Urban Limitrophe

Episode 21: How the Charter Cities Institute Promotes Inclusive and Adaptable Planning for Sustainable New Cities

May 28, 2023

Join me in this captivating episode of the podcast as I have an insightful conversation with Heba Elhanafy, an urban researcher from the Charter Cities Institute (CCI) Zambia. Together, we explore the fascinating world of charter city development and dive deep into the Planning Guidelines Report titled "Guided Organic Growth: An urban planning framework for charter cities."

Discover the recommendations outlined in the report on how to enhance City Development, Urban Planning, and Mobility in new cities. Learn how taking a flexible and adaptable approach, in collaboration with communities, can lead to more inclusive outcomes for citizens and foster a holistic approach to city building.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

What are charter cities and why promoting good governance is at the heart of making them work
The benefits of taking an incremental approach to infrastructure development for more affordability and efficiency
The importance of adapting urban policies and plans to the evolving needs of citizens
And much more!

You can listen to the podcast on Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS | Apple Podcasts

Guest: Heba Elhanafy, CCI Zambia

Heba is an urban planner and researcher. Her research interests lie in human settlements, culture, heritage, community, and new city development. Heba has been working as an urban researcher at the Charter Cities Insitute for two years.

Website: www.chartercitiesinstitute.org
Twitter: @hebaelhanafi
Instagram: @hebaelhanafy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heba-elhanafy-918691a0

Timestamps

03:19 | Introduction to Heba and her work
04:47 | About the Charter Cities Institute (CCI) and its approach to urban development (.e. the Charter City Model)
07:02 | What are Charter Cities and why is good governance so important?
11:08 | Can you walk us through the planning guidelines report?
16:09 | Can you explain more about the Guided Organic Growth Paradigm and why it is important for urban planners to keep in mind?
24:58 | What are some key takeaways from the report that readers should keep in mind moving forward?
27:20 | Do you have any insight to ensure urban planning remains flexible and remains a dynamic process?
30:19 | In general, what can urban planners do to ensure that when making charter cities, the voices of the community are included and people don’t get left behind?
29:23 | Can you tell us what’s next for your research or the work that you’re up to?
33:32 | How can people get involved with CCI (i.e. their co-authorship program, etc.)

Show Notes

Acknowledgements

Sponsorships

This episode is co-sponsored by the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning.

The School of Cities "convenes urban-focused researchers, educators, students, practitioners and the general public to explore and address complex urban challenges, with the aim of making cities and urban regions more sustainable, prosperous, inclusive and just". To learn more about the School of Cities visit www.schoolofcities.utoronto.ca.

To learn more about the Department of Geography and Planning and the different undergraduate and graduate programs available please visit www.geography.utoronto.ca.

Support

Editor and Music Producer: Imany Lambropoulos
Podcast Host and Graphic Designer: Alexandra Lambropoulos

Stay in the loop!

If you would like to be interviewed, have an interesting idea to share for an episode, or have any feedback on the podcast, please send me an email at hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com.

If you enjoy the show, please share it with your family, friends, social worker, software engineer, ski instructor... and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

Make sure to subscribe to the newsletter and follow the podcast on Instagram to stay in the loop

Episode 20: How Ushahidi is Using Crowdsourcing to Help Community Disaster Response and Recovery

March 28, 2023

In this episode, I chat with Angela Oduor Lungati, the CEO of Ushahidi. Ushahdi is a mobile platform dubbed “Africa’s Gift to Silicon Valley” by the New York Times. Born out of a crisis, the open-source software enables virtually anyone with a cellphone or internet connection to efficiently crowdsource information, map it and share it with those the most in need and guide those who can provide aid. Ushahidi is a powerful planning and decision-making tool for communities and cities in the midst of an emergency and has been used by groups worldwide to track everything from COVID-19 recovery to police brutality and everything in between.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

how Ushahidi has been leveraged by communities and governments worldwide,
how to keep communities at the center of innovation,
and much more!

You can listen to the podcast on Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS | Apple Podcasts

Guest: Angela Oduor Lungati, Ushahidi

Angela is a technologist, community builder and open-source software advocate who is passionate about building and using appropriate technology tools to impact the lives of marginalised groups. She currently serves as the Executive Director at Ushahidi, a global non-profit technology company that helps communities quickly collect and share information that enables them to raise voices, inform decisions and influence change. She’s also a co-founder of AkiraChix, and serves on the Board of Directors of Creative Commons.

Timestamps

5:17 | Can you walk me through the process of using the platform?
8:32 | Who are the typical users of Ushahidi actually creating the deployments vs the people using it?
9:47 | How does Ushahidi make the software accessible to both those collecting the data and those viewing the final maps?
12:58 | What have been some of the challenges of getting communities to actually use the platform and take part in this crowd-sourcing process?
16:44 | Can you share some examples of projects that have been created by Ushahidi that you find particularly noteworthy?
22:54 | Why is crowd-sourcing data important for city builders?
24:47 | What do you think city-builders should consider in ensuring that the smart cities of today don’t leave anyone behind?
26:56 | What kind of policies or partnerships do you think cities/ governments can provide to organizations like yourself to expand the reach of your work?
28:47 | What's next for Ushahidi?
30:52 | How can people support the work that you’re doing?

Show Notes

Frena La Curva: Connecting Spanish Speakers With Critical Resources Around Them

Sources

Acknowledgements

Sponsorships

This episode is co-sponsored by the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning.

To learn more about the Department of Geography and Planning and the different undergraduate and graduate programs available please visit www.geography.utoronto.ca.

Support

Editor and Music Producer: Imany Lambropoulos
Podcast Host and Graphic Designer: Alexandra Lambropoulos

Stay in the loop!

If you would like to be interviewed, have an interesting idea to share for an episode, or have any feedback on the podcast, please send me an email at hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com.

If you enjoy the show, please share it with your family, friends, racecar driver, rapper, radio host... and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

Make sure to subscribe to the newsletter and follow the podcast on Instagram to stay in the loop

Reach Symposium 2022: A Discussion on Resilient Cities for Sustainable Development with the Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr

October 23, 2022

In April 2022, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr about her work in Freetown, Sierra Leone and her take on resilient cities as part of the annual Reach Alliance Symposium: Resilient Together: Pathways for Sustainable Development.

We spoke of the city's #FreetownTheTreeTown initiative, the importance of community and youth engagement and what it takes to make cities more resilient to climate change and meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To hear the Mayor's keynote address and our interview tune in below:

To listen to other discussions held during the symposium, please visit https://reachalliance.org/2022-symposium/

Timestamps

15:20 | What do you recommend other cities do to ensure that they are meaningfully engaging with their communities when tackling climate change? And why is having a comunity-oriented approach to tackling climate change so important for resilience and sustainable development?

26:20 | It is often said that the next generation of young leaders are agents of change and are valuable contributors to climate action. Why do you think this is true and critical not only for climate action but for achieving the SDGs? How have young leaders played a role in the City of Freetown's success?

29:50 | What makes cities uniquely positioned to drive change and advance the achievement of the SDGs?

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE was sworn in as mayor of Freetown in May 2018 with a commitment to transform Freetown using an inclusive, data-driven approach to address challenges in the city. The 3-year Transform Freetown plan details 19 concrete targets across 11 sectors and covers issues ranging from tackling environmental degradation to facilitating the creation of jobs in the tourism sector. A finance professional with over 25 years of private sector experience in strategic planning, risk management consulting and project management, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr’s public sector engagement began with her work during the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic and her subsequent role as Delivery Team Lead for the second phase of a multi-stakeholder program to drive socioeconomic recovery in Sierra Leone post Ebola. Mayor Aki-Sawyerr is a chartered accountant and holds an MSc in Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics and a BSc Hons in Economics from Fourah Bay College. She was recently recognized in the BBC 2020 100 Women list.

To learn more about the City of Freetown and Mayor Aki-Sawyerr's work, please visit https://fcc.gov.sl/

About the Reach Alliance

The Reach Alliance, founded in 2015 at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, in partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, was inspired by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Reach is a student-driven, faculty-mentored research and leadership initiative examining how critical interventions and innovations reach those who are the hardest to reach: those living in extreme poverty, the geographically remote, administratively invisible and marginalized. Our research has been featured in leading outlets, and our in-depth case studies are available on the Reach website.

The Reach Alliance recruits top students – equipping the next generation of leaders, to produce actionable insights – and catalyzes impact through our institutional partners.

To learn more about The Reach Alliance, please visit https://reachalliance.org/