Future Cities · Sustainability, Energy, Innovation, Climate Change, Transport, Housing, Work, Circular Economy, Education & Environmental Solutions

If you live in a city, you’ve probably had that moment in the middle of the night. You hear a scratching in the walls, or you catch the glowing eyes of a raccoon peering out from a dumpster, and for a second, the concrete world feels a lot less 'controlled' than we like to pretend. We’ve been taught to think of cities as 'biological deserts'—places where nature goes to die. But my guest today, Dan Werb, says that’s a myth we tell ourselves to feel safe. Dan is an award-winning epidemiologist and a musician, and in his new book, Our Wild Familiars, he explores the 'synanthropes'—the wild creatures that aren't our pets, but aren't quite strangers either. They are the coyotes, the bats, and even the octopuses that are learning to use our cities as laboratories for their own rapid evolution. He’s also the author of The Invisible Siege and City of Omens.(0:02) The unexpected biodiversity of urban areas and wild familiars(1:18) What is a Synanthrope?(4:15) The Myth of the Biological Desert(8:04) The Ancestral Bond between early humans, ravens, and foxes(9:15) Crows and Grudges(12:42) Stepping Stones in the Concrete(14:20) The Epidemiological Triangle(17:58) The Illusion of AI Connection(19:56) The Museum of MemoryEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“Architecture should bring a true sensation of wellbeing. We were really lucky to experience that as children, and now as architects, we try to bring all that we learned into our practice.”Salwa and Selma Mikou are the founders of Paris-based Mikou Architecture. Born in Fez, Morocco and educated in Paris, they have spent the last two decades reimagining the relationship between the built environment and the cultural landscape.After honing their craft under two of the world’s most iconic architects, Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano, they founded their own studio. For them, architecture is a living interaction with landscape and what they call the Atlas of Resonance, interpreting the hidden layers of a territory, geology, memory, and craft. It is a philosophy that rejects the generic, seeking instead to weave together technological innovation with local materials. Whether it is a mosque in the north of England or a hybrid innovation hub in a former royal manufactory, their work asks a fundamental question: How does space shape the way we think, learn and remember?They were selected by Rem Koolhaas to represent Morocco at the Venice Biennale. Most recently, they were commissioned by Hermès to create a 17,000-square-meter facility that bridges industrial performance with poetic expression. At the heart of their practice is a belief that architecture is not just about building—it’s about shaping relationships: between people, between past and future, between technology and craft.(0:04) The Intuitive Knowledge of Living Art(4:24) The Medina and the Geometry of Childhood(8:18) The Social Spaces of Rooftops(13:46) The Intuitive Knowledge of Living Art(15:31) Contextual Echoes & Traces of the Site(19:18) The Twin Dynamic and Confrontation with 'l'autre'(26:42) The Temples of Water(33:24) The Mosque as Pure Spatiality(38:01) The Crisis Period and Structural Systems(48:24) Building Culture with Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Bergé(51:38) The Wast ed-dar (وسط الدار) and the Heart of a Building(57:02) Preserving the Human Core of Expression(1:04:29) Urban Acupuncture in the Modern City(1:08:46) The Smells and Sounds of Home(1:10:02) Balance, Nature, and SisterhoodEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

Why does our economy treat environmental destruction as an inevitable side effect rather than a massive design flaw? How can shifting our focus from polarizing "talkers" to practical "builders" literally save the planet? We are repeatedly told that the climate crisis is too vast and volatile to solve, but what if the true obstacle is simply bad design?Tom Chi is a physicist, designer, inventor, and investor whose work has shaped everything from Google Glass and rapid prototyping at Google X to some of the most ambitious climate technologies being built today. He’s now the founding partner of At One Ventures, where he invests in deep-tech companies focused on a bold goal: a world where humanity is a net positive to nature.Tom’s new book, Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future, reframes economics itself—not as a fixed law, but as a design discipline that can be reimagined to align with the physical realities of our planet. Drawing on science, systems thinking, and lessons from nature, the book offers a grounded, practical framework for moving beyond both climate doom and empty optimism—and toward real, regenerative solutions. Today’s conversation is about what Tom calls the 4Cs: Capital, Compassion, Climate, and Community—but also about agency, responsibility, and what becomes possible when we stop treating the future as something that happens to us and start designing it deliberately.0:00) Build Integrity: Choosing Builders Over TalkersWhy prioritizing those who physically create solutions over those who merely debate them is essential for systemic change(1:21) Overcoming Powerlessness Through Creativity, Critical Thinking, Community CompassionUtilizing a specific framework of portable skills to move from climate anxiety into meaningful, iterative action(2:22) Capital Misallocation: Taxing What We Want to SeeA critique of current tax structures that burden labor while under-taxing capital and failing to serve societal needs(3:47) The Volatility Gap: Why Average Temperatures MisleadUnderstanding why increasing climate volatility—rather than just average temperature rise—is the true driver of human distress(6:19) Economics As Design: Redesigning The Global EngineMoving beyond "physics envy" in economics to treat the global market as a discipline that can be redesigned for better outcomes(9:11) Depth Over Breadth: Reforming Education Through Experience(13:30) Local Resilience: How Cities Can Lead The TransformationPractical, block-by-block strategies for urban adaptation, from expanding tree canopies to improving household efficiency(16:33) AI and Robotics in Agriculture(19:12) Human-Centric AI: Flipping The Priority Of Automation(20:18) Thinking In Pictures: A Language Beyond WordsEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I'm really interested in the relation between performance and ritual. Where do those two separate?”Richard Sennett grew up in the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago, attended the Juilliard School in New York, and then studied social relations at Harvard. Over the last five decades, he has written about social life in cities, changes in labour, and social theory. His books include The Performer: Art, Life, Politics, The Hidden Injuries of Class, The Fall of Public Man, The Corrosion of Character, The Culture of the New Capitalism, The Craftsman, and Building and Dwelling. Sennett has advised the United Nations on urban issues for the past thirty years and currently serves as member of the UN Committee on Urban Initiatives. He is the Centennial Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and former University Professor of the Humanities at New York University.“I want to show what is kind of the basic DNA that people use for good or for ill. What are the tools they use, if you like, of expression that they use in the creative process?”Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“Today, someone is putting the finishing touches on a machine-­ learning algorithm that will change the way you relate to your family. Someone is trying to design a way to communicate with animals in their own language. Someone is designing a gene that alters bacteria to turn your poop bright blue when it’s time to see the doctor. Someone is cleaning up the mess someone else left behind seventy years ago yesterday. Today, someone just had an idea that will end up saving one thing while it harms another…To be a maker in this moment—­ to be a human today—­ is to collaborate with the world. It is to create and be created, to work and be worked on, to make and be made. To be human is to tinker, create, fix, care, and bring new things into the world. It is to design. You—­ yes, you!—­ might design products or policy, services or sermons, production lines or preschool programs. You might run a business, make art, or participate in passing out meals to the poor. You may write code or pour concrete, lobby for endangered species legislation or craft cocktails. Wherever you fit in, you are part of shaping the world. This is design work.”– Assembling TomorrowA Guide to Designing a Thriving FutureScott Doorley is the Creative Director at Stanford's d. school and co author of Make Space. He teaches design communication and his work has been featured in museums and architecture and urbanism and the New York Times. Carissa Carteris the Academic Director at Stanford's d. schooland author of The Secret Language of Maps. She teaches courses on emerging technologies and data visualization and received Fast Company and Core 77 awards for her work on designing with machine learning and blockchain.  Together, they co authored Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future.www.scottdoorley.comwww.snowflyzone.comhttps://dschool.stanford.edu/www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/623529/assembling-tomorrow-by-scott-doorley-carissa-carter-and-stanford-dschool-illustrations-by-armando-veve/www.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

“So cities are amazing. Now, why are they amazing? Well, there's one aspect that relates to some of the work that my lab does on human social interactions, which is the main focus of what my lab does. We look at the mathematical, biological, psychological, and social underpinnings and consequences of human social interactions...As the size of the population grows, the combinatorial complexity, the network complexity rises superlinearly. So a city that's 10 times the size has a hundred times as many social possible social connections. And it's the social connections between people that lead to the creation of new ideas, people mixing and bumping into each other with different occupations and different business ideas, and different ways of life. So one of the ideas about cities is that they are these creative places and, as they get bigger and bigger, they get more and more creative. That's just one thought that connects networks to cities in the 21st century”Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is a social scientist and physician who conducts research in the areas of biosocial science, network science and behavioral genetics. He directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University and is the co-director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. Dr. Christakis has authored numerous books, including Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society published in 2019 and Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live published in 2020. In 2009, Christakis was named by TIME magazine to their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.Nicholas Christakis humannaturelab.net/people/nicholas-christakisHuman Nature Lab: humannaturelab.netYale Institute for Network Science yins.yale.edusociology.yale.edu/people/nicholas-christakisBlueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We LiveTRELLIS - Suite of software tools for developing, administering, and collecting survey and social network data: trellis.yale.edu.The Atlantic: “How AI Will Rewire Us: For better and for worse, robots will alter humans’ capacity for altruism, love, and friendship”www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/robots-human-relationships/583204/www.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org