Are you interested in liveability as choices? What do you think about cultural evolution? How can we create a community of changemakers?
Interview with Maurice Berger and Raquel Medrano Clemente, co-founders of Liveable Cities Collective. We will talk about their vision for the future of cities, liveability, cultural evolution, human connection, and many more.
Maurice Berger is the co-founder of Liveable Cities Collective. Combining scientific training with lifelong business experience, he has spent two decades working globally with governments and planners to collect and analyse transport data that makes streets safer and more efficient. He believes data only matters when it tells a meaningful story, and that real change happens where evidence and community meet. An avid cyclist and traveller, Maurice champions sustainable transport and community building through cycling groups and charity rides. His commitment to connection also drives his men’s group, creating space for honest conversation, courage and shared leadership.
Raquel Medrano Clemente is the co-founder of Liveable Cities Collective. She brings a rich and varied professional background, having worked across banking, mining, education, construction, and hospitality. Her passion for communities has been a constant, reflected in her work founding educational programs and leading non-profit organisations. With a decade of experience in business coaching and consulting, Raquel is committed to leadership empowerment and sparking meaningful conversations. Her multicultural background and experience living in multiple countries give her a global perspective on building more connected communities and championing multiculturalism and belonging. Passionate about music, culture, and art, she now advocates for creative approaches to shaping communities and places. Through Liveable Cities Collective, she co-leads a social enterprise that connects changemakers around the world for collaboration and shared impact.
Find out more about Maurice and Raquel through these links:
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
What was 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.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in liveability as choices? What do you think about cultural evolution? How can we create a community of changemakers?
Trailer for episode 388 - interview with Maurice Berger and Raquel Medrano Clemente, co-founders of Liveable Cities Collective. We will talk about their vision for the future of cities, liveability, cultural evolution, human connection, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Today would be a research episode, but since it is 2025 Christmas time, I want to just wish you all relaxing holidays with or without celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas if you do celebrate it, and a very Happy New Year!
We will have many interesting topics to discover and further discuss in 2026. I am already preparing those episodes and I am very excited about what will come! First, this episode will be followed by a panel conversation in episode 388 with a collective working on creating a network of people who want to create better future for cities – a very hopeful and motivating conversation!
Then in 2026 we will have guests from all over the world and many areas like government, policy, fiction and exploration, infrastructure, urban planning and design, and many more!!!
If you need some food for thought while you are awaiting the next episode, check out episode 360 with Barry O’Reilly, where we discuss the opportunities to create antifragile systems. I hope you are well and also full with plans for the new year, see you then and thanks for tuning in.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in liveability as choices? What do you think about cultural evolution? How can we create a community of changemakers?
Trailer for episode 388 - interview with Maurice Berger and Raquel Medrano Clemente, co-founders of Liveable Cities Collective. We will talk about their vision for the future of cities, liveability, cultural evolution, human connection, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in liveability as choices? What do you think about cultural evolution? How can we create a community of changemakers?
Trailer for episode 388 - interview with Maurice Berger and Raquel Medrano Clemente, co-founders of Liveable Cities Collective. We will talk about their vision for the future of cities, liveability, cultural evolution, human connection, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in liveability as choices? What do you think about cultural evolution? How can we create a community of changemakers?
Trailer for episode 388 - interview with Maurice Berger and Raquel Medrano Clemente, co-founders of Liveable Cities Collective. We will talk about their vision for the future of cities, liveability, cultural evolution, human connection, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
"My take on the future of cities that it's not the physical part that needs innovation ... what we hasn't figured out in the governance part."
Are you interested in service-based governance? What do you think about governance innovation? How can we create more autonomous cities?
Interview with Niklas Anzinger, Founder & CEO of Infinita City, General Partner of Infinita VC. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, difference between governance and government, autonomous cities, people voting with their feet, and many more.
Niklas Anzinger is the Founder & CEO of Infinita City and General Partner at Infinita VC. Based in Próspera, Honduras, he is building a network of hubs for longevity biotech acceleration. Infinita hosts startup competitions (e.g. BioHub), events (e.g. the upcoming Infinite Games 2026) and works with policymakers on enabling legislation like Montana's recent SB 535 right-to-try law.
Find out more about Niklas through these links:
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
What was 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.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in service-based governance? What do you think about governance innovation? How can we create more autonomous cities?
Trailer for episode 386 - interview with Niklas Anzinger, Founder & CEO of Infinita City, General Partner of Infinita VC. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, difference between governance and government, autonomous cities, people voting with their feet, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in new forms of governance?
Debate of the article titled The Honduran ZEDE Law, from ideation to action from 2021, by Jeffrey Mason, Carl Peterson, and Daniela Ivette Cano, published in the Journal of Special Jurisdictions.
This is a great preparation to our next interview with Niklas Anzinger in episode 386 talking about the opportunities in the Prospera Honduras governance experiment.
Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how new forms of governance in special economic zones could work. This article presents the legal framework for the Honduran special economic zone, highlighting and contrasting economic and governance models within this innovative legal framework.
Find the article through this link.
Abstract: Honduras has struggled to attract the investment needed to spur sustained economic growth in recent decades, and as a result remains one of the poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. To attract greater foreign investment, the Honduran government passed a groundbreaking special economic zone (SEZ) law in 2012 creating Zonas de Empleo y Desarrollo Económico (Zones for Employment and Economic Development) or ZEDEs. Among the most innovative special jurisdictions in the world, ZEDEs grant sweeping legal and regulatory autonomy to allow for improved governance and economic competitiveness, in order to attract greater investment in Honduras. In this paper, we detail the political and legislative history of the ZEDE law, offer a textual analysis of the ZEDE statute, discuss the principal objections to the ZEDE law and responses to those objections, and provide case studies of the first two ZEDEs.
Connecting episodes:
You can find the transcript through this link.
What was 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.Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in service-based governance? What do you think about governance innovation? How can we create more autonomous cities?
Trailer for episode 386 - interview with Niklas Anzinger, Founder & CEO of Infinita City, General Partner of Infinita VC. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, difference between governance and government, autonomous cities, people voting with their feet, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in service-based governance? What do you think about governance innovation? How can we create more autonomous cities?
Trailer for episode 386 - interview with Niklas Anzinger, Founder & CEO of Infinita City, General Partner of Infinita VC. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, difference between governance and government, autonomous cities, people voting with their feet, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
"The water [and floating cities] are an opportunity to break through the past lock-ins [traditional infrastructure]."
Are you interested in floating cities? What do you think about the symbiosis between floating and coastal cities? How can we enhance affordability with floating cities?
Interview with Rutger de Graaf, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Blue21 Group. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, floating cities, affordability, permitting, industry opportunities in floating cities, and many more.
Rutger de Graaf envisions cities rising with the water, turning climate threats into opportunities for resilient, regenerative floating communities. With 20 years of experience, he leads Blue21 for project delivery, Blue Revolution Foundation for global awareness, and Floating Future for applied research - including the world's largest program on floating solutions with 44 partners and €5.3M funding. He designs and delivers iconic projects like floating pavilions in Rotterdam and housing in Delft, while advising Dutch governments and international clients. Bridging ecology, policy, technology, and business, Rutger ensures solutions are technically robust, socially resilient, and environmentally regenerative.
Learn more about Rutger de Graaf through these links:
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
What was 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.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in floating cities? What do you think about the symbiosis between floating and coastal cities? How can we enhance affordability with floating cities?
Trailer for episode 384 - interview with Rutger de Graaf, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Blue21 Group. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, floating cities, affordability, permitting, industry opportunities in floating cities, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in floating cities and communities?
Debate of the article titled Potential of floating urban development for coastal cities: Analysis of flood risk and population growth from 2019, by B. Dal Bo Zanon, B. Roeffen, K. M. Czapiewska & R. E. de Graaf-van Dinther, published in the WCFS2019 Proceedings of the World Conference on Floating Solutions.
This is a great preparation to our next interview with Rutger de Graaf in episode 384 talking about floating cities and communities.
Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how floating cities can enhance opportunities for coastal cities. This article proposes a multi-criteria analysis to identify best locations for floating cities and implementation strategies.
Find the article through this link.
Abstract: Population growth and urbanization mainly take place in vulnerable coastal areas. This article presents a global overview of these areas with both rapid population growth and high flood risk, in order to identify coastal areas that could benefit most from floating urban development. The analysis focuses on port cities, since they are coastal cities that have both availability of locations and the required expertise (e.g. maritime industry and services) to enable floating developments. After identifying the most promising locations, an implementation strategy is discussed, which favours areas where floating projects are already present to start testing medium and large-scale concepts. Next, a large scale floating maritime spatial project is presented, which integrates urban and ecosystem development with food and energy production in the North Sea. This plan provides a spatial concept for floating urban expansion in front of the coast of the Netherlands.
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
You can find the transcript through this link.
What was 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.Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in floating cities? What do you think about the symbiosis between floating and coastal cities? How can we enhance affordability with floating cities?
Trailer for episode 384 - interview with Rutger de Graaf, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Blue21 Group. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, floating cities, affordability, permitting, industry opportunities in floating cities, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in floating cities? What do you think about the symbiosis between floating and coastal cities? How can we enhance affordability with floating cities?
Trailer for episode 384 - interview with Rutger de Graaf, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Blue21 Group. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, floating cities, affordability, permitting, industry opportunities in floating cities, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
"At its best, cities offer the opportunity to be your best authentic self."
Are you interested in thriving historical neighbourhoods to learn from? What do you think about looking into other people’s homes through the window? How can we learn and apply what works for communities?
Interview with Carolyn Whitzman, Adjunct Professor and Housing Researcher at the University of Toronto School of Cities. We will talk about her vision for the future of cities, feminism, curiosity, learning from historical evidence, and many more.
Dr Carolyn Whitzman is a leading housing and social policy researcher. She advised UBC’s Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) project, creating open-data best practices for analysing housing need, repurposing public land for non-market housing, and property acquisition - tools that shaped federal policy. Now a senior researcher at University of Toronto’s School of Cities, she examines land policy, financing, and construction to scale affordable housing. Author of six books, including Home truths: Fixing Canada’s housing crisis (2024) and Clara at the door with a revolver (2023), plus 80+ chapters, articles, and reports on the right to the city. She advises governments, UN Habitat, UN Women, and organisations, and comments frequently in the media.
Find out more about Carolyn through these links:
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:
What was 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.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in thriving historical neighbourhoods to learn from? What do you think about looking into other people’s homes through the window? How can we learn and apply what works for communities?
Trailer for episode 382 - interview with Carolyn Whitzman, Adjunct Professor and Housing Researcher at the University of Toronto School of Cities. We will talk about her vision for the future of cities, feminism, curiosity, learning from historical evidence, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in creating mixed-housing communities?
Debate of the article titled Directions for new urban neighbourhoods: Learning from St. Lawrence, by Joseph DeLeo and David L.A. Gordon, published Canadian Institute of Planners and Association of Canadian University Planning Programs Case Study Series.
This is a great preparation to our next interview with Carolyn Whitzman in episode 382 talking about the opportunities in mixed housing and communities in St Lawrence.
Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see an example of mixed-housing communities and its context. This article presents the key elements of the neighbourhood, establishing its future success, such as finances, political context, and design principles.
Find the article through this link.
Connected episodes you might be interested in:
You can find the transcript through this link.
What was 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.Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Are you interested in thriving historical neighbourhoods to learn from? What do you think about looking into other people’s homes through the window? How can we learn and apply what works for communities?
Trailer for episode 382 - interview with Carolyn Whitzman, Adjunct Professor and Housing Researcher at the University of Toronto School of Cities. We will talk about her vision for the future of cities, feminism, curiosity, learning from historical evidence, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay