LSE Cities at the London School of Economics and the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft are launching a new initiative: Urban Age Debates: Cities in the 2020s.
Building on the success of the Urban Age conferences and research programme, the initiative includes a series of live virtual events, newly commissioned short films with key urban actors and commentators, new data on city dynamics and the results of surveys on how we live, work and connect in the post-2020 city.
From January 2021, the Urban Age Debates will explore what could and should happen in cities around the following core themes:
Socialising Remote Work
Will changing patterns in knowledge work reduce or amplify the human need to meet in cities?
19 January 2021
Urbanising the Home
Can the design of domestic and urban space promote cohesion and healthier lifestyles?
March 2021
Localising Transport
Towards the 15-minute city or the one-hour metropolis?
April 2021
Embracing Urban Culture
Is the spectacle and unexpected in urban life at risk as cities become overregulated and commodified?
June 2021
Rationalising Shopping
Are new patterns of consumption an opportunity for reinventing urbanity?
July 2021
Through interviews and live discussions, the series will feature urban leaders, practitioners and researchers who engage with profound global changes tied to the triple crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, new demands for social justice and the global climate emergency.
These will include leading urbanist, author and academic Richard Florida, artificial intelligence strategist Ayesha Khanna and business executive Janina Kugel; the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and urban leaders from Asian, Latin American and African cities; innovation and public value economist Mariana Mazzucato and pro-density author and urban researcher Edward Glaeser; award-winning designer Thomas Heatherwick and other leading architects and planners. All public sessions will be moderated by experienced media and commentators including Camilla Cavendish, contributing editor of the Financial Times, and Jon Snow, anchor of Channel 4 News.
For more information on the Urban Age Debates, follow LSE Cities and the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft on Twitter and subscribe to the LSE Cities newsletter.