The DNA of Cities

The beauty and appeal of Sydney's dramatic, dreamy, and diverse scenery have always been, and are still, an inspiration for people. Today, the Sydney metropolitan region is home to over five million people in a region whose spatial boundaries are defined by the Pacific Ocean on the eastern coast, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the swampy Woronora Plateau to t...

We are honoured to have Dr Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani as our second Keynote. Gabrielle is the founder of interdisciplinary design studio Buscada and she is the author of The Cities We Need (MIT Press, 2024).   Drawing from over two decades of research and practice in New York, Oakland, London and Buenos Aires, Gabrielle reveals that the:  Everyday places in our neighbourhoods and cities are essentia...

In our second episode on São Paulo, we explore the rich and irreducibly plural social and cultural fabrics and the unique scales of its global diaspora communities. Through the lenses of various infrastructural fragments (e.g. water and public transportation) and spatial patterning (e.g. the location of homes vs jobs and critical services), we discuss the politics and pervasiveness of inequalities...

In the second decade of the 21st Century, we find on a plateau in Brazil's Serra do Mar mountains São Paulo; a city of 12 million people and the nucleus of a metropolitan region of over 20 million people in a macro-metropolitan region of over 30 million people.  We begin our time here exploring the conditions that led to permanent settlement in this location and the multiple drivers for the super-...

We are back with Part II of our conversation with Ben Wilson, our first Keynote guest. Ben is the author of several acclaimed books, including Metropolis which was released in 2020 and Urban Jungle   which was published in 2023.  In Part II of his Keynote, Ben sets out a compelling case for nurturing nature in cities. We discuss the: Forgotten histories of growing and foraging in cities Opportunit...

We are honoured to have historian Ben Wilson as our first Keynote guest. Ben is the author of several acclaimed books, including  Metropolis which was released in 2020 and Urban Jungle   which was published in 2023.  In Part I of this global adventure spanning 5,000 years of urbanisation, Ben reveals: How cities rewire humans biologically, culturally and socially both individually and collectively...

In Part II of The DNA of Kyiv, we learn about the people who live in Kyiv and the strong feelings the city stirs within those who choose to make it their home. We discover what it means to be and become a Kyivan, and we explore the manifestations of the common struggle for cultural freedom and self-government in the city's protests and revolutions. Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine and amid p...

We were privileged to be invited by Denys Nazarenko of Kyiv City Council to include his beloved city in The DNA of Cities following the devastating full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. W e might think of Kyiv as an ancient city in a turbulent present in which its citizens have been actively fighting for more than 1,000 days to defend Ukrainian independence, freedom and sovereignty from Russia....

Welcome to Season 2 of The DNA of Cities. Subscribe and join us fortnightly from Thursday 30th January 2025 as we continue to decode what makes our cities so unique.  – Bass Vibes - Rollin at 5  by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source:  http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100462...

In our final episode of Season 1, we ask our urban experts 'what does The DNA of Cities not yet explain about how cities evolve?' We debate the limits of The DNA of Cities and what it is that cannot be explained using this way of exploring, conceptualising and understanding urban identity.  Thank you to Professor Michele Acuto, A/Professor Ellie Cosgrave, Gabriella Gómez-Mont, Professor Edgar Piet...

This is the first of two concluding episodes to our bumper first season of The DNA of Cities. We return to the urban experts we spoke to at the very beginning of this season to understand how, and why, The DNA of Cities might be used. With special thanks to Professor Michele Acuto, Professor Ricky Burdett CBE, Alice Charles, Gabriella Gómez-Mont, Dr Shi Nan, Professor Edgar Pieterse, Dr Jaana Reme...

In this episode, we hear from even more of our wonderful listeners. They tell us about the DNA of a city that they love or find meaningful or inspiring, transporting us to fascinating cities of all sizes around the world. We also begin to crowdsource ideas about the cities we should visit in Season 2 of the podcast. We'd love to hear your thoughts too! Huge thanks to Andrew Boraine, Jessica Bowles...

In this episode, we give the microphone to some of our listeners from around the world who tell us what they have been enjoying from the series so far. How does the idea of the DNA of Cities resonate with the varied work that they do in and with cities around the world? And how might this way of understanding cities be used or applied in practice? We thank Andrew Boraine, Jessica Bowles, Lael Beth...

In our second episode on The DNA of Shanghai we discover more about the social and cultural factors that make Shanghai, Shanghai. We ask how many Shanghai's are there? What is the city's role within China and what is its relationship to other Chinese cities? And we find out how Shanghai's unique history led it to become the birthplace of the Chinese adaptation of communism.  With special thanks to...

When we think about The DNA of Shanghai, we almost have to almost think in quantum ideas. This is, of course, the place where one of the longest rivers in the world and one of the world's largest oceans meet, producing a city of over 26 million people. Shanghai is the largest city in China and the anchor of the Yangtze River Delta; a region that includes over 20 cities and a population of over 235...

In this second episode on the DNA of Dubai we explore the distinctiveness of Dubai's urban form and fabric by asking local experts "How many Dubai's are there?" We spend time exploring the everyday spaces and rhythms of Dubai. What can the more ordinary, mundane, vernacular aspects of life here tell us about a city often characterised by its iconic urban infrastructure and its globally showcased b...

Dubai is a city that has witnessed a profound transformation over the past century, from a sleepy fishing and pearling village to a globally connected metropolis that showcases boundary-pushing urban development. In this episode, we discover The DNA of Dubai by tracing the influence of water, climate, geography and society on the processes of urbanisation that have moulded it into a distinctive an...

This coastal location at the meeting point of the Mediterranean sea and the Middle East has experienced rapid change over the past 100 years or so. In our second episode on Tel Aviv, we discover how The DNA of the city manifests itself today. Local experts take us on a journey through Tel Avivian cultures, societies, mythographies, geographies, economies and into the hearts and minds of the leader...

In just over 100 years, Tel Aviv has become home to a stock exchange, major global businesses and the highest concentration of start-ups per capita of any city in the world. We explore how this location actually has two genetic structures; one strand beginning with the old city of Jaffa, the second strand comprising the more recent story of Tel Aviv itself. It is a story of how the Jewish diaspora...

In the last episode we heard about the arrival of the Quaker settlers and the emergence of Philadelphia between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. We heard why the US Constitution was signed in Philadelphia, the role of the city in the Civil War, the rise and fall of industry, and how all of this has shaped the Philadelphia of today. Amongst all of this fascinating history are, of course, human s...

It's hard to say anything about Philadelphia without talking about the founding of America or the fact that this city is home to the first library, hospital, university, art gallery, stock exchange, and of course, the Philly Cheese Steak, Rocky and Sound of Philadelphia. In this episode we explore the long history behind this Quaker city that emerged between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. It...

In part II of our visit to London we explore how the city's enormous size gives it the ability to regenerate in the face of shock. We ask how London's diversity creates and contributes to the city's strength, resilience and innovation. We discover the London of freedom - a city that respects individual privacy, encourages freedom of thought and honours freedom of expression. While London's social...

London sits in the south-east corner of a temperate and fertile island on the easterly flowing, tidal River Thames. In this episode we discover how London's endowed assets of island location, river, winds and temperate climate have combined with its inherited and acquired traits of global trade, wealth creation, civic freedom, innovation, creativity, diversity and connectivity. All of this has pro...

This is the second part of our exploration of the DNA of Glasgow. If part one was an economic history of Glasgow, this episode is focused on Glasgow's social, cultural and civic history. We hear about what it means to be a Glaswegian, the attitudes and sensibilities that are valued and shared right across the city, and we discover Glasgow's greatest inventions (from TV to tikka). We hear from Coun...

Glasgow is an ambitious, entrepreneurial and people-centred city that's been built on centuries of hard work, migration and humour. The city tells a compelling and sometimes turbulent story of invention and re-invention: first as a Mediaeval religious and knowledge centre; then as a dominant tobacco and sugar entrepôt; then as the world's leading shipbuilding and locomotive engineering hub. Most r...