Phenomena S2 E1: Cities

Post-lockdown, there is renewed enthusiasm and excitement around cities. Urban development and innovation, however, often feel chaotic and atomised and miss the mark on how people actually experience the city. Eliot and his guests Ian Dull, a partner at ReD, and Jeff Risom, chief innovation officer at Gehl Architects, discuss the high stakes for businesses to get the future of the city right. What are some common errors companies make as they try to innovate for the city? How can a more systemic perspective help businesses avoid these pitfalls and create cities that are more meaningful for their inhabitants? And finally, what does a discarded electric scooter in Copenhagen tell us about designing the urban spaces of tomorrow?

Host: Eliot Salandy Brown

Guest: Ian Dull


 

 

Eliot Salandy Brown

Eliot heads ReD Associates’ mobility/automotive practice. In this work, he leads projects that set strategic directions for how mobility and automotive companies approach the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. The projects under his leadership include a foundational study investigating the future value of driverless cars to our cities and communities, and a new approach to digital service innovation for a major automotive company. In all of his work with clients, Eliot is focused on ensuring that human needs and behavior are fully integrated into the development of new technologies.

He has lectured and run courses on automotive, corporate strategy, and executive MBAs at New York University, Columbia University, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and Duke University; and his client work was awarded the Gold Award in 2018 from the Industrial Designers Society of America (ISDA). Eliot, a British-Trinidadian, holds a Masters in Sociology from the London School of Economics.

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