HOW DO YOU ENVISION THE CITY OF THE FUTURE?

Arturo Lacave

September 2013

People, cities, countries, medicine, communications, everything is developing at an astonishing speed in our days…

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Can we really guess how our world will look like in

the future?

IF WE CONSIDER

World population is constantly increasing and each year the number of people living in rural areas decreases.

Our energy system has no future due to the depletion of natural resources, and because it is not sustainable.

Scientists are discovering new elements and materials which allow them to keep technology in permanent advance.

Global communications have become crucial in our everyday life.

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WE CAN APPROACH TO A MORE REALISTIC VISION OF HOW CITIES WILL BE IN THE FUTURE,

FOCUSING ON THE FOLLOWING ASPECTS:

1. BUILDINGS

4. IT

2. TRANSPORTS

5. SOCIETY

3. PUBLIC ENTITIES

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1. BUILDINGS Architects when designing will be focusing on creating

auto-sufficient buildings, by using wind, solar or other type of energys as well as planting vegetable gardens on facades or installing rain water collectors.

Thanks to domotics our buildings will become “smart”. Every construction will be connected to our computer which may control blinds, curtains, heating, air conditioning, lighting, alarms and door locks amongst other services. This will translate in energy efficiency.

Homes will also work with building automation systems although they will be adapted according to each person’s needs. Your house will be able to make coffee for you, feed your pet, contact you in case of emergency or even clean itself.

DOMOTIC BUILDINGS WILL MAKE PEOPLE’S LIFE MORE COMFORTABLE AND SECURER

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2. TRANSPORTS Moving around the city will be faster and safer. Our

cars will work with electricity or hydrogen and many of them will become amphibious cars (useful in land + water). Special systems such as autoparking or autopilot will be developed in order to make our life easier.

Cities will probably use solar road panels in their streets to generate energy that may be used to supply citizens’ needs, in addition to a system for collecting traffic information and testing it through algorithms to predict where traffic jams will occur.

We estimate that by the year 2050, 75% of the population will live in urban areas meaning public transport services should be improved as they are already starting to collapse. Consequently, new means of transport must be designed with the purpose of reducing contamination and noise pollution: shared bicycles, electric buses or high speed magnetic levitation trains.

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3. PUBLIC ENTITIES Town halls will increase their efficiency and agility when interacting with citizens due

to the advance in telematic systems which will allow people to consult services and complete administrative formalities from their own computer or mobile phone, resulting in a significant decrease or complete elimination of burocracy.

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4. IT Technological advance must be used in a responsible way, meaning scientists should

be concentrating their efforts in developing useful technologies that can provide benefits to all the population. Some of these improvements should be focused, for instance, on the following issues:

MEDICINEMother cells will be used to create organs and tissues.Improvement of surgery by the application of nano-technology.Assistance to old and disabled people through internet.

WATERSolving thirst problems with sea water.

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5. SOCIETY Every improvement and each scientific advance are directed to people; therefore we

cannot deny that the modernization of cities is surely going to cause a great impact in our way of life.

In my opinion, unfortunately, cities’ residents will become extremely sedentary and tremendously well communicated which will paradoxically lead us to indivisualism.

It is time to stop and meditate where technology and our consumer society are actually taking us.

How will cities’ residents behave in the future?

Is that what we wish for our children?

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IN CONCLUSION…

The city I envision in the future respects the environment and helps positively all its citizens. Technology and progress are without doubt fundamental in this process of conversion, but we must insist on being responsible.

From my point of view, the future of our civilization should be less related to searching mass production of flying cars. Instead, we should concentrate on increasing the culture and education of citizens, finding the way of solving the global warming issue and at the same time, resolving problems concerning health and food in order to help the third world and, therefore, build a better world for the future generations.