People, cities, countries, medicine, technologies, communications, everything is changing at an astonishing speed in our days... Can we really guess howour world will look like in the future?

1. HOW DO YOU ENVISION THE
CITY OF THE FUTURE?
Arturo Lacave
September 2013

2. People, cities, countries, medicine,
communications, everything is developing at an
astonishing speed in our days…
2
Can we really guess how
our world will look like in
the future?

3. 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.
3

4. 4
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

5. 5
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

6. 6
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.

7. 7
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.

8. 8
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:
MEDICINE
Mother 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.
WATER
Solving thirst
problems with sea
water.

9. 9
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
eventually 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?

10. 10
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.