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public authorities

Cooking Up Community: Transforming a Town Square into an Open Air Kitchen

This article is part of a paid collaboration between Urban Future and Pop Up City Amsterdam, implemented in the run-up to UF24 in Rotterdam. The featured "recipe", the Open Air Kitchen, is one of...

CityChanger Alice Haugh: A Just Transition Towards Decarbonisation

What does a city of the future look like? For Alice Haugh, it is a regenerative and inclusive built environment that supports wellbeing and equality. In her work with the global philanthropic institution, Laudes...

How Cities Can Shift Power to the Youth

This article was written for CityChangers.org by Dr. Michael Shank, adjunct faculty at New York University and George Mason University. In it, he argues that cities stuck in the business-as-usual rut can hand the...

Six Steps to Decarbonising Buildings

This article was written for CityChangers.org by Irene Garcia, Built Environment Lead, and Michael Shank, Director of Engagement, both with the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance. In it, they outline a six-step plan – illustrated...

A Contributor’s Guide to CityChangers.org

Ready to hit the keys and share your story? Believe us, we’re just as excited as you are! Here’s a little guide on how to structure your knowledge and the story you’re telling, to...

DearNeighbour: Cohesive Communities As the Driving Force of a Just Green Transition

This article was written for CityChangers.org by Eliza Barnea, Policy and Government Affairs Coordinator for IntreVecini, a Bucharest-based non-profit that empowers citizens to lead their own urban improvements. Using residents of urban condominiums as...

Are Public Festivals Damaging Urban Parks?

Because of the population density, cities are a concentration of the best and worst of everyday human behaviour. Nowhere is this more evident than at celebrations that infringe on urban parks. With the warmer weather of...

#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 even cities can aspire to. But what does it look...

How Cities Can Build with Timber… Responsibly

Biobased materials can deliver buildings that are both low-carbon and fit residents’ needs: robust, resilient, and pleasant to be in. They can allow us to ‘partner’ with the natural world too, supporting the forest...

Urban Design Lessons We Must Learn from Communities in the Global South

Implementing spatial changes that benefit citizens isn’t a straightforward process. In many cities, there’s not a process for it at all! Or is there? The case of Muscat, in Oman, shows us that it...

Green Finance Institute: Accelerating Retrofits Through Investment

Retrofitting Europe’s built environment would drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and position us closer to climate goals. It’s a tantalisingly tangible but costly outlook, and progress is slow. To change this, the Green Finance...

A Just Transition: Raising Workers’ Rights in the Built Environment’s Transformation

As the construction and manufacturing industries undergo a transformation to new and better ways of delivering the built spaces we need, a hidden majority is often overlooked: the sector’s workers. It’s right that we...

#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 our mistakes. Recognising this, Gerald Babel-Sutter set out to unite urban...

Train Drain: Why We Shouldn’t (Always) Travel Sustainably

Sustainability needs a warning label. The somewhat tongue in cheek Godwin’s law suggests that in any online discussion going on long enough, someone will make a comparison with the Nazis. In a similar way, it...

How to Create Water-Sensitive Cities

With water flowing in from beyond the city boundaries, how can we realistically keep it in check? The International Water Association’s 17 principles for water-wise cities may hold the answer. In this article, we...

Infrastructural Changes for Pedestrians: What to Consider

Changing the infrastructure is never an easy task. A lot of thought goes into designing an efficient transport system – but does it consider all modes of transport? Learn about the most important elements...

#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 tune-up. Citizens’ Assemblies – a sort of lottery promising better representation...

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...