The reason why I studied (and continue to learn about) spatial planning, urban development and design is simple: the climate crisis. The climate crisis is a hugely accumulative issue that will only be efficiently mitigated with large-scale solutions — spatial planning being one of them. The reason why I care…

Living in a city is as much about getting away from the city as it is being in it. However, we don’t necessarily need to physically leave the city to get away — sometimes a mental de-attachment can be equally healing. …

From one crisis to another: which has been here all along. Our social media feeds are filled with heart-warming and saddening quotes, violent videos we wish we didn’t see, black boxes, and on the educational side, threads teaching us about systematic racism, white privilege, and how to be actively anti-racist. Yet, activity in social media has been criticised from all angles…

I was watching a science documentary on Netflix, as you do on your average evening in the lockdown. A thought from one of the speakers struck my mind: In science, it is common to spend seven years finding an answer to a question, only to realise you were asking the…

I got asked about sustainable clothing brands in New Zealand. Here are my gatherings from a nine-hour online shopping session. Is online shopping sustainable? Honestly? I don’t know. My initial reaction is not. The number of things people buy online that ends up never being used just because the size or shape was odd…

This is how the air quality case study speaks for itself. The similarities between response to COVID-19 and climate change are uncanny. Global emergency. Unusual levels of global collaboration. Requiring urgent and radical action in policy-making. Demanding patience and changes in human behaviour today for the sake of better tomorrow. The need to listen to the scientists, whose advice has been long neglected, as the action would threaten growth. Involves politicisation. …

An Urbanist’s guide to quarantine — Aotearoa (New Zealand) begun its one-month lock-down last week. It is still unsure how long the lockdown will be — the following days will indicate whether the cases keep increasing or will the curve flatten. In this unknown, many are figuring our ways to cope inside. …

How will our future cities be shaped by a climate where social distancing, self-isolation, quarantine, border measures, contact tracing and public health advice have been introduced to the basic vocabulary of your average lad? One positive thing about the pandemic: people are finally talking about cities in terms of health. — While many cities across the globe have already experienced living in isolation for a matter of days, weeks, and months, the rest of the world is preparing for the same destiny.