For the past few weeks we’ve been talking about the planned revitalisation of the downtown districts of Kuala Lumpur. There's no point bringing new life, new businesses and a sense of renewed creativity and vigour to a neighbourhood unless its residents and those that use it feels safe. ...
Smart city projects and historic architecture are often seen as anathema to one another. But it needn’t be either-or when it comes to heritage and technology. This week we take a look at a newly installed 3D printed smart bridge in historic Amsterdam that is proving how smart design, smart construction and smart functionality can enrich and enhance heritage assets. ...
Often, when we talk about building resilience we talk about the strategies and programmes that are being used to achieve those policy goals. This week we look at the Think City Institute (TCI) and its mission to create a new generation of placemaking experts who will help to reshape the towns, cities and communities they live in. ...
Today we talk to a homegrown citymaker, Qhawarizmi Norhisham of Qhawarizmi Architect (QWA), about his winning blueprint in the Penang Bay International Ideas Competition (PBIIC) and his vision to sustainably...
What are the key ingredients in creating a happy? Is it the buildings, the people or perhaps there’s some indefinable secret sauce or magic that creates a liveable and loveable city? In conjunction with the UN International Day of Happiness on 20th March, Think City Managing Director Hamdan Abdul Majeed spoke to BFM89.9 about his vision for the development of happiness in Malaysia’s cities, and the crucial role that a city’s inhabitants have to play in defining the future development of their urban environments. ...
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. ...
As we trade a harrowing 2020 for a hopeful 2021, we look at one of the few bright spots of the last year: the renewed sense of conversation between the...
For the past few weeks we’ve been focusing on sustainable urbanisation as outlined in the World Cities Report 2020, launched by UN-Habitat at the end of October. The Citymaker spoke to one of the report’s early contributors, Think City’s Programme Director, Dr Matt Benson, about the urgent need for cities to be more reflexive and to cope with the pandemics and shocks that are expected in the future. ...
On this week’s Reflexive City we take a look at the contrasting forces fuelling city development: people and machines. We celebrate the launch of the UN Habitat’s World Cities Report...
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. ...
On today’s episode of The Citymaker podcast we talk to Charles Landry, founder of the Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2020, about the social innovation, community and generation of trust that are...
We speak to Dr Matt Benson, Think City’s programme Director about the Penang Bay International Ideas Competition and take a look at Sällbo, a Swedish experiment in multigenerational living and...
On the Reflexive City podcast, Maya Tan and Matt Armitage discuss the launch of Kebun Kita(r), an innovative community-based urban farm created by Think City that is bringing food production to...
Despite COVID-19, zombie fires and social upheaval, 2020 is shaping up to be a remarkable year. A year of change and choices; activism and pushback against the status quo. Hello....
Cities have and will always be an integral part in bringing societies across the world together, and to do so successfully, most cities have adapted to the changing circumstances brought...
Community engagement specialist Mara Mintzer asks a crucial question: what would happen if children helped design our cities? Children make up a quarter of the population, but rarely have...