1. WORLD 6.0
On The Future of Our World
and Potential Roles of
Geo-Information Science
Hans van Ginkel
ITC Enschedé Geo-Sciences
Lecture 14.05.2013 Utrecht University

3. 3
1. World 6.0? Guiding Ideas
2. Processes Shaping Our World
3. Developments Changing the Face
of the Earth
WORLD 6.0

4. WORLD 6.0 Guiding Ideas
 We are on the brink of major change!
Tomorrow will be fundamentally different!
 Changes never come alone, cp. “Ageing”
 “It is difficult to predict, in particular the
future!” (Niels Bohr)
 We will only know in hindsight!
But that is too late to prepare!

5. WHY WORLD 6.0?
 World 1.0 Ancient Civilizations
 World 2.0 Middle Ages
 World 3.0 Renaissance and
Enlightenment
 World 4.0 Industrial Revolution/World
 World 5.0 ICT Revolution/Globalizing World
 World 6.0 Material Revolution (graphene) //
Robotized World ???

6. Ageing – Major Changes Never Come Alone –
the Ubiquitous Information Society
At your service: NTT DoCoMo demonstrates a robot that recognizes
voices and provides personalized assistance at the CEATEC electronics
trade show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture on
Tuesday. AFP-JIJI

7. PROCESSES SHAPING OUR WORLD
1. Globalization and Localization
2. Development of the Knowledge Society
3. Increasing importance of Ethics and Values
4. Global Change
5. Fundamental Shifts in the Balance between
‘public’ and ‘private’ funding

8. Let us look at the Dimensions of Globalization
1. Geographic  Shrinking distances/world
 Areas <--> Networks
 Integration of scale levels
2. Economic  Free market/Social market-economy
 Trade liberalization/Material cycles
 Regional integration/or Commonwealth
3. Cultural  Dialogue <--> Clash of civilizations
 Mass-culture <--> Elite culture
 Homogenization <--> Cultural diversity
4. Social  Rise of the middle class
 Equity / Equality
 Democracy / Good governance
5. Political  Interconnectedness
 Serve the People
 Rule of law
8

9. Shrinking distances - relative distance

10. Differences in Life Expectancy
Ten Richest Ten Poorest
Countries Countries
1998 78 45
Japan Malawi
2002 81 40
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

11. INTEGRATION OF SCALE LEVELS
 NETWORKING
AS AN
ADEQUATE
RESPONS E AT
ALL LEVELS:
 GLOBAL,
WORLDWIDE,
EUROPEAN,
NATIONAL,
LOCAL.

12. 12
Globalization
Integration
STATE
Localization
Decentralization
GloCalization
• Positive:
Autonomy;
Self-organization
• Negative:
Fragmentation
Consequences of GloCalization
Core Processes influencing Public Administration
• Positive:
Economies
of Scale
• Negative:
Alienation

13. Knowledge Society and Innovation:
the Shanghai Ranking
 20 Tokyo Univ.
 24 Kyoto Univ.
 72 Hebrew Univ. Jerusalem
 101-150 Nat. Univ. Taiwan,
Nat. Univ. Singapore,
Seoul Nat.Univ.,
Tel Aviv.Univ.
Univ.of Sao Paulo
 151-200 Nat.Aut.Univ.Mexico,
Tsinghua Univ., Peking Univ.,
Chinese Univ.of Hongkong,
Univ.of Buenos Aires
in comparison:
 23 ETH Zürich
 40 Univ.of Copenhagen
 42 Karolinska Institute
 50 Utrecht Univ.
 51 Univ.of Zürich
 52 Univ.of Münich
 56 Techn.Univ.of Münich
 66 Uppsala Univ.
 70 Leiden Univ.
 74 Moscow State Univ.

14. Knowledge Society and Innovation:
the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

15. Increasing
Importance
of Ethics
and Values

16. Creating a Capacity for
Understanding
 Knowledge;
 Respect;
 Knowing one’s own cultural norms;
 Search for unity in diversity;
 Inclusiveness; and
 Readiness to transform
Pre-requisites for Understanding

17. THE ARCTIC SEA ICE, 1958 -1997

18. Events 830
• Africa 476
Death toll >10 million
• Asia 7.7 million
Financial loss >60 billion
• Asia 16.1 billion
Global Change, Risks and Vulnerability

19. JAPAN, March 2011: Multi-Hazards leading to Disaster

20. Global Change/Dust Storm over Beijing

21. Government’s Expenditures in Europe the Highest
(size of countries as govt. expend. In US dollars in 2009)

22. Developments Changing
the Face of the Earth
1. Freedom and Development
2. Population Growth and Urbanization
3. Worldwide Networking and Organization
4. The Last Frontiers: colonization of the
World Seas and the Arctic region

23. Decolonization and Worldwide Development:
‘Forgotten Peoples: American Indians

24. ‘Forgotten Peoples’: the Tuaregs, e.g,.

25. Desert Near Tamanghasset

26. Foggara at Timimoun and Ilhir Oasis

27. Worldwide Development: Drops of Good News

28. Africa’s Hopeful Economies

29. AFRICA: OPEN FOR BUSINESS

30. The World
in 2050:
Expect
Big
Population
Shifts

32. OUR URBAN FUTURE
Labour Force working in Agriculture
1. United States < 2%
2. Netherlands < 3%
3. Japan < 8%
(half of which > 55 jaar!)

33. Saguenay
Ottawa
Sept-Iles
Mexico
City
Québec
Montréal
St.John
These lights are Boston, New
York, Philadelphia and
Washington.
Toronto
Detroit
Miami
Havana
Puerto Rico
Houston
Dallas
It’s still daylight in
California
Thunder Bay
Port-au-Prince

34. Pollution Preventing the Sight of
Stars
Interactions and Environmental Impacts:
Burning Vegetation in the Oil Production Areas

35. Holland City: Access to Jobs

36. New Infrastructure Creating
New Opportunities in Pearl City
36

37. China: Exports by Province and
Inter-Provincial Migration

38. China: GDP and Air Pollution

40. China Nót Cheap Anymore!!!

41. The Netherlands in the World:
“HOLLAND CITY” : one of the 25 in 2025
McKinsey Global Institute:
„Urban World – Mapping the Economic Power of Cities‟

42. Chinese Activities Oversees
Competition Increases: and they are with mányl!!

43. Water Pipeline from In-Salah to
Tamanghasset (> 700 km)

44. Growing foreign land acquisitions: need for an
international code of conduct for investment
Source: von Braun and Meinzen-Dick 2009,
with data compiled from media reports 2007-2009.

45. The Worldwide Activities of Boskalis
An Empire On Which the Sun Never Sets!!!
Dutch “Home”-market of the leading global enterprise is shrinking
Value of the potential orderportfolio of Boskalis

46. THE NEW NORTH
Source: Economist March 24th, 2012

47. Global Change and The New North
GDP Population
(in billions US) (x 1 million)
New North 7,089 254.6
BRICs 16,442 2,834.6
EU 14,520 491.6
USA (all) 14,620 307.6
China 8,767 1,338.6
India 3,548 1,156.9
Source: Laurence Smith – The New North

48. Potential Roles of
Geo-Information Science
 Mapping the planet at different scale levels
 Exploration of natural resources
 Landuse: analysis/planning – rural/urban
 Landregistration
 Environmental degradation, a.o. of soils
 Environmental management
 Hazard and Risk analysis/disaster relief
 Integration of Geo-information