Future Cities: All That Matters

Author: Camilla Ween
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 144419612X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
THE IDEA OF A WORLD OF 10 BILLION PEOPLE, MOST OF WHOM WILL BE LIVING IN RAPIDLY EXPANDING CITIES, CAN BE A TERRIFYING PROPSECT. Add to that the effects of climate change and the scarcity of water, energy and food, and it sounds like a bleak future. Without innovation and human ingenuity, it might be, but necessity is the mother of invention, and Homo sapiens is a resourceful species. By 2030 it is predicted that between 80-90% of the world's population will be living in cities. Tackling the challenges will be complicated by pressure to develop solutions that are sustainable and include climate change mitigation measures. Despite the difficulties, some cities are already tackling the problems, policies that are emerging to meet these challenges and highlights innovations that are currently being explored. This book explains the issues that will face rapidly growing cities in the next 20 to 30 years, and how, building on sustainable practices already being introduced around the world, cities can and will grow and flourish.

Future: All That Matters

Author: Ziauddin Sardar
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 1444190067
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 158

Book Description
In Future: All That Matters, Ziauddin Sardar shows that thinking and speculating about the future has always been a part of human history, but exploring the futures in a systematic and scientific way is a recent phenomenon. What is known variously as 'futures studies', 'futurology' or 'foresight' only emerged as a discipline during the last few decades. The study of the future, however, is not only about 'predicting' or 'forecasting' the future, which is always a perilous exercise. It is also about appreciating the potentials and possibilities, as well as risks and threats, lurking over the horizon. It can enable us both to avoid the dangers as well as shape a viable and desirable future. This book explores the exciting field of futures studies, and shows how knowledge of the future is acquired and put into practice. We examine various methods for studying the future, with the emphasis not so much on predicting specific events but on delineating alternative paths to the future. We look at some celebrated readings of the future as well as case studies where exploration of the future has been used to shape policy and planning in businesses and communities, international organisations and regional institutions, and interest and lobby groups. Finally, the book suggests why and how in an increasingly complex, uncertain and diverse world, the study of the future can help people recover their agency and help them to create the world in which they wish to live. This accessible and readable book will appeal both to students and general readers, giving a fascinating introduction to thinking about the future - and what matters most about it.

Inventing Future Cities

Author: Michael Batty
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262349906
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Book Description
How we can invent—but not predict—the future of cities. We cannot predict future cities, but we can invent them. Cities are largely unpredictable because they are complex systems that are more like organisms than machines. Neither the laws of economics nor the laws of mechanics apply; cities are the product of countless individual and collective decisions that do not conform to any grand plan. They are the product of our inventions; they evolve. In Inventing Future Cities, Michael Batty explores what we need to understand about cities in order to invent their future. Batty outlines certain themes—principles—that apply to all cities. He investigates not the invention of artifacts but inventive processes. Today form is becoming ever more divorced from function; information networks now shape the traditional functions of cities as places of exchange and innovation. By the end of this century, most of the world's population will live in cities, large or small, sometimes contiguous, and always connected; in an urbanized world, it will be increasingly difficult to define a city by its physical boundaries. Batty discusses the coming great transition from a world with few cities to a world of all cities; argues that future cities will be defined as clusters in a hierarchy; describes the future “high-frequency,” real-time streaming city; considers urban sprawl and urban renewal; and maps the waves of technological change, which grow ever more intense and lead to continuous innovation—an unending process of creative destruction out of which future cities will emerge.

All That Matters

Author: Ross Fraser
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 1473617308
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 140

Book Description
Get to the heart of the most talked about topics of our time. All That Matters runs the gamut of the most exciting, interesting and topical subjects of today. To provide a flavour of the All That Matters series, this exclsuive sampler provides the opening chapters from nine notable books including the following: God by Mark Vernon Love by Mark Vernon Water by Paul L. Younger Space Exploration by David Ashford Modern China by Jonanthan Clements Shakespeare's Comedies by Michael Scott Cyber Crime and Warfare by Peter Warren and Michel Streeter Philosophy by Julian Baggini Future Cities by Camilla Ween All That Matters books are written by the world's leading experts, introducing to the quick-minded and curious reader the most important topics and hottest areas of debate on the subjects that really matter.

Future Cities

Author: Paul Dobraszczyk
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1789141044
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
Brings together architecture, fiction, film, and visual art to reconnect the imaginary city with the real, proposing a future for humanity that is firmly grounded in the present and the diverse creative practices already at our fingertips. Though reaching ever further toward the skies, today’s cities are overshadowed by multiple threats: climate change, overpopulation, social division, and urban warfare all endanger our metropolitan way of life. The fundamental tool we use to make sense of these uncertain city futures is the imagination. Architects, artists, filmmakers, and fiction writers have long been inspired to imagine cities of the future, but their speculative visions tend to be seen very differently from scientific predictions: flights of fancy on the one hand versus practical reasoning on the other. In a digital age when the real and the fantastic coexist as near equals, it is especially important to know how these two forces are entangled, and how together they may help us best conceive of cities yet to come. Exploring a breathtaking range of imagined cities—submerged, floating, flying, vertical, underground, ruined, and salvaged—Future Cities teases out the links between speculation and reality, arguing that there is no clear separation between the two. In the Netherlands, prototype floating cities are already being built; Dubai’s recent skyscrapers resemble those of science-fiction cities of the past; while makeshift settlements built by the urban poor in the developing world are already like the dystopian cities of cyberpunk.

Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia

Author: Anthony M. Townsend
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 039324153X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Book Description
An unflinching look at the aspiring city-builders of our smart, mobile, connected future. From Beijing to Boston, cities are deploying smart technology—sensors embedded in streets and subways, Wi-Fi broadcast airports and green spaces—to address the basic challenges faced by massive, interconnected metropolitan centers. In Smart Cities, Anthony M. Townsend documents this emerging futuristic landscape while considering the motivations, aspirations, and shortcomings of the key actors—entrepreneurs, mayors, philanthropists, and software developers—at work in shaping the new urban frontier.

Existentialism: All That Matters

Author: David Cerbone
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 1473601452
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL? That is the question at the heart of existentialism and it informs this book's exploration of the existentialist tradition in 19th and 20th century philosophy. Existentialism: All That Matters considers each of the key figures - Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus and de Beauvoir - who all offer related, though distinct, conceptions of the task of becoming an individual. David Cerbone's book gives a fascinating introduction to existentialism and what matters most about it. ABOUT THE SERIES All That Matters books are written by the world's leading experts to introduce the most exciting and relevant topics in an accessible, readable way. From Bioethics to Future Cities and Philosophy to Terrorism, the All That Matters series covers controversial and engaging subjects from science, philosophy, history, religion and politics. The authors are world-class academics or leading public intellectuals, on a mission to bring the most interesting and challenging areas of their subject to new readers.

Intelligence: All That Matters

Author: Stuart Ritchie
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 144479180X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
There is a strange disconnect between the scientific consensus and the public mind on intelligence testing. Just mention IQ testing in polite company, and you'll sternly be informed that IQ tests don't measure anything "real", and only reflect how good you are at doing IQ tests; that they ignore important traits like "emotional intelligence" and "multiple intelligences"; and that those who are interested in IQ testing must be elitists, or maybe something more sinister. Yet the scientific evidence is clear: IQ tests are extraordinarily useful. IQ scores are related to a huge variety of important life outcomes like educational success, income, and even life expectancy, and biological studies have shown they are genetically influenced and linked to measures of the brain. Studies of intelligence and IQ are regularly published in the world's top scientific journals. This book will offer an entertaining introduction to the state of the art in intelligence and IQ, and will show how we have arrived at what we know from a century's research. It will engage head-on with many of the criticisms of IQ testing by describing the latest high-quality scientific research, but will not be a simple point-by-point rebuttal: it will make a positive case for IQ research, focusing on the potential benefits for society that a better understanding of intelligence can bring.

Influencers and Revolutionaries

Author: Sean Pillot de Chenecey
Publisher: Kogan Page Publishers
ISBN: 0749498692
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
SHORTLISTED: Business Book Awards 2021 - Change & Sustainability The environmental crisis, disruptive technologies, unforeseen competitors and unpredictable consumers are deeply challenging issues keeping business leaders awake at night. Influencers & Revolutionaries describes the emerging movements and future niches of growth that will impact international markets and industries; including the homes, workplaces and cities of tomorrow. People are looking for alternatives and demanding a better way of doing business. Their demands mean that ethical, flexible, sustainable, collaborative and radical business strategies are required. Influencers & Revolutionaries charts inspiring innovation models created by visionary business leaders and brand teams. Illuminating the dynamic global trends shaping businesses across industries, Sean Pillot de Chenecey highlights the transformation of product, service and strategic development, as we move to a circular and more ethical economy. Featuring a new innovation manifesto, this book is a guidebook covering important topics including: - Trend research, forecasting and scenario planning - Classic innovation theory vs current leading-edge thinking - New consumption patterns and fragmented niches of growth - Dynamic cross-category innovation from legacy brands and start-ups - Challenging convention via catalytic leadership and next-generation practises - How agile organizations leverage cultural and social trends to anticipate change - Utilizing business innovation to tackle social, cultural and environmental problems Strategists, marketers and developers need a playbook that informs and explains how they can create the next big thing. This book is for them.

101 Rules of Thumb for Sustainable Buildings and Cities

Author: Huw Heywood
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000708055
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 133

Book Description
People across the world are becoming more aware of the need for the buildings and cities they live and work in to be sustainable, but the issue of how to be sustainable can seem a confusing and complex one. These rules of thumb provide universal guidelines for the sustainable design of both buildings and the urban realm. It’s a global primer and textbook for anyone interested in understanding sustainability in the built environment, an ideal starting point for students as well as an aide memoir for more experienced readers and practitioners interested in this field.