The CityChangers Podcast

We sit down with Marco te Brömmelstroet and Adrian Fratila from the Just Streets project to talk about what justice has to do with city streets, how to deal with the naysayers, and whether the Dutch urban mobility model is really the one cities should be aspiring to. You can find out more about the project here: https://www.just-streets.eu/ Featuring: Marco te Brömmelstroet, Adrian Fratila

How did Seoul turn a backed-up expressway into a tranquil urban stream? We take a look at the landmark Cheonggyecheon River Restoration project and ask why, almost 20 year later, this peaceful pocket in the middle of the city is still so beloved. Featuring: Meggie Yu, Dr Soo Hong Noh

How truly public are our public spaces? In this episode, we take a look at the rise of ‘defensive urbanism’ in our cities and ask what it would take to stop designing people out of public space and start designing them back in. Featuring: Cara Chellew, Rebecca Rutt, Kenneth Balfelt

In our throwaway culture, binning a broken object and buying a replacement is often the easiest, and cheapest, solution. But the take-make-waste economy has serious costs – for the environment and also for the community. So, what would the alternative look like? We visit a repair café in Graz, Austria, to understand what it means to give an item a new lease of life, and why it often pays to repair rather than simply recycle. Featuring: Heimo Hartlieb, Andreas Höfler, Steven Toast

Life goes on after the sun goes on, so why should our cities stop? With more cities around the world creating night offices and appointing night mayors – we take a look at the potential (and the pitfalls) involved in government after dark, and ask who should the night-time really belong to? Featuring: Jess Reia, Mathieu Grondin *The interview with Mathieu Grondin that features in this episode was recorded before his appointment as Ottawa’s Nightlife Commissioner.

Why do we fear failure? Sustainability is an iterative process. There are no shortcuts. But in a world focussed on success, we often hide from our mistakes. Recognising this, Gerald Babel-Sutter set out to unite urban change-makers in an environment where they could confidently share their pitfalls, problems, and brick walls. The idea caught on. What started out as a workshop for around 50 people quickly grew into a full-blown conference – and stories of prominent eff-ups are a real mainstay. Featuring: Gerald Babel-Sutter, Maria Vassilakou

Moving an entire city? It’s not science fiction. Faced with an existential crisis, the city of Kiruna, in Sweden, is being relocated approximately three kilometres away from where it was founded – brick by brick. The whole process raises some interesting questions: how exactly do you undertake such a massive task? What do you bring with you from the old city? What do you build from scratch? And what can other cities learn from the experience – the ones that are staying put? Featuring: Brenda Cooper, Johanna Lindgren Ringholt, Peter Pääjärvi, Viktoria Walldin, Krister Lindstedt

What would a city designed entirely by children look like? And what could it tell us about the cities we live in now – the good things and the bad? Academic Christina Ergler's research into pre-school aged children and the urban environment has some surprising insights for the experts (and the adults) who make the big decisions about our cities, as well as some instructive lessons in better listening. Featuring: Christina Ergler

With declining rates of civic engagement across cities around the world, Kiel, in Germany, is taking a unique approach to improving participation – by putting it on wheels! The Tiny Townhall is a world-first project that brings city government out of the stuffy buildings we’re used to and back to the citizens. And, in a time when bigger is often better, this small solution is having an outsized impact, inside and outside city hall. Featuring: Sophie Mirpourian (formerly with Anscharcampus), Anne Czichowski, Annette Wiese-Krukowska

This episode focuses on how cities like Rotterdam are looking skywards for solutions to housing shortages, climate change and more.