Marie Lam - Frendo: Why Infrastructure Must Become a Force for Good

The Century of Cities welcomes Marie Lam - Frendo, Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Meridiam, to explore how infrastructure has shifted from simply enabling growth to shaping resilience, inclusion, and long-term prosperity. She reflects on the move from car-led, output-driven cities to a new urban era where people, technology, energy, mobility, and nature must operate as one connected system. The cities that thrive tomorrow will be the ones making smarter choices today. From clean transport and coastal defence to digital networks and circular energy, resilience is becoming central to how cities are planned, financed, and built. Marie's perspective is practical and optimistic: when public ambition and private capability move together, cities can strengthen communities, widen opportunity, and meet a far more uncertain future.