Building Better Cities
by Kate Gasparro - Urban Development & Sustainable Infrastructure Expert
Latest episode
Beyond the Power Grid: Buiding Detroit's Resilience Network with…
Beyond the Power Grid: Buiding Detroit's Resilience Network with…
About this podcast
Cities don't just happen. They're shaped by the choices we make about housing, transportation, infrastructure, public spaces, and the communities we want to become.
Yet too often, the systems we rely on make it difficult to build the places people need.
Building Better Cities with Dr. Kate Gasparro goes behind the scenes with the leaders, builders, thinkers, and innovators reimagining how cities grow. Each episode explores the ideas and solutions helping create more sustainable, equitable, and thriving communities.
Breaking norms. Building cities.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 50 episodes
- Beyond the Power Grid: Buiding Detroit's Resilience Network with Briana DuBose · 33 minDuring a summer storm in Detroit, one small food pantry and soup kitchen stayed open while others in its network lost power. Solar and battery storage kept the lights and…
- Paying for the Past, Building for the Future with Mayor Todd Gloria · 39 minMayors today inherit decades of decisions they didn’t make: deferred city infrastructure maintenance, underfunded pensions, and land use policies that limited what could be…
- From Research to Action: Turning Evidence into Better Cities with Robert Puentes · 31 minWe have more data and research about cities than ever before—but is it actually leading to better decisions? In this episode of Building Better Cities, Kate Gasparro sits down…
- Shared Equity and a New Dream of Homeownership with Tony Pickett · 39 minHomeownership has long been sold as a single path with a single set of rules — but what happens when that path stops working for most people? In this episode of Building Better…
- Can Opportunity Zones Reverse Neighborhood Disinvestment? (with Jimmy Atkinson) · 35 minNeighborhoods have experienced dramatically different economic trajectories. Decades of redlining, discrimination, and disinvestment has shaped where capital flows — and once…
- How Cities Shape Us: The Psychology of Place with Dr. Leidy Klotz · 34 minWhat if the cities we build are also building something within us? In this episode of Building Better Cities, Kate Gasparro sits down with behavioral scientist and University of…
- The Holy Grail of Urbanism: Land Value Tax with Greg Miller · 35 minWhat if the biggest obstacle to building more housing and creating more sustainable urban development isn't zoning or financing — it's how we tax land? In this episode of…
- The Hidden Reason Families Are Leaving Cities with Alicia Pederson · 30 minWalk through any major American city and notice what's missing. Not coffee shops or co-working spaces — those are everywhere. What you won't see much of are children. Families…
- When Impact is the Asset: Transforming Forgotten Spaces with Lindsey Scannapieco · 35 minIn 2014, the Philadelphia school district auctioned off a shuttered vocational school in South Philly — 340,000 square feet, built like a bomb shelter. Seven developers looked at…
- Can Impact Investing Redefine Urban Development? (with Brian Murray) · 45 minWhat does it actually take to invest in a neighborhood — not just a building — and get it right? In this episode, Brian Murray, CEO and co-founder of SHIFT Capital, takes us…
- Building Codes Are Political. We Just Don't Talk About Them. (with Ed Mendoza) · 36 minThe zoning debate is about what we build and for whom. The building code is supposed to be about how we build it. But the "how" has a way of quietly dictating the "what" and…
- Why Local Developers Matter More Than Ever with Jim Heid · 41 minFor generations, cities were built by the people who lived in them. That's why so many of our most beloved neighborhoods feel like quilted fabrics of architectural styles, mixed…
- How San Diego rewired California housing incentives with Colin Parent · 35 minFor generations, California has approached housing growth through a familiar playbook: long planning processes, neighborhood-by-neighborhood debates, and major reforms that often…
- What makes a better city? Inside LEED’s urban framework with Dr. Vatsal Bhatt · 32 minHow do you measure whether a city is actually getting better? Most people know LEED as the gold standard for green buildings. But cities are more than buildings—they’re systems…
- Funding city infrastructure at the ballot box: what Nashville got right with Amanda Wall Vandegrift · 33 minTransit ballot measures are often seen as a long shot — especially when affordability is top of mind and voters are being asked to raise their own taxes. But in November 2024…
- Part 1: Why zoning reform isn't solving the housing crisis with Yonah Freemark · 23 minUpzoning is often pitched as the silver bullet for the housing crisis — change the rules, let developers build, and supply will bring prices down. But the reality is a lot more…
- Part 2: Why transit investment is really a city building decision with Yonah Freemark and Sam Sklar · 26 minYou pay rent or a mortgage every month and you know exactly what that costs. But how much are you spending just to get where you need to go? For a lot of Americans…
- Why mayors can't solve the housing crisis alone with Michael Tubbs · 32 minBuilding better cities requires getting the relationship between cities, counties, and the state right. And few people understand that dynamic better than someone who's lived on…
- From extraction to regeneration: place-based development in Appalachia with Steven Baumgartner · 33 minFor decades, communities across Appalachia have watched jobs disappear, resources drain, and local wealth flow outward. But in Morganton, North Carolina, a nonprofit called The…
- The climate goals are clear. The infrastructure spending isn't. (with Adie Tomer and Ben Swedberg) · 33 minCalifornia has record levels of federal infrastructure funding and some of the most ambitious climate goals in the country. But why are transportation emissions still rising? In…
