As cities around the globe scramble to face the unpredictable local impacts of runaway climate change and a growing polycrisis, the question is clear: how do we plan and build resilience? Here’s my take on the Resilience Project of the world’s biggest city, #Tokyo.

What can we learn from Japan’s history of perpetual reconstruction? In this conversation w/ Andrew & Josh of Me, Myself & Disaster, I consider how to integrate disaster resilience & climate adaptation into a wider strategy for addressing the interconnected “wicked problems” facing our urban futures.

This couldn't be more timely! We live in a golden age of mis/disinformation—urban politics very much included. Sustainability & liveability advocates are forced to refight the same battles against motorist lobbies & stubborn urban myths. What's urgently needed is a global clearing house of facts!

An essential initiative by a trio of prominent figures, including my friend & colleague @brenttoderian.bsky.social In these troubled times of misinformation and manipulation, this is a step towards staying informed about best practices in urban planning & countering manipulation. Well done to them!

Many people are still unsure when I ask about the “endgame” of our work. Back in 2014, we held a #deepadaptation bootcamp & mapped out root causes of the #planetarycrisis. Yet, despite accelerating change, far too many still assume a business-as-usual future. → rci.nanzan-u.ac.jp/ISE/ja/publi...

What can we learn from Japan’s history of perpetual reconstruction? In this conversation w/ Andrew & Josh of Me, Myself & Disaster, I consider how to integrate disaster resilience & climate adaptation into a wider strategy for addressing the interconnected “wicked problems” facing our urban futures.

Solar sharing with elevated PV systems above agricultural fields could become even more promising as climate change and increasingly scorching summers make crop shading necessary. It is striking that an oil corporation is driving this development.

Japan’s train etiquette may be a key arena where strains of overtourism materialise. Nowhere is this felt more acutely than during daily commutes on packed trains, where locals have direct encounters with foreign visitors. In these crowded settings, frustration—and at times resentment—can take root.

This couldn't be more timely! We live in a golden age of mis/disinformation—urban politics very much included. Sustainability & liveability advocates are forced to refight the same battles against motorist lobbies & stubborn urban myths. What's urgently needed is a global clearing house of facts!

Very important message!

When it comes to free and fair elections, Collins is as conservative and anti-voting rights as they come. Not only is she supporting the SAVE Act, but during the Biden administration she opposed the For the People Act and the Joe Manchin compromise bill — the Freedom to Vote Act.

Worth reiterating: A.I. is excacerbating inequality !

One of the funniest things about all of this is that CBS lawyers thought the public would believe their version of what happened over Stephen Colbert’s. Boy they picked the wrong guy to compare credibility with. Especially since, as Colbert points out, CBS lawyers actually approve every show script!

I support this petition to end fossil fuels forever. You should, too! act.350.org/sign/end-fos...

Let’s keep it circulating a bit more: “ Christianity is a simple religion … : Jesus gave us two commandments: Love god and love thy neighbour … love thy neighbour regardless of race, regardless of gender, or sexual orientation or immigration status, or religious affiliation.”

More countries recognising renewable energy enhances national security, especially as global markets grow increasingly volatile amid erosion of the rules-based international order under Trump. Local production is central to building resilience—yet countries must remain wary of potential debt traps.

As Japan’s demographic transition accelerates and rural areas continue to depopulate, a point is reached where infrastructure such as local train lines can no longer be sustainably maintained. Until now, operators have cross-subsidised heavily loss-making routes but this seems no longer possible.

The murals are fantastic. I’d love to see an artist create an x-ray–style painting across the building’s elevation, revealing the residents inside as they go about their everyday lives.

Wie verändern Soziale Medien unsere Nachbarschaften? Erosion des Zusammenlebens oder neue Vergemeinschaftung? Darüber spreche ich am Donnerstag in der Stadtbücherei Querenburg in Bochum. Der Vortrag ist Teil der Wissensrunde Utopien der UniverCity Bochum und startet um 18 Uhr. Kommt vorbei! :)

I created a gentrification starter pack (not to start gentrification, though). Hit me up if I you want to be added! go.bsky.app/FQMip1i

This is glorious.

Putin is prosecuting in absentia a German carnival float builder, Jacques Tilly, for making parade floats making fun of him. Anyone in MAGA want to speak up for this float builder's free speech rights being violated by Russia? Anyone?

On top of that you can also reduce your cancer risk and well-being as cobenefits.

It would demonstrate real foresight if cities also considered the long-term consequences of climate change and the relatively limited lifespan of many cherry tree varieties. In many parts of Tokyo, the beautiful trees planted to adorn the 1964 Olympics were cut as they aged, and were never replaced.

RIP Robert Duvall, a true icon. Had the pleasure of interviewing him a few times, including this long chat that went viral about why he's leaving the Republican Party: www.thedailybeast.com/robert-duval...

This is precisely what polling places were like for part of the 19th century. People often traveled long distances by horse to vote. It was a big deal when folks got together this way.

Trump is saying that he will disregard Congress and issue an Excutive order that will violate the Constitution. Here is my promise: If he does that, we will sue and we will win. Just like we did the last time. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

The problem for democracy is that it will not survive three more years of such a system. We cannot hold free and fair elections if judges blindly accept the word of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel’s minions. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/two-...

1973 on the Chuo Line. A group of mothers protesting railway company rules requiring passengers to fold pushchairs, and carry children inside the carriage. The rules weren't relaxed until 1998-9. www.asahi.com/and/m/articl...

Standardised politeness and civility: If you ever wondered how convenience store clerks across Japan come to adopt nearly identical polite demeanor, now you know.

ICE using the same ruse that Ted Bundy used to kidnap people should tell you something.

“I’ve never protested before - but I just watched 4th & 5th grade kids run away from our own government.” 😕🇺🇸💔 (From @crindivisible.bsky.social )

Every Trump voter should ask themselves whether this is the kind of Amerika they voted for. How great are you really making Amerika by committing atrocities like this?

A nation destroys itself when it rejects science, law, due process, integrity, and reason. When reason dies, the age of enlightenment dies with it.

It is shocking to see a great nation committing suicide.

This is really is a great opportunity, and it’s a very interesting time to be in Japan working on such a meaningful project!

This is the essential starter pack on #cities and #urbanism. We live in an age of planetary urbanisation: what happens in cities shapes every last corner of the planet. If we want to repair the planet, we must start with cities—where participatory governance and democracy can be locally reimagined.

Honestly, how much more dystopian do things have to become before more people freak out? It will be incredibly hard to undo things like these even under a democratic president -- IF there are going to be free and fair elections that is.

Our best hope is that Parisians have come to love the transformation of their city and the way its global standing has risen as an environmental leader. Reversing these changes would likely prove tremendously unpopular. That said, it would be great to have a leader who embraces such proud legacy!

As a German, the first thing that comes to mind is "Gleichschaltung". Gleichschaltung refers to the systematic process by which the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler brought all political, social, cultural, and economic institutions in Germany into alignment with its totalitarian ideology after 1933.

An argument I made and taught for decades. Urbanism brings with it profound environmental and social consequences, marked by a complexity few humans can begin to comprehend. Much of current rightwing ideology seems based on nostalgia for a seemingly simpler past, whose complexity was less evident.

More green space—Tokyo remains a concrete jungle. Despite an accelerating climate crisis and ambitious resilience plans, the city continues to lose mature green spaces at a faster rate than new green is created. Every year summers get hotter and the heat island effect is worsening.

Humanitarian architect Shigeru Ban's post-disaster housing is easily assembled, healthy, makes use of local resources. Rather than provide temporary housing that's later replaced by permanent structures—often leaving survivors in prolonged state of limbo—Ban offers a fundamental reconceptualisation.

This is the essential starter pack on #cities and #urbanism. We live in an age of planetary urbanisation: what happens in cities shapes every last corner of the planet. If we want to repair the planet, we must start with cities—where participatory governance and democracy can be locally reimagined.

1+1 = ? One could also mention Epstein’s close ties to Russia, his well-documented friendship with Trump, and the numerous contacts Trump’s 2016 campaign had with Russian actors, as detailed in the Mueller Report. You can complete the calculation yourself.

Precisely—let’s strip the mask off this Orwellian newspeak.

Techno-feudalism at its worst: extraction of cheap labour, the suppression of unionisation, increasingly open subversion of democratic institutions—most visibly in the U.S. (Bezos gutting WaPo, Musk electioneering for Trump) and abroad (Musk pushing radical anti-democratic parties across Europe).

Ossoff: "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."

A federal judge in Oregon issued a sweeping rebuke of the Justice Department’s nationwide push to seize state voter rolls, ruling that the department can no longer be presumed to be acting in good faith and warning that its conduct threatens voters and states’ rights.

Humanitarian architect Shigeru Ban's post-disaster housing is easily assembled, healthy, makes use of local resources. Rather than provide temporary housing that's later replaced by permanent structures—often leaving survivors in prolonged state of limbo—Ban offers a fundamental reconceptualisation.