Placemaking | Urban |

The Neighbourhood: The Challenge For Downtown KL

We last spoke to Shin Tseng, one of the co-founders of the iconic retail, arts and community hub, REXKL, late last year (November 2020). He outlined some of the challenges that this placemaking icon and its tenants had faced over the first year of the pandemic, and detailed some of the creative pivots, like an inner city farmer’s market, that the building had undergone to try to better serve the downtown community....

KLCCD
Placemaking | Urban |

Creative And Cultural Districts: Imagination – The Roadmap To Recovery

Think City recently announced the launch of the first part of an ambitious new urban regeneration project, the Kuala Lumpur Creative and Cultural District, a wide-ranging initiative that it is spearheading in the downtown areas of KL. That phase, a Community Grants Programme linked to the landmark Merdeka 118 development, was created by PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Berhad (PMVSB), a wholly owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). Concentrating on sports, arts, heritage and business, its focus is on initiatives that will have a positive impact on the local community in the precincts surrounding Merdeka 118....

MSME Day
Community | COVID-19 |

Automatic For The People: Myths And MSME Day 2021

On 27th June we celebrate the UN’s Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (MSME) Day. According to data provided by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), MSMEs make up over 90% of all firms and account, on average, for 70% of total employment and 50% of GDP. They are the heart of our economies and our communities, providing employment and much needed services. ...

Changing Course
Placemaking | Urban |

Changing Course: Old Cities, New Challenges

Over the past few weeks we’ve been shining a light on the work of the Think City Institute, both in its education and advocacy roles, and its mission to create and sustain a new generation of placemaking experts. We spoke to Dr. Richard Engelhardt, an historian, archaeologist, and anthropologist who is a longtime advisor to Think City. ...

How To Build A Spectacular Lockdown Support Network
Community | COVID-19 |

How To Build An Effective Lockdown Support Network

With Malaysia experiencing record high numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, the country is entering an extended period of social and economic lockdowns aimed at curtailing and controlling the spread of the disease. As Malaysians embrace living, working and socialising from home once again, we speak to Mary Carty, a strategic consultant, and mentor is one of the founders of AwakenHub, a networking platform and resource centre for female entrepreneurs in Ireland and across the Irish diaspora. ...

Zoom Towns
Business | Reflexive City |

Zoom Towns: New Cities At Work

On this week’s The Reflexive City, we take a look at the Zoom Town phenomenon and examine some of the innovations and policies that cities are enacting to attract remote working talent, like the $10,000 relocation bonus that Tulsa Remote offers. Matt and Maya are joined in the virtual studio by future work specialist and global native, Lauren Razavi....

Mobility | Urban |

Global Natives

Once offered as a perk, remote working is increasingly being looked at by companies as a way to boost employee wellbeing, to increase productivity and to potentially reduce costs. Which raises an interesting question for cities: if people no longer have to live where they work, what will cities have to offer to retain or attract them? The Citymaker speaks to strategist, speaker and writer Lauren Razavi, a future work specialist and experienced nomad about global natives and the future of the work from anywhere movement. ...

Placemaking | Urban |

Placemaking For A Post-Pandemic World

The Citymaker speaks to citymakers Charlot Schans and Siënna Veelders, advisors at Dutch urban development bureau STIPO about their vision for placemaking in a post-pandemic world and their roles as co-curators of The City at Eye Level Asia, a new book showcasing some of the most creative approaches to creating liveable and lovable cities in South East Asia....

COVID-19 | Reflexive City |

Pandemic Pioneers: Inspiring Moments of 2020

As we head Into the final month of this strange year, we’re changing up the format of the next few shows to bring you some of the major stories that have marked or Inspired us this year. This week, the role that new working practices have played in keeping us safe from the coronavirus in 2020, and how those same safeguards may be used against us in the future....

Community | Reflexive City |

The Park. Citizen Democracy In A Digital Era

In the wake of the US Presidential elections, the Reflexive City looks at the growing polarisation in societies around the world. Looking at a fascinating op-ed by social entrepreneur and activist Eli Pariser, co-founder of Upworthy, Maya and Matt ask if the future of citizen democracy lies in adapting some the lessons and learnings of the public park movement and applying them to our digital spaces. ...

Placemaking | Urban |

Your Cities at Eye Level

How often do we fail to really see the places we call home? We often take the spaces we occupy for granted - ignoring the pothole we walk around every day, or tuning out the neighbour who forgotten folk songs every morning. ...