The Compass

Khorgas in Kazakhstan is going through an economic boom and Chinese trains stop here and their loads are shifted on to the Kazakh trains. This region was the gateway of the ancient Silk Road, a meeting place of cultures and languages. We meet nomads who have called this land home for centuries and pioneers developing a city for the future.

(Photo: The KTZE-Khorgos Gateway dry port, a logistics hub on the Kazakh side of the Kazakhstan-Chinese. Credit: Getty Images)

The new Chinese Mombasa–Nairobi railway has finally overturned over 100 years of history by replacing the British-built Uganda Railway - the most strategically important conduit in the scramble for Africa. Cutting the time between Mombasa and Nairobi from 10 hours to 4.5 hours. Chinese interests may be at the centre of these investments - but the impact is regional, how is the Kenyan population benefiting from this new service?

Presenter: Larry Madowo and Peter Shevlin

(Photo: The inaugural journey of the Standard Gauge Railway, from Mombasa to Nairobi, Kenya, on May 30, 2017 Credit: Getty Images)

Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid looks at how modern living is changing our faces. With the help of professor Saw Seang Mei in Singapore and the UK's top ophthalmologist, professor Chris Hammond, he tells the story of how baffled scientists sought to understand the rocketing rates of myopia in the Far East, where more than 80% of teenagers are short-sighted. Dr Cregan-Reid learns about the various theories put forward before Australian researchers cracked the mystery in 2004. Spoiler alert: It is not to do with screens.

Evolutionary biologist Professor Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel, from New York State University, tells Dr Cregan-Reid about how our jaws have been reacting to changes in our diet. They are getting shorter and less dense, but our teeth are erupting as if it is still 50,000 years BC. At London's Natural History Museum, Professor Fred Spoor takes us through the impact the modern world is having on our teeth and the shape of our mouths.

Back in Singapore, the country's leading plastic surgeon, who spends most of his day reshaping people's jaws, tells Dr Cregan-Reid he thinks our faces are getting shorter but wider because of what we eat and the impact of stress on facial muscles.

In the third and final part of Changing World, Changing Bodies, we learn why the 'you' that you see in the mirror most days may not be the 'you' that your DNA had planned.

(Photo: Multi ethnic montage of teenage male portrait. Credit: Getty Images)

Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid investigates what the last 250 years has done to our backs. What is it about modern life that has promoted back pain, especially lower back pain, from a rarity to the number one cause of pain and disability in the world?

In the remote Kenyan Village of Pemja, Dr Cregan-Reid meets people with such excellent backs that they are the subject of international study. He hears from pain-wracked workers in Nairobi whose backs today are a pale version of those of their grandparents' and at the London Design museum he comes face-to-face with the artefact that has done most to weaken our backs - the chair.

Chairs with backs are now so ubiquitous it is reckoned there are around 10 for each of us but as recently as 1800 they were a rarity. Not that we have much choice but to sit down today. At the start of the 19th Century fractions of one per cent of people sat down for a living but today three quarters work in offices or drive for a living. We put our spines into positions they were not designed to sustain for hours on end.

He discusses with Australian academics their research which claims that half of back pain is in the mind and why simple movement is probably more effective than surgery, manipulation and powerful painkillers in getting to the bottom of back pain.

(Photo: A woman rubs her lower back. Credit: Getty Images)

For nearly two million years we evolved in close sync with our environment but 250 years ago the industrial revolution happened and changed everything. The innovation and technology it brought had many benefits but there was a physical cost as progress also designed out movement from our lives.

From spending hours on our feet outdoors, our jobs have moved indoors and largely involve sitting down for most of the day in offices, factories or driver cabs. It has resulted in feet that are getting flatter, backs that are weaker and eyes that cannot see very much without help.

Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid hears from evolutionary biologists, academics, anatomists and public health professionals in Singapore, Kenya, Australia, the UK and the United States; about the impact of modern life on our physical self and what we can do to return our bodies to the state that nature intended.

The good news is there is no need to spend hours on treadmills or pumping iron, in fact we would injure ourselves a lot less if we were a bit more cautious when exercising. Our bodies are marvellously adaptable and reintroducing small movements into our daily lives in most cases will do the trick!

(Photo: Womens' feets splashing in a pool. Credit: Getty Images)

Medellin used to be one of the world's most dangerous cities, with a sprawling network of slums and a serious crime problem fueled by drug trafficking. During the 1990s, there was a dramatic transformation. By integrating the city's plumbing and transportation into the barrios, renovating the homes of tens of thousands of families and creating open public spaces, the city has been transformed.

Fi Glover returns with Dr Ellie Cosgrave, director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory and urbanist professor Greg Clark to look for the most inspirational cities, from those tackling environmental issues and urban violence. This week they consider Morocco’s urban development model.

(Photo: The Metrocable in Santo Domingo Savio neighbourhood, in Medellin, Colombia. Credit: Getty Images)

It is said that by 2050 cities will be home to 6.4 billion people. They stand at the centre of the world’s most pressing challenges. Presenter Fi Glover is joined by Dr Ellie Cosgrave, director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory, and urbanist professor Greg Clark. They scour the world looking for the most inspirational cities, from those tackling environmental issues and urban violence, to encouraging political participation and transforming slums. This week they look at the city of Glasgow, which has one of the highest murder rates in western Europe, and how it has tackled knife crime. Could it be a model for other cities to follow?

(Photo: A Glaswegian prostitute shows a kitchen knife that she carries around for protection. Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Presenter Fi Glover, Dr Ellie Cosgrave, director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory and urbanist professor Greg Clark, analyse and critique the participatory budgeting of Paris, where citizens vote on how to spend part of the city’s budget. They also look at how Valletta in Malta regularly tops 90% voter turnout in political elections. Are they models other cities should follow?

Image: Hotel de Ville, Paris (Credit: Getty Images)

As investment in the night-time economy rises, we look at how this is working in London. Is anywhere else doing a better job?

Presenter Fi Glover returns with two new panellists to analyse and critique the best policies from global cities: Dr Ellie Cosgrave, Director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory; and urbanist Professor Greg Clark. The team scour the world looking for the most inspirational cities, from those tackling environmental issues and urban violence, to encouraging political participation and transforming slums. Are they models other cities should follow?

Image: The City of London at night (Credit: Neil Hall/European Photopress Agency)

How is data being used to help Seoul run smoothly? And how have 20,000 sensors transformed life in Santander, Spain? Both cities have implemented innovative policies that are solving pressing challenges to city life.

Image: Songpagu district in Seoul at night (Credit: Getty Images)