Edgar Pieterse: From Apartheid to Agency; Africa’s Urban Future
Release Date: 10/06/2025
Tim Williams: Why the Housing Crisis Isn’t a Supply Problem
The Century of Cities
The Century of Cities welcomes Tim Williams, Cities Lead at Grimshaw and a leading voice in global urban strategy, to explore how cities move through cycles of growth, decline, and reinvention. Drawing on his upbringing in the South Wales Valleys and years advising governments in the UK and Australia, Tim reflects on the shift from industrial cities built on extraction to contemporary urban economies shaped by knowledge, lifestyle, and connectivity. He emphasizes that urban change is rarely linear and that periods of transition often involve loss, uncertainty, and uneven outcomes. Tim offers a...
info_outline
Alice Charles: From Irish Cities to Global Urban Futures
The Century of Cities
Alice Charles, Director, Cities, Planning & Design at Arup, joins The Century of Cities from Dublin to reflect on how Irish cities, and cities globally, have evolved. Grounded in a career spanning regeneration, infrastructure, and global urban systems, Alice traces Ireland’s shift from economic stagnation and brain drain to foreign direct investment, car-led growth, and today’s housing and governance challenges. Alice argues for more empowered, outward-looking cities, with stronger local leadership, long-term investment, and deeper city-to-city collaboration, particularly with Asia and...
info_outline
Andrew Carter: Devolution, Inequality, and the Future of British Cities
The Century of Cities
The Century of Cities welcomes Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, who reflects on how UK cities have evolved, and why uneven progress still defines the urban landscape. He traces the shift from industrial decline and urban decay to a renewed belief in cities as drivers of economic growth, powered by the knowledge economy and higher education. Andrew emphasizes that this revival was not inevitable, but the result of long-term structural change and deliberate policy choices. He argues that deeper devolution, especially greater control over transport, planning, and funding,...
info_outline
Carlos Moreno: Rethinking Cities Through the 15-Minute Lens
The Century of Cities
Carlos Moreno, a scientist, urban planner, and professor internationally recognized for developing the concept of the 15-minute city, joins The Century of Cities to reflect on how urban life is being reshaped by climate urgency, digital transformation, and changing patterns of daily living. He explains why proximity-based urbanism is not about a fixed number of minutes, but about identifying essential daily needs, strengthening local access, and reconnecting people to place while preserving citywide and regional services through public transport. Carlos situates the present moment as a...
info_outline
Michael Storper: Why Cities Need Better Institutions, Not Easy Answers (Part 2)
The Century of Cities
Season 2 of The Century of Cities continues with part two of our in-depth conversation with Michael Storper, one of the world’s leading economic geographers. In this episode, Michael turns his focus to governance, institutions, and the hard trade-offs shaping urban futures in the United States and Europe. Drawing on comparative insights from California, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and major European regions, he examines how prosperity, inequality, and cultural path dependency collide in today’s superstar cities. Michael offers a rigorous critique of dominant housing narratives,...
info_outline
Michael Storper: The Vanishing Urban Frontier (Part 1)
The Century of Cities
Season 2 of The Century of Cities begins with part one of a two-part conversation with Michael Storper, one of the world’s leading economic geographers. Holding appointments at UCLA and the London School of Economics, Michael brings a long-term perspective to how cities evolve across distinct economic eras. He reflects on why many of today’s most prosperous cities once faced deep decline, and why urban change must be understood through long cycles shaped by structural forces rather than short-term trends. In this episode, Michael introduces a clear framework for understanding today’s...
info_outline
Lord Norman Foster: Density, Design, and the Future of Urban Life
The Century of Cities
The Century of Cities celebrates our 100th guest as we welcome Lord Norman Foster, one of the world’s most influential architects and Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners. Drawing on six decades of practice, he traces the shift from gritty, industrial cities to cleaner, safer, and more mobile urban environments, shaped by digital technology, new forms of mobility, and changing patterns of density. While progress has been undeniable, Lord Foster warns that many cities have lost distinct identity, creativity, and affordability along the way. He makes a powerful case for...
info_outline
Edward L. Glaeser: The Triumph, Trials, and Future of Urban Life
The Century of Cities
Edward L. Glaeser, one of the world’s leading urban economists and the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University, joins The Century of Cities to reflect on decades of research and his landmark work, Triumph of the City. He traces the arc from urban decline and deindustrialization to the resurgence of cities as centers of knowledge, creativity, and economic opportunity. Ed examines the most difficult challenges cities face, including housing affordability, climate risk, governance capacity, and social mobility. He offers a pragmatic framework for urban leadership,...
info_outline
Andrés Rodríguez-Pose: Why Place Still Matters in an Unequal World
The Century of Cities
The Century of Cities welcomes Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Professor of Economic Geography and Regional Planning, to examine deep spatial inequalities shaping politics, prosperity, and trust in institutions across the world. Drawing on decades of research, Andrés explains how economic growth has become increasingly concentrated in a small number of cities and regions, while many places have been systematically left behind, creating what he describes as the “geography of discontent.” He explores how neglecting these regions has fueled political polarization, social fragmentation, and rising...
info_outline
Maria Camila Uribe: Lessons from Latin America’s Urban Transformation
The Century of Cities
Maria Camila Uribe, Principal Technical Lead for Housing and Urban Development and Coordinator of the IDB Cities Network at the Inter-American Development Bank, joins us on The Century of Cities. She explains how rapid urbanization, democratization, and decentralization shaped the lives of hundreds of millions, leaving legacies of both ingenuity and inequality. From informal settlements to bold planning reforms, Maria outlines how Latin American cities became hubs of creativity, civic leadership, and problem-solving under pressure. She reveals groundbreaking work underway at the IDB,...
info_outlineThe Century of Cities welcomes Edgar Pieterse, Founding Director of the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town, who takes us on a sweeping journey through apartheid-era Cape Town to a hopeful, youth-driven African future. Reflecting on how cities have evolved since 1980, Pieterse reveals the deep scars of inequality, the challenges of economic exclusion, and the extraordinary creativity shaping new urban models across the continent.
From democratization and deindustrialization to cultural ascendancy and climate resilience, Edgar connects the dots between infrastructure, leadership, and imagination. He shares how initiatives like Infrastructure Africa, the African Urban Forum, and the African Mayoral Leadership Initiative are redefining what’s possible when cities and citizens lead with vision, courage, and purpose.