THE JUST CITY

10/05/21 • 48 min

Rob Stokes has shown leadership of a kind which many internationally will look to around two key initiatives. One is the fact that he deliberately added ‘and public spaces’ to his title as Planning Minister because of his own passion to ensure that the communities he serves have access to sufficient high quality public space – with streets also seen as shared spaces for walkers not just as conduits for cars - and because he knows that having such access was already becoming a key part of the social license to grow our cities before Covid: Covid has added to the importance of public space because of its obvious role in promoting public health and liveability. Minister Stokes other initiative may be even more important: his department and indeed the government has placed a focus on ‘place’ as a key organising principle for all public agencies of in a way that might be unique on the international stage. Join Rob and Tim for an important conversation on life post Covid.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

CITIES OF INNOVATION

Greg Clark is the doyen of international urbanists. He has over 30 years built up a reputation as a go-to thought-leader and analyst on cities, having by now worked in and for more than 300 of them world-wide. Professor Clark is Group Advisor, Future Cities & New Industries at HSBC, one of the world’s leading banks, with his advice sought by governments at all levels and leaders of industry and commerce across 67 countries and 400 cities. He is Chair of the Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership and he is on the Board of Transport for London and chairs its Investment Committee. In this deeply insightful talk on cities and Covid, Greg sets out the evidence – his reasoned optimism – that though some cities have been deeply challenged by Covid, they will, as they always have done, reinvent themselves. The future is still urban and indeed as Greg points out, some parts of the world have not seen any slowdown in their urbanisation, with China firmly on a path to 65% of its population being urban by 2025 and with Africa now having many of the fastest-growing cities on the planet. Cities remain central to our human future and the core drivers of creativity and innovation. But they are changing and COVID has accelerated that evolution. Join Greg Clark and Tim Williams for a fascinating discussion on what this means for us all.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

CITIES OF PURPOSE

Episode 5 of The Grimshaw Podcast ‘The City Series’ features Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, Jess Scully. Hosted by Grimshaw’s Cities Initiative Lead, Dr. Tim Williams, Episode 5 explores Jess’s motivation to move Australia from an extraction economy to a knowledge and creative economy, and her senior leadership role in Australia’s largest city during a time of crisis.

Prior to entering politics, Jess was a curator of Sydney’s VIVID Festival which rapidly became the most important event in the winter calendar with its associated program of cultural and thought leadership talks which explored the context of Sydney’s urban situation. So, who better to be elected in 2019 as Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney?

Having changed the face of civic politics by advocating for and empowering those who were previously not involved, encouraging them to have a say and to participate in the life of their city, Jess is connecting people with creativity, and preparing communities to take advantage of opportunities. Jess focuses on several key issues in the community including the revitalisation and growth of Sydney’s night-time economy, exploring new models to address the housing crisis, nurturing a transition to the workforces and workplaces of the future, and protecting our digital rights in the public realm.

Committed to opening up local politics to younger and diverse individuals to expand who plays a role in shaping the life of the city, Jess is also an author of Glimpses of Utopia which dissects how society is rising up to confront our challenges in the world with creativity, resilience and compassion and how harnessing technology and imagination can reshape our world to be fair and sustainable.

Join Tim and Jess for a critical conversation on the future of Sydney’s creative industries and what this means for Sydney’s CBD in the context of a pandemic.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.