Visions of the Future

At the World Science Festival in New York, visions of future cities mix the usual Blade Runner-esque architecture with abundant greenery.

1 minute read

May 30, 2008, 1:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"It is a spring day, maybe 50 or a 100 years from now, and New York and Los Angeles are very different places from the ones you knew back in 2008.

Trucks no longer fight their way through tunnels and over bridges. There are still plenty of trucks, but they run on hydrogen and are guided in groups by computer networks.

The asphalt jungle of the 20th century is a distant memory. The city of the future, say people who work on it, will be green, both literally and figuratively.

Many older buildings remain, but they're no more than strange behemoths of brick or steel. The newer ones are different. It is most striking to see them if you fly over them in a hovercraft.

Their roofs are forests. There are trees all around them. Some homes actually use living trees as part of their structure."

Thursday, May 29, 2008 in

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

Mamdani behind a microphone, in front of a snowbank

Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge

A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.

November 6 - CNN

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6 - Grist

People board a bus in Seattle.

Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion

Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.

November 6 - KOMO News

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.