To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Smithsonian magazine, Big Think asked top minds from a variety of fields to weigh in on what we might expect our world to be like 40 years from now. Richard Florida and Bill Mitchell responded to the question of how cities will be like in 2050.
Faster, More Urban, More Diverse
Richard Florida
Director, The Martin Prosperity Institute, University of Toronto’ s Rotman School of Management
The changes to our urban and rural areas will reinvent our education system. Our economy will be less real estate driven, people will be more flexible, and the divisions between home and work and life will all fade away.
Discreet Technology Transforms Cities
Bill Mitchell
Director, The Media Lab’ s Smart Cities Group, MIT
Cities won’t look like “some sort of science-fiction fantasy,” but it’s likely that technological advances and information overlays will change the way we live in significant ways.