Stephen Grotz, a Charlotte-based architect and UNC Charlotte graduate, champions urban living, believing suburbia is unsustainable for future urban planning. Despite a decade designing suburban

Stephen Grotz, a Charlotte-based architect and UNC Charlotte graduate, champions urban living, believing suburbia is unsustainable for future urban planning. Despite a decade designing suburban homes, his academic research and pandemic experiences revealed its limitations for social exchange and financial investment.

Inspired by SimCity, Stephen advocates for urban settings as the only sustainable, resilient, and humane way to live. His Master of Architecture research, to be published this fall, delves into social and financial obstacles to upward mobility through real estate. He asserts, "fences do not make good neighbors, they make good strangers."

This talk was presented at a TEDx event. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx.

Stephen Dinan of the Shift Network presented "Vision 2012," a comprehensive roadmap for achieving a global shift. This vision synthesized dozens of interlocking strategies, designed to guide

Stephen Dinan of the Shift Network presented "Vision 2012," a comprehensive roadmap for achieving a global shift. This vision synthesized dozens of interlocking strategies, designed to guide humanity toward a sustainable, peaceful, healthy, and prosperous planetary civilization.

Its aim was to set this trajectory within three years of its launch, with long-term benefits unfolding in the decades to follow.