Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode Building Better Cities.

About Kasim Reed's TED Talk

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed says mayors are in a position to accomplish a great deal, because they're locals. They can see a city the way "people who are most in need of help see it," he says.

About Kasim Reed

Mayor Kasim Reed is the 59th mayor of Atlanta. Reed ran for the position in 2009, after serving in the Georgia House of Representatives and the state Senate. He won the mayoral election by a margin of just 714 votes, and he was re-elected to a second term in 2013.

Reed is credited with spearheading a pension reform deal for the city's employees, increasing the police force and rebuilding Atlanta's recreation centers.

In 2013, Reed was ranked among the top ten most influential African-Americans in the nation by The Root. In 2011, Governing magazine named Mayor Reed one of the top state and local government officials of the year.

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