In our final episode of Season 1, we ask our urban experts ‘what does The DNA of Cities not yet explain about how cities evolve?’ We debate the limits of The DNA of Cities and what it is that cannot be explained using this way of exploring, conceptualising and understanding urban identity.  Thank you to Professor Michele Acuto, A/Professor Ellie Cosgrave, Gabriella Gómez-Mont, Professor Edgar Pieterse, Dr Jaana Remes, Dr Karissa Sanbonmatsu and Geerte Udo for joining us in this episode. We...

This is the first of two concluding episodes to our bumper first season of The DNA of Cities. We return to the urban experts we spoke to at the very beginning of this season to understand how, and why, The DNA of Cities might be used. With special thanks to Professor Michele Acuto, Professor Ricky Burdett CBE, Alice Charles, Gabriella Gómez-Mont, Dr Shi Nan, Professor Edgar Pieterse, Dr Jaana Remes, Professor Pete Tyler, Geerte Udo, Natalia Uribe and Dr Alfonso Vergara for joining us in this...

In this episode, we hear from even more of our wonderful listeners. They tell us about the DNA of a city that they love or find meaningful or inspiring, transporting us to fascinating cities of all sizes around the world. We also begin to crowdsource ideas about the cities we should visit in Season 2 of the podcast. We’d love to hear your thoughts too! Huge thanks to Andrew Boraine, Jessica Bowles, Scott Cain, Carlo Castelli, Billy Cobbett, Jane Cunningham, Angelica Figueroa, Nuala...

In this episode, we give the microphone to some of our listeners from around the world who tell us what they have been enjoying from the series so far. How does the idea of the DNA of Cities resonate with the varied work that they do in and with cities around the world? And how might this way of understanding cities be used or applied in practice? We thank Andrew Boraine, Jessica Bowles, Lael Bethlehem, Scott Cain, Carlo Castelli, Jane Cunningham, Gabriella Gómez-Mont and Magali Thompson...

In our second episode on The DNA of Shanghai we discover more about the social and cultural factors that make Shanghai, Shanghai. We ask how many Shanghai’s are there? What is the city’s role within China and what is its relationship to other Chinese cities? And we find out how Shanghai’s unique history led it to become the birthplace of the Chinese adaptation of communism.  With special thanks to Stella Dong, Dr Hou Li and Professor Jenny Lin. To learn more about the DNA of Cities and...

When we think about The DNA of Shanghai, we almost have to almost think in quantum ideas. This is, of course, the place where one of the longest rivers in the world and one of the world’s largest oceans meet, producing a city of over 26 million people. Shanghai is the largest city in China and the anchor of the Yangtze River Delta; a region that includes over 20 cities and a population of over 235 million people.  In this episode, we take a historical perspective to discover how Shanghai has...

In this second episode on the DNA of Dubai we explore the distinctiveness of Dubai’s urban form and fabric by asking local experts “How many Dubai’s are there?” We spend time exploring the everyday spaces and rhythms of Dubai. What can the more ordinary, mundane, vernacular aspects of life here tell us about a city often characterised by its iconic urban infrastructure and its globally showcased buildings. We hear from Abdulaziz AlJaziri, Her Excellency Hala Badri and Professor Yasser...

Dubai is a city that has witnessed a profound transformation over the past century, from a sleepy fishing and pearling village to a globally connected metropolis that showcases boundary-pushing urban development. In this episode, we discover The DNA of Dubai by tracing the influence of water, climate, geography and society on the processes of urbanisation that have moulded it into a distinctive and vivid city. We learn about the different groups that make up Emirati society and we meet the...

This coastal location at the meeting point of the Mediterranean sea and the Middle East has experienced rapid change over the past 100 years or so. In our second episode on Tel Aviv, we discover how The DNA of the city manifests itself today. Local experts take us on a journey through Tel Avivian cultures, societies, mythographies, geographies, economies and into the hearts and minds of the leaders who have profoundly shaped the city. In this episode, we hear from Professor Maoz Azaryahu,...

In just over 100 years, Tel Aviv has become home to a stock exchange, major global businesses and the highest concentration of start-ups per capita of any city in the world. We explore how this location actually has two genetic structures; one strand beginning with the old city of Jaffa, the second strand comprising the more recent story of Tel Aviv itself. It is a story of how the Jewish diaspora, inspired by the dream of a Jewish, Hebrew-speaking city, established a neighbourhood on the...

In the last episode we heard about the arrival of the Quaker settlers and the emergence of Philadelphia between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. We heard why the US Constitution was signed in Philadelphia, the role of the city in the Civil War, the rise and fall of industry, and how all of this has shaped the Philadelphia of today. Amongst all of this fascinating history are, of course, human stories of bold individuals and groups of people who have shaped and been shaped by the city. We...

It’s hard to say anything about Philadelphia without talking about the founding of America or the fact that this city is home to the first library, hospital, university, art gallery, stock exchange, and of course, the Philly Cheese Steak, Rocky and Sound of Philadelphia. In this episode we explore the long history behind this Quaker city that emerged between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. It is important to take a historic perspective in Philadelphia because its most recent chapter has...

In part II of our visit to London we explore how the city’s enormous size gives it the ability to regenerate in the face of shock. We ask how London's diversity creates and contributes to the city's strength, resilience and innovation. We discover the London of freedom - a city that respects individual privacy, encourages freedom of thought and honours freedom of expression. While London’s social contract may be one of live and let live, we ask how these organising ideas about London continue...

London sits in the south-east corner of a temperate and fertile island on the easterly flowing, tidal River Thames. In this episode we discover how London’s endowed assets of island location, river, winds and temperate climate have combined with its inherited and acquired traits of global trade, wealth creation, civic freedom, innovation, creativity, diversity and connectivity. All of this has produced a resilient and diverse metropolis of large scale, high productivity, soft power,...

This is the second part of our exploration of the DNA of Glasgow. If part one was an economic history of Glasgow, this episode is focused on Glasgow’s social, cultural and civic history. We hear about what it means to be a Glaswegian, the attitudes and sensibilities that are valued and shared right across the city, and we discover Glasgow’s greatest inventions (from TV to tikka). We hear from Councillor Susan Aitken, Professor Rebecca Madgin, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Michael Meighan, Dr...

Glasgow is an ambitious, entrepreneurial and people-centred city that’s been built on centuries of hard work, migration and humour. The city tells a compelling and sometimes turbulent story of invention and re-invention: first as a Mediaeval religious and knowledge centre; then as a dominant tobacco and sugar entrepôt; then as the world’s leading shipbuilding and locomotive engineering hub. Most recently, as a post-industrial city, Glasgow has galvanised its entrepreneurial spirit and...

In our second episode on Vienna we explore the acquired traits in the city’s DNA. We’ll hear the stories of Viennese citizens, and explore enduring cultural highlights that have taken on new forms as the city has evolved. And we ask how and why Vienna’s social democratic model of governance has proved so resilient and effective. We continue our conversation with Eugen (Zenja) Antalovsky, Shams Asadi, Prof Matti Bunzl and Maria Vassilakou on gloriousness and tradition, religion and empire,...

Vienna has been one of the Western Roman Empire’s most easterly strategic strongholds, an imperial capital of the Habsburg Empire, and a melting pot for thinkers and creators from across Europe and the rest of the world. But Vienna was also altered, almost beyond recognition, by the First and Second World Wars. Today, the city’s pendulum is swinging back towards some elements of the Vienna of old: the city is becoming increasingly multicultural, international in outlook and recognised for...

In this second episode on Barcelona we hear why the city is the place for life’s great ventures. Over the course of history, artists from all over the world have created some of their most influential work in Barcelona. Take Picasso, Miro and Dali for example; they came to Barcelona during the formative years of their careers and in this city they were able to do something extraordinary. But how, and why Barcelona? Well, as we discover, this is more than a city. Creation and creativity run...

We begin our time in Barcelona by exploring its self-determining “do it yourself” approach to governance, the muse effect the city has in an individual’s life, and its relationships to its region and beyond; all understood, of course, through its identity as a Catalan city in the northern-most point of Southern Europe and the southern-most point of Northern Europe. Part of what makes modern Barcelona such an interesting city from a 'DNA' perspective is the fact that city branding and place...

New York City captures the imagination like few other cities. In this second episode we explore the stories of urban life in the city’s neighbourhoods and the New York City dream that draws people from all over the world to make themselves in the city.  We hear how New York has a history of openness because it was the primary gateway to the USA; the largest and fastest-growing economy in the 20th Century. We discuss the famous myths that capture something about the DNA of New York, the...

In the first part of our visit to New York, we reveal how the combination of money, diversity, creativity and density are the traits that make New York, New York. We explore the long history of the city and we discover that the entrepreneurial zeal that one so often associates with the city has very deep roots. We hear how the original raison d'etre for the settlement that became New York was in fact profit-making. But the geography and topography of New York that facilitated this was also...

In the second part of our exploration of Singapore we hear more about the individuals that have moulded and shaped Singapore over the last fifty to sixty years. We discover the distinctly Singaporean approach to governance that has emerged. Compared to some of the other cities we explore in this series, there is a very prominent set of ‘acquired’ traits that came with Singaporean leadership and the people who have chosen to make this place their home. We hear from Professor Cheong Koon...

The second city on our voyage of discovery is Singapore: the little red dot in South East Asia that tells one of the world's most unusual and successful stories of modern nation building. Singapore’s independence in 1965 unleashed five decades of innovation that have resulted in an unforeseeable transformation.  In this episode, we learn about the program of rapid problem-solving that was pursued by Singapore's visionary founding decision-makers and the vulnerabilities they were forced to...