Urban Innovation 2: Urban Social Equity

(part 1 of 4)

As we add some two billion new residents to cities over the next generation, all nations are confronting the challenge of keeping
old development models from delaying the transition to modernity. How can we deliver on the promise of cities to promote social advancement? Can cities be prosperous and competitive if increasing proportions of inhabitants are locked into informal settlement, informal employment, and persistent poverty? While some worry about rapid urbanization, the growth of cities is an opportunity to extend economic possibilities, enable access to jobs, gain social inclusion and protect the environment. This session covers how we work together
to make our cities more just and prosperous - by building pathways from poverty and exclusion to the economic mainstream, connecting urban populations to all of the opportunities for advancement, and offering new cities ways to deploy all productive resources. Just cities are a key to a more sustainable future of the planet and to pathway to better lives for hundreds of millions of people.

Speakers in this lecture session discuss ways that collaboration across sectors (civic, private, and public) is making cities more just, prosperous, equitable and sustainable. Civic leaders, urban designers and entrepreneurs will explore how fairness, opportunity and equity can serve as the defining features of a new era of urbanization. The dialogue will look at real-world examples and the ability of new advances in technology, creative design,
and practice can transform cities into safe, equitable and prosperous communities.

• Moderator: George McCarthy, Director, Metropolitan Opportunity Program, The Ford Foundation
• Speaker: Leila Janah, Founder and CEO of SamaSource
• Speaker: Mikel Maron, Founder of Map Kibera
• Speaker: Victor d’Allant, Dallant Networks, Leading Networks for Global Impact
• Speaker: Tim Campbell, Chairman, Urban Age Institute; Author; Consultant; former Head of Urban Programs, World Bank Institute

“The Just City” was recorded at the 2012 Meeting of the Minds conference in San Francisco.

(part 2 of 4)

As we add some two billion new residents to cities over the next generation, all nations are confronting the challenge of keeping
old development models from delaying the transition to modernity. How can we deliver on the promise of cities to promote social advancement? Can cities be prosperous and competitive if increasing proportions of inhabitants are locked into informal settlement, informal employment, and persistent poverty? While some worry about rapid urbanization, the growth of cities is an opportunity to extend economic possibilities, enable access to jobs, gain social inclusion and protect the environment. This session covers how we work together
to make our cities more just and prosperous - by building pathways from poverty and exclusion to the economic mainstream, connecting urban populations to all of the opportunities for advancement, and offering new cities ways to deploy all productive resources. Just cities are a key to a more sustainable future of the planet and to pathway to better lives for hundreds of millions of people.

Speakers in this lecture session discuss ways that collaboration across sectors (civic, private, and public) is making cities more just, prosperous, equitable and sustainable. Civic leaders, urban designers and entrepreneurs will explore how fairness, opportunity and equity can serve as the defining features of a new era of urbanization. The dialogue will look at real-world examples and the ability of new advances in technology, creative design,
and practice can transform cities into safe, equitable and prosperous communities.

• Moderator: George McCarthy, Director, Metropolitan Opportunity Program, The Ford Foundation
• Speaker: Leila Janah, Founder and CEO of SamaSource
• Speaker: Mikel Maron, Founder of Map Kibera
• Speaker: Victor d’Allant, Dallant Networks, Leading Networks for Global Impact
• Speaker: Tim Campbell, Chairman, Urban Age Institute; Author; Consultant; former Head of Urban Programs, World Bank Institute

“The Just City” was recorded at the 2012 Meeting of the Minds conference in San Francisco.

(part 3 of 4)

As we add some two billion new residents to cities over the next generation, all nations are confronting the challenge of keeping
old development models from delaying the transition to modernity. How can we deliver on the promise of cities to promote social advancement? Can cities be prosperous and competitive if increasing proportions of inhabitants are locked into informal settlement, informal employment, and persistent poverty? While some worry about rapid urbanization, the growth of cities is an opportunity to extend economic possibilities, enable access to jobs, gain social inclusion and protect the environment. This session covers how we work together
to make our cities more just and prosperous - by building pathways from poverty and exclusion to the economic mainstream, connecting urban populations to all of the opportunities for advancement, and offering new cities ways to deploy all productive resources. Just cities are a key to a more sustainable future of the planet and to pathway to better lives for hundreds of millions of people.

Speakers in this lecture session discuss ways that collaboration across sectors (civic, private, and public) is making cities more just, prosperous, equitable and sustainable. Civic leaders, urban designers and entrepreneurs will explore how fairness, opportunity and equity can serve as the defining features of a new era of urbanization. The dialogue will look at real-world examples and the ability of new advances in technology, creative design,
and practice can transform cities into safe, equitable and prosperous communities.

• Moderator: George McCarthy, Director, Metropolitan Opportunity Program, The Ford Foundation
• Speaker: Leila Janah, Founder and CEO of SamaSource
• Speaker: Mikel Maron, Founder of Map Kibera
• Speaker: Victor d’Allant, Dallant Networks, Leading Networks for Global Impact
• Speaker: Tim Campbell, Chairman, Urban Age Institute; Author; Consultant; former Head of Urban Programs, World Bank Institute

“The Just City” was recorded at the 2012 Meeting of the Minds conference in San Francisco.

(part 4 of 4)

As we add some two billion new residents to cities over the next generation, all nations are confronting the challenge of keeping
old development models from delaying the transition to modernity. How can we deliver on the promise of cities to promote social advancement? Can cities be prosperous and competitive if increasing proportions of inhabitants are locked into informal settlement, informal employment, and persistent poverty? While some worry about rapid urbanization, the growth of cities is an opportunity to extend economic possibilities, enable access to jobs, gain social inclusion and protect the environment. This session covers how we work together
to make our cities more just and prosperous - by building pathways from poverty and exclusion to the economic mainstream, connecting urban populations to all of the opportunities for advancement, and offering new cities ways to deploy all productive resources. Just cities are a key to a more sustainable future of the planet and to pathway to better lives for hundreds of millions of people.

Speakers in this lecture session discuss ways that collaboration across sectors (civic, private, and public) is making cities more just, prosperous, equitable and sustainable. Civic leaders, urban designers and entrepreneurs will explore how fairness, opportunity and equity can serve as the defining features of a new era of urbanization. The dialogue will look at real-world examples and the ability of new advances in technology, creative design,
and practice can transform cities into safe, equitable and prosperous communities.

• Moderator: George McCarthy, Director, Metropolitan Opportunity Program, The Ford Foundation
• Speaker: Leila Janah, Founder and CEO of SamaSource
• Speaker: Mikel Maron, Founder of Map Kibera
• Speaker: Victor d’Allant, Dallant Networks, Leading Networks for Global Impact
• Speaker: Tim Campbell, Chairman, Urban Age Institute; Author; Consultant; former Head of Urban Programs, World Bank Institute

“The Just City” was recorded at the 2012 Meeting of the Minds conference in San Francisco.

Large-scale urban redevelopment in the largest South American economy is
being driven by massive socio-economic forces, not least of which is
the World Cup and Olympics. Many of these projects — in urban housing
and transport (roads, rails, airports, BRT) — are displacing residents
and affecting other fundamental rights. Deep impacts are being felt in
the very neighborhoods where people live their lives. What is the
government’s strategy, and how is it playing out in the real world,
through both private and public investments? Who is the redevelopment
process serving? What will the long-term impacts be? Many projects are
hotly contested and have spurred a surge in bottom-up participatory
planning, and that in turn is starting to make itself felt in national
policies and in municipal government. Simultaneously,
grassroots-oriented media outlets are telling the stories in ways that
challenge mainstream media narratives. In this session you’ll hear about
the latest developments from one of the most prominent sponsors of
change-oriented organizations working to shift the debate about Brazil’s
urban futures.

• Speaker: Leticia Osorio, Human Rights Programme Officer, The Ford Foundation, Brazil

"Brazil's Cities" was recorded at the 2015 Meeting of the Minds conference in Richmond, CA.

South Africa’s deteriorating housing stock is putting pressure on the nation’s growing cities, many of which have started programs to move residents into emergency housing alternatives. The challenge is enormous. The Ford Foundation is working with partners in Johannesburg and Cape Town to develop out-of-the-box solutions based on new policies that promote collaboration with government and private developers who take over substandard buildings. Cities have also been busy developing town planning policies that aim to respond to apartheid’s spatial legacy. Is it working? What methods are being used to break through hurdles?

• Speaker: Nicolette Naylor: Senior Program Officer, Human Rights and Governance, Ford Foundation, Office for South Africa

This video session was recorded at the 2014 Meeting of the Minds conference in Detroit.

Greening any economy means more than just shifting auto traffic to cleaner fuels, reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled, or making buildings more energy efficient — however worthy those goals might be. It means re-inventing commerce as we know it, pivoting from a consumption model to something more sustainable. But exactly what is that something? Can we find hints from some of the early successes resulting from some scattered US initiatives? Where? Who? And how applicable are those results to other global regions?

• Speaker: Jared Blumenfeld - Administrator for US Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Region (Region 9)

“A Green-Growth Perspective from the USA” was recorded at the 2013 Meeting of the Minds conference in Toronto.

This course has been a look at the challenges and practical responses related to urban sustainability through the theme of urban social equity. For those
interested, a separate course in this series focuses on real world examples within two other key urban innovation themes: smart cities and transportation. 

Urban Innovation: Sustainability and Technology Solutions course series

Course 1: Smart Cities & Transportation: www.udemy.com/urban-innovation

Course 2: Urban Social Equity: www.udemy.com/urban-innovation-2