From ancient Babylon to the first McDonald’s restaurant, our food has been made in the same way for a very, very long time. You place an order, a cook cooks it, you eat it, and go about your day. However, automation has entered the kitchen and robots are preparing some - if not all! - of your meal. Welcome to the world of robot restaurants, welcome to the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do Chanel, H&M, and Gravity Entertainment have in common? You can find them on high streets throughout the UK. How did gaming centers featuring go-karts, ten pin bowling, surfing, and axe throwing wind up on the same high streets as Chanel and H&M? This is the story of how and why high streets are changing faster than we ever could have imagined!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Downtowns have always been a place to be seen, experience culture, or work a nine-to-five. However, the pandemic lockdown introduced a fundamental disruption and shift in the reality of how we use our cities. How can front-edge data and foot-traffic patterns influence or predict the future of downtowns and the emerging future of our built environment?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every single day, people around the world consider whether to age in place at home or move into a facility meant specifically for seniors. For some, the choice is easy. For others, it’s the last decision they want to make. As our views on aging change, what lies in store for the future of senior housing? Will we all live like Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia…or wind up somewhere nicer than Shady Pines? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let’s move! Whether you’re traveling by car, bus, light rail, or scooter, the world of transportation is changing at light speed. Governments, cities, and experts are rethinking what it means to move from Point A to Point B and how that will impact how your relationship to your community.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How LA’s SOFI is changing the game (re-release) In honor of the American football season, we’re going to revisit our episode about SoFi Stadium from Season 1! We explore what happens when empty lots and vacant land are turned into the most technologically advanced sports stadium and urban complex in the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Metaverse. The word alone conjures up images of avatars, virtual shopping malls, and people seated in meeting rooms from around the world. But what does it really mean? Who are the players in the real estate space, and what kind of world are they building for the Internet of tomorrow? Let’s explore the vast expanse of the Metaverse.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For centuries, the stars have guided sailors home, inspired poets, and forced us to understand our place in the universe. With the advent of electric light, the night sky of yore is fading before our very eyes. Is light pollution an unavoidable product of our modern, built world? Or will local governments, national policy, and everyday people be the key to unleashing the brilliance of the night sky once again?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trends show global gaybourhoods beginning to disappear, shrink or become versions of their formerly vibrant selves. Why? Are broader societal shifts simply changing core needs of the community? Are local LGBTQ+ finding greater connection online or in mainstream city centers, removing the need for a dedicated space? Or are members of these communities being pushed out, losing place and space built solely around their needs, now widening to accommodate all in the name of inclusion? We explore what is lost if gaybourhoods in their truest sense vanish completely, and what needs will exist regardless, as the future of the gaybourhoods remains in flux. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Baltimore to Philadelphia, to the Rust Belt and beyond, the United States has a unique crisis on its hands: too much vacant housing with too little demand. From rows of empty, dilapidated housing to abandoned neighborhoods, the story of vacant housing in America is the story of what happens when trends change, people move, populations decline, and the built world people once loved is left to decay.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For millions of people, the idea of living in a planned community with like-minded individuals who may share the same interests or hobbies sounds ideal. To others, it is…less welcoming. Whatever side of the divide you’re on, as we explore planned communities’ place in the built world around us, it begs the question: if a subset of people leave cities and suburbs for their own slice of Utopia in a planned community, what do they gain? And what happens to the rest of us?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For most of us, to visit the cinema, grocery store, or the office, we must jump into a car, wait for a bus, or jostle our way onto a subway. It’s become so routine, we might not realize there could be a much simpler alternative. Welcome to the fifteen-minute city, where everything you need to live, work and play is just minutes away.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we re-enter our long-forgotten offices, it’s time to consider what they offer us. Are they built with inclusivity in mind? Are we welcomed by plant life and energizing human-centered design, or are we finding ourselves in the same old cookie cutter, freezing, and cramped office space with bad coffee and bright fluorescent glow? What do we really need, and what should we consider as employees call for changes to the workplace like we’ve never seen before? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Season 2 of Changing Places, a podcast about our evolving relationship with the built world around us. Join journalist Mariam Sobh for fascinating conversations with leaders from the worlds of real estate, design, urban planning, architecture, community voices, and others who bring our places and spaces to life. Find Changing Places wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sustainability. Whatever it means to you, it is challenging cities and suburbs around the world from Long Beach, California to Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Just how do cities, suburbs, local governments, and federal actions work together - or in spite of each other - to create a sustainable built world of tomorrow? With everyone from local citizen groups to global policy approaching the issue from a slightly different vantage points, the future of sustainability is up for grabs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Far too often, the relationship between the apps on our smartphones and the ecosystems behind them are unknown to everyday consumers. Whether you’re endless scrolling through Instagram or getting the latest stock updates on Robinhood, every tap, swipe, and like goes through one of the thousands of data centers around the world. These data centers are the central nerve system of every technology company, government agency, and streaming platform in the world. Without them, our world isn’t possible. How did we get here, and what does the future hold for data centers as technology only becomes a more prevalent part of our days?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you’re working from a spare bedroom, renting a desk through an app, or creating a custom space for a team of thirty, you’ve been in the flex space world without ever knowing it. As global corporations sell office space, the need for in person collaboration refuses to subside. We’re going to take a deep look into the movers, the shakers, the variables, and the trends which make flex space one of the most dynamic sectors you’ve never heard of...until now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ghost kitchens walk among us, but so few of us actually know where they are, what they do, or how they’re upending the world of food delivery. Chances are you have ordered a meal from a ghost kitchen through your local delivery app without ever wondering who prepared your food. In this episode, we’ll examine the history, present, and future of one of the least known sectors of the food industry…your local ghost kitchen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Come out, come out, wherever you are! It’s time to book a ticket, travel through time and space, and check into a hotel room… Or is it? As the world reopens and intrepid travels set out for the four corners of the globe, the world of hotels has changed across the board. What does it mean to stay at a resort? Has business travel transformed the hotel sector without realizing it? Or has the hotel market become so fragmented from six star resorts to roadside motels that it will now mean different things to different people? Come with us as we walk into the lobby, ring the bell...maybe open the door to a hotel room with our phones...and discover what new delights await for you as hotels battle back. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ports around the world have been thrust into the spotlight due to the ongoing conversations around the supply chain, cargo ships anchored off the coasts of countries around the world, and their very importance to everyday life...whether you’re waiting for a new toaster oven, grain for cattle, or rivets for your factory. For a sector that is under so much scrutiny, very little is understood about how they work and the massive issues facing them today. Join us as we speak to the experts who can help us make sense of ports, their place in the world, and why they’re doing everything they can to meet the current moment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.