This year's Reith lecturer is Richard Rogers, one of the most influential British architects of our time. He has established himself and his practice at the forefront of today's architecture industry through such high-profile projects as the Pompidou Centre, the headquarters for Lloyds of London, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Millennium Dome in London. His series of lectures is entitled 'Sustainable City' and each lecture focuses on architecture's social role and the sustainable urban development of towns and cities through social and environmental responsibility.

In his fifth and final Reith lecture, Richard Rogers compares some of the world's most sustainable cities with those of Britain and argues that we have still not grasped the economic importance of a thriving urban culture. He considers what practical steps governments, citizens, architects and planners could take in order to achieve change, and argues that equitable cities that are beautiful, safe and exciting are quite within our grasp.