What is The Future for Cities‪?‬ Fanni Melles

"What is my role in mitigating the climate impact?"

Are you interested in the donut economy of cities? What do you think about the city as the outside living room? How can we create proper density?

Interview with Sara Stace, urban shaper, strategic thinker and innovator of cities. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, land use and transport planning, donut economics, professional responsibility, and many more.

Sara Stace is a city shaper who thinks about the interplay between cities, land use and urban transport. She is WSP Australia's Regional Executive for Infrastructure Advisory providing advice on urban policy, economic business cases and decarbonisation. Over the past 25 years, Sara has worked for federal, state and local government, as well as the private sector. This includes six years as Director of National Urban Policy for Infrastructure Australia and leading walking and cycling strategy at Transport for NSW. She has written and co-authored 20 publications including for the United Nations and Australian Government.

Find out more about Sara and her thinking through these links:


Sara Stace on LinkedIn;
@sara_stace as Sara Stace on X;
Cities at WSP;
Sara Stace at WSP;
Sara Stace at Better Streets;
Doughnut for Urban Development - a manual (2023), by Hill-Hansen, Jensen et al, Danish Architectural Press,
Amsterdam City Doughnut | DEAL (doughnuteconomics.org)
Infrastructure Victoria | Victoria's cities must be more compact and….
Publications – Melbourne's challenges in the face of outer suburb growth (sgsep.com.au)
Our home choices (infrastructurevictoria.com.au)
Carbon budgets and new infrastructure development (decarbon8.org.uk)
Transport Sector Note on Applying the World Bank Group Paris Alignment Assessment Methods
Postgrowth City Podcast;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.182 - Interview with Ted Baillieu about professionals to speak up;
No.194 - Interview with Oliver Stoltz about giving streets back to pedestrians

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 translating doughnut economics to urban development?

Summary of the manual titled The Doughnut for Urban Development – A Manual from 2023 by Dani Hill-Hansen and Kasper Guldager Jensen, published in The Danish Architectural Press.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Sara Stace in episode 216 talking about the urban development transformation and highlighting the doughnut as possibility.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see what doughnut economics is and how it can be implemented in urban development. This manual establishes a framework that balances human needs with the Earth’s ecological limits.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:


Doughnut Economics at the heart of urban development can advocate for a balanced approach that meets human needs within ecological limits.
Building urban environments that are socially equitable and ecologically regenerative are critically important, and the manual highlights specific strategies to achieve these goals.
Collective action and innovative practices are needed to steer urban development towards sustainability and equity.

You can find the Manual through this link.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.067R - Theoretical underpinnings of regenerative sustainability;
No.209R - Regenerative economies;

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

Trailer for episode 216 - interview with Sara Stace, urban shaper, strategic thinker and innovator of cities. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, land use and transport planning, donut economics, professional responsibility, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠episode⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠

"How do we make our future civilisation community focused?"

Are you interested in space cities? What do you think about people as the urban nervous system? How can we create better futures with intention?

Interview with Anders Sandberg, Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, smart city, augmented reality, physical laws influencing planning, 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. Anders’ research at the Future of Humanity Institute centres on management of low-probability high-impact risks, estimating the capabilities of future technologies, and very long-range futures. Topics of particular interest include global catastrophic risk, cognitive biases, cognitive enhancement, collective intelligence, neuroethics, and public policy. 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.

Find out more about Anders through these links:


Anders Sandberg on LinkedIn;
@anderssandberg as Anders Sandberg on X;
Anders Sandberg at the Future of Humanity Institute;
Anders Sandberg at University of Oxford;
Anders Sandberg website;
Anders Sandberg on Google Scholar;
Anders Sandberg on Wikipedia;
Anders Sandberg at The Conversation;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.090 - Interview with Professor Matthew McCartney about externalities and economics;
No.111 - Interview with Dave Hakkens about questioning the idea of the city;
No.138 - Interview with Luis Natera about consciously choosing where to live
No.213R - Defence in depth against human extinction: prevention, response, resilience, and why they all matter;

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 risks?

Summary of the article titled Defence in depth against human extinction: prevention, response, resilience, and why they all matter from 2020 by Owen Cotton-Barratt, Max Daniel, and Anders Sandberg, published in the Global Policy journal.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Anders Sandberg in episode 214 talking about the humanity’s existential risks, among others.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see what can jeopardise humanity’s, and thus cities’ future. This article investigates the classification of existential risks to help prepare for those.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:


To effectively manage extinction risks, it's essential to invest in three defence layers: prevention, response, and resilience, ensuring comprehensive risk management across different stages of potential catastrophic events.
Identifying and categorizing the origins and scaling mechanisms of risks, including natural disasters, technological advancements, and human actions, are crucial for developing targeted interventions and policy recommendations.
Strengthening global governance and cooperation among nations, alongside focusing on underlying risk factors such as global interdependencies, is vital for enhancing humanity's overall defences against existential threats.

Check out the article through this link.

Abstract: We look at classifying extinction risks in three different ways, which affect how we can intervene to reduce risk. First, how does it start causing damage? Second, how does it reach the scale of a global catastrophe? Third, how does it reach everyone? In all of these three phases there is a defence layer that blocks most risks: First, we can prevent catastrophes from occurring. Second, we can respond to catastrophes before they reach a global scale. Third, humanity is resilient against extinction even in the face of global catastrophes. The largest probability of extinction is posed when all of these defences are weak, that is, by risks we are unlikely to prevent, unlikely to successfully respond to, and unlikely to be resilient against. We find that it’s usually best to invest significantly into strengthening all three defence layers. We also suggest ways to do so tailored to the classes of risk we identify. Lastly, we discuss the importance of underlying risk factors – events or structural conditions that may weaken the defence layers even without posing a risk of immediate extinction themselves.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.088R - The costs and benefits of environmental sustainability;
No.101R - What we owe the future?;

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 space cities? What do you think about people as the urban nervous system? How can we create better futures with intention?

Trailer for episode 214 - interview with Anders Sandberg, Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, smart city, augmented reality, physical laws influencing planning, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠