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By Fanni Melles
The podcast currently has 309 episodes available.
Are you interested in translating the city to the human scale? What do you think about the green and blue urban infrastructure? How can we direct urban evolution for the better future?
Trailer for episode 258 - interview with Matt Gijselman, Director of Infrastructure Policy Advancement for the APAC Region at Bentley Systems. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, smartness and technology, data-driven decision-making, climate resilient urban experience, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
"Science has already fixed climate change. We know what's causing it, we know what to do about it. The fact that there is paralysis is not the problem of science."
Are you interested in listening to scientists? What do you think about the urgency of actions after scientific proof? How can we use the planetary indicators for better urban futures?
Interview Marcus Foth, Professor of Urban Informatics at Queensland University of Technology. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, urban visioning, declining cities, opportunities in health-arts-social sciences, donut economics, and many more.
Marcus Foth is a Professor of Urban Informatics in the School of Design and a Chief Investigator in the QUT Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. For more than two decades, Marcus has led ubiquitous computing and interaction design research into interactive digital media, screen, mobile and smart city applications. Marcus founded the Urban Informatics Research Lab in 2006 and the QUT Design Lab in 2016. He is a member of the More-than-Human Futures research group. Marcus has published more than 270 peer-reviewed publications. He is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society and the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Distinguished Member of the international Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and currently serves on Australia’s national College of Experts.
Find out more about Marcus through these links:
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in the different stakeholders of public space?
Summary of the article titled Participation, co-creation, and public space from 2017 by Marcus Foth, published in The Journal of Public Space.
This is a great preparation to our next interview with Marcus Foth in episode 256 talking about co-creation and community engagement.
Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of flexibility is required of placemakers and urban interaction designers across the different levels of planning. This article presents granular agile thinking by introducing five possible ways to think about the urban user.
As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:
You can find the article through this link.
Abstract: A central notion in urban design, urban interaction design, and placemaking is the user of public space, the occupant, resident, citizen, bystander, passer-by, explorer, or flâneur. When the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) first emerged, the disciplines that represented the “human” aspects of HCI included behavioural psychology, cognitive science and human factors engineering. This situatedness begs the question whether the “user” requires different contextualisations beyond the immediate and traditional HCI concerns of the technical interface, that is, beyond usability. This article aims to illustrate the need for placemakers and urban interaction designers to be transdisciplinary and agile in order to navigate different levels of granularity. This article seeks to practice granular agile thinking by introducing five possible ways to think about the “urban user” and the implications that follow: the user as city resident; the user as consumer of city services; the user as participant in the city’s community consultations; the user as co-creator in a collaborative approach to citymaking, and finally; the user re-thought as part of a much larger and more complex ecosystem of more-than-human worlds and of cohabitation – a process that decentres the human in the design of collaborative cities.
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
You can find the transcript through this link.
What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in listening to scientists? What do you think about the urgency of actions after scientific proof? How can we use the planetary indicators for better urban futures?
Trailer for episode 256 - interview Marcus Foth, Professor of Urban Informatics at Queensland University of Technology. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, urban visioning, declining cities, opportunities in health-arts-social sciences, doughnut economics, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in individual steps as strengths for the future of cities? What do you think how we can be brave in political decisions for thinking long term? How can we create the right to live in the city for everyone?
Special celebratory episode with a summary of the interview with Emil Melles, civil engineer and my father. We talked about his vision for the future of cities, liveability, accessibility, urban air becoming unbreathable, and many more.
Emil Melles is an accomplished civil engineer with decades of experience in urban development and infrastructure projects across Hungary. Since earning his degree from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 1980, Emil has held various leadership roles and he has been instrumental in overseeing and managing complex projects such as city rehabilitations, flood protection measures, and significant municipal investments. His career is marked by a strong commitment to improving urban environments, ensuring project efficiency, and fostering sustainable development. Emil is also a dedicated family man, music enthusiast, and lifelong learner with a passion for exploring new ideas in his field. And last, but not least, he is my father, so it was especially exciting to interview him about these questions.
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
You can find the transcript through this link.
What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
What did you learn this year from these episodes?
What was the most interesting and important for you?
What would you like to learn more about in the future?
What action did you take after these episodes?
#3 birthday of the podcast!
First and foremost, I would like to thank you all for joining me on this adventure. I am really grateful for your support. And I am especially thankful for my interviewees who took the time to appear on the podcast and share their ideas and insights. Let me give you a summary of what we have achieved and learned throughout this year! So, let’s jump right into it!
As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
And a final question for today:
What action will you take to create a better future for cities, thus humanity?
Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.
(Check out the transcript through this link.)
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
"You are the product of the city you grew up in, but you can accurately shape it and move to different cities."
Are you interested in existential hope? What do you think how are you influenced by the city around you? How can we use foresight to peak into the future?
Interview with Allison Duettmann, the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, longevity, utilitarianism, cloud-first cities, urban diversity and changing behaviours, and many more.
Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize. She advises companies and projects, such as Cosmica, and The Roots of Progress Fellowship, and is on the Executive Committee of the Biomarker Consortium. She holds an MS in Philosophy & Public Policy from the London School of Economics, focusing on AI Safety.
Find out more about Allison through these links:
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in existential hope instead of existential risk?
Summary of the article titled Existential risk and existential hope: Definitions from 2015 by Owen Cotton-Barratt and Toby Ord, published by the Future of Humanity Institute.
This is a great preparation to our next interview with Allison Duettmann in episode 252 talking optimism and existential hope.
Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see the opposite of existential risk in our doom and gloom world. This article presents the existential hope concept, the chance of something extremely good happening.
As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:
You can find the article through this link.
Abstract: We look at the strengths and weaknesses of two existing definitions of existential risk, and suggest a new definition based on expected value. This leads to a parallel concept: ‘existential hope’, the chance of something extremely good happening.
Connecting episode you might be intersted in:
You can find the transcript through this link.
What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in existential hope? What do you think how are you influenced by the city around you? How can we use foresight to peak into the future?
Trailer for episode 252 - interview with Alison Duettmann, the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, longevity, utilitarianism, cloud-first cities, urban diversity and changing behaviours, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in space cities? What do you think about cities versus communities? How can we create great space communities?
The panellists, Dr Anders Sandberg, Xavier de Kestelier and Thomas Gooch talk about their vision for the future of cities and space cities, the ideal size of cities, sports in space, and many more.
Anders Sandberg has a background in computational neuroscience and mathematical modelling, but has for more than a decade worked in the philosophy faculty of University of Oxford doing research on topics such as the ethics and social impact of human enhancement, emerging technology, global catastrophic and existential risks, applied epistemology, and analysing the far future. His research is extremely interdisciplinary, often combines hard science with philosophy, uses quantitative methods to understand qualitative issues, and typically deals with under-researched topics. Anders enjoys academic outreach and policy impact.
Find out more about Anders through these links:
Xavier De Kestelier holds a BArch and MSc in Architectural Engineering from the University of Ghent and an MSc in Urban Design from The Bartlett School of Architecture. He co-headed the Specialist Modelling Group at Foster+Partners, focusing on computational design and digital fabrication, and led the implementation of rapid prototyping technology. Xavier worked with NASA and the ESA on 3D-printed Moon and Mars habitats. Currently, he is the Global Head of Design and Innovation at Hassell Studio, overseeing design and innovation worldwide. He also directs Smartgeometry, a nonprofit organizing international digital design and fabrication workshops. Xavier has taught at the University of Ghent, Syracuse University, and The Bartlett School of Architecture, and is a member of the RIBA.
Find out more about Xavier through these links:
With a background in Landscape Architecture and a multi-scalar practitioner, Thomas Gooch is the Founder of Office of Planetary Observations (OPO), a start-up providing nature data software – powered by AI, for built environment professionals. Innovating in the space industry has also led him to contribute writing a 'Declaration of Rights of the Moon', and OPO building out point cloud analysis technology for ‘sensing’ the Moon.
You can find out more about Thomas through these links:
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
The podcast currently has 309 episodes available.