Remaining optimistic about sustainable and climate resilient cities and territories while the world stumbles from crisis into crisis
Ulrich Graute • 23 March 2022
Writing about and with optimism in times of crises and divisions is a challenge but I consider it as important.
The gap is widening between the future oriented global agendas like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG / 2030 Agenda; adopted in 2015), Paris Climate Agreement (2015), the New Urban Agenda (UN-Habitat 2016) and the crisis reality around the world. There are not only the wars in Ukraine, Yemen, climate crisis, hunger, inequality and multiple other crises around the world. These are interrelated and often reinforce each other. The grain not grown in Ukraine this year will worsen the food situation in countries like Yemen and Tunisia. And the currently ten million Ukrainian refugees (therefore of 3,5 million outside of Ukraine) will drain budgets across Europe. And who is proud about the fact that Germany is pursuing now a feminist foreign policy should also see that this innovation goes along with the government’s proposal to reduce the budget for development cooperation by 800 million Euros.* The ambitious and interrelated agendas for sustainable development and climate resilience were always difficult to achieve but probably nobody expected multiple additional challenges as the world faces today.
In the light of these developments and of other impacts not yet visible many pursue one of these paths: Some try to do business as usual by stoically implementing their ongoing projects; others are profoundly shocked and irritated by the many challenges and again others are at the brink of collapse and close to giving up all efforts. Understandable as doubts and weak spiritedness are, neither business as usual nor despair will help.
Some may dream now of a total revolution and to build up new systems from the scratch. But we have to be prudent: There is a high risk of uncontrolled chain reactions due to interrelations and interdependencies between different wars and other crises. Revolutions can be also destructive, eat their own children and end in new oppressive systems. In addition, the goals of the 2030 Agenda and Paris Climate Agreement are not wrong after all. Therefore, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Instead, what’s necessary to do is the same that every autopilot in a car does when a driver misses a goal: ‘… Recalculating route … New route…”. In this post I list a few suggestions on how to recalculate the route to goal achievement.
1 Reviewing the state of sustainability and climate goals
There are global review mechanisms. For instance, the United Nations High Level Political Forum and Sustainable Development is responsible to review the 2030 Agenda and SDGs while the Conference of Parties (COP) does the same for the Paris Climate Agreement. However, in the current situation with one member of the Security Council invading another UN member state and impacting many other UN member states the UN system is limited in its possibilities and thus, it is unfit to generate more than incremental changes and cannot solve any of the major problems.
With the international politics captured in its system and not able to initiate its own reform change can only come from the outside. Local government, civil societies and all non-state actors are not involved in decision-making but bear the main load of impact by war and other crises. Without them governments cannot achieve their goals and this, in return, should give them the power to review goals and initiate change. If you like the resistance of Ukraine against Russian aggression or not, the example demonstrates how powerful the people of a smaller country can resist the power of the largest country in the world. Imagine this power would be used to revisit the global goals of sustainable development and climate resilience and to recalculate the route to goal achievement - it may even find the support of governments!
2 Prioritizing Peace, justice, institutions (SDG 16) and international partnership (SDG 17)
The implementation of 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement depend on voluntary cooperation, lags behind and might get derailed completely. Is this the end of the SDG and climate goals? There is a real risk but it’s not inevitable. There is no causal link. So, let’s look for a way out. In practice, the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement are not lost but to revive them and achieve their goals it’s necessary to prioritize two out of the Sustainable Development Goals:
• SDG 16 – Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
The common reading of the Sustainable Development Goals follows the numeric order starting with No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5) and so forth. The call for climate action and the link to the Paris Agreement is given by SDG 13.
All 17 SDGs are interrelated and interdependent and no hierarchy was intended for the 2030 Agenda. Nonetheless, the reality unfolding in front our eyes (or on our screens) tells us that without peace, justice, institutions (SDG 16) and international partnership (SDG 17) the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change are ‘dead agendas walking’ – and that not only in Ukraine and Russia but everywhere. Therefore, I suggest that it is time to learn reading the 2030 Agenda from the back to the front, starting with SDG 16 and 17. Yes, I also suggest to prioritize these two SDGs because they provide the key to reconnect the entire 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and possibly other development agendas with the dramatic and dynamic reality unfolding.
In all countries, be they democratic or autocratic there is a deal between the government and the people: The people accept the government as long as it delivers at least the public services of general interest (in German: Daseinsvorsorge) as expected by the people. And certainly, without healthy climate and a sustainable development people won’t survive. If governments are not able to deliver related services its power base will erode and eventually collapse. This needs to be discussed in all countries and it is a chance to realign governments and people on the need for action to assure climate resilience and sustainability. And the implementation begins as described by SDG 16 with building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Based on that feasibility and diagnostic studies help to refocus and improve goal achievement.
3 Visioning sustainability and climate resilience inspired by a new narrative
In 2018, the United Nations through UN-Habitat sent me twice to Afghanistan to support the development of a National Urban Policy (NUP). In line with the National Urban Policy Programme of the UN and OECD I began with making the case for an NUP Afghanistan, i.e. by visioning the value added which an NUP might have for the people and the country. A lot of reasons were brought up against this approach and the main argument was that after so many years of war the need to provide basic urban services would be a lot more pressing than investing time and efforts in the visioning a long-term value added of a national urban policy. I couldn’t convince partners about the importance of visioning and a positive narrative to motivate especially young people to stay and invest in the future of the country.
We know what happened in summer 2021: After the withdrawal of the US and its NATO allies the country immediately collapsed and was retaken by the Taliban. I would never claim that a visionary NUP would have prevented that collapse. However, without a visionary narrative that outlines goals worth to engage for the government failed in rallying the people against the Taliban. Now in 2022 the world is surprised about the commitment of the Ukrainian people to defend their country against the power of the Russian aggression. But obviously in contrast to Afghan people, the Ukrainians share a vision of their own country and understand that it is worth to fight for it. Visions don’t substitute proper diagnostic and feasibility studies for future action but they deliver the inspiration needed.
Let’s learn from these examples and outline a new narrative for sustainability and climate goals. It certainly won’t be easy but our future and that of future generations are worth the effort. We are in the middle of a night and we stumble from crisis into crises but a new day may begin if we move along a new narrative, focus on peace, justice, accountable institutions and a recalculate the path to goal achievement. We can do it and I am glad if I can support the discussion e.g. with posts like this one.
In 2018, the United Nations through UN-Habitat sent me twice to Afghanistan to support the development of a National Urban Policy (NUP). In line with the National Urban Policy Programme of the UN and OECD I began with making the case for an NUP Afghanistan, i.e. by visioning the value added which an NUP might have for the people and the country. A lot of reasons were brought up against this approach and the main argument was that after so many years of war the need to provide basic urban services would be a lot more pressing than investing time and efforts in the visioning a long-term value added of a national urban policy. I couldn’t convince partners about the importance of visioning and a positive narrative to motivate especially young people to stay and invest in the future of the country.
We know what happened in summer 2021: After the withdrawal of the US and its NATO allies the country immediately collapsed and was retaken by the Taliban. I would never claim that a visionary NUP would have prevented that collapse. However, without a visionary narrative that outlines goals worth to engage for the government failed in rallying the people against the Taliban. Now in 2022 the world is surprised about the commitment of the Ukrainian people to defend their country against the power of the Russian aggression. But obviously in contrast to Afghan people, the Ukrainians share a vision of their own country and understand that it is worth to fight for it. Visions don’t substitute proper diagnostic and feasibility studies for future action but they deliver the inspiration needed.
Let’s learn from these examples and outline a new narrative for sustainability and climate goals. It certainly won’t be easy but our future and that of future generations are worth the effort. We are in the middle of a night and we stumble from crisis into crises but a new day may begin if we move along a new narrative, focus on peace, justice, accountable institutions and a recalculate the path to goal achievement. We can do it and I am glad if I can support the discussion e.g. with posts like this one.
* https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-turning-point-feminist-foreign-policy/
https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/humanitaere-hilfe-es-wird-zeit-dass-die-menschlichkeit-erwacht-a-4543972d-7d58-4288-a287-73b19e959cc1
https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/humanitaere-hilfe-es-wird-zeit-dass-die-menschlichkeit-erwacht-a-4543972d-7d58-4288-a287-73b19e959cc1
Policies and Governance for Resilient and Sustainable Cities and Regions
Experience Still Matters - From ISOCARP's 2025 World Planning Congress in Riyadh to the 2026 Conference 'Centrality in the Age of Dispersion' in Wroclaw to the 2026 Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona I just finished the review of more than 200 full papers of last year's 61st ISOCARP World Planning Congress in Riyadh together with ISOCARP's great Congress Content Team and my Co-General Rapporteur and President of IFLA Middle East, Dr. Nadine Bitar Chahine. Now, I would be ready to take it a bit easier and to focus on my special interests, like the relationship between humans, cities and AI. However, I am happy to share that I received a call to serve on the Expert Evaluation Committee (Call for Speakers and Call for Awards) for the 2026 Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona - the world's biggest and most influential event on urban innovation. Since 2011, the Smart City Expo World Congress has been the world’s biggest and most influential event for cities and urban innovation. Hosted annually in Barcelona, it brings together a powerful ecosystem of leaders from global companies, governments, and strategic organizations, driving real change. By convening the brightest minds and the most cutting-edge technology, the Smart City Expo is actively shaping a new urban paradigm: more sustainable, efficient, and human-centered. This function comes on top of my continued membership in the Scientific Committee for this year's Conference on 'Centrality in the Age of Dispersion' at the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology and an assignment as assessor and evaluator by hashtag#CitiesAlliance. Apparently, and in spite of the new wave of technology innovation, around AI experience still matters. More is coming up, and I am thankful for that. I will keep putting my penny into the jar of international cooperation of cities and their multilevel engagement.
In her fascinating book Le Paradox du Tapis Roulant (The Paradox of the Conveyor Belt) Marion Carré writes about our intellectual laziness in using AI and that we need to and how to overcome it. Does that make sense? Isn’t it the promise of all adds on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that it will provide services to us to make our life easier, to foster innovation and to increase our quality of life? Marion Carré observes and provides evidence from US and UK studies that using Large Languages Models (LLM) can make the individuum more creative, but that comparing this progress with other users using similar prompts shows in LLM responses only limited diversity and creativity. Instead, LLM provide similar suggestions and inspiration to different people who provide the LLM with similar tasks/prompts. Users who start from a lower level of knowledge may be able to make big steps towards an average level of knowledge and creativity while those from an already above average level may experience less gain of knowledge and creativity. She compares this phe nomenon with a conveyor belt. It is able to move individuals forward easily. Everybody is moving forward but they all move in the same direction. And here is the paradox: while we move forward the machine moves us into the same direction. Thus, on the longer term, AI might contribute more to standardization than creativity and innovation. But as co-founder of the company Ask Mona, a start-up that uses AI to mobilize curiosity and cooperates with culture institution on different continents, Marion Carré describes a way out of this impasse: instead of allowing AI to lull us into a false sense of security by simply trusting that our prompts generate trustworthy answers, we should use AI more as a sparring partner to train our critical thinking. Of course, it will be necessary that developers of AI program models and applications to be more interested in what users exactly mean. As various projects described demonstrate, it is also possible to challenge AI to be more gender and culturally responsive. Thus, AI Models should strengthen their Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback, ask users questions and give them different options to choose from. And after overcoming all temptations to lean back, trust AI and become lazy, Marion Carré realized: “It was at this point that I began using AI to engage in dialogue with myself. Not because I recognized its particular expertise or attached importance to its ideas, but because some of its remarks prompted reflections I wouldn't have had in isolation. The machine shifts my perspective away from my own way of thinking and its inevitable biases. It helps me more easily identify blind spots in my work and question certain limitations” (page 205).
The International Association for Safe and Ethical Artificial Intelligence, Inc. (IASEAI.org) hosted its second successful annual conference on 24 and 25 February 2026 at UNESCO House in Paris. Movement can be impactful for a while but needs to build a sustainable and agile structure for cooperation if they aim at longer term impact. IASEAI is an independent nonprofit organization founded to address the risks and opportunities associated with rapid advances in AI. With 1200 attendees and its interdisciplinary program the Paris conference was a rousing success. However, IASEAI still a young movement in a dynamic and difficult policy environment: Overall, the use of AI is not regulated. There are some national AI policies in countries like China and at regional level the European Union the EU AI Act is in effect since August 2024. The UN is establishing an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. In most countries and cities of the world governments are still struggling to find their right AI-approach. Meanwhile big tech is betting high on the (aimed for) return of investments in AI development. A $7 trillion race to scale data centers is driving the investment landscape. At the same time, public concerns are growing about possible negative impacts of AI on the labor market and social cohesion. In addition, the AI bubble may burst. However, in global competition government tend to let AI development go without regulation rather the risking to fall behind in the race. All that happens in a time when the climate change is an ever-growing challenge, wars in Ukraine, Sudan and now in the entire Middle East continue to weaken international cooperation, kill thousands and destroy economic resources. What can non-governmental organizations like IASEAI do? In short IASEAI needs a sustainable and agile structure. With its President Stuart Russel, Executive Director Mark Nitzberg, Council, Advisory Board and Volunteers the Association has already a core team able to organize excellent international conferences like IASEAI’25 and ’26. But what happens in between of the annual conferences? How to keep the momentum? Stuart Russel at the closing plenary in Paris (see picture) expressed hope that e.g. as many national chapters as possible will be established. But how long will it take to establish such chapters in possibly all 195 recognized countries in the world? Or might the association end up with a few active countries which then leave many interested members behind? Therefore, and without excluding any establishment of national chapters, but also considering the dynamic global environment and limited resources of IASEAI, it might be recommendable and strategic to choose a structure and approach like this: Governance The President, Executive Director and Council already form the core governance structure of IASEAI and they should be supported by the Advisory Board and a Secretariat. They decide on the program of work, policy statements, other global activities and are accountable to members at the General Assembly of Members of the society. Regional Chapters and Working Groups In addition, IASEAI should establishing Regional Chapters or Working Groups in North America (US, Canada and Mexico), Europe (EU, UK and other non-EU-member states), Africa, Western Asia, Asia and Pacific (China, Australia etc). Again, National Chapters should be welcome but as a global movement the structure should not leave any member behind. Regional Chapters are more flexible and agile to exchange and cooperation, including with members in countries, where there either is no national network of members yet or where it may be difficult to establish a national non-governmental group of IASEAI. In addition, in cases like the European Union, a Regional Chapter is useful to follow-up e.g. developments around the EU AI Act. IASEAI work across all policy levels: AI and cities, and AI and International Organizations Considering that most people of the world live in cities, it would be important to establish an additional Working Group ‘AI and Cities’ to address the specific needs and opportunities of cities. Not paying enough attention to local needs and opportunities is one of the reasons why many UN agenda and policies like 2030 Agenda with its SDGs are weak or fail on the implementation side. In addition, one additional global Working Group should coordinate cooperation with the UN and other International Organizations. A global movement like IASEAI must work across all policy levels to be sustainable. After all, advising the UN through its Scientific Panel on AI, and national governments on AI safety and ethics may fail easily, if IASEAI has no competence at all on subnational matters of AI implementation and impacts. Ad hoc Thematic Groups and Projects In general, IASEAI should beware of becoming a organization which is top-down organized only. This might choke the momentum achieved at the first two annual conferences. IASEAI needs motivated and engaged members across disciplines, countries and regions for its global movement and to speak up in favor of safe and ethical use of AI. The dynamic of developments in the field will generate emerging subjects and may require that ad hoc groups with a single purpose are set up e.g. to write a report or policy statement on emerging issues in the field. This might be the case on a wide range of subjects like 'AI and children'. Depending on funds available the Association can build own and independent capacities for policy analysis and research. On the longer run this may turn IASEAI into a Think Thank always demanded when AI faces a new development of safety and ethical relevance. Of course, it will remain the task of the President, Executive Director, Council, Secretariat and advisory groups to compose out of all the above and in cooperation with all affiliates a sustainable global movement that speaks with authority and convinces governments and the public of a safe and ethical use of AI. And thanks again to the organizers of IASEAI'26 for the excellent conference with its 'radical interdisciplinary' programme. It was the right approach for the global movement.
On 28 January, the American Planning Association (APA) launched the fifth Trend Report for Planners. One of the strengths of the Report is that the trends are structured within three timeframes (Act Now, Prepare, Learn, and Watch), which indicate the urgency of planners' actions. Within each timeframe, trends are grouped into themed clusters. For each trend, the report gives insights and explains why it is important for planners to know about and consider the trend in their work. The Future of Planning requires embracing uncertainty. Planning was and is always linked to uncertainties. However, the Report is linked to the current specific multiple crises developments from climate to AI, Trump policies, geopolitical challenges, and the fact that policies leave many people behind. Looking more specifically at AI, I agree with the position that the intensifying bonds between humans and Chatbots are a trend where action is needed now. The Report also describes the need to prepare for policy shifts not working: "Fears of technology taking our jobs have been persistent through time, and the recent adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is no exception. Nearly one-third of U.S. workers believe that AI will reduce jobs in the future, and while some studies haven’t found significant disruption by AI in the labor market, the available data have limitations. Moreover, other research has found that while certain jobs have been insulated from AI thus far, early-career". Isn't this an area where not only preparation but also acting now is needed? The Report suggests embracing uncertainty and updating the planner’s toolkit. The Report is an excellent read. I highly recommend it. There is only one caveat: With so much about (often interrelated and interdependent) uncertainties for cities, economies, society, and individuals, I miss a more integrated foresight on urban and rural life of the future. Will cities look the same? How to ensure, in hybrid planning processes, that AI doesn't substitute our human objectives with its own? We are learning a lot about the parts shaping our future, but the traditional strength of planners to plan for integrated and inclusive human settlements still needs to be demonstrated, e.g., by describing based on foresight data scenarios and narratives of cities in a possible age of AI. Integrated narratives are necessary to inspire and motivate citizens and planners. In its conclusion, the Report summarises: "Although the future may feel uncertain, it also holds significant promise. Addressing complex global and local challenges will require innovation, creativity, and collaboration. Social and technological advances offer powerful opportunities to prepare and be ready—if they are applied thoughtfully, equitably, and sustainably." Please download your copy of the APA-Report
The International Association for Safe & Ethical AI (IASEAI) is one of the most important new foundations in the field of AI. Its mission is "to ensure that AI systems operate safely and ethically, benefiting all of humanity. We connect experts from academia, policy groups, civil society, industry, and beyond to promote research, shape policy, and build understanding around this goal." The International Association for Safe and Ethical Artificial Intelligence, Inc. aims to build a global movement. IASEAI will host its second annual conference (IASEAIΚΌ26) on 24-26 February 2026 at UNESCO House in Paris, France. (Here is the link https://lnkd.in/d8Yfiwg7). The aim is to advance its mission of fostering a global, interdisciplinary community focused on the safe and ethical development of AI. By bringing together experts from various domains, we aim to facilitate dialogue, share knowledge, and foster partnerships that can collectively address the challenges and opportunities posed by AI. I am looking forward to attending the conference, which will include these featured speakers: π Yoshua Bengio - Full Professor, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research, Université de Montréal π Geoffrey Hinton- Prof. Emeritus, University of Toronto; Former VP and Engineering Fellow, Google; Nobel laureate (physics, 2024) π Stuart Russell - Dist. Professor of Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley π Joseph Stiglitz - Prof. of Economics, Columbia University; Nobel laureate (economics, 2001) π Anna Salomons - Prof. of Law, Economics, and Governance, Utrecht University π Tara Steele - Founder and CEO, Safe AI for Children Alliance π Clara Chappaz - Ambassador, France for AI and Digital Affairs π Anne-Sophie SERET - Executive Director, everyone.ai π Ryan James - Chief Strategy Officer, Keep AI Safe Foundation The conference brings together technical, policy, and ethics researchers from academia, government, civil society, and industry. Of course, as a young organization, IASEAI may not yet cover all relevant aspects and groups. However, I miss a stronger attention to the specific urban dimension. After all, most AI companies are based in urban areas, and most people nowadays live in cities. If major disruption, unemployment, and unrest should occur due to AI, it is likely to happen in cities. City leaders and citizens will be challenged to coordinate and plan for the future of urban living in an age of AI. Thus, it is a bit surprising that urban stakeholders, so important for a global movement, will not be more strongly addressed by IASEAI. But I am confident that the discussions in Paris will raise awareness that building a global movement for safe and ethical AI needs to include city and business leaders, local AI, citizen engagement, and their advocacy at the national level.
Like any other big conference the 61st World Planning Congress of ISOCARP - International Society of City and Regional Planners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was complex, putting organizers under stress. But I must admit, the Congress in Riyadh was also different. Dr. Nadine Bitar Chahine and I made a perfect team of GRs, General Rapporteurs. Moments where we met in Riyadh to discuss problems were rare and stress came up only when the Riyadh Declaration was revised last minute. As I recall, we had no single work meeting and certainly no night sessions during the Congress. But the content programme of the Congress rolled out smoothly. Certainly, this is also due to other teams working hard, but as General Rapporteurs responsible for the content of the program it could have been very different. Root cause of our performance was that we at an early stage defined our single most important goal 'Making the Congress a success'. Easy as it sounds, it was often difficult to defend our understanding of what would make the Congress successful. But we didn't act as a block against others. Instead, at the preparatory in-person content meeting in Riyadh two months before the Congress we were not even sitting next to each other. We learned to rely and trust each other. In addition, we empowered the Congress Team. Prepared by us and highly motivated as they came to Riyadh, track teams worked perfectly without too much support or supervision. Well, and being able to rely on the work of the Congress Team and Secretariat we found time to attend sessions, discuss content of the Congress and have a lot of fun together as team and with others. That's how it works if a Society is member-led. Practically, we were working in parallel without loosing connection and mutual understanding. If you see these days posts commented by Nadine on behalf of both GRs, in most cases they were not discussed between us, but I agree on all of them. And in some of my posts the same happens in reverse. If our intuition shouldn't work perfectly at some point we briefly synchronise and go on. Since the Congress is over now, the peak of this perfectly tuned cooperation comes to the end. Thank you, thank you Nadine for a great year of cooperation. It will be difficult to repeat this perfect cooperation but let's try. Yours sincerely, Ulrich
ISOCARP ScientificCommittee 2023-2025 Activity Report 7 December2025
As the book "City Economies In The Global South: Growth, Inclusion, and Sustainability" of which I am one of the co-authors is being reviewed for publication by Routledge, we requested the publisher and they have agreed to include photographs on the cover page (1) and for the section dividers (5). Being an international publication, INHAF, the Indian habitat Forum, felt that nothing less than world class photographs will do. As such, INHAF has launched an international photography competition to be curated by none less than the renowned international photographer Raghu Rai. The competition was launched on 15th November through social media. We are also mailing potential participants - Indian and International Institutes and Organizations - pertaining to arts, media, journalism, and photography. Please find below the links for the poster and brochure for the competition. We request you to kindly circulate it in your circles so as to gain global reach and ensure widespread participation. The earlier mail containing the attachments was too large and could not be delivered to some recipients and hence I am resending the mail with the links instead: Poster: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jx5bgzvOCCiHvTUfi9tHotMwQ627p1cl/view?usp=drive_link Brochure: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i-LFqPmkLwQEv-fKThxxh-IbsKzOtZkM/view?usp=drive_link
The annual Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, S pain with its about 30000 participants is famous for its data and tech-orientations. There you can see drones flying and robots walk up and down the aisles. Definitely, technology and increasingly also artificial intelligence are important components of Smart Cities. However, looking closer you see that behind the technology it’s people who make cities really smart. Just to give a few examples: In New Orleans, Kim Walker LaGrue is Chief Information Officer and she described how she and her team work without much support from the federal government all year round to prepare, go through and follow up to the hurricane seasons. They embrace all data they can get but what really helps are fast reacting teams on the ground that evacuate and rescue people if needed. Dr. Sarah Hill works at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on subject related to new urban development and brings in her international experience from new city developments e.g. as the CEO of the Western Parkland City Authority in Australia. There she secured major investment and delivered significant city making initiatives whilst juggling complex priorities - managing budgets, multiple programs and projects to meet the diverse needs of various stakeholders. Dr Sunil Dubey came from Sydney to Barcelona. Teaching at the Cities Institute of the University of New South Wales and working for the Regional Government he is a networker par excellence. Preparing with him a session in Barcelona is challenging because there is always a mayor he quickly has to catch up with or colleagues who want to greet him. But it’s very inspiring to work with Sunil, and we deliver thought provoking discussions. Already ten years ago Sunil and I worked with Jonas Schorr in Berlin, where he co-founded Urban Impact, Europe’s leading urban tech advisory. Operating at the intersection of urban tech startups, investors, and public and private city stakeholders, Urban Impact connects, advises, and educates around the impact of new technologies in cities, building novel alliances that drive real-world change. No surprise, the Berlin night ‘City Rebels Salon: Connecting City Ecosystems’ organised by Urban Impact at the top of a Barcelona skyscraper was a rousing networking success. Since the early 1990s, I work as policy analyst, team leader and member with urban, national and international partners. AI will change the field but it won’t substitute the need of humans to meet, exchange and make change possible. It will be humans who have to continue making cities really smart, while using available technology. You want to discuss with me? Invite me, or meet me as General Rapporteur at ISOCARP’s 61St World Planning Congress, 1-4 December 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. https://lnkd.in/gsrbKtQh