Idoia Postigo

Greg Clark 

We were absolutely delighted to discover that Idoia Postigo, the Executive Director of Bilbao Metropoli 30 is one of our esteemed listeners. Idoia, it's great to have a chance to talk to you. Tell us what have you enjoyed about the podcast series The DNA of Cities so far? How do you find it interesting?

Idoia Postigo 

Well, first of all, thank you for your kind invitation to be part of this project, Greg. I think cities can learn a lot from each other. This doesn't mean that projects can be cut and pasted from one place to another, of course, but it is true that there are issues that have worked or failed elsewhere, that can be very enriching. In my opinion, this is the function of The DNA of Cities podcast, a close look to learn from other cities. There are also a series of further contents that deal with the identity of cities, their reputation, their visibility, which I really find very interesting in this project.

Greg Clark 

Thank you so much, Idoia. Let's then ask you, what does the DNA of cities as a concept mean to you? How do you find that a meaningful idea?

Idoia Postigo 

I think the podcast and all the contents shared in The DNA of Cities are really enlightening for all practitioners, urban planners, architects, journalist or just people that are in love with cities. I think, especially in this context, it is a relevant function of the project because with the COVID pandemic and the conflicts of war, our challenges have become more acute and magnified, where global systems and structures have failed to make poverty disappear, to make health and education accessible for all, to safeguard the planet. Unfortunately, as we are witnessing, to make the world an equitable, fair and safe place. On the other hand, our economic system has to change because it is unsustainable and anachronistic and we cannot see the planet as a mere resource. The world cannot be sustained only in the mechanism of production and consumption. We need therefore to redefine what is wealth, what is competitiveness, what is prosperity, what for, who for and how we are going to achieve it. This goes far beyond GDP. Finally, I think that all of this is happening primarily in our cities, because global urbanisation is one of the most transformative trends of our century. But we know that this growing concentration of population in urban areas brings unprecedented challenges. Because our cities have evolved and grown and continue to do so, they seek to be orderly and efficient from a productive point of view but we also must ask ourselves, whether they are still fully human along this way, because we are designing increasingly functional and aesthetical places. But at the same time, we see anonymity, disconnection, inequality, loneliness, and mental illness is growing. So I think The DNA of Cities proposes a look at cities, from their personality and it seems to me to be very innovative, and very necessary, also, because cities are living organisms, or we could say human products in a way.

Greg Clark 

Idoia, what I'd really like you to do is to take one city that you know, well, and tell us about the DNA of that city, as you see it.

Idoia Postigo 

Well in fact, I know some of the cities that have been part of The DNA of Cities like Glasgow, Philadelphia, Singapore, Barcelona, Vienna, and so on. But the city that I know the best is the city in which I live and for which I work, which is Bilbao. The revitalisation process of Metropolitan Bilbao has been internationally recognised as a successful model of transformation from an industrial region, as you all know, to a modern cultural metropolis. Our model has been distinctive, not only because of that physical transformation, perhaps with the Guggenheim Museum being the icon, but also because it has been based on the identity of the Basque society. This is why our leitmotif is 'Auzolan' which in Basque means collective action. This made possible the public private cooperation that unleashed the potential of our community to become a powerful vehicle of change with a single certainty that we cannot do it alone. Also because this transformation was supported by a system of values that placed equality as a radical commitment, and as an axis of our imaginary and '30', because in a situation of maximum emergency we had imagine 30 years ago, we had to face rates of unemployment of more than 30% in some villages of Metropolitan Bilbao. But in that situation, we were confident in our capacity for change. We felt that we were capable of doing things that were far beyond our possibilities and we did. So our narrative that change was possible is what made the transformation real. So this revitalisation process in Bilbao and its metropolis proved that public private collaboration and shared bold and disruptive decisions can produce far reaching changes, capable of addressing challenges of great magnitude. That would be my example.

Greg Clark 

So, Idoia, we're making another series of The DNA of Cities podcast, and I'd really like your recommendations as to which cities we should visit in the next series of episodes. Where would you like us to go next?

Idoia Postigo 

If you give me the option, I think you need to visit Bilbao because we are now launching a new project called Urban Revolution: Aurrera! 'Aurrera' is a buzzword that means something like 'let's go!' We held an International Congress last October inviting ten international experts coming from different places of the world, to share their visions about the need of an urban revolution. This project seeks to build a community of practitioners, activists, thinkers, authorities, interested professionals, and allies from across the world united in a shared quest for urban innovations. We hope this can become a powerful and influential movement from for change that inspire cities to do things differently because its aim is to address big urban issues that really matter to help create more human-centred cities that heal the environment, live well with nature, confront inequality and foster fairness. These often requires pioneering and disruptive innovation that both challenge how city making happens, the status quo, and also show the way forward. So together with this urban revolution community, we are also launching The Bay Urban Visioning Awards, which is a platform promoted by Bilbao Metropoli 30, the public private partnership to which I belong. This project, the awards, will have showcase and reward every two years those disruptive and pioneering good urban practices and projects that form part of the shared learning process of this revolution movement. So I invite you to consider Bilbao as an option, and also to help us spread the word about this community and this platform for celebrating good practices in urban information.