Talking Place

What does a city really gain when it invests in culture and why it can’t simply import the success of a global art fair? 

Patrick Foret, Founder of Urban X Culture and former Director of Art Basel & Art Basel Cities, has spent years building connections between the art world, private partners and cities. From helping launch Art Basel in Hong Kong to developing Art Basel Cities, his work has explored how cultural networks can create opportunities that reach far beyond the exhibition hall. 

In this conversation, recorded at Art Basel 2026 in Basel, Switzerland, Patrick reflects on how the fair evolved into a wider cultural meeting point and how its impact in Miami Beach grew through years of audience-building, international engagement and connections with the city’s wider creative life. He explains why cities asking for an Art Basel often need something more fundamental: a cultural ecosystem rooted in local identity, supported by sustainable funding and connected to the world. 

Patrick shares lessons from Art Basel Cities in Buenos Aires, where the team began by listening to artists, galleries, institutions and government rather than arriving with a ready-made formula. The work included addressing practical barriers for artists, creating new funding sources and bringing international attention to local talent. The conversation also turns to the future: how culture can connect people across borders, what success looks like beyond visitor numbers, and whether AI might give artists more space to experiment, think and dream. 

Topics Covered 

• How Art Basel grew beyond the art fair to become part of a citywide cultural experience 
• Why cultural impact takes years of audience-building and international engagement 
• Art Basel Cities in Buenos Aires: listening to local stakeholders and building a shared mission 
• Funding culture without diverting resources already supporting museums and non-profits 
• How cities can build identity, belonging and international connections through creativity 
• AI, artistic intelligence, freedom of expression and the value of time to dream 

About Our Guest 

Patrick Foret is Founder of Urban X Culture and former Director of Art Basel and Art Basel Cities. He has held senior leadership roles across major cultural developments in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, bringing together governments, cultural institutions and private partners to create cultural and economic value. 

At Art Basel (2010–2020), he helped drive the organisation’s international expansion, including the launch of Art Basel Hong Kong, the development of its global partnerships programme and the creation of Art Basel Cities in Buenos Aires. He also served as Business Manager for Saadiyat Island Cultural District in Abu Dhabi, where he represented the UAE government in strategic partnerships with leading international institutions, including the Louvre and Guggenheim Foundation. 

Today, he brings this experience to Urban X Culture, building strategic partnerships that help cities unlock their cultural identities, attract investment and create lasting impact. 

Join the Conversation 

Who is your city built for? What would it take to make it work for everyone? 
 
Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or LinkedIn @TalkingPlacePodcast using #TalkingPlacePodcast 

Links and Mentions 

• Patrick Foret - https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-foret/  
• Urban X Culture - https://www.urbanxculture.com/  
• Art Basel - https://www.artbasel.com/  
• Art Basel Cities - https://www.artbasel.com/stories/creative-cities-art-districts-and-the-community  
• Patrick Foret on Art Basel Cities - https://news.artnet.com/art-world/patrick-foret-art-basel-cities-buenos-aires-interview-1345484  

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

What if we've been designing cities all wrong? 

In Episode 37 of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin sits down with Rasmus Astrup, Design Principal and Senior Partner at SLA, one of the world's leading nature-based design practices, to explore how nature-based design can reshape the way we think about cities. 

Rasmus argues that nature isn't a decorative layer we add at the end of a project. It's infrastructure that’s just as important as roads, utilities and transport networks. From biodiversity corridors and climate resilience to Indigenous wisdom and seven-generation thinking, they discuss how development can create value not only for people, but for all life. 

The conversation also explores the business case for nature-based design, why joy isn't a line item, and the challenge of measuring things that don't easily fit into a spreadsheet. They look at projects including Al Fay Park in Abu Dhabi, and what it reveals about designing with local ecosystems. Rasmus shares what developers and designers need to do differently to turn ambitious ideas into places that actually get built. 

At its heart is a bigger question: what could our cities look like if we designed with nature, rather than around it? 

Topics Covered 

• Nature-based design and the relationship between cities and natural systems 
• Designing for biodiversity, climate resilience and all life 
• Indigenous approaches to nature and seven-generation thinking 
• The business case for landscape and nature-based infrastructure 
• Measuring value beyond land value, including biodiversity, rainwater and joy 
• Al Fay Park and the role of local ecosystems in urban design 
• The gap between ambitious masterplans and what ultimately gets built 
• Designing beyond the site boundary through connected, shared solutions 

About Our Guest 

Rasmus Astrup is Design Principal and Senior Partner at SLA, a renowned Danish nature-based design studio. He has worked at SLA for more than 17 years and leads some of the studio’s largest and most complex international projects. His work spans landscape architecture, urban design, climate adaptation and the application of nature-based design to urban challenges, with projects across Canada, the UAE, France and the UK. 

Join the Conversation 

Who is your city built for? What would it take to make it work for everyone? 
Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or LinkedIn @TalkingPlacePodcast using #TalkingPlacePodcast 

Links and Mentions 

• SLA: http://sla.dk/  
• Rasmus Astrup: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasmus-astrup-7674972/  
• Al Fay Park, Abu Dhabi: https://www.sla.dk/cases/al-fay-park/  
• Earls Court masterplan, London: https://www.sla.dk/cases/earls-court/  
• Downsview Masterplan, Toronto: https://www.sla.dk/cases/downsview/  
• Hands on Flora, the book on local flora in the Abu Dhabi project: https://www.sla.dk/cases/hands-on-flora/  

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

Can a place brand do more than give a place a new identity? 

In Episode 36 of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin sits down with Councillor Tom Bruce, Deputy Leader of the London Borough of Hounslow, and Peter O’Brien, Executive Director of Placemaking and Growth, to explore how Hounslow is using place branding as part of a bigger story about regeneration, investment, partnership and civic pride. 

The conversation goes behind the scenes of Hounslow’s place brand, from community engagement to the challenge of bringing together places with distinct identities, including Chiswick, Feltham, Brentford and Hounslow Town Centre. They discuss why the discovery phase was extended, what they learned along the way, and why the brand had to be more than an ‘I love Hounslow’ badge. 

They also explore place leadership, inward investment and how the brand connects to regeneration projects including Feltham and the Golden Mile. At its heart is a bigger question: how can a changing place retain its identity while moving confidently into its next chapter? 

Topics Covered 

• Why Hounslow created a place brand and what it wanted it to achieve 
• Place leadership, collaboration and making difficult decisions 
• Why community engagement needs to go deeper than consultation 
• Building civic pride across distinct communities and identities 
• Using place branding to support regeneration and inward investment 
• The Golden Mile, Feltham and Hounslow’s vision for the future 

About Our Guests 

Tom Bruce is Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Assets, Regeneration, and Development at the London Borough of Hounslow, with responsibility spanning regeneration, economic development, planning, council homebuilding and corporate assets. He brings a personal connection to Hounslow, having grown up in the borough.  

Peter O’Brien is Executive Director of Placemaking & Growth at Hounslow Council, bringing around two decades of experience working in place.  

Join the Conversation 

Who is your city built for? What would it take to make it work for everyone? Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or LinkedIn @TalkingPlacePodcast using #TalkingPlacePodcast 

Links and Mentions 

• Hounslow Council: Official website  
• Hounslow Regeneration: Regeneration and development plans  
• Hounslow Place Promotion: Place promotion workshops and community engagement  
• Golden Mile: Golden Mile regeneration and investment programme  
• Opportunity Hounslow: Hounslow’s growth and investment programme  

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

What does people-first development actually look like? 

Hanna Afolabi MRICS, Managing Director & Founder of Mood and Space and CEO & Founder of Black Women in Real Estate, joins host Tanisha Raffiuddin on Talking Place to explore what it means to make development work for the people who use and live in the places being created. 

The conversation moves from Hanna's route into development and large-scale regeneration to a simple definition of place: people gathering. She explains why understanding end users can shape better homes and longer-lasting places, drawing on community-led development and her work with London Community Land Trust (CLT). She also looks at how build-to-hold models and purpose-built student accommodation are changing the relationship between developers, investors and the people living in their buildings. 

Then the harder questions arrive. Hanna unpacks why ‘Viability’ has become such a catch-all term at a time when construction costs and borrowing rates are rising while sales values and rents are under pressure. Later, she shares the journey behind founding Black Women in Real Estate, from a first community engagement meeting in East London where the room did not reflect the diversity of the area, to a network that began with 15 black women and grew organically and now launched in New York. Her vision is clear: development should bring together public and private sectors, create genuinely mixed communities, and put the people who already call a place home at the heart of its future. 

Topics Covered 

• People-first development and why understanding end users can improve homes and places 
• How build-to-hold, Build-to-Rent (BTR) and Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) are changing the incentives around long-term stewardship 
• Why 'Viability' has become a catch-all term in a difficult housing market 
• Construction costs, borrowing rates, building safety and the challenge of delivering more homes 
• Community engagement, representation and who gets a seat in the room 
• The founding and growth of Black Women in Real Estate 

About Our Guest 

Hanna Afolabi MRICS is Managing Director & Founder at Mood and Space, a development consultancy focused on development strategy, development management and social value. She is also CEO & Founder of Black Women in Real Estate, a network created to increase connection, visibility and representation for Black women in the sector. 

Join the Conversation 

Who is your city built for? What would it take to make it work for everyone? Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or LinkedIn @TalkingPlacePodcast using #TalkingPlacePodcast 

Links and Mentions

• Mood and Space: https://www.moodandspace.co.uk/  
• Black Women in Real Estate: https://bwre.org/  
• London Community Land Trust: https://www.londonclt.org/  
• East Wick + Sweetwater: https://www.eastwickandsweetwater.co.uk/  
• Peabody: https://www.peabodygroup.org.uk/ 

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

What can a city learn about resilience when people are forced to redesign how they live? 

Mikael Colville-Andersen, urban designer, filmmaker and host of the TV Show 'The Life-Sized City', joins host Tanisha Raffiuddin on Talking Place to explore the tactical urbanism projects he delivered in Ukraine during the full-scale war. From coordinating thousands of donated bicycles as humanitarian aid to transforming Kyiv's Kontraktova Square with volunteers, Mikael shares how cities and communities can respond when conventional systems are under extraordinary pressure. 

The conversation goes beyond the immediate realities of war to examine what other cities can learn from Ukraine. Mikael reflects on the role of simple, analogue systems, from generators keeping local businesses running to trams repurposed to carry water, and how bicycle infrastructure can become part of evacuation planning. He also challenges cities to experiment through temporary projects, question decades of car-centric planning and give citizens more room to shape the places they live. 

Topics Covered 

• How tactical urbanism transformed Kyiv's Kontraktova Square during the war 
• What Ukrainian cities can teach us about resilience and analogue systems  
• Why cities need to experiment through temporary pilot projects  
• How bicycles became humanitarian and evacuation infrastructure in Ukraine  
• Why car-centric planning needs to be challenged  
• How citizens can play a bigger role in changing their cities  

If you enjoyed this conversation, please like, subscribe and share.

About our Guest 

Mikael Colville-Andersen is an urban designer, filmmaker, photographer, TV host and author known for his work exploring how cities can become better places for people. He has worked in more than 100 cities and is the host of the global TV series The Life-Sized City, which explores urban life through the people and ideas shaping cities around the world. 

From 2022 to 2025, Mikael was based in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he worked on tactical urbanism projects during the full-scale war, coordinated donated bicycles as humanitarian aid and developed projects including therapy gardens, community spaces and cycling strategies. His work combines urban design, storytelling and citizen-led action to challenge how we think about the cities we live in. 

Join the Conversation 

Who is your city built for? What would it take to make it work for everyone? 

Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or LinkedIn @TalkingPlacePodcast using #TalkingPlacePodcast 

Links & Mentions 

• Mikael Colville-Andersen: Official website 
• Mikael Colville-Andersen in Ukraine: Ukraine projects and activities 
• TORV Kyiv: World's Largest Tactical Urbanism Project 
• Bikes4Ukraine Crowdfunding Website: https://fundrazr.com/Bikes4Ukraine  
• The Life-Sized City: https://www.colville-andersen.com/lifesizedcity  

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

What happens when a 2,000-year-old city tries to build itself around artificial intelligence without losing the essence that makes it special?  

Theo Blackwell MBE, London's first Chief Digital Officer, has spent the past nine years tackling exactly that challenge for the Mayor of London. 

Recorded live at SXSW London, Theo joins host Tanisha Raffiuddin on Talking Place from the London 2050 conference track to explore how the capital is using data, digital innovation and AI to improve the everyday lives of Londoners. This conversation dives into the transformation of King's Cross into a frontier AI hub, how Transport for London became one of the world's most influential smart city testbeds, who really owns London's data across 33 local authorities, and how the Greater London Authority is transforming London into a coherent digital city. 

Whether you work in placemaking, urban policy or simply want to understand what a smart city really looks like beyond the buzzwords, this episode is for you. 

Topics Covered

• Why a smart city should start with solving problems for citizens, not technology 
• How Transport for London worked with Google Maps to improve cycling journeys 
• How London doesn't have one central data lake 
• Why the Mayor’s position is an AI realist, and not an AI pessimist 
• How cities can embrace AI without losing public trust 

If you enjoyed this conversation, please like, subscribe and share.

About Our Guest   

Theo Blackwell MBE is London's Chief Digital Officer, leading the city's work on digital transformation, data and emerging technologies on behalf of the Mayor of London. He is responsible for shaping London's approach to digital inclusion, innovation and responsible AI, working across government, industry and academia to improve public services and everyday life for Londoners.  

Theo has been instrumental in initiatives ranging from Transport for London's open data programme to the London Emerging Technology Charter, helping position London as a global leader in digital innovation while championing a people-first approach to smart cities. His work focuses on how technology, when supported by strong governance and public trust, can help create cities that are more inclusive, resilient and responsive to the needs of their citizens.  

Join the Conversation  

Who is your city built for? What would it take to make it work for everyone?  

Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or LinkedIn @TalkingPlacePodcast using #TalkingPlacePodcast  

Links & Mentions  

• Theo Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theo-blackwell-mbe/   
• Transport for London: https://tfl.gov.uk/   
• London Emerging Technology Charter: https://www.london.gov.uk/publications/emerging-technology-charter-london   
• Sadiq Khan - Mayor of London  

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

What does it feel like to move through a city without fear? To just... switch off?

For Melissa Bruntlett, author, mobility advocate, and co-author of the new book Women Changing Cities, that feeling isn't a luxury. It's a design choice. Far too few cities are making it.

In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin is joined by Melissa Bruntlett, mobility advocate and co-author of Women Changing Cities, to explore why the cities moving fastest on people-first mobility are so often led by women and what it's really costing them to get there.

From the gendered reality of political backlash to the chronic underfunding of community engagement, Melissa brings evidence, honesty, and global perspective to one of the most important questions in urban design today: who is the city actually built for?

This conversation goes beyond bike lanes and transport policy to ask something bigger: what does it feel like to move through a city without fear, and how do we build more of them?

Topics covered:

• Why women-led cities are accelerating mobility reform
• The real cost of women in urban leadership: backlash, police escorts, and personal attacks
• Women-only carriages: progress or a step backwards?
• What a gender-responsive city looks, feels, and functions like
• Multimodal travel explained and why car-centric thinking excludes most people
• The "software" gap: why community engagement is chronically underfunded
• The economic case for people-first mobility
• Global lessons from Paris, Bogotá, Tirana, Delhi, Sydney, and Montreal
• E-bikes as an accessibility tool, not a trend
• The future of urban mobility

About Our Guest

Melissa Bruntlett is a mobility advocate, author, and co-founder of Modacity, based in Delft, Netherlands. Together with her husband Chris, she has written three books on cycling, cities, and the way we move, including Building the Cycling City, Curbing Traffic, and their latest, Women Changing Cities.

Melissa's work sits at the intersection of gender, mobility, and urban design. She has collaborated with organisations including Women Mobilize Women and the Dutch Cycling Embassy, and has spent the past year travelling the world documenting the women leaders quietly transforming how cities move and the personal price many of them are paying to do it.

Join the Conversation

Who is your city built for? What would it take to make it work for everyone?

Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or LinkedIn @TalkingPlacePodcast using #TalkingPlacePodcast

Links & Mentions

●     Women Changing Cities: https://www.modacitylife.com/women-changing-cities

●     Melissa Bruntlett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-bruntlett/

●     Women Mobilize Women: https://womenmobilize.org/

●     Dutch Cycling Embassy: https://dutchcycling.nl/

●     Anne Hidalgo - former Mayor of Paris

●     Claudia Lopez - former Mayor of Bogotá

●     Clover Moore - Mayor of Sydney

●     Valerie Plante -  former Mayor of Montreal

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

What happens to a city that treats culture as an afterthought? 

Founder of MTArt Agency, Marine Tanguy explains why culture is not a luxury but essential urban infrastructure - and why investing in art and artists is one of the smartest decisions cities can make. 

Marine Tanguy has spent her career demonstrating that public art creates measurable economic, social, and mental health benefits. 

In this episode, recorded live at SXSW London in Shoreditch, host Tanisha Raffiuddin and Marine get into the real argument: why art is not a cultural luxury but a form of urban infrastructure, what the economics of public art actually look like, how the visual environments of working-class communities are systematically under-resourced, and why the rise of AI makes human creativity more urgent, not less.

Marine also shares practical advice for developers, local authorities and city leaders looking to build places people genuinely love.This is a conversation about cities, belonging, and what we owe each other in shared space.

TOPICS COVERED

• Why Marine built the world's first talent agency for visual artists
• How public art is valued economically - the academic frameworks
• The billboard inequality statistic and what it reveals about cultural access
• Cities doing culture well: London, Manchester, Liverpool, Sydney, New York, Lyon, Paris
• Public art, mental health, and social cohesion
• The cost-of-living crisis versus long-term cultural investment
• AI, creativity, and the class divide in access to critical thinking
• What a culturally thriving city looks like in the next ten years

If you enjoyed this conversation, please like, subscribe and share.

MARINE TANGUY

Marine Tanguy is the Founder & CEO of MTArt Agency, the world's first talent agency for visual artists, a Certified B Corporation with offices in London and Paris. She has published academic work on the economic valuation of public art with both Warwick University and UCL, and her first book - The Visual Detox - was published by Penguin. She was appointed a Special Advisor for UN Women UK in 2025.

•        MTArt Agency: https://mtart.agency

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

What does it mean for a city to be genuinely co-authored by the people who live in it? 

In Episode 30 of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin speaks with one of the most consequential figures in the global conversation about digital democracy: Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Cyber Ambassador-at-Large and the world's first openly non-binary cabinet minister.

Audrey didn't enter government by campaigning. She occupied the parliament - as a civic hacker during Taiwan's 2014 Sunflower Movement, helping coordinate deliberation among half a million people on the streets of Taipei. Out of that moment came vTaiwan: a participatory platform that turned citizen voices into legislation, resolving disputes from Uber to social media scam advertising by surfacing the ideas both sides could actually live with.

In this conversation, Tanisha and Audrey explore:

• What it means to be a civic hacker, and how to hack a city

• How vTaiwan works, and why it rewards bridging voices rather than outrage

• Why the biggest risk of the smart city is that it becomes smarter than its citizens

• The difference between data as oil (extractive) and data as soil (tended together)

• What mayors and city leaders should actually be doing about AI today

• How to move cities from tick-box consultation to genuine co-authorship

If you work in urban planning, development, or local government - or you just care about the places you live in - this episode is for you.

Episode recorded during SXSW London 2026, Shoreditch, London

Links and mentions:

• Audrey Tang: audreyt.org
• Right Livelihood Award: rightlivelihood.org
• Plurality (public domain): plurality.net 
• Civic AI toolkit: civic.ai

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
• Bluesky: @talkingplace
• TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast

To learn more about Concept Culture:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
• Website: www.conceptculture.co

Sign Up to Our Newsletter — mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup

Can regeneration strengthen a community rather than replace it?

Chrisp Street Market has been part of East London's story for generations. Chrisp Street in E14 is five minutes from Canary Wharf, named on the DLR, and about to turn 75. Built as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951 - one of the UK's first purpose-built mixed-use developments - it's a place with homes, a market, a listed clock tower, and a community that has stayed rooted here across generations.

In this episode of Talking Place: Know Your Neighbourhood, host Tanisha Raffiuddin is joined by Georgia Sharpe from Telford Homes to explore what makes Chrisp Street so special, why authenticity matters in regeneration, and how communities can shape the future of the places they love.

Together they discuss:
•What makes Chrisp Street distinct in East London
•The Festival of Britain legacy and Frederick Gibberd's original design
•How diversity — ethnic, economic, generational — creates belonging
•Community consultation and the future redevelopment vision
•Why E14 was named the Sunday Times' No.1 postcode for 2026
•What regeneration gets right (and wrong) when it comes to community identity

This episode is part of the Know Your Neighbourhood series, made in partnership with the London Festival of Architecture 2026 on the theme of Belonging.

🗓️ LFA Event at Chrisp Street: 27th June 2026. Find details at londonfestivalofarchitecture.org

🎙️ Guest: Giorgia Sharpe, Telford Homes
🎙️ Host: Tanisha Raffiuddin, Creative Director, Concept Culture

Subscribe to Talking Place for more conversations about the built environment, urban design, and the future of cities.

Support the show

To learn more about host Tanisha Raffiuddin:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanisharaffiuddin/
• Website: www.conceptculture.co
• Instagram: @tanisha.rr

To learn more about Talking Place:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
• Website: www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
• Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
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