Green Cities Podcast Series

In this three-part podcast series, we explore the role sustainable and inclusive urbanization can play in addressing multiple USAID priorities like air quality, water resources, ocean plastics, gender equality, climate change, urban resilience, biodiversity, and economic growth.

buildings with people in foreground
Photo by Abhijit Kar Gupta, CC-by-2.0

Unplanned urbanization is driving many of our most urgent development challenges. How can we modernize and scale urban programming at USAID to effectively address these challenges?

In this three-part podcast series, we explore the role sustainable and inclusive urbanization can play in addressing multiple USAID priorities like air quality, water resources, ocean plastics, gender equality, climate change, urban resilience, biodiversity, and economic growth. We bring together three leading urban experts:

Anne Guerry, Natural Capital Project
Rogier Van Den Berg, World Resources Institute
Joanna Lovecchio, Columbia University

They share their visionary voices on building greener, healthier and more equitable cities around the world. In the three episodes, our experts discuss the past, present and future of urbanization and international development. Lastly, we introduce the new Green Cities mechanism as a tool for turning ideas into action on advancing integrated urban programming at USAID.

Click each episode listed below to download and listen.

Episode 1: Understanding the Past – The Challenges and Opportunities of Urbanization and International Development

85% of human beings will be living in cities by 2100.

Rogier Van Den Berg

Episode 2: Exploring The Present – Green City Approaches and Solutions from around the World

I think it’s really important for urban planners to, to have help recognizing where and when nature provides, what benefits to whom. And so I think it’s important to map, measure, and value the benefits that are provided to people by urban nature.

Johanna Lovecchio

Episode 3: Exploring The Future – Green City Approaches and Solutions from around the World

We have the knowledge, the data, the tools and approaches to direct investment in nature to solve many different types of urban problems. And using these approaches today will help cities of the future become more sustainable, livable, resilient, and equitable. And I think that there’s a real opportunity for leadership in cities to address the escalating risks and costs of destabilizing our life support systems, and of climate change…

Anne Guerry

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