WBTC brings together a wide range of disciplines to discuss how cities are designed and created, both physically and culturally. Designers, architects, historians, geographers, politicians and social commentators contributed to the WBTC story in each city, kickstarting a conversation about the impact the Irish have made, and continue to make, globally.

By creating communities that have benefitted each city both economically and socially, Irish people have changed these cityscapes andWe Built This City, having reflected on what came before, looks to the future impacts of Irish migration.

We Built This City raised awareness about Irish design internationally, and developed links between Irish designers abroad and the global design community, by reflecting on what was designed and built by the Irish in the past.

The project achieved three sold out talks and three short films, directed and produced by Dyehouse Films, which have together been viewed over 30,000 times online. The potential forWe Built This City to continue to other cities and create more focused talks is considerable. The films are an important legacy piece and were displayed as part of the Irish Times Generation Emigration webpage. By engaging a wide audience, including and beyond the Irish community, the Q&A at the end of each talk stimulates vital discussion and debate, particularly as migration becomes a more pressing problem around the world. In learning from the Irish story, we can advocate for diversity and integration to make our cities more equal and fairer places to live.

We Built this City was presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation in collaboration with Irish Design 2015 and the Office of the Minister for Diaspora Affairs of Ireland.