Cities Reimagined
Cities Reimagined

Cities Reimagined

Johannes Riegler

Overview
Episodes

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Cities Reimagined is a podcast about the ideas, people and places that are reshaping urban life. It was born out of a simple realisation: too often, the real stories behind urban change go untold. Cities Reimagined opens up space for deeper conversations, where facts meet stories, and policy meets the personal.Join us as we uncover the stories, that challenge the status quo of “doing” urbanism by proving ideas and actions for reshaping our cities. Don't be shy to get in touch with feedback, wishes and your stories by sending an email to [email protected] or via LinkedIn.

Recent Episodes

Nature's comeback to Mechelen - with Michiel Van Mele and Maarten De Jonge
AUG 26, 2025
Nature's comeback to Mechelen - with Michiel Van Mele and Maarten De Jonge
<p>Today we go back to the City of Mechelen, to find out how nature is making a comeback in Mechelen’s old town, why that is not only good for house sparrow, eels, and otters but for everyone living and working in the city and how residents are part of the journey for cleaner water, more biodiversity and green in the city.</p><p>Healthy rivers and rich ecosystems cool our cities, filter our air, and offer places for both people and wildlife to thrive. Yet, for decades, urban waterways have been neglected, covered, or polluted, breaking the vital link between cities and nature.</p><p>We have Michiel van Mele who is the City Ecologiest of Mechelen and Marteen de Jonge who is the head of the lab department of the Flanders Environmental Agency on the show. Tune in to find out more...</p><p>This episode is part of the Johannes' work with the City of Mechelen's WATSUPS project, a New European Bauhaus demonstrator. WATSUPS is an Innovation Action funded by the European Urban Initiatives. More information here:</p><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.urban-initiative.eu">European Urban Initiative</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/european-urban-initiative/watsups-water-source-urban-public-space">WATSUPS - Water as the Source of Urban Public Spaces project</a></li></ul><p>In case you missed it: To dig in deeper into the amazing work of Mechelen's, you might want to give these past episodes a listen.</p><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.anthropocene.city/podcast/12-reimagine-mechelen-pt-1-water-as-the-source-of-urban-public-space/">Reimagining Mechelen Pt. 1 - Water as the Source of Urban Public Space with Nicole La Iacona</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.anthropocene.city/podcast/13-reimagine-mechelen-pt-2-nature-as-a-stakeholder/">Reimagining Mechelen Pt. 2 - Nature as a Stakeholder in the Revival of the River Dijle with Mark Van der Veken</a></li></ul><p></p><p></p><p></p>
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42 MIN
Reimagining the City at Night - with Simone d'Antonio
JUL 23, 2025
Reimagining the City at Night - with Simone d'Antonio
<p>Have you ever felt how different cities feel, look, and smell at night? How everything is seems to be so different than during the day… having organised punk rock concerts and worked in a club myself during my teenage and student years, I had many touchpoints with the nighttime economy from early on. You might think now of all the clubs and bars… yes, they are part of that, but there is much more to it: workers in culture, logistics, health care, communication, and many more.</p><p>In today’s episode, I FINALLY have Simone d’Antonio on the show. Simone is based in Rome, Italy, and you may have come across Simone’s name at some point. Because he’s a familiar face in urban innovation circles, both in Europe and worldwide.</p><p>Currently, he is working with 10 cities on their nighttime policies and activities (find out more about the Cities After Dark URBACT Network <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://urbact.eu/networks/cities-after-dark">here</a>), and it was high time to connect online </p><p>In our conversation, he convinced me that working on nighttime policies is more than hanging out in bars…</p><p>Tune in to find out why the night doesn’t only belong to lovers, as Patti Smith once claimed, but to everyone.</p><p></p><p>Tune in to find out:</p><ul><li>What if the night-time economy was about care, culture, and community, not just clubs and bars</li><li>Why cities at night are fighting a quiet war against the sofa and the apps on your phone</li><li>Why the right to the city should be a 24/7 thing</li><li>Why Naples might be the northernmost city of the Global South</li><li>How urban nightlife differs depending on cultures, geographies and climates.</li></ul>
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47 MIN
Reimagining the 'Unloved' Spaces - with Alenka Korenjak & Zala Velkavrh
JUN 10, 2025
Reimagining the 'Unloved' Spaces - with Alenka Korenjak & Zala Velkavrh
<p>Almost every city has them - spaces and places that feel like they’re waiting. Waiting to be reawakened, reimagined, and reconnected to the people around them. Too often, though, that reawakening follows a predictable script: maximise economic return, build apartments, squeeze in shops, add a parking lot. Little thought is given to anything beyond profit.</p><p>That’s exactly why I loved hearing Alenka Korenjak and Zala Velkavrh from Prostorož (a not-for-profit urban design agency from Ljubljana/Slovenia) speak about “unloved” places - because it shifts the lens. It’s not just about return on investment, but about how people relate to space, how public life can be cultivated, and how cities can become more liveable, more layered, more human.</p><p>So when I spent a few weeks in Klagenfurt, it was high time to jump over the Karawanken Mountains to Ljubljana and visit the Prostorož studio in person on a Friday afternoon in May 2025.</p><p></p><p><strong>Further info:</strong></p><ul><li>More on Prostorož: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.prostoroz.org">https://www.prostoroz.org</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alenka-korenjak-b8463730a/">Alenka</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zala-velkavrh/">Zala</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-riegler/">Johannes</a> on LinkedIn</li><li>Cities Reimagined on Instagram: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/citiesreimagined/">https://www.instagram.com/citiesreimagined/</a></li><li>The book I mentioned in the show: <strong>Vocabularies for an Urbanising Planet: Theory Buidling through Comparison</strong> - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://birkhauser.com/en/book/9783035623031">https://birkhauser.com/en/book/9783035623031</a></li></ul>
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51 MIN