The Future Of Cities: Smart And Sustainable Or Segregated And Uninhabitable

Roman Skorzus is a policy lead in the Tech for Development Policy Unit at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. He leads the development of actionable policies and strategies to harness the transformative opportunities of tech for developing and emerging economies.

This salon is part of a new ten-part series called The Future Of where we’re bringing together a broad and diverse community of people with an interest in shaping an optimistic future enabled by technology. In each salon, we take a deep dive into what is possible and propose that we get together to visualise the Future of the Internet, Cities, Food, Education, and many more.  

Look out for the next salon in this series on the future of food. 

From the time of the first human settlers, cities have been the centre of economic activity, facilitating trade, culture, and civilisation. In 2007, for the first time in history, more people lived in cities than in rural areas. And cities have continued to grow and attract more people in pursuit of a better quality of life. 

However, rapid urbanization has created new challenges. From overpopulation and pollution to larger forces like climate change and shifting geopolitical tides, these factors combined are placing increasing amounts of pressure on cities and their inhabitants around the globe. The developing world is particularly challenged as countries seek to manage megacities while balancing liveability and sustainability against limited financial resources.  

In this salon, we’ll discuss the future of cities and the cities of the future. What does a tech-driven, smart and sustainable, yet equitable and liveable city look like? What is the role of government, the private sector, and civil society? Finally, how can cities and rural areas cooperate to achieve food security and create opportunities beyond the limits of cities?  

Suggested reading 

• 7 principles for building better cities 

• The biggest risks facing cities — and some solutions 

Join the conversation on Twitter and LinkedIn with #TheFutureOf 

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