Urban Exchange: Cities on the Frontlines

This episode of the Urban Exchange podcast explores the role of digital financial innovation in building urban resilience, featuring experts Daniel Sullivan, Director of Resilience for the City of Cape Town, and Tanya Filer, Founder and CEO of StateUp. Together, we look at the findings of StateUp's latest research, conducted in partnership with the Resilient Cities Network, on the transformative power of public financial technologies in building urban resilience. Tanya highlights some of the common challenges such as fiscal constraints, climate change, and social inequalities, and looks into the importance of digital and emerging technologies in urban resilience. Daniel shares his and Cape Town's experience in deploying digital initiatives to advance urban resilience, including the use of digital financial technologies to build resilience outcomes. He discusses the city's parallel journeys in developing a digital strategy and a resilience program, focusing on using data insights and technology to inform city responses and support vulnerable communities. The conversation then delves into the challenges of bridging the gap between digital and resilience teams within city governments to maximise the impact of digital transitions. Tanya and Daniel highlight the cultural barriers and the need for a cohesive strategy that combines digital insights and policy implementation. The episode also explores the potential for cities to use digital technologies to address specific resilience goals, such as using spend data to better plan and prepare for food and water shortages. Listen in to uncover insights into the role of digital financial innovation in building urban resilience, emphasising the importance of collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and leveraging partnerships within the city ecosystem. For more information on the work between Resilient Cities Network, StateUp and Visa, click here.

This episode of the Urban Exchange podcast takes a look back at Rotterdam's resilience journey over the past decade. Host Paul Wilson speaks with Arnoud Molenaar, Rotterdam's Chief Resilience Officer, who was one of the first city CROs to be appointed in 2014. Molenaar discusses how Rotterdam first addressed resilience through climate adaptation efforts due to its location near water. We discover how the city developed two resilience strategies focused on issues like water management, social challenges, and pandemic preparedness, as Molenaar takes us through notable projects like the city's "water squares" and the "Resilient BoTu District 2028" initiative. We also delve into Molenaar's vision for resilience to be fully embedded in all of Rotterdam's operations and governance by 2034, uncovering valuable insights for other cities on Rotterdam's pioneering resilience journey over the last decade as one of the early adopters of the Chief Resilience Officer model.

This episode of the Urban Exchange podcast explores solutions to the global challenge of plastic pollution, with a focus on cities' role in addressing this issue. R-Cities' Lauren Sorkin is joined by Dr. Parama Roy of Okapi Research and Advisory in Chennai, and Taylor Maddalene of the University of Georgia, to discuss the scope of plastic waste problems worldwide and their impacts on urban areas. Taking Chennai as a case study, our expert guests outline the city's rapid growth and relationship with its extensive network of waterways, which have become threatened by waste dumping. There's discussion of the Urban Ocean programme's holistic, science-based approach to tackling plastic waste in cities like Chennai, including conducting assessments to understand waste systems and identify improvements. Dr Roy explains how pilot projects in Chennai aim to encourage source segregation and composting through community outreach and innovative infrastructure. Conversation also turns to the challenges around enforcement of existing policies, emphasising why cities should tailor sustainable solutions to local contexts while combining grassroots initiatives with national policies. In this episode, listeners learn about practical strategies for monitoring plastic pollution and driving change at multiple scales. Listen now for the latest actionable advice for city professionals invested in solving the global plastic crisis through collaborative, long-term solutions.

This episode of the Urban Exchange Podcast explores how risk, resilience and insurance measures come together to support the future of cities. The episode delves into innovative partnerships to strengthen climate resilience in Miami Dade County, with Galen Treuer from Miami Dade explaining how rising insurance costs due to hurricanes and flooding have impacted many residents. Through the Resilient 305 initiative, Miami Dade is collaborating with Miami and Miami Beach to better manage regional climate risks. Peter Adams from insurance firm Howden also joins the conversation to discuss how the Global Risk and Resilience Fellowship (GRRF) aims to bridge the gap between cities and insurers facing climate change. Discover how Miami Dade has worked with vulnerable communities to design parametric policies providing quick flood payouts, and why these policies target timing gaps where smaller flood events disproportionately impact low-income households without support networks. Both Treuer and Adams emphasise the value of sharing local data with insurers. Treuer explains how canal water levels impact flooding in specific neighbourhoods, while Adams demonstrates how collaboration in Miami Dade creates a "safe space" for insurers to innovate based on new discoveries. Finally, you can find out how multidisciplinary partnerships between climate, finance, engineering and other teams can boost resilience in cities, with inclusive collaboration across disciplines necessary to comprehensively address climate change through a variety of policy, engineering and insurance solutions.