Open House New York presents Conversations on the City 2020

Cities have been called humanity’s greatest invention. They are hubs of creativity and innovation, repositories of memory and culture. But from their inception, cities have always had to reconcile the vitality that comes with people living in close proximity with the threats to public health and safety that shadow dense urban environments. The contemporary city that we live in today is the outcome of millennia of design adaptions and solutions and the city that we are creating will be our legacy for future New Yorkers.

Over the next two months, in a series of conversations with leading experts and thinkers from a wide array of disciplines, OHNY will explore why cities continue to thrive, what propels them forward, and why our need for the human connection that cities make possible will always prevail over whatever challenges that may arise. Each conversation is organized around a broad theme, but all will explore the abiding joy of living an urban life. Our hope is that they will help us all better understand the moment we are living in right now and begin to shape ways of thinking about what New York’s future might look like in the months and years ahead.