Urban Exchange: Cities on the Frontlines Urban Exchange

As the risks from climate change increase, public school infrastructure in our cities and communities is under threat from natural hazards. It may not be a subject we often think about in connection to education in our cities, but it is regardless a critical issues – one that impacts our children’s present as well as their future.
On this episode of the Urban Exchange, host Francis Ghesquiere from the World Bank welcomes Fernando Ramirez Cortez, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist at the World Bank, and Vivian Argueta Bernal, Chief Resilience Office for the Chamber of Commerce in Cali, Colombia.
Together, they take us through the importance of resilient school infrastructure in the face of disaster risk and climate change, providing a working definition of what is meant by infrastructure in this context, before demonstrating the impacts that natural disasters are already having on education, emphasising the 175 million children falling victim to natural disasters every year.
Further, we find out about the World Bank’s Global Program for Safer Schools (GPSS) and how it has established a roadmap for cities to build more resilient schools. Here, we find out about the scale of the programme across 30 countries and 550,000 schools worldwide, the work the programme has done to date, and the impact that’s having on cities, infrastructure, and, most importantly, students.
Specifically, we discover how the programme has extended into Cali’s schools and how it has benefitted the community so far. Beyond that, we also hear how the roadmap has supported Cali in its strategic development to date, given that it lies within an earthquake zone, and the lessons that can be learnt outside education when it comes to infrastructure.

The Urban Exchange welcomes back Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, to talk Cop27 and climate finance.
The latest episode of the Urban Exchange Podcast sees Resilient Cities Network’s Lauren Sorkin in conversation with Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, to uncover some of the key takeaways from Cop27, how the conference compared to Cop26, and the critical role of finance in climate action.
We begin with Susan’s thoughts on how Cop27 compared in terms of its outcomes to the Glasgow-hosted Cop26 in 2021, as she explains the various ways in which the conference moved the dial on climate action in some ways, yet fell short in others. Susan also explains why every new edition of Cop now needs to represent a defining moment in climate action, such is the urgency required to combat the changing climate.
There’s also discussion of the types of systems and infrastructure that cities require as they redouble their efforts on climate action, with Susan going into detail about how Glasgow’s green deal sets out to achieve these changes. Here, she discusses the importance of having a plan in the first place to be able to better communicate intentions with citizens, and also with investors.
Following on from this, Susan goes into detail about the disruptive economic impacts of the climate crisis without adequate action and the need to investors and private sector to get on board with what cities are trying to achieve, and how they themselves will be reliant on this to become resilient themselves, as well as making their city more resilient in turn.
With this in mind, Susan explains the latest steps that the city of Glasgow has taken to achieve some of these goals, such as the appointment of a new Green Economy Manager, and shares some of the successes the city has had that others might be able to take with them on their own climate action journeys.

The latest episode of the Urban Exchange brings together the principal authors of the World Bank’s latest extensive report on urban climate to discuss the 10 key findings.
Hosted by World Bank’s Francis Ghesquiere, Head of the Secretariat for the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction & Recovery (GFDRR), the Urban Exchange welcomes World Bank economists Megha Mukim and Mark Roberts as its latest guests to discover the key insights from Thriving – Making cities green, resilient and inclusive in a changing climate – a study of the impact of climate change on more than 10,000 cities worldwide.
Listen to the episode in full to discover the surprises in the findings and the actions that can be recommended to cities off the back them.

Preview: In part two of our conversation with Monica Barone, CEO of the City of Sydney, we discover the changing nature of city relationships with citizens, how that can shape resilience and climate action, and lead to more equitable and inclusive communities.

The part one of the latest episode of the Urban Exchange sees Monica Barone, CEO of the City of Sydney, in conversation with Jeff Risom to understand how the nature of resilience is changing, and how Monica and the city are adapting.
The new Urban Exchange Episode takes an in-depth look at the ways the City of Sydney is approaching urban resilience, from engaging with citizens to encouraging proactivity in the community.
In the first half of a two-part episode, our guest Monica Barone explains how the city’s response to climate has been shaped by the will of the people who live, work and play in the city, with a panel for community engagement stretching back 15 years. We hear how the community’s concerns reflect those of the city and its government, what measures needed to be adopted to take action on the changing climate, and how the public’s desire to see change has shaped the Sustainable Sydney plan.
Part two of our conversation with Monica will be available on 11th of October 2022– be sure to subscribe today to ensure you don’t miss out.

Preview: The latest episode of the Urban Exchange brings together Mayor of Medellín Daniel Quintero with Leading Cities’ Mike Lake to discuss the advance of urban resilience in Colombia’s second-largest city.





 



The new Urban Exchange takes an in-depth look at how Medellín has been led through times of strain in the pandemic by Mayor Quintero, and how it is now emerging as a more resilient and robust city.
Mayor Quintero explains what opportunities he sees for the city to build further resilience during its recovery from Covid-19, and how resilience is a critical part of addressing climate change in cities and beyond. He details the ways in which response to the pandemic and the climate crisis, judged by the ways in which citizens and communities are looking for answers on both fronts, are so closely linked and interconnected.
Maintaining focus on climate action and environmental solutions, Mike probes further into the ways that city leaders in Medellín are seeking to make it Latin America’s first eco-city. The mayor details how becoming an eco-city is key to driving resilience forwards and how that objective can help the city to find solutions to some of its more pressing and complex societal issues. As part of those solutions, we also hear about the city’s plans to launch the Metro De La 80 by 2027, as Mayor Quintero explains how the metro will improve transport access for communities and create a more resilient and equitable city.
As the city’s youngest mayor to date, we also find out how the mayor’s experiences have been shaped by his engagement with the community – especially the younger generation – and how building communities around important issues can drive progress towards urban and climate resilience forwards at a quicker pace