Franz-Reinhard Habbel

… of success and failure, is very simple : what works is the balance of man and machine cooperation. The latter manages the framework and the optimization of resources, while human beings are fundamentally the soul of a city: we bring the creativity, the unpredictable, the imperfection … in other words, the emotion.

o accentuat…ill be the one that reduce pollution, preserve the environment and manage resources with awareness. It should also make it possible to reconnect the generations and to recreate the “social bond”, lost in megacities. For example : in Europe, North America, China or Japan, populations are aging and it will be a real challenge : how will we take care of our elders, while the lifestyle in large cities tends to accentuate isolation?

Therefore, the first question is : what do we want to improve in our lifestyle? Ideally, what food do we want to give to our children? In the coming decades, what solutions do we have for urban agriculture and supply in big cities? Where do we want to shop, from which distribution network? What ethics will we require when it comes to the services we use daily? Another example: of course we need to improve the safety of our streets, but will we be OK with massive cameras surveillance and the systematic use of facial recognition? On another topic, will we accept to change our habits (of transportation for example) to improve the traffic and the air quality?