By 2050, two thirds of the people in the world will be living in cities. This dramatic influx is putting pressure on urban life, and raising critical questions for the people living through these challenges. Where will they get clean water and safe food? How can they educate their children? What is the best way to relocate people? Can people and industry safely coexist? How will the urban boom affect crime?
While policymakers are trying to sort through these and other questions about the future of cities, residents in these burgeoning urban centres are taking matters into their own hands.
The International Reporting Program has brought together journalists from the University of British Columbia (Canada), Nanjing University (China), Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (India), and Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia), to collaborate on a multimedia and multidisciplinary reporting project across the globe.
The reporters studied the issue of “urban resilience” through an innovative course from the Global Network for Advanced Management, in which professors from Yale School of Management, EGADE Business School, University of Ghana Business School, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, and Sauder School of Business presented the complex policy aspects of urban planning and management. Journalists then did field reporting in China, India and Colombia, and worked with media organizations including The Guardian, the Toronto Star and BBC News to present their findings to audiences worldwide.
Surviving the City offers ordinary citizens the opportunity to share their struggles as cities rapidly change, and to share their efforts to cope with those challenges.
This project would not be possible without the generous support provided by the Mindset Social Innovation Foundation, UBC Graduate School of Journalism and Liu Institute for Social Issues.