What is The Future for Cities‪?‬ Fanni Melles

"How do we make our future civilisation community focused?"

Are you interested in space cities? What do you think about people as the urban nervous system? How can we create better futures with intention?

Interview with Anders Sandberg, Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, smart city, augmented reality, physical laws influencing planning, and many more.

Anders Sandberg has a background in computational neuroscience and mathematical modelling, but has for more than a decade worked in the philosophy faculty of University of Oxford doing research on topics such as the ethics and social impact of human enhancement, emerging technology, global catastrophic and existential risks, applied epistemology, and analysing the far future. Anders’ research at the Future of Humanity Institute centres on management of low-probability high-impact risks, estimating the capabilities of future technologies, and very long-range futures. Topics of particular interest include global catastrophic risk, cognitive biases, cognitive enhancement, collective intelligence, neuroethics, and public policy. His research is extremely interdisciplinary, often combines hard science with philosophy, uses quantitative methods to understand qualitative issues, and typically deals with under-researched topics.

Find out more about Anders through these links:


Anders Sandberg on LinkedIn;
@anderssandberg as Anders Sandberg on X;
Anders Sandberg at the Future of Humanity Institute;
Anders Sandberg at University of Oxford;
Anders Sandberg website;
Anders Sandberg on Google Scholar;
Anders Sandberg on Wikipedia;
Anders Sandberg at The Conversation;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.090 - Interview with Professor Matthew McCartney about externalities and economics;
No.111 - Interview with Dave Hakkens about questioning the idea of the city;
No.138 - Interview with Luis Natera about consciously choosing where to live
No.213R - Defence in depth against human extinction: prevention, response, resilience, and why they all matter;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in existential risks?

Summary of the article titled Defence in depth against human extinction: prevention, response, resilience, and why they all matter from 2020 by Owen Cotton-Barratt, Max Daniel, and Anders Sandberg, published in the Global Policy journal.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Anders Sandberg in episode 214 talking about the humanity’s existential risks, among others.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see what can jeopardise humanity’s, and thus cities’ future. This article investigates the classification of existential risks to help prepare for those.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:


To effectively manage extinction risks, it's essential to invest in three defence layers: prevention, response, and resilience, ensuring comprehensive risk management across different stages of potential catastrophic events.
Identifying and categorizing the origins and scaling mechanisms of risks, including natural disasters, technological advancements, and human actions, are crucial for developing targeted interventions and policy recommendations.
Strengthening global governance and cooperation among nations, alongside focusing on underlying risk factors such as global interdependencies, is vital for enhancing humanity's overall defences against existential threats.

Check out the article through this link.

Abstract: We look at classifying extinction risks in three different ways, which affect how we can intervene to reduce risk. First, how does it start causing damage? Second, how does it reach the scale of a global catastrophe? Third, how does it reach everyone? In all of these three phases there is a defence layer that blocks most risks: First, we can prevent catastrophes from occurring. Second, we can respond to catastrophes before they reach a global scale. Third, humanity is resilient against extinction even in the face of global catastrophes. The largest probability of extinction is posed when all of these defences are weak, that is, by risks we are unlikely to prevent, unlikely to successfully respond to, and unlikely to be resilient against. We find that it’s usually best to invest significantly into strengthening all three defence layers. We also suggest ways to do so tailored to the classes of risk we identify. Lastly, we discuss the importance of underlying risk factors – events or structural conditions that may weaken the defence layers even without posing a risk of immediate extinction themselves.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.088R - The costs and benefits of environmental sustainability;
No.101R - What we owe the future?;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in space cities? What do you think about people as the urban nervous system? How can we create better futures with intention?

Trailer for episode 214 - interview with Anders Sandberg, Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, smart city, augmented reality, physical laws influencing planning, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

"Data is becoming the most valuable asset of the 21st century."

Are you interested in the future of cities as the future of humanity? What do you think about space exploration as the next evolutionary step? How can we think about the smart city as an outcome?

Interview with Dr Jonathan Reichental, CEO of Human Future, professor and advisor. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, smart city, uncontrollable progress, autonomous vehicles, kids books, and many more.

Dr. Jonathan Reichental is a multiple-award-winning technology and business leader whose career has spanned both the private and public sectors. He’s been a senior software engineering manager, a director of technology innovation, and has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California. Reichental is currently the founder of advisory, investment, and education firm, Human Future, and also creates online education for LinkedIn Learning. He has written three books on the future of cities: Smart Cities for Dummies, Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids, and Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes. His latest books include Data Governance for Dummies and a Cryptocurrency QuickStart Guide.

Find out more about Jonathan:


Jonathan Reichental on LinkedIn;
@Reichental as Jonathan Reichental on X;
Jonathan Reichental website
Human Future website;
Smart Cities for Dummies;
Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids;
Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes;
Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes Hindi Edition;
Data Governance for Dummies;
Cryptocurrency QuickStart Guide;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.101R - What we owe the future (book summary);
No.174 - Interview with Aapo Huovila about smart and sustainable cities;
No.211R - Smart cities for dummies;

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Are you interested in smart city implementation?

Summary of the book titled Smart Cities for Dummies from 2020 by Jonathan Reichental.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Jonathan Reichental in episode 212 talking about smart city as an outcome.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how to implement smart cities. This book investigates the concept of smart cities and the steps required to establish one.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:


Smart cities enhance urban living by leveraging technology for sustainability and efficiency, focusing on innovations in transportation, energy, waste management, and climate response.
The implementation of smart city initiatives requires flexible planning, broad stakeholder engagement, and adaptability, with a step-by-step approach from setting goals to executing solutions.
Smart cities prioritize robust data governance and management, with an emphasis on using data effectively for improving city operations, decision-making, and enhancing residents' quality of life.

Find the book through this link.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.003 - Interview with Frans-Anton Vermast about Amsterdam Smart City;
No.028R - Enhancing sustainable urban development through smart city applications;
No.090 - Interview with Matthew McCartney about African urban evolution

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 212 - interview with Dr Jonathan Reichental, CEO of Human Future, professor and advisor. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, smart city, uncontrollable progress, autonomous vehicles, kids books, and many more.

Find out more in the episode.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay