260I_Dr Haydn Read, a specialist practitioner in systems thinking and action

What is The Future for Cities?

"Pitch it high and don't take your eyes off the prise!"

Are you interested in distributed well-being? What do you think about density as a measurement for affordability? How can we use the why-how-what questions for better urban futures?

Interview with Dr Haydn Read, a specialist practitioner in systems thinking and action. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, smartness, evidence-based decision-making, organic vs planned city growth, and many more.

Dr. Haydn Read found a way to live his best life… as Te Hēteri for Te Whānau-ā-Apanui. He supports his Iwi friends to understand the challenges ahead, as a specialist practitioner in systems thinking and action – and a way forward to tackle them. As a pracademic, Dr Read also finds privilege in working with government supporting initiatives to improve the wellbeing of communities across Aotearoa New Zealand more generally. He has been a Senior Executive in the Private and Public Sectors for nearly 30 years, in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally. His passion lies in unpacking complex problems and helping others find solutions to the most difficult and intractable ones, some refer to as ‘wicked’ – especially those impacting on the most vulnerable in our communities. He has a skill in big data, digital twins and smart cities to support big data analytics and evidence-based decision-making to support those endeavours - something he sees as an imperative for any infrastructuralist. His vision is simple: every person in Aotearoa New Zealand should be afforded the same opportunities as the next. Something we need to rediscover as a nation of people who could be first amongst all equals to achieve this aspiration. But mostly, he will tell you he is a ‘lifestyle’ farmer from Waimana in the Eastern Bay of Plenty….

Find out more about Haydn through these links:

• ⁠Haydn Read⁠ on LinkedIn;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• ⁠No.177 - Interview with Amelia Gaskell ⁠about intergenerational equity;
• ⁠No.186 - Interview with Tom Bosschaert ⁠about the importance of systems thinking
• ⁠No.190 - Interview with Adrian McGregor ⁠about cities being complex ecosystems;
• No.259R - Lessons from nine urban areas using data to drive local sustainable development

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠