Experts

Ger Baron and Joost Brinkman, two of the leading profiles in the Amsterdam Smart City project, discuss the possibilities with Smart Cities, and give advice to other cities in the same position.

Joan Busquets served as Head of Urban Planning for the Barcelona City Council from 1983 to1989, and in the preparations for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Thomas Sieverts (born 1934) is a German architect and urban planner. He is the author of Zwischenstadt (1997; first published in English in 2000 as Cities without Cities, which addresses the decentralization of the compact historical European city.

Leo Abruzzese, Global Forecasting Director at the Economist Intelligence Unit, discusses the importance of cities making a choice to either be sustainable or not. Finally he explains why objective measures, showing how cities are performing in relation to sustainability, are important.

Luciano Ducci, mayor of Curitiba, the greenest city in Latin America, explains how being sustainable is ‘working tiredly towards a goal’. But according to the mayor, the city is not there yet. In his opinion the public engagement in the idea of sustainability is crucial in creating a sustainable city. 

Janette Sadik-Khan discusses her work as Transportation Commissioner of New York City, including her efforts to create more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly streets. In the 21st century, she tells us, we will need to balance our transportation networks better.

Vandana Shiva, an internationally recognized Indian activist and philosopher, explains that planning for the human being rather than the automobile can liberate space and create community within a city. In her opinion, a sustainable city should operate as a self-reliant and self-sufficient cluster of villages.

Professor of Sustainable Transportation and Sustainable Development John Whitelegg discusses how changes in transportation systems can lead to a vast improvement in quality of life. We need to move from a world filled with metal and concrete to a world of green spaces and clean air, he explains.

Professor of Land Use and Transport Studies at Shanghai’s Tongji University, Pan Haixio discusses the role of development and environmental issues in China and beyond. He explains that as China works to transition from an industry-based economy to one that is more design- and service-oriented, the nation will need to address constraints that the developed world did not have to face.

In this interview, Hilmar von Lojewski discusses his experiences as an urban planner in Germany and in Syria.  He argues that we need more people working on the growing megalopolis areas in the southern hemisphere.

Thomas Ermacora, director of Etikstudio and founder of the CLEAR Village Foundation, discusses the importance of liveable cities that exist in symbiosis with nature.

In this interview, former Chief Urban Designer in Portland (US) Arun Jain, stresses the need to address our behaviour and not just focusing on the ‘technical fix’ in order to create sustainable cities.