What does The Future hold?
The Mission Newsletter, 10/22/18
“A city is not gauged by its length and width, but by the broadness of its vision and the height of its dreams.” -Herb Caen
What does The Future hold?
“A society grows great when people plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
Greek philosophers dropped this great seed of wisdom over two thousand years ago. It is just as applicable today, especially in the context of increasing urban development. It is the principle underlying conversations had by global leaders at places like the #WIRED25 Summit.
We fret over our ability to anticipate and account for the needs of the future. That’s why we are fascinated by movies like Bladerunner and Back To The Future. What does the future really hold?
Today, we launched our new podcast, The Future of Cities! 🎉
For ten episodes, we’ll seek answers from some of the world’s brightest and boldest minds. You’ll hear from experts at the forefront of innovation — people like Craig Curtis, head of architecture for Katerra; Deano Roberts, senior director of global workplace real estate for Slack; and Laurie Johnson, an urban planner with nearly 30 years of experience.
Join us as we throw on our hard hats and explore the problems facing our cities. 🏠 🏗 🏙
Binge the first five episodes now!
Episode One: What Makes A City Great?
Episode Two: Where Do You Put 3 Million People Every Week?
Episode Three: Why Do Buildings Cost So Much?
Episode Four: How To Build Rome In A Day
Episode Five: Where Will We Work In 100 Years?
Food for thought…
During the great California Gold Rush, San Francisco looked like this:
As of October 2018, San Francisco looks like this:
Imagine the year 3000. What will San Francisco look like? Will there even be a San Francisco or will the city be eclipsed by some yet unknown greatness still to come? 🤔
Need some eye candy to go with that ear candy? Read some of the latest news about the future of cities around the world:
- The Delhi water crisis is being tackled not by experts, but by local citizens.
- Saudi Arabia is betting big on its futuristic monster city. Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick is officially on the advisory board.
- Popular Mechanics says this could be the world in 2045.
- Architectural Digest is like, “Ya okay, but this is the design of cities in the year 2039.”
- You won’t be living in a house for long. Micro-units are the dwelling units of the future.
- If you want to avoid little things like natural disasters, move to one of these citiespronto.
- The new LEGO store in Shanghai invites shoppers to build their future city brick by tiny brick.
- Offices are ch-ch-changin’. San Francisco is officially the co-working capital of the world.
- If you want to manifest the life you’ve always dreamed of, start with design.
- Mass timber is transforming construction as we know it.
- 34 remarkable and exciting things about the future, from an economist who knows a few things about the world.
Thanks to our friends at Twilio for sponsoring The Mission! More than 2 million developers around the world have used Twilio to unlock the magic of communications. Head over to twilio.com and learn how your team can engage customers like never before.
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