These are my assumptions, going into this conversation. For our dialogue to achieve a meaningful, powerful collaboration, we need to state our in-going assumptions to each other and take the time to understand them and understand our disagreements at this level:

1. That cities of the future need the public and the city's institutions to engage in the planning and execution of urban change.
2. That sustainability and quality of life are major drivers requiring new thinking in public policy.
3. That the purpose of municipal government is broader than the provision of conventional municipal services. Today, municipal government needs to work with stakeholders to transform systems to create sustainable and livable cities.
4. That development takes many forms, can be facilitated, and can take place anywhere. Cities should be flexible and adaptable to the changes occurring in the environment and work with local stakeholders to create sustainable advantages for their residents. Cities are becoming more powerful - for many reasons - and thus have increasing agency to change their environment. They are not just "takers" of their environment but more and more also shapers of it.
5. That cities are not independent of the world around them. They must devise policies and actions that are mindful of long-term impacts. This includes planning for changes driven by immigration patterns and changing concepts of citizenship.
6. That cities need to think innovatively about new solutions to problems including using new technologies to mitigate risks and increase engagement, and building new infrastructure to meet evolving needs. Providing clean water is an engineering challenge, but solving congestion is not - adding more roads does not solve congestion. Different problems need different, innovative solutions.
7. That the public deserve to know how their city is performing and to be provided with the tools necessary to contribute to the change effort and to the development of a sustainable environment.
8. That the role of Government and its agencies is to support the professional work of cities and their stakeholders and provide the resources and policy environment to enable innovation and new directions.

These are "big" assumptions and are clearly open to challenge. Please challenge me on them.