Portraits of Urban Shapers

Looking for project ideas, advice, and solutions to the tricky challenges your city faces in becoming more sustainable? Our CityChangers’ profiles have what you’re looking for! These are the stories of the people leading the transition that we need in urban spaces. We feature some of the world’s most prominent thinkers and doers in the realms of change-making. From planners to politicians, from activists to architects, and from horticulturalists to housing specialists, our CityChangers represent the many diverse professions and passions that promise to transform our cities.

CityChangers in Conversation

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Jacob Hartmann – Getting Citizens to Do the Job | CityChangers in Conversation

Jacob Hartmann, Senior Advisor at Sharing Copenhagen, talks about getting started, building trust, and getting the youth on board.
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Marieke Snoek & Walther Ploos van Amstel – How to Win the Delivery Race | CityChangers in Conversation

Marieke Snoek and Walther Ploos van Amstel, Owner and CEO at Cycloon & Fietskoeriers, Zwolle, give an insight into city logistics and trends like cargo bikes, discussing urgent needs and hidden potentials in cities.

Yann Moszynski – How to Help People Get on Their Bikes | CityChangers in Conversation

Yann Moszynski, Co-Founder & Art-Director of Les Rookies, Paris, talks with us about urban mobility, cycling and getting started.

Anna Huttunen – How to Deal with the Difficult Ones | CityChangers in Conversation

Anna Huttunen, Project Manager of CitiCap, Lathi, Finland talks with us about urban mobility and how to communicate efficiently.

Inspiring CityChanger Portraits

CityChanger Balin Koyunoglu: Creating Resilient Cities Through Rewilding

Humans and wildlife have much in common. Urban sprawl deprives both of the resources, protection, and environmental stability that the natural world offers. Rewilding cities can reverse these fortunes. We explore what’s to gain...

What Went Wrong with the Paris Referendum On E-Scooters?

Micromobility has an image problem. In Paris, a mix of poor planning and bad user habits came to a head as the public voted for e-scooters to be banned. Mobility expert Dagmara Wrzesińska’s outspoken...

CityChanger Katharina Schätz: How Positive Energy & Fighting Fear Enable Change-Making

In the world of sustainability, there’s an assumption that we all want the same change. Even for those of us who share this mindset, behaviours often don’t match, which can stall positive transitions. Katharina...

CityChanger Max Schade: Building a Future of Straw, Wood & Clay

With public demand for sustainability snowballing, it’s inevitable every sector will undergo a green transformation. Construction, however, may not be as advanced as we thought. Max Schade from STROHBOID acts as our guide today,...

CityChanger Panchali Saikia: Guardian of Urban Water Governance

Water democracy has implications for health, safety, and life opportunities. Nowhere is this more apparent than among the large informal settlements in Indian cities. This is where the work of Panchali Saikia makes a...

CityChanger Safaa Charafi: Creating Fair & Sustainable Cities with Intersectionality

Cities aren’t inclusive. It’s evident in how they’re laid out, the policies that govern us, and the mindsets of inhabitants. There’s a way to change this. Mainstreaming gender and intersectionality results in more inclusive,...

CityChanger Chris Kaiser: Putting the Elephant into Entrepreneurship

What links an elephant habitat and sustainable cities? Today we’re challenging the way we look at urban sustainability by standing at the vantage point of outwards looking in – from the forest to the...

CityChanger Melina Scholefield: The Secrets of Vancouver’s Rain City Strategy

Vancouver has undergone a blue-green infrastructure revolution. Its Rain City Strategy integrated nature making the city more resilient to fluctuations in rainfall. Behind it all is Melina Scholefield, a CityChanger with an impressive portfolio...

CityChanger Ronni Kahn: Don’t Waste Food – Use It Up!

While people go hungry, there’s no justification for food waste – itself a massive contributor to destructive climate change emissions. What began as a one-woman mission to redistribute unwanted food has become a global...

CityChanger Vincent Lee: Managing Water with Green Infrastructure

Few firms have the level of recognition that Arup enjoys. This has given Vincent Lee the chance to work on an impressive array of projects since joining the New York office in 2006. He...

Maptionnaire: A Smart Lesson in Democratising Engagement the Fun Way

Public participation matters. It brings democracy and diverse perspectives to city design. But it can be difficult to get right. Smart technology hands us new opportunities for engagement. Today we learn about one of...

Preventing Day Zero: Lessons from Cape Town

Day Zero: the moment a city’s water dries up completely. For Cape Town, this deadly scenario came too close, but it was averted thanks to collective action and decisive leadership. This story serves as...