IB Green Minds #30: In conversation with David Sim

This week's episode of Green Minds podcast features David Sim, an architect, urbanist and urban expert. David is a Partner at Think Softer, and the author of the book Soft City. Previously, David worked 17 years at Gehl Architects, an urban strategy and design firm based in Copenhagen. The conversation with David is all about the intersection of the built environment, climate change and humans. Claudia interviews David about his journey towards architecture, his time at Gehl Architects and writing the book Soft City. David explains what a “soft city” means, how it is connected to climate change and how we can transform cities into more liveable places.  

This episode features: 

• What is a “soft city”?  
• The influence Lego had on David's journey 
• Soviet vs. American architecture and the in-between 
• What we can learn from the Nordic countries about city planning 
• The story of Jan Gehl of Gehl Architects who transformed urban spaces globally 
• How New York Times Square transformed to its current state 
• Encouraging walking by painting Broadway streets with red paint as a red carpet 
• Climate change adaptation and the human adaptation 
• Why isn't London more like Copenhagen or Amsterdam in terms of urbanism? 
• Pandemic of loneliness and the value of a sociable city