Talks
Join Dr. Robert Muggah from SecDev as he dives into the fascinating world of digital transformation and the urban century. As cities become the epicenter of human life, cyber security is rapidly emerging as a crucial aspect of digital quality of life. In this enlightening talk, Dr. Muggah emphasizes the importance of ensuring our smart cities are also safe cities. Don’t miss out on this compelling discussion that highlights the critical intersection of urbanization, technology, and security!
We need to take action now to protect the Amazon Basin
If we have any hope of saving the planet’s ecosystems and biodiversity, we need to keep the Amazon Basin from reaching a catastrophic tipping point. New technologies like remote sensing and sensors are helping us understand the scope and scale of deforestation and degradation taking place in the world’s largest rainforest. Innovative tools from drones to blockchain are helping point the way to solutions. Dr. Robert Muggah offers five priorities to disrupt the crime and corruption that threatens not just Latin America, but the world. He urges governments, businesses, and civil societies to radically re-imagine the Amazon, especially by empowering the people who work and live there and building a sustainable bio-economy. PhD Oxford University (International Development, Economics and Political Studies). Master University of Sussex (International Development and Development Economics). BA Dalhousie University (International Affairs). Senior Consultant of the World Bank. Faculty Singularity University. Co-founder of Instituto Igarapé, one of the top-ranked social policy think tanks in the world and a leading NGO in Latin America. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
The biggest risks facing cities – and some solutions
With fantastic new maps that show interactive, visual representations of urban fragility, Robert Muggah articulates an ancient but resurging idea: cities shouldn’t just be the center of economics — they should also be the foundation of our political lives. Looking around the world, from Syria to Singapore to Seoul and beyond, Muggah submits six principles for how we can build more resilient cities. “Cities are where the future happens first. They’re open, creative, dynamic, democratic, cosmopolitan, sexy,” Muggah says. “They’re the perfect antidote to reactionary nationalism.”
How to protect fast-growing cities from failing
Worldwide, violence is on the decline, but in the crowded cities of the global south — cities like Aleppo, Bamako and Caracas — violence is actually accelerating, fueled by the drug trade, mass unemployment and civil unrest. Security researcher Robert Muggah turns our attention toward these “fragile cities,” super-fast-growing places where infrastructure is weak and government often ineffective. He shows us the four big risks we face, and offers a way to change course.
Mapping Hotspots
In this flashtalk, Robert Muggah, research director at the Igarapé Institute, highlights the need to shift our perspective to see the world through the lens of cities using interactive, visual representations to show how cities are ground zero for great existential challenges – concentrated poverty, war/terrorism/crime, refugees, rising sea levels, fires and pollution, pandemics – and highlighting the importance of cities working together to address these challenges. (at the Prtizker Forum on Global Cities 2019)
How Cities Can Shape the Future of Our World
As cities proliferate and become the economic and political centers in countries around the world, they also become the centers of understanding and harmony due to the mixing of cultures, ideas, and lifestyles that come with urban living. Cities are the places of power in the 21st century, and as they grow, they have the power to shape our future. Dr. Robert Muggah, a political economist who studies urban security and development, believes that cities are inherently fragile habitats as they constantly change to accommodate unpredictability, but with preparation and a better understanding of how they can improve our lives, we can take control of our future and overcome these challenges. Join us in this session as Dr. Muggah explores the fragility and resilience of modern urban life. (at the World Government Summit 2019)
Flashtalk: Fragile Cities
Researcher Robert Muggah and British journalist Misha Glenny mix funny banter and data visualization to explain the multitude of plights facing cities around the globe and how we can face them.
From Fragile to Resilient Cities
Researcher Robert Muggah at the Smart City Expo 2017
The Big Picture on Urban Fragility
Davos, World Economic Forum 2017 – Global Situation Space