The world’s urban population has been growing steadily since 1950 and shows little sign of slowing down. By 2050, 6.7 billion people – or over two-thirds of the global population – will be living in urban centres. Why is this so significant? Though cities make up only three per cent of the Earth’s surface, they are disproportionately responsible for the world’s environmental impacts. But they are also engines of economic growth and hotbeds of innovation, and many of the solutions to our global challenges are likely to come from cities.
From outlining the nine key elements that will help determine how prepared our cities are to tackle the challenges of the future to innovative architecture, electric mobility and infrastructure solutions, ’Future Cities’ takes a comprehensive look at the way we will live, commute, and work in the coming decades. It also examines how five iconic cities – Mexico City, Berlin, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Johannesburg – are coming up with creative solutions to improve their own citizens’ quality of life while positioning themselves as vibrant economic hubs.
Table of contents
- Overview: Success factors for ‘future cities’
- Case study: Mexico’s rivers reborn
- Case study: Smart Dubai 2021
- Infographic: Urbanisation in numbers
- Profile: Italian architect Stefano Boeri on his ‘Vertical Forests’
- Case study: Berlin: A historic airport reinvents itself
- Case study: Connecting Hong Kong to the mainland
- Infographic: Future-proofing our cities
- Case study: Johannesburg reinvented
- Report: Road safety – stop calling them accidents!
- Infographic: From Formula E to the road
- Interview: How to build a racetrack