Resilient Cities

Across the globe, cities are growing at an unprecedented rate and are now home to the majority of the world’s population. By 2050, it’s estimated that two out of three people worldwide will live in cities.

They are engines of growth, but also fragile places, where the pressures of population density are keenly felt. Global emissions reached an all-time high in 2018, and the air above cities such as Delhi is growing ever more polluted. 

The global temperature rise caused by those emissions is also exacerbated in urban areas. City dwellers suffer the dangers of extreme heat, while droughts will become common and sustained as the mercury rises.

Ageing infrastructure is also under pressure from growing population. Transit networks need updating to carry ever greater numbers. Buildings and infrastructure need to be updated and strengthened to withstand the impact of increasingly regular extreme weather events. 

This podcast will examine the state of cities worldwide and the challenges facing them. In Asia, we’ll look closer at the issue of ever-growing urban problems of crowding, transit and pollution. In North America, we’ll find out how Miami is facing an immediate threat from rising sea levels caused by climate change. And in Europe, we’ll investigate how Athens is trying to protect itself against the potentially fatal effects of extreme heat.