Good for Cities
Welcome to Good for Cities, the podcast that examines the ideas, policies, and trends shaping urban life. Hosted by Matti Siemiatycki, Director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto School of Cities, the show asks the essential question: are these interventions really making our cities better? Each episode features conversations with leading urbanists, challenging assumptions about city building to uncover which ideas stand the test of time, and which might need to be rethought—or even scrapped altogether.
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Episodes
Thursday Oct 02, 2025
Thursday Oct 02, 2025
What role does beauty play in shaping our cities? On Good for Cities, host Matti Siemiatycki sits down with Alex Bozikovic, the Architecture Critic for The Globe and Mail, to dive into the world of design and urban planning. They discuss the critical role of architecture criticism, how to define truly outstanding architecture, and the importance of design in massive projects like Transit-Oriented Development. The conversation explores the aesthetics of modern architecture, the value of public spaces, and how a critic's perspective can challenge assumptions about city-building and community design.
Tuesday Sep 16, 2025
Tuesday Sep 16, 2025
Can tall buildings make our cities better? On Good for Cities, host Matti Siemiatycki and award-winning architect Naama Blonder tackle this essential question. They discuss how to overcome pushback, shoebox-sized units, and the loss of human scale to design high-rises that contribute to greater livability and affordability.