Why I'm launching Sights on Cities
My case for self-publishing on Substack
Dear friends,
I have been writing and publishing essays online and in the media for many years now. I am incredibly grateful for the good fortune and exposure I have enjoyed in this pursuit. My very first online essay, published in 2016 in The Conversation, asked why urban planners weren’t doing more to add greenery into cities. Written on a Tuesday, published on a Thursday and cross-posted internationally to an audience of 3 million plus by Saturday. Quite the start!
Before publishing that article, I believed that topics like that would be of wide public interest, if framed and explained correctly, in accessible language, using genuine examples, with reasoned analysis. It turned out I was right. Since then, I have written dozens of essays about cities and urban life, been published all over the world, had my work translated into multiple languages, and been quoted in thousands of media reports.
It turns out lots of people seem to enjoy my thoughts and truthfulness on certain topics, particularly urban issues. Luckily, I have lots to say, so my public writing has always been well received, even when it delved into difficult and challenging topics. With that in mind, I feel that now more than ever, there is a strong and genuine case for self-published original reporting and analysis.
Self-publishing online has long history, but having a proven platform that allows writers to take their work directly to engaged, global audience is new. In my case, I had the vision to self-publish for a while now, but I did not have confidence in the available platforms. Substack solves that problem for me and I’m excited to join so many other excellent writers who have already made the jump.
My new Substack is called Sights on Cities. Readers will find writing that examines and explores cities as the places and spaces where most contemporary human experience happens. I will write on specific topics and trends, with real-world examples. My work is multi-dimensional, including perspectives from economics, urban planning, sociology, architecture, political science, and cultural theory.
Sights on Cities will feature real-world analysis of many topics. While cities are the overarching object of interest, they are a lens for exploring many fascinating aspects of urban life, like design, housing, (ill)health, walkability, public art, heritage, environmental responses, culture, greenspace, and urban fads (looking at you, 15-minute cities!).
There’s a lot of utopianism and dystopian in urban analysis these days. The world seems to be polarising into those who see cities as humanity’s only hope, while others see them places of sinister control, run by uncaring and distant bureaucrats. My aim – always – is to cut through the noise and get to the real picture. I’m not interested in ideological agendas or editorial gatekeeping; I’m looking for real answers in real time.
If this sounds like your kind of reading, then please join me on this journey and subscribe to Sights on Cities. Perhaps you might take a moment to share this essay with a few friends and encourage them to subscribe too. Please forward it, share it, recommend it on your socials. It’s the quickest and best thing you can do to support this project right now.
Keep an eye for out for the first issue, coming very soon. I will be setting my sights on the 15-minute city concept, a current hot-topic which I think is mostly old wine in a new bottle.