Ian Goldin

Expert in globalisation and development Professor Ian Goldin explains why cities will be the key battleground in the fight for humanity’s future.

Goldin is co-author with think tank director Tom Lee-Devlin of Age of the City. He says most of our greatest achievements have originated in cities. More than half the global population now lives in cities and they are growing at an extraordinary rate in the developing world. Goldin says we must tackle threats from the likes of pandemics, climate change, inequality, and loneliness in the places where we live. He looks at how cities started and why they became so dominant and how the megacities of the future must be used to secure a sustainable and fulfilling future for all.

Goldin is a professor of globalisation and development at the University of Oxford and founding director of the Oxford Martin School. He is a former vice-president of the World Bank and a former economic advisor to President Nelson Mandela.