University (WSU)
• Marris E (2020) The Case for Renewal, National Geographic, Washington, 237(4) pp. 18-20,22,24-26,28.
• Kolbert E (2020) The Case for Catastrophe, National Geographic, Washington, 237(4) pp. 14-21

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.101R - What we owe the future;
• No.159 - Interview with Michael Browne about Aboriginal values for planning;
• No.175R - Whose choice?;
• No.176R - Major transitions;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in how young people change their fields of study?

Summary of the article titled Major transitions: how college students interpret the process of changing fields of study from 2023 by Blake R Silver published in the Higher Education journal.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Amelia Gaskill in episode 177 talking about how and why she changed her major to focus more on the environment.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how and why students change their majors as a key education transition. This article explores the complex experiences of college students changing majors, revealing emotional, logistical, and perceptual challenges during this significant educational transition.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Changing majors significantly impacts a student's identity and future aspirations, involving a deeply personal and emotional journey through phases of endings, exploration, and new beginnings.
2. Each student's experience of changing majors is unique, influenced by a mix of personal values, academic interests, and external factors like family and career considerations.
3. There is a need for holistic support in higher education, emphasizing that academic advising should be complemented with emotional and personal guidance to aid students through this transition.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Selecting a major is one of the most consequential decisions a student will make in college. Though major selection is often conceived of as a discrete choice made at a particular point in time, many students change their majors at least once during college. This article examines the process of changing majors as a key education transition. Drawing from 38 interviews with college students at a public university in the USA who changed their declared major, this study explores the ways they make meaning of transitions between fields of study. Specifically, I ask: How do students describe their experiences navigating the process of switching college majors? Six themes emerged in relation to three phases of transition: endings, neutral zones, and new beginnings. These themes provide new understandings of students’ meaning making about their experiences moving between majors. In doing so, this study (1) demonstrates the value of studying major change as an important educational transition and (2) sheds light on the potential for employing theories of transition to understand non-normative and non-linear transitions in higher education. Implications for higher education research and practice are discussed.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.112R - Engaging with place;
• No.113R - Radical collaboration;
• No.114 - Interview with Kelly Boucher about pedagogy as a learning experience;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 177 - interview with Amelia Gaskell, an environmental science student. We will talk about her vision for the future of cities, sustainability, intergenerational equity, climate anxiety, her origin story, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠episode⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠

Are you interested in how young people choose their careers?

Summary of the article titled Whose choice? Young people, career choices and reflexivity re-examined from 2015 by Jacqueline Laughland-Booÿ, Margery Mayall, and Zlatdo Skrbiš, published in the Current Sociology journal.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Amelia Gaskill in episode 177 talking about the younger generation and their passion regarding the future of cities.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how the next generation seems to choose their careers. This article presents how reflexivity is connected to choosing one’s career besides individualism and environment.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Individual choice in career paths might not be entirely free as it is deeply influenced by one’s socio-economic background.
2. Reflexivity, the ability to critically assess and adapt one’s choices is often more pronounced among those from less privileged backgrounds.
3. Enhancing reflexivity and critical self-awareness across all socio-economic groups could improve the equity and authenticity of career choices among young people.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Young people making future career choices are doing so in an environment that often highlights the benefits supposedly wrought by individualisation and reflexive choice. It is argued that those who demonstrate reflexivity in their decision-making would have an advantage in the negotiation of future risks. The authors of this article agree with theorists who note that career choices are still strongly influenced by a person’s location in the class structure. However, unlike some writers who suggest youth from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to evaluate risk and demonstrate reflexivity, the authors suggest the opposite. Interviews were conducted with young people aged 16–17 who are participating in an ongoing project designed to follow a cohort of young Australians from adolescence into later life. Our findings suggest that while a more privileged location may afford young people security from many potential risks and problems, this may in fact encourage a non-reflexive perspective and they may choose careers based on social norms rather than ability. Instead, we argue that it is young people from less privileged backgrounds who tend to demonstrate reflexivity in their career planning.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.112R - Engaging with place;
• No.113R - Radical collaboration;
• No.114 - Interview with Kelly Boucher about how to do pedagogy better to create agency

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in sustainable and smart cities? What do you think about the city as the scene of real change? How can we use urban rankings better?

Interview with Aapo Huovila, senior scientist at Technical Research Centre of Finland. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, keeping urban specifics, climate change, city as the place of real change, and many more.

Aapo Huovila is a Senior scientist at Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. His research is currently focused on evaluation of climate-neutral, sustainable and smart cities. He works as a project manager and senior researcher in research, innovation and commercial projects (for examples, NetZeroCities, Matchup Project or Sparcs). He is the chair of the “Monitoring & Evaluation” Task group within the EU H2020 Smart cities & communities research & innovation program and acts as subject editor in the journal IET Smart cities.

Find out more about Aapo through these links:

• Aapo Huovila on LinkedIn;
• @aapo_huovila as Aapo Huovila on Twitter;
• Aapo Huovila at the Technical Research Centre of Finland;
• Aapo Huovila on Google Scholar;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.008R - What are the differences between sustainable and smart cities?
• No.141 - Interview with Soheil Sabri about prediction and forecasting;
• No.173R

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in indicators for smart sustainable cities?

Summary ofh the article titled Comparative analysis of standardized indicators for Smart sustainable cities: What indicators and standards to use and when? from 2019 by Aapo Huovila, Peter Bosch and Miimu Airaksinen published in the Cities journal.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Dr Aapo Huovila in episode 174 talking about sustainable and smart cities.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see what indicators can help, really help cities in their smart and sustainable journey. This article offers guidance for city managers and policy makers to select the indicators and standards that best correspond to their assessment needs and goals.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Smart sustainable cities aim to leverage technological solutions while ensuring they address the genuine multifaceted needs of urban environments, and encompassing economic, social, environmental and cultural dimensions.
2. Urban managers face the intricate challenge of selecting from a vast array of 'indicators' to monitor and track city progress.
3. Balancing the dual aspects of 'smartness' and 'sustainability' is pivotal for cities, requiring a holistic approach that aligns with the city's unique context, and while standardized indicators offer a foundation, customization is essential to resonate with individual city characteristics and objectives.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: City managers need indicators for target setting, performance assessment, monitoring, management and decision-making purposes. The choice of the most suitable indicator framework is crucial, but difficult, as it requires expert knowledge. To help cities in their choice, this paper compares seven recently published indicator standards for Smart sustainable cities. A taxonomy was developed to evaluate each of their 413 indicators against five conceptual urban focuses (types of urban sustainability and smartness), ten sectoral application domains (energy, transport, ICT, economy, etc.) and five indicator types (input, process, output, outcome, impact). The results clearly discriminate between indicator standards suited for evaluating the implementation of predominantly smart city approaches versus standards more focused on sustainability assessment. A further distinction is possible in standards almost fully oriented towards impacts reached, and standards that allow for progress evaluation according to steps in the implementation process. Some standards provide a narrow focus on output indicators evaluating the progress in implementing smart urban ICT solutions (e.g. number of smart meters installed). Cities are encouraged to complement such evaluations with impact indicators that demonstrate the effects of those solutions. This paper provides guidance for city managers and policy makers to select the indicators and standard that best correspond to their assessment need and goals, and align with their stage in Smart sustainable city implementation.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.008R - What are the differences between sustainable and smart cities?;
• No.071R - Towards intelligently sustainable cities?;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 174 - the interview with Aapo Huovila, senior scientist at Technical Research Centre of Finland. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, keeping urban specifics, climate change, city as the place of real change, and many more.

Find out more in the interview!

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in carbon-neutral cities?

Summary of the article titled Carbon-neutral cities: Critical review of theory and practice from 2022 by Aapo Huovila, Hanne Siikavirta, Carmen Antuña Rozado, Jyri Rökman, Pekka Tuominen, Satu Paiho, Åsa Hedman, and Peter Ylén, published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Dr Aapo Huovila in episode 174 talking about sustainable and smart cities.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see what carbon-neutrality can mean for cities. This article presents the theory and practice of carbon-neutral efforts in the urban context, exploring the gaps between research and practice.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Cities, as major global resource consumers and emission contributors, are central to achieving climate goals through sustainability initiatives.
2. Ambiguities in the carbon-neutral city concept and varied emission scopes challenge consistent implementation and progress measurement.
3. A holistic, systemic approach with collaboration among various stakeholders is essential for effective carbon neutrality transitions.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Carbon neutrality has become central in policy discourse and cities’ climate actions are crucial to achieve this goal. Consequently, many cities have already published ambitious climate neutrality target years and are preparing for transition to climate neutrality. This study presents findings from the first ever literature review on the carbon-neutral city concept, covering definition, assessment approaches, and barriers and drivers for transition to carbon neutrality. These findings are combined with interviews with Finnish cities aiming at carbon neutrality to explore gaps between research and practice. More clarity is needed on the definition of carbon-neutral city concept and especially on the role of offsetting the emissions (a specific feature compared to other urban climate concepts). The lack of consistency in city carbon accounting methods and emission scopes making cities’ carbon neutrality goals incomparable, thus calling for harmonization and guidance on common assessment methods. In addition to research, climate networks play an important role in the transition to carbon neutrality. Cities have set ambitious goals and need support to develop action plans, assess actions, come up with creative and innovative ideas and increase collaboration with various stakeholders. Development of ways to support cities that have taken on ambitious carbon neutrality targets would benefit from more systematic research on transition to carbon neutrality from different contexts capturing the lessons learned. There is a need for methods that are flexible enough to accommodate adjustments to local conditions and needs, but also consider broader system transition.

Connecting links you might be interested in:

• No.088R - The costs and benefits of environmental sustainability;
• No.119R - Pessimism and optimism in the debate on climate change;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

"Building with climate sensitive design is what needs to happen in cities."

Are you interested in urban resilience and climate adaptation? What do you think about ‘sustainability is dead’? How can integrating urban infrastructure to the built environment help us with climate change?

Interview with Joe Glesta, the co-founder and CEO of Climasens. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, parasitic and symbiotic cities, New York compared to other places, resilience, and many more.

Joe Glesta is aspiring to build climate resilience in our world through technological innovation. Joe is a passionate sustainability and technology professional with a diverse array of skills focused on digital innovation, service design, stakeholder engagement and business strategy. Over the past decade, he has worked in a multitude of positions that have allowed him to hone his skills, developing and delivering innovative products, projects, policy and business outcomes. He has advanced knowledge of digital technologies and emerging innovative trends and is deeply immersed in the nexus of Industry/Government/ Startup engagement.

Find out more about Joe through these links:

• Joe Glesta on LinkedIn
• as Joe Glesta on X
• Climasens website
• Climasens on LinkedIn
• Climasens on X
• Aussie climate startup fires up with $8m from Google - article about Climasense at Forbes
• Climasens at the Melbourne Accelerator Program
• Startup Founder Deep Dive: Climasens - conversation with Joe at the Melbourne Accelerator Program
• How Sensing Forms the Foundation of Smart and Resilient Cities with Joe Glesta of Senscity - interview with Joe Glesta on the Internet of Nature podcast

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.190 - Interview with Adrian McGregor about cities being part of nature
• No.243R - Integrative approaches to urban resilience
• No.288 - Interview with Dan Hill also talking about Jane Jacobs

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in circular economy? What do you think about raising the awareness about how we consume things? How can we plan our future based on the principle of longevity?

Interview with Nicole Garofano, the Head of Circular Economy Development at Planet Ark Environmental Foundation and the founder of UsePlasticBetter. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, circular economy, knowledge sharing, maker and repair spaces, indigenous connections, and many more.

Dr Nicole Garofano is the Head of Circular Economy Development for Planet Ark. In her role, Nicole is leading the ongoing strategic development of the Australian Circular Economy (ACE) Hub, the national reference platform for circular economy knowledge and collaboration in Australia. For more almost 20 years, Nicole has worked in environmental education and action with a focus on waste management and more recently, circular economy. She has designed and managed community-based initiatives to increase sorting, collection and processing of a range of packaging materials, including plastic. Nicole has a PhD from research focused on the plastic food and beverage packaging value chain, identifying both local and global innovation to improve chain activities and outcomes. Nicole is an Associate of the Australian Institute of Packaging.

Find out more about Nicole through these links:

• Nicole Garofano on LinkedIn;
• Nicole Garofano at Victoria's Big Build;
• Planet Ark website;
• Planet Ark on LinkedIn;
• Australian Circular Economy Hub website;
• Circularity website;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.110R - Global survey of Precious Plastic Projects;
• No.111 - Interview with Dave Hakkens about reinventing urban living;
• No.159 - Interview with Michael Browne about Aboriginal ideology;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in sustainable circular cities?

Summary of the article titled Sustainable circular cities? Analysing urban circular economy policies in Amsterdam, Glasgow, and Copenhagen from 2023 by Martin Calisto Friant, Katie Reid, Peppi Boesler, Walter J. V. Vermeulen, and Roberta Salomone, published in the Local Environment – The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Dr Nicole Garofano in episode 171 talking about circular economy.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see circular economy policy analysis. This article investigates current literature on circular economy policies and real examples to develop a new conceptual framework to circular economy discourses.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. The circular economy promotes resource conservation and recovery strategies like reuse and recycle, with cities playing a key role in its varied implementation and impact.
2. Circular economy's implementation is often vague and leans towards a techno-optimist view, potentially neglecting the balance between economic growth and environmental protection.
3. The circular economy and circular cities provide a key solution to unsustainable resource use, aiming to reduce environmental impacts and safeguard the biosphere amid rising consumption and ecological challenges.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Cities play a central role in the circular economy (CE) as they are important centres of production and consumption, responsible for 80% of global GDP. European cities are particularly important due to their position of power in the global economy as major markets, and places of industrial and social innovation. Yet urban CE policies and discourses remain poorly researched and understood. This paper addresses this research gap by analysing and comparing the CE policies and discourses in different European cities to draw critical insights and recommendations. It does so by first reviewing academic literature on urban CE policies to develop a new conceptual framework to analyse CE discourses and policies. This framework is then used to analyse and compare the CE policies of three European cities: Glasgow, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen. Results show that technocentric approaches to CE are dominant in the three cities. Moreover, they have very limited social justice policies for a fair distribution of the costs and benefits of a CE transition. Key policy recommendations to address these shortcomings are thus proposed. The insights brought about by this paper are valuable for both practitioners and academics seeking to improve urban CE policies.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.088R - The costs and benefits of environmental sustainability;
• No.169R - Circular economy;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 171 - the interview with Nicole Garofano, the Head of Circular Economy Development at Planet Ark Environmental Foundation and the founder of UsePlasticBetter. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, circular economy, knowledge sharing, maker and repair spaces, indigenous connections, and many more. Find out more in the interview!

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in circular economy?

Summary of the article titled Circular economy: a brief literature review from 2021 by Erick Hungaro Arruda, Rosangela Andrade Pita Brancalhao Melatto, Wilson Levy, and Diego de Melo Conti, published in the Sustainable Operations and Computers journal.

This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Dr Nicole Garofano in episode 171 talking about circular economy.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see circular economy as an effective tool to trigger sustainable developments. This article presents many understandings and the evolution of the circular economy in research, highlighting some future prospects for the concept.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Circular economy proposes a change in the extraction-production-disposal paradigm of the current linear economy.
2. Circular economy is based on design of manufactured products with added value and maximum use in longer life cycles, creation of versatile products with multiple uses, restitution of solid waste to the industrial sector, and a systemic approach to supply chain management.
3. Circular economy is presented as a concept of sustainability with the greatest probability of favourable economic development.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Hitherto implemented economic mechanisms and development processes have led the planet to face numerous environmental and ecological depletion challenges. In light of this, Circular Economy emerges as an effective tool for triggering a sustainable development process. This article aims to present different perspectives and concepts of circular economy. To that end, a qualitative study was conducted and the methodology of systematic literature review was applied, so as to obtain solid knowledge about the theme, using the most recent and relevant articles. Scielo, Science Direct and Google Scholar database were the source of the articles that met the defined criteria, described in six steps: search key words; only scientific articles considered; publication between 2015 and 2020; in English; with 100 or more citations; relevant content to the theme. As a result, an extract of the researched articles and a comparison between the scientific literature on this subject is presented, showing some evolution of the aspects of the Circular Economy, such as designing of new products, emerging of new legislation and adoption by industry. Although the study was not conclusive on how the evolution of Circular Economy will take place, authors suggest future studies to assess the transition towards an economic circularity. Also, it is recommended that future studies consider case studies as a model for assessing Ciruclar Economy progress in the light of legislation and economic interests.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.110R - Global survey of Precious Plastic Projects;
• No.158R - Integrating Aboriginal cultural values into water planning;
• No.159 - Interview with Michael Browne about integrating Aboriginal values into planning;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in the difference between fairness and equity? What do you think about experimenting instead of trial and error? How can we use water more wisely?

Interview with Jennifer George, commercialisation expert and strategic thinker. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, empathy, trial and error being so last century, equity and many more.

Jennifer George is an experienced business leader/founder with more than 20 years’ experience building new companies and products by connecting multi-stakeholder relationships in renewables, engineering, and ICT technologies. Jennifer has broad sector knowledge and an extensive network of relationships in industry, academia, government, and non-government entities throughout Australia and across the world. Jennifer specialises in big picture, design thinking and offers proven leadership in orchestrating multi-million-dollar strategies and building relationships to create new commercially viable opportunities across fields. Jennifer’s pragmatic perspective is underpinned by an extremely broad range of practical, technical and financial skills across a variety of sustainable technologies that enable her to identify, position and implement complex into sustainable business solutions.

Find out more about Jennifer through these links:

• ⁠Jennifer George⁠ on LinkedIn;
• ⁠Jennifer George⁠ at Nakoudu;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• ⁠No.102R⁠ - What we owe the future (book summary);
• ⁠No.120 - Interview with Matt Ferrell⁠ about renewables;
• No.171 - Interview with Nicole Garofano about circular economy;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in why smart city initiatives fail sustainability?

Summary of the article titled Smart city beyond efficiency: Technology-policy-community at play for sustainable urban futures from 2020 by Tan Yigitcanlar, published in the Housing Policy Debate journal.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see what smart city initiatives overlook regarding sustainability. This article highlights the shortfalls around smart city conceptualisation and practice, and directs to a better approach.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. About two decades of smart city practice has revealed that rather than providing comprehensive and sustainable solutions to the problems of our cities and societies, the movement so far has mainly generated growth in the business portfolios of major technology, construction, and consultancy companies.
2. The goal should be achieving sustainable developments, and moving toward holistic solutions by bringing together technology capabilities, good policy, and community support in building the cities of tomorrow and securing smart urban future for all.
3. It is critical to find ways to convince authorities and the general public before it is too late of the urban need for a change in urban politics.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Smart urbanization has become a popular discourse in urban policy circles across the world. This is due to the rising popularity of the smart city notion, the main premise of which is achieving heightened economic development, quality of life, and sustainability through the use of digital data and technology for generating urban service efficiency (Ahvenniemi, Huovila, Pinto-Seppä, & Airaksinen, Citation2017). The smart city movement has created numerous initiatives globally, but almost all of them have failed or lack adequate potential to generate sustainable urban futures (Cugurullo, Citation2018). The main reason behind this inadequacy is that current smart city practice portrays technologically determined and reductionist approaches to the city. These approaches overlook urban, human, and social complexities, and create conditions for new forms of social control, increased social inequality, and marginalization (Bina, Inch, & Pereira, Citation2020). This article highlights the fundamental shortfalls around smart city conceptualization and practice, and points to an approach that utilizes technology, policy, and community as interconnected and balanced drivers to secure sustainable urban futures for all.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• ⁠No.038R - But how bad this "smart city"!⁠;
• ⁠No.168 - Interview with Jennifer George about better efficiencies and experimenting instead of trial-and-error

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 168 - interview with Jennifer George, commercialisation expert and strategic thinker. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, empathy, trial and error being so last century, equity and many more.

Find out more in the interview!

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in synthetising a city’s intelligent to be smart?

Summary of the article titled What makes a city ‘smart’? from 2016 by Emine Mine Thompson, published in the International Journal of Architectural Computing.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see city governance using information and communication and sensing technologies. This article investigates the use of such tools by city governments and the shortcomings of such approaches.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. While data analytics, administrative control centres, social media, city apps, and other tools offer insights to the city itself here and now, the solutions, visions, and predictions about the city should not only rely on the technology and the data, but also include all stakeholders from the city in order to achieve smart but also human-centred urbanism.
2. The smart city concept is not only for creating new holistic systems without siloes but also about improving current systems with an appropriate level of technological interventions.
3. Overall, smart city agenda should be based upon long-term vision, people and processes as the main drivers.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Taking advantage of information and communications technology tools and techniques for city administration, whether it is for urban planning activities, for transport solutions or many other purposes, is not a new concept. However, in order for a city to be classified as ‘smart’, a synthesis of intelligence that transcends mere utilisation is essential. This article analyses the increasing use of information and communications technology and sensing technologies in cities by examining this new way of city governing from a critical perspective. Existing projects and initiatives were investigated to find out how, and to what extent, these tools are being employed by cities. The advantages and the current shortcomings of smart city are also discussed in order to understand the viability of using these tools.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.132 - Interview with Michael Batty about data use in cities;
• No.156 - Interview with Fanni Melles about the need for a long term vision;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠this link⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠from ⁠⁠Pixabay

Are you interested in how to move and look forward to a better future after negative experiences? What do you think about resilience? How can we become more antifragile and creative for better futures?

Interview with Michael Healy, the Smart Cities Programme Manager at Christchurch City Council. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, smart city as the R&D department, the use cases for AI, conflux of natural effects, and many more.

Michael Healy’s interest in the use of technology and innovation to make improvements for business and the community has underpinned his work across both public and private sectors. He is focused on finding solutions and developing new ideas in partnership with the community that make a real impact in the city of Christchurch, its region, Canterbury and around the country of New Zealand. Christchurch is a leader in New Zealand innovation and, through the Christchurch City Council’s Smart Christchurch Programme, Michael is excited to play a part in making Christchurch a better place to be.

You can find out more about Michael through these links:

• Michael Healy on LinkedInS
• Smart Christchurch website;
• smartchristchurch.org.nz to reach out to Smart Christchurch;
• Michael Healy on The Smart Community Podcast;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.003 - Interview with Frans-Anton Vermast about Amsterdam Smart City;
• No.020R - Antifragile (book summary);
• No.042 - Interview with Professor Mark Burry about AI use in design practice;
• No.075 - Interview with Gavin Cotterill about digital twins;
• No.159 - Interview with Michael Browne about healthy environments and water management;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in whether a resilient community is a sustainable one?

Summary of the article titled A discussion of resilience and sustainability: Land use planning recover from the Canterbury earthquake sequence, New Zealand from 2015 by W.S.A. Saunders and J.S. Becker, published in the International Journal of Disaster Rick Reduction.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how sustainability and resilience are used within land use planning and natural hazard context. This article presents that a resilient community also needs to be sustainable partly for legislation, but also to ensure that the economic, social, cultural and environmental needs of future generations are met.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. A sustainable community needs resilience by definition to be able to bounce back from natural hazards and disasters.
2. Another important contributor to resilience is ensuring that communities are engaged and empowered to take part in the land use planning process so that they can effectively contribute to reducing their own risks before and after a disaster.
3. Recognising and accounting for a wider array of resilient factors may bring resilience closer to the concept of sustainability, and as a consequence, the goals of sustainability and resilience may become more closely aligned.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: The term ‘resilience’ is increasingly being used in a multitude of contexts. Seemingly the latest ‘buzz’ word, it can mean many things to many people, in many different situations. In the natural hazard context, the terms ‘sustainable planning’, and ‘resilience planning’ are now being used, often interchangeably. But from a natural hazard perspective, is a resilient community a sustainable one? In order to be sustainable, does a community need to be resilient? The purpose of this paper is to answer these two questions, and stimulate discussion on how the two terms are being used. The paper provides an overview of resilience and sustainability within a land use planning and natural hazard context, and discusses how they are interrelated. The New Zealand legislative requirements for resilience and sustainability are outlined, followed by the presentation of an example from the earthquake impacted city of Christchurch, New Zealand. This example outlines the planning response to the earthquakes, and the sustainable and resilient planning options being implemented. The discussion shows that a resilient community should also be a sustainable community, in order to meet legislative requirements, and – more importantly – to ensure the needs of future generations are met, economically, socially, culturally, and environmentally.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.023R - Smart cities and disaster resilience;
• No.163R - Rethinking resilience: reflection on the earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2010 and 2011
• No.165 - Interview with Michael Healy, the Smart Cities Programme Manager at Christchurch City Council;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠this link⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠from ⁠⁠Pixabay

Are you interested in the successful implementation of urban resilience strategies?

Summary of the article titled Integrative approaches to urban resilience: Evaluating the efficacy of resilience strategies in mitigating climate change vulnerabilities from 2024 by Yang Lv and Md Nazirul Islam Sarker, published in the Heliyon journal.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Joe Glesta in episode 244 talking about urban climate resilience.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see the efficacy of resilience strategies in mitigating vulnerability and enhancing urban resilience. This article presents the significance of stakeholder involvement, community participation, and adaptive management as essential components for effectively implementing resilience measures.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Effective urban resilience requires a combination of infrastructure, social engagement, and institutional support.
2. Community involvement strengthens the implementation and maintenance of resilience strategies.
3. Regular assessment and adaptation of strategies are necessary to address evolving challenges and improve urban resilience.

You can find the article through this link.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.074R - Resilient urban planning: major principles and criteria
• No.190 - Interview with Adrian McGregor about urban resilience challenges

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 165 - interview with Michael Healy, the Smart Cities Programme Manager at Christchurch City Council. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, smart city as the R&D department, the use cases for AI, conflux of natural effects, and many more.

Find out more in the interview!

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in rethinking resilience?

Summary of the article titled Rethinking resilience: Reflections on the earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2010 and 2011 from 2013 by Bronwyn Mary Hayward, published in the Ecology and Society journal.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how to rethink resilience after natural disasters. This article presents calls for expanding political imagination about resilience, to include areas of compassion and political resistance.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Human resilience is best understood as the interrelationships among the individuals and their community, environment, and social institutions and we need to always ask: resilience of what and for whom?
2. Regardless of charges against people not being able to imagine for the long term, they are already exercising their political agency or their ability to imagine and effect desired change in new ways.
3. Human prosperity and flourishing require more than resilience – it requires creative political imagination and agency, the ability to take action to shape our life circumstances.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Resilience has emerged as a policy response in an era of public concern about disasters and risks that include fear of terrorism and environmental or economic catastrophe. Resilience is both a refreshing and a problematic concept. It is refreshing in that it creates new opportunities for interdisciplinary research and vividly reminds us that the material world matters in our social lives, political economy, and urban planning. However, the concept of resilience is also problematic. Widespread, uncritical calls for greater resilience in response to environmental, economic, and social challenges often obscure significant questions of political power. In particular, we may ask, resilience of what, and for whom? My reflection here was written in the context of the ongoing grief, disruption, and community protest in my home city of Christchurch, New Zealand, a city that experienced 59 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more, and over 3800 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or greater between September 2010 and September 2012. From this perspective, I call for expanding our political imagination about resilience, to include ideas of compassion and political resistance. In my observation, both compassion, expressed as shared vulnerability, and resistance, experienced as community mobilization against perceived injustice, have been vital elements of grassroots community recovery.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.020R - Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder;
• No.023R - Smart cities and disaster resilience;
• No.165 - Interview with Michael Healy, the Smart Cities Programme Manager at Christchurch City Council;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠this link⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠from ⁠⁠Pixabay

Are you interested in the smart city as making urban life easier for people? What do you think about standards and their uses? How can we use the urban lifecycle approach?

Interview with Warren Hill, enterprise account director at Appscore. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, combination of different visions, the use of standards, the economic concerns, and many more.

Warren Hill has over 30 years of experience in account management across four continents for consulting, software and infrastructure and managed service providers. Warren’s experience in large scale transformation programs has been utilised within various government and commercial enterprises to deliver positive outcomes to stakeholders, employees and citizens. Over the past 20+ years Warren has been based in Australia and managed a series of organisations growth, sales strategy and corporate strategy across APAC. Warren is chair of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) in Victoria. Warren is on the Board of Standards Australia Smart Cities initiative. Warren is an ambassador for TechDiversity, MeetMagic.org and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

You can find out more about Warren through these links:

• Warren Hill on LinkedIn;
• @warrenmjhill as Warren Hill on Twitter;
• Appscore website;
• Warren Hill as the AIIA Victoria Council Chair;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.090 - Interview with Professor Matthew McCartney about urban economics;
• No.108 - Interview with Dr Anthony Kent about urban geography;
• No.171 - Interview with Nicole Garofano about circular economy;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in the privacy and security aspects of smart city solutions?

Summary of the article titled Perception of the quality of smart city solutions as a sense of residents’ safety from 2021 by Justína Zywiolek and Francesco Schiavone, published in the Energies journal.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how to examine the safety and level of satisfaction for the smart city. This article presents a methodology for examining residents’ satisfaction and potential threats in order to investigate undefined desires and identified and confirmed needs.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Smart cities and smart city communities can be defined as systems of people that interact and use the flows of energy, materials, services and financing to catalyse a sustainable economy, development, resilience and high quality of life.
2. Perceiving risk and fear of privacy loss may induce people to avoid smart city solutions, question their quality and intention, and past studies emphasized that residents' satisfaction rose when they viewed their city’s intelligent solutions positively.
3. The urban transformation to smart cities and better urban asset and resource management needs to incorporate citizens and their perceived risks to their privacy and security which cannot be disturbed.

You can find the article through this link.

Abstract: Personalization, mobility, artificial intelligence, corporate life transferred to the online world—all these elements will shape all intelligent solutions, including those for cities in the future also in the field of energy management. A necessary condition is to determine which specific repetitive behaviors and features smart cities will have to meet in order to build an image among residents and adapt to their preferences and requirements and energy requirements. Smart cities were created to support residents in using various services, to give them the possibility of easy communication without time and local barriers. Therefore, high-quality smart solutions in cities significantly affect trust in the city and can affect its reputation. Given that the purpose of the article is to examine the perception of intelligent solutions also in the field of energy and their impact on the sense of privacy and security, different exchanges of perceptions of quality, the risks they pose to residents and their perception of what gives a picture, have been studied. The results of empirical research clearly showed that the safety and level of satisfaction with the activities carried out by the city have a significant impact on the perceived quality, which in turn has a positive impact on reputation. The authors proposed a methodology based on the Kano model for examining residents’ satisfaction in order to investigate undefined desires and identified and confirmed needs and to study the analysis of risk and potential threats. The study was in the form of a proprietary questionnaire that can be used in similar surveys on the satisfaction of residents; 2685 correctly completed questionnaires were analyzed and the results obtained after submission were included in management action plans. The city government has expressed an interest that the measures taken will be reviewed after one to two years.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.004R - Will the real smart city please stand up?
• No.162 - Interview with Warren Hill about securing things for citizens' use;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠this link⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠from ⁠⁠Pixabay

Trailer for episode 162 - interview with Warren Hill, enterprise account director at Appscore. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, combination of different visions, the use of standards, the economic concerns, and many more.

Find out more in the interview!

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in the city as the theatre for social action?

Summary of the article titled What is a city? from 1937 by Lewis Mumford, from the Architectural Record.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how the city can be understood beyond the usual suspects of people, infrastructure and networks. This article presents Mumford’s propositions about city planning and the human potential, both individual and social, of urban life.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. The city in its complete sense then is a geographic plexus, an economic organisation, an institutional process, a theatre of social action, and an aesthetic symbol of collective unity.
2. Social facts are primary and the physical organisation of a city, its industries and its markets, its lines of communication and traffic must be subservient to its social needs.
3. Instead of trusting the mere population growth to produce the theatre, we must seek these sociological results from deliberate action.

You can find the article through this link.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.126 - Interview with Corey Gray about beauty for sustainability;
• No.183 - Interview with Ted Baillieu about previous planning influencing current urban life;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠this link⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠from ⁠⁠Pixabay

Are you interested in the Aboriginal understanding of country? What do you think about water in cities? How can we become more connected to country itself?

Interview with Michael Browne, manager at Melbourne Water. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, aboriginal and indigenous ideas, what water means to country, resilience, and many more.

Michael is a proud Barkandji/ Wemba Wemba man who grew up in rural southern NSW. He completed a Bachelor of Engineering and as a result of his cultural connection to water and growing up witnessing the impact that drought can have on a community, has recognised the importance of and feels fortunate to have worked in the water industry for 20 years. Michael has recently been working within the Integrated Water Management Planning team at Yarra Valley where he has been focussing on place-making to ensure a continued focus is given to the importance of water and elevating the cultural knowledge and skills of Traditional Owners in planning for the future.

Find out more about Michael online through these links:

• Michael Browne on LinkedIn;
• Michael Browne on the Making Waves podcast series;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.027 - Interview with Richard Manasseh about water in cities;
• No.135 - Interview with Paul Satur about urban water management;
• No.158R - Integrating Aboriginal cultural values into water planning;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in Aboriginal value integration into water planning?

Summary of the article titled Integrating Aboriginal cultural values into water planning: a case study from New South Wales, Australia from 2019 by Bradley J. Moggridge, Lyndal Betterridge, and Ross M. Thompson, published in the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how Aboriginal cultural values can enhance water management. This article investigates New South Wales’ government’s Aboriginal Water Initiative and provides insights into engagement and consultation.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Water management, its terminology, administrative structures and implementation, is complex, and this is not unique to Australia.
2. Indigenous and Aboriginal involvement in water management can establish more culturally responsive and sustainable practices and trust.
3. The AWI experience provides a set of approaches, experiences, protocols and principles for this engagement that can inform future water management initiatives.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth and has an acute need to manage its water resources effectively. Australian Aboriginal peoples have a profound knowledge of surface water and groundwater which has allowed them to thrive for thousands of generations even in the most arid parts of the landscape. Aboriginal peoples place a high priority on protecting water, but the challenge is to ensure that their values are integrated into water planning. The Australian New South Wales (NSW) government’s Aboriginal Water Initiative (AWI) (2012-2017) sought to include Aboriginal cultural and spiritual values in water management. The AWI operated under the NSW Government’s Water Management Act 2000, which seeks to protect the cultural and spiritual values of water and the benefits to flow to Aboriginal peoples. Speaking from the perspective of the previous leader of the AWI, this article will reflect on its inception and structure, particularly focussing on approaches of engagement and consultation. These were highly structured and included a focus on cultural training and protocols and benefited from having Aboriginal staff involved. While ultimately discontinued in 2017, a reflection on the AWI provides useful insights into how engagement and consultation can be operationalised in water management and policy.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.159 - Interview with Michael Browne about Aboriginals in Australia
• No.171 - Interview with Nicole Garofano about circular economy and its roots in Aboriginal values

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠this link⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠from ⁠⁠Pixabay

Trailer for episode 159 - the interview with Michael Browne, manager at Melbourne Water. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, aboriginal and indigenous ideas, what water means to country, resilience, and many more.

Find out more in the interview!

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in both smartness and the city in the smart city concept?

Summary of the article titled Ontological review of smart city research from 2017 by Arkalgud Ramaprasad, Aurora Sánchez-Ortiz and Thant Syn, presented at the Twenty-third Americas Conference on Information Systems.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how academic research investigated smart cities in 2016. This article investigates how smartness is very much interesting for the research community, but the city seems largely unexplored in the smart city term.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. The introduced ontological framework approaches smart cities from smartness with structure, functions, focus and semiotics and city with stakeholders and outcomes which can be used to investigate any smart city initiative or research.
2. In the investigated research, the authors found more focus on the structure aspect with systems and IT than on stakeholders and outcomes.
3. Researchers should consider the interdisciplinary nature of the smart city research and must integrate technological, social, and urban aspect of the smart city with the aim to achieve the desired outcomes in a more unified approach.

You can find the article through this link.

Abstract: The meaning of the word “city” has evolved since the first urban civilization was labeled as such more than 5,000 years ago. The concept of Smartness in Cities appeared initially because of the advancements in information technology; now cities are working diligently towards being considered “Smart”. However, the term Smart City is still conceptually vague and sometimes biased towards the use of information technology, and not on the city. This article a) presents an ontological framework of Smart City which is logically constructed but grounded in the literature of Smart Cities, and b) maps 373 journal articles—published in 2016 on the topic “smart city”—onto the framework. The mapping reveals that Smart City research in 2016 mainly focuses on the Smart part of the framework, specifically the structural elements, while the City part remains largely unexplored.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠No.150P - What⁠⁠ is academia's role in establishing the future of cities? Panel discussion;
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠No.159I - Interview with Michael Browne about need to involve people⁠⁠;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠Pixabay

Are you interested in urban resilience and climate adaptation? What do you think about ‘sustainability is dead’? How can integrating urban infrastructure to the built environment help us with climate change?

Trailer for episode 244 - interview with Joe Glesta, the co-founder and CEO of Climasens. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, parasitic and symbiotic cities, New York compared to other places, resilience, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

"We are architects of our life, not victims of it"

!!!!Book giveaway details at the bottom!!!!

Are you interested in the city as the emergent property of the urban agents? What do you think about collective responsibility? How can we create better urban futures?

This is a very special celebratory birthday episode because I am interviewed by a very special guesthost – Ben Vass, Graph Shaman. Ben interviewed me because I finished my PhD and thought it is time to share my knowledge with you guys – using the birthday celebration as well. We talk about my vision for the future of cities, smarter cities and smarter approaches, collective responsibility, Vitruvian and many more.

Fanni Melles is a future of cities researcher, an architect by profession, and a project manager by experience, born in Hungary and now living in Melbourne, Australia. Her enthusiasm for the future of cities led her to create the WTFforCities? podcast (What is The Future for Cities?) where she summarises research articles and interviews people who are actively and consciously working for the better future of our cities. Fanni is completing her PhD studies at Swinburne University of Technology about the future of cities, smart cities, and their operationalisability in practice. Her unique ability is creating practical and orderly systems from chaos and ambiguity to answer questions and improve systems. Fanni firmly believes that cities are the emergent properties of the people living in them so she is working on helping people to have better urban influence. She is also convinced that each city needs a specific future and she wants to facilitate their transformation.

Ben Vass is the kind of person who wants to build a Dyson swarm and explore the stars, while in the meantime wants to understand how this consciousness thing works. He is always standing between 2 worlds and trying to connect them. Due to his strange brain he sees everything as a network of networks, and tries to find the next intellectual thrill. In the past he had worked on swarm intelligence projects, spectral graphs, fraud detection, and GNNs to name a few, and also he contributes to Open Source whenever he can. Everything is a network, you just don't see it yet, according to him.

Ben’s voice can be very familiar because he is the voice in the intro.

You can find out more about me through these links:

• Fanni Melles on LinkedIn;
• @fannimelles as Fanni Melles on Twitter;
• Fanni Melles website;
• Making future cities 'smarter' PhD thesis at Swinburne Research Bank
• WTF4Cities podcast on LinkedIn;
• WTF4Cities website;
• @WTF4Cities as WTF4Cities on Twitter;
• Fanni Melles on RTRFM On Record program;
• Fanni Melles on RRR ByteIntoIT radio;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.003 - Interview with Frans-Anton Vermast;
• No.138 - Interview with Luis Natera;
• No.147 - Interview with Damian Hewitt;
• No.154R - Smart city, smarter city, smarter approaches;

!!!!Book giveaway details!!!!

You can enter the giveaway to get one of the books very connected to this podcast:

• Antifragile from Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
• What we owe the future from Will MacAskill or
• Brighter from Adam Dorr

You only have to answer at least one of these questions on LinkedIn or twitter below the birthday episodes’ announcements.

1. What did you learn this year from these episodes?
2. What was the most interesting and important for you?
3. What would you like to learn more about in the future?
4. What action did you take after these episodes?

After a week, I will draw the winners and let you choose from the books whichever you prefer – very exhuberant audience members could even ask for my thesis if wanted, but the give-away is more

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

What action will you take to create a better future for cities, thus humanity?

The celebration of the second year of the podcast!

I would like to thank you all for joining me on this adventure. I am really grateful for your support. And I am especially thankful for my interviewees who took the time to appear on the podcast and share their ideas and insights. And stay tuned to learn what's ahead of us!

You can enter the giveaway to get one of the books very connected to this podcast:

• Antifragile from Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
• What we owe the future from Will MacAskill or
• Brighter from Adam Dorr

You only have to answer at least one of these questions on LinkedIn or twitter below the birthday episodes’ announcements.

1. What did you learn this year from these episodes?
2. What was the most interesting and important for you?
3. What would you like to learn more about in the future?
4. What action did you take after these episodes?

After a week, I will draw the winners and let you choose from the books whichever you prefer – very exhuberant audience members could even ask for my thesis if wanted, but the give-away is more about the books not my thesis. So answer at least one of the questions on LinkedIn or twitter in the coming week and you can enter the draw!

Let me know on LinkedIn or on Twitter @WTF4Cities to enter the giveaway or on the wtf4cities.com website where the transcripts and shownotes are available.

I hope this was an interesting summary for you as well, and thanks for tuning in during this year, I highly appreciate all of you!

And a final question for today: what action will you take to create a better future for cities, thus humanity?

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay 

Trailer for the celebratory episode 156 - the interview with yours truly, Fanni Melles.

I am interviewed by a very special guesthost – Ben Vass, Graph Shaman. Ben interviewed me because I finished my PhD and thought it is time to share my knowledge with you guys – using the birthday celebration as well. We talk about my vision for the future of cities, smarter cities and smarter approaches, collective responsibility, Vitruvian and many more.

Find out more in the episode!

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay