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With as many as 3 million people moving to cities each week, experts are focusing on what the city of the future will be. Harriet Agnew reports at the FT:
By 2050, it is estimated that 70 per cent of the world’s populations will be in cities. Three million people migrate to cities every week and of the top 10 largest cities in 1950 — a list that included London, Paris and New York — only one of them, Tokyo, is among the top 10 largest cities today.
The others have been pushed out by fast-growing cities in Asia and Africa such as Shanghai, Lagos, and Delhi. Already some of the ecological and security pressures that this rampant urbanisation is bringing are evident. One member of the future of cities session speaks of his native South Africa and Cape Town’s water-shortage crisis. Another entrepreneur is from Atlanta, Georgia, which she tells us was struck by a cyber attack that hobbled many of its critical municipal systems.
We watch an immersive 3D movie that brings a future city to life. Think smart homes, and connected neighbourhoods; driverless cars; urban farming, an agile workforce and an overall model based on access to assets rather than ownership.
Read more here.
