Project Summary

URBAnovation Season 2 is a podcast that explores civic resilience as a framework for understanding how cities in Southeast Asia respond to uncertainty, disruption, and long-term transformation. Produced byYoung Urbanists of Southeast Asia (YUSEA) in collaboration with the CiRe, this season will convene researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and community organisers in conversation to examine how social, environmental, and digital innovations intersect in urban life.

Hosted by Dang-Dao Nguyen and Joshua Vargas, co-founders of YUSEA, the podcast series aims to create a platform for interdisciplinary and intergenerational dialogue across research, policy, and practice. Season 2 foregrounds Southeast Asia as a site of experimentation, contestation, and collaboration in contemporary urban governance, aligning with YUSEA’s commitment to youth-led engagement and capacity building.

Listen in and learn more at: https://urbanovation.yusea.org/!

Objectives & Research Questions

• Take civic resilience as an analytical lens to understanding urban uncertainty and experimentation in Southeast Asia.
• Examine how social, environmental, and digital innovations intersect in shaping inclusive and sustainable cities.
• Amplify youth, community, and practitioner perspectives in regional urban discourse.
• Investigate how civic technologies and participatory practices contribute to adaptive governance.
• Foster interdisciplinary, multicultural, and intergenerational dialogue across research, policy, and practice.