Contemplating the Future of Cities

One of my fellow principals at work is a big sci-fi fan.  He tells me it reconciles with his love for economics, because in both disciplines you take a few premises and try to extrapolate the future from those premises.  So reading sci-fi is pleasurable and instructive for him, because he enjoys seeing what interesting futures sci-fi authors come up with based on a certain read of the present.

Sci-fi isn't necessarily my genre now, but I'd like to get into it, for the same reasons my work colleague likes it.  The thing about sci-fi is that it's fiction, so it's somewhat safe to explore the characteristics of the present that lead to futures that are dystopian or bleak.  But in the real world it's scarier to consider we're heading down a path that takes us to a place that leads to ruin or injustice.  

At my firm, we just launched something called ESI Center for the Future of Cities, and in doing so we are taking a decidedly optimistic and active look at the years to come.  The future of cities could be quite bad.  Climate change, social injustice, a COVID-induced hollowing out of density...these are all dreary to contemplate.  

But, what they mean is that now is a moment to envision a more bullish outlook on cities, and to work hard to make that vision a reality.  As someone once told me, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the second best time is today.  Today we have an opportunity to work towards environmental resilience, economic vibrancy, cultural flourishing, and social justice.  I'm excited we have a new initiative at work where we are going to do just that.  Let's get to it.