The Future of Cities

The Future of Cities

Welcome to The Future of Cities, a new podcast from The Mission. In this podcast we dive deep into topics and technology that are vital to creating a better world. Each episode features interviews with industry leading experts including city planners, technology innovators, government officials, architects, builders, and more. A better future won’t happen unless we build it. So hit subscribe and join us as we explore the future of cities.

Episodes

October 15, 2018 1 min

Welcome to The Future of Cities, a new podcast from The Mission. In Season 1, we deep dive into topics and technology that are vital to creating a better world. We will share stories from history and look to science fiction for clues of what lies ahead.

Each episode features interviews with industry leading experts including city planners, technology innovators, government officials, architects, builders, and more.

A better future ...

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We speak with experts from technology, construction, urban planning and more to find the answer to one simple question: What makes a city great?

Answers from: 

(2:35) Deano Roberts (Slack)

(3:55) Grant Geiger (EIR Healthcare)

(4:31) Craig Curtis (Katerra)

(5:06) Trevor Schick (Katerra)

(6:06) Emily Warren (Lime)

(7:24) Laurie Johnson (Urban Planner)

(7:56) Di-Ann Eisnor (Google)

(9:08) Michael Green (MGA)

(10:14) Laura Tam (SPUR)

(...

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There is an unprecedented global housing crisis. How is it affecting our cities? And more importantly, how do we solve it?

(2:23) Measuring the scale of the problem

(4:45) How the housing crisis affects smaller cities

(6:50) How transportation, density, and education affect the housing crisis

(9:00) How housing can lead to fixes in other urban problems

(16:36) Why the next few decades will radically alter cities

(18:29) Why are the...

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October 15, 2018 18 mins

Nearly 90 years ago, the Empire State Building was completed ahead of time and under budget. Now, the average large construction project is 20 months behind schedule and 80% over budget. What happened?

(2:09) How complexity contributes to cost

(5:07) Measuring inefficiency in construction

(7:22) How construction can learn from the tech sector

(11:40) How unique contract structures can encourage collaboration

(16:26) The importance ...

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October 15, 2018 21 mins

Over the past few hundred years, technology has improved at an unprecedented rate. During the same time, construction processes have largely remained the same. Now, that might finally be changing.

(1:34) What is prefabrication and why is it so cost effective?

(3:40) How much prefabrication can decrease cost

(4:52) How prefabricated architecture can change contractor relationships

(11:39) How prefab can reduce regulatory burden

(13:...

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October 15, 2018 21 mins

In the last 100 years, we have gone from the farm to the factory line to the cubicle to the open office plan. What is next?

(2:19) Why workplace design needs to follow from human needs

(3:10) Why workplaces should be beautiful

(5:35) The problems of the open office plan

(8:49) How offices can integrate with the community around them

(14:12) How technology can increase human connections

To learn more about The Future of Cities, visi...

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October 29, 2018 24 mins

Traffic creates pollution, makes us miserable, and even harms our health. And yet most of us accept it as a part of daily life? In this episode, we explore how transportation will change in the future of cities, and what it might mean for the future of traffic.

 

(3:15) How public transit, and buses specifically, will change.

(10:35) How electric bikes and scooters change the way we experience cities.

(13:05) How ride-sharing chang...

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October 30, 2018 18 mins

Currently, more than 50% of the United States population lives in suburbs. So what role will they play in the future of cities? In this episode, we explore how the suburbs arose, what it has meant for our cities, and how they might change as cities do. 

(3:35) The history of suburbanization in Detroit

(8:10) Why people are moving back to cities

(10:15) How cutting down on commutes can transform cities

(13:30) How to nudge people aw...

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Fifty years ago, Lagos, Nigeria was little more than a village. Today, it is one of the five most populous cities in the world, and it is still growing. Accelerated urbanization is creating a situation where megacities like Lagos arise before formal city plans can be laid. In this episode, we explore how city planners are coping with the unprecedented challenges of modern urban planning.

(2:48) Why any city takes time to become gre...

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November 1, 2018 21 mins

Technology is changing at a faster pace than ever before. So how do cities keep up? In this episode we explore how cities can use technological innovation to provide better services for their citizens, and how some cities are already doing so. We also explore why many cities are hiring CIOs for the first time.

 

(1:58) Why many cities might want to hire a CIO.

(5:54) How cities are technology platforms.

(8:53) How cities use techno...

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November 2, 2018 22 mins

Over the past ten episodes, we have heard about technologies, innovations, and ideas that will make cities smarter, happier and more productive places than ever before. So how do we make sure it lasts? In this episode, we explore how cities can interact with the natural environment around them in a positive way.

 

(2:25) What it means to be a sustainable city.

(4:30) How building materials impact sustainability.

(11:10) Measuring e...

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November 8, 2018 49 mins

Trevor Schick is the President of Katerra Materials. In this episode, Trevor talks with our host, Ian, about sustainability in building, how to incentivize change in stagnant businesses, and why you need to be optimizing your materials.

 To learn more about The Future of Cities, visit FutureOfCities.com.

 This podcast is presented by Katerra. Better, faster, lower cost building projects are long overdue. Katerra is applying technol...

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November 15, 2018 57 mins

Ryan Popple is the President and CEO of Proterra, a startup that designs and produces electric buses. Ryan worked at Tesla in the early days and was a partner at Kleiner Perkins where he led clean tech investments in mobility and transportation.

 Ryan explained why public transportation might be free in cities of the future, and how Proterra wants to be a part of that shift. He also explained why some buses are worse for the enviro...

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November 27, 2018 53 mins

Laura Tam is a policy director at SPUR, an organization which focuses on planning and urban research in the San Francisco Bay Area. Laura leads SPUR's policy work on water, energy, climate change, and resilience.

 Laura talked about what it means to be a sustainable city, how to educate the public on sustainability and affordability issues, why urban forests need to be a part of our future, and more.

 To learn more about The Future...

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November 29, 2018 30 mins

On this episode of The Future of Cities, Ian is joined by Zach Scheel. Zach is the CEO of Rhumbix, a data-driven construction technology startup.

Zach discussed why buildings cost so much, and how companies like Rhumbix are aiming to lower those costs by reducing waste. He also talked about how technologies like robotics and smart city connectivity will change construction in the future.

 To learn more about The Future of Cities, v...

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December 4, 2018 36 mins

Will your future hospital stays be more like staying at a luxury hotel? That is something we heard from Grant Geiger. Grant is the founder and CEO of EIR Healthcare, a startup that brings modular construction techniques to healthcare facilities.

In this episode, Grant also talks about how healthcare will be different in cities of the future, and how better hospital construction can actually improve patient outcomes.

 To learn more ...

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December 6, 2018 31 mins

Marty Kooistra is the executive director of The Housing Consortium for Seattle and King County. In this interview, Marty explains why we need to build 96,000 more houses per day, and how we can build more affordably.

To learn more about The Future of Cities, visit FutureOfCities.com.

This podcast is presented by Katerra. Better, faster, lower cost building projects are long overdue. Katerra is applying technology to optimize every ...

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December 11, 2018 45 mins

Clark Manus is the CEO of Heller Manus. In this interview, Clark shares how to plan and design cities when new variables continue to be added. He also shares how building materials are impacting city planning

To learn more about The Future of Cities, visit FutureOfCities.com.

This podcast is presented by Katerra. Better, faster, lower cost building projects are long overdue. Katerra is applying technology to optimize every aspect o...

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December 13, 2018 39 mins

Craig Curtis is the head of architecture at the construction start-up, Katerra. He has an extensive background in innovative architecture.

Craig talked to us about the housing crisis, bringing down the cost of construction, and sustainability in architecture. He also told us how innovations in construction could revitalize resort towns like Jackson Hole.

To learn more about The Future of Cities, visit FutureOfCities.com.

This podca...

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Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake are co-founders of the award-winning architecture firm KieranTimberlake. They are also co-authors of the book Refabricating Architecture.

In this interview, Stephen and James told us how prefabricated architecture will reshape cities of the future and how incentives will need to change in order for innovation to take place.

To learn more about The Future of Cities, visit FutureOfCities.com.

This ...

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