Will Cities of Tomorrow Remain Human ?

Over half the world’s population now lives in cities, and this figure looks set to top 66% by 2050, according to the latest United Nations forecasts. The definition of tomorrow’s urban model thus represents a crucial challenge for all societies, aside from the investments required for enlarging and developing infrastructures. What will the city of the future look like? How can mobility be rethought in a megalopolis-dominated world?

We now dream of ultra-connected towns that meet all our requirements by integrating cutting-edge technologies. But above all, the urban space must remain a place where the well-being of its inhabitants dovetails with ambitious sustainable objectives, the protection of privacy and social cohesion. Beyond the hopes and fears aroused by the mass introduction of technologies to further the development of the urban territory, will tomorrow’s city be a source of emancipation or slavery? Will cities provide fertile ground for economic, political and social innovation? What satisfactory answer can we come up with, given the polarisation of territories in a context of metropolisation?