Greening Urban Futures Podcast

In this Episode #14 Jerome Glenn, the Executive Director of the Millennium Project, shares with us some of the trends and influences that are shaping the future of urbanisation. Jerome mentions that the idea of “respect for the other” is extraordinarily important for peace in the future. According to Jerome, the urbanisation of humanity is one of the strongest trends that there is. In this interview, he explains some of the most significant accomplishments of the Millennium Project so far and talks about artificial intelligence influences on the social dimension and on individual self-actualisation. Jerome Glenn is the Executive Director/CEO at The Millennium Project, a global futures studies and research think tank stablished in 1996. He is the creator of the Futures Wheel method.

The city of Turku has ambitious targets, it aims to become carbon neutral by 2029. On this episode, we had the pleasure to speak with Minna Arve, the Mayor of the City of Turku. During our conversation, Mayor Arve explained to us Turku’s carbon neutral plans, the vision of the smart city and the ways in which Turku deals with uncertainty and rapid change in our digital age.

EP.12 - Urban Density, the 15-Minute City and the Transformation of Proximities: What are the real challenges for cities in the future horizon 2030, 2040, 2050? In this episode, we speak with Professor Carlos Moreno about the need to reconsider the future of urbanisation to seek a new path. He talks about what has inspired the 15-minute city concept he pioneers, the purpose of proximities and the transformations he has observed in cities in Europe, Latin America and around the world. Professor Carlos Moreno is an Associate Professor and Scientific Director of the Chair “Entrepreneurship –Territory –Innovation” (IAE Paris -SorbonneUniversity). Prof. Moreno earned international recognition thanks to his major contribution and pioneer concepts: Human Smart City, 15-MinuteCity, 30-Minute Territory; bringing an innovative perspective on urban issues.

EP. 11 – From “Smart” City to Intelligent Communities-The Espoo Story: How can the structure of the city shape its future? In this episode, we have invited Päivi Sutinen, the Director of the City as a Service Development at the City of Espoo to share the Espoo Story with us and how the network structure of her city Espoo is supporting transformation towards a sustainable future. In our talk, Päivi explains the highly participatory approach that characterizes the city strategy and how relationships between nature, technology, people and urban planning (central axis) are shaping urban development. Päivi also share with us the vision of Espoo as a “close to nature” green city. In Espoo, common values are strongly intertwined with how the city plans for the future. On this, Päivi mentions how Espoo’s polycentric structure allows people from all areas a year-long access to nature areas for wellbeing. Espoo is one of the fastest growing cities in Finland. In the beginning of the 1950s, roughly 20,000 people lived in Espoo. Today, its population is roughly 272,000 people and the city is expected to reach 300,000 inhabitants by or before the year 2022 (City of Espoo). Link: City of Espoo.

EP. 10 – CITIES EMPOWERED BY SYSTEMATIC FUTURES THINKING: Sirkka Heinonen is a Professor of Futures Studies at the University of Turku and a member of the Club of Rome. She has a long trajectory in the field of Futures Research working at the crossroads of futures and city planning, applying what is called a “Systematic futures thinking;” and long-term view for making a positive impact in the future. In our discussion, She, emphasises the importance of futures thinking as an approach: “We can enrich urban studies when we introduce different methods from futures studies.” Sirkka gives examples of interesting methods she has used and their significance in planning. During our conversation, Sirkka also gives us her views on the future of green areas within her growing city-Helsinki. She talks about important linkages between human-nature intertwined with Finnish culture and her views on on the future of nature-related tradition. Important links