In the face of crises such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, effective and positive change in cities is an imperative for optimizing public health, social equity and environmental sustainability for urban centers and the rest. of the world.

Call to action against cities that have become more spatially fragmented, less respectful of the environment and more socially divided, the city of the future is the one that will be able to meet and overcome these challenges while offering residents living spaces and better quality. of life.

In this series of ten virtual dialogues, Norman Foster examines the past, present and future of cities alongside the following leading experts:

Alejandro Aravena
Executive Director, ELEMENTAL, Santiago, Chile

Vicki Arroyo
Associate Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington DC

Ricky burdett
Director, LSE Cities and the Urban Age, London

Edward glaeser
Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Paul Goldberger
Architecture critic, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, New York

Ian goldin
Founding Director, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Anne Lacaton
Co-founder and director, Lacaton & Vassal, Paris

Mariana Mazzucato
Founder and Director, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London (UCL), London

Sheela patel
Founding Director, Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC), Mumbai

Antoine Picon
G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

As the premiere of the NFF’s upcoming digital series “Conversations”, the “Future of Cities” series will soon be followed by the release of the “Future of Archives” series, which will explore the most fundamental aspects of to architectural archives and libraries around the world, as well as the Masterclass and Conversation Series ‘Climate Crisis’, in which the looming challenges of climate change will be addressed by key visionaries in the field of sustainability.

The conversations included in this series are part of the Education + Research program of the Norman Foster Foundation and were developed through research grants supported by BYD, the Crankstart Foundation, David and Nina Fialkow, the Ford Foundation, Lisa and Richard Cashin and the Rolex Institut.

The Norman Foster Foundation would like to especially thank Bloomberg Philanthropies for their generous support in the production of this series.

The series “Conversations on the future of cities” is currently available for viewing here.