DIGITAL DISRUPTION
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H uman history has , you could argue , been one long , sustained gravitation towards the city in the search for power , work , safety , culture , opportunity , fame , fortune , companionship and – increasingly – a better cup of coffee . The city ’ s presence in the collective human consciousness is monolithic and colossal . From the stark skyscrapers and sleek monorails of Fritz Lang ’ s Metropolis to the dancing neon and searchlights that criss-cross the sky in Katsuhiro Otomo ’ s vision of Neo Tokyo , the city has forever been a cumulative expression of humanity ’ s greatest achievements and deepest subconscious identity .
In 1950 , just over 751mn people lived in cities . Today , that figure has grown to exceed 4.2bn . More than half of the world ’ s population live in cities , a figure that the United Nations predicts will reach as high as 68 % by 2050 , adding a further 2.5bn people to urban environments around the globe . Our cities are getting bigger , more crowded and more numerous . Right now , more than 120 new cities are under construction in over 40 countries . Urban environments that grew organically to accommodate the movements of the horse and cart now contend with the movements of millions of cars every day .
Congestion is far from the only challenge that the swelling ranks of urban humans face : pollution , longer food supply chains , crime , climate change ,
JANUARY 2020