Urban futures

New York in 1980 as imagined in 1930 film Just Imagine

Metropolis 1926

Francisco Mujica

Robert Heinlein featured slidewalks in his short story The Roads Must Roll in which he outlined a future in which traffic congestion in the mid 20th century became so bad that the motor cars were replaced by systems of slidewalks spanning across entire regions like mechanised super highways. 

Clean Air Park 1959

Separates the clean city from the dirty natural world outside the dome?

Futurama 1939

Futurama 1964

Amazon Rainforest, Antarctica, The Moon,

no problem…

Le Corbusier was the darling of modernist/internationalist architects. His design for buildings and urban space were functional, anti-bourgeoisie and a clear break from traditional urban housing and street patterns.

Bratislava

Brasilia

Dubai

Shanghai

The Design Methodology Movement involving people such as Chris Jones, develop more people-orientated designs.

Devonshire Quarter

Sheffield

Along with this modernist, bold futuristic approach there is still the imperative to consider everyday needs of people and use technology to give a livable environment.

As geographers we should be aware not just of human needs but also the human impact on the environment.Cities need to be sustainable. A sustainable city will use less resources and produce less waste than a non sustainable city. This concept can be built into the design of cities and buildings.