Sharon Zukin and the Urban Innovation Complex

Sharon Zukin and the Urban Innovation Complex

Together with Wouter Jan Verheul of the Master City Developer program and Pakhuis De Zwijger, the John Adams organized a hybrid event with urban sociologist Sharon Zukin from New York, with myself as moderator. She talked about her findings for her book ‘The Urban Innovation Complex’, about how tech gravitates to cities with space and talent and how cities vie to draw in tech. Universities are in on the game too, collecting and spending huge amounts on new tech hubs such as the ‘Brooklyn Innovation Coastline’ and Cornell Tech Campus – a new strategy known as academic capitalism.

But does it work? Do these mega-investments really benefit the city, or do they just pay the salaries of software engineers in the Midwest and manufacturers in Asia? Sharon was joined in the studio by Rinke Zonneveld, director of the public-private Innovation Quarter in the Hague-Rotterdam region and by Katja Rusinovic of the Haagsche Hogeschool. Watch the event here:

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TRACY·TV #53: Joris Laarman and his 3D printed bridge of steel

TRACY·TV #53: Joris Laarman and his 3D printed bridge of steel

Dutch designer Joris Laarman has gained international fame with his designs in which he uses innovative technology to create objects of great beauty: functional esthetics. His newest project is a 3D printed bridge of steel, a technique he invented himself, for one of Amsterdam’s medieval canals. I went to talk to him and see the bridge under construction in his workplace at the former NDSM-shipyard in the north of the city.

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Refugee Challenge WDCD

Refugee Challenge WDCD

International design congres What Design Can Do is holding a Refugee Challenge this year. The refugee crisis is asking for new and innovative ideas. An incredible amount of 631 submissions from 69 countries are now eligible for review & nomination. I’m in the selection committee that will take on the massive task of establishing a shortlist that finally will be judged by the international jury on 29 June. Read the article…