Infinite Block

This week we're releasing a talk from our recent Micromobility Europe Conference, with Horace interviewing Azeem Azhar. Azeem is one of the great thinkers in the space of smart cities, the importance of exponential technologies like Micromobility and how they relate to governance and the social contract. You may recall that we interviewed him earlier this year. Both Horace and Azeem are big fans of each other and at the recent conference they got to sit down and really nut out the importance of the city and how it relates to Micromobility. These are the sort of conversations that we want to be having on the Infinite Block so if you have any suggested guests, please reach out to us on Twitter or email  [email protected] with ideas. We'd love to hear from you.    Find out more about Azeem and his involvement in micromobility here.

This week Oliver interviews Laura Fox, General Manager of the Citi Bike bike sharing service in New York, and Senior Director of Lyft Bikes. This podcast was released on our sister podcast project, Micromobility. Laura has a very deep background and thinking about the future of cities, not only in an operational sense - running one of the worlds leading micromobility operations, but also before that working for Sidewalk Labs for Google and with former world bank urban economist Alain Bertaud, with whom she edited one of Oliver’s favourite books on urban economics “Order Without Design.” In this episode, Laura talks with Oliver about the implications of micromobility on the city and also new forces calling upon her background at Sidewalk Labs, and consulting on the interplay of regulations and housing supply in Mexico City with Alain.

Ryan is building the first Micromobility-focused real estate development in the US, with the goal of eventually building the US’s first car free city.  The majority of people want to live in walkable/bikeable neighborhoods, yet only 8% do. Culdesac are developing a system for building real estate that will bring that to the masses, and with it, put micromobility at the centre of how we can get around in these new developments.  Oliver and Ryan discuss the implications it will have on things like zoning, parking, housing and cities. It’s clear that what Ryan is doing is super important and something that is hopefully becomes the example others point to for a new micromobility-centred real estate model going forward.  Check out Culdesac’s website right here - https://culdesac.com/

From lab-grown meat to TikTok, new technologies and networks are developing and spreading more rapidly than our norms and institutions can adapt. Tech analyst Azeem Azhar, creator of Exponential View and author of The Exponential Age, joins Oliver Bruce to discuss how these exponential technologies are turning our societies inside out and rebalancing the status quo.  Exponential View: https://bit.ly/3vpN0s9 Azeem’s recent podcast about micromobility with Horace Dediu: https://apple.co/3JUNuM7 The Exponential Age: https://bit.ly/3jWLAQt  

Bradley Tusk is a political fixer-turned-venture capitalist who specializes in working with startups like Bird, Coinbase, Eaze, FanDuel, and Wheel to break through in highly regulated markets. He was formerly the campaign manager of Michael Bloomberg’s 2009 NYC mayoral bid, the Deputy Governor of Illinois, and the first political advisor at Uber. In addition to his firms, Tusk Strategies and Tusk Ventures, Bradley is currently exploring mobile voting technology and blockchain solutions to help fix political polarization.    Check out Bradley’s Firewall podcast: https://www.firewall.media/  

An unprecedented confluence of new technologies is disrupting the way we live, work, and earn in cities a global scale. In the kickoff episode of the Infinite Block podcast, Oliver Bruce talks to his old colleague, world-renowned analyst Horace Dediu, about why our cities will not only survive the latest wave of innovations in business, policy, culture, and technology, but emerge stronger.