City of the Future
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
An Update from Vanessa
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As you might have heard, Sidewalk Labs became a part of Google at the beginning of 2022. So City of the Future has been on hiatus...BUT I’m still cr...
Episode 20: The ”S” in ESG
14 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
E-S-G. If you haven’t heard that term before, it stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. It’s a framework that investors use to help the...
Episode 19: Next-Gen Manufacturing
10 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 20th century, many U.S. factories were located in urban cores, where workers could easily access their jobs. But the benefit of proximity...
Episode 18: Innovation Ecosystems 2.0
03 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Innovation ecosystems — places where companies and anchor institutions cluster and connect with startups, incubators, and smaller accelerators — a...
Episode 17: Wealth Beyond Ownership
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cities throughout the U.S. (and around the world) are struggling with the many issues that come with neighborhood growth and displacement. But what if...
Episode 16: From Owing to Owning
12 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cities across the U.S. are suffering from dire housing crises. Housing supply is low, and prices are high — in some cities, sky high. And wages and...
BONUS: Development 101
05 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The process of real estate development is critical to urban life. Without it, we’d have no homes, no stores, no community centers. But development i...
Flexible Streets
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic has forced us to reexamine and reimagine how we use one of our most precious public spaces: our streets. From outdoor dining to expanded ...
Factory-based Construction
20 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For about a century, architects and developers have dreamed of the promise of factory-based construction — after all, if Henry Ford revolutionized ...
Remote Work
30 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In an era of remote work, when people can work from anywhere, where will they choose to live? And what can cities do to set themselves apart from the ...
Generative Design
16 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Generative design is the process of automatically producing thousands of designs based on goals and constraints you feed into a computer. In this epis...
Energy-Efficient Buildings
02 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To save our planet, we’ll need to reduce emissions — fast. And if we’re serious about addressing climate change, we’ll need to address one of...
Trailer: City of the Future Season 3!
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hi City of the Future listeners! We've been hard at work behind the scenes, and we're so excited to share a little sneak peek of season three. Stay tu...
Introducing The Sidewalk Weekly!
06 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hi, City of the Future listeners! Remember when we asked if anyone would like to listen to a pilot of a new podcast? Well good news — that podcast ...
Lend us your ears?
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hi City of the Future listeners! In between seasons, we've been working on a new podcast idea. (Don't worry, CotF isn't going anywhere!) We'd love to ...
10: Responsive Architecture
08 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the last century, we started to design our buildings in a way that was divorced from the environment. We made sealed, hermetic structures that neve...
9: Affordable electrification
25 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For a sustainable future, we need to turn away from fossil fuels and turn towards electricity. But to electrify everything — our cars, our buildings...
8: Mobility on Demand
11 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Getting around cities today can be challenging. Streets are congested and chaotic, and new modes seem to be popping up daily, adding to the confusion....
7: Stoa
27 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Vacant storefronts have become pervasive on our city streets. How did we get here? And how can we help retailers, and community spaces, thrive? In th...
6: Affordability by Design
13 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We're in a housing crisis. Could affordability by design be part of the solution? In this episode hosts Eric Jaffe and Vanessa Quirk look at trends i...
BONUS: Dan Doctoroff unpacks our Toronto plan
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Sidewalk Labs’ proposal for Toronto, the Master Innovation and Development Plan (MIDP), will be released to the public. And because a lot of ...
Live at the Brooklyn Podcast Festival!
25 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For our first live show, co-host Vanessa Quirk moderates a discussion with some of the familiar voices from season 1: Director of Buildings Innovation...
5: Closing the Recycling Loop
30 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Simple as it may seem, recycling properly is really hard — and our misguided attempts are actually harming the planet more than helping. But what if...
4: Delivery Robots
16 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Every day, truck drivers are out battling rush hour traffic, maneuvering through narrow city streets, circling for parking, emitting exhaust — all t...
3: Adaptive Traffic Lights
02 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Traffic lights were invented to improve pedestrian safety, but they also created streets that put cars first. But what if traffic lights could respond...
2: Modular Pavement
19 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In our second episode, we explore how modular pavement — which would allow us to embed technologies into our streets — could transform our cities....
1: Mass Timber
05 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In our first episode of City of the Future, our new bi-weekly podcast, we explore how mass timber could transform our cities — by making wooden sky...
City of the Future - Coming Soon!
04 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
City of the Future is a podcast from Sidewalk Labs — coming soon!