17 March 2016
Episode 231
30 minutes
Photo: Emmanuel Huybrechts
It’s all about simple tech fixes this week as we explore some of the small tweaks that are taking city living to the next level. Can technology actually make the cities of tomorrow better places to live? We sit down with Boston’s chief information officer Jascha Franklin-Hodge to hear his opinion. Plus: we discover how buses are at the forefront of a hi-tech transport gear shift in Ljubljana.
17 March 2016
Share episode
DownloadChapter 1
6 minutes
Photo: Jenn Deering Davis
15
15
/
As more people flock to cities a key question for many planners and urbanists is how to make cities “smarter”. It’s a term that gets bandied about so often that it becomes almost meaningless but at South by Southwest – Austin’s annual celebration of all things tech, film and music – people have been pondering this very topic.
6 minutes
Share chapter 1
![SXSW: how to make cities smarter](http://img.monocle.com/radio/chapters/ch1_c_jenn-deering-davis_crop-56eaf41696174.jpg?w=640&h=360&g=center&q=60)
Chapter 2
6 minutes
Photo: Tim Sackton
15
15
/
Boston is one of the leading tech cities in the world, with a healthy start-up scene and universities such as MIT and Harvard leading the field in tech innovation. It also has a strong municipal commitment to integrate tech and data into civic life and this particular task is the responsibility of chief information officer Jascha Franklin-Hodge.
6 minutes
Share chapter 2
![Boston: Jascha Franklin Hodge](http://img.monocle.com/radio/chapters/ch2_tim-sackton_crop_w-56eaf41cad128.jpg?w=640&h=360&g=center&q=60)
Chapter 3
6 minutes
Photo: The TAS Paternership LTD
15
15
/
When thinking about transport technology it’s easy to get distracted with flights of fancy such as carbon-composite materials, maglev trains and self-driving cars. Amid all these glittering developments, the humble bus doesn’t get much of a look in. But Ljubljana is showing that the application of a little technology can go a long way, making the bus a key part of its urban-transport transformation.
6 minutes
Share chapter 3
![Ljubljana: bus revolution](http://img.monocle.com/radio/chapters/ch3_the-tas-partnership-ltd_cr-56eaf429733a7.jpg?w=640&h=360&g=center&q=60)
Want more radio episodes like these in your inbox?
Sign up to Monocle’s email newsletters to stay on top of news and opinion, plus the latest from the magazine, radio, film and shop.
The Urbanist - latest episodes
Live from Saint-Gobain Tower
‘The Urbanist’ hosts three expert speakers at Saint-Gobain’s Paris headquarters – Pascal Eveillard, Petra Marko and Kelsea Crawford – to discuss the future of our built environment and how innovation can help us live more…
Tall Stories 418: Johns Family Nature Conservancy Regional Park, Kelowna
Mandy Sinclair takes us to a nocturnal preserve not far from the city centre of Kelowna, British Columbia, to find out why protecting the dark sky is so important.
‘The Urbanist’ book club
We assemble ‘The Urbanist’ book club for another meeting as we browse books from the worlds of cycling, shopkeeping and the 15-minute city.
Tall Stories 417: Parque Central, Caracas
Camille Rodríguez Montilla tells the story of a grand development in Caracas that is emblematic of Venezuela’s decades-long tale of boom and bust.
Fostering culture and creativity
We look at some research and developments that underline the need to support creative and cultural communities in urban areas.
Tall Stories 416: Postos, Rio de Janeiro
Tomás Pinheiro looks at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic numbered lifeguard stations and meets the communities surrounding them.
Rebuilding Antakya
We assess the future of the Turkish city of Antakya and delve into the proposed master plan that aims to rebuild the city following the catastrophic earthquakes that struck in February 2023.
Tall Stories 415: The Tempodrom, Berlin
George Ruskin takes us to a postmodern, circus-tent-like event space that has been entertaining Berliners for decades.
Floating buildings and maritime architecture
Can floating cities be the solution to rising sea levels? Can architecture prepare in advance for coastal changes? We explore a few ways that our cities are, or should be, interacting with water.
Tall Stories 414: Former headquarters of Deutsche Bahn AG, Frankfurt
Florian Siebeck visits a late-brutalist building that looms over the Frankfurt skyline to assess what’s next for this cultural monument.
Biophilic design, London’s Olympia and transit innovation
This week we visit one of the jewels in west London’s cultural crown: Olympia. Then: we head to Dublin for a look at the latest in transport technology and we browse two projects in the US that are bringing biophilic design…
Tall Stories 413: Astana, Kazakhstan
Carla Hyenne explores Astana, the recently minted capital of Kazakhstan, to see how the move has affected the city and the country as a whole.
Urban Land Institute Europe Conference
As the world continues to change at a rapid pace, what is the real-estate industry doing to address the challenges posed to cities by climate change, market fluctuations and geopolitical risks? This week we’re in Milan to…
Tall Stories 412: The Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building, Belgrade
Guy de Launey looks at what the future holds for the largely dilapidated remains of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building in Serbia’s capital.
Start with Children summit
How can we build better cities for future generations? This week we bring you a report from Bratislava, which recently played host to a two-day event bringing together mayors, policymakers, architects and business leaders…