Future Cities

Cincinnati and Covington

A Roundtable Discussion on the Future of Cities

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been shortage of opinions on the coming evolution of cities. It’s time to check in with the debate.

August 10, 2023 - Vox

Coastal City

A 20-Year To-Do List for Cities

Predicting the future of challenges facing cities isn't very hard when the future is already staring cities right in the face.

July 19, 2019 - Meeting of the Minds

Control Room

WeWork's Real Estate Arm Launches 'Future Cities' Initiative

Another buzzy tech company with roots in the real estate market has designs on the "smart cities" revolution.

April 12, 2019 - Quartz

Children of the Past Envision the City of Tomorrow

How did childhood visions of future cities differ for kids growing up in the 1980s when compared to the 1960s or today? Matt Novak shares a short film from 1983 that captures the prescient urban visions of students.

April 24, 2013 - Smithsonian

Why the Future of Sustainable Cities Rests with China

Manish Bapna outlines the factors that put China on the frontlines of sustainable urban development.

February 16, 2012 - Forbes

Futuristic Ideas for Smarter Cities

This piece from the Guardian lists a handful of ideas that could shape the future of cities and city design.

December 22, 2010 - Guardian

The Future of Australian Cities

Anton Roux and John Stanley of ON LINE opinion outline the future for Australian cities.

November 1, 2010 - ON LINE opinion

An Eye on the Cities of the Future

Designing the city of the future has long been the playground of architects and planners. A New York non-profit design group led by architect Mitchell Joachim keeps that tradition alive.

July 6, 2010 - Guardian

A Driveable Future

An auto company has a new design competition to imagine a future city that is car-friendly.

June 25, 2010 - Scientific American

Where Americans Will Be in 2050

Where will Americans live? Everywhere. The third article in a three-part series based on Joel Kotkin's new book, "The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050," looks at where Americans will live and how our communities will grow to accommodate them.

March 23, 2010 - AOL News

Smart Cities May Bite Back

Benches that dump you for sitting too long, trash cans that spit your recyclables back out- will the Sentient City lack empathy?

October 23, 2009 - BBC News

Green Buildings of the Future

WebEcoist has pulled together a fascinating gallery of imaginative designs for green dwelling and living spaces, including a design for co-op housing inspired by Anasazi cliff dwellings.

September 29, 2009 - WebEcoist

Architecture for A Water-Poor World

Matsys, an experimental architecture firm, used the book Dune as a starting point for its design of a terraced, sunken city form focused around preserving water.

September 19, 2009 - BLDBLOG

What Today's Cities Will Look Like in the Future

Imagining cities of the future can bring about some pretty wild predictions. But when they're visions of existing cities, these futuristic predictions can be almost realistic.

September 19, 2009 - io9

A Look at the Cities of the Future

This slideshow from Treehugger offers visions of the future of cities -- from decades ago and today.

February 7, 2009 - Treehugger

Getting Kids Off the Street- And Up In The Air

Want to get kids off the street? Build playgrounds on top of skyscrapers, like in this retro-future design from 1957's Mechanix Illustrated.

January 15, 2009 - Modern Mechanix

What Will the Future Look Like?

That's the question the Vancouver Planning Commission has been tossing around with the public for the last year or so, as they prepare a "Change Charter" for City Hall.

September 8, 2008 - The Vancouver Sun

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.

May 30, 2008 - Tim Halbur

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.