Stephen Jennings on Building New Cities
Conversations with Tyler
Conversations with Tyler
4.8 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 1 November 2023
⏱️ 54 minutes
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Summary
Stephen and Tyler first met over thirty years ago while working on economic reforms in New Zealand. With a distinguished career that transitioned from the New Zealand Treasury to significant ventures in emerging economies, Stephen now focuses on developing new urban landscapes across Africa as the founder and CEO of Rendeavour.
Tyler sat down with Stephen in Tatu City, one of his multi-use developments just north of Nairobi, where they discussed why he’s optimistic about Kenya in particular, why so many African cities appear to have low agglomeration externalities, how Tatu City regulates cars and designs for transportation, how his experience as reformer and privatizer informed the way utilities are provided, what will set the city apart aesthetically, why talent is the biggest constraint he faces, how Nairobi should fix its traffic problems, what variable best tracks Kenyan unity, what the country should do to boost agricultural productivity, the economic prospects for New Zealand, how playing rugby influenced his approach to the world, how living in Kenya has changed him, what he will learn next, and more.
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Recorded June 12th, 2023.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, |
| 0:09.4 | bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. |
| 0:13.5 | Learn more at mercatis.org. |
| 0:16.4 | For full transcript of every conversation, enhanced with helpful links, visit conversationswithtiler.com. |
| 0:26.3 | Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Conversations with Tyler. |
| 0:30.1 | Today I am sitting in Tatoo City, which is a special enterprise zone right outside of Nairobi, Kenya. |
| 0:36.8 | And I'm here chatting with Stephen Jennings. |
| 0:39.2 | Stephen and I go back a long way. |
| 0:41.6 | We knew each other in New Zealand over 30 years ago where we worked on New Zealand reforms together. |
| 0:47.2 | To give you a brief overview of Stephen's biography, he was a critical figure in New Zealand treasury, |
| 0:52.9 | working on those reforms. |
| 0:54.8 | Later at Credit Suisse, first Boston, he has an extensive history of working in emerging economies. |
| 1:01.5 | And he is now founder and CEO of a company called Rendever. |
| 1:06.7 | Stephen is based in Tatoo City itself, again right outside of Nairobi. |
| 1:11.8 | And Tatoo City is an attempt to reimagine urban environments for Africa. |
| 1:17.3 | There are numerous other projects in other countries, |
| 1:20.5 | and we will talk about what Stephen is up to, Stephen. |
| 1:23.4 | Welcome. |
| 1:24.4 | So, so good to be with you, Tyler, and it's been amazing to reconnect. |
| 1:28.6 | It's like those 30 years, we're really like a week. |
| 1:31.7 | I think 32 years we figured out right? |
| 1:33.4 | 32 years, 31. |
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