149. Why Isn’t Everyone Building Regenerative Cities? with Tony Cho

What if sustainability only sustains the status quo, and the real goal is to leave everything more alive?

In this episode, Emily Fletcher sits down with her dear friend Tony Cho, regenerative placemaker, founder of Future of Cities, and author of Generation Regeneration. Tony grows up in an ashram his grandmother founded, becomes a Miami nightclub promoter, helps transform the Wynwood Arts District, and now leads the Regenaissance, a movement to build places and communities that give back more than they take.

Together they define regeneration in plain language, trace where the lie of scarcity begins, and look at why a cold plunge in your building means little when the street outside is unsafe. Tony shares what Chief Nixiwaka of the Yawanawá teaches about community and dying, and what the Phoenix Arts & Innovation District in Jacksonville is proving. Emily connects it to Ziva: a regenerative future starts with regenerative minds, and a nervous system that feels safe has more capacity to build solutions.

Tony also opens up about grieving his late wife, Ximena, in public, the grandmother who threatens to cut him off when he moves to Argentina, and what a lifetime of ups and downs teaches him about manifestation, readiness, and self-love.

In this episode, Tony explores:

What regeneration means in plain language: giving more than you take, and drinking while you pour

Why sustainability only sustains the status quo

Where the lie of scarcity begins, and why Tony calls it a misallocation, not a shortage

Why one green building, or one cold plunge, can’t make a place regenerative

What Chief Nixiwaka of the Yawanawá says about aging, dying, and village life

The 15-minute city, Copenhagen’s swimmable harbor, and Milan’s Bosco Verticale as proof points

How an ashram kid becomes a nightclub promoter and a Wynwood developer, and why he says he stewards this work, he doesn’t own it

What grieving his late wife in community gives him and the people around him

His take on manifestation: purpose behind the call, no skipped steps, and what happens when he skips meditation

Nature, community, and culture: the three pillars, and why the inner work comes first

Key Moments:

00:00 – Welcome, and who Tony Cho is 02:49 – “Squeezing every last drop out of the bottle” 04:44 – Honoring Ximena, and thank you for grieving out loud 08:55 – Compost: how grief becomes fertile soil 10:18 – Giving more than you take: what regeneration means 12:52 – Why sustainability only sustains the status quo 14:43 – Where the lie of scarcity begins 16:20 – Why a cold plunge means little if the street outside is unsafe 17:19 – Chief Nixiwaka on dying alone and what a village does differently 23:54 – Tenzin Seldon, and gross domestic regeneration versus GDP 25:46 – Emily on why a regenerative future starts with regenerative minds 28:25 – The 15-minute city 36:29 – “I’m dropping out, and oh, by the way, I’m eating meat” 41:09 – Stewardship over ownership 44:13 – “What is the purpose of your manifestation?” 47:38 – What happens when a visionary skips meditation 54:22 – The three pillars: nature, community, and culture 1:00:02 – Buckminster Fuller and the “Reese Witherspoon plan” 1:06:06 – The Phoenix Arts & Innovation District 1:10:30 – “A misallocation of resources, not a scarcity of resources”

About Tony Cho

Tony Cho is a regenerative placemaker, impact entrepreneur, and founder of Future of Cities, a platform for regenerative development, advisory, and education. He grows up in his grandmother’s ashram, helps transform Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, and now leads projects including the Phoenix Arts & Innovation District in Jacksonville, the Climate & Innovation Hub in Miami, and ChoZen, a bioregional hub for regenerative living in Sebastian, Florida. His work has been featured in outlets including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and his mission is to positively impact the lives of a billion people. His debut book, Generation Regenerati