S7E9: "If You Want to Hear From 14-Year-Olds, Bring Pizza" — How Real Public Engagement Actually Works, with Gil Penalosa of 8 80 Cities

About this episode

Gil Penalosa discusses the importance of real public engagement in urban planning and the challenges cities face in implementing effective community involvement.

At ten, Gil Penalosa tried to convince his parents to let him quit school and turn pro. He was ranked second in tennis in Colombia. The catch: 99% of tennis in Colombia was played in private clubs — and Gil's family wasn't a member of any. He played on a public park court across from his house, and routinely beat the wealthy kids on their own courts. You can see the rest of the life unfolding from there. Former Parks Commissioner of Bogotá, where he helped build more than 1,000 new parks and grew the Cyclovía program from 17 km to 130 km — now adopted in 350+ cities worldwide. Founder of 8 80 Cities. Two-term chair of World Urban Parks. Runner-up in the 2022 Toronto mayoral race after entering 100 days out and pulling 100,000 votes against an entrenched political establishment. In this episode — recorded in person at the Toronto Botanical Gardens during the Urban Ravine Summit, where I'd just delivered the opening keynote — Gil and I dig into what cities already know how to do, and the courage most are missing to actually do it. We talk about why public engagement is broken in most cities, and what real listening looks like (hint: it involves pizza, juice, and a school at 3…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Nadina Galle

Guest: Gil Penalosa

Topics covered

• public engagement
• urban planning
• equity in cities
• community involvement
• urban parks
• transportation
• youth engagement

Keywords

• public engagement
• urban parks
• Gil Penalosa
• 8 80 Cities
• community
• equity
• transportation
• youth
• Toronto
• Bogotá

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: 8 80 Cities

Places: Colombia, Bogotá, Toronto

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