From 2001 to 2007, the syndicated public radio program Smart City was required listening for people inspired by the more than 900 interviews with urban and business experts.
The host and producer for the program was Memphian Carol Coletta. It featured her extraordinary ability to ask provocative questions that stimulate conversations that were enlightening and informative.
Week to week, Smart City was an hour-long class on all facets of what makes cities successful. Interviewing two people for each program, there were experts in an eclectic mix of fields – planning, development, business, placemaking, commentators, research, and so much more.
The good news is that Ms. Coletta is back.
She now has a podcast, Closer, which she hosts with Mark Wallace, former president and CEO of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy. There, he revitalized and transformed 5.5 miles of waterfront that was an important puzzle piece in turning around the image and reality of Detroit. The transformation of the waterfront turned a neglected, century-old industrial zone into a vibrant public magnet attracting three million people a year to stroll, jog, fish, connect with each other, and enjoy the stunning scenery of the river and Canada.
Ms. Coletta is Bloomberg Public Innovation Fellow at Johns Hopkins University after delivering multi-award-winning Tom Lee Park and receiving ASLA’s 2024 LaGasse Medal for notable contributions to landscape architecture and the 2025 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. ULI said: “Her expertise highlights what cities need most right now: bold leaders who understand that transformative public spaces require more than beautiful design; they demand persistence, deeper community connections, and a willingness to challenge conventional approaches.”
Ms. Coletta and Mr. Wallace bill their podcast as conversations about the strategies that make cities social – and why that’s the smartest investment in the urban toolkit. It’s a fascinating topic, and it’s impossible not to find inspiration for Memphis from each of the 30-minute or so interviews. Along the way, listeners are introduced to people they would not know of otherwise but who are making a difference in the lives of cities and whose advice and insights should inform decisions in Memphis.
I’m not posting a list of the people featured on the Closer podcast because I have a suggestion. (You can find a list here.) Here’s my suggestion: close your eyes and pick a podcast. You can’t go wrong.
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