Mustafa Sherif
Founder & Host, Urbanistica Podcast – Cities for People
 

Mustafa Sherif is an urban planner, placemaking advocate, and the founder and host of Urbanistica Podcast, Sweden’s leading international podcast on cities for people. With a background in sustainable urban design from KTH and studies in Italy, Mustafa brings a global, human-centered perspective to how we plan and shape our urban environments.

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As Studio Manager at AFRY and Director of Placemaking Sweden, he works with public participation, inclusive design, and child-friendly planning. His mission is to ensure that cities are not only smart and sustainable, but also welcoming, safe, and stimulating for everyone—especially children.

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Mustafa emphasizes that child-friendly cities are better cities for all. Streets, parks, and public spaces designed from a child’s perspective tend to be safer, greener, more accessible, and more socially vibrant. He believes children’s physical and mental well-being should be at the core of urban planning. In his talk, Mustafa will explore how to turn placemaking values into concrete actions—and why designing cities for children ultimately makes them better for us all.

 

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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS - Mustafa Sherif about PLACExNordic

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What are you most looking forward to at PLACEx?

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"I love meeting passionate people and connecting with them, to be inspired by their journeys and projects, but also to build relationships for future collaborations. I’m also excited to explore Uppsala. I think it has many interesting places to learn from."

 

What is the key topic of your talk?

 

"My talk will be about how the placemaking movement and methodology are key to creating places where people want to live, work, invest, and visit. I will also talk about why we need to focus more on making child-friendly cities for the future of urban development."

 

What are you most eager to discuss with the audience related to your talk?

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"I’d love to discuss how urban development is supposed to enhance people’s quality of life, yet we often fail to truly involve them in the process. How can we open up our planning and invite communities and stakeholders to take part in shaping their own environments?"

 

From your job/organization’s point of view, what do you see as the most interesting industry developments or trends in 2025 when it comes to place attractiveness?

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"I would say the combination of AI and GIS is a very interesting development. It’s fascinating how layering different types of data can provide new insights. For example, combining green space data with traffic patterns, playground locations, and accessibility metrics gives us a clearer picture of a place’s attractiveness."

 

For the remainder of 2025, what do you see as the biggest challenge(s) for your place to be attractive to your main target audience?

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"One of the biggest challenges is the lack of organizations actively programming and activating spaces. We have many great places, but they often lack events, seasonal furniture, and other interventions that bring them to life. Without activation, places lose their vibrancy. we need placemaking."

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