Changing Places

From ancient Babylon to the first McDonald’s restaurant, our food has been made in the same way for a very, very long time. You place an order, a cook cooks it, you eat it, and go about your day. However, automation has entered the kitchen and robots are preparing some - if not all! - of your meal. Welcome to the world of robot restaurants, welcome to the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do Chanel, H&M, and Gravity Entertainment have in common? You can find them on high streets throughout the UK. How did gaming centers featuring go-karts, ten pin bowling, surfing, and axe throwing wind up on the same high streets as Chanel and H&M? This is the story of how and why high streets are changing faster than we ever could have imagined!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Downtowns have always been a place to be seen, experience culture, or work a nine-to-five. However, the pandemic lockdown introduced a fundamental disruption and shift in the reality of how we use our cities. How can front-edge data and foot-traffic patterns influence or predict the future of downtowns and the emerging future of our built environment?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every single day, people around the world consider whether to age in place at home or move into a facility meant specifically for seniors. For some, the choice is easy. For others, it’s the last decision they want to make. As our views on aging change, what lies in store for the future of senior housing? Will we all live like Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia…or wind up somewhere nicer than Shady Pines? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let’s move! Whether you’re traveling by car, bus, light rail, or scooter, the world of transportation is changing at light speed. Governments, cities, and experts are rethinking what it means to move from Point A to Point B and how that will impact how your relationship to your community.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How LA’s SOFI is changing the game (re-release) In honor of the American football season, we’re going to revisit our episode about SoFi Stadium from Season 1! We explore what happens when empty lots and vacant land are turned into the most technologically advanced sports stadium and urban complex in the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Metaverse. The word alone conjures up images of avatars, virtual shopping malls, and people seated in meeting rooms from around the world. But what does it really mean? Who are the players in the real estate space, and what kind of world are they building for the Internet of tomorrow? Let’s explore the vast expanse of the Metaverse.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For centuries, the stars have guided sailors home, inspired poets, and forced us to understand our place in the universe. With the advent of electric light, the night sky of yore is fading before our very eyes. Is light pollution an unavoidable product of our modern, built world? Or will local governments, national policy, and everyday people be the key to unleashing the brilliance of the night sky once again?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trends show global gaybourhoods beginning to disappear, shrink or become versions of their formerly vibrant selves. Why? Are broader societal shifts simply changing core needs of the community? Are local LGBTQ+ finding greater connection online or in mainstream city centers, removing the need for a dedicated space? Or are members of these communities being pushed out, losing place and space built solely around their needs, now widening to accommodate all in the name of inclusion? We explore what is lost if gaybourhoods in their truest sense vanish completely, and what needs will exist regardless, as the future of the gaybourhoods remains in flux. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Baltimore to Philadelphia, to the Rust Belt and beyond, the United States has a unique crisis on its hands: too much vacant housing with too little demand. From rows of empty, dilapidated housing to abandoned neighborhoods, the story of vacant housing in America is the story of what happens when trends change, people move, populations decline, and the built world people once loved is left to decay.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.