The CityChangers Podcast

How truly public are our public spaces? In this episode, we take a look at the rise of ‘defensive urbanism’ in our cities and ask what it would take to stop designing people out of public space and start designing them back in.   Featuring: Cara Chellew, Rebecca Rutt, Kenneth Balfelt

You’ve been pushing your city to make some changes for years. So, what happens when they suddenly reach across the aisle and give you the reins? We take a look at the Initiative Haus der Statistik – the unlikely story of how a group of activists and artists found themselves co-planning a multi-million Euro development with the Berlin government.    Featuring: Harry Sachs, Leona Lynen, Regula Lüscher, Urs Kumberger

In our throwaway culture, binning a broken object and buying a replacement is often the easiest, and cheapest, solution. But the take-make-waste economy has serious costs – for the environment and also for the community. So, what would the alternative look like? We visit a repair café in Graz, Austria, to understand what it means to give an item a new lease of life, and why it often pays to repair rather than simply recycle. Featuring: Heimo Hartlieb, Andreas Höfler, Steven Toast

After centuries in charge, men have made a mess of our cities! Gender bias is present in almost every element of urban planning and design, from mobility networks right down to the way we build houses. So what does it take to dislodge gendered microaggressions from the built environment? How can we reimagine municipal processes so that women are fairly represented? And what does infrastructure that benefits everyone actually look like? With a focus on Umeå in Sweden, we eek out the often-surprising answers. Featuring: Nourhan Bassam and Linda Gustafsson

Life goes on after the sun goes on, so why should our cities stop? With more cities around the world creating night offices and appointing night mayors – we take a look at the potential (and the pitfalls) involved in government after dark, and ask who should the night-time really belong to? Featuring: Jess Reia, Mathieu Grondin *The interview with Mathieu Grondin that features in this episode was recorded before his appointment as Ottawa’s Nightlife Commissioner.