Urban Spaces – Challenges and Opportunities As evermore of us globally live in increasingly growing and crowded cities, how we use urban spaces is a rising concern. This topic impacts a wide range of issues including health, identity, social cohesion, accessibility and liveability and is top of many mayoral office agendas. Building on our Future of Cities research from 2016 (www.futureofcities.city) and ahead of a series of workshops during 2020 exploring the Future of Land Use, this is an updated view of the challenges and opportunities for urban spaces. It is being discussed next week in Gothenburg at the Living City event hosted by Husqvarna and will then feed into the wider global Land Use programme. If you would like to be involved in the 2020 discussions, or host an event, do let us know and we will do our best to accommodate.

1. Future of Cities - Implications for Urban Spaces
Insights from Multiple Expert Discussions Around the World
30 Sept 2019

2. CONTEXT

3. Global Perspectives
These views on the future have been gained from multiple expert discussions
around the world on the future of cities, transport, data, health and ageing.

4. MOUNTING CHALLENGES

5. Sustainable Scaling
Urban settlements will increase to more than 3m km2 by 2050.
Many are concerned about such rapid scaling of urban environments.

6. Informal Urbanization
A third of the global urban population live in unplanned slums and ghettos that
often suffer from overcrowding and restricted access to water and electricity.

7. Disconnected Sprawl
Many of the world’s fastest growing cities are becoming less connected at the
edges. Sprawl is increasing urban footprints and reducing open space.

8. Peak Car?
For most cities the future threatens more cars. In many the lack of good public
transport systems is pushing up the use of private vehicles - but to what limit?

9. Urbanisation and Health
For those living in cities, growing social and environmental pressures impact
their health. Rising mental illness and contagion risk are key concerns.

10. Urban Obesity
Urbanisation, reduced activity and poor diet are all increasing obesity. Rural to
urban migration has impact in Asia and Africa with greatest burden on the poor.

11. The Impact of Climate Change
With 2oC of global warming probable and 4oC possible, the impacts on public
health include an extension of tropical diseases and growing malnutrition.

12. Staying Inside in Rich Countries
Fast-growing Middle East cities are a particular concern for toxic air.
In Europe nearly 500,000 people a year die prematurely because of air pollution.

13. Protecting Public Spaces
Cities and governments are pressured to ensure that new public spaces are
created and old ones retained. Parks and squares are a key focal point.

14. Cities for Ageing
In developed countries 80% of older people will live in cities by 2050. They want
to continue to play an active role and seek integration rather than segregation.

15. Maintaining Social Cohesion
Poor social cohesion drives increased personal crime. Addressing this is a #1
priority as many cities develop plans to overcome health and income inequality.

16. Flooded Cities
The vast majority of urban areas globally are not prepared for flooding.
22 of the top 50 wealthiest cities are prone to serious flooding.

17. Open Data and Human Behaviour
There is growing concern that some open data sets are used by organsiations to
influence individual behaviours – well beyond the agreed use of public data

18. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

19. Mega-City Master-Plans
Several mega-cities are being built from scratch. There is an opportunity to get
scaling right from the start but they need long-term and detailed master plans.

20. Eco Civilisation
China is taking the lead on climate change, reducing urban air pollution and
setting standards for others. The Eco-Civilization initiative is a game-changer.

21. Accessible Cities
A core ambition for many cities is to plan for people not cars, providing
better public transport, new cycle ways and creating more walkable areas.

22. Walkable Cities
Walkable cities are safer, more attractive, more inclusive and easier to govern.
High profile developments transform perceptions of pivotal urban spaces.

23. Designing a Fairer City
Increasing social housing, limiting density, providing wider access to basic
services and creating better public spaces all help to counter inequality.

24. Counter Terrorism
With threats rising, counter-terrorism architecture is increasingly evident.
Designing solutions that don’t create uninviting fortresses is a fine balance.

25. Realistic Expectations
Some see smart cities as more than a web of joined-up technologies.
They could be primarily about better governance and urban planning.

26. Cities not Countries
While some nation states are considered dysfunctional, the role of cities as
problem solvers is rising - they have goodwill and are better at collaboration.

27. Smarter Citizens
By sharing more and better information that engages more deeply with the
people who live in them, cities and their citizens become smarter together.

28. Place-Making
Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share is a
collaborative process that shapes our public spaces to maximise shared value.

29. Less Traffic – Less Road – Less Parking
Effective deployment of autonomous vehicles may mean fewer vehicles.
Parking spaces can be removed and roads can become narrower.

30. Reclaiming Car Parks
The growth in ‘Mobility as a Service’ and self-driving cars frees up vast tracts
of car parking for new venue development especially at transportation hubs.

31. Quality of Life As A Source of Competition
As quality of life becomes a key source of competitive advantage, leading cities
seek to provide cleaner, greener and safer environments for their citizens.

32. Expensive Oases
Pivotal locations become increasingly valuable as open space is prized.
Commercial interest in primary sites increases substantially – for some.

33. First / Last Mile
Improving the first/last mile is a major focus for transport with health, energy
and efficiency benefits. More scooters, bikes and robots all play a part.

34. Preparing for Resilience
Attitudes to flooding shift considerably. The opportunity is to rethink
infrastructure in terms of resilience and not just repair and rebuild it.

35. Urban Farms
Rising concern on food security and the desire for more local produce drive a
wide range of cities to encourage better use of vacant space for growing food.

36. Small Spaces
With access to outdoor space at a premium, many seek to make the most of the
small areas in between and beside buildings to provide moments of sanctuary.

37. Data For Good
In a select number of cities, fair and transparent use of multiple new data sets
help to deliver community and citizen benefit from the Internet of Things.

38. Connected Policy
Most focus is increasingly on cities where aligned targets across health, sport,
education, transport and economic development result in connected planning.

39. Future Agenda, 84 Brook Street, London W1K 5EH +44 203 0088 141
www.futureagenda.org | www.futureagenda.net | @futureagenda