Building on the success of the Urban Age conferences and research programme, Urban Age Debates: Cities in the 2020s includes a series of live virtual debates, newly commissioned short films with key urban actors and commentators, new data on city dynamics through two global surveys. The series investigated how we live, work and connect in the post-2020 city, exploring what could and should happen in cities around five core themes. It was jointly organised by LSE Cities and the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft and co-hosted with the LSE School of public Policy. At the end of the series a newspaper was produced bringing together all of the discussions, reserach and survey findings.
NEWSPAPER
This publication draws together all of material generated by the Urban Age Debates. It includes the key takeaways and quotes from each debate; links to debate recordings and summary films; the summaries of the two global surveys and a series of blogs focusing on key aspects of the discussions.
Download the newspaper
DEBATES
Five virtual debates took place between January 2021 and January 2022. Along wtih audio and video recordings, key takeaways, a summary short film and blogs were produced for each debate. Explore the debate and disucssion around the five themes:
Cities have traditionally been the sites of economic agglomeration, reaping the benefits of a high concentration of economic activity, spurred by collaboration and innovation. However, the effect of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns have forced offices to close, city centres to empty, with many knowledge workers operating from the safety of their homes.
Event Details Read a description of the debate and speakers
Video of live event Watch the full recording of the debate
Podcast Listen to a recording of the event (also available on most podcast platforms
Debate summary Read the key takeaways from the discussion
Summary Film Watch a short film bringing together highlights from the debate with statements from a range of additional interviewees
Blog Read 'Remote work, Peloton and online education' by Richard Florida
Interview Watch a conversation with debate speaker Richard Florida and LSE Cities' Ricky Burdett
Throughout 2020, the shape of the city – its buildings and open spaces – has taken centre stage in our experience of everyday life. Living in lockdown has confronted urban dwellers around the world with the limits of confined domestic environments yet reminded us of the benefits of a well-designed and accessible public realm.
Event Details Read a description of the debate and speakers
Video of live event Watch the full recording of the debate
Podcast Listen to a recording of the event
Debate summary Read the key takeaways from the discussion
Summary Film Watch a short film showing highlights from the debate
For urban transport, the early 2020s are going to be an inflection point hard to overestimate: digital connectivity will increasingly substitute physical access, public transport finance will require new business models, and fiscal recovery packages have the potential to either entrench transport-intense urban development or accelerate progress towards urban patterns based on density and mixed use.
Event Details Read a description of the debate and speakers
Video of live event Watch the full recording of the debate
Podcast Listen to a recording of the event (also available on most podcast platforms)
Debate summary Read the key takeaways from the discussion
Summary Film Watch a short film bringing together highlights from the debate with statements from a range of additional interviewees
Blog Read 'Can cities be hyperlocal?' by Philipp Rode
Blog Read 'The 15-minute city is a dead end — cities must be places of opportunity for everyone' by Edward Glaeser
The context in which cultural organisations are operating today is changing rapidly, and this will in turn, affect how they contribute to the quality and texture of urban life going forward. The longer-term effects of Covid 19 and growing pressures of climate change, combined with new tech-enabled possibilities of remote working, are changing the way we live, work, socialise, and travel, stimulating a new interest in more localised lives centred around resurgent town centres and neighbourhoods.
Event Details Read a description of the debate and speakers
Video of live event Watch the full recording of the debate
Podcast Listen to a recording of the event (also available on most podcast platforms)
Debate summary Read the key takeaways from the discussion
Summary film Watch a short film showing highlights from the debate
Blog Read 'Thursday night is the new Friday night' by Elaine Bedell
Urban retail is being reinvented. Even before the pandemic, e‑commerce was challenging recreational shopping in cities, ethical concerns about cheap labour were becoming more prominent and the climate and ecological emergency was prompting questions about hyper consumerism, the accumulation of more stuff and ‘discard culture’. In the wake of the global pandemic, new lifestyles and consumption habits are emerging which will accelerate changes in the shopping and retail sector with profound implications for cities and their spaces of mass consumption.
Event Details Read a description of the debate and speakers
Video of live event Watch the full recording of the debate
Podcast Listen to a recording of the event (also available on most podcast platforms)
Debate summary Read the key takeaways from the discussion
Summary film Watch a short film showing highlights from the debate
Blog Read ‘We’re hungry to see each other’ by Thomas Heatherwick
GLOBAL SURVEYS
Two global surveys invited urban thought leaders and practitioners from around the world to share their perspectives around two of the debate themes.
#01 | The Future of Knowledge Work
Conducted between November 2020 and January 2021, the first survey asked about what could and should happen to knowledge work in cities over the next decade. The results of the survey informed the theme of the first debate Socialising Remote Work: Will changing patterns in knowledge work reduce or amplify the human need to meet in cities?
Read and download the survey summary
#02 | Localising Transport
Conducted between May 2021 and June 2021 survey two explored urban transport and mobility in cities today and over the next few decades. Initial insights from the survey informed the third debate on ‘Localising Transport: towards the 15-minute city or the one-hour metropolis?’
Read and download the survey summary