Building Up and Not Out with Heba Elhanafy

Across the global south, cities are growing outwards instead of upwards. Talking to us today about why this is a bad thing for commuters, is urban planning researcher Heba Elhanafy. We dive into the episode with an overview of what the newly released planning guidelines cover, and how new city making has evolved. We hear about the three topics the planning guidelines tackle (how the global south builds, what works, and what doesn't work), and why a single developer working on a city is less effective than multiple developers and shareholders. Heba breaks down the benefits of building bottom-up, instead of top-down, and describes what developers can expect to learn from the planning guidelines. We also hear about two examples of urban planning done right: the Manhattan example, and the much smaller scale Ethiopian Urban Expansion initiative. Tune in to learn how communities help the expansion and growth of a development, and how planning a city can help lift people out of poverty. We wrap up the episode with some of Heba's personal experiences of traffic living in cities across the global south, and why she believes a new model needs to be implemented. So, for all this and so much more, press “Play” now!

Key Points From This Episode:

•   Welcome to today’s guest, urban researcher Heba Elhanafy.

•   What the newly released planning guidelines cover.

•   How new city-making has changed over time.

•   The three topics the planning guide looks at: how the global south builds, what works, and what doesn’t work.

•   Why one developer building a city is a bad idea.

•   The benefits of building bottom-up, instead of top-down.

•   How planning can assist chartering cities that lift people out of poverty.

•   Why the planning guidelines will help developers.

•   An example of the Ethiopian Urban Expansion Initiative.

•   Understanding that communities will help with the expansion and growth of a development.

•   The Manhattan example, as a large-scale example.

•   Enhancing mobility within a city, and the benefits to workers.

•   Why building up is better than building out.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Heba Elhanafy on LinkedIn

Charter Cities Institute

Charter Cities Institute on Facebook

Charter Cities Institute on Twitter