Looking for the stories that matter most to Central Texas, I'm Jerry Kihanal, host of the Austin Signal, your daily dive into the news, music, sports, and culture shaping life in Austin.

We bring you reporting from trusted voices at KUT, KUTX, Texas Standard, and more all in one place. Tune in, stay informed, and get connected every day on the Austin Signal. Austin Signal, weekdays at one on KUT News, or on demand at KUT.org, or wherever you get your podcasts.

There's a good chance you are listening to this show while you're driving in your car.

Or while you're on a walk or a jog or a bike ride.

Maybe you're making your way down a street you've seen a million times.

So many times, in fact, that you have it memorized.

The bank, then the coffee shop with a reliably long line.

Oh, and the horrible pothole you are trying to avoid in a few minutes.

Wherever you are, whether you are thinking about it or not, your experience of daily life is being shaped by all sorts of urban planning policies. From how you get to work to why the house

you passed is a single family home, to what kinds of insects and animals you see on that commute,

the way we experience our cities isn't by random chance.

From KERA in Dallas, this is think.

I'm Chris Boyd.

On today's show, we're going to talk to three experts who are interested in how cities work.

Later in the hour, we'll hear from a professor at Cornell University on why zoning is so

important. Zoning has some pretty significant powers over how an entire city is developed. And a

historian on the surprising biodiversity in urban areas. Cities are very unusual ecosystems because of the

human use, the interaction and the intertwining of the kind of the natural world and the human world.

But first we'll hear from Natalie Whittle, who is a writer, editor and freelance contributor to the Financial Times.

She joined us last year to discuss her book, Shrink the City, the 15-minute urban experiment and the cities of the future.

Her work explores the intricacies of such

self-contained, self-sustaining neighborhoods where everything a person needs is just 15 minutes away.

...