Ian Goldin, International Finance Forum Academic Committee member and Professor of Globalization and Development at the University of Oxford recently sat down with Mark Scott, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sydney as well as host of The Solutionists podcast, to discuss the world’s cities, their current plight, and what their future might hold. Prof Goldin draws on his own experience to articulate which cities are most successful, highlighting Paris for its compactness and ease of transport, as well as its ability to integrate the ancient with the modern and to focus on livability as it strives to continue improving the living standards of its residents. Prof Goldin notes that “it is vital to have a regulatory framework” to minimize sprawl and reduce the proliferation of urban slums and other substandard housing, which are especially vulnerable to hotter temperatures, floods, and other ills that can hamper a city’s future. This is pertinent for cities in rich countries, but is even more pressing in low- and middle-income countries.

Prof Goldin goes on to emphasize the “15-minute radius”, where cities are designed in such a way that residents do not have to travel far for either work or play. Traffic and congestion are serious problems for many cities, and one way of addressing this is to invest more in public transport. Data on welfare, happiness, well-being, and health offer insights into how well cities are improving to better serve their residents’ needs, and in which areas they might do better. There is also “no correlation between the size of one’s house or garden and one’s happiness”; the world’ happiest cities often feature high-rise apartment buildings.

Given that “well over half of humanity lives in cities...and that cities account for 80 percent of global economic activity”, the future development of the world’s cities will go a long way toward determining the world’s future and how well humanity copes with higher temperatures (and sea levels). At the same time, policymakers must try to ensure that the gap between the world’s most dynamic and innovative cities and the “left-behind places” does not become too wide, as this could exacerbate the inequality of opportunities and fuel resentment and potentially unrest. On top of this, trade and economic activity are becoming increasingly digital, profoundly altering people’s lives, the type of work they do, and where they choose to live - which also affects diversity and patterns of migration.

According to Prof Goldin, cooperation, specialization, and invention are “the three forces that make a city great”, and these hold the key as to why the world’s most dynamic cities are so successful and what others might learn as they seek to reinvent themselves and catch up. One key is migrants, who tend to be more innovative and risk-taking than native-born people.

The full podcast is available here.