Greg Clark is the doyen of international urbanists. He has over 30 years built up a reputation as a go-to thought-leader and analyst on cities, having by now worked in and for more than 300 of them world-wide. Professor Clark is Group Advisor, Future Cities & New Industries at HSBC, one of the world’s leading banks, with his advice sought by governments at all levels and leaders of industry and commerce across 67 countries and 400 cities. He is Chair of the Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership and he is on the Board of Transport for London and chairs its Investment Committee. In this deeply insightful talk on cities and Covid, Greg sets out the evidence – his reasoned optimism – that though some cities have been deeply challenged by Covid, they will, as they always have done, reinvent themselves. The future is still urban and indeed as Greg points out, some parts of the world have not seen any slowdown in their urbanisation, with China firmly on a path to 65% of its population being urban by 2025 and with Africa now having many of the fastest-growing cities on the planet. Cities remain central to our human future and the core drivers of creativity and innovation. But they are changing and COVID has accelerated that evolution. Join Greg Clark and Tim Williams for a fascinating discussion on what this means for us all.

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