explosion of interest in the future of cities and urban transportation

One benefit of experience in the futures field (over 20 years for me now) is that you get to see topics take off and fade away — or never get there. For much of the last few decades, the future of cities was a topic that generated little interest among clients. The glazed-over look. Or, if we voted on topics of interest, it shored up the bottom of the list.

Until now…..There has been practically an explosion of interest in the future of cities, in particular how we are going to get around in them. The emergence of megacities with populations of more than 10 million, and now supercities with populations approaching 100 million, combined with energy issues (peak oil) and environmental issues, and values shifts favoring more liveable communities have combined to spark some fresh thinking on the future of cities…..at last.

It’s been a popular topic on the Assn of Professional Futurists listserv, where my colleagues have pointed out loads of wonderful resources. One particularly nice site features a full-blown set of very well done scenarios on urban transportation in megacities called Megacities on the Move. For a nice snapshot of current possibilities, GM has clips of its very stylish EN-V concept cars. These just scratch the surface, but high-quality work is out there. Enjoy! Andy Hines

About Andy Hines

Dr. Andy Hines is Program Coordinator at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight, bringing together the experience he earned as an organizational, consulting, and academic futurist. He is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight.

Before that, he was Managing Director of Social Technologies/Innovaro, and served as an Adjunct Professor with the university since 2004. Hines enjoyed earlier careers as a consulting and organizational futurist. He was a partner with Coates & Jarratt, Inc., a think tank and consulting firm that specialized in the study of the future. He was also Futurist & Senior Ideation Leader at Dow Chemical with a mission of using futures tools and knowledge to turn ideas into new business opportunities. Before that, Hines established and ran the Global Trends Program for the Kellogg Company.

Hines is motivated by a professional hunger to make foresight practical and useful, and he believes that foresight can help deliver the insight that is so needed in today’s organizations and the world. His goal, he says, is to infect as many change agents as possible with this message. Thus, he has honed a skill set designed to make foresight more actionable in organizations.

In this pursuit, he has authored five books: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape (No Limits Publishing, 2011); Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (Social Technologies, 2007); 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society (Oak Hill, 1997); and Managing Your Future as an Association (ASAE, 1994) and has another in the hands of publishers: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education. He has also authored dozens of articles, speeches, and workshops, including the 2003 Emerald Literati Awards’ Outstanding Paper accolade for best article published in Foresight for “An Audit for Organizational Futurists” and the 2008 award for “Scenarios: The State of the Art.” He has appeared on several radio and television programs, PBS Houston, KRIV-26 News, and the CBS “Early Show.” He also co-founded and is former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.

About Andy Hines

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