CITIES, SLICKER

FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO BERLIN, METROPOLISES ARE REVITALISING THEIR CORES TO MEET THE LIVE-WORK-PLAY NEEDS OF MODERN RESIDENTS

- BOYD FARROW

Five years after the Covid pandemic changed how we work, rest and play, cities around the world are adapting. Here, we look at how urban spaces are being rethought, reworked and, in many cases, made more liveable.

THE SQUARE ROUTE

Jony Ive could have ridden out the pandemic on a megayacht or in the grounds of a secluded château. Eight months earlier, the world's most famous industrial designer had left Apple Inc. where he helped create the iPhone, iPod and Apple Watch and was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But instead of doodling in isolation, he spent much of 2020 in downtown San Francisco, looking at real estate in the Jackson Square district. This dense pocket of coffee shops and boutiques was where he decided to reboot his life, co-founding a new multifaceted "creative collective" with another global design superstar, Marc Newson - the Keith Richards to his Mick Jagger.

Embracing the inner city at a time when so many businesses were closing - and indeed, so many tech bros were turning their back on San Francisco - seemed perverse. But so much about Ive's new venture is counterintuitive - and totally personal.

The company is called LoveFrom, explains Ive, in honour of Apple founder Steve Jobs, who said one way to express appreciation to humanity is through "the act of making something with a great deal of care and love". As for the choice of headquarters, "Jackson Square already felt like home," he adds. "I came here in 1989 on my first trip to the US and loved its creative energy. Since moving to San Francisco in 1992, I've come to appreciate it even more for its resilience.