We don’t just need action, we need informed action. That’s the ambition behind the global research and action agenda for cities. In this episode, we discuss collaborative urban research and what co-creating means in practice. We interview Pourya Salehi who is the Head of the Urban Research Team at ICLEI. He discusses the importance of informed decision-makin ... Show More
Sep 2022
Transport and Cities: Spotlight on India - Talking Transformations with Kunal Kumar (Pune Municipal Corporation)
The Taj Mahal, Bollywood, and a cricket powerhouse. India means many things to many people. It is also a country of some 1.3 billion people where mitigation and adaptation to climate change is rising up the agenda. In this episode, we discuss transformative urban action in the Ci ... Show More
7m 48s
Apr 2023
Rajesh Veeraraghavan, "Patching Development: Information Politics and Social Reform in India" (Oxford UP, 2022)
Rajesh Veeraraghavan’s Patching Development: Information Politics and Social Change in India (Oxford University Press, 2022) offers the first ethnographically grounded perspective on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2005), which was promulgated as a wel ... Show More
1h 8m
Jul 2021
Jacob Lederman, "Chasing World-Class Urbanism: Global Policy Versus Everyday Survival in Buenos Aires" (U Minnesota Press, 2020)
What makes some cities world class? Increasingly, that designation reflects the use of a toolkit of urban planning practices and policies that circulates around the globe. These strategies—establishing creative districts dedicated to technology and design, “greening” the streets, ... Show More
56m 25s
Mar 2021
Climate change is our reality. Here’s how we’re taking action | Al Gore, Gloria Kasang Bulus, Nana Firman, Ximena Loría and Tim Guinee
With the Climate Reality Project, Al Gore is helping mold future leaders to build the movement for climate survival and social justice from the ground up. He introduces us to four of the Project’s graduates, each of whom confronts climate change on their own terms: Ximena Loría, ... Show More
7m 30s
Jan 2024
Dana R. Fisher, "Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action" (Columbia UP, 2024)
We've known for decades that climate change is an existential crisis. For just as long, we've seen the complete failure of our institutions to rise to the challenge. Governments have struggled to meet even modest goals. Fossil fuel interests maintain a stranglehold on political a ... Show More
32m 28s
Sep 2023
ABDOUMALIQ SIMONE on Urban Entanglements /348
What does it mean to settle, to be in a settled place? This week’s guest, AbdouMaliq Simone has dedicated his work to investigating the specifics of urban organization as they are created by people. In this erudite and globally-positioned conversation, Ayana and AbdouMaliq medita ... Show More
1 h
Jun 2020
How we can build sustainable, equitable cities after the pandemic | Vishaan Chakrabarti
Cities are engines of culture, commerce, knowledge and community, but they're also centers of inequality and poverty. As the world rebuilds from the coronavirus pandemic, can we transform cities into bastions of equity and sustainability? Architect and educator Vishaan Chakrabart ... Show More
18m 32s