This episode of the Urban Exchange Podcast explores how risk, resilience and insurance measures come together to support the future of cities. The episode delves into innovative partnerships to strengthen climate resilience in Miami Dade County, with Galen Treuer from Miami Dade explaining how rising insurance costs due to hurricanes and flooding have impacted many residents. Through the Resilient 305 initiative, Miami Dade is collaborating with Miami and Miami Beach to better manage regional...

Bangkok, a city of rapid growth, faces the challenges of a complex urban landscape. In this episode, we delve into Bangkok's resilience journey with Dr. Tavida Kamolvej, Deputy Governor in Bangkok, and a specialist in disaster resilience. Join Lauren Sorkin, executive director of the Resilient Cities Network, in conversation with the Deputy Governor, as they discuss: The city's biggest resilience challenges and how the current leadership is approaching disaster risk reduction through the...

The latest episode of the Urban Exchange delve into the transformative impact of technology on government disbursements to enhance urban resilience. Joining host Paul Wilson are Agustin Botteron, author of a new Visa report on government disbursements and former Chief Resilience Officer of Santa Fe, and Robert L. Matthews, Director of the Washington D.C. Child and Family Services Agency. Agustin shares insights from his experience as a city practitioner, emphasising the critical role of local...

Mike Lake, CEO of Leading Cities and a member of the Smart Cities World Advisory Board, hosts a special episode recorded live from the 2023 Smart City Expo in Barcelona, where he is joined by Genesis Gavino, Chief of Staff Resilience Officer for the City of Dalla. Genesis provides a behind-the-scenes look at her role as Chief of Staff, detailing the essential elements that the role encompasses that don't necessarily fit elsewhere but are crucial for city operations. We hear how she manages...

In this episode of the Urban Exchange, host Lauren Sorkin, Executive Director of Resilient Cities Network and Co-chair of the SmartCitiesWorld Advisory Board, is joined by Kathy Oldham, Chief Resilience Officer, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Will Cavendish, Global Digital Services Leader, Arup. The latest episode is set in the context of the new publication entitled Digital Cities, Resilient Cities: Delivering urban resilience through digital solutions, developed by...

Urban food systems are coming under increasing strain due to urbanisation and climate-related issues. In the latest episode of the Urban Exchange, Kate MacKenzie, Executive Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, joins the Resilient Cities Network’s Lauren Sorkin to discuss how food systems and plant powered food transitions are advancing urban resilience and climate adaptation in cities around the world. In an in-depth conversation, Kate reflects on the exciting and...

In this episode of the Urban Exchange, host Paul Wilson, Chief Business Officer for Connected Places Catapult and Chair of the SmartCitiesWorld Advisory Board, is joined by Robert van Asten, Deputy Mayor and Alderman for Urban Development, Strategy and Europe for The Hague. On the agenda this month is The Hague's work on water resilience, its international significance as the peace and justice capital of the world, and the city's work on advancing the urban resilience practice. Throughout,...

In the latest episode of the Urban Exchange, Paul Wilson, chair of the Advisory Board for Smart Cities World and Chief Business Officer at the Connected Places Catapult, is joined for a talk on all things urban mobility by Diego Marquez, the Planning Mobility Manager for the Metropolitan Institute of Planning and Development for the Metropolitan area of Guadalajara, and Jose Rodriguez, Head of Urban Mobility at Visa in Mexico. This episode is part of the Future Ready Cities programme, a...

In this episode of the Urban Exchange, Lauren Sorkin, executive director of Resilient Cities Network, hosts Gareth Morgan, executive director of future planning and resilience for the City of Cape Town. In an exclusive interview, Gareth reflects on the exciting frontier work he is undertaking to institutionalise and mainstream resilience across the various aspects of the city’s work, encompassing everything from the development of a 2050 strategy and multi-year capital portfolio management,...

As the risks from climate change increase, public school infrastructure in our cities and communities is under threat from natural hazards. It may not be a subject we often think about in connection to education in our cities, but it is regardless a critical issues – one that impacts our children’s present as well as their future. On this episode of the Urban Exchange, host Francis Ghesquiere from the World Bank welcomes Fernando Ramirez Cortez, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist at...

The Urban Exchange welcomes back Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, to talk Cop27 and climate finance. The latest episode of the Urban Exchange Podcast sees Resilient Cities Network’s Lauren Sorkin in conversation with Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, to uncover some of the key takeaways from Cop27, how the conference compared to Cop26, and the critical role of finance in climate action. We begin with Susan’s thoughts on how Cop27 compared in terms of its outcomes to the...

The latest episode of the Urban Exchange brings together the principal authors of the World Bank’s latest extensive report on urban climate to discuss the 10 key findings. Hosted by World Bank’s Francis Ghesquiere, Head of the Secretariat for the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction & Recovery (GFDRR), the Urban Exchange welcomes World Bank economists Megha Mukim and Mark Roberts as its latest guests to discover the key insights from Thriving – Making cities green, resilient and...

Preview: In part two of our conversation with Monica Barone, CEO of the City of Sydney, we discover the changing nature of city relationships with citizens, how that can shape resilience and climate action, and lead to more equitable and inclusive communities.

The part one of the latest episode of the Urban Exchange sees Monica Barone, CEO of the City of Sydney, in conversation with Jeff Risom to understand how the nature of resilience is changing, and how Monica and the city are adapting. The new Urban Exchange Episode takes an in-depth look at the ways the City of Sydney is approaching urban resilience, from engaging with citizens to encouraging proactivity in the community. In the first half of a two-part episode, our guest Monica Barone...

Preview: The latest episode of the Urban Exchange brings together Mayor of Medellín Daniel Quintero with Leading Cities’ Mike Lake to discuss the advance of urban resilience in Colombia’s second-largest city.   The new Urban Exchange takes an in-depth look at how Medellín has been led through times of strain in the pandemic by Mayor Quintero, and how it is now emerging as a more resilient and robust city. Mayor Quintero explains what opportunities he sees for the city to build...

Lauren Sorkin, executive director at  Resilient Cities Network, will be joined by Mayor of Wellington, Andy Foster, to focus on the overarching frame of Mayor Andy Foster’s leadership on digital resilience with highlights on Wellington’s award-winning Digital Twin initiative and working with start-ups and digital businesses.   

Episode four of the Urban Exchange podcast comes direct from Cop26 in Glasgow, as Resilient Cities Network executive director, Lauren Sorkin, hosts Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, to reflect on Cop26, climate adaptation and mitigation, and the Mayor’s role in futureproofing Miami through digital technology.   To begin with, Mayor Suarez gives his take on progress at Cop26 and whether he truly believes cities have a seat at the negotiating table during this most crucial of climate...

On the third episode of the Urban Exchange podcast, Jeff Risom, chief innovation officer at Gehl Architects and member of the SmartCitiesWorld advisory board, speaks with Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, to discuss urban design for a sustainable future and why Glasgow is the perfect host for COP26. During the conversation, Jeff discovers how Councillor Aitken came to be in her position on Glasgow’s City Council today, as the councillor reflects on her political activism through...

Episode 2 of the Urban Exchange podcast welcomes the City of Rotterdam’s Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb as its special guest, as he discusses how to advance urban resilience for climate adaptation with the Resilient Cities Network’s (R-Cities) executive director, Lauren Sorkin.  During the discussion, Mayor Aboutaleb speaks about the challenges facing his city at the moment, the steps he’s taking to face them, and the importance of collaboration in building resilience against them.  As part...

Cities on the Frontlines: Resilient Infrastructure   Preview: The first episode of the Urban Exchange podcast sees Mayor Turner of Houston, the Chair of the Resilient Cities Network Board of Directors, in conversation with Paul Wilson, Chair of the SmartCitiesWorld Advisory Board. Together, they discuss Houston’s definition of resilience, Houston’s plans to build resilience, and why Houston’s status as an energy city places specific emphasis on its climate action plans.

Urban Exchange: Cities on the Front Line is the podcast series from SmartCitiesWorld and the Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities), delivering frank and open conversations between international city leaders and industry practitioners that share ideas to solve urban challenges. With the world’s cities under pressure to deliver a sustainable future for more than half of the global population – a figure that is consistently trending upwards – the Urban Exchange provides a platform for the people...