The term Gentrification was coined in the 1960s by British sociologist Ruth Glass to describe the influx of wealthier residents into working-class communities in London. Since then, it's always borne a negative connotation, associated with the displacement of low-income, minority, and immigrant communities within cities. But there is more to gentrification than the facade of trendy coffee shops and hipsters that usually take the blame for the succession of neighborhoods. Today, we are joined by Leslie Kern author of The Feminist City, and recently published Gentrification Is Inevitable and Other Lies, to talk about the greater forces at play that lead to the economic and social transformation of neighborhoods.

Modern-day Australia is home to over 250 language groups, each of which belongs to a specific place and people. Through violent histories of dispossession, First Nations groups in Australia were stripped of their land rights, and dispersed across the continent. In today’s episode, our guest host Janet McGaw sits down with multi-clan descendant, Elder, and activist Uncle Gary Murray to discuss notions of spatial justice and equity in placemaking. Tune in to learn of the current calls for Treaty in the country, along with the different strategies that can support Indigenous placemaking through deep forms of collaboration and cultural awareness in architecture and planning. *The quality of this audio file was affected by minor difficulties during recording. We encourage our listeners to follow along with the written transcript, which can be accessed on the threesixtyCITY webpage.

Cities are commonly perceived as separate from natural systems; great expanses of cement and concrete. However, the latest estimates show we can no longer live in disconnect, with 44% of global GDP in cities at risk of disruption from biodiversity loss. How can we bring nature back into our cities to secure a more livable and resilient future for all? The World Economic Forum has recently launched the BiodiverCities by 2030 initiative to push forward an urban development model in harmony with nature. Over the next two weeks, you'll hear from Cristina Gomez Garcia Reyes, the World Economic Forum's Lead of the Urban Nature Agenda, and George Benson, Co-Founder of the Climate Displacement Planning Initiative, on the reports significance, key takeaways, and concrete steps for urban leaders and decision makers. More about BiodiverCities by 2030:https://www.weforum.org/biodivercities-by-2030http://humboldt.org.co/biodivercitiesby2030/

Cities are commonly perceived as separate from natural systems; great expanses of cement and concrete. However, the latest estimates show we can no longer live in disconnect, with 44% of global GDP in cities at risk of disruption from biodiversity loss. How can we bring nature back into our cities to secure a more livable and resilient future for all? The World Economic Forum has recently launched the BiodiverCities by 2030 initiative to push forward an urban development model in harmony with nature. Over the next two weeks, you'll hear from Cristina Gomez Garcia Reyes, the World Economic Forum's Lead of the Urban Nature Agenda, and George Benson, Co-Founder of the Climate Displacement Planning Initiative, on the reports significance, key takeaways, and concrete steps for urban leaders and decision makers. More about BiodiverCities by 2030:https://www.weforum.org/biodivercities-by-2030http://humboldt.org.co/biodivercitiesby2030/

Over the last 20 years, the emergence of a field called “Night Studies” has brought together urban planners, scholars, and activists trying to understand how urban governance is applied to the 24-hour cycle. Cities all over the world started appointing night mayors, night ambassadors, and night czars, creating departments dedicated to governing the city after dark. In Amsterdam, the night mayor played an instrumental role reshaping the city's nightlife into one of the most vibrant and economically robust in the world. Today, we're lucky to be joined by the former Night Mayor of Amsterdam, Mirik Milan, to talk about the nighttime economy and how nightlife can shape the identity of a city.

This week we tell you a story. A story of collaboration and trust between members of a community working together towards shared climate goals. At the foundation is a method called "collective impact," used by the Tamarack Institute’s Climate Transitions cohort to spur meaningful and lasting systemic change at the community level. In this episode, we sit down with local leaders from the Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, to learn how they’re weaving climate action throughout all facets of their community to ensure the transition is both equitable and just. To learn more and to spearhead your community’s own Climate Action Plan: Learn about the Tamarack Institute’s Community Climate Transitions program, and apply to join their 2023 cohort Read the TransformWR report, and check out the details of their action plan. Learn more about each of our speakers’ organizations: Tamarack Institute, Reep Green Solutions , Sustainable Waterloo Region .

In the early 2000s, the newly built New Delhi Metro Rail system was proclaimed a class and social equalizer that would become an image of modernity and progress in the Global South city. But in reality, the metro rail has failed to deliver on many fronts. Access is limited to a subset of the population and excludes many lower class user groups, reflecting the inherent inequalities embedded in the project. Today, we're joined by researcher Sree Ramachandran to discuss the equity implications of designing and planning major infrastructure projects, and which questions need to be raised in order to ensure accessibility for all. To learn more, Sree recommends reading: Roychowdhury, A. et al. (2019). The Cost of Urban Commute: Balancing Affordability and Sustainability of Public Transport. Centre for Science & Environment. New Delhi. https://www.cseindia.org/content/downloadreports/9664 Sadana, R. (2022). The Moving City: Scenes from the Delhi Metro and the Social Life of Infrastructure. University of California Press. Oakland, 2022 Siemiatycki, M. (2006). Message in a Metro: Building Urban Rail Infrastructure and Image in Delhi, India. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 30 (2): 277–92.

Advocates of public private partnerships champion their ability to accelerate innovation and hasten the deployment of technology to provide better public services. The Citi Impact Fund is driving change in the mobility sphere by investing in companies that address some of society’s most pressing challenges. Superpedestrian, is one example of the Fund’s portfolio companies working alongside city governments to improve transportation systems as a whole by providing first-and-last mile micro mobility solutions. This week, we’re speaking with Jeffrey Meyers, Director, Citi Impact Fund and Paul Steely White, VP, Public Policy of Superpedestrian, to learn how private capital streams directly support equitable access to safe transportation in cities.

This Sunday, people all over America will be commemorating Juneteenth; a day to celebrate Black culture, but equally a time to reflect on the ways racial inequalities are still entrenched in our cities. The City of St. Louis, defined by its visible economic divide, has one of the worst racial wealth gaps in the country. To address the inequitable economic conditions across racial lines and zip codes, the city has recently launched a Roadmap to Economic Justice. Today, I’m joined by the Executive Director of The St. Louis Development Corporation, Neal Richardson, to discuss the monumental Framework and how the city is empowering communities from within ahead of Juneteenth.

It's a hard time to be a climate optimist. In April, the IPCC reported the world is currently on a path to 3.2 degrees of warming by mid century, well above the 1.5 degrees Celsius target in the Paris Agreement. Last year, 40% of Americans were victims of a climate disaster, and a new report warns of ecological, followed by civilizational collapse, due to warming. Despite that, there are reasons to be hopeful: an astonishing acceleration of renewable energy adoption, for example, and efforts to rewild and regenerate natural landscapes. So here to make the case for a new green urbanism that surpasses the one we already know and love is Chris Turner, winner of the Canadian National Business Book Award, and author of the new book appropriately titled, How To Be A Climate Optimist.

As the suburbs become the dominant living condition for most North Americans, the challenges associated with their low-density, car-centric development pattern prove more problematic. Planners, architects, and developers are starting to reimagine ways of designing and retrofitting the suburban model to increase connectivity and provide a better mix of uses. Today we're joined by the Department Chair at the City College of New York's Spitzer School of Architecture June Williamson and urban geographer Joel Kotkin to explore how history led to the suburbs we know today, and how emerging mobility solutions may ease the transition. This conversation is part one of a Virtual Learning Series on the next generation of American Suburbs in partnership with the Toyota Mobility Foundation.

Cities face a dual housing crisis, on the one hand, providing equitable housing at an affordable price, and on the other, designing for climate resilience despite often higher upfront costs. The two dominant housing models we see today—urban compression and suburban sprawl—both contribute to an incredible sense of isolation and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Solving both crises in tandem will require alternative models that holistically address the financial, social, and environmental impacts of housing on people and places. Joining us today is Maria Yanez from Nightingale Housing, a Melbourne-based non-profit that is revolutionizing the way we live together through low-cost, high-performance multi-family housing in Australia.

Like many places around the world, housing prices in Canada have skyrocketed over the course of the pandemic—the standard home now costing nearly twice as much as in the US. In an attempt to cool the market, the Canadian government will spend $10B over the next 5 years on a new housing package that includes policies such as a two-year ban on sales to foreign buyers. However, critics argue the measures fail to address the root causes of housing inequity and the realities of the financialization of housing in Canada’s rising housing costs. Today we’re joined by the Global Director of Make the Shift and former UN Special Rapporteur Leilani Farha to discuss the importance of a human rights-based housing strategy and how cities and governments can better ensure adequate and affordable housing for all.

While the narrative has spun around the urban exodus over the course of the pandemic—leaving home for quieter, safer, and usually greener places—we neglect to consider the beauty of the hometown. For many Black and Brown Americans, success is measured by how far you can escape the low-income status of the place you grew up. But for Majora Carter, an Urban Revitalist and MacArthur Fellow, the belief is that nobody should have to move out of their neighborhood to live a better one. Today, she joins us to share her story and discuss how sustainable economic development and mixed-use can be powerful tools for retaining bright homegrown talent in the communities that need it most. Check out her new book Reclaiming Your Community: http://www.majoracartergroup.com/home.html

How we design the built environment has the unique potential to bring people together and combat one of the biggest issues we face in cities: loneliness. However, there is a lack of evidence-based tools to understand how design directly supports social connections, often leaving it aside for other metrics such as building costs. One architecture studio in Vancouver, BC, has created an AI tool to bring sociability metrics to the building design conversation. This week, we're joined by the Principal of Human Studio, Bruce Haden, to learn more about FLUID sociability and how it's reducing social isolation through design. More about Human Studio: https://www.humanstudio.ca/

The end of vaccine passports and mask mandates has led to an appearance of pre-pandemic normalcy in most areas of American cultural life, with one notable exception: no one wants to go to the office anymore. Data from Kastle System, the building security specialist, shows that office occupancy is sitting around 40% of pre-pandemic levels. What is to be done with downtowns and central business districts? Should offices be converted into housing, and how can we rethink flexible office space for landlords? Today we’re joined by Tracy Hadden Loh, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Fellow for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings Metro, to get her take on the future of downtown cores and America's walkable urban places.

What should it mean to design affordable housing—beyond providing affordable rent? The Brunson Terrace project, located at the heart of one of Santa Monica’s most vibrant and historically disadvantaged neighborhoods, is reimagining affordable housing to address issues of wellbeing and economic resilience. Today, we are joined by two of the project creators, Julie Rusk, Founder of Civic Wellbeing Partners in Santa Monica, and Tara Barauskas, the Executive Director of the Community Corporation of Santa Monica, to talk about how bringing together housing and businesses can holistically improve community wellbeing.

What will it take to decarbonize the world? That is the $3.5 trillion question — the hypothetical cost per year — on top of what the world already spends on energy, mobility, and the built environment — to achieve net zero. How will we get there? How will we pay for it? And who will reap the benefits are all questions raised in McKinsey Global Institute’s new report on the net-zero transition. Joining us today to discuss the technology and financing necessary to achieve these audacious goals — and, of course, what they mean for cities — is MGI partner Mekala Krishnan. Read MGI's report "The net-zero transition: What it would cost, what it could bring": https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/the-net-zero-transition-what-it-would-cost-what-it-could-bring

Cities face unprecedented health challenges, from the increased demands on health systems due to rapid urbanization to acute dangers posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data and digital solutions have the potential to greatly improve population health, but how can we reduce the barriers to the implementation of innovative technologies? This week we speak with AI pioneers from Quebec and Sao Paulo to break down the findings from our AI4HealthyCities Dialogues, an initiative to accelerate collaborations between governments on digital innovations and health, in partnership with the Novartis Foundation. Learn more about the AI4HealthyCities Dialogues: https://www.ai4healthycities.com/Find the report here: https://www.datocms-assets.com/57996/1642518870-ai4healthycities.pdf

While self-described climate mayors posture about fighting climate change, much of the transformative action that we see today is originating at the community and grassroots level. How can all segments of society work together towards this common goal—since climate change should matter to all of us? This week, we’re joined by Alison Sant, Co-Founder of Studio for Urban Projects and author of the new book From the Ground Up, to talk about examples on the ground and the unique ways in which cities are working to mitigate and adapt to climate change while creating more livable and especially equitable communities.