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Few downtowns have had their post-pandemic struggles examined as closely — or declared dead as confidently — as San Francisco. The city was particularly exposed to the structural changes reshaping downtowns everywhere: remote and hybrid work, high office vacancy, declining transit ridership, housing affordability, public safety and visible vulnerability on the street.  Now, San Francisco is doubling down on its comeback. In this episode, we hear from Shola Olatoye, CEO, San Francisco Downtown Development Corp about the big bets, private sector and philanthropic engagement and where results are being seen.

Every year, more than 70,000 people gather in Nevada's Black Rock Desert to build a city from nothing.  Roads are laid out. Neighborhoods emerge. Public spaces come alive. Art rises from the dust (and rain). People cook, teach, perform, care for one another, and create the culture of the city itself. Then, just a few weeks later, it all disappears. In this episode of the WRLDCTY Podcast, we explore Black Rock City through the experience of Byant Tan (aka Level), one of the people responsible for planning and shaping this extraordinary urban experiment.

In 2018, Cape Town came within months of Day Zero; the potential of running out of water. What followed was one of the most remarkable collective responses to an urban crisis: water use was cut by almost half, the taps stayed on, and the experience permanently changed how the City thinks about risk, trust and preparedness. It turned Cape Town into a city with Futures-Thinking at its core. In our latest WRLDCTY Podcast, Gareth Morgan, Executive Director of Future Planning and Resilience, takes us from that crisis into a much bigger conversation about the capabilities cities need for an increasingly unpredictable era.  Climate is only part of the story. So are population growth, migration, geopolitical shocks, infrastructure, AI and the ability of institutions to learn quickly enough to respond.

In this episode of the WRLDCTY Podcast, we explore Tokyo through the work of PYNT, Nikken Sekkei's collective innovation platform - a social space where designers, researchers, and community builders are experimenting with new ways of bringing people together and rethinking the city.  To do so, we are honoured to welcome Junko Iwaya and Yuki Tatano of Nikken Sekkei.

In this episode, we sit down with Paul van Zyl, co-founder and CEO of The Conduit: a purpose-driven members' community bringing together leaders tackling the world's biggest challenges. Together, we explore how cities create the conditions for collaboration, why physical gathering spaces matter more than ever, and how London continues to reinvent itself through bold leadership on air quality, climate, AI, and culture.

In this episode, we hear from longtime WRLDCTY friend and Global Fellow Emiliano Espasandin about the "perfectly imperfect" nature of Buenos Aires, a city with a sidewalk-level culture of cafes, retail, food, dance, and community that shows how powerful a city's intangibles can be. In Emiliano's words, the lack of "asking permission" and the belief that anything is possible is what makes Buenos Aires a city we can all learn from in this era of social isolation in cities around the world.

This episode explores Medellín beyond the familiar “miracle city” narrative. Through the perspective of Alejandro Echeverri, who was a driving force behind many of the city’s foundational projects, we examine the deeper ambitions and tensions behind Medellín’s transformation: dignity, trust, equity, mobility, public investment, and the long-term evolution of social urbanism.

We are honoured to feature Fulco Treffers, co-founder, Ro3kvit as our guest in this week’s podcast. For many outside Ukraine, the country's cities exist largely through headlines. Yet speaking with Fulco, a different picture emerged. Across Ukraine, questions of identity have moved from the margins to the centre of civic life.  Cultural institutions are re-examining history.  Communities are rediscovering traditions and stories that had long been overshadowed or forgotten.  The conversation is not nostalgic. It is practical. If a society is being asked what it is willing to protect, it must first understand what it is - and what it values.

There are few cities more admired by urbanists than Singapore. Yet for all the attention paid to its infrastructure and institutions, there is another story unfolding in Singapore: one that is becoming increasingly relevant to cities everywhere. It is a story about what happens after dark. WRLDCTY welcomes our first guest in this new series where we explore world cities through the lens of one one-the-ground force for innovation. Meet Danny Loong, CEO and co-founder of Timbre Group and President of the Singapore Nightlife Business Association. This episode's conversation begins with a simple observation: perhaps we have been asking the wrong questions about nightlife. Loong argues that cities should think less about "nightlife" and more about "nighttime." The distinction is subtle but important. Take a listen.