Blending global observations from COVID-19 with front line dispatches from wartime Ukraine, this talk examines how urban life contracts, adapts and rebuilds under pressure. It challenges our reflex toward techno-optimism and argues that true resilience lies in human-scale design, walkability, proximity, and low-tech infrastructure that cannot crash or be hacked.

As the climate crisis accelerates, prevention alone is no longer enough. The urgent question is how we mitigate its impact on daily urban life. This keynote offers a clear, provocative framework for future-proofing our cities — not through complexity, but through fundamentals.