I have written about Medellín, Colombia before on the blog. But the content has mostly come from my urbanist friends. About five years ago, my good friend Alex Feldman -- who is a Managing Director at U3 Advisors -- wrote this guest post about what other cities could learn from Medellín. He wrote it following a trip to the city for the World Urban Forum.

I haven't been to Colombia, but it's high up on my list. So I enjoyed watching the story of Medellín's turnaround in this Future of Cities Retro Report. It is the same story that Alex told over five years ago, but that doesn't make the lessons any less valuable. (If you can't see the embedded video at the bottom of this post, click here.)

Eugenie Birch -- who is interviewed in the video and who is a professor at my alma mater -- hits the nail on the head when she says that a lot of this stuff isn't rocket science. Look, we know how to lay pipes. We know how to build transportation systems. It comes down to this: Is there the political will?

Embedded at the bottom of this post is a great rapid-fire talk by Edward Glaeser about technology and the city. 

Technology has always been a fundamental driver of change within our cities and I like how Glaeser starts by referring to these forces as either centripetal and centrifugal. The car was an example of the latter. It spread us out.

At the same time, Glaeser points out that the car was really the first time that urban mobility patterns shifted from hub-and-spoke to point-to-point. Transit systems rely on hubs and some walking, which in a world of cars has led to something we call the last mile problem.

Also worth noting is the fact that Glaeser is terrified about what autonomous vehicles will do to our cities. His point is that the fundamental law of highway traffic has shown that vehicle miles traveled increases basically 1:1 with highway miles built.

So if all of a sudden AVs are able to decrease the cost of mobility, provide capacity benefits, and increase rider enjoyment (because you’re no longer a driver), vehicle miles traveled are going to go through the roof. This makes a strong case for some form of road pricing.

But it also means that unlike traditional cars, which were a centrifugal force, AVs could in fact turn out to be a force that further centralizes us within dense urban centers.

When you listen to Glaeser’s talk, you will quickly understand why so much attention (this blog included) is being paid to autonomous vehicles. They are one of – if not the – next great technology bound to reshape our cities.

If you can’t see the video below, click here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbGwhWbuhfg?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

There is so much interest in cities right now and I think that is absolutely wonderful. Earlier today my friend Derek shared a video with me on Twitter called, The Future of Cities. It’s by YouTuber Oscar Boyson, who I recognize from some of Casey Neistat’s videos, but whose own videos I have never watched before.

I highly recommend you watch this video. It’s just over 18 minutes. If you can’t see the video below, click here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOOWk5yCMMs?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

It’s well-executed, a joy to watch, and packed full of information and ideas. There are soundbites from lots of well known urbanists (both living and dead). And I also love how Oscar crowdsourced ideas and content from cities all around the world.

The title of this blog post will make sense once you’ve watched the video.