The countryside is for the birds

Forget the dystopian images of overcrowded, polluting cities. When urban life is well-planned and well-managed it’s better for the environment than country living.

We all know the dystopian image of city life—smog, roads jammed with traffic, high prices and noise. Listen to this installment of our myth-busting show to find out:

·        Where did cities come from? What were the instincts that first drove us to live close together? And are these reasons still valid today?

·        Where did cities mess up? (Where did the dystopian image of cities as places with a low quality of life come from?)

·        What is mixed planning and is it an entirely good thing? (No mixed reviews at all!)

·        How country living is expensive for society and creates social isolation.

·        Why urban sprawl is the real monster we should fear—not life in well-planned, well-managed, compact towns.

·        And how deserting the countryside can actually be a boon for nature.

At the European Investment Bank, we have all kinds of experts who can challenge the assumptions, notions and prejudices we all have about anything from climate to cybercrime, and from healthcare to education.

On this episode, our guests are Brendan McDonagh from the European Investment Advisory Hub, a partnership between the EIB and the European Commission, EIB’s senior urban development specialist Grzegorz Gajda, and Stefanie Lindenberg, coordinator for the Natural Capital Finance Facility at the EIB – and some random people we approached in Luxembourg to find out how they feel about living in the city, or whether they’d rather be anywhere else.

All throughout the episodes we’ll be tackling those myths and fears to identify people and projects that are taking a more rational approach—which is good for our economy and our society.

Talking of rational, it makes sense to subscribe to Monster Under the Bed on your phone’s podcast app. This way you won’t miss any episodes. We’re also very grateful if you rate and review us – that helps others find the podcast. And you can suggest myths to bust and monsters to slay by tagging me on Twitter – I’m @AllarTankler.

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