Last December over 200 experts, policymakers, academics and members of the public from all around the world gathered in Oxford for the Blavatnik School of Government’s fourth annual Challenges of Government Conference, this year themed around “Flourishing Cities”.

The conference sparked debates and discussions about the challenges and opportunities presented by rapid urbanisation in countries and communities across the world. In her foreword to the conference report, published this week, Prof Ngaire Woods says: “The conversations uncovered some fascinating and important trade-offs and challenges. For example, it is clear that cities are best planned in advance – get the plumbing, roadways, and housing all sorted and ready before people arrive. But this is virtually impossible in today’s world. Put simply, people are moving to cities at a rate which far outpaces the capacity of governments to plan and build. Governments must find ways to build, run, retrofit and adapt cities at the same time.”

The topics of the conference covered a range of critical issues, from housing and transport to health challenges and climate change. The conference report aims to capture some of the vibrancy of debate and thoughts generated over the course of the two-day event. It is written and edited by some of our MPP students, who were themselves lively participants in the discussions. They each provide a summary of key points raised in a particular session, often adding their top “take-away” insights for further consideration.

The report is introduced by Shahana Chattaraj, postdoctoral research fellow at the Blavatnik School, to help set a background on the state of urbanisation and how governments can tackle its impacts.

You can download the report from the link below.

Visit the ‘Flourishing Cities’ conference pages where you can find out more about speakers, programme and partners.