A crisis in trust: are cities the answer?

3 Sept 2025 | The 26th edition of Future States by Apolitical CEO and Co-Founder Robyn Scott. Subscribe to the newsletter

Hope hunting

We all have strategies for dealing with a chaotic and painful world. My nerdy retreat is to physics, particularly books written by Carlo Rovelli, the lyrical physicist. There’s nothing like immersion in cosmic and quantum scales — and digesting the heady argument that time may not exist at all — to provide some perspective. But one can’t retreat to the quantum world for long: so, in my day-to-day work with governments, I’m also always hunting for the hope hidden in crises. 

I’ve recently been preoccupied with two of these crises: trust in government and climate, given both loom especially large and global. 

And last week, I received an invitation which put cities — a ray of hope for both these crises — top of mind. The invitation, from the World Economic Forum and the Mayor’s Office of Medellín Colombia, was to participate in Med360, an event showcasing the insanely innovative city’s global example.

Medellín's magic

Medellín is a global jewel of city imagination. For decades it was defined in the global consciousness as the stronghold of the infamous drugs cartel. Now, among those in the know, it is renowned for super-charging the humble cable car and turning it into a mass public transport system to conquer the city’s formidable topography. The cable cars gave residents of poorer neighbourhoods, built on hillsides too steep for buses or cars, a way to travel to the city’s regenerated centre, changing mobility patterns and shaping economic activity.

The city also constructed a giant, eye-catching 384-metre escalator climbing through the Comuna 13 district. Using the escalator, a journey that used to mean climbing the equivalent of a 28-storey building, now takes 6 minutes instead of half an hour — giving what was a marginalised population easier access to jobs, education and opportunities.

This is just one of many examples of Medellín’s vision and delivery muscle, including inclusive, accessible design across the city, and its heat-beating "green corridors".

With government, we trust what we can touch

Toggling back up to the national scale, a survey by the OECD found that 44% of people said they have “no to low” trust in their country’s leadership. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found that globally, only 52% of respondents trust their government (being hopeful for a moment, this number is at least up one percentage point from 2024). Low trust in government is closely linked to governments’ widespread failure to deliver against people’s expectations — especially improving on previous generations’ economic prospects and providing your children with good health and education. People also want to be listened to by their governments. And they want government services delivered by apps as simple and slick as Uber. As struggling political leaders globally are showing, this is a tall order.

Cities don’t typically have the budgets or agency to make education and healthcare affordable. But they are able to take action against these and other goals, and to make this action (often customised to local needs) visible. And action — in the right direction and even if small — is bodybuilding for trust. So amidst the trust apocalypse imperilling nations, cities are increasingly showing up as playgrounds for bold ideas and energetic experimentation. Mayors and municipal leaders are testing ideas that beleaguered and defensive national governments often can’t (or won’t) attempt. These range from using data to connect neighbours in need, to ambitious climate policies.  

Take Hanoi, in Vietnam. In July next year, the city, which is regularly named as one of the most polluted in the world, will ban fossil fuel-powered motorbikes and mopeds from its centre. Given that motorbikes are the main form of transport for the city’s 8 million residents, this is no small ambition. Understandably, there has been pushback from delivery workers and motorbike taxi drivers who fear loss of income. But a 2023 study showed that motorcycles contribute to 66% of particulate matter in Hanoi’s air and up to 87% of carbon monoxide emissions, giving a strong rationale to the ban for most residents.

Wherever one sits on the political spectrum, mayoral races and their candidates reflect a burgeoning global and TikTok interest in cities as dynamic government entities of their own. For examples, look to Istanbul (Ekrem İmamoğlu), Paris (Anne Hidalgo), New York (Zohran Mamdani) and Mexico City (now-president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo served as ‘Head of Government’ for the city from 2018–2023).

Promise without power

It’s striking then how little power multilateralism and nation states still give their cities. Sustained efforts from groups like Bloomberg Philanthropies, C40 cities and more have catalysed city innovation and networks. But national governments seem still to be missing an opportunity to recognise the power of their cities and to work through them. 

“We need global governance to move into its next iteration,” said Lord Marvin Rees, Member of the House of Lords and former Mayor of Bristol when I asked him about cities’ role in climate. “And that will include the leaders of cities and networks of cities coming as equal partners in national and international leadership.”

Rees is not starry eyed. “Cities leadership will not be the miracle solution. But they will bring solutions in areas such as COP, where nations are getting caught up in a quagmire of inaction.”

In fact Rees thinks that cities may offer the only major bright spot at COP30 in Brazil this year, as national governments face voter backlash against net zero policies, and the mood swing against bold climate action.

Imagine the action and experimentation that might be unleashed on climate and more, if we gave cities (home to 56% of the world's population) more than crumbs of power? As nation states increasingly struggle, I’m watching out for when the wisest start working with and learning from their cities.

Also at Apolitical

Speaking of COP30, our team has been hard at work on new courses focusing on climate training. Last week we launched Embedding Health in Climate Negotiations which, as with all our courses, gives public servants practical ways to make a difference in their contexts.

Things that made me smarter

I’ve been loving the book, Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli’s Lifelong Quest for Freedom, recommended to me by a brilliant public servant innovator Catherine Day. Author Erica Benner argues that rather than being a cynical and heartless schemer, Machiavelli was a reformer and misunderstood dedicated public servant and patriot. Whether you agree, it’s a great read and reminder of what a country made of city states looks like. Not all good, of course.

And finally...

I'm pleased to say that Apolitical Day, a gathering of global thought leaders in government, will be returning in 2025. We will once again be in Church House, a beautiful and venerable venue just a stone's throw from the Houses of Parliament, on 8th October. We already have a stellar line-up of speakers, and it promises to be another day of fascinating conversation and debate. Follow Apolitical's Linkedin page for further updates.

As ever, I welcome your feedback — and your stories. If you’re working on public sector innovation anywhere in the world, let me know. Especially if you’re working on something that others should know about. And if you’d like to guest edit an edition of this newsletter, let us know. 

Until next time,

Robyn Apolitical CEO & Co-founder