740 episodes
- “We’ve been optimizing what’s familiar rather than asking what’s possible.”
Are you interested in the Middle East as a testing ground for urban solutions? What do you think about mistaking innovation for progress? How can we improve our from-design-to-implementation ratio?
Interview with Shawn Meyers, Middle East Masterplanning Director. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, urban progress, desert architecture, urban participation and civic ownership, the expectations of upcoming generations, and many more.
Shawn Meyers is an Urban Designer with a global perspective, shaped by experience across New York City, London, and Dubai. At DLR Group, he leads the masterplanning studio, focusing on urban residential projects and intensification strategies. His dual training enables him to explore innovative relationships between urban morphology and building typologies, evolving global best practices for the Middle East. Passionate about redefining 21st-century cities, Shawn believes urban design is fundamentally about designing the relationship between you and me.
Find out more about Shawn through these links:
Shawn Meyers on LinkedIn
DLR Group website
DLR Group on LinkedIn
DLR Group on Youtube
@DLRGroup as DLR Group on X
@dlr_group as DLR Group on Instagram
Shawn Meyers: Crossroads - DLR Group Youtube channel
Connected episodes you might be interested in:
No.104R - The story of NEOM city: opportunities and challenges
No.105 - Interview with Richard Morrison about project NEOM
No.444 - Interview with Markus Appenzeller about the opportunities in the Middle East
No.467R - A systematic review of passive cooling strategies integrating traditional wisdom and modern innovations for sustainable development in arid urban environments
What was the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
If you would like to support the podcast, check out the Building Better Cities book or our Patreon!
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay - Are you interested in the Middle East as a testing ground for urban solutions? What do you think about mistaking innovation for progress? How can we improve our from-design-to-implementation ratio?
Trailer for episode 468 - interview with Shawn Meyers, Middle East Masterplanning Director. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, urban progress, desert architecture, urban participation and civic ownership, the expectations of upcoming generations, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
If you would like to support the podcast, check out the Building Better Cities book or our Patreon!
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay 467R_A systematic review of passive cooling strategies integrating traditional wisdom and modern innovations for sustainable development in arid urban environments (research debate)
28/09/2026 | 17 mins.Are you interested in what we can learn from the Middle East regarding urban cooling?
Our debate today works with the article titled A systematic review of passive cooling strategies integrating traditional wisdom and modern innovations for sustainable development in arid urban environments from 2026, by Shiva Manshour and Steffen Lehmann, published in the Discover Cities journal.
This is a great preparation to our next interview with Shawn Meyers in episode 468 talking about the Middle East as a testing ground to find climate-resilient solutions.
Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how we can utilise passive cooling strategies to enhance urban thermal comfort. This article provides a practical roadmap for architects and policymakers to reduce energy dependency and mitigate rising temperature through climate-adaptive urban planning.
Find the article through this link.
Connected episodes you might be interested in:
No.104R - The story of NEOM city: opportunities and challenges
No.105 - Interview with Richard Morrison about project NEOM
No.444 - Interview with Markus Appenzeller about the opportunities in the Middle East
You can find the transcript through this link.
What was the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
If you would like to support the podcast, check out the Building Better Cities book or our Patreon!
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link)
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay- Are you interested in the Middle East as a testing ground for urban solutions? What do you think about mistaking innovation for progress? How can we improve our from-design-to-implementation ratio?
Trailer for episode 468 - interview with Shawn Meyers, Middle East Masterplanning Director. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, urban progress, desert architecture, urban participation and civic ownership, the expectations of upcoming generations, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
If you would like to support the podcast, check out the Building Better Cities book or our Patreon!
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay What is possible if you are willing to change approaches? Shawn Meyers (468I trailer 1)
26/09/2026 | 1 mins.Are you interested in the Middle East as a testing ground for urban solutions? What do you think about mistaking innovation for progress? How can we improve our from-design-to-implementation ratio?
Trailer for episode 468 - interview with Shawn Meyers, Middle East Masterplanning Director. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, urban progress, desert architecture, urban participation and civic ownership, the expectations of upcoming generations, and many more.
Find out more in the episode.
If you would like to support the podcast, check out the Building Better Cities book or our Patreon!
Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
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