101. Urban Governance & Design Thinking

City Road Podcast

Episode 2: Innovating urban governance: Design Thinking What is design thinking and how might it be useful for city governments? In this second episode of ‘Innovating Cities’, Robyn Dowling and Sophia Maalsen discuss how design thinking is being conceptualised and operationalised in city governance innovation. Drawing from examples internationally and in Australia, they ask what design thinking means to those who use it, what it is used for, and how using design thinking may open up new opportunities to address urban problems. Robyn Dowling is Dean of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney. Her current research is concerned with the ways in which urban governance and urban life are responding to climate change, technological disruptions and the diffusion of innovation practices. Sophia Maalsen is Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney. She is currently researching the application of computational logics and technologies to “hack housing” and address issues of housing affordability and innovation. Her research is predominantly situated at the intersection of the digital and material across urban spaces, housing and governance. For more information about our podcast series, including transcripts, go to: https://uow.info/innovating-cities Find out more about our research project Innovating urban governance: practices for enhanced urban futures at: https://www.uow.edu.au/the-arts-social-sciences-humanities/research/access/research/rce/ Special guests Eliza Erickson, former Director of Innovation and Strategy Office of Innovation and Technology, City of Philadelphia Arna Ýr Sævarsdóttir, Service and Digital Transformation Manager Department of Services & Innovation, City of Reykjavik Kris Carter, former Co-Chair Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics Terrance Smith, Former Director of the Innovation Unit City of Mobile Duane Elverum, Executive Director and Co-Founder CityStudio Vancouver Anne-Marie Croce, Program Lead Customer Experience Transformation and Innovation, City of Toronto Shane Waring, Lead Dublin Beta Lab This podcast episode was supported by the Australian Research Council under Grant ARCDP200100176 Innovating urban governance: practices for enhanced urban futures, a joint project by the University of Wollongong, the University of Sydney and the University of Auckland. Audio recording and editing by Jennifer Macey. Additional editing by Emily Perkins. Coordination and additional scripting by Laura Goh.