The CityChangers Podcast

Join us for the most inspirational stories of urban change-making from around the globe.

The CityChangers Podcast brings you a fresh story from the world of urban sustainability every two weeks.

In each episode, we share the stories you won’t hear anywhere else and hear from the people making a real difference in their urban environment – for people, places, and the environment.

Our guests tell us about the challenges they’ve faced and the lessons they’ve learnt. They share their how-to advice based on real-life experiences that will help you, too, become an exemplary CityChanger.

🎧 Listen to each of the episodes here or find The CityChangers Podcast on your favourite podcast provider. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode.

The CityChangers Podcast #19: Just Streets

We sit down with Marco te Brömmelstroet and Adrian Fratila from the Just Streets project to talk about what justice has to do with...

The CityChangers Podcast #18: Cities of Making

Urban Future’s Karl Dickinson is in conversation with Adrian Hill, a social designer and lead researcher for the Cities of Making project, talking about...

The CityChangers Podcast #17: Heart & Seoul

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...

The CityChangers Podcast #16: Why Politics Needs Young People 

Urban Future’s Cornelia Forsthuber-Aumayr talks to Maral Koohestanian – former Young Leader and now the youngest ever Deputy Mayor for the city of Wiesbaden,...

The CityChangers Podcast #15: Defensive Urbanism – Who’s Defending Whom?

How truly public are our public spaces? In this episode, we take a look at the rise of ‘defensive urbanism’ in our cities and...

The CityChangers Podcast #14: Haus der Statistik

You’ve been pushing your city to make some changes for years. So, what happens when they suddenly reach across the aisle and give you...

The CityChangers Podcast #13: Cake, Brew and Mend

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...

The CityChangers Podcast #12: The Gendered City

After centuries in charge, men have made a mess of our cities! Gender bias is present in almost every element of urban planning and design,...

The CityChangers Podcast #11: Night, Gov!

Life goes on after the sun goes down, so why should our cities stop? With more cities around the world creating night offices and appointing...

The CityChangers Podcast #10: The Resilient City

‘Resilience’ has become something of a buzzword these days – not just in terms of a desirable personality trait but also something companies and...

The CityChangers Podcast #9: Honest Mistakes

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...

The CityChangers Podcast #8: Citizens, Assemble!

Elected officials make decisions that affect millions of people, but beyond voting every few years, what say do citizens really have? Maybe democracy needs a...

The CityChangers Podcast #7: How to Move a City

How do you go about relocating an entire city? The community of Swedish city Kiruna has grown up around the biggest local employer - a...

The CityChangers Podcast #6: The Tada Manifesto

How can we ensure that a ‘smart city’ is also a fair, diverse and ethical one? We talk to Douwe Schmidt from the city of...

The CityChangers Podcast #5: The Unlikely Urban Planners

What would a city designed entirely by children look like? And what could it tell us about the cities we live in now –...

The CityChangers Podcast #4: Orange Sky

Turning big ideas into reality is what CityChangers do. But what happens when, against the odds, you finally achieve your goal? What next? Nicholas Marchesi, of...

The CityChangers Podcast #3: The Tiny Town Hall

One city in Germany takes a unique approach to civic participation. With declining rates of local democratic engagement around the world, Keil has teamed up...

The CityChangers Podcast #2: The Slow Lane

What links pedestrian crossings in Chicago, USA, with the Sydney Opera House in Australia? Sascha Haselmayer's surprising story provides an unexpected answer to this unusual...

The CityChangers Podcast #1: Rotterdam Rooftops

Facing their fair share of challenges on the ground (from housing shortages to climate change) cities like Rotterdam are looking skywards for solutions –...