John has published extensively on issues related to urban fragility, violence, and resilience. This includes co-editing volumes on Reducing Urban Violence in the Global South: Towards Safe and Inclusive Cities (Routledge, 2020) and Social Theories of Urban Violence in the Global South (Routledge, 2019), as well as two volumes on security-sector reform and citizen security in Latin America with Ubiquity Press and Siglo XXI. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Environment and Urbanization and Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, and by the World Bank, International Federation of the Red Cross, United Nations University, World Economic Forum, Reuters, iPolitics, and the Guardian, to name a few. John has taught at, and received fellowships from, Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. He holds a PhD from the University of Tokyo.
Seth Schultz and Eric Ast
The Data City – The chapter provides a vision for how cities can leverage the power of procurement to break the cycle of data dependence and lead the fight for a just, equitable, and safe future in a role that they play best: convener.
Seth Schultz is CEO of Resilience Rising, a new global non-profit consortium working together to accelerate a safe, resilient, and sustainable future for all. He has a long track record of building consensus and initiating change in the field of sustainable development, and of raising international awareness on the role of cities in tackling climate change. He is a passionate advocate for a safe, resilient and sustainable future and the need for transformative decarbonisation and long term resilience.
Over the past two decades, Seth has worked with many of the most leading and innovative organisations in this space to turn theory into practice, including the Louis Berger Group, the US Green Building Council, the Clinton Foundation, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the Global Covenant of Mayors, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Resilience Shift.
Seth shares his expertise through involvement with various boards and advisory councils, is a sought-after speaker and guest lecturer, and has authored numerous articles, reports, blogs and thought leadership pieces around the world.
Eric Ast is Chief Data Officer of East Data, where he works with mission-driven organizations to increase the strategic impact of data. He previously led the data and analytics practice at C40 Cities, where he oversaw enterprise intelligence work and co-authored research, including Climate Action in Megacities and Powering Climate Action: Cities as Global Changemakers. Eric previously served as Managing Energy Analyst for Bright Power, where he advised clients including HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing Preservation (OAHP) and owners of affordable multifamily housing on portfolio energy and water efficiency strategies, and at Capital One where he developed credit pricing strategies during the Great Recession. Eric holds a BS in Systems Engineering and Economics from the University of Virginia and an MS in Sustainable Technology from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.
Patricia McCarney
The Measured City – The chapter advances the need for globally standardized measurement in cities and examines what global standards exist for city data that propel city sound leadership on the global stage and enable local success.
Patricia McCarney is President and CEO of the World Council on City Data (WCCD) and is Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, Canada. She has published widely in the fields of city governance, data governance, and the role of global cities in sustainable development planning.
Patricia received her PhD from MIT in 1987. Before joining the University of Toronto, between 1983 and 1994, she worked as a professional staff member in a number of international agencies, including the World Bank in Washington and UN-Habitat in Nairobi. She is Convenor of the Working Group on City Indicators in the ISO Technical Committee 268 and was integral to the development of the ISO 37120 Series, including ISO 37120, the first International Standard on Indicators for Sustainable Cities; ISO 37122, Indicators for Smart Cities; and ISO 37123, Indicators for Resilient Cities.
Having founded the WCCD in 2014, Patricia is building a globally standardized data platform for cities worldwide, where cities report data in conformity with the ISO 37120 Series for WCCD ISO Certification. As host of this knowledge platform, the WCCD is the leading global city database with ISO-certified and globally comparable city data for a growing network of smart, resilient, and prosperous cities.
Noorie Rajvanshi
The Smart City – The chapter explores how technologies can drive climate action in cities based on learnings from over 40 cities worldwide.
Noorie Rajvanshi is the Director of Sustainability and Climate Strategy for Siemens USA with more than a decade of experience in the field of environmental sustainability, energy, and urban development. In her current role, Noorie is responsible for supporting the strategy and e xecution of the Siemens US region’s decarbonization plan to achieve net-zero operations by 2030 and works across the Siemens ecosystem of business and corporate units to develop and execute strategies based on data-driven insights. Noorie’s previous work in urban development focused on evaluating environmental and economic impacts of growing cities and collaborating with more than 15 cities across North America to identify technology and infrastructure solutions that would enable cities reach their economic and environmental targets.
Noorie served as a Research Fellow for Project Drawdown where she provided technical analysis that served as the foundation for three chapters in The New York Times bestselling book “Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming.”
Noorie graduated from the University of Florida with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Environmental Engineering. She is an active member of several organizations including the Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) where she has been inducted into the CEFNext Community.
Hayley Moller
The Just City (Part I) – The chapter is an investigation into the environmental, human, and economic costs of urban air pollution, and what we can do about it.
Hayley Moller is a communicator, strategist and entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience tackling the complex issues of climate change, clean energy, smart cities, and a just transition for all. She has crafted sustainability strategy for organizations of all sizes, from lean start-ups to the United Nations to some of the world’s most well-known brands. A veteran advisor to the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the Coalition for Urban Transitions, and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, Hayley has delivered climate action campaigns on all seven continents.
An advocate for women