The Planet of Cities

Peak population and urbanisation in the next 100 years

As discussed in the first column of this series, when considering the future of cities, it is important to observe the increasing urbanisation of our people and planet. Headlines on this topic often focus on the growing importance of cities, with the world already majority urban. In this column, we will examine the whole cycle of our journey towards our human population peak, the evolution of our settlement patterns, the planetary effects, and crucially what comes after? If we observe the whole cycle, rather than just portions of it, what fresh insights might it produce about our world and its built environment?

The rise of a global urban population

For almost 8,500 years, we have embraced population growth, new technologies and the spread of trade and civilisation. We did this first by building, and then, regenerating, cities. A turning point in the global urbanisation process came in 1980 due to the emergence of three connected urbanisation trends.

Recovery, or Reinvention, for our cities?

In this month’s column Greg Clark examines the need for cities to reinvent themselves in light of different kinds of changed behaviour patterns across the world’s cities. As we begin 2023 the impact of the pandemic is still playing out in our cities world-wide...

Cities can be the engines of the net zero transition

It’s been a busy few weeks on the global urbanism stage. Many cities and city groupings are gearing up for COP26 – readying themselves to address the array of tectonic imperatives scheduled for discussion in Glasgow in November. For the next few months, I propose that we use this column to chart the emerging story of COP26 and the world’s cities. Let’s start with a quick review. From where I stand, it appears that..

Has the world left Europe behind?

As I wrote in my Planet of Cities column Business Districts as Usual? in October 2020, different parts of the world are in distinctive cycles with the pandemic itself. Whereas some are largely free of COVID-19 and their city centres active again, others are still in full lockdown. In certain places, leaders are...

Good governance pays dividends

I’d like to begin this month’s column by asking a question. How could it be that cities with broadly comparable attributes enjoy varying levels of success on the global stage? Take two cities with apparently similar fundamentals: population size, geographic...

RICS Year in Review

Watch the RICS Year in Review here in which Greg summarises the monthly columns of The Planet of Cities.

Business districts as usual?

The COVID-19 crisis has only sharpened the debate over the future of cities. Distinct perspectives, underset by a variety of considerations, are emerging across the world. Attitudes towards public and private amenities, the adoption of new technologies, and existing preferences for mobility, transport systems and housing all appear to be shaping...

The net-zero transition and post-pandemic prosperity

As the western world moves into the second half-year of COVID-19, one senses widespread expectation that the pandemic legacy must include lasting environmental dividends. Sustainability has become a key motif of recovery strategies at...

It's too soon to sort the Covid-19 winners and losers

If you were to rank the cities best placed to emerge from the pandemic with their reputations enhanced, you’d likely settle on one of two lists. The first The first would include cities such as Taipei, Athens, Singapore, Seoul and Kyoto; those in which...

The beginning of the end of the urban century?

As the Covid-19 crisis has played out, the chorus of voices prophesying a new great moment of de-urbanisation has grown. Those with portable jobs, able to leave the world’s major cities, temporarily appear to be doing so in significant numbers. The professional class is capitalising on newly won, digitally enabled freedom of movement....

The new map of urban investment opportunity

As you will know by now, July is WBEF’s Build Back Better month. We, like many others, are focused on how the planet can emerge stronger from this ordeal. For my part, I’d like to focus on the funding challenge. I believe there are three critical, crosscutting considerations that will inform investment decisions